The Mark of a Fallen Angel

33: Training

It seemed easy to manipulate the flame... And it felt good. My eyes clouded over in a haze and I smiled.

A new thought entered my mind such as, how big could I manipulate the flame? Could I throw it? Could I extinguish it?

The heat in my body was like gas to the flame. It was like every time I felt the heat inside me grow larger, so did the flame. I wanted to lose myself. 

"Alex, stop!" 

I blinked a few times and dropped my hands and watched the flame disappear in a black cloud. I gasped and dropped to the floor as a wave of complete weakness started in the middle of my chest and coursed outward.

"Don't touch her," I heard Joseph command. "Her skin is probably the temperature of an open flame."

I took a deep breath and coughed when the smoke and ash hit my nose. I groaned and opened my eyes. There was a large black circle around me. I lifted my head. Maryanne, Gabriel and Joseph were at least twenty yards away from me now. 

Gabriel started walking forward but Maryanne grabbed his arm. "I'm not finished yet."

"Well she is," He growled. "You saw how far she lost herself and it was far enough. Aren't you happy now?"

She ignored him and started walking toward me. A picture flashed across my mind of a dream I had. It was the dream with Genevieve; she was walking toward me. Raleigh was burnt to the ground...

Wait...

Raleigh... I read the letter about that angel... My great-great-great grandfather, Harold Gardiner, was watching her move but she ignored him...

In my dream, a man was watching me but I ignored him...

That was me... The woman Harold thought started the fires was me. Was it me? Did I start both fires? But why?

Another image popped into my head. Genevieve was standing in front of me with disgust on her face. A look I was very familiar with now.

She said something to me... I could only make out three words:

"You're a monster..."

I shook my head and looked up at Maryanne. It wasn't a look of disgust, but for once it was pure sadness.

She crouched down in front of me. "Did that bring back a memory?"

I stood up as quickly as I could. "No." I replied. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She nodded slowly. "I'm sure you'll remember that day soon enough."

She held out the lighter. I grabbed it from her. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Mary."

She raised a brow. "Hmm... Fine. Just let me say this," She leaned forward. "Your shirt and pants are burnt."

I looked down and gasped. My dark brown long sleeve shirt looked torn and now revealed my stomach and parts of my arms. My jeans had random burn holes and were now beneath the knee. 

I covered myself with my arms. I could feel my face flush.

Maryanne shrugged her jacket off and draped it over my shoulders. I raised a brow at her and she frowned. "I'm a bitch, yes, but I can be nice." She turned her back on me but looked over her shoulder. "To you? Not all the time. But I can be. Later princess. I'll call you." She laughed as she ran off into the trees.

I closed my eyes and worked on my body heat. I heard footsteps coming closer to me but I ignored them. I sighed as the burning feeling inside me subsided. 

When I opened my eyes, Gabriel was standing a few feet away from me with a scowl. Joseph walked forward and smiled at me. "Interesting. You are far more ahead than I realized."

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"Were you into that?" I nodded. "I didn't think you would have controlled the flame as easy as you did. I thought that maybe it would have taken more time. Perhaps, you are different." Joe took a step back. I ignored the ripping sound of his back and watched him unfurl his wings without any trouble or signs of pain. His wings were the same size as Gabriel's. But they were almost grey but not exactly on the white side either. They looked shiny and smooth just like Gabriel's.

He regarded me carefully as he said, "Be sure not to lose control like you did today. You'll always know when you're losing it. Like a moment ago you had that red hazy feeling, that's a sign before you go super nova."

I watched his legs slightly bend and his wings move slightly. His feet hovered off the ground and continued to go higher. "If you have any questions feel free to call me."

A low annoyed grunt escaped from Gabriel which made me stare at him in shock.

Joe chuckled. "Or call Gabriel, of course."

Joe flew off pushing a gust of wind in my direction. Gabriel and I stayed silent as we walked out of the clearing and into the forest. He started jogging which definitely looked more like a sprint. I followed him.

We got to the house in more time than it took to get to the forest. We stood by my window in silence. I looked up and frowned. How was I supposed to get back up there?

Before I could ask, he grabbed hold of my waist and pulled me to his chest. I looked at him and watched the small smile light up his face. His hands were on my bare skin which made me wonder whether I was controlling myself well, or if he wasn't paying any attention to the heat.

"Bend you legs and jump with me."

I did as he said and squealed as we flew past my window and landed on the roof. The roof wasn't steep thank god but neither was it flat.

He sat down and said, "You wanna know what those voices are?"

I sat next to him. "Yes."

"They're thoughts. You can read minds."

I laughed. "Don't lie to me."

He stared at me with a blank expression.

"Shut up." I whispered. "No! How?!"

"It's a part of you. You've always been able to read minds. That's how you knew how much I hated you when we first met at my trial. You probably heard a lot of voices in the hospital? When you were changing, the voices you could hear were thoughts. I can only describe it as your brain adjusting to its change. And when you died," He frowned. "The change was complete."

"So I die every time I change?"

He nodded.

In a way, everything did make sense. I thought I was going crazy what with all the voices. But still, I found it weird. I could hear three voices... my brother was home and so was my mom. Was Gabriel the third voice?

I shook my head. I didn't want to think about it. It was weird when I could only hear Gabriel's thoughts when I was human and now it was just damn right crazy that I could hear every ones.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to run off toward Maryanne like that."

He waved it away. "You'll get used to calling later on. We have other important stuff to worry about."

"Like what?"

"Your memories, is one thing. And you need to learn to control yourself a little more."

I nodded and sighed. "I guess you're right."

"There's one more thing."

I raised a brow. "What's that then?"

He turned his head away from me and grinned out toward the town. "You're going to have to work on your strength and speed so you're ready for when we have our match."

I grinned and stared out at the town too. It was quite grey today. Rain was threatening the town in the distance while it was still dry up here.

"Alright fine. But I'm working on my self control first. I don't want to accidentally set you alight."

He laughed. "That's fine."

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(edited:2023)