Blazing Hopes

Gregory stood in the shadows of a flaming warehouse, looking down at the child that meandered below him.

Juliet stood, balancing her hand upon the slippery railing, made of the wood of an apple tree. She could still smell the lingering fruit. "Matthew is missing." The words haunted her, even after she shook her head, brown braids flying in an attempt to clear her mind. She rushed into the burning building, determined to save her friend.

Gregory set the body down upon the top step, then quickly overtook Juliet. "Hello, little one," he crooned, turning her face towards his. "Do you need help looking for your friend?"

The hazel-eyed girl opened her mouth to scream, but he placed his hand over it. "Now, don't scream. I'm not to hurt you."

Breathing heavily, the child sat down on the floor, guided by Gregory's gloved hands. "What do you want? Where--where is Matthew?"

"I'm here to bring you back to Ambrose. He has missed you, Miss Rhodes."

"Right. With respect, I decline his offer." The petite girl glared at her attacker. Gregory smiled. She had a nice vocabulary.

"I'm sorry, but that isn't an option. You'll come with me willingly, or I'll have you kidnapped. We're in a burning building. There is only so much you can do to save yourself.

"I'm not going back there. Ever. You can't make me."

He chuckled, a nasty, humorless sound. "Little Juliet.  You cannot escape the Council forever. They will come to get you. Comply now, and they will rule more softly on your case."

Juliet looked him in the eye. "I'm not going back. I'd rather die. Where is Matthew?"

"Just up the stairs, I believe...."

Faster than he could have believed possible, Juliet hurdled past him and raced up the stairs, only to discover the corpse of a five-year-old child, throat slit, resting in a pool of blood. "No! You killed him!" Her teary eyes locked upon his red rimmed ones, tangible fury bridging the gap between them.

"I did, didn't I? He struggled most valiantly, but, alas, it was in vain. Would you like to be next?"

Ignoring, the threat, Juliet leaped to her feet, and launched herself at the man in front of her. "You are a monster!" she screamed, her pale face red, "How could you have killed an innocent? You are nothing.--"

"And you are correct. I am nothing without these kills and the Council. They make me everything, give me power, let me into a world of pain and suffering, sometimes that of others, more often my own."

"You're a beast! What dark magic did you practice to become so tortured? What lies were told to make you this miserable?"

"I am just human."

"I'll kill you."

"I would like that. Nothing you could do to me could match what I have previously inflicted on myself on this pathway of darkness."

Juliet staggered then, falling to the floor in a swoon. "You sound like me..." she whispered, her breath catching in her throat."

Gregory smiled, and knelt down close to the near-sobbing girl.

"How could you?" she whispered, scrambling out of the way, running into a wall in her attempt to escape.

“It is simple. You just place the knife here,” he pressed his hand against the flesh of Juliet’s neck, “and slice…” He motioned again with his hand, bringing the child to tears.

“Let me go; I’ll scream.”

“What a threat,” he mused. “Very well, I’ll comply.” He loosened his grip on her neck, and she slid down the wall, gasping for breath.

"You aren't getting what you want. I'm not going with you. You aren't going to kill me with out a fight. Just give up, Gregory."

"No, I'm afraid Ambrose wants you back."

"Well, your problem. I've suffered enough today."

“Don’t you want to feel the power, the rush, and the awesome might of—“

“Listen. I’m ten. Hormones haven’t kicked in yet.”

“That—that wasn’t what I meant.”

Cautiously, she turned toward him, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “What did you mean?”

“Like—like this,” Gregory breathed, and then stabbed himself, over and over and over again. He could hear Juliet screaming, and then… Nothing more.