The fireplace flickered orange waves of hellfire that created dancing shadows, running up the walls and filling the room with the scent of charred wood.
The two glasses of water on the coffee-table slowly sweat as the ice melted and sunk with a clink. A part from the occasional spit of fire and wood crunching, all was silent.
They were high above the city, on a hilltop surrounded by Douglas Fir and the occasional poppy flower. The nearest neighbor was on the next slope and you could vaguely see the light emitting from their windows in the distance. No one would be able to hear a scream from up here and although that should terrify her, Clara felt safe.
She scanned the oversized house while she sat on the floor, close to the fire. It looked expensive and too clean.
"Here you are my Darling. You must be freezing in that dress. Don't you ever wear clothes?" Cyra criticized as he draped a throw blanket over Clara's shoulders.
Clara's eyes narrowed. "I told you, I was in a rush." Cyra walked through a doorway through the darkness and returned a little while later with a small pile of clothes and a bowl of hot soup.
"You should eat something and then get some sleep, you look exhausted. I brought you some clothes too—" he put the clothes down next to her and handed her the soup. When she reached out for the bowl he noticed her arm had dried blood and remembered her scrape from back at the warehouse.
"You're bleeding. —Do you mind if I take a look?"
Clara looked at her arm. The dried blood made the scrape look worse than it was but she nodded.
Cyra sat next to her and brought her arm to his face and squinted at the wound. "I think there might be glass in it. I have a first aid kit in the kitchen and there's better lighting in there. Come on, let's go clean this out before you get an infection."
He took both of her hands and helped her to her feet. Her legs felt heavy.
The kitchen was just as large as you'd expect in a house this size. Cyra walked around a huge kitchen-island and to a drawer to pulled out a small metal box with a Red Cross on it. It made a clunking sound when he set it on the marble counter.
Clara found the sink and put her arm under the cool water. The water turned muddled brown as tiny pieces of asphalt clinked in the stainless steel bowl.
She flicked her hands dry and Cyra picked her up by her waist and sat her on the counter in front of him. Her cheeks warmed at his touch. He took a pair of tweezers and began removing tiny pieces of glass.
"Can you shine the light on your phone right here darling? I want to make sure I get everything out."
"Huh… oh yeah sure." Clara was still looking away. She reached for her pocket with her free hand and remembered that this particular dress didn't have pockets and that her phone was still on her charger.
"Shoot, that's right, I forgot my phone at home." She sighed.
"No worries, I have mine." He retrieved his phone from his pocket and shined the light on her scrape.
"Em is going to be so worried. By now she'll have a whole search party looking for me."
"It looks like that's all of it." He said and handed her his phone. "You can use mine… we shan't worry the royal guard my dear Princess." He teased. Clara smiled a bit.
"More like the militia."
She quickly texted Emily and handed Cyra the phone as she hopped off the counter.
"What about you, your cheek is bruised and your lip is bleeding." Clara was right under his chin, investigating.
"You can kiss it and make it all better." Cyra grinned devilishly.
"Or you can keep still and let me add some antibiotic ointment to it so it doesn't get infected." Clara said emotionless.
He let her clean his wound, she dabbed alcohol-soaked cotton balls on his mouth and he hissed with every dab.
"Big baby."
"You're bedside manner is impeccable."
"Don't forget to rate me on Yelp." She shot, smearing ointment with her thumb on his eyebrow and once more on his parted lower lip, lingering ever so slightly.
"Do you mind if I use your shower? I'm covered in cobwebs and dirt." Clara gestured at her dirty ripped dress and knees.
The thought of Clara soaking wet and naked made him smile briefly.
"Of course darling. It's upstairs, first door to the left."
- - - - -
The water stung her small cuts unforgivingly but once her body became accustomed to the hot water it felt amazing.
She felt like she hadn't showered in days. She eyed the bathroom that was bigger than her whole dorm and included a walk-in closet. In the closet she could see a large ottoman in the center with accent lights glowing underneath and was surrounded with rows of clothes. On the other side of the room was a large clawfoot bathtub. It looked antique which was a contrast to the ultra modern design of everything else.
"That tub looks too pretty to not try it out", Clara thought as she spun the shower faucet closed.
She wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out of the shower to walk over to the tub, droplets sliding down her legs and into foot-shaped puddles on the marble floor.
She sat at the edge as it filled. As she was waiting, she noticed a large cabinet and went over and opened it.
Inside there were many towels, every one of them bright white and folded perfectly. Below the towels were all types of expensive looking bottles of shampoo, soap, bath salts, sponges, shower steamers, and lavender scented bubble bath. "How rich is he?" She rolled her eyes and grabbed a few things, tearing the packaging off of never opened products.
She poured the sweet smelling bubble bath in the water. It lapped up into the water, disappearing into the newly formed foamy blanket. When the tub was full she slipped slowly into the warm frothy water.
She forgot all about thugs and kingpins and weird powers. Her sore muscles started to relax in the water and her body started to buzz softly. This buzz was not like before, it resembled a cat pur instead of lightning bolts and it felt nice. She closed her eyes euphorically.
She dipped further into the steaming water and closed her eyes. A lavender bath bomb she had found was bobbling away and the fizz was tickling under her chin. She took a slow, deep breath and lowered her head fully.
Her veins glowed unknowingly purple under the water.