Page 14 of His Blazing Witch (The Silver City #3)

"A bit too much, maybe."

She pouts, with the beginning of a smile.

"Don't mock me... It was a really shitty night."

"Alright, you big crybaby. So what happened next and how the hell did you start keeping my sister updated?"

She lets out another long sigh, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

"As I said, your sister didn't arrive until the next day, but she was pretty panicked... That's the only time Iˇve seen her panicked, actually. She was really worried for you, it seems. I explained everything I knew to her, and she harassed the medical staff for a while after that."

I can imagine that easily. I did see some of the nurses were nervous whenever my sister was around, let alone those who basically cleared the ward whenever she came. Same for the doctors, actually. It takes a werewolf Alpha or Luna to not be afraid of Amy Garnett and her army of lawyers, from what I have seen. It explains why Kelsi isn't too intimidated by her, though, if she saw Amy be more... human.

"That's... kind of how it started."

I raise my head, a bit confused.

"What? What do you mean?"

"The texts, with your sister! She asked me to keep her informed of your state because she couldn't stay any longer after a couple of days... At that time, I really didn't think much of it. I thought it was just informing a parent, no big deal. The thing is, I kept doing it for weeks until you woke up. That's when it really started. One day, she asked me why I wasn't sending her more updates if you were alright, so I told her that I thought you were fine, but she should come more often because I wasn't too... comfortable on keeping that up."

"Then?"

Kelsi hesitates, biting her lower lip and avoiding my gaze.

"Kelsi, what did my sister do?"

"...She said she'd pay me if I kept... updating her..."

I slam my mug on the table.

"Kelsi, seriously?!"

"Don't get mad! I swear, I wanted to refuse, but... she really insisted, and I didn't think there was anything wrong with updating her, it just kind of went a bit overboard..."

"You shouldn't have taken any freaking money!" I yell back.

She grimaces, looking down and really sorry. I'm mad at her, but before I say anything else, I see Ben sit up, half-asleep, staring at us with a sour face.

"Hey, girls... If you want to fight, can you do it in your bedroom? I'm trying to sleep here..."

We both glare at Ben, and he shrinks on the couch, grabbing his blanket a bit awkwardly.

"O-okay, I guess I'll just... go back to... sleep... quietly..." he mumbles.

However, something catches my attention behind him. Why is it so bright outside? I exchange a glance with Kelsi, and we both rush to the bay window to see what the heck is going on. Ben sees us walk past him, and frowns, following us too.

"It smells like..." he whispers.

"...A f-fire?" mutters Kelsi.

We both freeze in front of the window, completely out of words. It's... a fucking nightmare.

A fire. A gigantic fire is happening right under our eyes, in the building directly next to ours. The flames are devouring at least two levels already, and the black smoke covers the upper levels. Kelsi gasps.

"Oh, God..."

"Shit," says Ben. "The firefighters, we gotta call theMara, fuck, no!"

It's too late; I'm already running outside.

"For Moon Goddess' sake, Mara, you can't!" Ben yells behind me.

I'm already smashing that stupid button to call the elevator, impatient. Why can't this damn thing come any faster? I run to the stairs, the two of them following me.

"Mara, you're going to get in trouble!"

"You two were with me before that fire started, you know it wasn't me!" I yell back.

All three of us are running down the stairs as fast as we can, I'm focusing on not breaking an ankle. Why the hell is the apartment so high?! I hear the two of them trying to catch up to me. Ben is fine but I can hear Kelsi losing speed and running out of breath quickly; she is not good with exercise.

"You're supposed to stay the fuck away from these kinds of things!"

"It's a fire, Ben, a building on fire with people inside! I'm a Fire Witch, when am I supposed to do anything if not now?"

"You're not supposed to do anything!"

"That is not what I decided!" I retort back.

If I could, I'd glare at him but for now, I'm just glaring at those endless damn stairs. I don't care what the werewolves or anyone else says. I am not sitting back and doing nothing when people are in danger right under my nose!

We finally run out of the emergency exit, and immediately, we are faced with a gigantic blaze. I hear Kelsi gasp behind me, and I'm just as shocked. How did the flames even get that tall? The building next to ours is about ten or twelve floors high, and the flames have already engulfed up to the fourth floor. Some windows have shattered and are letting out thick plumes of black smoke. It smells horrible, and there is a ruckus outside. The inhabitants of the building who managed to evacuate are gathering in the parking lot. A lot of them are in their pajamas, looking up at the fire and in a state of total panic. I hear people crying and screaming, some pointing their fingers up.

Ben and I exchange a glance. He knows we can't possibly go back, not after we just witnessed this. He shakes his head and growls.

"Damn it... Come on," he says.

We run to the crowd, and though I'm unsure what to do, Ben is the first to spot someone in the crowd.

"Jayce!"

A man, with an arm around a younger girl, turns his head and seems to recognize Ben. He meets us halfway, shaking his head.

"...What happened?" asks Ben.

"No idea! I woke up barely half an hour ago. People were fucking screaming, I grabbed Yuri and we ran downstairs to see this... Selena is on her way, though, and the firefighters were called too!"

"Do you know if there are people inside?"

Jayce shakes his head, at a loss, looking around him with a desperate expression.

"I don't know, dude, I... It was complete chaos, everyone ran down..."

He sighs and looks around. The girl, his sister or girlfriend, I don't know, her face is covered in tears but she looks around too.

"I don't see the family from the sixth floor," she cries. "The old man from the fifth floor either..."

She starts crying louder, completely panicked, and she isn't the only one. I glance at the building. The fire is progressing quickly, and we can see people screaming on the upper floors. Damn, I hope everyone tried to get upstairs as fast as they could to win some time, but even so, with all the damn smoke...

"Ben, I'm going in," I declare.

"Mara, you..."

He doesn't finish his sentence, and I know he's conflicted. This is their neighborhood, their territory. The firefighters aren't here yet, there is no one else to help.

"Mara, you can't!" Kelsi protests. "You've never handled this much fire, you haven't created yourself! You might get burned again this time!"

"Well, time to figure this out," I sigh.

I am not waiting for anyone's permission. I push Ben out of my way and run inside. I hear them call after me, but I have made my decision already. It might not be too late for those people. If I have just one chance to save someone from this with this ability of mine, it would be a nice change for once. To not be the one who injures others, but someone who can save them. No one stops me when I enter the building, but I hear some shocked screams behind me.

The main entrance was left completely open, and with the fire being four floors up, I have no issue climbing up the stairs. At least for the first two floors. I can feel the heat, but it's nothing unbearable, probably even for a regular human.

It gets hotter on the next floor. I can endure the heat, but the smoke quickly starts stinging my eyes and making me cry. I didn't think the smoke would be a bigger issue than the fire, but it's burning my throat more efficiently than the first flames I see. I'm getting to where the fire started and has already quieted down to get to the floor above. I only need to kick a door for it to fall down. God, everything has been turned into charcoal... I look around, but if there is anyone around here, there is no way they survived...

"Meow..."

I look down, almost thinking I dreamed it, but Spark is seriously at my feet! Where the hell did he come from?!

My cat looks completely fine in this mess, though he is sticking to my ankles like glue, and looking up at me as if he was waiting to see where I'm going next. Damn, if I needed more proof that this cat is just as fine with fire as I am, here it is... No other living thing apart from us would be fine in this nightmare. I keep walking, looking around. I never thought a fire would be this loud, I hear the creaking all around us. I fucking hope that the structure doesnˇt crumble or something...

I keep progressing inside, not sure what I am looking for. I can't hear anything precise, and all the screams coming from the outside or upstairs are confusing me.

"Spark," I cough, "if you wanna play search for the humans, it's now, buddy..."

He meows back, but once again, I have no idea how much my magic cat understands... I walk into what must have been a living room before it was turned into a freaking oven. I'm starting to sweat pretty badly, but I'm still fine despite the flames engulfing the walls around me. I guess it means I should be okay if I go on, but this goddamn smoke!

I go to each room I can find, but thank God, all the beds seem empty. I would only be looking for bodies around here anyway... I run out and go to the apartment across from this one. It's even worse here. Is this where the fire started? There are pieces of plastic melted all over the living room. Did the freaking TV explode?

I freeze in front of the bedroom. Oh, no... This poor guy is done for... It must be the old man the girl was talking about. He is lying in his bed. I hope he didn't wake up to suffer... I sigh and turn around, there's nothing I can do here. I run to the floor above, and this time, I hear very distinct cries. The fire just got here, but it's all over their front door. I cover my eyes and kick down the damn door. It takes several kicks, waking up my muscle pain, but it finally breaks down.

I run to the living room, but although the smoke is filling the room, it's empty. The bedrooms then? I finally find what I assume to be the master bedroom.

"Help! Please..."

I finally spot them, crouched down on the other side of the bed. It's a young Hispanic couple, holding each other with wet towels on their heads, looking at me with shock. Yeah, I'm probably not what they expected. I run to them and realize they are holding a baby, the source of the loud crying I heard earlier.

"Are you alright?" I yell over the noise.

They both look terrible, covered in water and sweat, their eyes red and hair stuck to their faces. The woman grabs my wrist, her tears running down her soot-covered face.

"Our daughter! My Erendira!" she cries out, coughing too. "She went to play next door! To our neighborsˇ..."

She has to stop and cough loudly, something black coming out of her mouth. Oh, crap. I need to get them out of here. The fire is only in their living room for now, but I need to get them upstairs and there is no other way.

"Stay behind me!" I yell. "I'll get you out!"

They don't react, but they probably think I'm crazy too. I turn around and run back to the door. I need to do something about these flames, or they won't be able to get through here and upstairs. I take a deep breath and extend my arms, and try to extinguish that fire like I'd do mine.

It doesn't work. The flames get agitated, which means it got worse. Shit... I can't put it out? Because I didn't cause it? Shit, shit, shit... I hear the couple screaming behind me. It's not helping! I need to find another solution. I get to the flames, and after a hesitation, put my hand in them. It really doesn't burn, I ought to be able to do something with them!

As I leave my hand in the fire, I realize the flames wrap themselves around my fingers, crawling up my hands. Maybe I can't put it out, but I can... absorb it. That's right, I don't usually extinguish my fire, it's more like I recall it inside. Come on, Mara, time to tame an actual fire...

"Oh, Dios mio ..."

I focus, and as if I was pulling on two large ropes, I bring the fire to me. I feel it wrap around my arms, and I have to control it. It tries to get higher on my body, but I need to contain it inside. I try to control my breathing, despite the smoke, to focus on this. Finally, I feel it. The heat increases, but the fire gets redder and melts against my skin. I'm not sure if it's really... safe, though. I grimace. It gets hotter. Much, much hotter than before. Is it because I can't absorb too much? My sleeves are long gone and burned, but more worrying, I see my actual burn marks extending, turning back to a darker color. Crap, I guess this means I can't hope for unlimited fire absorption...

"Get ready!" I yell to the couple.

From the corner of my eye, I see the woman get up first, her husband following her, and they slowly come behind me. I start walking, my arms still extended, and I keep channeling the fire to me. It's hard. I feel my skin starting to burn, really bad. I have to endure, we are almost at the doorway... We cross the living room and finally, as soon as we get to the door, they run to the stairs.

I can finally let go, and bring my arms down. Crap, that really hurts... Just as I'm taking a second to breathe, I notice the woman running back down to me. She has to stop a few stairs away, the fire is starting again behind me, and the smoke is horrible.

"My daughter!" she screams. "My Erendira..."

I nod and go to the next apartment. The door breaks without any effort from me, and Spark jumps inside. Thankfully, the flames aren't there yet, looks like they took over the other apartment first. I run inside, hoping to find that girl still alive...

I follow Spark without thinking. The cat runs ahead, looking like he knows where to go, at least. He guides me to a bedroom and sure enough, I hear some crying. Two little girls are curled up in one corner of the room, holding each other's hands. Oh, poor things, they look terrified. Both run to me as soon as they see me. They hug me and start talking so fast, I take a full minute to realize it sounds like Spanish or something.

" Mi Abuela !" cries one of them. "I don't know where my grandma is!"

Wait, she's talking in a full foreign language and I understand? Did I know Spanish before? I don't know how but I get it all and even surprising myself, I nod immediately.

"I'll look for her, girls, but we have to get you two out of here first. Follow me really close, okay?"

Both nod and stay stuck to me. Spark meows and guides us out. If I had known, I would have given him a whole can of tuna! We make it to the living room, but something falls from above and the girls scream, panicking.

"It's okay, it's okay!" I yell.

There's no use, they are pulling my hands and panicking. I crouch down to carry them. They must be six or seven, I don't know, but it's hard for me to carry them both, especially when my arms are so burnt already. I bite my lower lip and ignore the pain to run to the staircase. The mother is still there, and her eyes brighten up when she sees us three coming out. She runs to grab her daughter out of my hands violently, but I'm not complaining about carrying less weight. The other girl gets down too, but she won't let go of my hand.

"My grandma..." she cries.

I nod.

"I'll go get her, but please get upstairs!"

The mother and I exchange a glance, and she understands right away. She nods and pulls the two girls upstairs with the strength of a lioness. At least those two are safe, but where the hell is the grandma?

I run back inside, ignoring the pain in my arms and this horrible headache. The smoke is definitely getting thicker, and the flames are growing. I need to find the old lady... I run to one of the bedrooms, but it's empty.

"Spark! Spark!"

Damn it, I lost the damn cat!

I'm really starting to not feel good. I need air, but I keep coughing from these disgusting ashes. I feel the heat in my arms getting worse too. I can't take in any more fire, I can barely feel my arms. I finally stumble to the kitchen. Oh, no... The grandma is unconscious on the floor. Is she still alive? I try to walk over to her, but the truth is, I'm not too good either. I see black dots obscuring my vision.

"Hey... Grandma..."

My throat is raspy as hell. I try to grab the grandma's arm, but she isn't moving at all. Oh, no, no... How do I check someone's pulse? Crap, I've seen Bonnie do it a hundred times... I keep pressing on her wrist. There! I can't believe it, the grandma's still alive. I let out a sigh of relief and at the same time, I want to cry. How the hell do I get her out of here? I can barely walk... Shit.

I look around for a solution, but there's nothing...

"Mara!"

The window next to me suddenly bursts open. I see two human silhouettes coming in, but just then, I can't help but close my eyes. Damn it... I feel that Iˇm being carried, and suddenly, a wave of fresh air enters my lungs. Someone puts me down on the asphalt, but I am too tired to do anything.

"Mara! Mara, can you hear me?"

"Can you do something?"

"I don't know, I've never healed a witch before... Boyan, bring the ambulance here! Come on, Mara, you have to hang on..."