Page 50 of Wild Fires

“Gracie!” I yelled as strong arms pulled me back.

“Let her go,” Dan told me.

Let her go? What the hell was he talking about? The woman I loved was standing right there burning alive and no one was making a move to do anything about it.

“She'll be alright,” Big Dick insisted.

“Trust us. It's better this way,” Dan added.

“She's not going to be okay; she's dying.”

“Well, yeah, but she'll be back,” Big Dick casually said.

I had no idea what they were talking about, but the pain in my chest as I helplessly watched her die was unbearable.

Anger, fear, and crippling sadness fueled me as I fought the need to lash out at all of them. They'd let this happen.

As her body lay in ashes on the ground, I thought I just might throw up. I couldn't do this. I couldn’t be here a second longer.

I shifted and started to fly off when a round of applause began.

As I flew over Gracie’s ashes, I saw movement and then a small raven popped her head out. She looked up at me, right into my eyes.

Mine, my raven cawed.

My whole world spun out of control.

Clarence walked over to the bird and scowled. “I told you to stop doing that, Gracie. It’s awful to watch. I think you've permanently traumatized our mayor and every civilian standing around watching.”

The raven shifted and Gracie stood up in its place. My wings faltered. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but the pain and agony of watching her die was too much for me to handle.

I turned and flew away despite my bird's protests.

At first I flew home, but when I landed on the balcony and looked into the apartment, all I saw was Gracie. She was everywhere and I knew her scent would still be lingering there. I couldn't stay.

Instead, I flew off and went home, landing on the balcony outside what used to be my sister's bedroom. I shifted and let myself inside, knowing that door was never locked. Without alerting anyone, I walked through the room, across the hall, and into my childhood room. I sat down in the back of the large walk-in closet, just as I'd done whenever I was upset as a kid, and tried to process what the hell had just happened.

Without a phone and unwilling to speak to anyone anyway, I curled up and fell asleep with tear streaks on my face.

Gracie was alive. I had to keep reminding myself of that.

It didn't feel real.

I knew she'd always been reckless, but she never should have ran into that building without having her full gear on.

She told me fire couldn't hurt her, yet I watched her burn alive. My stomach pitched at the thought. I knew that image was permanently burned into my memory and would haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

She hadn't cried out in pain or even tried to put the fire out. She'd just stood there and died.

I didn’t understand how her raven could have appeared in the ashes like that. I didn’t fully believe that she had truly shifted back into the woman I loved as she watched me fly away.

Was she truly alive?

It was hard to accept after what I'd witnessed.

I didn't know what to believe anymore.

Mate, my raven wailed.

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