Flames At Midnight

15 | quentin miller

I wonder if this is what Grace felt whenever something seemed off.

I started tailing him.

His head was ducked, like he was trying not to be seen. His shoulders were hunched to help him blend in. I kept a good distance so even if I was noticed, I would be able to get away easily.

Maybe I could find Fiona by following him.

I knew that wasn't very likely since we've learned that there were more than one of them. There was no way for me to know this guy is the one from my vision or if he was here for another reason.

And there was a good chance that he was just some random person at the carnival.

But then he started picking up the pace.

Did he know I was following him? I thought I was doing pretty well at being discreet too.

He broke into a run.

I didn't even think before I started chasing after him. It was hard to keep up when the crowd was so dense. People were appearing in front of me. It was frustrating.

I fought my way past shoulders and pointy costumes. I struggled to keep him in my sight.

Then out of nowhere, I ran into Dillon.

Actually, it was more like he bowled right into me.

I stumbled backwards, my ears ringing from the impact. "Ow."

"Dude!" he said, exasperated. "I almost had him!"

Kya caught up. She was struggling for breath. "Where—where did you come from?"

Dillon made an agitated noise. "We don't have time for this." He took off again, in the direction the masked guy had been running towards. I could see him angling his body to slip through the throngs of people. He was fast, and surprisingly agile.

"How did you guys know that was him?"

"Dillon noticed him following us. We turned around to confront him when he ran off, and we started chasing him. How did you know?" She paused. "Where's Grace?"

"It's actually a long story. Let's go. We'll see if we can go around some of the booths and cut them off," I said.

Kya followed my lead.

I took us around the carnival games and the security tent. We were stopped by a chain linked fence that was locked.

"Damn," I muttered. I turned around. "We'll have to find another way."

The carnival wasn't exactly a maze, but it was crowded.

Even with the bulk of the attendees at the main stage, there were still a lot of people milling around, taking advantage of shortened lines at games and food trucks. The event was likely over capacity.

We were all screwed if a fire broke out. I didn't mention this to Kya because I knew how she felt about losing control of her ability. It showed on her face every time she let her power get the best of her.

"But which way?" she asked.

A performer, who was balanced precariously on towering stilts, passed by us.

"We need a pair of those," I said.

"I don't think we'll be able to find them again," Kya said, ignoring my comment.

"We'll keep looking. I think they were heading in this direction. Come on."

* * *