Chapter One--Into the Fire

Early morning light peeked through the gap in a pair of black, Metallica curtains. The shaft of light shown in the eyes of the snoring teen buried in Hello Kitty blankets and notebooks filled with cheer ideas. Jade scrunched her face and stretched, arms above her head, as she woke up.  She sat up and pushed her brown hair out of her eyes, blinking as she registered the numbers on the alarm clock sitting on her dresser across from her. 7:53 AM. Jade jumped up off her bed and lunged for her closet. The hangers clinked as she ripped a Nirvana shirt and jeans out of her closet and changed into them. As she searched for her tennis shoes, Jade tripped on a discarded pair of pom-poms. She found them squished between a stack of books on exorcisms and her duffle. As she shoved her feet into her worn shoes, she felt a familiar presence.

            “Aubrey.” Jade tightened up the laces on her shoes. “Why didn’t you or anyone wake me up when I missed my alarm!”

            “Your mother tried.” The cool, far away voice said. “And I managed to throw two notebooks at you, but you were out. Was practice really that hard?”

            “We were trying new moves.” Jade stood and slung her backpack over her shoulder. “You try being the bottom of a pyramid.”

            “If I weren’t dead and made up of ectoplasm,” Aubrey deadpanned, “I would.”

            “I do love your attitude, Aubrey.” Jade paused as she opened her door. “I’ll totally miss it when you cross over.”

            “I knew you loved me.” Aubrey laughed. “Be safe on your way to school. I sense something off on this side of the veil and I’d hate to see you over here.”

            Jade glanced behind her in time to see the glimmer of Aubrey’s astral form. She nodded and bound down the steps to the front room. She darted through the kitchen towards the back door to take the short-cut to her school. Jade caught the apple her mother threw at her as she opened the screen door. Letting the door slam shut behind her, Jade ran at the back fence, kicked off the bench nestled against it, and vaulted herself over it into the back yard of a vacant house. She crossed that street and darted through Mr. Abaforth’s side yard, waiving at the old man as she passed. He shouted a hello as Jade skid to a stop on the sidewalk. She saw the gates to her school right as she smelled smoke.

            Jade slowed to a stop in front of a house and coughed. The smoke was thick and starting to blanket Mulberry Street. The people who hadn’t already gone to work were standing outside their white stucco homes watching as the house burned, faces agape or tight-lipped with concern. Jade was just pulling out her phone when she heard crying coming from the house. She turned and saw a tall woman covered in soot stumbling out into the yard. She ran up to the woman to see if she was okay. The woman’s hands were burned and bleeding and the tips of her hair were singed. She shook as she latched onto Jade’s forearms.

            “Please.” The woman cried. “My babies are still in there! I couldn’t get to them. The fire!”

            “Where are they?” Jade looked back at the house.

            “The playroom.” The woman collapsed on the grass as one of her neighbors ran up to help.

            The neighbor knelt by the woman as Jade bolted around the house in search of the playroom. She skirted to a stop at a window when she heard crying. She squinted at the glass and saw two figures huddling in the room. She thought they were the children. Jade touched the glass and it was cool-the fire hadn’t gotten to it yet. After failing to open it, she looked around and found a big rock. She picked it up with both hands and heaved it at the window, shattering the glass. She knocked the other sharp pieces out of the frame and climbed through, cutting her hand as she went. She shouted and the kids looked up�"they were suffocating. Jade crawled across the hardwood floor towards them and shouted over the roar of the flames.

            “See that window?” She said. “Take your brother and go through it. Your Momma’s in the yard. Go! Now!”

            The oldest boy nodded and crawled across the floor, dragging his younger brother with him. Jade followed and helped them out of the window. She had just gotten her foot in the frame when a force suddenly pulled her backwards, slamming her into the shelves on the opposite wall. Jade blinked away the stars she was seeing and touched the back of her head�"she felt something sticky and warm. She looked up and squinted, the silver ring around the blue irises of her eyes expanded as she focused on the glimmering figure standing in front of the door. Her eyes widened when she saw what it was clearly�"a tall, broad figure with scabious red skin and black eyes was smiling at her. Its teeth sharp were dripping with ectoplasm. A flaming peacock rested on its shoulder. Jade struggled to her feet and focused on the demon. She’d never encountered one before and wasn’t sure how to handle it. She went with an exorcism she read in one of her books.

            “Regna terrae,” she coughed, “cantata Deo, psallite Cernunnos, Regna terrae, cantata Dea psallite Aradia. caeliDeus, Deus terrae, Humili…”

            The demon used some sort of force to slam Jade against the wall.

            “…ter majestati gloriae tuae supplicamus,” Jade gasped for breath. “Ut ab omni infernalium spirituum potestate,Laque…”

            “Stupid human.” The demon projected its thoughts at Jade, cutting off her spell. “That spell won’t work on me. Can’t you tell I’m not using one of you weak creatures? Ha!”

            Jade couldn’t breathe. Her lungs burned and constricted. Her vision started to blur as her heart raced and then started to slow. She didn’t want to die. Not there. Not with the ghosts she still hasn’t helped. And not on Valentine’s Day.

            Go Away! Go Away! Go Away! You have no power here!

            Jade thought hard on everything she still needed to do and used that to fuel her drive. Cassie’s birthday. Momma and Daddy’s anniversary. The Spring Fling she was helping plan.

            “Go Away!” Jade croaked as power suddenly surged through her.

            The demon dropped Jade and recoiled. It snarled and lunged at her, vanishing before it could reach her. Jade couldn’t get her breath back. The smoke in the room was too thick. She tried to crawl to the window, but her body wouldn’t move. The world darkened before her eyes.

**

            Jade’s eyes snapped open and she sat up. The last thing she remembered was seeing some sort of demon and then falling asleep in a burning house. She looked around to see where she was. There was nothing but grass with trees scattered about. The air was warm and a breeze made the grass dance. Jade looked up�"the sky was powder blue and purple and pink and yellow. It looked like the sunset over Tallulah Gorge in summer. Jade’s ears perked up when she heard the sound of water. She stood, lingering for a moment to feel the cool grass on her bare feet. Then, following her ears, she tracked the sound. She crossed between what looked like two spruce trees and found a glimmering crystal lake. She approached it and looked at her reflection. Her normally blue eyes were silver, as if the silver ring hand completely engulfed the blue. Her hair was flowing and reached her waist. Her flower-shaped nose-ring was gone along with the matching stud ear-rings. Instead of her grey Nirvana shirt and jeans, she was wearing a white dress.

            Jade gasped and stumbled backwards when something suddenly shot out of the water. Looking up, she saw a figure standing on top of the water. It was tall with marble-white skin. Its hair flowed around it as if it were floating in the water it just appeared from. Its robes flowed around it.

            “Rosalie Jade Novak Hawethorn.” The creature addressed Jade in an icy voice, “Welcome.”

            “W-where am I?” Jade stared at the being.

            “This place is the place where all the planes intersect where the dead and the living can cross paths.” The being glided towards Jade and stuck a hand out to help her up.

            “The what?” Jade took its hand, surprised at how warm it was.

            “The crossing. The between. Humans have many names for it.”

            “Am I dead?” Jade patted down her dress.

            “Dead. Not dead. That is for you to decide. The dead are not always deceased and the living are not always alive.”

            “So I can choose if I want to live or go to heaven or hell, or whatever is on the other side?”

            “Heaven. Hell. Tartarus. The Elysian Fields. There are many names. Where you go is up to who you have been. Choose well. You are important and what you choose now will affect the planes. Look into the water. It will show you what is in store should you choose to live or should you choose to die.”

            “I like the way you talk.” Jade scratched at her chin. “It’s kind of poetic. I don’t need to look into the water. I want to live. I’m fifteen and nowhere near ready to kick it just yet.”

            “Very well.” The being glided backwards. “Step into the lake and swim to the bottom. You will return.”

            “Right.” Jade stepped into the water as the being sank below the surface.

            The water was pleasant and cool. When Jade was waist deep, she lifted an arm�"it came up dry. She looked at her arm, puzzled at how it defied the laws of physics. Shaking her head, she continued walking. There was no water pressure when she was fully submerged in the water, and she could breathe. Jade looked around as she moved deeper and deeper into the lake. She could see images all around her�"some familiar and some not. She could see a woman that looked like Momma, but wasn’t Momma approaching with a makeup brush. There was James and Cassie at what looked like a hospital. And she saw a pair of feathery white wings just as she reached the lake bed.

            Jade was startled from her thoughts when the water around her started to swirl and the sand beneath her feet started to shift. A vortex opened beneath her feet and sucked Jade under. Suddenly, she was flying through a star filled sky. She could see Gemini, Pictor, and Monoceros clearly as she could see those images in the water. Then, she was standing in the yard of the burning house. Firefighters were putting out the remnants of the fire. The woman and her children were being loaded into an ambulance. Jade heard metal and plastic clanking and looked over to see another ambulance with her body being loaded into it. She walked over to it and listened to the conversation.

            “She needs oxygen” the woman was placing an oxygen mask over Jade’s face. “I can’t find a pulse!”

            “No pulse my big toe.” Jade said, touching her body.

            A silver string appeared, connecting Jade’s physical body with her astral form. The paramedic gasped and jumped back when Jade coughed back to life. Jade tried to sit up. She needed to get to her books or the library, or even Father Duncan to see what kind of demon can have a physical form outside of Hell or whatever it was. The paramedic pushed her back onto the bright orange gurney.

            “Woah there, kid.” She said. “You’re not going anywhere right now. How do you feel?”

            “Like a million bucks.” Jade wheezed through the oxygen mask.

            “You’re going to be just fine.” The paramedic pulled a syringe out of a drawer attached to the wall of the ambulance.

            Seeing the needle, Jade tried to jump off the gurney. She hated needles. The paramedic told her to “take it easy” as the doors to the ambulance shut. Jade winced when the needle pricked her arm. Moments later she didn’t feel the pain from the burns on her arms or the pain of whatever was broken or the cut on her hand. Her entire body went limp.

**

Jade was standing on her rolling desk chair trying to reach the pink Hello Kitty storage box in the top of her closet. She wanted to put her case notebook in it having finished helping a little boy ghost at the park go to heaven. He lost a stuffed dinosaur that belonged to his little sister and Jade helped him find it. When she found it and gave it to his sister, he crossed over. The notebook she wrote down the story in was full and she wanted to store it in the box in her closet. When she managed to lift the lid on the box, she stuck the notebook inside. As she closed it, the rolling chair moved and Jade fell. She landed on the giant pile of stuffed animals.

            “That hurt.” Jade rubbed the back of her head. “Note to self, don’t stand on rolling chairs. What’s that smell? Is Momma burning supper again?”

            Jade stood and shook herself off. She looked at her closet briefly. The box she’d been trying to reach was upside down on the floor. Jade opened her bedroom and coughed as smoke filled her room. That was not burning food. She made her way to the steps at the end of the hall to run downstairs. When she got there, fire was eating its way up the steps and banister. Jade ran back to her room and shut her door, keeping low like the fireman at the station taught her and her class. She shoved her bathrobe against the crack in the bottom of her door to keep any more smoke from entering her room. Then, she snatched the box of notebooks and other little items off the floor and ran to the window next to her bed. She tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. She checked the lock, but it wasn’t latched. Jade looked around her room for something to break the window with, but there was nothing�"just a strong, unfamiliar presence that felt dangerous. Jade heard a noise and turned to look at the door. She screamed when her bathrobe burst into flames. Turning back to the window, Jade banged on it in an attempt to break it, but she wasn’t strong enough. She saw her mother stumble around to the side of the house, barely able to walk with her broken ankle. Just as she tried to climb up the tree next to Jade’s window, Jade saw her neighbor Kyle Perdue jump his girlfriend’s fence and scale the tree her mother was attempting to climb. When he reached the branch that was level to Jade’s window, he shouted for Jade to move. When Jade moved, he used the tire tool he carried over to shatter the window. Jade tripped when she tried to avoid the flying glass and fell backwards off her bed, dislocating her shoulder. She couldn’t move. Kyle jumped through the window and landed next to Jade.

            “You’ve gotta get up, Kid.” He coughed and glanced towards the presence in the room. “I know it hurts, but thatfire’ll hurt a lot more. Let’s get you through that window. Just jump into the tree and climb down.”

            “My arm is broken.” Jade coughed, sitting up. “I can’t climb down.”

            “Yes you can.” Kyle helped Jade through the window and pushed her onto the branch. “You don’t have a choice.”

            “Kyle!” Jade shouted from where she was crouched in the tree when his foot got stuck.

            “Go now!” He shouted, trying to free his foot.

            Kyle smiled at Jade as the fire consumed the rest of the room. Jade cried as she struggled to the base of the tree where her mother was waiting. She latched onto her mother and watched the house burn, trying to block out the sound of the screaming.

**

            The first thing Jade heard was beeping. It was steady, like a heartbeat. Jade creaked her eyes open, careful of the light she knew was on. She looked to her left and saw a heart monitor. It was beating steady. On her right was a table with flowers, a pitcher of water, and a stack of plastic cups. Next to the table was a chair where Jade’s mother was asleep still in her pink scrubs from that morning. Her face was tense and grey streaked brown hair set in a messy bun. Her neo-natal nametag was dangling from her collar.

            “Momma.” Jade croaked, her throat feeling like the sandpaper she used in her construction class. “You awake?”

            Mrs. Hawethorn snored. Jade snickered. Her mom hadn’t slept in three days since one of the other nurses quit and her unit was short staffed. Jade eased herself into a sitting positon. She reached for the pitcher and cups, but stopped when she noticed the IV tube attached to her arm.

            “Lovely.” Jade sighed as she felt a familiar presence. “Hi Aubrey.”

            “Jade,” Aubrey said, appearing at Jade’s side. “Are you alright?”

            “Never better.” Jade looked in Aubrey’s direction and gasped. “Aubrey, I can see you! How can I see you? I’m not even focusing on your presence!”

            “Bloody Hell.” Aubrey exclaimed, running one ethereal hand through his short, blonde hair. “That’s new. Why isthat. I thought you could only hear ghosts?”

            “So did I.” Jade scratched at her chin. “Usually I have to focus on a presence, but that always gave me a headache, so I only did that when I had to. Weird. Bloody Hell?”

            “Your brothers are watching Harry Potter in the waiting room.” Aubrey shrugged. “I was keeping an eye on them. Plus, It’s my favorite movie. Read all the books too.”

            “How are they?” Jade resisted the urge to reach for the pitcher.

            “Worried,” Aubrey used his ghostly powers to pick up the pitcher. “But otherwise alright. Kenny passed his spelling test. Brian is going out with a girl named Heather. Here you go.”

            “Thanks.” Jade accepted the cup of water and drank it. “Got any news on the ghost vine? There was something really evil in that fire.”

            “Nothing I can think of right off hand.” Aubrey crossed his arms. “Just that there’s something going on that’s affecting ghosts and the dark creatures that wander around the astral plane. Something’s affecting the natural flow of energy here. I can feel a great darkness growing here.”

            “Yeah.” Jade glanced at her mother who was stirring. “I noticed that. Listen, I have a feeling things are about to get real bad here. You need to cross over before it does. Have you found what you were looking for?”

            “Yeah.” Aubrey scratched at his head. “I did. She’s a paramedic. I’m glad she’s gotten where she wanted to be. Found her when I sensed you on my side of the veil.”

            “That’s good.” Jade said. “Hey Momma.”

            “Jade.”  Mrs. Hawethorn jumped out of her chair. “You’re awake! Why are you sitting up?”

            “I was thirsty.” Jade shrugged. “I heal fast, remember.”

            “Heal fast?” Mrs. Hawethorn fell back in her chair. “Sweetie, you’ve been unconscious for a week. The doctors can’t even explain what happened. You should have woken up sooner than you did. How are you feeling?”

            “Hungry and thirsty.” Jade yawned. “And tired. I’ll be fine.”

            “I’ll get the doctor.” Mrs. Hawethorn stood and patted herself down. “And I’ll see about getting you something to eat. Try and get some rest. Oh, and tell your little ghost friend to go home. You can help it cross over later.”

            “He can hear you.”

            “Don’t think I won’t pop you in the mouth for being smart.” Mrs. Hawethorn deadpanned.

            Jade laughed and watched her mother leave the room. She turned to say something to Aubrey, but he was already gone. Jade sighed and leaned back on her hospital bed. What exactly was that thing in the fire? Jade furrowed her brows as she thought. She knew ghosts could move objects and influence the living plane if they really worked at it. She didn’t know of any demon that could cause a fire like the one in that house or basically kill her. Demons weren’t supposed to be that strong in the living plane, much less be able to move freely without possessing someone.

            “Jade!” a voice shouted running up to the bed. “Oh my god! You’re awake!”

            Jade’s head snapped up from her thoughts in time to see her best friends James Brady and Cassie Thomas entering the room. Cassie ran up to Jade and hugged her. James followed calmly�"Jade could tell he hadn’t been sleeping.

            “I’m so glad you’re alright!” she cried.

            “IV, Cassie.” Jade gasped.

            “Oh, sorry babe.” Cassie scratched at her dark cheek.

            “Love the hair.” Jade scratched around where the IV was attached to her arm. “Hey James. What did I miss while I was out?”

            “Kylee is worried about you.” James said. “She got her class to make a get well card for you.”

            James handed Jade a big card filled with scribbles and elephant drawings. Cassie sat in the chair Mrs. Hawethorn was previously seated in.

            “And Mrs. Ortiz gave a surprise quiz.” Cassie groaned. “It was murder. If you hadn’t been helping me study, I would have failed. Coach and the team are worried. How are you feeling?”

            “Well,” Jade leaned forward. “I can see ghosts now.”

            “Really?” James and Cassie said in unison.

            “Yeah.” Jade nodded. “It’s weird. But it might make helping ghosts easier.”

            “Helping ghosts is never easy.” James sighed. “How many times have you almost been arrested helping ghosts?”

            “I stopped counting.” Jade sighed. “Anyways. What do y’all know about fire-type demons or entities? Particularly humanoid ones that walk around with a peacock on their shoulders. I’ve come up empty.”

            “That’s your department.” Cassie poured a cup of water. “But I might be able to find something if you can’t. The internet is a magical place. There’s nothing in your books?”

            “Nope.” Jade took the water. “Nothing. I’ve gone over everything and there’s nothing in the lore I’ve read so far that says anything about fire demons or demons that can exist on this plane without possessing anyone.”

            “What do demons have to do with…” James started. “There was a demon in that fire?”

            Jade nodded and took a sip of water. “Yeah. Cassie, can you work your magic and find information of what kind of demon could exist on this plane and cause a fire like the one in that house?”

            “I don’t think any incantations I know of can track down that kind of information.” Cassie picked at one of her braids. “I can do some research though. Some of the other witches over in Atlanta might know something.”

            “I’ll swing by the church and see if Father Duncan knows anything.” James said as the doctor and Mrs. Hawethorn entered the room.

            “Thanks y’all.” Jade changed the subject. “I’ll be sure to stop by and assure Kylee I’m alright when I get out of here.”

            “She’d appreciate that.” James laughed, linking arms with Cassie. “Let’s get out of here so the doctor can work his magic.”

            “See you later, Jade.” Cassie hugged Jade before following James out of the room.

            The doctor pulled out a tiny flashlight and shined it in each of Jade’s eyes. He made a few notes on the clipboard attached to the foot of the bed and then looked at readings on the heart monitor.

            “Well, Miss Hawethorn,” He stuck the pen in his coat pocket. “Looks like you should be up and cheering again in no time. You’ve made a remarkable recovery considering your injuries and damage to your lungs. I’d like to run a few more tests and then you can go home. I’ll send in a nurse to remove that IV.”

            “Thanks Doc.” Jade smiled.

            Mrs. Hawethorn sat down in the chair next to Jade’s bed and yawned. She leaned forward on her elbows and rubbed her hands together.

            “Jade,” she started. “There are some people that want to speak with you once we get you out of here. Think you’ll be up to it?”

            “Sure.” Jade scratched at her hair before examining a lock of it. “My hair is singed.”

            “That’s what you get for running into a fire instead of letting the firemen handle it.”

            “They weren’t there.” Jade argued. “If I hadn’t run in there, they would have died, Momma. I seem to remember someone else doing the same for me a few years ago. And…”

            “And Mr. Perdue was a volunteer fireman.” Mrs. Hawethorn sighed. “It was his job to save people when he wasn’t working at the paper. You’re fifteen and in high school. The only thing you need to worry about is your schoolwork, keeping your room clean, and…”

            “My club activities.” Jade finished. “Yes ma’am. I believe you gave me this speech when I got dropped off by the police last year.”

            “You’re lucky Father Duncan decided not to press charges for you breaking one of the pews at his church.”

            “It’s not like I was trying to break it.” Jade scratched at the IV in her arm. “Ghosts can be really strong, and that one was particularly nasty. I built him a new one. Albeit out of yellow wood and not oak, but he didn’t seem to mind.”

            “That’s not the point, young lady.” Mr. Hawethorn entered the room. “We want you to stay out of trouble. Everything you do now can go on your record and you’ll be stuck washing people’s cars for the rest of your life.”

            “You know, I am helping people.” Jade countered.

            “Your little imaginary friends.” He sighed. “Yes, but these games…”

            “Having a Faberge egg fly at your head at 60 something miles per hour is not a game. The ghosts are real. I’m not making them up.” Jade bent one leg and leaned her free arm on it.

            Mr. Hawethorn sighed and left the room. Mrs. Hawethorn stood and kissed Jade’s forehead before following Mr. Hawethorn into the hall. Jade could hear them argue in the hall as they went to the waiting room. Jade sighed and leaned back in her bed. She knew what her parents were arguing about�"her. She’d heard them arguing before about her ghosts. Her father wanted to send her to a psychiatrist, but her mother disagreed. She believed Jade when she said she was speaking to a ghost. Jade sighed and leaned on her bent knee as a nurse came in. The nurse instructed Jade to sit back while she removed the IV. Jade looked away and winced as she felt the needle being pulled out.

            “Arm up, sweetie.” The nurse said as she taped a gauze to Jade’s forearm.

            “Thanks.” Jade said as the nurse finished cleaning up.

            As the nurse finished cleaning up, Aubrey appeared again. He looked upset about something. Jade looked at him and waited until the nurse had left to speak.

            “What’s wrong?” Jade poured herself another cup of water.

            “I thought just seeing Claire again was enough.” Aubrey ran a hand through his hair. “But it’s not. I need to apologize or at least let her know I’m alright.”

            The vase on the table and the windows in the room started to vibrate. The room grew cold. Jade could see her breath in the air.

            “Aubrey,” She said carefully, “I need you to calm down. I can’t help you if you make everything in the room flyaround.”

            “Right,” Aubrey sighed. “I’m sorry. I know you’re hurt. It’s just, lately, I’ve been getting agitated easier and easier.”

            “My sensei makes me and the other students meditate when we get upset.” Jade moved to put a hand on Aubrey’s arm before remembering she couldn’t touch him. “When you feel like you’re about to lose control, breathe in toa count of five, clear your mind, then breathe out. Do you want me to talk to Claire for you?”

            “Would you?” Aubrey’s eyes lit up. “I’ll need to be there to tell you what to say. I said some pretty mean things to her before I died.”

            “How did you die?” Jade scratched at her chin. “I don’t mean to pry, but it might help me convince her.”

           Aubrey paused before disappearing. Jade sighed and tugged at one of her singed strands of hair. It broke off. Jade pursed her lips and twirled the broken piece of hair in her hand and went over the books on supernatural entities she’d read in her head. Aubrey had a good chance of turning into a malevolent spirit, or worse, a demon if he didn’t pass on soon. He was already showing the signs�"accidentally causing things to move or shake and break, easy irritation, phasing in and out of a physical form. She needed to get him to pass on before it was too late. That required checking out of the hospital and tracking down Claire. Jade looked around and found her smartphone resting on the table next to her�"her mother must have left it seeing as Jade had forgotten it when she woke up late. She picked it up and unlocked the screen. Cassie was a master at gathering information and hacking when she needed to, and Jade knew she could track down Claire. She dialed Cassie’s number and waited for her to pick up.

            “Hey, babe.” Cassie chirped. “You won’t believe what I’ve found. I called up my friend Collin over in Atlanta�"he’s an exorcist�"and he has an idea about what that thing was in the fire. Something called foe. Spelled F-A-X. It’s a type of demon created during disasters involving fire. It is said to be a demon controlled by Adramelech, one of the archdemons in Hell.”

            “Adrama-what?” Jade almost choked on the water she was drinking.

            “Adramelech.” Cassie repeated slowly. “Collin says it’s a demon in Christian lore. As for the Fax, they can sometimes walk the earth if they have a token of another powerful demon. The peacock was what gave it away�"Adramelech is said to appear in that form, or the form of a mule or whatever. I was actually about to call you. What’s up?”

            “Right.” Jade coughed. “Thanks for the info. I’ll see about expelling that thing from this plane. Can you find one of the paramedics that worked on me after the fire? Her first name’s Claire, but that’s all I got. I think she works with the Blake Fire Department.”

            “Give me something a bit harder, babe.” Cassie laughed. “Just a minute.”

            Jade heard Cassie typing on her keyboard. She could hear a radio station in the background playing the golden oldies. Something from the late 50’s to 60’s Jade figured. She tapped her fingers to the song before it switched to commercial.

            “Okay.” Cassie said. “Claire Sigfried-Lewis. 29 years old and a resident paramedic for the Blake City Fire Department. She’s very active on Facebook and Twitter between her shifts. Fond of funny cat videos. Oh, bless her pretty heart. Her fiancé, Aubrey Fairchild died in a traffic accident a two years ago.”

            “Anything else.” Jade sat back. “Like where I can find her?”

            “Yeah. I have her address here in the online phone book. You’re going to approach her at her house about Aubrey?”

            “Once I get out of here.” Jade nodded. “Text me the address. I gotta go. Doc’s outside my room. They’re going to run some tests before letting me go. Thanks, Cassie!”

            “Anytime.” Cassie chirped before hanging up.

Reviews

[ImSJ]

Nicely done. As an older fellow I can't say that I am particularly attracted to teen literature but I definitely enjoyed this story and your style. I like the spunky character of Jade. Her courage is a breath of clear air on a writing site filled with angst and uncertainty. Good for her and good for you. I hope that you will continue her stories.

[Nathan]

I really like this so far!! I like how Jade is already accustomed to dealing with spirits and demons and whatnot before the story even begins! It's also pretty cool that she doesn't know everything about it yet, like how to beat the fire demon. It's like the story takes off sometime between her being a novice and a master, and I think you do a great job at making it work!