Tara Kane
She almost stood aside in surprise. The words being said to here were part understanding and part threat; something she didn't expect. For a moment she felt worried about what they could accomplish together, but then Clarkson started toward her speaking words that said one thing and meant another. She'd met people like that before.
A flame wall erupts in font of her in defense as pain shoots through her head. How many times had people told her they could help? How many times had she been waiting on that street corner for someone to drop some change in her empty hat?
She closes her wet eyes as the memories come flooding in.
"Please, sir. Please just give me some change. My brother is sick and needs medical care, but I'm the only one who can help him get the money." She had been sitting out in the cold for almost the whole day and only had a few dollars to show for it. She couldn't even pay for her supper; let alone her brothers surgery.
"Wow. How about this . . . " The polite young man knelt down to look into her eyes,
". . . how about I hire you to work for me, and in exchange I'll pay for your brother."
She'd never met someone so nice, and as she nodded with a large smile on her face she couldn't have known that he meant something completely different. His name was Armand and right then he felt like an angel from heaven. Within a week she had worked off most of the money she'd needed but when she went to talk to the guy he simply laughed at her.
"Excuse me? I'm supposed to pay for the measly work you've done? You're out of your mind, young lady. I've already gotten you a place to stay and given you a job. You're going to have to do a lot more for me to help your brother."
She couldn't hold back the tears,
"But you said . . . "
"Who is paying for your home? Who is making sure you bring home enough food? Do you want to go back begging for scraps while your brother slowly fades away? Get out of here, come back when you actually do something worthwhile." He put his newly lit cigar to his mouth, ran a hand through his pink hair and went back to his papers.
The fire happened that night. Tara and her brother were the only survivors, but they escaped into the streets and were never found. No one would know that she'd set the fire that killed so many people. No one could ever know.
But she would never trust someone like that again.
"If you come any closer . . . I will burn you to cinders."
The pain subsided and she stood to her feet,
"I am the guardian of this door. To get past you'll have to kill me, understood?"
The heat from the fire wall increased as she laughed,
"Let's go then."
No matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember any of the training from her time in Iraq. Didn't matter though, she could still take this dumb kids. She heard Doug laugh loudly, loud enough for anyone to catch the mind-speak.