Secret Lair

The fireplace flickered orange waves of hellfire that created dancing shadows running up the walls and filling the room with the scent of charred wood. The two glasses of water on the coffee table sweat as the ice melted and sunk. Apart from the occasional spit of fire from wood crunching, all was silent. They were high above the city, on a hilltop surrounded by alpine flowers and the occasional Douglas Fir. The nearest neighbor was on the next slope and you could vaguely see the the light emitting from their windows. They wouldn't be able to hear a scream from up here and although that should terrify her, Clara felt safe.

She scanned the oversized house while she sat on the floor, close to the fire. It looked expensive and too clean.

"Here you are my Darling. You must be freezing in that dress. Don't you ever wear clothes?" Cyra prodded as he draped a throw blanket over Clara's shoulders.

Clara's eyes narrowed. "I told you, I was in a rush."

Cyra walked away from her and returned a little while later with a small pile of clothes and a bowl of hot soup. "You should eat something and get some sleep, you look exhausted. Here are some clothes too. Do you mind if I take a look at your injuries?"

Clara looked at her arm. The dried blood made the scrape look worse than it was but she nodded.

Cyra sat next to her and looked at the wound. "I think there might be glass in it. I have a first aid kit in the kitchen and there's better lighting." He took her hand and helped her to her feet.

The kitchen was just as large as you'd expect in a house this big. Cyra walked around a huge island to a drawer and plopped a small box with a red cross on the counter. Clara found the sink and washed off the dried blood and dirt.

When she was finished Cyra picked her up and sat her on the counter in front of him. Her cheeks burned red at his touch. He took a pair of tweezers and began removing tiny pieces of glass.

"Can you shine the light on your phone right here Darling? I want to make sure I get everything."

"Huh, oh yeah sure." Clara was still looking away. She reached for her pocket with her free hand and remembered that this particular dress had no pockets and that her phone was still on her charger at home.

"Shoot, I forgot my phone at home." She sighed.

"No worries, I have mine." He retrieved his phone from his pocket and shined the light on her scrape.

"Em is going to be so worried. By now she'll have a whole search party looking for me."

"It looks like that's all of it." He said and handed her his phone. "You can use mine, we shan't be making her worried my dear."

Clara smiled a bit. "You speak so weird sometimes. But thanks. I really appreciate the help."

She quickly texted Emily and handed Cyra the phone as she hopped off the counter. "Do you mind if I use your shower? I'm covered in cobwebs and dirt."

The thought of Clara soaking wet and naked excited him. "Of course Darling. It's upstairs, first door to the left."

The water stung her small cuts but once she got use to the hot water it felt amazing. She felt like she hadn't showered in days. She eyed the bathroom that was as big as her whole apartment, if you included his attached walk-in closet. It also had a large ottoman in the center of the closet and was surrounded with rows of clothes. On the other side of the room was a clawfoot bathtub. It looked too pretty to not try it out.

When the tub was full and she had slipped into the water, she forgot all about thugs and kingpins and weird powers. None of her scrapes hurt and nothing on her body buzzed. She dipped further into the steaming water and closed her eyes. The lavender bath bomb she had found was bobbling away and the fizz was tickling under her nose.