The Glorious Flame (#2)

Chapter 7

     "Keep those eyes open, baby, look at Mama!" Her mama was so pretty. She loved her mama.

     It was too difficult for Inferno to obey. She felt calm as she closed her eyes, losing herself into a deep, healing slumber.

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     Inferno did not understand why all of her brothers looked so sad. They surrounded her, creating an impenetrable sheild. 

     Terrance, her oldest brother, looked enraged. So did Jones and Ira. They trembled and their fists were balled up. Their eyes kept darting towards her stomach, where the stitches remained in her flesh. 

     "Come on, darling," her Papa called in a soft voice. She looked to her father, feeling quite uncertain. His orange eyes were pliable with melancholy  Why was everybody so sad? "Mama is outside waiting." 

     He stepped passed the boys. Inferno was surprised when Terrance, Jones, and Ira stepped back in his path. "Boys, it must be this way." 

     Terrance shook his head, causing his shaggy orange waves to bounce. He was already in his teens, an age Inferno did not understand. "No Papa, we can take care of her. Nothing will ever hurt her again." 

     "Your mother and I came back to this business, because we knew you all could take care of yourselves. And then Inferno came. She cannot survive our world, for now. We cannot stop our business either, now that we have enemies."

     "Don't do this," Ira pleaded. 

     Inferno heard her father's words, yet their meanings did not settle in. Her father's eyes hardened. "Do you want your sister to die?" All of the boys shook their head in response. 

     "This doesn't feel right," Terrance spoke up. His body, though miminal compared to father's, tensed with frustration. Inferno did not like that everyone was upset. 

     "It is already done," he stated. The boys parted forcefully as her papa came forward, picking up her slight figure. She was impossibly tiny, as most pixies were years after their birth. 

     She trusted her father and did not fight. That was until she heard her crying brothers. "They aren't coming, Papa?" She was bewildered by the turn of events.

       She was startled when one of the front windows shattered, revealing a struggling Ira and Jones, who were held back by the rest of her brothers. 

     Papa only sighed. "No, baby. Me and Mama are taking you on vacation." 

     Inferno clapped her hands in excitement. "We are we going, Papa?" 

     "To meet your uncle, baby. He will take good care of you just fine." she saw the evenescent frown which crossed his handsome features. 

     "You and Mama will come with?" he did not respond. This worried her slight heart. 

     Inferno realized quickly that when that arrow slammed into her stomach, it not only affected her body, but her entire future. 

     The sound of clicking guns brought her attention back to the present. 

     Ten people stared at her and Rouhem in amazement with their guns raised high. The black gleamed in their pale hands. They were every bit as fierce and savage as she had expected from the pack.