A Dream of Fire

(A/N: Hey to anyone reading this! Welcome to my new story. The current working title is Lost and Found, but I will probably be changing the title once I write more of the story, since I only just started it and I'm not quite sure what all will be happening. If you can think of a better title, plz tell me in a review; I am open to suggestions!! I will (hopefully) be updating frequently, but it depends on my writer's block and amounts of homework, etc… Anyways, I'll shut up now so you can read. ;) )

Prologue:

"Kia! Kia, don't walk away from me! You can't just… just leave like this!"

The red-haired girl cast a scared-eyed glance back at the insistent boy following her.

"Kia! Wait!" he caught up with her enough to put a hand on her shoulder.

At the touch, she let out a small shriek, tensed and pulled away, whirling around.

He released her, and backed up two steps, holding both hands up in the air in front of him in a placating gesture. "Kia, I'm not going to hurt you. And you won't hurt me. I just want to help."

"Stay away from me, Aaron. Just… just… stay away." She broke down then and started sobbing, hot tears splashing down her face and landing on the pavement between them. Kia put a hand to her face, trying - unsuccessfully - to shove the tears away.

"Kia, please." Aaron's voice was soft and strained.

She knew he hated it when she cried, and for his sake she tried to stop, because then he wouldn't look at her like that, eyes pleading, hands trembling, like all he wanted was to cross the distance and just hold her while she cried. She knew her gaze was the only thing holding him back. And that he was powerless against it.

"Please…" He sounded as though he were about to cry.

Kia hiccuped uncertainly, torn between what she wanted to do, and what she knew she had to do. But then the memories flashed by again - the lightning crackling from her hands, Kenneth flying across the room, his head smacking wetly into the edge of the old stone fireplace. The spattered blood - blood everywhere, on her hands her face, the coppery taste of it in her mouth - her vision hazy and blurred and fire everywhere, spreading, spreading, and knowing it was all her fault. The smell of smoke and burned flesh, her hands white hot -

"No." she said, just as softly. "I can't. I... I… goodbye." She turned away.

"Kia, if you won't let me help, at least… take this. It's cold out."

She turned back. He held out his sweater. He must have taken it off when she turned around. She stood for a couple seconds, looking at him. Looking into the deep green-brown of his earnestly-pleading eyes, as he stood, unshivering, in a blue t-shirt, holding out his peace offering, a red and blue fleece sweater. She slowly reached out a trembling hand to take the proffered gift, but the images again resurfaced in her mind, and she snatched her hand back involuntarily. Kia could see the hurt in Aaron's eyes, just from that action, and was determined not to leave him like that. She forced herself to reach out again and grab a dangling sleeve of the sweater.

"Thank you," she whispered, gathering the sweater into her arms.

"Kia…" was all he said.

The flood of tears came back, and she turned and ran, pelting into the darkness, a clap of thunder punctuating her running footfalls.

Behind her, Aaron sank to his knees on the rough asphalt and let his own tears fall, to mingle with the rain as it began to fall. He did not feel the cold or the wind, only the great aching emptiness that was now consuming his soul. At least part of what had happened had been his fault. She would never have even BEEN with Kenneth if not for him. It was his fault. And now he'd lost her.

Kia yanked open the door to the driver's seat of her silver Mercury and just sat, shuddering and sobbing and hiccuping as the rain lashed down outside. Then, by a flash of lightening, she caught sight of Kenneth's grey sweater on the seat beside her. That drew a fresh round of tears. Finally she threw the sweater in the back and, after fumbling a few times with shaky hands, managed to shove her key into the ignition and turn it. She wiped her eyes with her arm, almost forgetting she was wearing Aaron's sweater until her face hit the softness of fleece instead of her bare arm. With her face on the sweater, all she could smell was his scent. It comforted her, something familiar and safe. She pulled the neck of the sweater up and closed the front zipper all the way, so that she could keep the smell in her nostrils and firmly stepped on the gas pedal. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she it would be far away from here, and she knew that she was never coming back.

(A/N: like it? Hate it? Should I keep going or stop here? plz R &R .. no flames plz.. constructive criticism is great tho.)