“We got him!”
The shout came from the far end of the abandoned warehouse and Reggie turned to see two of his friends each holding an arm of the intruder. They navigated their way through the garbage and papers that littered the floor from the countless parties and raves the building had hosted. When they approached nearly dragging him on his knees, Reggie was surprised that the assailant looked like he was in his late teens, not much younger than himself.
“Where’re the others?” Reggie asked perplexed as he stood from the fold-up chair.
Jason, the one holding the guy’s left arm, shrugged, “There isn’t anyone else.”
Reggie raised a skeptical eyebrow and walked to them. Their scrawny captive had short dirty-blonde hair and a bloody-nose, and was wearing a worn-out green military jacket. Reggie wasn’t impressed by him and couldn’t see how he could have taken out Terrance or the four others by himself.
“Who are you? Are you with Jerry and his crew?” Reggie asked, the only response was an avoided gaze by his green eyes.
“We found he’s wallet,” Jason said offering it to Reggie.
Reggie quickly looked to see if there was any money and was unimpressed by the amount of small bills. He looked to the ID as he deposited his new funds into his pocket. “Elijah Moray, what’cha doing here Elijah?”
“It’s Eli,” he finally replied, he stared up at Reggie with defiance, “You took something that you shouldn’t have—I came to get it back.”
Reggie was confused by the statement, he had taken a lot of things, this guy would have to be more specific. He then recalled the metal briefcase waiting at the table he had been sitting at. He looked to it with increased interest.
He and his friends had been hired to steal from some car earlier that day. It was worth five thousand dollars and Reggie thought that if he could get it open, it might be worth a lot more. He looked to Eli with new intentions.
“You came for that?” he asked pointing at the case, “Why? What’s in it?”
Eli shook his head, “A whole world of trouble that, quite frankly, you don’t want to know exists. Now, hand it over before I have to hurt you.”
Reggie scowled at the obstinate teen before punching him his face, Eli spat some blood out of his mouth before looking up unperturbed. “Are you really trying to scare me? You think that just because you jumped some of my guys by yourself that you’re Superman?”
Eli gave Reggie a disconcerting grin, “Superman? No—not into the whole cape and tights thing.” Eli adjusted his stance and the two holding him starting grimacing as they attempted to hold him still.
Reggie noticed as they struggled that clouds of ash were puffing up into the air form the floor. He looked down and saw that the ground was covered in white ash and couldn’t see any of the papers that had been there before.
“And,” Eli said, getting Reggie’s attention, “I never said I was alone—NOW ARIEL!”
Before Reggie had time to react, orange flames erupted on the walls and licked greedily with flickering tongues. Reggie stared in horror as the fire raced across the wall unnaturally. He only looked back to his friends and Eli when he heard a grunt.
Jason was now on the opposite side of Eli and fell on their companion with enough force to knock them both several feet away. Reggie was still trying to decipher what happened when Eli grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him effortlessly off the ground with one hand. Reggie was certain that he must have been having a bad reaction from what he used earlier because a rope of fire coiled around Eli's free arm.
Eli looked away from Reggie and nodded, Reggie checked the direction but no one was there. Eli looked back to Reggie, "Before we go, tell us, where were you planning on meeting Stacy with the briefcase?"
***
Did you like this? It's a teaser from a story I'm working on, though I don't know when I'll be able to debut it as there are just so many stories I want to share with all of you. Anyway, if you enjoyed it and want to know more about Eli and Ariel's (pronounced "ar-iel" not 'air-iel") story, or want me to post more blogs from the scenes that float around my had like moths at a bug light, leave a comment at the bottom (and be quick! I need to know what moths to save before the zapper gets them all!). If you liked this post, please share it with your friends!
P.S. I didn't intentionally do this my blog because my home county is on fire, but if you could remember to pray for the fires in northern California, I would greatly appreciate it.
Image Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-11895692