Ignite [Book Three In The "Fire And Lightning" Series]

Prologue

To my mom, who's taught me to love life.

To my dad, who helped me find my own superpower by giving me a love of reading and writing.

And to you, if you have been with Willow and Emma since they first started training that late summer evening in that little cave in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island.

-------

Lightning.

Thunder.

Boom.

CRACK!

Fire.

I remember the night it happened

"Emma, you don't have to do this," Dinah Lance-Queen says gently, her voice shaking.

"Yes. Yes I do."

I remember the night it happened, that night twelve years ago, when change invaded my life with a crack of lightning and spread like wildfire.

Dinah nods, smiling at the young adult girl sadly. Her sapphire eyes are filled with fire, a spark of determination. Dinah thinks, like everyone else, that she's gone for good. But the girl knows better

That very same night, not very many miles away, another girl's life changed. But unlike mine, it did not take an immediate turn for the best.

She scans the room briefly, searching for anything that might have been missed. The walls are cream-colored, with multicolored paint splatters and a quartet of handprints above the headboard of the bed. She checks the closet. Everything was carefully put away after they first checked the room, but she checks every pocket, every bag, for any clue.

Both of us lost our parents that night. Both of us lost the only life we'd ever known and headed for the uncertainty of the world.

She looks around again, unable to ignore the itching suspicion that they've all missed something crucial, something important.

"Think...think!" She whispers to herself.

But while I and my younger twin brother we're adopted by a kind millionaire who raised us as any good father would to his own children, she was kidnapped by his rival and her mind was erased.

The girl closes her eyes in concentration, and when she opens them, something has changed.

The room becomes clearer, her vision sharper. She smiles, and returns to the task at hand with renewed vigor.

We were both trained, sharpened into fine-tuned weapons. She was trained to take down those who sought justice on her new master, and I was taught how to stop people like her.

While she killed, I was learning how precious life was.

She forgot the person she once was, but I never forgot my family, what my parents taught me to be.

There, there! Tucked in a corner up in the ceiling! Folded to look like the cornerstone, but she can that it's something much more than that. 

It wasn't until five years after that night that the two of us met.

We were both feeling so lost, so alone, strangers in a brand-new world. She taught me how to control my powers, I taught her to control her temper.

She became my first friend, I became her first friend.

She lacked confidence, I lacked her strength.

She felt unworthy of what she was given, I helped her learn what love was.

Hope in her heart, she jumps up and snatches the note from its hiding place. She nearly cries at the comforting sight of the familiar handwriting as she unfolds the note and begins to read.

Now, we both remember. She remembers too much, who she once was, before and after her abduction.

I remember too much too.

The bullets shot.

The rope breaking.

The gasps of horror.

The screams for help.

The love in their eyes.

The determination to stay alive for them, so that their sacrifice to keep us alive would not be in vain.

After a minute, she looks up, confused and saddened by what she's read. No, no that can't be true. They don't hate her, she's not a monster.

Now she's gone.

I can't find her anywhere, and even though I keep searching, I know that I shouldn't.

Without her, I feel lost. My life just doesn't feel right without my best friend.

Her eyes fall on the handprints above the headboard, and a tear trails down her cheek, remembering when it was their handprints side-by-side.

I remember the night my life changed forever.

I WILL BE HONEST THIS IS NOT MY BEST WRITING TO START OFF THE BOOK WITH, BUT I KNOW A LOT OF YOU ARE BEGGING ME TO POST IT, SO LET'S DO THIS!!!

ALL ABOARD THE CRAZY, EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER!!!!

P.S.- I love the song in the vid above, but the vid isn't my favorite version. I might find the version I like later, but for now, ENJOY!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

~Lizardgurl