The Fire Starter by Misty Wright, Summer Sauteur Page A

staircases were in front of us, I stopped.
    "I believe I have some explaining to do," Spencer began.
    "I don't know," I answered without interest. "I think you made it pretty plain last night."
    "No, I haven't."
    "Then by all means, enlighten me. Because the only thing that makes sense right now is that you and Alice--"
    "Are not together," he clarified. "We are not. We've been together once, and it's over."
    That still doesn't explain why they had to spend so much time together. It wasn't normal for friends to disappear every night and even sometimes during the day, and as far as they showed everyone, they weren't even really friends.
    "Alice has a problem."
    "Let me guess? You're the only one that can help her," I crossed my arms over my chest. It was all just too typical.
    He stopped for a second or two before speaking. "Actually, it's Kyle and I. We're the only ones who can help her."
    "Then why is it that you are the only one I notice missing?" I told him my observations.
    "Because Kyle and Alice never really got along. Kyle helps her if I'm not available," he explained, though it wasn't doing anything to convince me. "That's also the reason we've been together once. I figured it would be easier for us to do things that way. But I was wrong. It ended in disaster."
    "What important problem could this be that you have to drop whatever you're doing for her," I tried, though I knew he wouldn't tell me anything.
    As expected, he didn't speak.
    But someone else did.
    "Since you're so curious, why don't I just show you?" Alice showed herself from behind one of the trophy cabinets in the hallway. She walked past us, pushing open the door without any difficulties. "Come with me if you're brave enough."
    I followed her, but Spencer grabbed my arm. "You don't have to go with her."
    "But I need to know once and for all. If you want me to believe you, I need to know. Because otherwise-- then you've been playing with me all along."
    This seemed to silence him, and I caught up with Alice outside. Spencer followed too, despite Alice snarling at him.
    "I've grown quite strong, you know," Alice was saying as she led us into the backyard, just at the beginning of the forest. It was so different from how it looked at night. Today it wasn't as menacing, but it still caused me to remember the howl, the glow from afar, and the shivering I felt.
    When we had walked deep enough into the forest, Alice began to shudder. She shut her eyes, shaking all over uncontrollably.
    "What's happening to her?" I asked Spencer, but he was only looking at Alice with gritted teeth.
    I noticed some changes in Alice's features. Her arms and legs grew longer, thicker hair, she bent over as though her spine had collapsed, and more facial hair framed her face. Her nose was also gradually becoming longer and longer. I looked away, horrified at the sight. It was then that she let out the familiar howl I had heard again yesterday. "It was you," realization dawned on me at last. "It was you all along."
    Alice--now in her wolfish form--nodded at me in acknowledgement. She took a step towards me, her paws making no noise against the earth. Her eyes were liquid gold, the same shade as the faint glow I saw the night before. It was her, and she was coming near me last night. If it wasn't for Kyle and Blake, I would have been attacked. That must be it. Kyle had no choice last night, since Spencer was sick. She had to go and fend Alice off, maybe stop her from hurting someone. It all makes sense now.
    "That man--you killed that man," I said, shivering in remembrance of the dead man's body, how the entrails were scattered, how his eyes registered pain even beyond the grave.
    "That's enough, Alice," Spencer commanded, though Alice didn't seem to heed. She was still advancing towards me, her eyes trained and unblinking. There was a thin trail of saliva running down one side of her mouth where her tongue was lolling. She looked like a deranged animal to me.
    Spencer warned her