12

                                    

                                          
Ronan left me in David's office, in his chair. I was tired, and he assured me that he'd check on the girl before bringing everyone back here. I could hear the approaching sirens of a fire engine outside, and could hear the chatter of all the students outside. I had Ronan open the window, although it didn't do much. The ice continued to keep my body cold, as if it was worried I might let the other flames back in. Still, I welcomed it.
                          
About ten minutes later, Ronan appeared, alone.
                          
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
                          
"David and Irina had to stay to talk to the fire department." He said. "I don't know what excuse David's gonna give them."
                          
"And the girl?" I asked.
                          
Ronan looked at the floor. "She ran off."
                          
"Ran off?" I asked. "Where? How?"
                          
"I don't know." Ronan said. "David told me that after we disappeared, he was walking downstairs with her and she ran off. Neither Irina or David saw where she went, and they couldn't do anything because there were people about."
                          
"Damn it." I muttered. By anything, Ronan had meant the Argent kind of thing. This girl was undoubtedly connected to whatever shit was going down in Greenwich at the moment. She could have all the answers, and all this drama could be over very quickly if we'd had a few minutes with her. She had to go to this university though, and had to study some kind of computing degree or she wouldn't have been in the lab toilets.
                          
Ronan and I waited for David and Irina to come back- after all, they'd want to know what happened, and I couldn't be bothered to explain things twice.
                          
About twenty minutes later, the chatter outside seemed to die down and I could hear people walking through the corridors again. Then, the door opened, and in walked David and Irina.
                          
Irina immediately rubbed her bare arms, and I noticed her breath came out in a cloud of fog. "It's cold in here." She said, frowning. I then noticed the bandage on her hand, and wondered what she'd done.
                          
I was pretty certain the coldness in the room was my fault.
                          
"Well." David announced, ignoring the cold and taking a seat. "What the bloody hell just happened?"
                          
He was looking at me, but I didn't have any more information than he did. What he'd seen is what I'd seen. Same went for Irina.
                          
I shrugged. "I don't think I know any more than you guys."
                          
"Except you experienced whatever she had running through her." Ronan pointed out.
                          
"Yeah, that wasn't fun." I said firmly. "It's certainly not something I want to do again."
                          
"Did it hurt?" Irina asked.
                          
I nodded. "Yes. I mean, when I touched her it didn't, but when I started to take the fire from her... it all felt wrong."
                          
"In what way?" David asked.
                          
"Like it was... I don't know." I was trying to think of the word. "Like it was contaminated or something. Not clean. It felt heavy and sticky, whereas my fire feels light and tingly. It's hard to explain."
                          
Everyone was frowning in thought.
                          
"What happened to your hand?" I asked Irina.
                          
She held it up, looking at the bandage there. "In the bathroom, when I touched you, you burned me."
                          
"I did?" I asked, a little shocked.
                          
"Yeah, you were scorching to the touch." She said.
                          
"Oh. Sorry." I said, feeling bad.