Disclaimer: I only own Laira, her lyrics and my plot.

A/N: Ok, so here I am again! The last chapter was not my best and I thought it was kinda boring but I hope I'll get moving with the plot soon. I hope being the key words there. So yes, big plans for this fic hopefully they'll pull through for me. Thanks to the people who have reviewed so far, i really love the support and for all you people who are hits only - REVIEW DAMMIT! lol. Oh and for teh record, i reply to all signed reviews! Neways, on with the next chapter then, shall we?

Unnatural Fire

Chapter Two

Questions

The car door slammed behind me as I stared at the building before me, book clutched in my hand so hard that I seriously wondered if I was strangling it. Taking a deep breath and trying my hardest to prepare to present myself as something other then a complete psycho. Pulling my hand back, I knocked hard on the door and waited for a few moments. I heard rustling around on the other side before the door opened, revealing a man with longish hair.

"I'm looking for Issac Mendez." It wasn't a question. It was a flat-out demand and he seemed to know this.

"I'm Issac." He replied and stepped inside of what appeared to be a studio. There were canvases, paint and paintbrushes on every surface. I spun around the face him, thrusting the book into his hands roughly.

"Good, you have some explaining to do." He appeared confused and I opened the book to the pages which contained me in them. "You see this person? This person is me and I want to know how you know me." He feel silent for a moment as if contemplating his next words as if sensing that the wrong answer could result in death.

"I don't know you." He replied simply, studying the book. "I just draw the comics."

"Then how the hell did I end up in them?" I demanded. "You see this - the coffee thing? - well that happened to me today. And the band practice, that happened to. Care to tell me how?"

"Do you even have a name?"

"Laira." I replied briskly. "Laira Niac. And stop trying to distract me." He sighed and ran his hand through his long hair before making some noise with his mouth and turning to stare at me.

"You're gonna think I'm crazy." He warned, looking me straight in the eye.

"If it's any consolation, I already do." I said, and surprisingly not sounding like the bitch I thought I would.

"I can paint the future." He said, sounding completely sure of himself. "I don't know how, I just…….can."

"You're kidding me."

"I told you you'd think I'm crazy." I stopped and tried to think of something to say but all I could feel was a headache coming on and a strong desire for some painkillers.

"Look, according to your book, my apartment is going to go up in flames." I said, crossing my arms over my breasts.

"Then it's going to go up in flames." He replied as casually as if we were discussing lunch.

"Look, Issac - I've had a long day as you probably already know." I said, feeling defeated. "So I'm going to go home and pretend this never happened and your damn lucky because I don't like stalkers."

"I'm not a stalker-"

"Save it." I said, raising my hand to stop him from talking. "I'm going home. And I hope to hell that in your next book I'm not laying on my bed naked." Sure, I was being mean. I was tired and drained and bitchy and I didn't want to deal with this right now. So sue me. Without looking back at him I began to walk away.

"Hey, Laira." I turned around, an annoyed look coming over my face.

"What?" I demanded, thoroughly irritated that he was grinning at me.

"The apartment above me is for rent." He said, looking oddly smug before shrugging. "Just in case." I didn't reply just continued walking. I just wanted to go home, pour myself a couple drinks and watch reality television that I was too embarrassed to ever mention in daylight.

Slamming my car door and mentally apologizing to my car for the abuse it had suffered during the day I began driving home. True to my word within half and hour I was flopped out on my couch, a screwdriver in one hand, a remote in the other and the cat on my lap.

"I'm ashamed of myself." I groaned as I tried to tell myself to change the channel and stop watching American Idol. Wasn't going to happen. I downed my second drink and poured myself another, feeling a little guilty about the fact that I knew I had to go to school tomorrow morning. I was in a college program for Hairstyling which I actually really enjoyed. I mean, I play with hair and get paid. Not a bad deal.

By the end of the program I was on my fourth drink and more then a little tipsy, nearly tripping over the cat I walked into the hallway - and then the pain started. It was like a blinding pain in my head that made me scream and fall to the floor, clutching it in pain.

The room started spinning around me as I struggled to stay conscious, fighting in complete and utter vain. Fuck! Somewhere I could hear the car mewing, I heard the vodka bottle hit the floor and Issac's comic book flashed in my head. That was the last thing in my mind before everything went black.

Smoke?

I could smoke, but it wasn't the cigarette smoke I was used to. It was different, stronger.

These were the thoughts in my mind in that momentary period before you open your eyes in the morning. Your mind knows your awake but your body is fighting it. My eyes opened and I was greeted with the site of flames dancing in my vision.

With a startling realization I realized that they were no more then a foot away from me. I screamed and tried to get away, only hitting solid wall. The smoke was coming into my eyes, stinging them and making them water. Sammy was mewing somewhere but I had the feeling he was safe. He was a smart cat. I was in danger.

The flames danced closer to me, nearly touching my foot. I braced myself and waited for the pain but it didn't come and I stood staring at the flames brushing my skin, transfixed and morbidly mesmerized. Then I snapped out of it.

Doing the only thing that seemed to make any sense at that moment I ran into the small pool of fire around me, the flames momentarily brushing my skin before I landed on ground that wasn't burning. Coughing and disoriented I ran into my bedroom and grabbed whatever I could. Clothes mostly and my money that I had hidden in the closet. By now the flames were spreading, fueled by the spilt alcohol in the living room.

"Fuck!" I grabbed my purse and my phone and then ran into the hallway which had become a wall of fire. "Fuck!" Without thinking about anything other then my intense desire to survive the night I ran straight into that wall of fire. I couldn't see anything, only the orange and yellow glow as I ran like I never ran before. It seemed to take an eternity before I could see anything other then fire, fire and more fire.

I slammed into my door before throwing it open and dashing into the safety of the hallway. It was only then that I realized that the clothes I had grabbed were burning in my hands. I dropped them and stomped them out, water pouring my eyes.

"Help!" I yelled, not knowing what else to do. "Fire!" Within seconds people poured into the hallway, cell phones were ringing, people were grabbing me and I felt as if I was going to cough up a lung. The following events were sketchy but I knew that the firefighters came, extinguished the fire, saved my cat and some clothes and other valuables that had survived the inferno.

I called Jake and ended up spending the night at his place instead of my car, which was nice. I flopped down into the couch, still coughing quite frequently.

"You know, you could have poisoning from the smoke." He said, sitting beside me as I waved him off while simultaneously coughing so hard that I thought my lungs would cave in.

"I'm fine." I gasped between coughs, he handed me a glass of water and I smiled at him. "Thanks."

"Just try to get some sleep." He said, tucking the blankets around me as if I was a child. Then again, I was the youngest in my band, the baby they called me. "And feel free to stay here as long as you need to." I smiled at him before reaching up for a long hug.

"You rock." I said, kissing him on the cheek. Even always teased us about making a cute couple but we all knew that it was never going to happen. We were like family and any thought of me being in a romantic relationship with any of them gave me a feeling that one could relate to thinking about one's sibling. Ya, gross.

I flopped back on the couch and closed my eyes. As I did so, Issac's face and words came back to me. "The apartment above me is for rent. Just in case." Maybe he wasn't as crazy as I thought……….I mean, I had ran through fire, felt no pain and don't have a mark on me. I didn't know what the hell was going on, but it seemed to be linked to Issac Mendez somehow.

My eyes snapped open and I through the covers off me. There was no way in hell I could sleep with this weighing on my mind so I wasn't even going to attempt it until I spoke to him face to face. Grabbing my keys (which had thankfully survived) I walked past Jake who looked at me as if I had three heads.

"Where the fuck are you going?" He demanded. I couldn't blame him, if I was Jake I would totally think I was nuts.

"I need some questions answered." I replied. "And I think I know who has them."

"Laira, it's past midnight and your apartment just went up in smoke. Just try to rest." He said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder but I defiantly shook my head.

"No, I need to go." I insisted. "I'll be back soon."

"Laira, this is crazy." At this, I whirled on him. I told myself to shut up but I couldn't stop the next words from pouring out of my mouth.

"Look, Jake there is something going on and this guy is the only person who might know what it is. Jake, look at me! I ran through fire and I don't have a mark on me." I exclaimed. "I had to lie to the cops and say that I was careless and left a candle burning and that the flames didn't come near me. Fire was touching my foot and I don't have no burn, no nothing! So could you please just fuck off for a minute?" Looking taken aback and not knowing what to say he just backed away from me and let me out of the door.

I fired up my old car which was packed with some random things that survived and drove to Issac's, somehow remembering to address. I reached his door and, aware that I was probably really going to piss him off, started pounding on his door. I waited for a few moments before he opened the door, looking confused.

"Hi." I said, looking a little uncomfortable. "I know it's late but, can I talk to you?"

"Sure." He said, opening the door and letting me into the studio. I didn't really know how to start the conversation casually so I just went straight to the point.

"Look, about the apartment." At this, he laughed.

"Let me guess - it burned down."

"Something like that." I mutter, shrugging. "But there's more to that. I think something is going on with me. Something I can't really explain."

"There's been a lot of that going around these days." He replied, rearranging some paint brushes. "What happened?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy." I warned.

"If it's any consolation, I already do." I laughed at his repetition of exactly what I had said to him earlier that day. Well, yesterday if you want to get technical.

"I ran through fire and I didn't get burned." I said bluntly. "That and I don't know how that fire ever started in the first place." He remained silent for a moment as if weighing my words. "Issac…… can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Can you really paint the future?"

"Ya." He said calmly. "It started a little while ago. I thought I was going crazy at first but I slowly realized that maybe it was a gift. I don't even really try to do it, it just happens. A lot of people these days are discovering things about themselves they never knew."

"Do you……." I stopped for a moment, not wanting to sound like was a desperate freak. Oh hell, just say it. "Do you think I could be one of them?"

"Maybe." He replied. "But I know someone who can find out."

"Really?" I asked hopefully "Who?"

"His name is Mohinder Suresh." Issac answered. "A friend of mine knows him. He's some kind of genetic scientist from India."

"Where does he live?" I asked, sounding hopelessly like a little kid asking about the whereabouts of Santa.

"I don't know, but I'll bet Peter does." He rearranged some canvases before turning to look at me again. "If you want, give me your number and I'll get him to call you tomorrow. I mean, if the fire didn't destroy your phone."

"No, the phone lived." I said, pulling it out of my purse followed by a piece of paper and a pen. "Here, this is my number. My phone's always on unless I'm working which, in light of the situation, I probably won't be doing tomorrow." I said, handing him the piece of paper with my name and number scrawled across it. "Have him call me."

"Will do." He replied, taking it and shoving it in his pocket.

"Hey, you know what you said about the apartment above you being for rent?" I tried to bring the subject up casually but failed miserably. Not that I cared at this point, I just wanted to go to Jake's and sleep. It had been a really, really long day.

"Ya."

"Who do I talk to about renting it?"

"My landlord." Issac replied. "I'll let him know that someone is interested in it."

"Thanks…..and Issac……. I'm sorry about the whole thinking you were crazy thing." I apologized, throughly feeling like a bitch for the way I acted before. What can I say, I'm a soft-hearted person under it all. "I really am." He just waved me off.

"Don't worry about it. I get it from a lot of people at first." I laughed.

"Ya, I can see that happening. Anyway, I should get back to my buddy's. I'm crashing there for now but I hope to here from you soon. Who knows, we might even be neighbors." I turned away, throwing my bag over my shoulder and walking out the door into my car, feeling a little light hearted. Maybe I could get some answers to what the hell was happening after all.

With that thought in mind I went back to Jake's. He was still up and although he attempted to make it look casual I knew he was waiting up for me.

"Hi." I said, throwing the back on the ground. "Look, I'm sorry for earlier I just…… have a had a really, really, long day."

"No problem, Laira." He replied easily, getting up and giving me a hug. "It happens." I smiled and threw my arms around him, letting him comfort me and mentally wondering what the hell I would do if I didn't have my band. Probably nothing good. "Now, get some rest."

"Yes, Dad." I said, stripping off my shoes and socks before flopping onto his couch and snuggling under the blankets he had laying out for me. "Goodnight." I rolled over so that I was facing the back of the couch and found a comfortable position. Before I even knew it, Sammy was on me and purring and I fell into a deep sleep.

A/N:

A little bit shorter then my usual chapters but my next one should be longer because I have character introduction. And no, Laira does not end up being paired with Issac even though that was my original plan however that changed when I fell in love with Mohinder. That and the plot I have for Laira and Mohinder is better then the one I had for Issac anyway. Anyways, please R&R if you love me!