Elijah dreamt that he was in a snowstorm in the middle of the desert, he woke up and realized the air conditioning was on blowing on him that morning while he was still in Chile. Being stranded in the desert in the snow, represented that he knew that had been deserted. Getting dressed to meet Adora on a deserted island, he was not sure how he felt as he loaded his gun.

Adora was beautiful, and even though he was a scientist he was a geek in the way that many women found sexy. He knew that women were attracted to him, but he was married to science. But Adora was the most beautiful woman he had ever been with, and the most serious relationship that he had ever had. He never proposed to a woman before her.

Living with her was comfortable for him. He wanted to be with a partner who wanted someone who meant everything to them, and to be with someone who meant everything to him. Believing Adora loved him, that he was going to be happy with her forever made him feel invincible. But now, she made him feel like the cliché of a woman scorned. When he realized that she was seeing Didier, it was like a shot in the head. It was the worst pain that he could have imagined. If he had known that he would feel like this, he would have stayed married to his career.

It was freezing now again like it had been in his dream, because of a sudden surge of air from the air conditioning. Watching Adora cringing as she watched the enlarged words from her diary on the curtains, he remembered what it was like when he saw them for the first time. Words of love written by her for Didier. He had not wanted to believe about their kiss at the ball, but when he saw it on Elberta’s phone he had no choice but to believe. It angered him that Elberta had shown it to him, and he had dealt with her…but it was best that he knew.

Adora was dazed on the floor after he had hit her. He had not been raised to be like this with a woman, but she had brought him to this point. Right now, he was so many things that he had never imagined he would be. After he hit Adora and she fell back dazed, he went after Didier again. Without Adora’s screams, he punched him like a bag until his knuckles began to hurt. Adora crawled on the floor, her arms out like a snake. He stepped on her wrist, and she winced with pain.

When he first got there, he was thinking he was just going to scare them, but now that he had been there for awhile he was not sure what he was going to do.

He sat on the floor beside Adora, shivering and wondering what he was going to do next. How far he was going to have to go, how far he wanted to go…

Adora reached for his ankle, he jumped up and kicked her hand away.

“Don’t touch me!”

He waved her touch away like an insect, and caught his reflection in the mirror. A silhouette in black, he did not recognize himself. Elijah was unable to understand how he could be so hot with rage, and feel so cold inside…

Darker flames can be found here:

photo via google images