Rendering Flames

“I’m convinced now that I’ll be dead before I ever get back to Beth and Millie. I was stabbed and burned, now this? The universe needs to pick someone else.” I was lagging on to Alex as she sat next to me, sharing her canteen of water.

“I need to help him.” She had been paying attention to me but I knew she was more invested in Jaden burying the two dead bodies, or at least just digging their graves for them.

“He’ll just say he’s got it.” Alex ignored my words of advice as she hopped to her feet, striding over to help him.

I was feeling horrendous. Better than being on the brink of death but I was still healing from my wounds and having exposure to sarin would not help. In fact, I was afraid I had bad blood now. And I would love to have Peter examine me but I couldn’t risk possibly exposing him too. I didn’t know how potent this stuff was but judging by its effects on my body, I would never even challenge it.

Alex looked defeated as she sat back down next to me again, but had the walkie in her hands. “Peter and Orson are going to bring back a change of clothes for all of us. We’re going to burn what we have on in the fireplace in this house. Orson apparently knows a thing or two about this stuff so he’s tagging along, much to the refusal of Peter. Oh, and we also get to take a bleach bath.”

“A bleach bath? Like, how much are we going to have to use?” Alex shrugged, looking down at her shirt.

“It just sucks I have to burn one of my favorite shirts.” She then looked over to me, seemingly cautious to talk.

“You know, Jaden cares a lot about you. Like,a lot.” I hid my face from her stare, looking over to Jaden dumping dirt back into the graves.

“I know he does,” I quietly said, looking back to her..

“That’s why I intervened. If it were anyone else who had been attacked, I wouldn’t of. I like you Dahlia but Jaden was the reason why I jumped in. He’s been through a lot building himself back up these past couple of years and he’s the closest thing to family I have around these days.” Her face twisted like she was saying this all wrong.

“So, you came in the middle of this not because I was in danger but because of Jaden?” I was honestly a little confused by what she was trying to say.

“Well, not exactly.” She shifted uncomfortably, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s obvious you’re Jaden’s family to him and I get what that is like because of how I think of him as my family and I would hate to lose that. I was giving a helping hand to protect his family, which is you.”

“Okay,”I nodded, understanding. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because I don’t think you feel the same way about him.” Her accusation caught me way off guard.

“What?” The idea seemed ridiculous to me.

“I mean, I’ve heard all these things about you and some of Jaden’s past and his actual sister, the people you were around.. And like, you all were close, correct?”

“Yes, we still are.” My voice was quietly defensive, my chest twisting thinking of Mila and Jay.

“But now you show up with Orson, who himself is a nice enough guy. But it seems like he’s your family now, like you’ve imprinted into a different family. You’re always around him, it’s kind of rude to Jaden I think because it looks like you’re betraying the memory he has of you.”

“Wow.” I laughed dryly, “Alex, gosh, you are loyal to an actual fault.”

“Excuse me?” It was her turn to be defensive.

“You’re one to accuse me of ‘imprinting’,” I mocked a little at her wording, “when every conversation we’ve ever had has pertained to Jaden. And it is great that you care about him so much but you’re in too deep to see what is going on around you.”

“Enlighten me then.” Her face was as crossed as her arms.

“Jaden and I were separated for almost three years. And I’ve had to evolve without him because for all I knew he was dead. It’s been a process and honestly, it’s insulting that you think you can sum up our relationship within the month that I’ve been here. It’s almost like one of us has to be the closest to him when it comes to you, actually because you keep reminding me of it. So fine, you’re the alpha, claim your prize,” I gestured over to a still working Jaden.

Just as I had finished, Orson and Peter appeared at the edge of the trees in front of us. I didn’t wait to get to my feet and get always from Alex. “How are you feeling?”

“Better but shaky,” I grumbled to Peter, who didn’t come any closer to me.

“I’ll go get some water from the stream,” Orson spoke up, giving me a glance over to see if I actually was alright.

“I guess I’ll get a fire going in the house.” Peter moved around me, struggling to juggle the amount of stuff he was carrying in his arms.

I walked over to Jaden, who had just finished burying the two bodies. “Is the rest of the sarin down there with them?”

“I stuffed the vile’s down the asshole’s throat. We’ll burn his pack and any other burnable things, I suppose. Didn’t really expect to have handle a nerve agent today so I did the best I could.”

“Yeah, seems like crazy shit has been following me lately. Thank you for dealing with this though.” I started to think about how much that was true and how much I just wanted things to be normal.

“Are you feeling okay, though?” Jaden seemed to pick up that my mood was dim.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” As soon as I gave him a convincing smile, I could tell he could see right through it.

He left me alone though as I went to catch up with Orson, who had already gotten water. I slowed to stand next to him, looking up at the sky like he was. It was cloudy, a misty grey.

“Looks like I got water for nothing.” Just as he spoke, I felt some sprinkle of rain hit my face.

“Doesn’t mean I’m about to stripe in front of everyone though. I’ll take the water.” I reached for it but he shot me a slightly disapproved work.

“You aren’t taking a thing. Now come on.” I followed him as I heard some thunder rumble overhead.

The only upside to it raining would be that I would be soaking wet as it was. No harm, no foul. Orson set the bucket of water down in a room towards the back, sliding a bottle of bleach over next to it, and handed me a small towel.

“Some new clothes are over there. Put your old clothes in the trash bag and then I would dump a few seconds worth of bleach in and go crazy.” He moved to give me a small slap on the back but stopped.
“Nevermind, not touching you.”

I tossed my old contaminated clothes in the trash bag and dunked the small towel into the mixture of bleach and water. I scrubbed down my body before soaking it again and wringing it out over my hair. This whole thing felt silly but it had to be better than being hosed down. But since I got the worse of it, I repeated the process three times and reminded myself to soak my hair in some olive oil before it turned brittle and dry.

My hands shook slightly with a mixture of being cold and still having the effects of the sarin wearing off completely probably. I prayed to whoever was above that the cocktail injection that I had would last and work. I didn’t need anymore problems.

After I was dressed, I leaned out the front door. “I’m done.”

“How do you feel?” Peter was dripping from the rain that was down falling steadily.

“Shitty but normal enough so far.” I held up crossed fingers.

I ducked back into the house, aiming to go out the backdoor to be by myself. The room provided an eave big enough to give some coverage from the rain. I let my body slide down against the house and brought my knees up to my chest, wanting more than ever to be back home.