The Fire Starter

by Misty Wright

  THE FIRE STARTER

  MISTY WRIGHT & SUMMER SAUTEUR

  COPYRIGHT, LEGAL DISCLAIMERS AND NOTICES

  First published in United States of America

  Copyright © MISTY WRIGHT & SUMMER SAUTEUR 2012

  This Kindle book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright laws and Treaties. Any authorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. This is a work of fiction. None of its content is real. All names, places, and events are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real names, places, or events are purely coincidental, and should not be construed as being real.

  Don't Forget To Check The Rest of Other Novels by Misty Wright and Summer Sauteur Below

  Butterflies & Earthworms

  The Fire Starter (Count Draker Series)

  Turmoil's Love (The Agent Series) - Coming Soon

  Murphy's Cove (The Agent Series) - Coming Soon

  Deputy's Love (The Agent Series) - Coming Soon

  Jennifer's Infatuation (Crush Series) - Coming Soon

  Partner's Deal (Crush Series) - Coming Soon

  Assassin's Love (Assassin Series) - Coming Soon

  Hired Gun (Assassin Series) - Coming Soon

  Natural Heart (Wild Heart Series) - Coming Soon

  Legal Disclaimer and Terms of Use: The Author and Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this book, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet. While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, the Author and Publisher assume no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organizations are unintentional.

  The author, publisher, and distributor of this product assume no responsibility for the use or misuse of this product, or for any physical or mental injury, damage and/or financial loss sustained to persons or property as a result of using this product.

  The Publisher and the Author make no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this product, and legal responsibility or liability cannot be accepted by the Author or the Publisher for any errors or omissions that may be made or for any loss, damage, injury or problems suffered or in any way arising from following the advice offered in these pages.

  The material contained in this publication is provided for information purposes only!

  Printed in the United States of America

  This book has been produced for the Amazon Kindle and is distributed by Amazon Direct Publishing

  DEDICATION

  I am grateful for ~

  The Inspiration for this book; Summer Sauteur who filled up the blanks and connecting those dots; my wife, Esther for her patience and graciousness, my 3 beautiful kids, Elysia, Elgin and Elnus for sharing their own little stories during their bedtime.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 - A New Leaf

  Chapter 2 - Outsmarted

  Chapter 3 - Comfortable

  Chapter 4 - Break the Law

  Chapter 5 - That School

  Chapter 6 - Expelled

  Chapter 7 - Clutches of Sleep

  Chapter 8 - The Presence of Magic

  Chapter 9 - A Slow, Painful, Torturous Process

  Chapter 10 - Imagining Things

  Chapter 11 - Dispel the Burning

  Chapter 12 - The Fire Starter

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Contact

  Prologue

  My feet hurt. Who told me to wear six inch stilettos and drink until everything around me was spinning? No one. But it was fun anyway. The added height made me a six-footer for the night. I laughed at all the boys who were suddenly shorter than me and flirted with those who were taller.

  As I downed the glass of champagne that had found its way into my hand, I giggled, watching everyone dancing. I didn't think I'd enjoy this party, considering that I was just dragged by my parents in here for some sort of family appearance. But that didn't stop me from having fun. Besides, they're too busy talking with their business partners anyway, and they can't keep an eye on me all the time.

  I had managed to get rid of my chaperone, a guy about twice my age whom they had insisted I bring as my date. I didn't really like him and he smelled like gasoline. The guys who were throwing me flirtatious looks over by the paintings were much, much better. I winked at them, and one was heading towards my direction immediately, unable to resist a pretty face in a little black dress.

  I pretended like I didn't care, but he was just so gorgeous that I wanted to take him home with me. The giggles came again, and was starting to realize I was as drunk as I could ever be. There's something in my throat that wants to come out. It didn't taste good. I realized I'm dizzy. Just as the guy reaches the table I was standing ubeside of, I held onto his arm.

  "Hi," he said with a flash of perfectly white teeth.

  I managed to say hello before I let all the alcohol I had drank out of my stomach and straight onto his expensive looking suit.

  ### I groaned at the memory. It was all I could remember. What had happened anyway? Did the guy slap me? There was something painful on my arm and my cheek. One quick look in the mirror by my bed confirmed that I had been slapped and probably manhandled. But I highly doubt it was that guy's doing.

  Everyone at that party knew who I was. I was Kayleigh Woodcomb. The name would surely have everyone cringing. Woodcomb. Nobody wanted to mess with anyone with that name. And my parents were there too. Surely that guy would be smart enough not to do something harsh to me while in the presence of my parents.

  Which made me rethink where the bruises on my arms had come from. It was not the guy who had done this to me. It must have been my mother. She must have seen me throwing up in the middle of the room and dragged me out of there before I could disgrace the ever important Woodcomb name further. I ran my hand through my hair and sure enough, locks of it fell out from where she probably had pulled them.

  I hate them. I hate this life. I hate everything. I hate being a Woodcomb. The first thing I plan to do when I leave this house is change my name. I don't care if I have to marry a beggar to do it. That's the plan.

  Standing up was painful and everything was still spinning, but I had to leave. I knew what was coming when they got home from work again. Another round of scolding, of telling me how my reputation affects them, how my actions are always wrong, how I'm the worst daughter they could ever have hoped for. Too bad I'm the only one you've got, huh? I opened my laptop and got to work. I caouldn't leave this place without a plan.

  Renting a place would be like telling them I've just gone on a picnic and asking them to take me home at five o'clock. I needed something more permanent, something they couldn't easily find. Something like a secluded school, maybe.

  I'm not a genius with computers, so when I typed 'secluded boarding schools' on my search engine, I was lucky to have found some prospects. In the haze that was my mind, something stood out.

  The website looked okay, but the pictures screamed boring. It was not the kind of school you would willingly go to. It was the kind that your parents shipped you to in the hopes that you would learn some manners. It was the no-phones-allowed-and-strict-schedule kind of school. Just the place I need
ed to get away from my parents.

  I jotted the name down on a piece of blank paper on my desk and began packing my things. Hurry up, Kayleigh. You need to be gone before the vultures get back.

  Chapter 1 - A New Leaf

  It was hard finding the path, which was off the highway, and the driver was already irritated with me. I insisted this was the right way, since it was what the discreet email had told me. Now that I could see how old and ludicrously plain looking the castle in the distance was, I knew I was right.

  I have to admit, I paid the taxi driver half-heartedly. Here you go, because despite your constant complaints, you still got me here. I added a generous tip though, since I knew he deserved it. He went through all the effort anyway, and I wouldn't be able to get here if not for him.

  Now that the pleasantries are over, I contemplated on how I would manage to get all of my luggage inside the castle without breaking my arms. I had taken as much of my things as I could, and they were all crammed into three huge carry-all bags deposited by the taxi driver beside me. With a tip of his makeshift beret, he murmured his goodbyes and rode his battered vehicle, making his way out of this path, eager to see the road again.

  There was a tall, gray gate before me, and it was the only thing stopping me from getting inside the castle--that and the heavy luggage, of course. Let's not forget the luggage.

  Damn, who would position a buzzer this high? I asked myself as I strained to reach the white toggle button, my wedges sinking into the soft earth underneath the grassy area under my feet. If I couldn't get my hands on that buzzer, I wouldn't be able to inform anyone inside that I was here, stranded.

  Maybe I should just leave my luggage and get inside first, and then ask for some help. Good idea, except that still presented the dilemma of asking someone to open the gate. Thus, I returned to the issue of the buzzer gingerly. But just as I was about to press it, the gate opened, much to my relief.

  Thank God, I muttered under my breath. As the gate opened, the wooden-looking old-fashioned door at the castle 50 meters in the distance opened and a tall, lean boy appeared to be running towards the gate. That must be my cue.

  I lifted one of the heavy bags and cursed at its weight. How I had ever loaded it alone in the taxi, I couldn't remember, but that's what happens when you're angry. You are able to do things you can't normally do. For me, that's carrying three heavy, oversized travel bags without wincing at their weight. Trust me, if you had parents as irritatingly obnoxious as mine, you would do miracles just to get out of their grasp.

  And that's exactly what I had done. They had planned for me to go to Harvard, but I never agreed to it. Not that it mattered anyway. While you are in the Woodcomb manor, their words were orders. Everyone had to obey, including their one and only daughter--me--whom they never listened to. What I wanted to do with my life, they had no idea. They never cared, never even pretended to care.

  So I packed my bags after finding a school that they would disapprove of. And I found this, Draker Institute. It was something better in the sense that it was a school in a hard to find location, one where they wouldn't be caught dead in. Of course they could still send their men in to get me, but I'll worry about that later. Hopefully, by the time they realize I have gone, I will have made enough friends to hide me from them. That's about a month or so, give or take a few weeks, since they were always away and barely paid me any attention.

  Let's not even talk about the friends I had left back home. They were not the friends you'd miss. Sure, I loved them once, but that's all behind me now. Now that I realize how shallow they are, how they love to play games at the expense of others, how they broke the law and pinned others to take the blame, those were all things I would rather not remember. Did one particular friend of mine steal my boyfriend? No, but she did sleep with him countless times while I was unaware. He chose me in the end, but the damage had been done. I can never trust any of them. They were never my real friends anyway.

  "You must be Kayleigh," came a cool, calm voice before me. I looked up and realized that the boy who had come out of the castle had already reached me.

  He wasn't even panting, which made me curious if he was an athlete or not. He had the body--not muscular, but with enough flat muscles that one could get with careful exercise. Plus, he looked cute too. His clear blue eyes made me smile unexpectedly; they were warm and welcoming, completely unlike this place that suffocated me. His hair was a longish black hue, which framed his face perfectly. He was extending his hand for me to shake.

  "Yes, I'm Kayleigh," I replied, though it was already delayed.

  "Welcome to Draker," he smiled, his eyes crinkling with friendliness. "I'm Reid, the council president."

  Without warning, he took the bags I had, all three of them, in one hand and led the way, walking slowly so I could catch up. He didn't even seem to flinch with the weight of the three heavy bags.

  "Some rules," he began, not seeming to have any problems walking, talking, and carrying my things while looking gorgeous. "No one is allowed to go into the forest. Don't invite outsiders into the castle, and don't loiter at night."

  Those were pretty simple rules, I mulled. I nodded, keeping all of them in mind. In this new place, I will try my best not to break any rules, not like in my old school where I have broken practically every rule.

  The castle was just in front of us, its turrets extending upwards in a prideful manner. Reid walked to the wooden bridge connecting the land we were on to the castle, which was circled by a moat of about two feet in width. I hesitated to follow him, as the bridge looked weak, but surprisingly it didn't give any groan under his weight combined with my bags, so I figured it was safe.

  On the other side, he took the skeleton key from his jacket pocket and opened the steel--not wood, as I had assumed earlier--door into a well-lit corridor. "Welcome to Draker," he cheered.

  There was no one to welcome me, which was fine by me anyway. I didn't want to be considered all special. I've had all that in my previous life, and this is a new leaf. I needed to be normal, not some rich, influential family's only heir. "Thanks," I replied warmly.

  The corridor led to different hallways, one to the left, one straight ahead, and one to the right. On either side of the walls were two imposing staircases. Reid motioned towards the left one. "This is the West Wing, where the girls' rooms are."

  I followed him up; again marveling at his strength as my bags bounced with each step he took upwards. He walked in silence, probably testing to see if any of the girls were ogling at him from their doors, because he was that ogle-worthy.

  "This is your room, number twelve," he stopped at a door with the number written on a brass plate. He used the skeleton key once more and ushered me in.

  It was a huge, if not grand, room, with a four-poster bed in the middle and a canopy of draperies tied around it, their ends gathered at the top in a tent-like manner. The wall opposite the bed was lined with a spotless mirror where I saw my green eyes widen with awe. My reddish brown hair fell in waves over my shoulders and I noticed Reid looking at me through the mirror. I looked back, holding his gaze for a minute, wondering what he was thinking, and then he unexpectedly smiled, a warm, pleasant smile, innocent and captivating at the same time.

  He picked up the bags he had left by the door, put them on the divan at the foot of the bed then handed me my room key. It was an old-fashioned key with the number twelve written plainly on its hilt. I put it on the dresser table conveniently located within an arm's length as I surveyed the remainder of the room, the heavy curtains blocking the sunlight from filtering in through my room. I pulled them back, amazed at the sight before me. The moat, the gate, and everything beyond it I had not noticed before stood welcoming, causing a connection with this new place. There were flowers blooming in every color and the water in the moat was a beautiful shade of blue, just like Reid's eyes.

  "I hope you're hungry," I didn't notice Reid was still here, and he caught me by surprise. I looked towards his dire
ction as he was surveying one of the paintings lining the wall.

  "Why?" I asked, curious.

  Just then, the bell struck the hour. It was one o'clock.

  "Because it's time for lunch," he smiled at me, beckoning me to follow him out of the room. "The dining hall is on the first floor, at the corridor below this stairs. You won't get lost," he reassured, as if he knew this already.

  I nodded mutely, not eager to show myself in the middle of the hall where hundreds of people would be looking at me curiously, murmuring about the new girl, talking in hushed tones as they recalled what they had heard about me.

  "Don't worry, the students here are really nice," Reid reassured me, but to no avail. The thought of eating alone on my first day in with pairs of eyes looking at me with judgment had already ruined my appetite. Reid seemed to notice my apprehension, as he put a hand on my shoulder. "Just sit with me, okay?"

  That sounded like a good plan, sitting with the council president. He could reprimand anyone who badmouthed me.

  But you're in a new school, Kayleigh. Don't preach about people being judgmental when you're also judging how they will act. Just try and be cool. Ignore all that need to be ignored. It was a plan simple enough.