Far in the distance, the whirring of more helicopter blades approached from different angles. I sought the searchlights they shined on the blackened scene below, where they highlighted the trees and the space around the fire that was already aglow.

In the beam of their light a pair of familiar boots took my attention. I crouched lower to stay out of the light beams but pointed to the shoes. "Look."

Lilac peered over my shoulder, staring at the spot. "What are those?"

"They look like boots." Worry pitted my gut. "Don't they look like the ones Hermit wears?"

"So, he must be nearby." Lilac seemed confused. "But why would he take his boots off?"

"It doesn't make much sense but he's gotta be somewhere around here, right?" I watched the helicopters who seemed take interest in the fire and nothing else. I waited until there was a chance to run across the area without being spotted. "Follow me."

I didn't even look behind me as I took the moment to run from the building and through the patch of trees. The fire was close, the heat even closer, but I managed to stay clear of the flames.

Making my way to the boots, I dropped down and gathered them in my arms. Quickly examining them, they were indeed Hermit's. The nails protruding from the soles were still attached and sticky from black sap.

"He has to be somewhere around here," I told Lilac as he remained close.

Just then, the spotlight from the helicopter landed on us, paralyzing us in its beam like a deer in headlights. The helicopter blades whipped the air around us, and my afro thrashed and blew sporadically around my head. It was the first time in a long time wind blew in the Scalded.

A voice on a loudspeaker startled me. "Do not move." The masculine voice resembled a police officer's and so did the threat. Something in me didn't feel right standing in the center of a spotlight. I felt naked and vulnerable, especially when most of my time here had been spent creeping in the shadows.

I extended my hand to Lilac who took it and we both shielded our eyes as we stared up into the bright light. When I dropped my gaze to look at him, we nodded at the same time. Taking the cue, we sprinted toward the trees to conceal ourselves in the shadows.

Unfortunately, the lights followed, keeping up with our pace and illuminating our surroundings, casting moving shadows of the tall trees and bushy thistles. The urge to get out of the spotlight overcame me. Like a vulnerable insect, I wanted a dark crevice to hide in and away from the threats.

Lilac's hand ripped from mine, and I paused and turned to see why. He was splat on the ground, having tripped over a large root. I ran back to help him to his feet. "You got this, Lilac. Let's move."

The loud blades whipped at the air, hurting my ears, but so did another familiar sound. A voice calling in the distance. "Kyla?"

I turned to the direction of the sound. "Hermit?

"Over here," he called back. I followed his voice which was nearly drowned out by the helicopter that was intent on keeping us in its sights.

"Hermit, where are you?" I listened for a response.

"Here, at the tree." His voice sounded weak and exhausted under the sound of the chopping helicopter blades and swaying, wind-whipped trees. I followed the direction of his voice, coming upon a horrific site.

Highlighted in all its glory by the spotlight of the helicopter was Hermit tied against a tree, near burning flames, wounded and bleeding from his shoulder. He looked exhausted as thin rope was wound tight around his torso and thighs and kept him anchored to the tree. The rope was so tight some of his flesh bulged through the separated parts of coiled rope.

"Oh, no." I ran to his aid. As I searched the rope for its knot, I panicked in the spotlights and thrashing winds. "How do I get you out of this?"

"I take it Princess lost the machete?" He sighed, knowing the answer. His wavy salt and pepper hair whipped his head. "That could've been a handy tool."

"Try the boots." Lilac pointed, offering a solution.

Another sound from the person in the helicopter. "This is the city police. In cooperation with the city, I order you to stop right there."

Instead of obeying the order, I used the nail in one of the boots to pry the tight rope loose.

"I used that shoe to peg one of them right in the femoral artery," Hermit said in a drunken-like state, nearly slurring his words in a fit of exhaustion. "Or was it the other shoe?"

I undone the last of the rope and Hermit fell over from the tree into Lilac's arms. Lilac huffed when he caught him, urging Hermit to stand on his own two feet.

"We have to go." I glanced over my shoulder at the moving shadows of uniformed men swarming in on us through the trees. Under the lightening sky, even they couldn't hide within the darkness.

Lilac hooked an arm under Hermit, and when I did the same to his other side Hermit called out in pain. "Sorry," I murmured, being careful of his shoulder wound. "I know it hurts but I'm not leaving you here to burn to ash."

"I need nutrients," he huffed. "They depleted me. You should've seen what they've done. You should've seen how I made them believe your imaginings were watching every punch and kick they gave. You should've seen them run away. Damn near wetting their pants." He chuckled languidly.

"Stop right there!" A deep voiced male ordered from behind us. I dreaded looking behind me only to stare down the barrel of a gun.

"My friend is sick and injured—" I started.

"Put your hands up above your head," another officer demanded. "All of you."

Beyond the whirring of the wind and the helicopter blades, was another faint sound. I homed in on the distant noise, trying to pinpoint its origins and its purpose. Whatever it was called to me, and I became transfixed by the angelic sound.

I held onto Hermit's shoulder more securely and urged him and Lilac to keep moving toward the sound. We walked, one foot after the other as the officer's yelled their orders. The helicopter's spotlight still on us as if we were the actors on a stage, the wind continued to whip around my hair and the thistles of the trees, the fire burned behind us, slowly spreading across the black forest.

And I was able to drown out the loud, scared, and angry voices of the officers at our backs. It all turned into a chorus of noises, blending with the rest of the chaos surrounding us.

It was then that I recognized the distance angelic chanting. The voices of many young men and women, shouting in a rhythm that matched my heart.

"Let them go. Let them be. If there's no peace, we won't leave."

Their chanting was interrupted by the bang, bang, bang of gunshots. Hermit dived forward onto the ground as I slid to the side to hide behind a tree for cover. And like slow motion, Lilac's back arched, and he cried out. Red spattering out the front of his abdomen.

"Lilac!" I screamed, horrified at the sight before my eyes.

He collapsed on the ground. My fingers tingled and my hearing went deafly silent. I had promised him he wouldn't have to experience pain like he had before. And there I was, a liar.

The front of his shirt, although torn and shredded to tatters, quickly became soaked with his red liquid.

With sorrow and anger in my eyes, I turned to the perpetrators. Their silhouettes shown black against the bright yellow flames that slowly consumed my home. The position of their bodies expressed their authority, legs spread, guns raised, and none of them seemed to be aware of their negligence.

I balled my hands into fists at my sides, inhaled into my lungs burned, and let out my sorrow and anger in one lengthy guttural growl. How dare they hurt my companions and threaten to take our lives, just for surviving.

Before my scream came to a halt, from the large, hot flames emerged not one but two massive tarlike creatures. Their mouths gaped as if the growl had come from them.

The flames didn't affect their syrupy bodies one bit as they loomed over the officers like the wrath they create.

The burnt smell that accommodated them overpowered the smoke in the air, and they crept toward the officers from behind. The spotlight swung toward the big, dark creatures and the officers' gazes followed the light.

The first officer's scream was cut short by a giant clawed hand that swiped the air, instantly and effortlessly halving the man where he stood. His comrades quickly opened fire on the creatures, not knowing bullets were no match for the molten molasses beasts.

Done with witnessing any more carnage, my sights set on Hermit who was struggling to stand, and to Lilac who didn't move at all.

While screams, gunshots, crackling fire, and helicopter blades overwhelmed my ears, I ran to Lilac's side. Shaking him and tapping his face wasn't enough. Would come back like he had done before? Or was this it?

"Lilac, wake up!" He didn't move. 

~~~

Could it possibly be too late for Lilac? Please share your thoughts?