Fire

Chapter 5

"What are you?" I manage to find my voice, truthfully not sure if I wanted to know.

"I did not want it to come to this. You're not ready for the truth yet. Man he's going to kill me." David rakes his finger through his snow white hair twirling around his scepter furiously with his other hand.

Twirling it into a sheath on his side, he grumbles something else in the language I heard earlier before vanishing to stake out the island.

Left alone my eyes travel to the peaceful lapping waves. Up close and personal the loss crashes back on me. Did Sammy have some cool ice girl to save him? I doubt it but I choose to cling to the hope. Drowning in the ocean is far worse than Saint Jonathan's Rehabilitation Center for Troubled Men. I should have never gone with him that night. I knew he was trouble when I realized he escaped but he was my brother so I thought, why not?

"Say something... Please." Startled, I twist around to see David frowning deeper than usual, arms cross, concern plastered all over his face. I never heard him return, that was new.

"The island clear?" I can only imagine how raw and puffy my voice sounds as I wipe the streak of salt water off my face.

"Yes, for now. Are you okay?" Really, true, genuine, concern edged his voice for the first time.

"Just thinking of Sam." I cough, clearing my throat. I glance back towards the water, calmed by the sound of the lapping waves. "Do you know where he is?"

"Listen, I know it may be a lot for you too take in. I was under orders to simply watch over you, but then you found yourself alone in the ocean and attacked by púki's. It's okay to take a minute to process everything." He crosses the sand to crouch down in front of me. His words sound almost rehearsed. How often did he rescue mortals?

"So you don't know where he is?" I pull my legs tighter against my chest.

A long silence passes between us, I raise my head to catch David glaring accusingly at the ocean.

"So he is gone." Saying it out loud helped to make it seem real.

"Not necessarily." David mumbles, looking like he wanted to kick himself for offering some comfort. "Some things in this world are too wild for an average human to comprehend, but the world's still a big mysterious place. Anything is possible, I'm living proof of that, no?" That was the most reassurance I've heard from him. It's true, the world is a strange place and Ice Prince over there is indeed proof.

My hope for Sam being alive skyrockets again but somewhere deep down I think I would have rather accepted the fact that he was dead instead of lost and confused somewhere with something better or worse.

"Those things... thee um, fire troll, demon things. Are those type of things everywhere?" I ask, hoping they weren't. Sammy was clever but that doesn't mean he's a match to something so supernatural.

"Fire trolls?" That caught David's attention, not amusement so much as concern. Did I know something he doesn't? Did he not see them streaking through the forest? They were frozen, he knew they were they're. Was it something I wasn't supposed to be able to see?

"What exactly did you see out there Marcy?" The concern seeped into his voice. Confused I close my eyes trying to recall exactly what I saw. This is my chance to prove that I may not be a helpless average human being like he thinks I am.

"They were short, troll looking. They wore snakeskin caps and set the things they touch on fire." I state slowly, peeking to see how well I did.

David watches me calmly, giving me nothing to go on. A sinking feeling that I could have made it all up hits me, but what else could I have seen?