From the prompt: “The fire won’t die…”<>
“Flame Within”
It’s a blazing inferno, raging within me, refusing to die. This is my life, and it’s the paradox of my destruction.
“JC, man, you all right?” Chris asked, jerking the younger man out of his thoughts. Then he smiled at his friend. Il est trčs sympa, mais il est petit…
He cleared his throat, switching gears to English. “Yeah, sure. You know me, Ol’ Spaz, just thinking. About...stuff.”
Chris laughed and ruffled his hair. “You are a spaz, Jayce. How are things between you and Bobbee?”
Josh flinched at the sound of his ‘girlfriend’s’ name. “Great,” he offered weakly. “Um, have you seen Justin? I have to talk to him.”
Chris eyes him strangely, but nodded. “Yeah, he’s in his room down the hall.”
Josh thanked him quickly (it might have been “Merci, mon ami”) and left the room, hurrying down the hallway and knocking on Justin’s door.
He blinked at the blonde girl who pulled open the door. “Hi, Britney.”
She flashed an insincere smile, not pleased at this interruption. “Hi, JC.”
“Can I talk to you alone for a minute, Justin?” Josh asked, peering over Britney’s shoulder to where Justin sat on his bed with his laptop, fingers working over the keyboard nimbly. Josh allowed himself an amused smile. It was a computer program flight simulator and game that Jade used to keep his flight skills up to speed.
Jade lifted his head, pausing the game. “Sure.”
Britney frowned. “JC, we’ve been friends for almost ten years. Anything you can say to Justin you can say in front of me.” She turned and flashed the younger man a saccharine sweet smile. “Right, Juju?”
Jade cringed at the awful nickname. He met Josh’s gaze, pleading. Things
obviously weren’t going well between him and Civilian 1B.
Josh reached down, automatically tightening the leather band around this left wrist. Suddenly he felt so self-conscious, like everyone in the world could see his tattoo and was staring at it. He could almost feel the ink in his skin, swirling and burning, so hot and scalding...
Jade must have noticed the gesture, for he flexed his left wrist like it was sore from typing. He raised his eyebrows questioningly. It was a code between them, signaling the need to discuss Dagaz business.
“Go, Britney,” Jade ordered, shutting his laptop and pushing it aside.
She glared at Josh before turning and pouting. “But Justin – ”
Jade rose up. “JC and I have something important to talk about. Dani and Kelly are here – go hang out with them.”
Josh was on the receiving end of another glare before Britney flounced out of
the room and closed the door – more like slammed it.
Jade flopped down on his bed with a groan. “All of a sudden she’s so
possessive!”
“Bobbee wants me to marry her,” Josh blurted out.
Jade sat bolt upright. “What? Why?”
“She’s a Connection, Jade,” Josh answered quietly, and his accent slipped as he began to grow panicked. “She knows who I am and is threatening to tell if I don’t marry her.”
Jade frowned. Josh’s accent only slipped when he was really scared. “Josh, it’s not that bad, honest, someone would knock her off – ”
“Non!” Josh exploded. “C’est impossible! Jade, she’s not one of my Connections, they’ll think I told her and they’ll kill me, too. ‘Revelation on pain of death,’ remember? She promises to keep quiet if I marry her. She knows were Joshua Chasez is, the real Joshua Chasez, and
she’ll expose me. I can’t risk that, I can’t risk the Dagaz.”
Jade gazed at him mutely, shaking his head. He didn’t know what to do.
“I...I just thought you should know,” Josh whispered. He turned to go, dragging his feet. He looked up when he saw the four girls in the hall – Dani, Britney, Kelly and Bobbee.
Josh offered a weak smile and attempted to slip into Lance’s room when his ‘girlfriend’ broke away from the group to come give him a hug.
“JC, aren’t you glad to see me?” she purred.
He shut his eyes, feeling the fire flare inside him. It would be so easy to kill her, one twist of his hands...
This is the fire burning inside of me, the catalyst, the Dagaz. The fire is burning, the fire won’t die. I might.
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