literature

Embers - Part III

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Kate shuffled up to the end of the street, pausing where it met the main road. She leaned against the side of a building and watched the crowd drift past. Groups of teenagers staggered around with tins of drink, and she thought again of her friends. Surely they would be looking for her, too? If she could get to a police officer somewhere, they would know who she was. She'd be back with them in no time.

Although the last one hadn't been much use.

She looked back to see the stranger standing against the low wall. He hunched forward, holding a cigarette and lighter to his mouth. The flame flickered in the darkness – but he didn't actually light the cigarette. He just watched the fire dance in front of his face, as if looking into the eyes of a ghost. Then he put the flame to the tip and closed the lighter with a snap. He drew himself up straight, looking concerned.

Giving no sign that he was aware of her gaze, he took a drag from the cigeratte and held it out towards her.

"Smoke?" he asked, as if addressing the night itself.

Craving flooded through Kate like a wave. She smoked occasionally – less so, these days – but as a whiff of tobacco reached her nose, she decided that the only thing she really needed was a cigeratte. She hesitantly returned to the stranger, reached for the cigeratte with a trembling hand, and took a deep drag.

She stood in timid silence for a moment, holding herself close against the cold. Her clothes stuck to her back and shoulders. She didn't know – didn't want to know – if the cloying dampness came from sweat, or blood. A twinge from her shoulder threatened to turn her stomach, but another drag of the cigarette steadied her.

"Fire daemon?" Kate asked nervously, desperate to break the silence.

"Been chasing it for weeks," the man replied, lighting up his own cigeratte. "You're very lucky," he added.

"Lucky?"

"Few people see them. Fewer survive."

"This is insane."

"Stay close," he said, then turned and walked down the street. "Maybe you'll survive this."

"Jesus Christ," breathed Kate, taking a last draught of the cigeratte and limping awkwardly after him.

They twisted down dark lanes, avoiding the crowds of the main road. Kate shuffled along as best she could, casting away her cigarette stub and pulling her small jacket close around her.  Her legs were stiff and her shoulder burned as if laced with acid. It wasn't long before she had to stop.

"I can't…" she sighed, drawing herself up against a wall. "Stop, wait, just a moment."

The man cast a glance over his shoulder, grumbling, then walked over to Kate. He dropped his rucksack on the floor beside her.

"Don't move," he growled.

Kate closed her eyes and breathed deeply, feeling the blood throb in her veins and listening to the stranger's retreating footsteps. She held a hand before her eyes and watched it tremble, clouds of frozen breath pouring over it. A shadowy movement caught her eyes – she turned towards it with a gasp, the breath caught in her throat. She only relaxed slightly when she realised that it was the stranger. He climbed stiffly up a wall and onto the roof of a house before disappearing into the darkness.

She closed her eyes again and tried to relax, but despite her tiredness, she couldn't. Shadows behind her eyes caused her to jolt into alertness, while the cold of the night bit ever deeper into her. It was almost a relief when the man shuffled down the building once more.

"It's almost time," he said. "Come on."

With a grunt he picked up his huge backpack, carried it awkwardly a few paces, and cast it over a low stone wall. Then, to her surprise, he stretched out a hand and helped Kate to her feet.

"Thanks," she muttered, lowering her eyes under his gaze. He growled something in response, then turned and strode away down the street once more. She trotted after him as best she could.

"You got a name?" she asked.

"Reavan," came the gruff reply, followed instantly by a quickening of pace.

Kate lowered her head and concentrated on walking.

Reavan lead her through a narrow alleyway and back onto the main street. Kate recognised the hill of the High Street, with its wide road and tidy shop-fronts. The crowd was thick here, standing still to watch a burning parade march by.

Without hesitation, Reavan roughly pushed his way through the throng and into the path of the parade, ignoring the shouts of abuse that followed him. Kate stood and watched, unwilling to push through the cluster of bodies. She looked around nervously and tried to ease her way across the pavement and into the parade, having lost sight of her mysterious benefactor. The crowd refused to part.

A shout pierced the night somewhere just ahead of her. Reavan's arm burst through the onlookers, grabbed Kate and pulled her into the road. The heat of the flames was fierce this close to the burning procession.

"Keep moving," Reavan commanded.

Kate found herself in the tiny channel between the onlookers on the pavement and the parade in the road. She looked up and into the eyes of a man holding a blazing torch, its flame intense and bright. He shouted at her angrily. Another tug, and she was being pulled up the gutter after Reavan. She stumbled and tried to adjust her feet to keep up.

They surged up the hill – too quickly for Kate's aching legs. Bangers went off from all sides and marchers shouted at them to get out of the way. It felt like she was walking through a war zone: she lowered her head against the din. Someone ahead turned around and stood in Reavan's path, shouting for him to get away from the parade. Reavan brushed past as if there was no-one there, sending a body crashing the floor. Kate hurried past outraged gasps, turning back to watch a middle-aged woman being pulled to her feet. She tried to shout something, but her voice was lost in the crowd. Kate had little choice but to hurry back into Reavan's slipstream.
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A stranger reveals himself to Kate as the night deepens.


Lewes Locals: in this draft of the story, the movements through Lewes are unspecific - random, even. Once the whole thing is finished, I intend to go to Lewes and map Kate's journey through the town and smuggle some details into the story. If anyone has any suggestions for this - or picks up on any blunders I make - please speak up.
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ZakndriinAuvryviir's avatar
I love Reavan, he is great character ;) At first I wanted to punch him though ^^