Read Playing With Fire for Free Online Page A

hear clearly was the
rain pelting on the window pane. I tried to concentrate on the rather loud pat
pat pat sound the rain made, turning it into my own little lullaby to help
me sleep even in the midst of Darren’s snoring.
    I
soon realized all resistance was futile. Giving up on sleep, I tiptoed out of
bed and sat next to the window. I watched the rain hitting the icy glass,
making everything I saw on the other side of the window distorted and warped.
Street lamps sizzled out of existence in the rain, leaving only the dingy black
street to be seen, all else obscured from sight.
    A
fed up exhale from the bed across from mine caught my ears and I looked over to
see Vaze getting out of bed. He grabbed one of the extra pillows in the corner
and strode over to Darren with a slight irritation in his step. As carefully as
he could he placed it over Darren’s face, and immediately the snoring was
quieted. I giggled; it was the kind of thing I used to do. Vaze turned quickly
yet quietly and caught my eye with a surprised expression. It quickly faded and
was replaced with a friendly partial smile.
    “It
helps stop the noise,” Vaze said. “Did I wake you?”
    “Nope,”
I said quietly. “Darren beat you to it.” Vaze smiled. I was surprised to see
how much different he looked when he smiled. It was as if his whole face lit up
and sent warmth throughout my body. An awkward silence set in after that. For a
moment it seemed as though Vaze was going to come and sit by me, but after a
few slightly awkward steps he mumbled good-night and we both headed back
to our beds.
    I
laid awake unmoving for a small time after that, pretending to be asleep by
breathing quietly. It didn’t take long after though for me to drift off, and
unfortunately spiral into a nightmare.

Chapter Three
     
    It
was hard to make sense of what was going on, and I knew it was a dream
immediately for one reason: Jake was tiny. I was sitting in a tree next to a
little Jake, or at least what Jake probably looked like when he was six. We
were overlooking the assassin Enzio, as he killed my Guardian. The horrible
scene unraveled before my eyes like it probably had for Jake, until finally the
woman’s golden blood was all that was left of her and Jake was already
scrambling towards the hidden baby. I couldn’t watch the end. I didn’t need to.
The frighten cry of my infant self was mixed in with the roar of fire and
Jake’s shriek of pain, giving me my own unwanted mental picture.
    I
was soon alone, sitting in the tree by myself, staring down at the bluish
crystal that was the remains of my Guardian. Tears stung my eyes. They started
streaming without warning, and with a pathetic attempt to gain control I rubbed
my eyes with my coat as if it would stop the stinging tears.
    When
I looked up again, I jumped out of my skin. A woman with deep purple eyes and long
caramel curly hair was looking down on me as if she was up above, floating in
the air. Yes, she was looking down . The woman was literally three
feet up from me in the air, but there were no branches below to support her.
She smiled at me and wiped a tear off of my cheek. The woman drifted down to
the ground with amazing grace, and motioned for me to follow.
    Not
knowing what else to do, I jumped from my perch to the ground. The woman seemed
to float over to the crystal. She scooped it up, then dropped it into a small
pouch that hung around a thin leather necklace.
    The
woman glided back towards me and took my hand. My fist clenched, and my whole
body went tense. I wasn’t used to people touching me, especially not strangers.
Surprisingly, she only looked into my eyes and smiled with a twinge of sadness.
The woman eased my fist open slowly, and she slipped the pouch into my hand.
She looked into my eyes and smiled again, this time happily.
    It
only lasted a second. The woman’s bright smile twisted into agony as she let
out a pained cry. Amber blood stained her pure white dress as she fell to the
ground. To