Chapter 1
Alex hated her goddamn hair. She pushed the ratted, red nest off her face and out of her eyes as sweat and yesterday’s curl definer spray blurred her vision. She’d run the track early today hoping to burn off some excess energy. Her new editor had given her an assignment about a corrupt city official taking bribes. There was a quick deadline and after flaking out last week, she had to prove she could handle it. Now, sitting in the sauna she looked at the three ladies sharing the space and begged her subconscious to stay awake.
Sweat dripped like lava against her flesh, and she could feel her freckles melting down her cheeks. She tried to stretch out in her little corner of the sauna. It was getting harder to stay awake and she was terrified of passing out again. Last week, she’d had an episode while trail running. When she’d come to an hour later, she’d found herself lying in a circle of blackened and burnt earth, and her mouth tasted like she’d been chewing on cotton balls for a week. She hadn’t been able to leave the house for two days after. Aunt Quinn had covered for her, but they couldn’t keep doing that.
She leaned back against the wall, discreetly listening in to the conversations around her. Sauna talk was always good for a few laughs. She bent over and began massaging her foot and legs. They were extra tight after this morning’s run and her muscles had been aching for days already. She wondered if she was coming down with something.
Almost on cue, her stomach rumbled loud enough to attract the attention of the other women. A few odd looks had her ready to start telling them off. But as she opened her mouth to give them a piece of her mind, a sharp pain racked her gut, doubling her over. Her lower legs cramped and she almost fell off the back ledge she was sitting on.
“Damn.” She groaned and began kneading her calves and digging her thumbs into the bottom of her feet. “Runners cramps,” she explained as the other women in the sauna turned to stare at her.
Nodding with sympathy, they returned to their conversation.
One woman though, stared a bit longer. She looked puzzled and after a few seconds hopped up and leaned in to whisper, “Are you sure you’re all right? If it’s almost your time, you shouldn’t be out right now.”
Alex hadn’t noticed her until then, which was strange since she was wearing a leopard print two-piece bikini and had short blue hair. I mean who wore that to a public sauna? With a strained laugh, she said, “Okay, That’s the first time someone’s asked me about my time of the month in the sauna. I gotta say, you’re a little creepy, lady.”
Alex sat back to regain some of her personal space hoping the woman would get the message, but no such luck. The woman kept staring. So, she did what she knew how to do—Alex stared back just as hard, before asking, “Are you new?”
Blue hair ignored the question and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “You know you can’t be with humans right now. Let me take you home. Where do you live?”
Convinced she was leading her on, Alex winked at the ladies who were not-so-subtly eavesdropping from the bottom bench, and replied, “Yeah right-those humans are sooo tiresome,” before turning away from her.
“You don’t know?” the crazy lady marveled.
Alex had had about enough of the game and didn’t need to deal with any more weird today. Her body was saying it was definitely past time to leave. She was feeling faint and could swear the woman’s eyes flashed silver. She stood on shaky feet, bumping against the blonde Barbie below her in her haste to get away.
“Sorry about that. I just need to get by.” Hands from above and below reached out to steady her.
“Are you okay? You don’t look so good,” Barbie said.
As Alex weaved, the other ladies’ voices chimed in until they were a chorus of concern.
She tried to hold on. She truly did. Tried to reassure them that everything would be fine, only the words wouldn’t come out. Fire flashed in front of her eyes and pain seared her hands and feet. The last conscious thought she had before passing out was, please God, don’t let it out!
~ ~ ~
The concrete floor was cold to the touch and Alex winced. Her head pounded and there were at least five hundred people yelling at her. Or maybe it was five thousand?
“Not so loud . . .” The cotton balls were back. Alex tried to lick her lips. “I need water.”
“Get her some water.”
“Are you okay?”
“Beth, get her some water. Did the staff say they were on their way?”
“They’re sending an ambulance.”
“No, No, I don’t need an ambulance,” she managed to croak out, before pushing herself up to a sitting position. “I’m fine. I just over did it you know.”
“You sure? You took a nasty fall trying to climb over us.”
Alex’s gaze shot frantically around the room before turning back to their concerned faces. “Did anything else happen?”
“What?”
“Like, did I do anything else?”
“I don’t know what else you could have done mid-faint.”
Alex considered the young woman in front of her. Up close, Barbie wasn’t so perfect after all, and she had kind eyes. They were probably around the same age. Alex had seen her around the marketing department. The majority of the staff at the paper used the connected YMCA facilities to save money on gym memberships; at least the ones her age did since most were paying off student loans. The weirdo from earlier was gone.
“Can you get me a towel please?”
“Hey, Beth, get her a towel too. I’m Denise. Just sit still and put your head on your knees. I took a first-aid course last month and in cases like this, we need to keep you calm and talking.”
Alex closed her eyes and did as asked. She felt fine now, but also utterly exhausted. She could sleep for a week.
Beth rushed back with the water and draped the towel over Alex’s shoulders. “Here, take a drink.”
“Thank you. I’m sure it wasn’t part of your morning plans to babysit a fainter.”
Beth laughed. “Hey, gets me out of work a little longer. Cool tattoo by the way. I like how little it is. I think if I ever get one I want something small like that.”
“What are you talking about?”
Beth pointed to her foot. “Your tattoo.”
Alex looked over her knees to her feet. Gazing back at her from the base of her big toe was the tattoo of an orange flame, licking up her toe onto the top of her foot. As she studied it, trying to make sense of what she was looking at, she realized Beth and Barbi . . . ah . . . Denise, were giving her strange looks.
She stammered out, “Oh, that’s a Henna. Sorry, I’m spaced out. Maybe I did bump my head when I fell.” She shook her head a little and pushed the knotted mass of red curls off her back. Sweat covered every inch of her body. She looked at her foot again and managed to reply, “You know, I don’t need an ambulance.”
“I really think you need to get checked out. Especially if you bumped your head.”
She knew they meant well, but Alex had had enough with the helping twins. “I didn’t eat this morning, and I’ve been feeling run down this week. I shouldn’t have had the steam. That’s all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure. I’m a big girl. I just need some protein and rest.” Pushing herself up, Alex towered over the other women. At 5’10” she took full advantage of her height. She’d learned that lesson early on in high school.
Beth was already nodding and ready to move on to the next thing. Denise was a bit more reluctant, but she agreed quickly once Alex put on her don’t-fuck-with-me-face. Another skill left over from high school.
As soon as the two women moved on, Alex rushed to her locker to get dressed. She refused to look down. It was the only way to keep from having a panic attack. She didn’t bother trying to dry her hair; just shoved the mess in an elastic band and threw her gym sweats back on. As she raced out to the parking lot, she could swear she felt a thousand eyes drilling into her back and a fluttering against her foot.
Just ignore it, ignore everything.
~ ~ ~
Alex climbed in her 1981 Jetta and hoped to God the thing started. As the engine sputtered to life, she let her breath out a little.
A knock on her passenger window startled her and stopped her escape. Assuming it was one of the girls from the sauna checking on her, she began rolling the window down while preparing to fend off their unwanted concern. Her hand stopped midway when she came face to face with the weirdo from the sauna instead.
Before she could get a word out the woman said, “I thought I’d check on you in private. I’ve never noticed you before and that’s strange. I usually know everyone.”
She made Alex nervous. “I already told the other ladies that I’m fine. I appreciate you checking on me again but I’m just going to go home and chill,” she clipped out in an effort to cut the conversation short.
But the other woman leaned in the passenger window. “So, which one are you anyway?” She put her hands on the car and her eyes flashed silver.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Alex shook her head. The last thing she needed right now was another episode.
“You know what? I need you to back the hell off.” Alex sat up taller in her car and stared the woman down. She made it a rule to never show fear to anyone no matter who they were or what they threw her way.
The woman eyed her. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”
Alex took stock of the situation—blue hair, wannabe Goth, maybe twenty-one. I can take her. She turned the car off before climbing out the driver’s side. She glowered at the girl. “You need to leave . . . now.”
But Goth girl smirked, put her hand on the hood of the car, and slowly pushed the vehicle out of the way so there was nothing between them. “I don’t think so, Red.”
Wide eyed, Alex backed away. Fire started climbing inside her again. “What the hell are you on?”
Crazy cocked her head. “Not enough. And I want what you have.”
Her foot was burning. “I don’t have anything. I’m drug free, honey.”
“Oh, that’s cute.” She laughed. “It’s just my luck I ran into you today. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt. One little snap of your neck before your transition and I get to keep it.”
“What are you talking about? You’re insane. Get away from me.” Alex looked around for help but the parking lot was empty. How the hell could a parking lot be empty at ten in the morning? Wasn’t anybody late for work anymore?
Alex slowly backed away. Around her, steam spewed from cracks in the pavement. The engine in her car roared to life and started revving.
The girl rubbed her hands together and said, “You are powerful. This is a good day for me.” She edged closer.
Alex prepared to fight. She’d been fighting since before her parents died and could hold her own against anyone. It was either the Barbie’s poisoning people against her when she was a kid, or when she started in journalism, politicians in positions of power trying to scare her off a story. She hadn’t been in a fist-fight since she was twenty, though, and this chick looked ready to destroy her. For once, Alex wished she knew what her fire could do.
She backed into the alley, keeping her eyes on the Goth freak. Maybe if she could reach the back door to the gym, she’d be okay. Rivulets of sweat poured down her back. Whether from fear or the heat screaming under her skin, it didn’t matter.
“So, I have a theory. Want to hear it?” Goth girl questioned as she advanced.
“Is it going to stop you from threatening me?”
“It’s not a threat, Red. I’m taking what you got.”
Goth pushed Alex further back into the shadows, and Alex knew she was done for if she didn’t stand her ground. It was too much like the night of the tragedy. She didn’t know how she’d made it out; only her dad yelling at her to run. She listened; they died. Alex had never run again.
Goth girl reached down and picked up an old pipe. “You’re an orphan, right? Mommy and Daddy got popped and left you all alone to figure it out.” She smirked and slapped the pipe against her palm.
“Something like that.”
“Yeah, it happens that way a lot with half-breeds. Though you don’t smell like a half-breed. You smell like power.” She glanced around, and smirked. “No one’s here to help you, Red.”
Alex bumped up against an old garbage bin. The metal was soothing against her back. “Are you going to make your move sometime soon?” Sneering, she dug her heels into the concrete that was beginning to ooze beneath her feet.
Still smirking, Goth bitch replied, “Just waiting for you to get ready. I like a fair fight.” She launched herself in the air.
Ms. Freak came down hard, landing a blow directly on Alex’s shoulder before she could get out of the way. Her bone cracked as she fell to her knees on cement that had melted beneath her feet.
Trying to get her footing, Goth slid in the wet cement. Alex rolled into the back of her knees before she could swing the pipe again. Goth landed hard on her ass, screaming as the hot liquid burned into her flesh.
The alley came to life around them as they fought. Light bulbs exploded against buildings—manhole covers flew off the ground.
Alex dug her nails into the other woman’s arm, trying to dislodge the fingers gripping her hair. With a hard twist, she slammed her left elbow into the woman’s stomach. Goth girl held on, but Alex knew she’d done some damage. Alex fought harder than she ever had. Her life was at stake.
Refusing to give an inch, the woman dug her heels into the earth, dragging them both out of the scalding cement. She tightened her grip, kneed Alex in the back, and hauled her further into the shadows.
Alex’s heart raced, her body on fire, knowing the only way she would survive was to embrace the heat. She concentrated all her thoughts on her attacker, stirring the flames under her skin, directing her rage and pain at the woman trying to kill her.
The world exploded around them. A car detonated, throwing out twisted pieces of steel. Shards of glass and metal pierced her opponent.
Falling forward, the woman screamed as a pipe impaled her gut. As chaos rained down, Alex pulled Goth over her torso, shielding herself from the worst of the debris.
Fire and molten metal pelted them and cut into their flesh. Beneath Alex’s back, metal bubbled, turning to lava. Later she would question why it didn’t burn her the way it did her adversary. When the shower stopped, she rolled them over. Alex spared a moment to compare her soft pink flesh to the woman who lay in the dirt covered in angry burns and cuts—her flesh melted to the bone in some spots. Goth chick writhed in agony, moaning incoherent nonsense, trying to dislodge the pipe from her stomach.
Alex leaned in and placed her good hand around the wound to try and stop the bleeding. “It’s okay, I’ll call for an ambulance.”
She shouldn’t have let her guard down. With supernatural speed Goth reached out, grabbed Alex’s neck and twisted.
Alex tore at the hands, struggling to breathe. Exhausted, her energy used up, it was too much for her. As Alex began convulsing, she pictured her aunt’s face. In the last seconds before losing consciousness, something inside her shifted. Something dark. On her final breath, over and over in her mind, she chanted the word Rise. Over and over. Rise.
Instinctively, Alex knew the fire inside her wouldn’t let her die. She felt it clawing its way out, and for the first time she embraced it . . . gave it control. As unconsciousness inched its way forward, the fire finally broke free.
When her killer burst into flames, Alex smiled as she succumbed to the darkness at the edge of her mind.
~ ~ ~
“Come on. Wake up. Get in the car,” Quinn yelled in her ear.
Alex shot up with a start, slapping at her flesh, trying to put out a fire that was no longer there. Ignoring her aunt, she glanced wildly around, searching for her would-be-killer, knowing she’d find nothing.
All the while Quinn pushed at her. She let herself be hauled along in a daze until Quinn slapped her face and yelled something about moving her ass.
“Quinn?” She stumbled over her words as her aunt dragged her through the chalky earth. “Some lunatic tried to kill me. Where is she? How did you get here?”
“We don’t have time for that right now. Move! Get in the car.”
“I think I killed her.” Alex cradled her face in her hands. “Oh my God, something is really wrong with me.”
Quinn pulled her hands away from her face and continued to force her toward the car. “Nothing is wrong with you.”
Allowing herself to be dragged along, Alex looked around her, confused. There was no body, only black earth covered in cement dust and shards of glass. “I don’t understand.”
“We can’t be out in the open like this. You’re in shock. We’ll talk at home.” Quinn pushed her into the car and slammed the door before climbing in the other side of her vehicle and starting the engine.
“How did you get here?”
“Alex, we’ll talk at home. Please, honey, I need to focus.” She cupped Alex’s cheek and sighed before calmly saying, “Now shut up.”
The drive was frenetic and quicker than it should have been. Quinn checked the rear-view mirror every five seconds, the entire way. What seemed like only minutes later, they pulled into the driveway of a modest rancher hanging over the Georgia Straight between Vancouver and Victoria. Quinn jumped out of the vehicle and dragged Alex across the lawn, through the front door. She slammed it behind them and turned the deadbolt.
Quinn hadn’t said a word since they’d left the parking lot, but she turned to her now. “Alex, we have a lot to do and not a lot of time.” Quinn grabbed her shoulders. “I need you to go upstairs and take a shower.
Alex felt the burning of the tattoo against her foot and wondered if she was losing her mind. Like a child, she nodded to her aunt and turned to climb the stairs to her bathroom. Still in a daze, she reached the top of the stairs and noticed her reflection in the hallway mirror. Her hair was matted as usual, but now the ends were charred black. Her face was covered in soot, and she had a bruise on her left cheek from where the woman had smashed her face into the ground. She’d won though—in the end the fire saved her. She liked it. Her body wanted more. Tears filled her eyes and she turned from her image. That wasn’t her.
Closing the bathroom door behind her, she stripped out of her sweats and leaned half naked against the wall. She straightened her shoulders and flexed her hands to physically brace herself before looking at her foot.
There it was. Alex slumped to the floor and bent over to inspect the mark. It looked like a tattoo. Small bumps and ridges against her skin made the design appear freshly inked. The flesh around the mark, slightly pink and tender, the color of the flame an intriguing hue of pale lilacs, red and tangerine. Oddly, she noticed the lilac matched the color of the bathroom wall. She lifted her foot to her face. Her toenails were black and the bottom of her foot was covered in blisters. I killed someone.
Wrapped in her towel, sitting on the floor, Alex twirled her hair around her fingers. Maybe if I could get the tangles out and cut off the ends . . . I killed someone.
She wanted her Mom. Much of her childhood was a blur, but her parents had always been there. They’d been open with her about the adoption. Alex hadn’t cared who her birth parents were. She figured if they didn’t want her, she didn’t want them. The night of her eighteenth birthday her parents were murdered. Robbed at gunpoint in a back alley and left for dead. Their killer had never been caught.
Fire had been part of her life ever since.
It wasn’t like she’d tried to be different; she just was. At five foot ten inches, with a tidal wave of flaming red hair, a shit kicker boot collection, and a huge attitude, she was definitely not in line for homecoming queen. Before her parents’ deaths, they’d told her to always be herself. Afterward, she didn’t know who “herself” was anymore.
The dreams and voices started once she moved away from the family home. Her shrink called them grief voices. She never told him she sometimes talked back.
Fifteen minutes later, Quinn found her in the bathroom crying.
As she opened the door, Alex looked up from her spot on the floor and said, “I killed her and I think I’m okay with it, Quinn. I had so much power running through me. You have to tell me what’s going on. No more half answers and no more stalling.”
Quinn reached down and held her close. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry. We should’ve had this conversation a long time ago. I shouldn’t have waited, but I was hoping, well . . . it doesn’t matter now does it?”
Quinn visibly forced herself to relax, helped Alex stand, and wiped the tear-streaked soot off her face. "Please have a shower. You won’t get another chance for a while. I'll be downstairs making tea and we’ll talk. I promise."
After Quinn walked out, Alex pulled herself together. She went through the motions of her shower; quickly washed her hair, ignored the burned spiky edges.
Alex ran her hands over the bumps of the tattoo on her toe before rinsing off and stepping out of the shower. Grabbing a towel off the rack, she dried quickly, and rammed fingers through knotted hair. With a last tentative look at the tattoo on her foot, she smashed her feet into slippers that had seen better days, pulled on her favorite yellow housecoat, and headed to the kitchen.