Writober Part 10

Violet stared, jaw dropped and eyes wide. On the computer screen were dozens of faces she recognized from her school and neighborhood. They were all operatives sent undercover to watch her.

“You know these people?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, you?”

“Yes. I’ve seen each person at some point. They are everywhere. Their reach seems to be without end.”

“But what do they want?”

Ryan’s fingers flew across the keys. “Look at this. It’s a breakdown of their energy usage. This whole compound is completely self sufficient.”

“Through what? Solar power?”

“No. Fire.”

“I don’t understand. Are they burning wood?”

“We need to go.”

“Where?”

“Down below. Where… where I was held.”

Ryan grabbed her hand and they ran from the room, down the hall, and into a stairwell.

“Do you have this whole placed mapped in your brain?” Violet said.

“Once I determined that I needed to come back one day, I hacked my way into the official blueprints and memorized the layout.”

“We’re not taking the elevators?”

“No, they can stop them. But to save time…”

With the stairs spiraling around the outer edges of the room, it left the entire middle clear. Ryan hopped the rail and sailed through the air, landing gently on his feet at the bottom level. Violet followed right behind him, exhilarated by the free-fall.

The stairwell exit led them to a series of dark hallways lined on either side with double-paned glass windows. Each looked into a small concrete cell, but what was inside sent chills through Violet’s body. Each room held a person, chained by their hands and feet. But their eyes… They were distant and unfeeling, as if there was no one left inside.

As they walked, one cell held a girl about Violet’s age. Orange fire ignited at her hands and quickly spread, covering her body. One she was fully engulfed in flames, she began to scream, louder and louder. The fire started to rise to the ceiling, as if it were being sucked through a vent. When Violet thought she could take no more of the poor girl’s wailing, the screaming stopped with a chilling echo, the fire vanished, and the girl slumped to the floor.

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For the month of October, I’ve joined a writing challenge called Writober. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we write something and send it to the entire group.For Writober, I’ll be continuing the series I’ve started about a tough pyro named, Violet Blair.

Need to catch up on the story? You can read earlier Writober posts, or you can read Violet Blair’s entire story.