The Angry Flame

By Divamercury

Chapter 10

It wasn't dark yet, so I chose to go for a walk to let the dream sink in uninterrupted. I was looking for somewhere peaceful, so I landed on the park near my apartment. Being a cop, and a very paranoid cop at times, I made sure my gun was loaded and holstered it in a side holster under my left arm inside my leather jacket. I also strapped another one at my right hip and made sure my badge was within reach. I wasn't stupid; I wasn't going to go walking through New York at night without some kind of insurance. Deciding I was adequately armed, I went out.

There was a large monument at the park, a life-sized statue of Theodore Roosevelt that stood on two circular steps stacked into tiers and was surrounded by trees. I sat on the top one and stared at the clouds that had been dyed by the sunset over the treetops. I leaned forward and propped my head up in my hands, my elbows on my thighs, overwhelmed by all the strange things going on: the murder case, the dreams, Ian, and the Witchblade in general.

Two words were sent out into the void

"Why me?"

That was a reasonable question to start with. I often lay awake at night wondering why all this had fallen on me. Why had the Witchblade jumped onto my wrist after the battle in the museum? Why did I always wear it when I had been free to remove it? Why did it choose me to wield it? Why had I been able to pass the Periculum, the ultimate test for the Wielder, safely? All these queries would probably never be answered. All I knew was that I was the one, the chosen one, and I had to live with it. The Witchblade, after the Periculum, had fused to my wrist, so now I was stuck with it. Don't get me wrong, the thing had its perks, definitely, but sometimes it was just too much to handle. I looked down toward the pavement, staring at the huge piles of leaves that had been raked up off of the grass by volunteers. They had yet to be packaged into garbage bags, and seeing them made me remember old times in the fall that I had spent with my parentswhen they were both alive.

Stop thinking about that, Sara. The past is past, gone, finished, so just forget it and spare yourself the pain.'

The Witchblade hummed. Not a sound of warning, but the sound it made whenever Ian was around. I scanned my scene panoramically, and not seeing anyone, was puzzled.

Confusion tolerance, Sara,' I told myself.

"Good evening, Lady Sara."

I jumped. My head snapped up. Ian was standing directly in front of me about three yards away.

"Ian? What are you doing here?" I asked, perplexed. I had thought I was just hallucinating about the Witchblade's reaction. Apparently I hadn't been.

"Something told me that you'd be here tonight, Lady Sara. I was hoping that you would be."

"Well, here I am. Was there something you wanted to ask me about? Because at the moment you might not find me the most animated companion," I said. For a moment I thought I saw pity and concern in his eyes, but after I blinked they were gone.

"I will ask in due time, Lady Sara. Would you care to walk with me?" he inquired. I thought about it for a moment, then nodded, rising from my perch at Teddy's feet and joining Ian.

"Where exactly are we going, Ian?" I asked.

"It's a surprise. Why, don't you trust me?" Ian asked.

I didn't answer. I wasn't sure how to respond. If I had been asked that a few days ago, I would have said, "No," without hesitation. But now, after everything I'd seen, everything I'd heard

"Yeah, I guess I do. Sorry, I was just curious," I said, and we continued walking.

After we had been walking for a while, Ian pointing out some features of the park that I had never noticed in all the years I had been coming there, we reached an opening into a sort of tunnel. The dense branches of trees that had to have been over one hundred years old formed it.

"Watch your head," he instructed me, lifting some of the lower lying branches out of our way. We walked down the path, and I noticed that although it seemed old, there weren't many signs that it was traveled frequently. Pine needles carpeted the path, for many of the trees were pines, and the fallen leaves from the few deciduous trees were scattered around inconsistently.

"Here we are," Ian said, and I looked around.

Ian had lead me to a small clearing surrounded by ancient trees, older than those that we had passed under to arrive by many years. It was incredibly quiet, even more so than the rest of the park simply because it was removed from civilization so dramatically, and I marveled. My eyes widened as I tried to take in the entire scene.

"Wow" was all I could say, and it seemed dreadfully inadequate.

"I think of this as my sanctuary. No one knows about this place except for meand now you know, Lady Sara."

I turned to face Ian.

"Why did you show this to me? I mean, surely there's someone that might appreciate it more?" I asked.

"You are the only person I can call a friend, Lady Sara, if I might be so presumptuous as to refer to you in that way," he said, looking down.

"That wouldn't be presumptuous, Ian, that would be normal. And please stop calling me Lady Sara. It gets kind of weird after a while. Just call me Sara, or even Pez if you want to."

He looked appalled at the very thought of calling me something so informal as Pez.

"Okay, not Pez, then. Just Sara will suffice. I'm not nobility."

"I was trying to show the proper respect," he said, a little confused.

"Just calling me by my first name shows plenty of respect," I assured him.

"Sara?" he asked a bit uncertainly, trying it out. "Could I ask you something?"
"Sure. Whatever you want to know, Ian."

"Why have you been calling me Ian only recently?"

"Come again?"

"Up until recently you were calling me Nottingham exclusively. Why do you suddenly start calling me Ian?"

"I have a habit of calling people by their last names. I'm a cop, Ian, and we don't use first names much. The only people that call me Sara are Irons, Joe Siri, and now you. Everyone else calls me Pezor Pezzini," I said, thinking of Dante but subtracting his added 't'. "It's getting dark. I think I should be headed home," I said.

"Would you like me to accompany you?" he asked.

"If you want to," I said. "But if you have to be somewhere—" I said, showing him my guns and, of course, the Witchblade, "—I think I can manage on my own."

Ian walked me to the park's exit.

"So, I guess you've got to go," I said.

"Yes. I hope to see you soon, L—Sara," he said with a slight smile. I had never seen him smile before. It certainly made him look less dangerous, and less brooding as well. I liked it.

"Well, good night, Ian. See you soon."

I had no idea how soon.