The Flames that Engulfed Us

Chapter 27: Lighting Up the Sky

Lincoln lifted me out of the car.

"If we're going to have eternity," he told me with a smirk, "I'm going to have to teach you how to get out of a car properly."

"I can get out of a car."

"No. You can fall out of a car. There's a difference."

He'd pulled me up so I was close to his chest. I looked into his eyes and watched the way my reflection shined in their playful mirrors.

"But I like how you pull me up." I pouted, watching as my puppy dog eyes went right to his heart.

"Fine," he said, already committed to losing the argument.

I smiled, kissing his cheek. "I love you."

"Love you too," he answered.

Treasa and Gary joined us. There didn't seem to be a reason we'd stopped in this specific spot. Lincoln pulled me into him. He must have noticed the way it didn't feel safe here. If Gary decided we weren't worth the effort, or if he decided Lincoln and Treasa were dead weight, there wouldn't be anything to stop him. I felt myself start to heat up.

Angel, I want to see how much you can do. I get the feeling it's going to be interesting.

I looked at Lincoln. He looked down at me, pulling me even closer into him. I leaned my head onto him, looking distrustfully at Gary. Lincoln was taking deep breaths, and suddenly I wished I could melt into him, become a part of him. I guess in a sense, I already was, but I meant that I wouldn't be an individual anymore. I wanted to be joined at the hip or whatever. From the way he held me, it didn't seem like he'd be opposed to that concept.

"Skylar," Treasa started, "I don't think he wants to hurt you."

She was right, but it went against my instincts to peel myself away from Lincoln. I clung to him, not willing to be on my own. Treasa was right.

"Do what he wants," Treasa started again, "it'll only get worse."

"Don't give him," Lincoln disagreed, using a word that sounds like "sheet," but is worse. I didn't like the way he swore, but it only made me cling closer to him then.

"Lincoln," Treasa tried to reason, "he'll use you as leverage, and I don't want that for any of us. Please just do as he says."

That's mama bear for you. But Lincoln was a bear of his own, and he only repeated the same thing levelly. He really didn't care about himself, did he? I couldn't let him get himself hurt for me again. I forced myself to step away from him, immediately regretting it as my side was exposed to the cold air, and his arm fell to his side. I wanted to rush back into his arms, but Gary's voice was in my head again.

Angel, I expect to be impressed.

Ha. All my teachers had expected that too, and I think they'd only ever been impressed by my ability to turn everything into a pun that was completely over the heads of everyone but them. I mean, it's not my fault that my classmates weren't into classic literature. 

What did he want? I had one trick that had worked up to that point. I let my skin burn, closing my eyes. He'd seen that trick before. I thought about it moving away from my body, and as I held my hand up, it all drained out of it. I looked at it, smiling at the compact orb that sat there. It looked like pure gold, but the buzzing of it in my hand wasn't that. It was an energy that I'd trapped there. I looked back at Gary. His expectations hadn't been met.

I felt it in my head, I felt it throb, completely under my control. I willed it to float, hovering in the air. What could I do? I let it shake, exploding into a burst of gold energy. It all separated and rained down, and I made sure it formed a dome, illuminating the sky more than it already was. I closed my eyes. I lifted my arms over my head, imagining a swirl of light overhead. I imagined it spiraling out, spilling back into me, and somehow, I felt that if it touched the ground, it wouldn't look quite so drab anymore. I let it exit through my feet, opening my eyes as waves of pee yellow rippled through the ground.

I blinked. Where the yellow touched the cracked soil and meager grasses, green plants sprung up from the ground. Flowers grew and bloomed. I could feel the energies getting further and further away, and I couldn't keep up the exertion of energy, and I let it fizzle out.

Lincoln met my eyes. He looked awe-struck, and then he saw my face and broke into a grin. I turned and walked to him. Then I wrapped myself in his arms, and he embraced me.

"You're amazing."

I didn't say anything I just let him hug me, and I forgot that anything else existed. Everything else reminded me of its presence though.

Nice trick, Angel.

Gary touched the ground, and everything withered and disintegrated. I guess that made sense. The point of us being here is that we wouldn't be traceable. A mile of grass in the middle of a wasteland would be suspicious. I let myself sink into Lincoln again, and Gary interrupted again.

But it's no more than a parlor trick. I'm not impressed.

I looked up at him, Lincoln's arms still around me. "Well," I said with a fake tone of happiness, "I don't know what more I can do for you."

I could provide some additional motivation.

Crap. Those were some crappy words. And when I opened my mouth I knew it wouldn't help anything.

"I don't know if I need that."

Gary didn't move for a minute. Angel, I've noticed something about you. You're good but resilient. That's not what I want. But if I even make a threat to threaten the Soul, you're the best I could hope for. You're obedient. I would think that your intelligence would lead you to try to downplay that relationship, but I guess it's so strong that you can't. None of this is your fault. You don't know anything about all this, but I'm going to teach you. But you need to try, and I don't see any other way to get you to do that.

He moved towards me, and I stretched my hands out. A thin dome spread over us, and Gary recoiled.

That's what I mean.

He retreated, but I didn't drop the defense. Lincoln held me even tighter and started to rock me back and forth.

"Sky," he soothed, "I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."

It didn't matter what he said. I wasn't going to stand by and watch him get hurt. Not because of me. Not when I could protect him.

The dome was taking my energy, just like a day at my high school used to. Soon, I was leaning on him for more than just emotional support.

"Sky, are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"It takes energy to do all this, doesn't it? Just let it go. We'll be fine."

I let the thing around us peel back, and I was prepared for some sort of attack, but there was none. I didn't know what to do, so I didn't do anything.

Follow me, Gary stated matter-of-factly, we're going to go on foot.