Smolder by Abigail Livinghouse (best young adult book series TXT) 📕

  "Who are you?" I repeated, feeling once again as if I was back in my dream from just a little while ago.

 Absolutely no sound came as a response, and I felt my whole body go cold. Where the hell was my fire? And what did the man mean that the room was "charmed"? What could he possibly want with me, a girl that's been wandering the streets alone for years until very recently? None of it made any sense at all.

 I didn't know that there were still people in this apocalyptic world that committed crimes such as kidnapping. Honestly, I was an eighteen year old girl if I was keeping track of the days right. So I wasn't some kid so to speak, but this was still illegal. Or at least, it had been back when we still had a government and police force to make sure people followed the rules.

 I was going on about nothing and I knew it. What I should've been focusing on was the situation at hand. If I struggled though . . . what would he do to me? Would it be like in the dream, where I experienced immense pain without him even touching me?

 There was only one way to find out and I wasn't all that curious, but I had to get out of here.

 "Tsk tsk Sirenia, I thought you to be more creative than this. I was really expecting some sort of game or struggle. Instead you're calm and compliant? Pity, has that wandering group of slobs changed you? Changed who you are?" The man mused. I couldn't even tell where he was in the room, his voice seemed to flood the whole tiny space.

 "Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked. Honestly, I had no idea why he was referring to me as "Sirenia".

 There was a brief pause before the man spoke again, actually answering one of my questions for once.

 "Why, it's your name of course. Sirenia Katrine Nobel. Quite odd, but apparently no one could convince your parents otherwise. An extraordinary girl deserves an extraordinary name, and they definitely gave it to you."

 My throat closed up at the mention of my parents. Even though it had been years, the subject was still tender, that and Cassandra.

 "Ah yes", the voice suddenly chimed in, and I was finally able to pinpoint it to be coming from my left.

 "You dear child sister, Cassandra Leigh Nobel. Poor, poor girl. Such a shame that she was taken by those things. She would've made a great subject to study, seeming as she didn't receive any of the talents you possess. Ah well, as much as a waste as her life was, I’m just delighted that you are here. You are my main concern at the moment."

 My flames blazed in anger at his words, thankfully making their long awaited appearance. My wrists burned against the wire, as my fire pulsed and radiated off of me in burning hot waves. I felt the metal began to sizzle and melt against the heat of my blaze, and a disappointed sigh came from the man in the dark.

 "Now, now, I thought I told you",  the light in the room suddenly blazed to life, revealing . . . Absolutely nothing.

 There was no one else in the room with me. I was in the middle of the floor tied down to the chair just like in the dream. The wooden door was as expected to my left, and the single light bulb shone above my head. Before I knew what was happening, my hair was tugged on my right, and I yelped in surprise. Cold breath brushed against my cheek, then my ear as he spoke.

 "Calm your fire, or I shall snuff it out." His words were enough to quiet my blaze to mere embers, until I felt utterly chilled to the bone. Son of a bitch.

 The feeling of icy breath that had moved to my neck vanished, and before me materialized a tall man in a black suit and tie. He was very thin, looking as if he had been stretched out. If he would've reached up, his hand would be flat against the concrete ceiling. His skin was as white as porcelain, and as my eyes traveled up I saw he had a curved mouth, the color of blood, and black eyes. There was literally no color, just the whites and black instead of irises. His hair was as black as his eyes, and when he smiled, his teeth matched his skin. 

"Who are you?" I asked again for the third time. I had something this man wanted, but I needed to know who he was and what it was before I was about to fight for it.

 "I have many names. Honestly, I cannot give you a specific answer. Commonly, I am known as Felix. But please, refer to me what you will." A slight smile formed on his long face, but it looked more like a sneer than anything else.

 "Why have you  brought and imprisoned me here?"

 He snorted, in amusement or annoyance I wasn't sure. I was hoping it wasn't the latter though.

 "You are safer here than you ever were with that group of yours that you had been traveling with. Isabella Martis knows nothing about leadership. Before the outbreak she was a housewife, and a maid in her off hours, so please do not try to entertain me with her so called 'strength' and 'power'. I knew Isabella before the world was destroyed, and a leader she is not. It was only a matter of time before she got those people killed, and I plucked you away just in time. I observed that one of the members seemed to be out for your blood, is that not true?" He asked in almost a friendly, inquisitive way. As if he was a friend addressing an issue another friend was having with one of their rivals.

 I turned away from Felix's cruelly curious face, feeling the stab of hurt and anger at Trenton burning in replacement of my fire. Felix made a disappointed sound.

 "Oh Sirenia, you care too much. You would fall to your knees and weep if you could at the knowledge that your lover, Terese, has been eaten, would you not?"

 I nearly chocked on a gasp that had almost escaped. I held it back, barely.

 "Yes, yes you would. If only-"

 "How do you know my full name?" I cut him off, tired of listening to his bullshit ramblings. He blinked, momentarily surprised. I took satisfaction in that.

 "I know everyone's name, Sirenia. Yours, your family's, the boy who loves you but is too afraid to admit it." Felix's sneer widened into a full out grin, one that seemed to glow with the whiteness of his teeth.

 My eyes widened in shock. Who in the fuck- Never. No one besides my family had ever loved me.

 "That's where you're wrong. As coldhearted as that lesbian had been, Terese Wong had loved you in her own way. When you left her, the effects weren't outwardly shown. You should know as well as I that Terese was not one to express her emotions. Especially to those who could hurt her." Each one of Felix's words stung as if he was physically slapping me across the face. The worst part was, he didn't stop. 

 "And then there's the poor boy that you were travelling with. Trenton Albany, am I correct? Yes, if it makes you feel any better sweetheart, he was bewitched when he attacked you. The person who had gone running after you however? That was in fact him. He had been captured and altered so that for a short period of time, his mission was to bring you to a certain location so that Cal could acquire you for himself." Felix sneered, obviously disgusted at the mention of this Cal person.

 "He had completely underestimated the strength of the boy, and how easily he was able to break their enchantment. I do see some potential in Trenton. If I ever come in contact with him, perhaps we will have a little chat. It could be very promising."

 I ignored the last few parts of what Felix had said. I was too focused on what he had mentioned before. Trenton was, bewitched? That was why he had gone after me in the hospital? It made absolutely no sense, but when did anything make sense anymore? Here I was, able to shoot fire out of my hands (not at the moment because my flames were currently MIA once again) and I was questioning someone hypnotizing Trenton? I had seen and heard of freakier things, such as oh I don't know, the dead walking around and eating the living.

 Felix calmly watched me chew over what he had said, his hands clasped behind his back and his expression open. I wasn't sure if he was waiting for me to ask a question, or if he was just waiting for when I was ready to listen to more of his inquiries. Seemed to be the first option, because after a few more minutes of silence, I broke it.

 "None of what you've said explains exactly who you are, and what you want with me." I pointed out. He smiled again, as if he was proud of me for acknowledging the obvious.

 "You are most definitely correct. You see Sirenia", as he talked, he began to pace from the left wall to the right. Watching him do this unnerved me, but I had no other choice.

 "You are gifted. You possess the power of fire. I have heard of very little human beings owning this ability, and you are the only soul surviving one I have managed to track down prior to the apocalypse. In case you haven't realized, the human race is dying rapidly. Scientists have abandoned their work and who knows if there are any left in the world anymore? I am the closest thing there is to those imbecile college graduates who turned our world to shit. I'm trying to save what little of the population is left, before we are all wiped out."

 My heart had dropped as soon as he mentioned my fire. How did he know? And anyone with two eyes and the ability to process what they saw knew that the human race was diminished and in danger. No one looked for a cure anymore because they didn't know how many people were left and if it was really worth it. I myself didn't even know if it was worth it or not. I barely remembered how the world used to be, and while survival is the main priority in this world covered in the undead, many have grown used to it. It's sad, to think that we're used to coexisting with rotting corpses that hunger for our flesh, but that's just the way it is and how is has to be.

 Just a short while ago, I had believed that Half Deads were nearly harmless, although that didn't make me stupid. I had always treated them with caution. But now, my point of view has completely changed. 

 Felix abruptly stopped his pacing and turned to look right at me. God his eyes were dark. Dark and depthless, as dark as the world around us. Such a beautiful light in a world of dark . . .

 His burning black eyes locked on mine, keeping me in resolute silence and not budging an inch. "Sirenia, I need your help."