Wild Fire

by Heather Glidewell

  ****

  I felt like we were being used as nothing more than a glorified welcoming committee. When something came to town we were supposed to hunt it down and find out if they were with or against us. So far every being that had made their way to Harrisville had been an ally. However, I had got pretty good at handling my mother’s broadsword.

  We entered the manor with the warlock trudging behind us his head bowed as he was introduced to my mother. She gave him a warm smile and reached out to take his hand.

  “Welcome.” She said sweetly her eyes flickering and she nodded at me. The warlock was as he said. I rolled my eyes, for once I would give anything to find a creature out there that wasn’t an ally.

  The warlock turned to nod at us as my mother led him to the backyard to be introduced to the others of his kind. Hopefully someone out there would be able to assist him in finding his place in the world. I think out of all the allies that we had seen over the last few weeks we were receiving an increased number of hybrids. The Queen was quite particular about who she wanted in her world and these were the ones that did not make the cut. These were the bad experiments, those that did not take the blood mix correctly creating unnatural creatures many of which could not complete a full transformation.

  We had second, third, and fourth generation element carriers. These men, woman and children were trained in element usage as well as hand to hand combat. Even when their stamina was at its peak there was no way that they could hold out as long as the three of us. So they needed to learn how to protect themselves between recharges.

  We learned one thing about the fourth generations, though their powers were weak compared to the others, if us or another touched them they were fully charged in seconds. For a few moments they were able to pull power from us and amplify what they already knew how to do. Shawn found this fascinating and would run by charging the other Carriers to see what they could do.

  We had started a chain of command of our own when it came to the shard carriers. First generations we kept listed as Carriers, seconds were Lieutenants, thirds were Sergeants, while fourths and below were considered Privates. This was our way of knowing who was what. In a way it helped us to understand the powers that were living in the compound.

  There was another amazing discovery when it came to the shards. They were not just inside mortals they were also inside of the supernatural and the paranormal. We had a member of the fae that was able to work water as well as any second generation, a warlock that could manipulate the weather similar to Krista. It was all amazing how this little world worked.

  The backyard was full of tents and other temporary homes. We had classes and sessions told war stories and roasted hot dogs on an open fire. We were large and continually growing. With each new being came a new gift. Angels and Demons remained silent for the most part. Occasionally we would hear that a being was sent by Ramiel or Mara but for the most part they followed a feeling. When the stories started to hit the Underground about the Hybrid Queen many felt compelled to find the Wardens. Those that knew of the element shard within their core ran for aide when the ones that were unknown began to die around them.

  My father’s plan to remove Wesley from the New Mexico location was taking a little more time than they imagined. They needed stronger warriors, those with training. So far we had a total of six “elite warriors” as my father called them. Men and women that were bred to fight many of them with demon blood running through their veins.

  “Max!” My mother called running up to a man with blue hair and hazel eyes. Max had been our first warlock to come to the compound, he was amazing with his power and wowed us in the first hour of his presence.

  “Angie.” He said with a smile turning to look at her and our new ally running towards him.

  “Max this is...” She paused. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask your name.” She turned to our friend and frowned.

  “Jeremiah.” The man said giving her a nod in understanding.

  “Max this is Jeremiah, he is new to the manor. Dawn and the girls picked him up in town. He’s a shifter.”

  Max’s eyebrows raised. “Oh. Welcome Jeremiah. Please come with me I will introduce you to the others.” He took the other man by the shoulders and led him to a small group of beings with multicolored hair and odd colored eyes. My mother turned to me and smiled.

  “I’m so proud of you girls.” She said touching me on the cheek smiling with approval.

  “Yeah. We do what we can.” I said shrugging. I longed for that first real battle, one where I could try out my new skills. However I had a feeling that was coming soon enough.

  “I think someone inside is waiting to see you. It’s getting late anyway you and the girls need to get to bed.” She said walking past me. I looked back towards the house and taking off into a sprint. I tore into the living room and dived over the back of the couch landing on top of Adam.

  “Well hello there. It’s great to see you guys made it back ok.” Adam said wrapping his arms around me. “So I take it another mouth to feed?”

  “Yeah. For once I would like to actually be able to use the sword instead of just using it as a boomerang.” I groaned rolling off of him and onto the floor. “What are you watching?”

  “Some movie about the rise and fall of Rome. I think I fell asleep somewhere between the first five minutes and the last half hour. I have no clue what is going on.” He laughed rubbing his eyes. “I tried to stay awake to see you when you got home.”

  “I’m here.” I grinned at him.

  “Your mom said it won’t be long till I can go out with you. She wants me to build just a bit more confidence. Apparently I’m still a bit jumpy when I see all these beings coming to the house. The vampires bug me the most, they look at me like I’m their next meal.” He sat up making room for me to sit on the couch.

  “It’s not that interesting yet.” I said jumping back on the couch and wrapping my arms around his. Adam and I had a special relationship. I did things with him that I didn’t even do with Aaron or Wesley. The thought of both of them made my heart hurt. I was still dealing with the emptiness inside of me. Even though Adam had a way of making it better, he didn’t mend the void that had been created from losing both of them.

  “You heard from Aaron?” He asked me. It was as if he knew my mind was wondering. I shook my head. It had been two weeks since the last email interaction and nearly three since Aaron last called. “Don’t worry he will come around.”

  “I don’t think so. Edmund made a trip to see him and said that he was doing well even made friends with a young girl his age. I think I have officially been forgotten about.” I sighed. I knew it was coming. I was ready to become a memory, at the same time I was finding myself counting the days till I saw him again. Edmund had said that it would be sooner than later. He still would not tell me what Adam and his family had become no matter how hard I pressed him for more information.

  “Well it was worth a shot.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “You want to watch Halloween and pretend to be scared?”

  “You always know what will make me feel better.” I laughed as I got up to find the DVD amongst the stacks that we had accumulated since the start of June.

  Shawn had made several trips back to Midvale to check on things. The house was untouched and little by little he managed to bring back our clothes and other essentials. This included the collection of about a hundred movies that my mother and I had purchased while we were still in Texas.

  The murders, for the most part, had stopped. Everything was functioning as it had before my mother and I ever lived there. People were not concerned with the empty house, they thought that we were taking care of a family member which is what the high school had thought when they sent me my diploma and a letter of acknowledgment.

  “You know we still haven’t celebrated your graduation and your birthday is coming up.” Adam said as I popped the movie int
o the player and grabbed the remote.

  “Yeah well I’m turning nineteen I’m not too concerned with it.” I said quietly. “Besides I’m going to start ageing slower soon so every year isn’t going to matter if I’m celebrating my twentieth for fifty years.”

  “We don’t know that yet.” Adam groaned as I crawled on the couch and put my head on his shoulder.

  “Mom said she hasn’t aged in eighteen years.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Again pureblood versus half blood.” He poked my arm and I growled at him playfully.

  “This is our celebration.” I said groggy as the warmth that was Adam overwhelmed me. “You sleeping with me tonight?” I asked yawning.

  “If that is what my lady wants that is what my lady gets.” He said all suave, I wanted to smack him upside the head.

  “I just sleep better when you are in there.” I cuddled up closer and felt his heart quicken.

  “Yeah that’s because I’m oozing with awesomeness.” He laughed. “You just wish you were as awesome as me.”

  “Oh please.” I groaned.

  “No really.” He gave me a squeeze. I was concentrating on his heart pounding like it was about to break through his ribs. “I am the most awesome of the awesome.”

  “Yes.” I said as if I was caving. “Please share with me your awesomeness.”

  “One day sweet princess one day.” He squeezed me again.