"Aw now, c'mon, Vusa! Now, that's an odd name. You seem like a great girl and a great friend, and we're gonna have lots of fun here! I bet you're the kind of girl who can keep a secret. How many you got? Want some more?" Jade whispered in a sickly sweet tone. Her purple red eyes were wide and gleaming. Kelley's eyes rested upon me, purple irises shining bright. I wanted to run off, to go back to the forest, but I knew that would be rude, so I decided against it. Without anything else to do, I followed Ally's excited footsteps away from the group to a room in the back of the house. It seemed to have a previous owner, and that kinda concerned me.

"Did... Did someone else use to live here? I don't want to take someone's room..." Jade smiled. "Nope! This room is all yours!" She chirped. Zana shoved me into the room despite my protests. I stifled a scream. They're being nice, I told myself, they want to help. "See you later... Vusa!" Kelley muttered, before slamming the door shut. I heard footsteps moving away from the door. I went to turn the doorknob. Locked. I tried the window. Sealed shut. I even tried burning the door down. It was made of a strong metal, and thick. It didn't burn or melt. I screamed and banged on the door with my fists, not stopping when they turned red and throbbed. It didn't make a difference, although I heard laughter outside the doorway. It stopped abruptly and for no apparent reason. I eventually fell to the ground in defeat. There was nothing I could do.

After nightfall, the door opened slowly. It was Kelley. I had absolutely nothing to say to her, though I noted that she left to door open when she entered. She was carrying a small plate of various foods. She turned to me. "Um... Hi, Vusa. I wasn't sure if you need to eat because... um... you know..." She gestured to the black marks on the door. "The other girls insisted you didn't, but, uh, I didn't want to risk it." She set the food down and glanced at me awkwardly. "I don't need to eat." I paused. "...But thank you." I moved my arms behind my back and set them ablaze—Kelley could probably see, but at least it wasn't blatantly obvious. After a couple awkward seconds, I made a run for it. Kelley panicked and barely moved to stop me.

I made it out the front door, but not without the girls chasing me in a panic. I had assumed I'd be able to get away, since I had powers and they didn't. I was very wrong.

When I wielded my fiery wings and flew upwards, they did the same. There wasn't any time to figure out how they were able to use fire powers like me, because I had to get away. I did notice, however, that they stumbled more and were clumsier in the air. Kelley was carried by Jade and Ally, and her arms looked icy and cold. I wondered what might have driven her away from fire powers and into ice powers... But, again, there was no time to figure it out. I shot over the trees faster than I ever had. I realized I wouldn't get away from them this way, in the clear air. I smirked and dove down into the green sweeping the ground. It was difficult to avoid all the trees but I did it. The other girls were not successful. Kelley did the best, actually, since she'd gotten her ice wings to appear.

When I was thoroughly frustrated with dodging trees, I flew up into the air again. The girls were still behind me, but I'd put some distance between us. I smiled when someone, probably Zana, blasted my back with fire. It felt pleasantly warm to me, since fire couldn't hurt me it the slightest. I laughed and picked up the extra heat and power. I knew they must be annoyed, but I didn't care at that moment. At least that's what I told myself.

A tall tree approached. It felt frustratingly random, since it towered at nearly twice the height of most trees. A different breed, I decided. A blast of fire hit the base of the tree, and it came crashing down. I struggled to dodge it as I realized the girls' new plan. We seemed to be entering a new area of the forest, with higher trees. I shouted to them, "Hit me with all you've got!" And another tree came crashing down. I was ready, and dodged it perfectly. "That all you've got?" I screamed. Zana looked angry when I turned around. She was approaching, and I stopped moving. I moved my 'wings' slowly at my sides, keeping me in the air. I spun my right pointer finger around in a circle, and realized something else I could do; use my powers on the fire they were producing. I grinned slightly, developing a plan.

"Listen up, you lying bitch. I've figured out my powers now. I'm just as powerful as you. It's a good thing you can take peoples' powers through physical contact. That's how we got these amazing powers. Thanks, by the way. Your hissy fit gave us the opportunity to test them out!" Zana squealed. "Now that's a miracle!"

Her hand shot out and a stream of fire shot at me, covering my face and chest. I smiled as it caught my hair, and slowly burnt itself out. I turned to Zana. "You can't hurt me." Zana frowned.

"But you can't hurt me, either." She muttered.

"Correct." She seemed frustrated, but relieved. I outstretched my arm to reinforce the fire, but as I noticed my hand had been extinguished, a black butterfly landed on it. It was so dark, it almost looked like merely a silhouette. I lifted my hand to the sky and it flew away, black wings on a bright blue sky. "Maybe we can't hurt each other by regular means. By physically hurting each other directly. Maybe We have to take a different path.

Zana interrupted me. "No! You're a liar! And you're an idiot! And you try to make everything everyone else's problem! You get angry over nothing, and you complain and complain and complain! I don't want to deal with you anymore! I don't want to be your friend. We'll never be friends as long as we live! And no one will want to be your friend! No one will like you! You told me you ran away from home, you ungrateful jerk! I hate you! Everyone hates you! And I... I am alone. I was betrayed by my boyfriend, who I was deeply in love with—" I frowned.

"Is this the best time to talk about your love life?"

"SHUT UP I'M SPEAKING! Anyway, he cheated on me. There's this other guy, who likes me, and I don't like him, but he's asked me out, multiple times, and I've turned him down, but also, we're friends, and also, once I said yes when he asked me out so yeah, we're dating now. Yeah, I have a boyfriend again. TOP THAT!"

"Really? Okay, good, nice, good for you. I don't want a love life, so you enjoy yours. I still say this isn't the best time to discuss this." I was running out of words to say, panicking, losing my hope... the fire on my arms weakened. Zana noticed immediately.

"I don't care if it's a 'good time'. People like me better than you, and they always will. Ugh! You always overreact. You dragged me along for the ride when I didn't even want to be there with you anymore. You suck. I hate you. I HATE YOU." My arms continued weakening, and it became harder to stay in the sky. Zana kept screaming random, unintelligible stuff at me, and it started becoming irritating. The anger wasn't enough to rekindle my arms, though. Fire wings were very difficult to sustain if your body isn't very warm, and your emotions aren't fired up enough.

I had made a sickeningly horrible decision. My fire was disappearing from my arms, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I began to fall, a couple inches at a time. Zana continued screaming at me, and followed me as I began to descend. My feet brushed the top of a tree, and I began to panic. But...? This was completely ridiculous. I began to get angry. Very angry. How dare she? How dare she get angry at me for doing absolutely nothing? My fire built up, but only internally. I suppressed it, scared of what might happen if I let it go free. I continued to fall...

I failed. My fire disappeared. I crashed through the trees, and I could sense the ground coming closer. I held my eye contact with Zana until darkness covered my vision.