Heart of Fire

Prologue

Song: Somebody's Watching Me- Rockwell 

Lesson number one: Never walk alone on the dark side of Chicago.

"Babe, are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Blake questioned, holding my jacket up for me to slide my arms through. "I feel bad that I can't drive you. Not only that, but a storm's coming. I don't like you walking out there by yourself."

I zipped up my jacket and shot him a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, Blake. It's not a long walk. But I love you for caring."

"I love you too. Be careful, alright?" I nodded, pecked his lips, and left his apartment. I started walking toward the normal way home, but something pulled me to chose a different way. The night was young. The air, light and cool. The storm hadn't gotten too bad yet, only a light drizzle. And for the first time in all my years of living in Chicago, the streets were calm-- almost too calm.

Little did I know, my one decision would change my life forever.

... Literally.

Just as I turned the corner of Blake's complex, the sky released torrents of rain (no, it wasn't raining men, a complete bummer), and my Victoria Secret jacket didn't have a hood. I used my bag to shield my head, beginning my walk down a gravel street where abandoned buildings with the windows and doors busted out lined the dreary street. If that didn't scream run-the-other-way-before-you-are-murdered, I didn't know what else could have.

I continued walking down the dark alleyway, even with its ominous features. Nothing could force me to turn back, even if I knew I was getting myself a one way ticket into murder town. Something was pulling me in, and I couldn't fight the urge to keep walking through it.

Thunder rumbled through the sky, and a brilliant shock of white in the graphite sky, making the air static and sending a vicious rattle through the ground I walked on. My heart pounded against my chest, slowly recovering from the proximity of the bolt. Once calm, I continued my walk towards the bright city lights when a silhouette zipped past me. I paused my walk to glance around, feeling eyes on me every way I turned. The next moment, I swore I could feel someone's hot breath against my neck, and then it was gone.

"Who's there?" I yelled into the dark night as everything became entirely too still. I hesitated before continuing my walk, when suddenly, I bumped into someone's chest, stumbling back. When I regained my posture, I looked into the intimidating eyes of an inhumanly tall guy with carmine eyes.

I gradually began to back up until I bumped into another person, fear rattling through my body as I saw another guy in front of me with bronze eyes. Doing a complete 360, I realized I was completely surrounded with no escape. Yellow and red eyes stared into my soul every which way in the circle.

The guy with the carmine eyes smirked at me, his eyes roaming my whole body. "She's a pretty one." He drawled out, winking at me, and I started to move away, only to bump into another guy.

And this guy, smelled me. He sniffed me like I was turkey bacon fresh from the skillet.

"She smells delicious, too."

I whipped around to see the guy with amber eyes licking his lips as he stalked closer to me, and I backed away-- or, well, attempted to. The guy with bronze eyes grabbed my bag and threw it to the side as the rain pelted against my long, dirty blonde hair, causing it to weigh heavy and cling to my skin.

"Master thinks she could be of use to us."

The girl with red eyes glared at the guys as she hissed, "Are you kidding!? Look at her! She's small and has no muscle. She'd be as useless as a frog."