A Tainting Light (The Manipulators Book One)

Chapter 2 Part 1

An Unforeseen World

One of the last things my mother said to me was that someone was coming. She was not very specific with any description of when or who, she just told me that they would be here. I think she foresaw all of this; my own lack of control.

"Flames lie deep in your emotions," she said. It was another late night while the bright orange glow highlighted my walls. We sat underneath my sheet and the dimmest flame, one smaller than a match, lit up our faces. "Anger, embarrassment, sadness, joy; all of these will be reasons you will be able to manipulate fire." She cupped my hands like she was trying to hold the timid glow. "But the strongest flames, the purest ones are when you can understand those emotions and examine why you are feeling a certain way."

I was never one who was able to control, much less examine, my emotions. I felt things more than most people did. It was like my emotions were hyperactive. The littlest of things could excite or depress me for days, but as I grew older, I learned how to hide what I was feeling. I could bottle things in so that no one else would get hurt. My mother was the only one who understood. That is why she wanted me to leave.

She said that there was someone coming to take me to the place that we were born, where manipulation exists. Once she died, this is what I looked forward to; being able to cast the light of my flame in public. After a year, I stopped looking forward to my departing. I was always hoping that later in my life, after college or after Kate Moore became Kate Lynch, I would be able to experience this world. I never thought that day would have been today.

I got home before Rod and Jeremy did. I assumed that both of them were still helping those at the crumbled church. I did not want to be home because it no longer felt like that was where I belonged. There was a man waiting for me at the front door.

Finley. I heard a voice inside of my head. He was staring at me from across my front porch. He had dark black hair that slicked back passed his neck and a white scar right over his left eye. He did not look like someone I would trust. You can trust me, your mother sent me. I paused in the middle of the street. My heart was filled with a warm fire that soon soaked the rest of my body. I jogged towards this strange man.

"Finley, right?" He had a voice that sounded like it was filled with dust.

"You can just call me Finn," I said. I reached my hand out to shake his, but he looked at it with confusion. "Did you know my mother?"

"Unfortunately I did not. I have heard stories about her escape. She seemed very brave; there are only a couple people that have ever attempted to come to the common." He continuously looked behind him to make sure nothing was there. We need to go. His voice returned to my head. If you want to go to Centure, to the world where you can control fire and learn how to fully tame it, we must go quickly.

I did not even know who this man was that asking me to leave, but more than ever I wanted to go. A sad thought went through me; if I left, this could very well be the last time I saw my house. My cream colored cottage that often made me feel gray, now made me feel warm. The green vines were just about to cover the number 19 hanging above the door. I was holding the necklace around my neck that I often did by habit, a small silver cross. I cannot stay here. I lost control at the church and it is likely I would lose control again. I looked back at the man, a native to the world I belonged to. "Alright."

"Alright?" He looked at me and I nodded my head. "That was a lot easier than it usually is! I need your car starter. I'm Sylvic by the way."

I tossed him the key to my car. "Should I grab my things?"

"No," he said quickly. He took a deep breath attempting to stay as calm as he was before. "We'll have clothes and your other needs at Centure." He unlocked the car and sat in the driver's seat.