Red Hot! 1 Downfall

    "Dad stop it! I don't want to!"
  With his heart pounding in his mouth, Conner took a giant step back from the edge of the roof. He did not want to jump off The Sky. The building his father had built, The Sky. It stood exactly 20.2 miles high in the air. The tallest building in the world, held together by powerful electrical cables suspending all the way to the ground.
Around him, so many reporters with cameras stood taking pictures and made it hard to move anywhere. Helicopters hovered above them with video cameras.
         Conner was stupid enough the day before to agree to jump off the building, which his father had suggested, with only a parachute strapped to his back to protect him. His father told everyone what Conner was going to do, thinking nothing of what he was allowing his son to do. All the danger seemed to have passed by him unnoticed.
However, to Conner's surprise it was as if the whole world stopped to watch this event. As if he was a pop star coming to the city to perform everyone's favorite song. Now he stood only feet before the edge of the tallest building in the world, a parachute in his hand, staring at a whole bunch of cameras. They watched him, waiting until he jumped so that they could quickly scramble to the edge and watch him fall, camera in hand.
         "Put your parachute on and get off of this building!" his father commanded harshly.
           Coming forward and out of the crowd were a few paramedics, inching closer to inspect Conner.  As he backed away from them, paramedics from behind him grabbed his arm. He was spun around and he moaned painfully as they stuck a needle into his arm.
         "This will help with the nausea when you fall--or I mean dive," a woman paramedic said.
         Conner frowned at the cameras. He did not want to go through with this; he could not go through with this. He was not afraid of the fall. However, he was afraid of the heat he would feel when his skin reacted with the atmosphere. Heat meant change, burning and if he felt that, it was all over.
         He was not going to die or anything. He knew that. He couldn't die from a burn anyhow. Conner was afraid the world would see him for what he was.  A fanciful character, for which the world taunted. A hero yet menace. Fire would set him off, yet broke him down. It was awful how the world worked.
         "Alright now, get up to the edge and you can jump anytime," the woman said with a wink and gave him a push towards the edge. It caused Conner to stumble. A few people in the crowd gasped as if he was going to fall.
         "I'm not jumping!" Conner told everyone holding up his parachute, which he still had not strapped on himself. He was hoping that he would convince them that he wasn’t going to jump. Maybe result in them thinking him as a coward, and rejecting him for the rest of his life but it was better than them finding out his secret. He didn't care. On the other hand, they would never let him jump after hearing him shriek at the sight of the height of the fall. Nevertheless, he knew that he would not shriek from the sight, or at least not make any noise that would alarm the others so bad that they would not let him jump.
         "Your either jumping, or being pushed," another paramedic said to him.
         "Well, you already know which one I'm not doing," Conner, said immediately narrowing his eyes.
         "Your choice," said a paramedic.
         With out warning, an unseen force pushed on Conner's chest, making him stumble backwards again. He took a step back as if to regain his balance, but stepped too far. He let out a small cry as he tumbled over the edge of The Sky.
         "No!" he heard his father yell. "The parachute!"
         Conner fell downwards, head first towards the ground that was about 14.2 miles away.          The air whipped past his ears making it hard to hear anything. He looked at his arm that was once holding his parachute but it was empty. His heart skipped a beat. He had released his cover when he suddenly was pushed off the building.  He swore, even though he could not hear the words escape his lips.
         The parachute was the only thing that assured Conner that he wasn't going to be found out. But it was gone now, and all he had was his secret to protect him, yet destroy him.
         He then tried to relax, he was going to transform when he was only a few yards from the ground, which it would be a long time. That was his new plan. He would get out that way.
         He looked upward and to the top of the building that was getting farther and farther away from him as his speed increased. Conner could just barely see the hundreds of camera's pointing down off the edge, getting glimpses of him as he fell. Helicopters that hovered on the edge of the building were trying to follow him down but he was going too fast for them.
         This was going to be a big story, and he could just imagine the headline, "Gates's Son the Famous Red!" It sickened Conner. He closed his eyes and shook his head, maybe he could make it seem like Red Hot saved him. That he got there just in time. It was a good plan, but when the fans of his, inspected the tape (he assumed this whole act had to be caught on tape) they would realize that nothing came off the ground or flew in the air to catch Conner Gates, that the boy himself was the famous hero.
         When he opened his eyes, he saw an orange blur and realized it was the sun. He must have turned in the air to face a different direction. The sun was just about set, and it would have been beautiful, if Conner were not trying to force so many ideas into his head at once. It was off a bit though, it looked as if it were setting into the ground upwards, instead of downwards. Then Conner remembered that he was upside down.
         Sighing Conner held his hand up to his face. Even in human form, he still had definite abilities in the air. With both arms he held them out them brought them close to his chest. With a small intake of breath, which was all he could get as he was falling at such a rapid speed, he flung open his arms and pulled his body backwards and reverting him back upright.
         Conner smiled. He didn't always have to transform into Red.

* * * * * * * * *

         Only a few miles away sat Elleen Miller in a couch, staring horrified at the TV in front of her. She was watching her friend Conner Gates; fall to his death, with no one wanting to do anything to help save him.
         "Reporters say that the boy dropped his parachute on the jump," the TV said. "We are watching him as he falls."
         "W-well, no duh!" Elleen said gripping the pillow, she had been clutching ever since he fell.
         When the camera zoomed closer to him, Elleen closed her eyes. She couldn't bear to see him that close, see his fear, his heartbreak that he was going to die. It was awful.
         She had been his friend for about 8 years now, and all the memories came rushing back to her in one rapid vision. All the years of sharing their homework, sharing weird secrets about ex-boyfriend or girlfriends, sneaking out at night for some midnight movie that their parent's would never let them see; the ones that Conner had to look about 3 or 4 years older to get in to. He was only 17 but he was so mature looking that it wasn't hard at all.
         Elleen felt tears sting the back of her eyes. He couldn't die. Not now! Not when they were only one year away from graduating and moving out!
         "Elleen dinner!" called her mother from the kitchen only a room over.
Elleen opened her eyes and looked at the TV screen. There, on the screen, was Conner's father. He looked angry, sad and helpless. His swear words beeped out, tears welled up in his eyes.
         "Elleen!" her mother called again but Elleen did not answer. She wasn't going to leave Conner like this for food when he was falling to his death.
         "Conner Gates has reached maximum velocity. He's been falling for 6 minutes now and has gone 3.2 miles down," the woman on the news informed sadly. She shook her head and added, "This terrible accident has lead most to grief and horror. Sadly to say, there is no chance that Mr. Gates will come out of this with even his life to spare."
         The woman's words echoed in Elleen's head. She shook her head. No, this cannot be happening. How can they predict that he is 100% dead? Anger boiled in her head as well as sadness and frustration swept through her body.
         "ELLEEN DINNER!" her mother yelled loudly.
         Elleen let her tears that were fighting their way out of her eyes flow. They ran down her cheeks as her eyes caught a horrifying glimpse of Conner in a close up before she had the chance to shield her eyes. It was strange, in his eyes and face was not sadness, but determination. His eyes narrowed; she could still see those fearsome hazel eyes with their specks of blue. Locked on his lips, a deep frown appeared. His body was stretched out in a T form, his arms outstretched from his sides and his legs locked together and pointed straight downward.
         He was fighting for his life.
         "ELLEEN ARE YOU NOT HEARING ME?" bellowed her mother from the kitchen.
         Elleen let a moan as she heard the woman from the news start talking again.
         "Word is just in. Conner Gates may already be dead. Falling at those speeds at this time of day, the heat is tremendous; he may be just dead weight."
         The TV screen shifted to show Conner falling, his eyes closed, his face lost of expression. He was now falling on his back in an arc.
         Elleen's eyes widened. Dead? No!
         "NO!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "NO NO NO NO! This CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"
         From her voice, both her father and her mother came running out of the kitchen, words of concern went in Elleen's ear and out the other. Her eyes locked on the TV screen. Even when her father shook her shoulders and yelled at her to come around, she said nothing, nor heard anything but the TV.
         Both parents turned to the TV just as the commercial ended.
"The son of Luke Gates, Conner, Is falling, unknown if dead, off of The Sky, the tallest building in the world constructed by Luke Gates himself, at terrifying speeds and temperatures."
Her mother gasped. Her father swore and sat down next to Elleen.
"My God Richard is that really Conner?" her mother asked sitting down in her armchair.
"I," he said softly. "Think it is."

*          *          *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *            *
         
Conner Gates fell downwards, falling peacefully, yet hazardously. His eyes closed as his mind wandering aimlessly to about anything that struck a memory. He thought of his mother, his dog Ripper, Elleen Miller his secret crush and his best friend, all the towns’ people that had been so nice to him.
         He had given up on staying upright there was no need to. His body slanted backwards slightly in an arc. It was more relaxing.
         Finally, he opened his eyes and he found that it was dark. The sun had set and all that was in view was the lights of the cameras above him and the shiny glass windows to his right, whizzing by faster than he wanted them to.
         Conner always liked it up in the air at night; it had felt good to be free, to be unknown, stuck in the darkness. However, this was just the opposite and he was falling, totally known to the world as high-powered lights poured his figure to the world, through TV's and radios.
         The air around him was beginning to grow in temperature. Making him feel humid. He almost could not breathe, falling at such an abrupt speed the air had almost no time to converge into his lungs. Although he didn't worry, for he was safe. The heat calmed him. It always had, it had given him hope in the darkest most horrible times in his life, just as it was now. No one in the world knew this. They didn’t know that fire was Conner's greatest weapon, yet his powerfullest downfall. His life was two sided, just as his words were.
         Conner felt a slight stinging sensation on his right forearm. He craned his neck to look at his arm and he almost gasped. Only holding his outburst because he remembered all the cameras focused on him. On his arm, was a brownish red mark, it ran from his elbow to his wrist, and he knew far too well what it was.
He had been burnt, badly. Feeling furious that he hadn't noticed this earlier, he stared at the wound. The stinging sensation subsided then and was replaced with a dull burning sensation. He cried out, not knowing what else to do. Realizing how much it hurt.
         Soon the pain had crept through his arms and onto his chest and legs. Conner was going down through the atmosphere so fast and it was burning him, as it would a meteor. He looked helplessly at all the burns forming on his skin. The brownish color creeping it's way along his skin, making him think of how fire burnt a piece of paper, inch by inch, turning everything black and useless as it went. The darkened skin began to chip off, revealing bits of raw flesh. He knew couldn't handle this much longer.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *           *

"Reports just in, Conner Gates faces terrible burns from the fall at 5.8 miles." the woman said dramatically.
         The camera displayed Conner on the TV, his arms and legs turned a foul color of brown and bits were tumbling off him.
         "Oh my God, Dad!" Elleen cried out as her father cradled her in his arms.
         "It's okay Elleen, everything’s gonna be okay," he cooed in her ear as she cried.
         She hoped everything was going to be okay. She wanted Conner to be all right, but she knew that these burns would never heal right, and he would have to lose a couple limbs. Elleen cursed herself for watching so many doctor shows. She hated knowing everything.
         Still, they said he wouldn't live through this. That note killed her inside. She barely managed to watch when Conner opened his eyes. She realized then how much she envied those eyes, they were so gentle, yet they had a fierce gaze to them, as if he had something to hide, the bad boy in him. She would miss his smile the most. Filled with so much happiness, it warmed her inside, gave her hope and reason. She had always believed that if he smiled at the most saddest person in the world, they would brighten up in a flash, it was that powerful.
         Yet he never did smile that often, he used his smirk most of the time. His smirk was so meaningful; she always was drawn to it. Elleen could barely understand why she was thinking about his looks at a time like this, but she couldn't help it. They were so, mysterious.
         Elleen looked at the TV for a moment, then shielded her eyes as they showed Conner again, burning.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Conner couldn't stand the pain. He could barely think straight. He knew the time was almost here. His idea wasn't exactly going to work as planned, but he will die if he didn't do it soon.
         He expected that his body looked quite horrifying. The skin on which the heat had burned away revealed bits of muscle and tissue. However, barely as he felt like he was being cooked alive. His clothes were in shatters. The navy blue-colored shirt had melted holes and burned deep into his raw flesh. He either knew his pants, that were once camouflaged, must be on fire or changed to the color of pure white.
         Conner's plan was to transform, he wouldn't be hurt then. Nevertheless, he would be exposed. He thought that if he did the transformation right, it would look like Red saved him. That thought lingered in his mind for only a few moments time before he shoved it away, it wouldn't work, and he wasn't willing to try it. All he was going to do. . . .Was transformed and get out...and he regretted his plans for they would be the end of Conner Gates.
         He, of course wouldn't be killed. Although it would look like he had died, and miserably, for that is what Conner was hoping. When he transformed, he went up in a ball of flame (at least he thinks he does). He hoped that, it would look like he was engulfed in flame because it was so hot, the atmosphere had killed him. Even though really, he was transforming.
         Conner frowned. He did not like the fact that he would never be Conner again.  Never be the boy who had a girl as a best friend, a father who was dead rich, and a mother who cared for him as a mother should care. Or a town which everyone was his friend (except Ricky and Todd, and their gang of brutes) and one that had a secret that he tried to keep from everyone he knew and even those he had never heard of.
         He would miss all of them, they would be scratched and some scared in his memory forever. None of them he would ever know personally again.
         Conner sighed, although it came out as a moan as the pain ripped through him. He was ready and the time had come.
         He closed his eyes and reformed his position with his arms raised out from his sides. His arms stung as he lifted them slanting them downward because of it. Once he was set, he waited. It did not even feel like any time had passed as he felt a tingling run through his veins. He let his head fall back so he was looking at the sky. The light of the cameras bore themselves into his eyes, blinding him. He did not intend to remain in pain for much longer so he angled his head downward instead.
         Conner's heart started to beat faster as the tingling in his body raced to his right hand. In seconds, his hand caught fire. His whole hand that was engulfed in flame melted away the pain, giving him a refreshing icy touch. The beginning of his transformation had begun.
         Here we go, he thought.
         He let the flame tickle its way up his arm relieving him of pain as it went and when it reached his shoulder, he heard the familiar voice inside his head.
         You ready Con?
         "R-ready," Conner replied painfully as a sharp pain stabbed him in the chest.
         Hold on now.
         Conner shut his eyes tight. Hurry!
         The air around Conner seemed to lessen in pitch and sound. As if he had entered into the absolute center of a hurricane, everything was silent. Deep within his eardrums, he could hear the astounding beat of his heart as it raced blood through his torn veins.
         He focused mainly on calming himself, returning his heart beat to normal. Then with a deep and painful breath, he cried out. He was now fully ready to embrace the flame, as it would tear through his body.
         With his eyes shut, he slowly saw, deep inside his soul, the small flame. Just a small flicker of light that was not part of a normal human body. When he cried out the flame grew. The energy Conner used to yell fueled into the flame. Ever so quickly, the flame ignited his heart, and then followed the heart's beat that made the blood flow and scorched the blood with its heat. Conner's veins grew in size and strength as the energy of the flame left it refreshed, or in this case, reheated. He felt his eyes burn slightly as the flame's torch had reached them. On his head, he felt his hair grow, in length and style, turning it a deadly blaze of red. A few pieces of his new regenerated hair pointed down slightly by his face.
         The pain that he was suffering from the burns faded and left the familiar icy touch. His body began to heal, giving itself a new skin, still human, but thicker and more to the point Red's skin. As if, it was a second skin. His whole body seems to change all at once. He felt his bones grow in length and slightly in width, his senses sharpen, his shoulder blades twist, and even his eyes began to change, grew into tight slits.
         Conner noticed that it would be either very odd, or slightly terrifying to see him engulfed in flame. With all his family members watching, they might have a sincere break down. He smiled as he could just imagine the reports on the TVs.
         "We have terrible news," the woman would say. "Conner Gates has just erupted in flames, we fear he is dead, and if he's not, he must be in terrible pain."
            Conner laughed aloud. But it was not his voice that came out of his mouth, it was Red's. It changed to a deeper, manlier voice.  He was almost fully transformed. It was weird. Usually the transformation was a lot quicker than it was now, usually it only took him a couple of seconds to form. But this time it seemed longer.
           This time he actually felt his blood being scorched with the internal flame, not painful, it just felt bubbly.
         Conner took a deep breath and yelled again, the fire that engulfed him exploded and sent a minor shockwave up the length of the building. There, thought Red darkly, that should give the reporters a little shake.
         He then spun wildly to the left as he felt his wings immerge out of his shoulder blades. They were only a bit painful as they jabbed out of his back.
Subconsciously, Conner built up the flame inside himself. Feeling it course through his body like the blood in his veins. The raw power taking up the space in Conner’s brain, closing out all other thoughts. Finally, as he felt the flame had developed enough, he released its rage. It appeared as a giant fireball, hurdling towards the ground.
The idea was for it to appear as if he was still engulfed in flame and continuing to fall helplessly towards the ground below. He sent it downwards at a faster pace than he was currently descending.
         With a powerful stroke downward with his wings, Red stopped himself in mid air. He looked around to decipher which way to go. Then quickly he picked north.
A small instinctive trait he picked up. In the air, this long of time could really have an impact on a person sense of direction.
Red did a jump like move in the air to get himself momentum in the air and then he flew north.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Elleen screamed as she saw Conner's body engulfed in flame. She covered her eyes as her father's arms reattached themselves around her.
No! This is not happening! She could just imagine the pain he was in. Being burned alive. Her best friend was dying, or maybe he was already dead.
"Richard!" her mother gasped.
"It is okay, everything’s okay," her father repeated.
Elleen shook her head. It was not okay. The life of a teenage boy, that was almost a man, was being torn away. Put out of the flame. A boy that did not deserve this end.
"The heat is said to be 492* degrees F." the newswoman said. "Conner Gates is dead."
Elleen's heart stopped. Her mind blurred. Her heart shattered. The four words repeated themselves in her mind.
Conner Gates is dead.
"NOOOOO!" Elleen screamed opening her eyes. "CONNER!"
"Shhh, its okay, Shhh," her father said to her as he let her go and stood up. "I better get going, to help out,"
Elleen stared up at her father. "I WANT TO COME!" she shouted.
"Elleen quiet down! You stay here with your mother," her father said sternly.
"NO I WILL NOT BE QUIET! CONNER JUST DIED!" Elleen shrieked at the top of her lungs.
She gasped as she saw the ball of flame explode and grow in size, gaining speed to the ground.
Conner Gates was dead.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Red spun in spirals, tucking his wings against his body and barreled through the air. The calm weather suited him perfectly and he cried out in happiness as the cool air brushed at his hair.
Though oblivious to the burns, and the blood that was now dripping down his legs and arms, he flew on. He did not realize he had acquired wounds as he transformed. His mind was occupied on leaving the scene. Although it wasn't an actual crime as to much as it was an accident. 
"Wha-hooo!" he yelled as he dived, he need not worry about such things now.
Red let out chuckled. Conner transformed into Red, or morphed and had given his soul over to him, given him a new shape and mind. The complete figure of a 20-year-old instead of Conner’s younger body. Both boys had two separate minds. Although they only had half of their entire minds once transformed. It was as if two strangers were smashed together to make one absolute person. Red had supreme advantages with his thoughts but Conner’s mind was still there and functioning
Sometimes Red knew that Conner was unsettled at if he could control Red. Wondering if he would be able to have power of him in time of need or harm. Truthfully it almost made Red laugh. 
The air around him was soft against his face. He kept the rhythm of his wing strokes steady and cried out again. He loved being in the air. It made him feel alive. As if there was another heart beat inside of him, channeling energy through his wings and into the very veins that were torched with heat.
Abruptly, the fun and of being flight, vanished and replaced by pain. A ghastly pain scoured through his whole body. Red clutched at his stomach as inside, it did flips. What was happening?
His flight pattern quickly started to fail as the pain increased. He looked down at himself. He realized then that he was completely scalded and blistered. His wounds were streaming with blood, obviously staining his shoes.
"Oh God," he breathed.
Along with his peaceful flight, his strength began to decrease and he could barely keep his wings stroking to keep him in the air.
Pain almost as hurtful as the pain he endured when he fell from the building, wound itself into his veins. Slowly, Red began to descend. His eyes refused stay open, and as he tried to catch a glimpse of anything around him he started to shake.
Red shook his head slightly. He needed help. He needed someone to help him. Cautiously he looked around him, he was nearly nowhere near houses, and everything was forest. As a matter of fact, the woods were familiar to Conner and Red.  As if, he had ventured into the forest at some point in his life. Then the thought came to him. This was Elleen's forest, her parent's land. He was near her house.
He gave a huge stroke of his wings to keep him aloft, just barely conscious enough to avoid a black out. It was hard to fly, to stay upight. Red's eyes scanned the forest helplessly until he saw her house. A two story building that was partly-covered in forest and the other with crowded houses. His shoulder muscles started to burn with the strain he was forcing on them to keep moving his wings. The muscles in his wings were stinging as well as he struggled to get nearer to her house.
Something inside him burned deeply. What was wrong? He never burned as Red; he was fire, the humane form of fire. It did not make any sense.
Conner was nearing her house when he went down. His wings wouldn't cooperate with him and stopped beating. Falling towards the ground, which was only a hundred feet or so away, he braced himself. Then an instinct broke into his line of thought and took over, his vision turning a shade of red and orange. He spun in the air, his wings wide open, fire escaping from his veins, catching the air and slowed him down. He landed on his feet when the instinct disappeared.
He shivered and shook himself as if something landed on him as he stood up straight. It always felt weird to be uncontrollable. When the instinct kicked in, he was the most safe, yet the most at risk since he could not think for himself until the threat was gone. Conner was a great flyer, but was a little off on the abnormal landings, such as this one, which his instinct went into effect. He had no clue where it came from; it just came and went as threats vandalized Conner.
The pain, forgotten for those wonderful brief seconds came back in a fierce wave almost bringing Red to his knees. He staggered his way through the small brush that lay before him to reach Elleen's house.
He wondered what she would think. Elleen. What would she think of seeing Red in her house? What would she think of him? Would she be thrilled? Angry? Would she just look at him and run up the stairs, her long beautiful hair trailing behind her. Would she care for him? Would she accept him?
So many questions guzzled in his mind, giving him a slight headache along with the pain. He was losing himself to her. To his best friend. He didn't think something like this was supposed to happen. It was weird how the world worked.
He had thought that line twice now, and it occurred to him that everything was opposite of each other yet not, which went along with the line. He thought he was losing it a while ago when he found out his unmistakable crush for Elleen, but it all subsided when he talked to his father. One moment of talking with his father and your set straight, he told Conner that the answer to love, is with the source of the love itself, meaning Elleen. He had to face her sometime.
Then he noticed for as much pain he was enduring, his thoughts were perfectly unaffected. Of course, the reason for that was of the two brains at work. One Conner’s the other Red’s.
Red stopped suddenly as he heard a small sound. It came from the houses that placed next to Elleen's house. He sighed heavily and pain filled as he realized it was just a boy taking out the trash.
He stepped out of the bushes he'd been hiding behind and started slowly towards the stairs of Elleen's house. It was slightly slower than Red wanted to move, but the pain and the weight of his grounded wings must have slowed him down even further so he was at fault.
  He did not even think of the fact that he could morph any part of his body back to Conner’s. His discomfort must have blinded that one aspect from his consciousness. The wings on his back would have disappeared but he did not have the strength. He was still Red nonetheless.
Red made his slow slide up the steps and stood in front of their bright oak doors. Sorrow filled his body as he stood. Some kind of guilt erupted from his burnt soul. Betrayal. He frowned at himself for feeling that way and pushed it aside roughly.
His hand found the door and he knocked three times and waited. It seemed as if he waited forever, billions of butterflies were flying around inside him, along with a terrible pain that seem to call him closer to blackness.
Hurry, common hurry!
His plead was answered automatically. The door opened almost the entire way, revealing Elleen's mother. The mediocre woman was dressed in her usual apron and her black hair tied in a tight ponytail. She took not but a glance at him then looked away as someone in the house called for her.
"How may I help you?" she asked when her head was turned toward the call.
Red did not speak. He didn’t think he could.
Then he felt confused. Why did he come here? They surely couldn’t help him. What was the thought of all this?
It did not take Elleen's mother that long to figure out it wasn't some normal salesperson standing in front of her. She looked at him again and gasped. Her eyes widening as sge gazed at Red and his disrupt appearance. Her eyes looked him up and down. Slowly her hand curved from the door and reached out of Red's sight.
"Richard," she said softly not taking her eyes off Red.
A man's face appeared from the side of the door. Face was square, eyes curious. However, his mouth dropped low as he saw Red.
"Dear God," he said as his entire body came into view from behind the door. Fully dressed with shoes and a coat as if he was going somewhere.
"Where are y-you going?" Red asked slowly, the natural curiousness winning over as the feel of his voice rippling inside him increased the headache.
"I w-was going to help with the fire, and Conner Gates," Elleen's father said nervously.
Red felt his face burn slightly. Her father wanted to help him, when no one else  seemed to care.
"C-can you help me first?" Red asked knowing all too well, they were not going to find a body of Conner. There was no help to be found there except an enormous fire.
         "Of course, why don't you come in?" Elleen's father said gesturing for him to enter. His wife backed up slightly covering her mouth with her hands as she saw the wounds Red had all over his body.
         "Oh dear, what happened?" Elleen's mother said stepping closer as she realized that he  was not of any harm to her.
         "Come to the kitchen, quickly," Richard said urgently, taking Red's arm as Red maneuvered his wings through the door.
         Without a reply, they moved through the hallway and into the living room. Red noticed the TV was on and was showing Conner Gates engulfed in fire. A girl sat slumped backward on the brown-leather couch and was crying heavily. As she heard her mother call her, she sat up, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and looked at Red.
He stared at her. This was Elleen, and Conner’s crush, his crush. Her blue eyes stared widely at him.
"Red Hot," she whispered.
The name surprised him. His full name, given to him a couple years back.  No one ever called him that anymore, as it was always Red now.
He looked away from her as she stood and her father led him to the kitchen. Elleen's mother brought a stool from the back room and set it down so he could sit. As he did, his wings shuttered and hit Richard hard in the shoulder. The man grunted.
"Sorry," Red said, tucking his wings safely on his back.
"Can I look at those cuts?" Richard asked cautiously. Red nodded and looked away.
“Those aren’t just plain ol’ cuts! More like gashes!” exclaimed Elleen’s mother.
As Elleen's father bent down to look at Red's cuts and burns on his legs he felt his face begin to burn again.
Realizing he was still wearing the clothes that Conner was wearing when he fell. He hoped they didn't look to closely at the tattered clothing.  He hoped that Elleen wouldn't notice. But thankfully, his clothes were near shreds since he was burned so badly.
         He watched as Elleen slowly staggered in the kitchen and gazed at him. He tried to hide his clothing casually. She gradually came around him to look at his back.
         "A-are they real?" she asked softly.
         Red could only manage a nod and a, “Yeah,”
         He almost shivered at the sound of the difference in his voice. He was glad that Elleen felt the same amount of alarm for she shivered.
         She said nothing but reached out with her hand, and touched his left wing. He felt a tickle as she ran her hand down its feathers. As if someone was lightly running their finger down your whole body.
         "How can that be? How can you be real?" she asked as if she was in a dream.
         "Elleen! Don't be rude!" her mother said.
         Red shook his head. "No, its fine. I wouldn't have believed it either," he said, suddenly feeling less weary.
         Elleen stepped back. "What do you mean?"
         Red hissed as Richard touched one of his wounds.
         "I don't get it," her father said. "Aren’t you supposed to be immune to heat and fire--at least that’s what people say,"
         Red nodded slowly. "I am. But, I uh...." he paused trying to find an excuse to get rid of this suspicion. "was falling off a cliff and I changed from my humane form to this and I uh....got burnt in the process, kind of a one way burn for me. . . ."
         Was the only excuse that popped into his mind and none of the family looked the slightest bit suspicious. Elleen's father went back to checking his wounds and her mother asked him if he would like some water but Red declined, water was cold, and right now, he was not.
         "Elleen, could you go and get some bandages and dress his wounds? I need to get going if it's alright with you Red?" Richard said standing up.
         Elleen nodded and hurried off to their bathroom.
         "Hmm, yeah," Red said softly not entirely hearing him.
         Richard left soon after and his wife made some hot tea for Red by the time Elleen made it back to the room. He had the cup in his hands and both girls stared at him, he was getting a little nervous, not by their stares, he was used to that, but by the thought that they would recognize him for Conner. His clothing was his worst worry. Although he knew he looked completely different, he still felt as if they were going to find out.
         "Did you get the bandages?" he asked Elleen, sitting up straighter, accidently flexing his wings so they knocked over a vase that was sitting on a counter. "Oh, sorry, I should...."
         Red left the thought unfinished as he put the hot cup on the table next to him. Taking a deep breath, he opened his wings a bit, careful not to hit anything. Morphing just part of him took concentration, which he currently had little of.
“Move away Eli,” he said using her nickname.
Elleen moved away from him then stopped  as she realized what he had just called her.
"Did you--?" she had no time to finish the question because Red's wings lit up with flame for one moment, lighting up the room and making Elleen's mother scream in fright. But before anything could catch the flames disappeared along with his wings from his back.
Red taught himself to morph any part of his body into Red or to Conner, at anytime. He morphed into Conner's shoulder blades, which burned painfully. Sitting down, he shivered.
When he grew weaker, he grew colder.
         "Are you all right?" Elleen's mother asked after she calmed down.
         "Y-yes," Red said and grabbed the cup off the table and taking a sip, letting the warm liquid slide down his freezing throat.
         "I-I better get your bandages on." Elleen said.
         "I'll get more tea," her mother said and left for the pantry.
Red waited patiently as Elleen bent down.
         "Oh. My. God."
Elleen gasped.
         "Hmm?" he mumbled softly looking down at his legs. To his surprise, there was not a scratch on him. Not on his arms, no burns, not on his chest or feet. When he checked on his shoulders, right before his eyes they were healing. "Wow," was all he could say.
         "Yeah! You have healing powers!" Elleen gasped.
         "Uh sure," Red said not entirely getting what she said.
         "Does it hurt? Stand up," she said backing up again.
Red shook his head and stood up. Everything felt fine; it was almost as if nothing had happened to him. Except that, the memory haunted him.
         "I feel fine," he said twirling around slowly.
         "That’s good," Elleen said awkwardly.
Then there was an awkward silence between them then. Red, knowing that he had the biggest crush on her turned bright red when he looked into her eyes.
She smiled back at him making his bones crawl. Why did she have to look so beautiful? Why did she have to be my best friend?
Subconsciously, he stepped toward her slowly. His face straight, trying not to show what he was feeling.
"W-why did you call me Elli?" she asked softly stepping towards him.
They were about 5 inches apart, Red, a head taller than she was, looked down to her lifted face.
"It's your nickname, isn't it?" he answered softly, oblivious to his answer. His mind began to blur. All thoughts disappeared except for the face of Elleen. The smooth surface of her skin weakened him. Even more than his wounds.
'H-how did you know?" she asked blinking.
"I could see it," Red said numbly. "In your eyes."
Her eyes widened and she blushed. "Can you read minds?"
Red shook his head. "No."
"Are you certain?" Elleen said her eyes narrowing.
"No, I don't think I can," Red said with a small smile.
She smiled at him then. Her smile sent a wave of sensations threw his body. Conner took over his mind again. The Love of Conner.
He leaned down then, slowly so she knew what he was doing. She did not back away, as he rather hoped she would. Red touched her lips with his, ever so softly.
They held pose for a brief moment before he kissed her harder, not painfully, but a real kiss.
From behind him, he heard a gasp. "Elleen what are you doing?"
It was her mother.
Red quickly pulled away from Elleen and spun around to meet her mother's glare.
"Boy...." she paused then said.”Thing. I left you guys here for no more than a couple minutes . . . and you've gotten into the mind of my daughter! How dare you!" she came right up to Red, who was still taller than she was and she added. "What do you think you were doing?"
Red said nothing. He stared at Elleen's mother, and then turned back to Elleen. She was smiling, dazed. His silence sent Elleen's mother loose.
"Look, your wounds are gone!" she exclaimed gesturing with her hands as she peered at Red's skin. "Isn't that just a happy little thing? Now you may leave," she said.
Red's heart sank. She did not want him; he was still an outcast to them. But he did just go and kiss her daughter so it was a little understanding. He nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off Elleen.
"I'm sorry," he said before turning and making his way to the door.
Something must have reached into Elleen's mind and pulled her away from her thoughts because he heard her yell after him but he never turned around. He turned the handle of the door as Elleen came running towards him.
"Red! Don't go! Not yet!" she cried.
But he did not listen to her. He began to shut her out of his mind. Letting Conner slip back into the darkness of his mind. He stepped out of the door and without closing it, and descended the porch stairs. When he reached the bottom, he turned back, thinking of what to say. He looked up at her; she was staring at him sadly and made him consider actually staying but shoved it away.
Red bent forward and transformed his shoulders back to his own. He felt his shoulder blades again twist, and he was jerked foreword as they pierced through his skin. They were alight with fire for a moment then cooled off.
"See you," he said plainly to her and jumped off the ground and pushing his wings downward for a fast takeoff into the air. He really wanted to turn back and see Elleen but knew he shouldn't.
Red flew over her house and into the night, pondering on where he should stay. He couldn't go back to his house. His father just watched him die. However, he had no money; he never thought that he would need money to jump off The Sky. Red bit his lip as he flew over the woods, what was going to happen to him? Would he find a job? Would he find a new home? On the other hand, would he try to go back to his family? Tell them that he was all right? Would he have to return to Elleen?
He was so confused. He turned in the air and flew towards the town. If begging someone to take him in for the night was the only option, then he was going to do it. Besides, how could someone refuse Red Hot? The mysterious "fire creature". They say that if you make him mad, he would burn you. But that wasn't true, Red always took his anger out on something non-animal, like a tree.
         Slowly he shook his head away from these thoughts and focused on where he was trying to go. A dark shelter for himself after what he had just put Elleen and his family through. A death.