Water Valkies

Pheonix stared at his ceiling as he lay stiffly on his bed. He hadn't slept all night and dark circles hung heavily under his eyes. His mind was wide awake though. He couldn't erase the image of that man's face when he killed him.
"Alan." his mind prompted. "He had a name."
Alan's eyes had been wide with fear when Pheonix mercilessly poured his fire down his throat. The worst bit that Pheonix remembered was the vivid pleasure he got while doing it. It was a rush. It made him high on adrenaline and he had basked in Alan's death. He had tried to blame it on the change, but Pheonix knew that was a petty excuse. The change altered his body physically, and it heated his brain in the process. Enough to make his power unpredictable and hard to control but not enough to control him. When Pheonix murdered Alan he knew exactly what he was doing, and he enjoyed it. A large chunk of self hate and nausea landed in the pit of his stomach and Pheonix became sweaty. He hated how he'd ended up here. He hated the people who had put him there. Why him? He blinked away furious tears as the memory from the park swam to the surface of his mind.

"Pheonix." the greasy man started when they were inside the car. It was spacious, with two long, burnt brown leather seats opposite each other. The man leaned forward, head resting on his fingers.
"I'm from The Company so there's no need to worry."
His devilish smirk made Pheonix doubt what he'd just said.
"You know that we protect families right? And that we help children? Well there are a number of people who have been interfering with our work. People who have been difficult and disobey our warnings. We need them taken care of."
Pheonix's skin crawled. He desperately wanted out of the car.
"You mean you want them dead." he said bluntly.
The man's face twisted into a sadistic smile.
"Such a harsh statement."
"An honest statement."
The man's eyes levelled with Pheonix's before he sat back in his cushion and left his face curl in distaste.
"We want you to do it."
"Why?" snarled Pheonix, disgusted.
"Because we can't get Company officials to do it, we need it done quietly."
"Can't you let the Administration do it? They usually do your dirty work." Pheonix spat.
"Still too public." the man said sharply, no longer keeping up his cynical humour.
"Why me?" Pheonix asked, a growl edging into his voice.
"You're a fire valkie. You can do it quickly and without visible injury."
"I won't do it." he spat, his voice dripping with hate.
"True," answered the man, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photograph.
"That's why we have this."
Pheonix's chest turned cold like ice as he took the picture and stared at it. He blanched as the image burned itself onto his retina. The image of Aurie lying broken and battered on a cold slate floor, hands and feet shackled and body bruised and bleeding.

"The first is to be Dormer." the man told him as they pulled up outside Pheonix's house. Pheonix sneered angrily at him. The man simply snickered in response.
"And Pheonix," he called as he went to climb out of the car.
"Call me Mr. Pernicious."
Ironically accurate, thought Pheonix as he slammed the black door and watched the vehicle tear away from the sidewalk.