Light My Fire

He stepped out of his best friend’s apartment with a smirk on his face. That boy was whipped, all Seth’s girlfriend, Evie had to do was droop her big brown eyes the slightest bit – and his best friend turned into mush. He’d admit, Evie was sure a pretty little thing, but nothing spectacular; she had the whole ‘girl next-door’ effect going for her.
Two flights of stairs and he was finally outside, and wishing he had worn more than just his old denim jacket. His breath came out in grey-white puffs as if he had been smoking a lit cigarette and he felt his whole body ache with the cold as he tried to hold back shivers. Another thing he wished he had was a car; a fast, heated car so he didn’t have to spend another twenty minutes walking the streets in the wintery weather. But flipping burgers didn’t really wrack up a lot of cash, and it didn’t help that all he had was his single mother raising him, she couldn’t exactly just buy him a car, she could hardly afford the bills she was paying now. He guessed he was fine with walking; he really kind of did like walking at night, despite the cold. The streets were always busy at nighttime, especially with it being New Year’s Eve. The city was alive with excitement; parties and events everywhere.
That meant traffic was at a high now, though. Which was saying a lot for being in New York City. Quickly, he cut across the busy street and into the darkened alley way. He really didn’t like these types of places, probably because of all the things – and his buddies – had experienced in them. They were poorly lit and they were dangerous.
His friend on a Friday night after they were all hanging out, went to walk home, and got jumped. He didn’t end up too bad; he was real shook up though and has a couple scars to this day. Axel himself got robbed a few times, but because of his tough, cool looking demeanor guys if they were alone or not loaded usually let him be.
Something ahead caught his attention from his thoughts. A small bright light glowed a little ways further, before it burnt into darkness once again. Out of the curiosity, he quickened his pace a bit.
When he got there, there was nothing unusual. There were a couple old boxes, a dumpster… and then he saw it. There was a figure of a person crumpled up on the ground. Their head lay by the edge of the dumpster and the rest of their body huddle into the cement wall next to it. He fumbled in his pockets for his phone, it wasn’t much, but the extra light from the screen would help him see better. The thoughts that popped into his head were: the person was either dead, or in an alcohol coma.
With the blue light from his phone he could just make out that it was a girl; her chest fell up and down so thankfully, she wasn’t dead. She appeared to be frozen, only clad in a tee shirt.
Cautiously, he tapped her shoulder. Her body was cold to the touch and she didn’t stir at all, which wasn’t a good sign.
“Goddamnit,” He muttered to himself after what seemed like forever trying to wake the girl. He was about two minutes away from his home, and he knew he was going to bring her with him. She didn’t seem to be a hooker; not even close and she was almost freezing to death. He couldn’t bring himself to just walk off like he knew most of his friend just would’ve, his mother would’ve killed him if she ever found out. That left one thing: grabbing her in his arms and carrying him to his place.
He did just that, but first shrugged off his jacket and flung it over the girls shoulder. Her body was almost blue, and even in sleep her body shook. He could tell she needed all the heat she could get. He picked the girl off the ground and, as quickly as possible with a girl in his arms, walked home.
“Axel!” He heard from down the hall the second he slammed the front door shut. His mother was far away, but he could still sense the stern tone. “You’re home late. I told you –“
His mother, short brunette women, walked into the hallway. She looked fragile and sensitive, but if you get her going – she just wouldn’t stop. At first she appeared as if she was going to yell and rant at him, but she spotted the young women in his arms.
“Who’s that?” She said curiously, instead of using her firm voice.
Before replying, he laid the girl down carefully on the couch. Her body instantly curled further into the warm material. “I found her in the alley; she was out cold – literally. She was almost freezin’ to death.”
At those words, his mom all but ran to the couch, and kneeled on the floor next to the girl he had brought home. Her body still shivered, but she was finally regaining a proper skin tone instead of the icy blue colour he had found her in. Mom, a nurse, immediately took action.
“Get me some warm clothes,” She ordered. “Like one of your hoodies and a pair of sweats.”
As he was leaving, he saw the girls eyes flutter open and her attempt to sit up. He jogged up the stairs to his room and as fast he could, and grabbed what his mom wanted. A big, pullover hoodie that was bound to swallow the girl up and a pair of sweatpants that she could adjust the waist in. She was only a skinny little thing, they’d probably just fall right off her if he didn’t.
Mom took the clothes quickly, and softly told the girl to change. He politely, for once, turned away. In most situations the boy probably would’ve just kept on as he was, but there was something different when the girl was barely conscious and near freezing.
“Watch her,” His mom told him, getting up. “I’m going to get her some warm milk. If you can, Ax, get her to walk? It’ll help her generate heat. She hasn’t appeared to have fallen asleep because of the cold; more likely exhaustion, so it’s not exactly as severe as we first thought. Though we should probably go see a doctor…” Then she exited the room, mumbling incoherently to herself.
Axel sat down the next to the girl, who was slumped on the couch in a sitting position. She looked as if she wished nothing more than to fall back to sleep, but that wouldn’t be good at the moment.
“Hi,” He greeted warily. He wasn’t even sure if she could answer – she shook violently and he could hear her teeth clattering together.
“H-Hello,” Her voice shook as her teeth clamped together over and over.
“You think ya can walk?” He asked, and the girl nodded. She attempted to push herself off the ouch before unsuccessfully plopping back down. He chuckled softly and reached out his hand pulling her up from her sitting position. Slowly, but surely, she stood on her wobbly legs. She kind of reminded him of those horses you see in movies, who are almost dying. They’re about to give up but their owner persuades them to give it one last shot – and they slowly, knees knocking and all, stand up. He steadied her by carrying most of her wait for the first couple moments – but then the girl regained her balance and slowly, but surely walked by herself.
“Oh, lovely! You’re walking normally.” Axel’s mom smiled for the archway. “Here, miss, some milk for you.”
The girl – that he still hadn’t bothered to get the name of – plopped back down on the couch. She sipped out of the warm mug, and pulled a blanket over herself. But she didn’t talk, not once.
“I'm Maria. What’s your name, sweetheart?” Asked his mom, as if she had read his mind.
“Sylvia.” She said in a small, shaky voice.
Mom smiled, “And who do you belong to Sylvia?”
The girls eyes clouded over and her whole face seemed to frown. Her voice as she said it dripped with such coldness, it sent shivers up his spine.
“No one.”