Shaped By Fire

My Best Friend

"Welcome back to the living, Miss Hunter." I voice said at my side. A doctor was standing at the side of my bed, a tablet in his hand. "How are you feeling?"

I groaned slightly, rubbing my temple. "Okay I guess. As long as this headache doesn't kill me."

The doctor chuckled, turning off his tablet. "We'll get you something for that." He said with a smile. "After we get you that medicine you'll have to go see the Commander. He wants to see you."

"Oh joy." I mumbled under my breath as the doctor moved on to his next patient. "This is going to be fun."

"The fire spread throughout the hallway." I said simply. "Dallas Walker and I ran the opposite way. We both knew that there was an exit ahead. So, we kept running towards it. When we got there, it was locked." I told the Commander with a shrug of my shoulders.

"And how did you both get out?" He asked, tapping something into his tablet.

"An In-betweener unlocked the door." I informed him. He gave me a look, egging me on. "Tabbie. Red hair, freckles. Around thirteen, about this tall." I held up my hand, gesturing to a little below my shoulder.

The Commander typed something into his tablet again, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands in front of him. "It seems as if this, In-betweener boy, has been getting you out of trouble lately, hasn't he?"

I pursed my lips. "No, not really, sir." I said, shaking my head. "He just happens to be there when something goes wrong."

"And that's not, alarming, to you?" He asked. I rolled my eyes, getting tired of his questions.

"No, sir. It's not, alarming."

The Commander didn't reply to my comment, typing away at his tablet. I shifted uncomfortable in my seat, folding my hands in my lap. This interrogation had gone on for hours. I was tired and I needed to see the people I loved. I didn't even know if my mother had gotten out safely, never mind my whole group of friends. I clamped my hand into a fist, silently hoping Spade and the others had gotten out.

The Commander cleared his throat, causing me to look up from my feet. "Did you have any contact with the intruder?" I nodded in response, still thinking about my family and friends. "Can you describe him?"

I only shook me head. "No, it was dark in the hallway. All I can remember is his knife."

"Can you confirm it was a male?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No." I said hotly, dragging out the word. "Can we be done with this?"

He continued typing on his tablet, leaving my question unanswered. Finally, he carefully set his table down on the wooden table and set his gaze on me. "What quarter do you live in, Miss. Hunter?"

"14B, Regina building, sir." I stated. There were four dormitories, two for the boys and two fro the girls. The buildings were at least twelve stories tall, thirty or forty quarters in each. Basically, the two dormitories for everyone were split up into the modern day 1st and 2nd class. My mother and I were lucky enough to be placed in the higher rated of the two buildings, the Regina building.

The Commander nodded slowly. "You are free to go, Miss Hunter. Go straight to your quarters, don't stop to talk to anyone. Your quarters will be called to get your food over the intercom. Please do not leave your quarters under any circumstances, unless you are directly permitted to leave by a guard of staff." I nodded slowly, pushing myself up from the chair. I walked towards the door, pausing to look back at the Commander. He was back at it again, tapping harshly on his tablet with a concerned look on his face.

I grasped the handle on the door and stepped out, the atmosphere changing almost immediately. There were chairs lined up against the wall, facing towards the desk on the other side of the room. Five kids my age were awkwardly seated in the chairs, impatiently tapping their fingers and feet. I casted my eyes towards the first chair, my eyes meeting the ghost of a once bright pair of blue eyes. Dallas shifted in her seated, biting her nail as her watery eyes met mine.

I broke our eye contact, continuing to walk away from the door. I could feel Dallas's icy stare on my back, and I felt bad for leaving her to fend for herself against the Commander. Hopefully she doesn't say anything that could get her into trouble. The Commander had of way of tripping you up and leading you straight into the jaws of his trap.

The receptionist at the desk asked me to sign out, handing me a stylus. I twisted the stylus between my fingers before touching the tablet's sign-out screen on the desk. I quickly signed my name and all the reasonable information before giving the receptionist my ID. She quickly scanned the card, handing it back to me before returning back to her computer.

I turned back to look at Dallas. Her eyes were staring holes into the tiled floor, her fingers absentmindedly running through her tangled hair. She chew her lip nervously, like she always does when she's waiting in that chair. It wasn't her first time in the Commander's office like me. She comes her almost every week for some stupid reason. The guards found every little reason to get her in trouble. From a small gum wrapper falling from her pocket to her walking wrong.

Turning on my heels, I walked out of the room. Some kids were walking down the hall, most of them staring at their feet. Most of them were heading towards the waiting room for the Commander's office. They were probably going to get interrogated like me. Trudging down the hall, I looked around for any familiar faces.

Maybe Spade was walking down the same hall as me. Or Ryker, Gage and Lance. I wanted to sprint off to the boy's dormitory, see if Spade was alright. But there were guards everywhere, it would be to obvious if I ran.

It wasn't long before I reached my quarters. I dug around in my pockets for my key card, hoping it was still there. When my fingers finally brushed against the slick surface of the card, I pulled it out and quickly slid it through the lock.

I pushed open the door, sighing as I walked in. The familiar smell of a vanilla scented candle hit my nose hard as I started to take off my muddy shoes. My mother loved those crappy candles that the Crafter used to make. When he died, and his son decided to cut the candles from his inventory because they took to long to make, my mother spent hours upon hours trying to craft her own.

Sighing once again, stripping off my jacket and walking into the kitchen. I wondered if we had any food in the fridge. Citizens of Ocalony had the choice to either eat their meals in the cafeteria, or take the meal up to their rooms. Sometimes I brought leftovers back home, but rarely.

The light in the kitchen was already on, the sound of running water bouncing off the walls. Standing at the sink, with her long brown hair tuck up into a bun, was a woman. She wore older clothes, probably the only ones that fit her. She was extraordinarily small and skinny, shorter than me even. It still to this day surprises me that she could be my mother. We were polar opposites, physically just as much as personality. The only thing that connected us was our hair and eyes. We had the same colored hair, same length and same small bouncy waves. Our eyes matched each other's shocking well, the mirroring midnight blue color often caught people off guard.

"Mom?" I asked loudly. She turned around, the dishes slipping from her hand. "Mom!" I practically screamed, running towards her. She engulfed me in a hug, tightly wrapping her arms around me. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, feeling the tears slip down my cheeks.

"You're okay." She whispered in my ear. "You're okay." I couldn't tell if it was for my own comfort of hers, but either way I felt better. I felt okay.

Okay, new chapter up! Yay! I just want to thank everyone who is still reading my story and is still interested in it. You guys don't know how much it means to me that there are people out there that like my story. I love reading your guys comments and hearing your advice on how to improve my writing. So thank you so much! New chapter will be posted soon!

-Shadow