“With a what?” I asked.
She rested her hands-on Adam’s shoulders. “A fencing sword.” She grinned and mussed up his hair. “Tomorrow we’ll work on some more moves. I may have you moved up to a broadsword by the end of the week.”
“You hear that? I have talent,” Adam said, sitting up straight and tapping his own chest. “For once I’m good at something other than choir.”
“Don’t let your head get too big,” I warned. “I hear a broadsword isn’t that easy to master.”
We ate in silence for a moment.
“So, they haven’t found Aaron yet?” Adam asked, looking at me.
“Not a trace.” I put my sandwich down. “You’d think it would be easy to locate three mortals, even in a world full of mortals.” I wasn’t sure if that made sense even to me.
“Yeah… that would be like finding a demon in a house full of demons,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. “But I know what you mean. I’m sure the big scary vampire will find him one way or another.”
“I know you’re right, but I would much rather it be sooner than later,” I said with my mouth full. “This is a delicious sandwich by the way.”
“Your mom buys only the best meat and cheese apparently.” He shook his head. “All my dad gets is bologna.”
“You are getting your strength back?” I asked as he finished his last bite.
“Yup. I feel a hundred percent better.”
“Good, because we’ve got our homework to do tonight. Got to keep the mama happy. Otherwise, she’s not so angelic.” I intended it as much as a warning as a joke, though how he took it was up to him.
Mom had set us up in adjoining rooms connected by a single door. Apparently, the room I was staying in would have been my nursery, which made sense because the walls were pink. If only they knew how much I now hated pink. They had exchanged the crib for a brand-new double bed, with a dark mahogany headboard, and fluffy black sheets. I had a feeling it wasn’t my mother who had picked this out.
My parents had not lived in this house for long when John managed to take everything from them. They had run to the country house, where I was born, to get away from the scornful eyes of the town. I had not seen much of Harrisville on the drive. In fact, I had not seen any of it because I was asleep. Still, judging by how much land surrounded the house the town was not much bigger than a few blocks. How could something so unnatural take place here? Why was everything focused on this one location?
I tried to focus on my schoolwork. Next door I heard Adam struggling with his Physics homework until my mother offered to help him out. It was surprising to me that she had never taken up teaching. I thought she would have found that it worked better in God’s graces than serving as a humble counselor for a local church. They were still working on it when I emailed my completed assignment and sat back to relax. I saw my eyes were slowly turning brown again. I still couldn't force any flames from my fingers, but I knew that the more I built up my stamina, the longer I would be able to hold the fire.
****
We steadily grew closer to the time set for Krista’s resurrection. The tension in the house increased, but I was still not able to call only the white flame. I kept mixing the dark flame with it ruining the whole point of the practice. When I got frustrated, there were casualties. First, I set a chair on fire, then a table, then the whole back porch. Next, it was Shawn’s shirt, Minerva’s dress, and finally the back yard itself; which ended up with a huge burnt circle of grass in its middle. Dad said that he could turn it into a fire pit.
I felt like an infant learning to walk. The few times I did something right everyone cheered. The moment it went wrong I was put in time out. Adam worked vigorously with my mother, learning the arts of swordsmanship, archery, and shooting. He had an impeccable aim, which got my father’s attention. I guessed that all those hours playing Halo hadn’t been such a waste of time as I had presumed. He looked happy too. In fact, he looked like he was having the time of his life, not that Adam was ever depressed or sad. He just always had an aura to him that was neutral. He didn’t care what you did to him: as long as it made you happy, he was pleased, which was why it was so easy for people to walk all over him. If they had seen all this, however, they might have thought twice before treating him so offhandedly.
My stamina improved significantly. I was able to work longer hours, though longer hours meant I was more tired when I hit the homework. My legs hurt from having to stand straight while suspended in the air. My fingers actually had little black circles around the tips as a result of me scorching my own skin. Working this hard made me forget temporarily about the two important individuals who had been taken from me. I had to remind myself that I was doing all this for them. If there had never been a Wesley or an Aaron, or even an Adam, I wouldn’t have cared less if the planet had turned in on itself and imploded.
My friends were the ones who balanced me. They were what made me wake up every morning and work so hard. They were the reason that I persevered at learning how to control a flame. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to keep going. And I wouldn’t have mastered my role in the resurrection of a girl who had been dead for
