Gripping The Fire
Chapter 6
Kyle slept soundly in his comfortable bed. He was cuddled up under his thick comforter and made no movements except for the rising and falling of his chest while he breathed at a steady pace. He was suddenly stirred awake when he heard a ringing sound. He didn't think much of it except that it would stop soon. It did stop after a while, but then started up again 30 seconds later.
He opened his eyes and blinked several times to clear his eyes a bit. Sitting up, he looked around his room and allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark and then realized the ringing was his phone. He quickly reached for it and hit the talk button.
"Hello?" he answered sleepily.
"Kyle?"
Kyle rubbed his eyes. "Mika? What's wrong? It's 2 in the morning. Did you have another nightmare?" he asked.
"It's worse than a nightmare," Mika told him. She sounded like she had been crying.
"Mika? What's wrong? Were you crying?" he asked worriedly.
"I need to get out of here... I can't stay here anymore."
"Why don't you come over here?" Kyle offered. "You can stay here for a while until you're ready to go back home."
"I'm not going back home Kyle. I can't go back. Just... Can you come and get me?"
"Yeah. Of course I can."
"I'm at the 7-11 on Baker Street. Don't tell anyone where I am or where you're going ok?"
"Alright. I'll be there in 10 minutes."
They hung up and Kyle started getting dressed to leave. He quickly wrote a note on a piece of paper and placed it on his bed. It read "Went for a late night drive. Be back later. Kyle" He left it there in case his parents came in to check on him. On the way to get Mika, he flicked on the radio and the station it was on was talking about a house that caught on fire because of a mutant.
"The victims of this terrible tragedy are Cody, Marie, and Adrea Shore. The mutant has been identified as Mikael Shore, Cody and Marie's youngest daughter, who is the age of 15. She was last seen running back into the burning house. They're not sure if she is still alive, because there was an explosion after she ran in. The house is still on fire, but they are close to fully putting it out. That's all the information we have at the moment. We'll update more as we get more information."
Kyle's jaw dropped. He didn't know what to think. Mika was a mutant, and he DID see her holding fire at the park.
He pulled up to the 7-11 and saw Mika sitting against the wall with her knees up to her chest. She was wearing a white tank top and baggy strawberry pattern pajama pants. Her clothes were a little scorched, but they weren't burned and contained no holes.
Kyle quickly jumped out after he parked and ran over to her as she got up. He hugged her closely and she cried in his chest.
"I didn't mean to!" she mumbled through her tears.
"Shhh... It's ok Mika. You don't have to explain what happened," Kyle told her.
She pulled away and looked up at him. Her face was dirty and was streaked from her crying.
"I have to get out of here Kyle... I can't stay here anymore," she told him.
"Ok. I'll drive you wherever you wanna go."
"Anywhere. Just get me out of here," she cried. Kyle pulled her close to him again and then picked her up. He opened the passenger side door and set her inside and then ran around to the driver's side.
"I'll get you out of here," he told as he started up the car. He quickly pulled out of the parking lot and started for the nearest freeway.
They drove for two hours straight. Neither of them said a word the whole way. Mika cried silently off and on and slept for about half an hour during the trip. Kyle was sure to keep the radio off. Hearing something about what happened wouldn't be the best thing for Mika at the time.
The car stopped at a small motel around 4:30am and Kyle went in and got a room for them for the rest of the morning. Mika was sleeping at the time, but she didn't wake up.
After he went into their room and pulled back the blankets on one of the beds, he went back to the car to get Mika. Kyle carefully lifted her out of the car and she immediately cuddled closer to him and continued to sleep. He looked at her quiet form and sighed. 'I can't do this anymore,' he thought to himself.
He took her into their room and gently layed her on one of the two beds. He made sure to get a room with two beds because he wasn't sure if she would want to share one or not. If she didn't want to share, he didn't want to end up sleeping on the floor.
After he tucked her into the bed, he got into the other one and made himself comfortable. He was very tired, but he was afraid to fall asleep. He was worried about Mika. He was worried she might start a fire or something and he was also worried just about her. He wanted to make sure she was going to be ok. With every movement he heard coming from her, he looked over at her and held his breath for a few seconds, and when he realized she was fine, he would let out a sigh of relief.
Soon, he was no longer able to keep his eyes open and he began to fall asleep. When he was halfway asleep, he heard Mika stirring awake and then heard her get up. Kyle opened his eyes a little and watched the outline of her body while it quietly walked over to him. When she stopped in front of him, he scooted over and held up the blankets, offering to let her lay under the blankets with him.
"I'll be fine on top of the blankets," she said quietly. Kyle put the blankets back down and took her hand as she lied down next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled closer to him while he thought about what to say. Before he could say anything, she began to talk.
"So you know what I am?" she asked quietly. Kyle hesitated.
"If you mean do I know you're a mutant, then yes I know," he answered. Mika took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you... And I hope that doesn't change how you see me."
"You being a mutant doesn't change anything Mika. You're still the fun, sarcastic, and beautiful girl I knew and that's all that matters. You are who you are."
Mika stayed quiet. She was glad he still saw her the same way. She was actually very glad because he was all she had left. At least that's what she thought.
"Tomorrow we'll go to a store and get you some clothes ok?" Kyle told her. She half smiled. "No it's ok... I can just wear what I have on now."
"No really Mika. I'll get you some clothes. I don't think you want to walk around in your pajamas all day."
Mika sighed. "Ok. Thank you so much for being here for me Kyle. You don't know how much this means to me."
"You're welcome. I'm glad to be here for you," he replied. He took a deep breath and then yawned. " Ok let's go back to sleep now. I'm really tired."
"Ok. Goodnight."
"Night."
They both closed their eyes and fell asleep within ten minutes.
Mika woke up again around 8:30 that morning. She slowly became conscious of what happened and when she realized it, her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly. Looking around the room, she saw Kyle wasn't there. She slowly started to panic.
"Kyle?" she called. "Kyle? Are you in here?" She began to breathe hard as her thoughts began to run wild. She began to think he left her there. Something she was scared of the most now. Tears started to make their way to her eyes and then she saw him out the window. He was walking back from the office. Mika flung open the door and he quickly ran over to her when he saw she was about to cry.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he hugged her close.
"I woke up and you weren't there and I thought you might have left me," she explained.
"Oh Mika... I wouldn't just leave you. That would be so cruel. I just went to turn in the room key."
Mika took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly as she composed herself. She stepped back and looked up at him. "I'm sorry Kyle. I'm just... I'm really paranoid now. I'm scared of losing the last thing I have." She looked down at the ground and slowly turned around. Kyle watched her walk into the bathroom and shut the door. Once he heard the shower running, he sat down on a bed and held his head in his hands.
"What am I going to do?" he said aloud. He remained quiet for a few minutes as he tried to think of something. "I'm such a jerk!" he suddenly said. "Why did I do this?! Gah!" He stood back up and looked at himself in the mirror that hung above the desk. "I'm so stupid," he whispered. Just then he heard the shower shut off. He cursed under his breath as he walked over to the bed and sat down again.
He needed to call his parents and tell them he was ok and that he was going to be out for the rest of the day. He hesitated and then picked up the phone and dialed the number. His mother answered after the first ring and it turned out they were very worried. Kyle assured them he was fine and would be home that afternoon or evening.
Mika stepped out of the bathroom just as he hung up the phone. "Hey. Who'd you call?" she asked.
"My parents. I told them I'm fine and I'll be back later today."
"But what about me? I'm not going back there so what am I supposed to do?"
"Mika... You can't run away. You have to go back."
"No! I don't have to go back and I'm not going to!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm NOT!" Mika turned to run to the door but Kyle got up and blocked her. He grabbed her wrists when she tried to push him out of the way. "Let me go!" she screamed. "I'm not going back! You can't make me go!"
"Mika! Calm down!" Kyle said tightening his grip. She then started trying to hit him and screamed for him to let her go. Then tears came to her eyes and she began to cry as she gave up on trying to get past him. Kyle put his arms around her again and she cried into his chest.
"You don't know what I've been through Kyle! You don't know! I can't stay here! Don't make me stay! I'd rather die out in the world than stay with those people!" she cried.
Kyle felt terrible. He didn't know what to do anymore. He wanted to help her, but he needed to get back home before anyone suspected him of anything. He took a deep breath as he looked down her and then he slowly moves over to the nearest bed and sat down. Mika sat next to him and he still kept his arms around her.
"Here's what we'll do... We'll go and get you some new clothes and anything else you might need, and then we'll go and eat. We'll figure the rest out after that. Sound ok?" Kyle asked. Mika nodded slightly and sniffed every couple seconds. Kyle put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. He gently wiped away a few tears that were rolling down her cheek. "Don't cry Mika. Your face is too perfect to have tears running down it." Mika suddenly felt sadder and she tried to hold back from crying. She closed her eyes and when another tear escaped her eye, Kyle wiped it away and then made her head tilt up more to look at him. She opened her eyes and found Kyle looking softly into her eyes. He leaned down slightly and softly, yet passionately, kissed her lips. She wanted so much to just put her arms around him, but she held back. Tears began to fall again and she stood up.
"Don't... Just don't," she told him.
"Don't what?" he asked standing up also.
"Don't kiss me anymore. Don't do anything that shows how you feel about me. It hurts too much to know I won't see you after today."
"What do you mean? We just agreed to see how things go today."
"No. You agreed to. I didn't. I'm not staying here Kyle. I would rather die a horrible and violent death than stay and live with my 'family' for the few years before I can legally leave them. Don't try to talk me out of it Kyle. It won't work. I'm leaving no matter what."
Kyle just looked at her. 'Dammit!' he thought. 'She's becoming too independent and determined now for it to work.' He was finally seeing how much she wanted and needed to leave. She was definitely going to fight him if he tried to get her back, and that was something he didn't want.
He sighed loudly and threw his hands into the air. "I give up!" he told her. "Mika... There's something I need to tell you. You're gonna hate me after I tell you this."
Mika looked at him, confused about what would ever make her hate him.
"I played you... And I feel horrible," he said bluntly.
"What?" Mika asked raising an eyebrow.
"It was a bet. The guys betted that I wouldn't be able to get a sophomore to the dance, and get her in bed before that. I'm such a jackass for doing this. I'm so sorry Mika. Some of what I told you was true though! You are very beautiful, funny, and sweet. And you are definitely unique. I'm just not really interested in you."
Mika couldn't breath. She was afraid to. She felt angry and furious, yet sad. She couldn't believe he did this. She tried to keep everything inside, but she couldn't.
"How could you do this?! You came and made me think you liked me and made me want to be with you every second of the day! You got me to skip class! You got me to make out with you! You bastard!" she screamed. She clenched her teeth and her fists suddenly lit up with fire. "Why did I let you do that to me?! I would've never let anyone do that after what happened with me and Dwayne! How could I let you in?!"
"I'm empathic," Kyle said softly. Mika's eyes narrowed in on him. "You're a what?" she asked.
"I'm a mutant. I can control people's emotions, including mutants," he explained, his voice still quiet.
Mika could feel her anger boiling up inside her. How could she let her emotions be controlled? She knew that if you had a strong and independent mind, no one would be able to control you, but somehow she became weak. 'Maybe it's because I wanted so badly to get back at Adrea,' she thought. She suddenly snapped, yet again.
"You used your power to get me to like you?! Is that why you're so popular in school?! You made everyone like you?!"
Kyle remained quiet, indicating what she said had some truth to it.
"You disgust me!" she yelled. "I felt you were my only reason to be alive! I had nothing else to live for! Now I see it's just one big lie!" Mika pointed her hands at Kyle and the fire that rested on her hands flew over to Kyle and rested on his clothes and began chewing up the material. He quickly fell to the floor and began trying to put it out.
"Have a nice day," Mika said sarcastically. She then turned to the door and opened it. Turning back to Kyle, she said, "By the way... Adrea's telepathic and telekinetic. Might wanna tell people to watch out." Then she left the room and headed for the road.
"Mika!" Kyle yelled. "Come back! I told you I feel terrible and I'm sorry!" Once the fire was fully out, he ran out of the room and looked around for her. After not finding her, he went back into the room and dialed a number. "Yeah Mom... I'm coming home now. I'll be there in about two hours."
Mika sat quietly on the seat. She glanced at the man driving the big rig and then looked back at the road.
"Thanks again for letting me catch a ride," she said.
"You're very welcome," he replied.
"So... How far you going?"
"I'll be going as far as Reno," he answered. "So that's as far as I can take you. Is that ok?"
Mika smiled. "That's perfect," she said. "Just as long as I'm out of this area." She suddenly smiled to herself. She was happy she was finally getting out of town. Now she would no longer have to worry about Adrea.
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Coming Soon
Shapeshift My World- A continuation of Gripping The Fire.
Note From LegacyFPlus:
I'd just like to say thank you to Legend, who continuously bugged me to finish my first Mika story after she read the first couple chapters. I would also like to thank her for writing one of the dreams that Mika has for me. I suddenly hit a writer's block when I reached that part, and in order for the story to go on, she wrote it for me. ^_^ Love ya much Legend!