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

"My friends. You said you knew they'd be okay." I mentioned quietly.

Dimitri nodded. "That I did."

I swallowed, keeping my eyes on the flames. I was fairly sure he wasn't done talking and I didn't want him to stop. Like he said it was only a matter of time, and soon that time would run out. And he would be gone.

"Tell me more." I requested. "Please."

Dimitri seemed to sense that I was trying to soak up as much time as we had left, and he went on.

"Alright. I grew up in the Haven . . ."

Dimitri talked until he was falling asleep sitting up. When I told him he needed to go to bed, he insisted on resting in the bedroom. He refused to come into any kind of physical contact with me since he had been bitten. Not even letting me help him get to bed. He stumbled there, nearly falling on his face a few times. When I got up and rushed over to him, he all but screamed at me to get away. After about a fifteen minute struggle, he was in bed with the door locked.

I sat in the living room where the fire still blazes slightly. I snapped my fingers to send a few sparks down to get it back into gear. It flared, but only a few meek flames greeted me. I sighed. I guess my fire just wasn't that into it tonight.

Dimitri had told me so much about himself. He lived in the Haven for as long as he could remember. There, he was trained with a number of weapons so that he could defend himself. His parents had taken him there when the Plague hit, and they were still residing there to this day. He said nothing about me reporting to his parents about his fate, and just changed the subject.

He was part of a group of different, otherworldly children called the Prophets who possessed magical abilities like myself. Felix ran the Prophets, and he trained them to use their talents to fight the Dead. He believed that they could rid the world of the Plague and rebuild it, back to a similar state of what it once was.

Felix strongly believed that the Prophets were the answer, or "the cure" to the disease that basically destroyed the world. He recruited kids to join the Prophets, and that's why he wanted me so bad. With a Flame like me, I would make a strong part of the team. Dimitri talked about all the different kinds of things the kids could do, like go invisible, have super strength, and even fly. It was hard for me to believe, I could barely believe it now. Except with the way the world was now, how could I not believe it?

I was terrified of what tomorrow would bring. I knew Dimitri's condition would only worsen. It was a question of how long it would take that scared me the most. The transformation process varied from person to person. It could be a few days, or a few weeks until he was completely Half Dead. I wasn't even sure if Half Dead was the appropriate thing to call them anymore, zombies seemed so ridiculous, and yet true.

Soon, Dimitri wouldn't even be able to talk, only grunt and moan, and then snarl . . . that's when I would know it would all be over. I felt awful about the whole thing. I just wanted to curl up inside myself and disappear. I was the reason he had been bitten. He would die because of me. It didn't matter what he said, I knew that it was my fault.

I just hoped that tomorrow he would be okay to speak, if only for a little bit. It was selfish of me to wish that he would stay alive longer, because I knew that it would only draw out the pain of the infection spreading. But I couldn't help it, I didn't want him to go. Not now, and not ever.

"Wake up. Sirenia, wake up."

I jolted awake to the sound of a familiar voice. I sat straight up, my tangled red hair flying wildly around my face. "What? What is it? What's the matter?"

I scrambled to get up as I saw the person standing in front of me. Felix was wearing a black suit and tie just like the last time I had seen him. His black hair was slicked back and his cool, appraising black eyes stared mercilessly at me.

"How-how did you-" I stammered, but he cut me off before I could finish.

"We don’t' have the time to doddle around with pointless questions. I came here to retrieve the both of you. I understand Mr. Veksler has been bitten."

"You-you mean Dimitri?" I stuttered again. A fuzzy memory from yesterday of Dimitri mentioning his unimportant last name fluttered into my sightlines, but then was gone just as quick. I shook my head to clear it.

"Gather your wits Sirenia, I implore you. Now is not the time to go off the deep end." Felix snapped impatiently.

I blinked a few times, however I felt no change. I was still floating in a hazy cloud of sleep and the miserable realization that Dimitri was entering into his second day of infection. My shoulders hunched forward slightly in defeat, and Felix knelt down so that he was at eye level with me, his gaze burning.

"Stop pitying yourself and the situation you are both in. Instead why don't you work to help me?"

"You mean join the Prophets?" I muttered in almost resentment. Felix showed no signs of surprise, he must've already known Dimitri told me, using whatever freaky gifts he possessed to read minds and do whatever the fuck he wanted.

"I don't see how a bunch of freakish kids are any match for what's out there in the world right now. You may think you know everything and that you can play God by doing this, but you can't. There's only one god, and clearly he's not there for us anymore." My babbling ended when I sank into a sitting position, staring up at Felix's tall frame.

His jaw was taught as if he was holding back what he really wanted to say, and as he exhaled he shut his eyes for a brief moment in what I could only assume was exhaustion. When he opened them again, they were filled once again with calm patience.

"Sirenia, we've been over this before and I've made it clear to you that I do not know everything. What I do know is that you are frightened and quite frankly, heartbroken about what happened to Mr. Veksler. Also, you misunderstood. When I asked if you could help me, I meant help get Dimitri out of that room that he's confined himself in. It had nothing to do with my beliefs and my work. My only purpose here, right now, is to help Mr. Veksler." Felix explained, and I couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed at my outburst. Either way, I shrugged.

"You won't be able to get him out of there if he thinks the infection is too bad. He'll die in there. He said it himself." I whispered dismally.

Felix rolled his eyes. "Oh, he'll come out. Even if I have to drag him."

Without any further information from me, Felix abruptly turned and made his way to the bedroom where Dimitri was. I stayed put. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to see how much worse his condition had gotten. I knew I would have to see Dimitri eventually, but I almost wanted to draw out the blissful ignorance of not knowing as long as I could. When Felix made it to the door, I stood up.

"It's not going to work. He's dying." I said point blank. Felix gave me a look one might give an indignant child. I had to restrain myself from grimacing and snapping at him.

"I am aware."

My brow came together. If he was so aware, then why was he arguing with me about removing Dimitri?

"This is a waste of time." I tried again, but this time Felix ignored me entirely.

Instead of responding he stepped back, calmly pressed his palm against the wooden door, and shut his eyes. The wood began to creak and buckle under his touch, until there was a loud whine and it split in half. The remains clattered to the floor at his feet. I gaped, my mouth hanging open. I shouldn't have been surprised at Felix's acts by now, but some things still baffled me.

Felix went into the room, completely ignoring my protests, and returned no more than a minute later with Dimitri in tow, holding him by the collar of his shirt. He looked even worse than yesterday, if that was even possible. His body was even thinner, I could see his collarbones jutting out sharply. His cheek bones were pressing against his skin as if struggling to break free. Dimitri's eyes were sunken with dark circles underneath, he must've gotten no sleep last night. The one good thing I noticed was his eyes were still alight and full of life, which sparked a small amount of fire and hope inside of me. What if . . .

I swallowed, pushing those thoughts from my mind. There was no hope in entertaining thoughts of "what if Dimitri survived? What if he was strong enough to beat the infection?" It was ludicrous. No one could beat the infection, obviously. There was no reason that Dimitri would be any different than the millions of undead people on the streets.

"You look awful." I murmured without thinking.

Dimitri tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace of pain than anything else. "Right back at you."

Felix released him, and surprisingly he stood up on his own without stumbling.

"Glad to have you back with the living." Felix remarked, and I gave him a nasty look. Dimitri ignored him.

"What's your purpose here, Felix? No one requested you." He asked weakly. His voice was barely a whisper.

Inch by inch my oxygen supply was being knocked out of me every time Dimitri spoke. Soon I would have to take another breath, but I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"That's no way to address the