Ember

Ember (Story of an Ex-Superhero) -10-

The tune of shattering glass rung in Ember's ears as she threw an orb of fire at the windows lining the entrance to Walmart. She passed through the revolving doors, greeted by the symphonic screeches of late night shoppers. Ember grinned sharply and flung another orb at a chocolate stand, setting off an explosion of singed foil and melted chocolate. The rodent-nosed Greeter only now seemed to notice that Ember was standing right in front of him and he emitted a frightened squeal, trembling so hard that his glasses bounced off his pinched nose. He made no effort to pick them up, because he was already out the door before they hit the floor. 

It was a frenzied rush for the set of doors on the other end of the department store, people abandoned their carts and their check out stations at the horrific sight of an angry Ember. She threw her fire at a few of the wire lights suspended above, with a electronic crash one of them blinked out in a shower of white brightness. She threw more of her fire at a rack of clothing, watching the polyester shirts and plastic hangers succumb to the rage of her flames. 

She grinned at the ironic loveliness of destruction, drinking in the chaos with a wide insane grin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a customer speaking quickly into a cellphone pressed into her ear as she sprinted towards the exit. For a moment, their eyes met just before the woman passed through the doors and Ember thrived on the fear possessing her eyes. It made her feel terrific, the affect she could have on people. It should've worried Ember though, that the woman was likely talking to the Police. But it really didn't because that was exactly her point. Let a thousand call the police and tell them Ember was wrecking havoc on a local department store. She knew exactly who they would call and she knew he would come. 

She wandered through the store, setting fire to the bedding and furniture department, smashing a few of the plasma flatscreen televisions and tearing the heads off of a few Barbie dolls just because she could and because when she imagined that each thing she destroyed was Reno, she felt a bit better about herself. 

She waited for him, knocking a few bottles of wine off the shelves and setting fire to the blood-red liquid that colored the floor. She took the liberty of popping off the cap of a bottle of Tequila and tossed back a swift gulp that didn't burn as much as she thought it would on the way down, for she was already on fire on the inside. Disgusted, she tossed the rest off it into the fire behind her. She was becoming angrier by the second. Why hadn't he come yet? Didn't he want to kill her as much as she did? She kicked a few more bottles of alcohol off the shelves, making room for her to climb. Once she reached the top of the shelves, she could see the entire expanse of the department store in mid-descruction. It was lovely the way her fire looked, a hypnotic display of deep scarlet and orange flames, but it wasn't enough to distract her from her growing anger at Reno.

She kicked a path through the bottles that lined the top shelf, waiting for any sign of him arriving. But she was the only one in the store, standing in loneliness on a shelf crowded with wine bottles. However, when she turned, Reno was there at the other end of the aisle, hovering calmly in the air. 

"You called?" was all he said before a flick of his fingers set off a legion of kitchen knives towards set on her. With the anticipation of tearing Reno limb from limb flooding her veins, Ember leapt off the shelf and onto it's neighbor with a calculated backflip. The pointed tips missed the softness of her flesh by a mile and clattered onto the plastic tile floor below. Without a second to spare, Ember threw her fire at Reno's head, hoping that he wouldn't jump the flames. But with his own calculated grace, he too missed it by a mile and landed a few feet from her.

What happened next was a deathly waltz that only two people who wanted nothing more to destroy the other could dance; flames danced, grinning knives glinted, and the air was charged with clash of two very different powers. A few knives had sliced across Ember's right shoulder and cheek when she didn't dodge their ends quick enough and bit of Reno's hair was singed in the back while a few burns swirled upon his forearms but even that couldn't stop them and their gritty determination to kill.

Another of Reno's flying knives struck Ember across her cheek again, creating another slash underneath the old one. Her right side of her face was coated in thick hot blood that made her look all the more terrifying. Ember turned pain that burned through her bones into raw anger and charged at Reno like a seething bull. But they were now in the recreation aisle and Ember was so blinded by rage that she didn't notice the skateboard until she stepped on it and her feet flew into the air. She crashed so hard on the floor that her head was now ringing.

"You're only driven by anger Ember. You could be much more intimidating if you could control your emotions," he mocked from the end of the aisle as she scrambled to her feet.  He he was just playing with her now. She knew he would wait until she completely lost control and then he would strike the death blow. She knew exactly that was what he would do, but she still wasn't too sure she could control herself. How could one control themselves when the chance to destroy their enemy was so close in reach? 

Ember screamed in anger, causing her body to completely erupt in flames, and threw a rolling wave of fire at him. It took much of her energy to make an arching wave, but it was worth it because Reno now was on the ground, frantically trying to pat out the fire that greedily attempted to devour his shirt and flesh. She dropped to the ground, looking down at Reno sprawled across the aisle. 

"How's that for intimidating?" she asked, charging her veins for more fire she could release onto the symmetric features of his face. 

"You bitch," he growled.

"Famous last words," Ember grinned and held the fire above her head and began to bring it down upon Reno.

"Stop!" cried a woman's voice. Surprising herself, Ember did stop. But not out of mercy. 

It was because that voice sounded strangely familiar. It reached out to a faded memory that Ember, until now, didn't know she possessed. The memory was of her Mother.