Pyra (IN REVISION)

Chapter 1 (Revised)

The first time the fire alarm shrieked, it was just a drill. Students streamed out of the classrooms and were herded into semi-orderly lines by their teachers. Snatches of hushed conversation trickled between each shrill ring as jostling bodies made their ways to the nearest exits. A girl with bright red hair the color of chili peppers rose to her tiptoes, her startling green eyes searching the bobbing heads around her for someone.

When she stepped outside, the mid-morning sun glared rudely into her face. She squinted into the light as a brisk April breeze whisked her short hair across her cheeks. She flung it away impatiently, then caught sight of another girl with long brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders in little ringlets. She was trying to draw something on her little green notebook when a larger kid elbowed her writing hand as he tried to catch up with his friends. She huffed at him in frustration and tucked the journal away into her jeans pocket, twirling her pen between her fingers.

The redhead sidled over to the curly-haired girl and fell into step beside her. "Sooo, Eliza..." she began with a cheeky grin. "How was your date?"

"Hey Ruby,"  Eliza exclaimed softly as they passed by a teacher. "It was great! We saw the new action movie, ya know, Legend of Tomorrow? Have you and Josh seen it yet?"

"Naw, he isn't into that kind of stuff. Hey, maybe I could watch it with you this weekend, like, tonight?" Ruby suggested.

"Can't. Gotta watch my little brother," Eliza sighed, her hazel eyes rolling. "Mama's got a meeting every other Friday now. Company's got plans for her, I guess."

"Shh! Do you want to get us in trouble?" A boy with dark-framed glasses shot them a dirty look as he hissed his warning. Eliza stuck her tongue out at him.

The two girls reached the rest of the students and turned to face the direction they came from. "Boys," Eliza huffed, flicking her brown curls.

~🔥 ~

Now the fire alarm was ringing again, caterwauling through the halls with more urgency than before. Westview High's assistant principal announced, "This is not a drill. Please remain calm and avoid the second-floor northern corridor," over the intercom, which just so happened to cause more chaos.

It also just so happened that Ruby was in English class giving a presentation at the time and that English class was located on the floor just above the offending corridor.

Sydney, Ruby's short-statured, sandy-blonde presentation partner, tapped on Ruby's shoulder. "Hey, where are you going?"

Ruby, knowing a lot of students were in the fire-stricken corridor, had already impulsively begun heading toward them. She looked down at the hand she had resting on the door to the hallway, then over at Sydney.

"They're trapped, and I'm not hearing any fire trucks. I need to make sure they all get out," she said half to herself, though she was now beginning to feel butterflies forming in the pit of her stomach despite her initial confidence.

"Ruby, I felt the fire from the third floor. It's not safe. Let the firefighters take care of it." She clamped a hand on Ruby's shoulder and turned the redhead to face her. "You could get yourself killed!"

Ruby's green eyes flashed, causing Sydney to drop her hand. "You know they won't be here in time. They never are. I need to help them before the fire gets worse!"

Sydney stared at her for a minute, then scowled, shaking her head. "You're crazy, you know—"

Ruby smiled. "Cover me, would ya? In case they ask for me downstairs?"

"What are—"

But Ruby was already pushing through the doors.

~🔥 ~

The alarm still blared in the northern corridor, begging for Ruby to heed it. Instead, Ruby turned left and pushed open the next set of doors that led to the fire-consumed hallway. It met her at the threshold, curling up her legs and licking her palms like a puppy welcoming its master home. She shooed it away with a wave of her hand. It receded before her, clearing a path. Spotting some fire extinguishers in the hall, Ruby snatched a couple of untouched ones for good measure.

The first classroom door had flames crawling all over the rainbow "¡Hola! ¿Como estas?" poster. Ruby flicked her wrist and the fire leaped into her palm. She closed her fingers to suffocate the flames and threw open the door, beckoning to the students huddled inside.

"Hurry!" She sprayed the fire with the extinguisher for show, hearing its crackling protest. The teacher escorted her students quickly to the hall door, nodding gratefully at Ruby while using her sleeve to protect her nose and mouth.

The next room was empty, but the boy's bathroom had a couple of scared teenagers in it. Ruby sent them off too. The last classroom held only a terrified substitute teacher and a student he had been tutoring. She cleared a path for them to the door at the opposite end of the corridor using the fire extinguishers and the help of her powers.

When Ruby, at last, confronted the fire, it had spread up the walls, climbing across bulletin boards and setting the carpet ablaze with gusto. The butterflies reproduced in her stomach. She hadn't considered that she might not be able to absorb it all.

Whatever her doubts, Ruby knew she had to do what she could. The fire was already trying to slip out of the doors containing it.

I've come this far, and I really need to learn to use my abilities.

She closed her eyes, reaching out—feeling for the heart of the fiery beast. She called to it and it gathered attentively.

Come. Come into me. Leave this place alone and burn through my veins instead.

The words came unbidden to her mind, surprising her. What surprised her more was that the creature listened... and it came.

It came all at once, like a bull rushing headlong into a red cloth. Ruby braced for impact. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and looked up. The glowing amber beast hovered before her, boundless energy pulsing through it and washing her face with its warmth, charring away at her clothes. It seemed to bob its head at her. She closed her eyes. The flaming mass leaped.

And dove straight into her chest.

She gasped at its sudden pressure. Staggered. Fell with the beat and throb of the fire coursing through her arteries, settling in her organs, and joined its heart with hers.

The world dimmed.

She fought to gain her footing, to stagger away from the scene. Too late she remembered the warnings of her mother. Her energy was drifting away from her.

Somewhere far away she finally heard the sirens,felt pounding footsteps shake the ground. Her eyes closed over yellow stripes.The last thing she remembered was that she was floating.    

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So what do you guys think? I did a bunch of editing so that it's not as... well... written by the past me. Two years can do that to a person :'D

I made several major changes in this version I have planned—one of which is that we actually have a plotline, yay! Another major change is the switch from first person to third person, and that was partly due to the first major change; I just felt it fit better with what I have planned. Some other changes were the importance of Eliza and the attitudes of almost all of the main characters, mostly because I got to know them better since I first began writing. Anyhow, progress will be slow-going because this is senior year and who says senior year is relaxing? Ahahaha...... That just means my cliffhangers will be all the more torturous! >:)

Edit: Oh yeah! And I changed Pyra's name to Ruby! Ehehe... Thought "Pyra" was a little too obvious for a girl trying to hide the fact that she has pyrokinesis, ya know? Don't worry, "Pyra" will come back... ;)

As always, corrections, questions, and advice are always welcome! If you liked this chapter, please show your love by lighting up that little star v... ^... >.... <.... somewhere with your vote. Don't forget to check out some of my other stories too, and follow me for the most recent notifications on updates. Thanks for reading!

-Misty out