A Flame Divine ♕

I. U P H E A V A L

He reached to undo her wrist ties, but when he touched her, she recoiled and whimpered more.

"Shh, it's okay," he said softly, so not to spook her even more. She must be terrified. Instead, he reached up and tugged the gag out of her mouth, tossing it to the ground. "Don't scream, okay?" he pleaded. He really didn't want her to alert anyone else who may be around. She was already a wrench in his escape plans, but he couldn't just leave her there. He had the power to right a wrong.

She gasped for air and coughed, covering her mouth with her hand, where the rope still hung from her wrist. She opened her mouth and he thought she was going to scream, but she didn't. Instead, she spoke in a soft, melodious voice. "Where am I?" she asked meekly, bringing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

It was then that he realized she was still blindfolded. He pursed his lips, slowly lifting the black band off her eyes and over her head, dropping it on the couch.

She blinked, her brown eyes darting around the room and finally landing on his face. She swallowed and bit her lip. "Who are you?" she murmured, a terrified edge to her voice.

Stellan didn't know what to say. He was no one of consequence. No one she'd want to affiliate herself with. Not a criminal like him.

"I have to go," he said, backing away from the couch and from the frightened girl. He needed to leave, and he couldn't get her involved.

"No!" she exclaimed, too loudly. "Please," she whispered. "Please don't leave me here. Those men... they chloroformed me, I think... I don't know what else they're capable of." Her chocolate eyes pleaded with Stellan. "Please, I'm begging you. Don't leave."

"Look, lady, you don't even know me. For all you know, I could be just like them," he tells her, grabbing his jacket off the back of an armchair. She was complicating his plans to leave the gang. He would have to leave now instead of later tonight.

She stood up and grabbed him, her delicate fingers brushing his skin as they closed around his wrist. "I don't think you are," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Where are you going, anyway?"

Stellan stopped in his tracks at her touch, turning to see her pleading eyes on his. "I'm leaving," he said, gently slipping his wrist out of her grip. "This place..." he shook his head. "I'm not ever coming back."

She looked around, and he could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She brushed her long, tangled brown hair out of her face. "Take me with you."

Stellan wanted to laugh. Him? Take her with him? He had enough trouble plotting his own escape, and now she wanted to tag along?

"No way," he scoffed. "I've done my duty, I untied you. You can leave on your own."

But what if she got caught? he thought. She could squeal, tell them he had left.

Then he would lose his head start. Shit.

The girl's eyes filled with tears. "Please, I am begging you. I don't want to be here when they get back. I won't be any trouble... I swear. I won't bother you at all. You can even drop me off when you get far enough away. Just don't leave me here," she said, her voice stronger. She crossed her arms over her stomach, over her thin silk pajama top. There's no way she isn't freezing, he thought. "I'm going with you," she said resolutely.

Stellan sighed, exasperated. She sure looked like trouble.

"Don't you want to go back home? I'm not making any detours."

She shook her head vehemently. "No. I don't want to go home. I want to go as far away from here as I fucking can," she said, her voice laced with venom for whatever - or whoever - it was that lay at her home.