Chapter Two: Burning

Castiel stared at the ceiling of the lodging room at Lys's house. The two boys had talked a long time and had played some music the whole night till early in the morning. Lysander had immediately understood what his best friend needed and had managed to distract Castiel's thoughts from the black haired beauty that had kept wandering through his mind.

The redhead sighed and looked at the clock. Lys wouldn't wake up for some time, his best friend had always difficulties with waking up in the morning. A sleepy Lysander was funny until his bad morning mood showed up.

Castiel kicked the blankets away and stood up. He didn't have to worry about making noise since Leigh was already off to work and Lys didn't woke up easily. He entered the bathroom and flashed a glance at the mirror.

There were light shadows under his eyes and his grey orbs shone dull. "Eyes are the mirror to the soul." He whispered to his reflection, recalling one of his precious memories with his lover.

...

"You know, Castiel." She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind as he was playing on his guitar but he stopped playing when he got disturbed by her.

"What?"

"I really like your eyes." She murmured in his hair.

"Really?" he said, acting indifferent.

"I heard that one." She giggled, a high and sweet sound "They say: eyes are mirrors to the soul, and I think you can see Castiel's soul very well through his eyes." She explained. "Though yet gentle." She added.

"I think you didn't look very well." He said.

She laughed. "So what do you see when you look into mine?" she asked and turned his face so he could see her eyes. "What kind of soul do you see?"

...

Castiel averted his eyes from the mirror, feeling a dull pain at recalling the memory. He picked up his jacket and the pair of earrings fell at his feet. The pain sharpened again and suddenly anger came up. 'This isn't right', Castiel thought.

It wasn't like him to act all passively. He was acting pathetic, acting all emotional over little things like this. He was totally acting out of character. Annoyed with his own inabilities he looked in the mirror again and decided he would talk seriously with her when she came back, this kind of relationship couldn't survive any longer.

The rest of the day Castiel imagined how his conversation with her should go. He thought about the time and place they would talk. He was in a bad mood the entire day, even Iris avoided him. To make things worse that stupid president asked to sign another absent note. If Lysander hadn't calmed him down he would have hit the annoying guy. He managed to attend lessons till midday but at lunch he couldn't stand it anymore.

"I'm going home." He announced to Lysander.

"Are you sure? You already had to sign an absent note today." His silver haired friend said.

"I don't care." Castiel groaned.

Lysander looked at his watch. "I'll come with you and return before class starts again." He said.

"I don't need a nanny." The redhead said annoyed but Lysander insisted in coming along since he was worried about what his friend could do now he was in such a state. They walked side by side. They got entangled in a discussion about brands for a possible, new guitar for Castiel when the red haired teenager suddenly spotted a black haired girl.

He froze and stared at the familiar face of his girlfriend, whom was arguing with another man. She's back?!

"Castiel?" Lysander called his friend but the redhead didn't answer.

Surprised Castiel recognized the man as the creep he met yesterday. Castiel frowned and felt a sting of jealousy go through his chest. How did she know that guy? Fear filled his thoughts. Could she be in danger?! It didn't really seem like the man was threatening her. It was mainly his girlfriend that was screaming at the raven haired stranger. 'They must know each other', Castiel thought.

Realization struck him. He was one of them. One of her kind. Castiel narrowed his eyes. What was going on?

"Castiel?" Lysander called him again and pulled him out of his thoughts.

"What?" Castiel replied. "Finally."

Lys sighed. "What's wrong?"

Castiel signed to the spot where he had seen his girlfriend but she and the creep where nowhere to be seen.

~On his way home~

Lysander had left him, otherwise he would have been late for the next class. Castiel was walking home slower than usually, the summer breeze played with some red strands of hair and the sun warmed his back. Normally he would enjoy the weather but today his mind was too clouded with depressive thoughts that the warm sun couldn't brighten his mood.

Castiel opened the door of his house and a chill ran down his spine. He shuddered and closed the door. He wondered whether he could have caught a cold when a sudden movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. It must have been his imagination since there was nothing that could be seen except for the usual décor of his house.

He threw himself on the couch and sighed. He could us some sleep. He closed his eyes and started to drift off into sleep when he heard noise coming from within the kitchen. "Did that stupid cat barge in again?" Castiel mumbled annoyed.

He stood up to take a look when he saw a reflection of a raven haired man in the window.

"Shit…!" Castiel cursed in surprise but when he looked again there was no one there. He walked towards the kitchen but stopped as a feeling of unease spread through his body. Something was wrong.

He heard some rustling behind him and turned around but, again, there was nothing. Suddenly Castiel got the creepy feeling someone was standing behind him, he could almost feel its breath in his neck. Frozen to the bone, Castiel didn't move.

His heart started to beat louder and louder and adrenaline rushed through his blood. There was a cracking sound, as if someone was walking over the floor. When he finally summoned enough courage, Castiel turned around slowly, but he only faced the kitchen door and nothing else. With slow and small steps Castiel reached for the door handle. Once again a movement caught his attention and again the reflection of the man could be seen in the window, at the moment that their eyes met, the kitchen exploded.

Waves of fire, heat and power came rolling into the living room and threw him against the wall. The room was immediately set aflame with flames and smoke which took away his breath. Castiel touched his shoulder that was throbbing in pain from crashing into the closet that had been standing against the wall but was now lying on the floor, burning fiercely.

Castiel coughed several times and shrunk each time at the stabbing pain that went through his chest. He must have broken or at least bruised some ribs.

"Shit…" He mumbled and placed the collar of his shirt for his mouth. He saw his phone lying on the table but flames blocked the way. Castiel felt some blood run down his cheek and noticed the head wound, which probably had been inflicted by a chunk when the kitchen exploded.

His eyes sought for the reflection in the window again but he couldn't find the man. Castiel started to breathe more difficult and coughed again. The only possible way to escape was the front door. Crawling over the ground Castiel tried to reach the door to the hall. Just then the lamp decided to fall down, sending sparks of light, like fireworks, through the air, what stirred up the fire.

Castiel, whom finally got over the shock of surprise, started to panic now the fallen lamp barricaded his way out. Each time he breathed in, it became harder and slowly the sound of sputtering fire fell silent.

Between the dancing flames he thought he saw the shadow of the black haired man again. Slowly, he lost conscious.


I'm really sorry for updating so late, to be honest, I had totally forgotten about this fanfic, I hope I didn't make anyone wait too long. The next chapter will be the last one and then I'll also updat an epilogue, I hope you enjoy the chapter ^^