Rendering Flames

”It’s past curfew, Evanna!” Georgia’s worried whispers only made me tip toe with more caution around the corner of quiet and empty buildings.

“Well now we know Conner was lying.We were stupid to believe him, Georgie.” She yanked me back just as I was about to turn the corner, clamping her hand over my mouth as a night officer passed by us.

She slowly took her hand away after he was down the road, “thanks.”

“It still would of been cool though,” Georgie said freely, following me along a wall. “What it would look like besides what we see everyday.”

“Maybe we aren’t suppose to know. They don’t teach us about it much in prep refinement, maybe when we’re older?” I turned to look at her but she stopped, running into me.

We turned and saw the flash light from an officer shining on us and I began to sweat with fear and nervousness. His eyes were thin and accusatory, the air around him angry and hungry for punishment.

“Past curfew, ladies.” The flashlight shined between us like we were being interrogated.

We didn’t get a chance to saw our defense before he pulled out the one of the other things we hear about but aren’t sure if it’s actually real. The hand whips that officers use for punishing, little lashes that you can’t see with a naked eye but will sting for days after receiving them. They were like grass cuts but the rumor is that the whips get bigger and more violent sometimes if they’re bored, if they really want to hurt you.

We held our hands out obediently, feeling the cutting brush of the leathery threads cutting and whipping against our palms, resisting the reflex to snatch my hands away from the source of pain. We got twenty each and I was old enough to know we were lucky. He didn’t cuff us when he led us back to our respective houses, we weren’t stupid enough to try and run. I could already hear Georgie getting an ear full as I was led down her walkway and saw my own house a few down and I felt sick.

I would take a thousand lashes then face my father. And as the officer rang the doorbell, there wasn’t a second inbetween before the door flew open. My father stood tall, a glass of alcohol in his tight grasp as I could only focus on what was going to happen to me rather than what the officer was telling my father that I did. Surely my mother was lurking around the corners upstairs, wanting to come down but I knew that any punishing was my father and him only. She was always too trusting and forgiving.

I was broke out of my daze when I was yanked inside by the collar of my school uniform that I still had on from earlier. The door slammed behind me as I jumped with the noise of the glass being slammed down onto a table.

“You stupid, fruitless shrew!” A slap stung my face as I rushed away from the next blow. “All that I do, all that provide for you thankless waste of a daughter! Explain yourself.”

“Georgie and I went to the edge, to the south side of the wall to see something. It wasn’t worth it though. Nothing is worth disobeying you and the curfew. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again..” I looked at my feet, my face hot from the back of his hand.

“More like disobeying, Kruger. All that he does for this family and this is how to repay him? A man like me, a family like us cannot afford anymore of you useless shenanigans. I’m paid to bring order to this state but you tarnish it. It’s a slap in the face of my profession and livelihood.”

“Of course, it won’t happen again, sir.” I prayed he would let me go up to bed, sometimes he does.

“Look up at me,” he ordered and I reluctantly face my eyes to him.

I was slapped again and again, his rings cutting my cheeks. I was hit over and over, until the thought of doing anything wrong would have the pain of my father’s beatings on me reverberate through my bones as a reminder. I never learn though, I couldn’t.

“Please, stop!” I cried, curling into a ball as I tried to move again from the end of one of his belts he likes to whip me with.

Surprisingly, he did. “I feel like I have to bring you on the brink of death for you to understand, Evanna. You do not disobey!”

I felt a strike for each syllable. I cried out for my mother but I knew she wouldn’t come to help me, I was always alone in this. I looked up to plead but instead I was met with the hooked metal end of a belt.

“Stop!” I jolted away from the memory, my hands covering my face defensively.

I was soaked in a cold sweat as I sat up, seeing Richie watching me from behind the fire he must had started up again. His stare told me he knew I had problems beyond the normal and that the suspicion I would see in his eyes had turned to confirmation.

“I knew you were bat-shit crazy.” His words passed right through me as I laid back down, turning away from him.

I tried to get back to sleep but it came with no return. After Richie had put the fire out and went to bed himself, I stared to the rising sun some hours later. We were all tired from walking so much and not having a proper place to sleep every night. I knew today that Orson and Richie wouldn’t be up until much later. I however had no more intention of sleeping but instead of going to the lake about a half mile away to bathe.

My hair was slick and knotted thick with bits of the forest and dirt. My skin was clouded and had a layer of weeks worth of travel wearing down it. I smelled, it followed me and I’m sure it’s noticeable. Beyond the other reasoning of making me grimy and disgusting, there was the fact that I just needed to get away and wash clean. I would feel better, I know I would.

I had quietly gathered new clothes and the only small towel I had brought along. I had been saving my time to bathe so I wouldn’t dirty it and after all the times and very few chances I had, I was grateful that I had waited. The walk to the lake was long and it was actually quite peaceful. I tried not to think about the memory that had terrorized me into consciousness. I didn't want to think about who Georgie was or what probably had happened to her. I knew that my father was strict and demeaning, it was something that seemed was forever ingrained into my deepest pits of my memories. It’s something that doesn’t ever evade you, being abused like that.

The air was warm enough for me to stand the cold lake water, not that I would try to avoid it anyways. I shyly undressed and had my clean clothes out and ready with my towel. I waded into the water, standing waist deep as I looked out to the other side of the lake, the rocky and pine tree landscape. It was beautiful, it was calming me. I let the sun rise to shine between the trees before I dipped myself below the surface. I ran my fingers through my tangled hair, waving my hair loose back and forth. I came to the surface and slicked it back, feeling immensely better.

I swam around some, letting the dirt dissolve off me until the water became too cold for me to bare any longer when I just couldn’t warm up. I quickly came up out of the water and to my towel, drying my body before wrapping my hair up. My clothes stuck to my damp skin as I stared off into the distance. I felt my shoulders tense as I got the sudden sensation that I was being watched. I turned quickly, looking into the trees to find nothing watching me.

“Stop it,” I muttered to myself. “Just be okay for once.”

I turned my head over, letting my hair flip back to end up soaking through my shirt. I balled the towel up and didn’t take my time getting back to Orson and Richie, still feeling paranoid. Orson was up and packed when I came back, look rather relieved to see me.

“Where did you go? You were gone when I woke up.” I gestured to my wet hair and he quickly put it together. “Never was supremely observant.”

I let myself laugh a little but stopped when I saw that Richie was no where around us. I packed and tied my hair into a ponytail before I saw him pop up through the thicket of trees and brush. He had a torn up map in his hands, setting it down beside him as he started to pack himself without saying a word.

“What’s this?” I bent down to look at it before I was ripped from my reach.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Richie breathed and I crossed my arms over my chest with a raised eyebrow.

“That doesn’t sound suspicious at all. Tell me what it is, Richie,” I demanded.

“It’s a map, yeah? It’s what it is, an old map I’ve been using to navigate us around with.” Richie didn’t sound nearly as guarded and I dropped it, still side eying him.

He promised that today was the day we would finally catch up with them. He had promised before but this time I was inclined to believe him because of how done I was with this whole expedition. It was just one dragged out camping trip across the backwoods of Idaho. All we accomplished was maybe being excellent at hiking and trying to kill each other.

It took two hours before my inclination proved correct and I saw it, a broken down cabin resting up on a hill. There was actually something and I looked around to see if I was actually seeing it right. Orson looked to Richie who shoved his weird map back into his bag.

“So, do we go introduce ourselves or did you not plan to make it this far?” I purposely tried to get under Richie’s skin, wanting him to stop being his shady self for once.

“I’ll scout the woods and area around the cabin. You two can check inside of that thing and the basement if it has one.” He dug around and handed Orson and I a handful of zip-ties and a bottle of chloroform.

“I didn’t know we were taking notes from cheap horror films, Richie. What the hell are we suppose to do with this?” I turned the bottle over in my hands as I felt already that this was going to turn badly.

“You only shoot to kill. We’ll get more if they’re alive. Knock them out with this stuff and tie them up as good as you can. We will met up back here. We don’t leave until we’re all back together and we have bodies to call over on my phone.”

“You’ve had a goddamn phone this entire time?” I seethed, feeling as if we could have saved ourselves days if he would have communicated with his “source” rather than meeting him somewhere.

“It’s a burner and it’s cheap as hell. I only need it to contact someone that we got them and then we wait.” Richie seemed confident in his plan and Orson had been awfully quiet. I didn’t know what to make of that.

“This will work, just keep things tight and together, okay?” Richie looked between us and I shrugged in response while Orson just merely nodded. “Good, I’ll see you guys on the other side.”

Orson and I didn’t move until he started to disappear out of our sight. “So screw his plan. Chloroform, really? I should’ve butted in more but he insisted that he had it so I didn’t ask questions. If these guys are as serious as they seem, zip-ties aren’t going to stop them. Shoot to injure, okay? Stab em’, I don’t give a shit. Let’s just make sure they don’t walk out or kill us first.”

I tried to settle my nerves as Orson and I approached the cabin from behind, keeping low and out of sight as he checked the backdoor. I let him go first, he was adamant that he lead at all times. I agreed, I didn’t go and try to kill or capture people for bounty everyday.

The place was clear after checking it a few times. Orson and I both stood confused, thinking that maybe Richie was wrong once again and we still hadn’t found them. We were moving to leave and find Richie when Orson walked over a old stained rug. The floor creaked loudly under his feet and he froze.

“What?” I watched him yank the rug away to reveal a trapdoor.

“Maybe this is a horror movie,” I joked nervously.

He put his finger to his lips as he slowly opened the door. We had our guns aimed and ready for anything but it was dark and eerily quiet looking down there. “Stay.”

“What? Why?” I hissed to him.

“I don’t need you more stressed than this. Just keep watch up here and let me make sure we’re clear.” I didn’t get to argue with him before he was already going down the stairs.

I felt my stomach drop with dread. I kept on high alert as I heard nothing for a few minutes before I heard a large crash. “Orson?”

“Dahlia, run! It’s a trap!” Orson’s shouts were muffled and I panicked, pivoting around the door. “Run!”

I did. I ran out the back door and fought the want to go back and help him, to get Orson. But I knew that if Orson couldn’t handle whatever was going on down there, I definitely couldn’t. I couldn’t think of what he meant by a trap. Did they know that we were coming? How could they had been tipped off? Was it even them down there? I let a million questions run around my mind until it was blank and I ran for my life.