We were passing through a familiar woodland when I saw it. An old apartment building stood in a grassy clearing. I hated apartment buildings. Especially this one. This apartment building held memories for many people. It held so many bad memories for me. Things that I needed to forget.

I was looking for a plastic bag in the closet. My hair was short and messy; I wore a red shirt with a blue apron. In my hands was a red fox plush that was dressed like a pirate. I called him Foxy, after my favorite animatronic. I saw one and grabbed it. Underneath it was an old leather book. It was titled Liber mundorum omnium. I didn't know what it meant, but I put it in the bag, along with Foxy. I was about to head to the park (which was two blocks away, give or take), when she came.

"Carmine! Get the kettle ready!" shouted Mother.

Mother had brown hair and green eyes. She was wearing a yellow shirt with angel sleeves. and she was drunk again. She was going to make me put my hands in the boiling water.

"I'm going!" I replied.

I didn't want to put my hands in the water because it would hurt. Then again, she never checked if the water was boiling or not. I decided to pretend it was boiled.

After a few minutes, I headed to the living room with a bowl of room temperature water.

"You know what to do," she said, lighting a cigarette.

I placed my hands in there and pretended it hurt.

"If you and your brothers hadn't happened, everything would have been better. Your father would be here," she told me.

"I know," I replied.

"Then again, your brothers were always strange as well, weren't they, Carmine?" asked Mother.

"My name is Ace, not Carmine," I replied.

I could feel myself get hot with rage.

"That is a stupid name, Carmine. And as soon as you're ready we'll finally get rid of your stupid brothers. They were always so-"

"No," I mumbled.

"What did you say?" she asked.

I didn't reply.

"Answer me!" Mother scolded.

"NO!" I shouted.

I felt my blood boil. I took my hands out of the bowl.

"I'M DONE WITH YOU SAYING SHIT ABOUT MY BROTHERS! YOU DIDN'T GET YOUR HAPPY ENDING? YOU CAN TAKE IT OUT ON ME, BUT NOT ON EVERETT AND KAI!" I shouted.

She was angry. Mother grabbed the bowl and was going to splash it on me. Instinctively, I quickly moved away. The water landed on the table and the water literally made it melt. There was no way that the water could have heated up like that, even if I had boiled it.

Mother grabbed my wrist and picked me up. I grabbed onto hers tightly.

The next scene had left me terrified.

She immediately let go of me and let out a blood curdling scream. She was on fire. The flames were a beautiful blood red, but I knew better than to stay. The flames began to spread all over her body. I grabbed my plastic bag from earlier and ran out of the apartment. I ran until I had reached the outskirts of town. I dropped my bag and sat down on the ground

I began to breathe heavily and I could feel my heart wanting to burst out of my chest. She was dead. She was dead. She was dead. She was dead. I closed my eyes and curled into a ball. I felt warm in the middle of the cold night. I opened my eyes, only to see myself covered in the same red flames. It didn't hurt, but I was scared. I tried to think of something else and the flames went away.

I had been the cause of the flames. I picked up my bag and looked at the book. First goal: go somewhere safe and learn how to read. I swore to myself that I would never use those power things again.

"Um, hello? Earth to Ace? You okay?" said Ethan.

I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled.

My hand lit with the red flames I had once feared.

"I'm good. Let's finish this," I said.