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 sweat as the ice melted and sunk. Apart from the occasional spit of fire from 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 the light emitting from their windows in the distance. They wouldn't 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 away from her and returned a little while later with a small pile of clothes and a bowl of hot soup. "You should eat something and get some sleep, you look exhausted. I brought you some clothes too.
"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 island and to a drawer and 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."
"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 at home.
"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." 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 and fix him up and thanked her when she was done.
"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 but once she was use to the hot water it felt amazing. She felt like she hadn't showered in days. She eyed the bathroom that was as big as her whole dorm and it included an attached 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.
"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 and walked over to the tub. She sat at the edge of it as it filled. As she was waiting, she noticed a cabinet and went over and opened it. There were more towels, every one of them white and below that were all types of vancy looking bottles of shampoo, soap, bath salts, shower steamers, and lavender scented bubble bath. "How rich is he?" She rolled her eyes and poured the bubble bath in the water.
When the tub was full and she had slipped into the 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 purple under the water.