The Fight for Fire

Chapter 1 - The Man

To be quite honest, I didn't have a good feeling about tonight.

Granted, I didn't really have a good feeling about any night. I hated going to bars. I hated the nightlife of New York City. I hated wearing the too-tight dresses and the very tall heels. This wasn't me, but it has completely overtaken my life in the past year since we started our search for Doctor Bradley Moroso.

My goal for tonight was simple, same as every other time we went out: Look for any Supernaturals in the places we went, scope out the people just to be sure he wasn't blocking my powers for any reason, then move on to the next location. It was easy, quick even, but that didn't make this any better.

I took a deep breath, feeling my power propagate inside me as I felt my eyes adjust to the auras that the party-goers in the room had, searching out for the bright ray of color that I knew would signify that of a Supernatural.

"Damn..." I heard my friend Alex mutter besides me. "I know I've seen this done a million times, but it really makes you look weird, Taylor."

I knew what he was talking about. Whenever I did this power of mine, my pupils lengthened to resemble that of a cat. "Then don't look," I answered simply, earning a snicker from his girlfriend, Claire.

Finally, when I was satisfied that I hadn't missed anyone, I dropped my power and looked at my friends. "Not here," I told them. Let's go to the next place."

Alex groaned and I just now realized he was holding a drink, making me narrow his eyes at him. "Why can't we just have a night for fun?" He asked me, giving me a pointed stare with his bright blue eyes that signified his Water abilities. "We do the same thing every day! We deserve a night out--"

"And what if that night out is the day we could've found Moroso?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "What if it's the night Katherine decides to come take us back to the island? Or Catchers--"

"But what if it's not?"

I glared at him, not wanting to play his games. "We're not meant to be having fun," I told him.

"Come on, Taylor. You of all people deserve to relax for once! Take off your heels, have a drink. Just relax--"

"Alex!" Claire butt in now, taking an anxious look at me. "Leave her alone. She's just trying to do her job."

Despite the island, Katherine, and losing Cole all having happened over a year ago, some people were still sure to be extra sensitive around me. Claire was one of them, especially since she had the ability to dig into my mind and know my every waking thought. I tried to keep my feelings buried, tried to keep my head focused on my training and our search, but even she knew about the nightmares I had every night about what had happened on the Catchers' island.

To be honest, I don't know why Alex chose tonight to do most of his complaining. They got to switch out, Alex and Claire with Leona and Will. Sometimes Sophia would attend too, but I was the only person who went out each and every night to look for Doctor Moroso. It didn't bother me. In actuality, it would bother me more if I didn't get to go out each time. It wasn't that I didn't have confidence in my teammates to do thorough work, I just learned to trust myself and my powers more than anyone else. People can make promises all they want with the right intentions, but sometimes they're forced to break them.

"Promise me you won't leave? I wouldn't be able to take it if you were gone too."

Cole's face softened before he squeezed me a little bit tighter. "Oh, I definitely promise. I could never leave my little Blondie hanging."