Chapter Six:
The Greyhound tore down the highway as swiftly as its bulk would allow.
The passengers seated within were comfortable; the bus was just over half full.
Signs showing names of other towns and small cities were ignored by travelers eager to reach their destination. As they moved past, the numbers ticked down the miles to Chicago like timer of an active bomb...falling from three digits...to two digits...
But Charlie did not see any of this...
Charlie was dreaming...
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It is cold. In dreams, you were not supposed to feel things like that, but she did.
Charlie feels the cold. It is wonderful. Falling snowflakes touch her face softly, not melting, but freezing over her skin. The landscape around her is blanketed in white. The great trees have lost their leaves to autumn, and not to a scorching flame.
There was no fire that could destroy the beauty around her. Not here, not in this world of ice. Here she is safe...here, she is free.
Charlie feels tears mix with the frost beneath her eyes. She holds out her arms, and watches as snow began to cover her gloved hands.
Then, she notices something else in the snow, a dark shadow against the sea of white. The creature is stalking slowly toward her, and Charlie can hear the wolf's low growl. She takes a step back, and holds her hands up defensively, but there is no heat in them. The wolf picks up its pace, and Charlie begins to run.
The trees pass by her in an unnatural blur. Her bare feet are torn painfully by the dense, frozen underbrush.
She reaches inside herself to call out her power. Fire...she needs fire now...where is it...where is it...when she needs it...it does not come...
Charlie hears the wolf getting closer, and begins to panic at her own helplessness. She has never been unable to defend herself before.
Suddenly, the forest ends, and the dense snow disappears with it. Charlie continues to run forward across a barren field, and her feet touch soft, tilled earth. She stares out over the new land with terror. There is no place to hide here...there is no place to go.
Behind her, she hears the wolf.
It is crouching at the edge of the snowy forest, pacing back and forth but never taking its eyes from its prey. Charlie winces painfully as the wolf begins to howl in one long, piercing tone.
From within the trees, another figure appears. Charlie stares at the man and feels new fear rise in her chest. The man barks a few indiscernible orders to the wolf, which trots obediently to his side.
The man is broad, with close-cropped hair, wearing a military uniform. He grins menacingly at her, squinting as if he may need glasses at some point in the near future. He reaches down, and pets the wolf lovingly. He whispers inaudibly to the creature, and then calls out to her.
"We'll find you, Charlie! The rows can hide you if they're dead! We'll find you, Charliiiiiiiieeeeee..."
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The sound of her own name rang in her ears as she woke from the dream.
A long, high-pitched scream...that was suddenly joined by other screams...
Charlie opened her eyes, and realized with horror that they were coming from the other passengers. The rear of the bus, where she was now sitting, was quickly catching on fire.
Many of the travelers were on their feet, rushing away from the heat and flames. They stumbled over each other to evacuate the bus, as the driver pulled over in an ungraceful panic.
Charlie sat for a moment, waiting for the others to exit the bus completely, and then hung her head. She felt warmth rush into her face as she began to cry. A deep shame fell over her heart, and she wept within the fire. After another moment, she got to her feet and closed her eyes. By the time she opened them again, the fire was out, snuffed by her cursed ability.
With one strong kick, she sent the charred emergency exit flying from its hinges. She pulled her remaining luggage onto her back and jumped down to the ground. Several of the passengers watched with horrified shock as the young woman stepped out of the burning bus, unscathed.
They gave her a wide berth as she walked away from the main highway, into the growing darkness. She still heard their panic, even when she was out of sight.
After a while, she came to another large road and finally noticed a green directional sign in the distance.
Chicago, 10 miles, it read.
Charlie ground her teeth, and shook off any lingering emotion about what had just occurred on the bus. It did not matter, in the end. No one would remember the one passenger who had disappeared during the incident. A few would not want to find her...ever...after what they had seen.
So, Charlie began to walk, as she had a hundred times before, moving north...towards the city...
