In the distance, the sound of clanking metal echoed through the furnace. The heat flared brighter.
Taggerty had turned up the heat. Andrew could see the old man's furrowed face through the furnace teeth. What was he waiting for?
Andrew turned around, painfully, slowly. The fire children had pushed themselves against the wall, protecting Andrew.
"Where is she?" Andrew asked.
The children stopped singing.
"Lithe! Where is Lithe?"
"You freed her," a voice whispered. A small fire child of about three or four stepped out of the crowd.
Andrew's breath caught in his throat. "She didn't come back to you?"
The children shook their heads.
Andrew knew what that meant. Lithe was gone forever, erased.
"Make me one of you," he said. "Let me into the fire world."
The children did not answer. They looked terribly sad.
"Go on!" Andrew shouted. "Burn me! I don't want to stay here!" he held out his arms. The children backed away to avoid him. No matter, the oxygen was almost gone. Andrew began to cough. His throat and eyes stung, terrible pain met at every corner of his body.
He turned to see Taggerty. The old man shouted through the vent, mouthing something Andrew could not understand.
"I said, do it!" Andrew coughed.
The small fire child watched Andrew. "She does not wish it."
"Who?"
The crowd of children parted. A woman appeared. She was regal, proud. She had the coloring of flaming red sparks and a crown of blue flames atop her head. She regarded Andrew without speaking.
Behind the door, Taggerty began to pound. He struggled with the lock.
"It's her!" he yelled. "My love!"
YOU ARE READING
The Song of Burning Souls (COMPLETE)
ParanormalThe song haunted Andrew's dreams. Then he found the singer: Lithe-a girl made of flame who lives in the vents of his apartment building. Slowly, she shows him the fire world, a brilliant place where there are no lonely winters. But these glimpses ar...
