Shadow

I walked down the hall with confident strides. My hands were fisted at my sides, and my eyes were narrowed in anger. The reflection of my flames was more than enough to light up my path. For once, I didn't care if I was giving my enemies a heads up with the brightness of the flames. They ought to know what hit them.

The fire enveloped my body like a caress. It didn't burn me at all like many would've expected. People who weren't aware that I was a pyro maniac. I was able to play with fire like no other since I had been a little child. Fire surrounds me like a shield. It flows through my veins, and builds up my soul like no other. My fire is the only protection that has been my faithful companion these past few years.

Every single person who though I was a freak were jealous of my precious abilities. Each one of them deserve what they get. Each one of them deserves to be tied up and burnt alive. Tonight, I promise to recreate the sight of the Salem Massacre.

The smell of burnt flesh was like fresh roses. The screams of people burning alive as their skin blackened and charred was like music to my ears. They begged me to stop but given the first chance, they'd want nothing more than to return me to weakness state.

I grabbed a man by the throat. My power had been growing for ages but even I hadn't anticipated its full might. Unfortunately, Serenate will pay the price for my suffering. They will suffer for everything they did. I will revel and rejoice in their blood tonight.

I was in awe of how this huge man was a spluttering mess at my feet. All that physical power and for what? I couldn't help but laugh at this weakling. All humans are weak, this is exactly why they need to be ruled by someone like me. 'Die.' I hissed at him just before I snapped his neck.

He went slack and I dropped him to the floor. The smell of fire enveloped me as I trod forward. Smoke was my constant companion. I never knew killing people gave you such an amazing high. I felt like I was on drugs. It felt better than a drug high, and I wish I could've lived like this forever.

More stupid humans rushed for me with their sharp needles. They all fell to the floor like lifeless dolls under my wake. I didn't even have to raise a finger anymore. One glimpse and they blew to pieces, entrails flying on the walls, the roof and the ceiling.

I was dripping in blood at that point, and so were the white walls I loathed. Finally, some splash of paint. Exactly the color these walls needed before turning to ash.

I walked down the stairs to the basement. This was where our nightmares started. Being poked with needles in the eyes and electrocuted was not an experience I wanted to live again. They all deserved to rot in hell for treating us like science experiments.

My eyes landed on him a moment too late. The knife dug into the smooth skin of my stomach. I roared, the demons within me furious with rage as they grasped the tiny, good for nothing doctor with the power of a hundred demons.

'You think you can kill us?' We laughed, for the voice wasn't mine alone. Through me burst forth the voices of ancients, dangerous beings people have never even heard the names of. The horror story told to every child at night to make them sleep. I had become every human's worst nightmare. I was blood and power. I was Náli.

I felt a prickly sensation in my gut, but the stabs were merely a nuisance at this point. They had taken over, landed me their strength, their power and their immortality.

This white, old lump was nothing for them. He was already dead.

I smiled a bloody grin as the doctor choked on his own breath. My hands grabbed the knife he's stabbed me with as I pulled it out of my abdomen. I ran with the knife aimed for the doctor at such a quick speed, he could only blink in surprise before the knife swished through his manhood.

When I say I'll sleep pecefully tonight with his scream echoing in my ears for all eternity, I meant it. I was feeling particularly artsy so I took my time with him. I painstakingly put his body up against the wall, and stabbed him through multiple places. He was so full of knives by the end that it could've rivalled even Jesus.

Then, I pulled out all the knives with my mind at once and watched as the blood gushed out of his torn body. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever laid my eyes on. I couldn't look away.

The blood sprayed and gushed like a red waterfall. Maybe I should use human bodies to create a nice waterfall. This was art, someone ought to have recorded this. Then my eyes landed on the camera at the corner of the room.

I narrowed my eyes at the tiny object and it burst to pieces. Someone had seen all this. I had to catch them. I used my mind to sense the number of beating hearts within this building. It wasn't tough considering almost all were dead. Except for the guy watching the cameras in the security room.

My power flared up. Within my mind was an image of his trying to run away. A bolt of my energy shot through my head and rushed through the hall. It hit the guy exactly where his heart beat a second ago. Now, it blackened and in a second he was rotting from the inside out. I smirked.

Dusting off my bloody hands on my makeshift gown. It was made of cheap paper and almost torn to pieces under the might of my flame. I decided to grab the professor's coat for good measure. It would be my souvenir to always remember him by. The building explored into flame and fire as I passed the threshold.

I turned around and watched as the flames soared up to the sky. It was a beautiful scenery, something you'd see in an art piece. The orange complemented the blue sky perfect. The black smoke added perfect highlights and shadows to make the scenery all edgier.

I decided to take out my phone and snap a picture of the ruins. Mae would love to draw this.

I was just keeping my phone away when my eyes landed on movement in a falling right window. My eyes narrowed as they landed on the little girl banging her hands against the glass window. I could vaguely make out that she was crying.

But, my senses had told me that everyone inside was dead. Then who was she? The banging got louder and my eyes got narrower until they were slits. But I didn't dare move from my spot. It would take only 57 seconds for the structure to collapse.

She might miraculously survive by escaping from the falling roof. But it's 98% likely she'd be dead. The clock was ticking. I wasn't sure if I should save her. But the decision was already made as I heard sirens in the background.

I turned and ran away. I will always save myself first. Besides, there was something wrong with her. She felt unnatural. I didn't want anything to do with someone who may possibly share my abilities. That could be a disaster.

My feet ran past the cars and the trees at an alarming speed. The sound of the wind was my constant companion and it calmed my racing heart. But my mind was a mess.

I kept thinking about that girl. Did I make a wrong decision in choosing not to save her? It really wasn't my responsibility. Every patient had been evacuated beforehand. So what was she even doing in there in the first place.

She seemed too fishy to risk my life for. I shook my head and got rid of all my thoughts about her. There was stuff I needed to do.

I wasn't sure where to go first and foremost. I had been taken away from my parent's house when I was ten. Besides, they would've kicked me out sooner or later. There was one person I had in mind but I wasn't sure if I should intrude.

A few minutes later I found myself rinsing off the blood in a hot shower. Samantha is my unmarried cousin who lives on the outskirts of Manhattan all by her lonesome. Last time I'd see her, she was about fourteen or fifteen I guess.

She had almost screamed seeing a bloody blob standing on her doormat. I probably looked like the monster who ate children for breakfast. Children tasted disgusting though. They really were good for nothing.

So I had to calm my cousin down, explain that I was her long lost cousin in desperate need of a shower. And the blood was just pig's blood the movie set had thrown me. The movie I was in was in the making, I was an up-and-coming actress so she probably hadn't seen me on television.

My lie was pretty much believable. But my cousin was not an idiot, plus she was the number fan of my unique abilities. Back in my childhood, we were always creating mayhem. We were the troublemakers within the family, and our school. She always asked me to light people on fire, anyone who slightly annoyed her.

It was all harmless but a really fun experience. The fire wouldn't have touched a hair on their head, and those pesky kids would run crying to their mommy.

But, this was a serious situation. So I still couldn't tell her what had happened. So I laughed and said, 'Oh you know me, stupid pig attacked me and I killed him. It was an accident. The pork was delicious though.'

Before she could ask more questions, I rushed past her and hoped straight into the shower. While bathing in the blood of your enemies was a nice experience only when the blood was fresh. Dry, caked blood wasn't really a fun experience. Plus, I was starting to stink.

I scrubbed myself for an hour under the hot spray. It was a nice change from the ice-cold showers you had to fight for at the institution.

Lisa provided me with a spare hoodie and some boxer shorts. I was all skin and bones so I was surprised that it even fit me.

They never fed us anything except a salad. It was just rabbit food with some capsules or drugs that they wanted to test on us next.

So when Lisa presented me with microwaved pizza, I felt like I was in heaven. At first, I couldn't even remember what it called. Pilasa? Fissa? We never had anything from outside.

All the while I practically inhaled through my food, Lisa watched with the same narrowed gaze I watched everyone with. It was a family trait and our most scary feature.

I was just about to tell her to stop staring at me when my stomach twisted and the pizza I had just eaten went down the drain. Along with blood. I had forgotten about my stab wounds.

My cousin gasped from behind me, 'Alice, you're bleeding..'

I wiped the blood and puke from my mouth, 'I know.' My voice was breathy and my throat felt like sand.

I stood up to wash my hands but another wave of nausea washed over me. I stopped, leaning against the nearest window and groaned. My hands clutched my stomach tightly in hopes that the nausea would go away. My insides were on fire and I felt I would spit out my entrails at this rate.

I stood, leaning against the wall for a full minute, until I felt a little better. That was an understatement, but the nausea did go down a bit. I staggered to the sink and threw cold water on my face.

It was a nice change from the heat building up inside my body. My surroundings kept spinning so I hadn't noticed when my cousin had left but she was suddenly handing me a small pill and a glass of water.

The pill was like a slap in the face. It made all those terrifying days I had spent at the institution flash through my mind. But I kept my face devoid of any emotion. I trusted my cousin as much as a rabbit trusted a deer. I wasn't going to take any risks by showing her any weaknesses.

My voice was flat as I asked her, 'What's this?'

'Helps with nausea.' I narrowed my eyes at her, I felt too uneasy around any sort of pills or injections or anything medical related really. Everything reminded me of mad scientists who wanted to lock me up in a laboratory and treat me like a scientific experiment.

I wasn't sure how far I could trust my cousin, I turned back to the sink and washed my hands, 'No, thanks.'

From my peripheral, I saw her open her mouth, 'But-'

I cut her off, 'I said no.'

I regretted saying it as soon as it came out of my mouth. Maybe it was too much, too soon. I shouldn't have said anything, and just taken the medicine.

I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts. It doesn't matter anymore, what's done is done. I knew my cousin was staring at me, probably trying to figure out what had happened. I knew she was curious but it didn't really concern her. I was grateful for her help, and I was planning to be out of her hair by tomorrow.

I turned away and went back to the dining table where my pizza lay now cold. I stared at it longingly. My mouth was salivating but I still felt nauseous as hell. I don't think I'd survive another vomiting for.

I sighed and relaxed in the chair. Now that I thought about it, I was finally free to do whatever I wanted. But what did I want?

'What are you thinking about?' I heard a chair scraping against the tiled floor as my cousin took the seat opposite me.

I looked at her and frowned in thought. 'I'm not sure..'

My eyes looked around her small apartment. Earlier, I'd only scanned the apartment for weapons or anything important. So far, all I knew was that she was completing her Psychology degree from the pictures hanging on her fridge. Most of them were with her friends and one with her parents.

But as I thought about it, my mind zoned in on something that I hadn't focused on earlier. I cursed myself for being so careless. I stood up from the chair and hurried over to the fridge.

My cousin stood up too and asked from behind me, 'What? What is it?'

I ignored her and focused on a picture of my cousin with two brunettes. They looked like sisters'. One around my cousin's age and the other looked to be about ten.

My cousin had caught up to me by now. She was glancing at me and the picture I was starting intensely at in confusion. I pointed at the little girl and asked, 'Who is she?'

She looked back at the picture, 'Um, that's my friend Masie's little sister, Alicia. Or, well, used to be.'

I raised my eyebrows at the last part and looked at her, as if to say elaborate.

She sighed and said, 'She disappeared three years ago. No one knows where she went. The police searched for a year before giving up. At the end, everyone believed her to be dead with the funeral and everything. She was 11 at the time..'

Alicia. So that was her name.

I stared at her as if trying to drill a hold into the picture where she stood. Suddenly an image of Alicia dressed in a lolita outfit, flashed through my mind. I blinked back in surprise.

That was unexpected, especially the blood covering her clothes and face. She was clutching a bloody knife in her hand and wearing a maniacal grin. I had no idea where that came from. But it made me nervous for some reason.

I shook my head. I had no reason to feel anxious, the girl was dead anyway.

'Maisie never got over it..' My cousin's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked at her as she continued, 'She believes that Alicia's still out there somewhere.'

I raised an eyebrow and she gave me a sad smile, 'They were close. I'm sure Maisie would love to get some answers.'

I was about to snort out loud. It's been three years, what answers in she actually expecting to get?

I turned away and went back to the living room. 'I'm tired so I'm going to sleep for a while.' I glared at her and said, 'Don't disturb me.'

With that I jumped on the sofa and passed out.

I awoke to a shadow hovering over me. A shadow with glowing eyes. I stayed still and didn't bother moving an inch. But I summoned a knife with my mind and heated it up with my fire. I didn't bother blinking an inch all the while.

The knife rushed for the shadow's heart at breakneck speed, but a black hand rushed out and grabbed it at the last moment. Just an inch from the heart. I narrowed my eyes at the glowing eyes in a glare.

They gleamed in amusement and said, 'Not bad.'

I looked at the hot knife then back up into the glowing eyes. The question was clear on my face.

'Fire doesn't affect us.' He answered calmly. Slowly, he backed away, and leaned against the window with the knife in hand.

As soon as he backed away, knives flew to each of my hand as I took up a defensive stance. I echoed his words, 'Us?'

The amusement was still there in his eyes, especially at my sudden pose, 'Demons.'

I smirked, 'What? Are you going to possess me for insulting Jesus by recreating his death pose?'

He laughed, and I frowned, 'Possess you?'

My frown deepened, 'Isn't that what demons do?'

His demeanor changed suddenly and I straightened up, immediately on alert. But I could only watch in awe as he swirled into a black mist and jumped into me. The breath was sucked out of me as my insides were encompassed in a deathly coldness.

I fought to stay in control as I felt my eyes aglow. My legs felt like jelly, and I could barely stand on my legs. Just when I felt I was about to collapse from the pressure, the coldness pushed out of me.

I felt like I could breath again as the shadow reappeared in a tornado of darkness.

I breathed in large gulps of oxygen and glared at him. I couldn't make out his expression in the dark but I gasped out, 'How.. dare.. you..'

He smirked, I was sure of it as he said, 'You asked me to. That was a fun experience, want to give it another go?

I lunged for him with the knives clutched in my hands again. They had dropped to the floor while I'd been too busy trying to suck in oxygen.

The knives simply went through and the darkness parted where the silver had gone through. I faltered and tried again. But the same thing happened, and I was ready to try again when the shadow flung out a cold hand. It struck me against the upper arm and I flew across the room.

My back hit the wall and my anger spiked. My hand reached into my pocket for that one item I always kept on me. I knew that would work for sure.

I crossed the room in long, confident strides. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion but I was already swishing around my lightsaber like a mad woman. He barely escaped but I managed to land a cut on his shoulder.

His eyes widened as he grabbed his shoulder in pain as black blood oozed from the wound and asked, 'Where the hell did you get one of those?'

I kept swiping the blade through the blade, hoping to slice through him once and for all.

'Wait, stop.' He barely escaped every time, 'Létta, Náli.'

I halted, 'What.. What did you say?'

His glowing eyes were staring straight into mine. His gaze was so intense, I found it hard to look away, 'Létta. Stop.' He tilted his head as he regarding me with those eyes, 'But I believe you already know that.'

I chose to ignore the last part and asked instead, 'Who are you?'

He regarded me for a moment before dropping onto his knee in a bow. I blinked back in surprise as my eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. He touched his heart with right fist and said, 'Prince of Death at your service, my queen Náli.'

'Prince of what?' I started laughing even though my stomach hurt from vomiting my guts out earlier. I couldn't help it, this entire situation sounded like a joke.

His head snapped up, the glowing eyes narrowed in anger, 'What's so funny?'

I wiped tears from the corners of my eyes and gasped out, 'You. Prince.'

But he didn't think it was that funny. Instead, he took out a small, round tiara from somewhere within the many folds of his shadows.

I stopped laughing as soon as my eyes landed on the tiara. It was glistening, the pale moonlight reflection off of the light stones. It was shaped like a garland instead of a crown.

But the weirdest thing was that I felt a strange pull in my mind towards the object. As if it was something very precious to me, something I should remember.

I was too busy gaping and lost in thoughts that I didn't realize the shadow had out the tiara on my head. But as soon it touched my head, a sharp pain shot through my mind, and I fell to my knees.

My mind was bombarded with moments I had never lived before but at the same time felt somehow connected to. I saw myself as the shadow that stood before me as time passed by me. It felt like a past life, I just felt this strange connection to every single moment that flashed in my mind.

I saw myself wearing this crown like I was right now. I saw myself creating havoc and mischief amongst humans. It felt surreal.

Then, it all faded as soon as it had appeared. My thoughts were my own again and not someone else's. But the sharp pain resided in my head. It was fading albeit slowly.

I opened my eyes and looked at the shadow. For some reason, I felt extremely vulnerable in this moment, 'What was that?'

'Your memories as a demon.'

I frowned, 'As a demon..?'

He sighed and took a seat on the window ledge, 'It's a long explanation

I interrupted quickly, 'I've got time.'