Chapter Thirteen: The New Flame

Penny woke, laying on one of the brown leather couches in the cabins lounge room. Her bruises had been patched and she noticed that there was someone new in the cabin. It was the girl with the curly brown hair, the one Penny had seen right before she passed out.

" Who are you? " Penny asked, trying to move but finding it hard to do so. The girl, stood up and rushed to Penny's side and made sure to secure Penny on the couch.

" Now listen, you don't need to be moving too much. Your body is still recovering" the girl spoke in such a wonderfully sweet and soothing tone that Penny could not help but feel relaxed. " Who are you.." Penny asked, slowly slipping in and out of consciousness.

" My name is Ember. I was walking the mountain and heard alot of commotion coming from yalls cabin..and figured you guys would need some help" Ember smiled, as Lysette walked into the room, having heard Penny's voice.

" And it's a good thing she showed up when she did" Lysette chuckled as she reached down to brush some hair away from Penny's eyes.

" You kicked my ass kiddo" Lysette laughed again, trying to keep as calm and as collected as possible. But deep down, Lysette was troubled by all that happened. Did Penny have control or had she lost it completely? This was the question that Lysette would need an answer too sooner rather than later.

" Your friend recovered from her wounds pretty quickly but you aren't going to be so lucky. You need to rest and take things easy, trust me" Ember smiled as she reached down and retrieved a glass full of water. " Now please drink this" She encouraged as she held the glass to Penny's lips who took a few small gulps from the glass, once she was finished, Ember placed the glass back down and pulled a blanket over Penny, making sure she was safe and secure.

" Just rest, you are going to need your strength. We will be here when you wake up, I promise" Ember assured as Penny began closing her eyes, and falling into a deep slumber.

Once Penny was asleep, Ember walked out of the lounge area and into the Kitchen where Lysette followed her. " So you said your family was killed during the war, right? " Lysette questioned, and Ember nodded.

" Yeah, when the creatures you call Vampires came after us, my parents tried to fight back. And they lost, and so did my brother" Ember looked away for a brief moment, zoning out and remembering how harsh the attacks had been. Wishing she could do anything to forget the horrible memories.

" And you don't have a home? " Lysette furthered her questions which snapped Ember back to reality. " Um..no, not really. Everything I did have got destroyed. So now, I live in the wilderness..well kind of. Occasionally I stay in abandoned houses, but I don't stay too long. Can never be too careful" Ember admitted as Lysette reached over and grabbed a pot before placing it down on the counter. " Well, you can stay with us until Penny has recovered if you'd like. This invitation is only happening because you did save us, so I feel it is only right. But me and Penny have been through alot, and it would be better if it were just us " Lysette's offer seemed reasonable to Ember and so she agreed to the terms.

" You two aren't normal..are ya? " Ember blurted out which caught Lysette off guard, almost making her spill the tea she was about to pour into her cup. " What? " Lysette asked, not glancing over to Ember, even though her defenses were now very high.

" Yall ain't normal. I saw some of yalls fight. And there is no human that could take the blows that were happening during that" Ember pointed out which only confirmed Lysettes fears of being noticed.

" Don't worry, I ain't gonna say anything. I don't even have anyone to say anything too. But, I think it's awesome. If yall were here during the war, maybe things would've been a little different" Ember smiled, not realizing how anxious Lysette was in the moment.

" Yeah.. well..we- " Lysette tried to answer but found herself stumbling over her words.

" I mean, things were so bad back then. And I was really young at the time. My neighbors took me in when my family died but then they got sick and they passed on too. But luckily by then, I was old enough to fend for myself" Ember continued.

" I don't have cool powers like yall, but I do have some survival skills. I know how to keep the Ember burning, ya know? " Ember's cheerful attitude was beginning to calm Lysette down slightly, as Lysette could finally begin pouring her tea.

" Now, I know yall wanna be on your own and whatnot. But, ya seem like good people and I don't want to see yall killing one another. So please, when I do leave, try and keep the peace " Ember confidence and bluntness with the situation was something that Lysette both admired and yet found herself confused with.

" Well..she attacked me so.." Lysette was cut off again by Ember.

" Yeah but you are her elder. You are her guardian. You have to be able to control stuff like that. It might not be the easiest thing to do, But you have to keep level headed. She's still young and she still figuring out the world. Superpowers or non super powers, She has to figure things out. And on some level, that means experimenting with what she can and can't do. All you can really do is be supportive and understanding. But also - " Ember continued " Don't underestimate her. She is still a kid, but she's a strong one. And I think the biggest mistake that anyone can make with her is underestimating her. Mind you, I don't know where that well. Heck, I don't even know her at all. But that doesn't change what I was able to observe. She's really strong, and she can keep you all safe just as well as you two working together. But, there has to be patience" Ember smiled as looked down at the tea pot. " May I have some tea Mrs . Lysette? " Ember chirped as Lysette tried to comprehend everything that had just been said to her.

" Its Miss..." Lysette growled and she walked over to grab another cup, not having even drank from her own.

" I know yall have been moving alot. I can tell. Yall are way to paranoid to not be runners" Ember turned in her chair to prepare herself for the cup of tea. " Can I have sweet tea? " Ember added as Lysette had just finished preparing the cup of tea.

" sure..how much do you want.." Lysette grumbled, trying to control her growing annoyance with Embers ramblings.

" Just a- Lottle" Ember smiled, not even noticing Lysettes tone.

" A...a what? " Lysette asked as Ember began buzzing about the exact definition of what a - lottle was even though the definition had not really given a proper answer.

" Alright.." Lysette reached up to an open cabinet and pulled down a bag of sugar. She was not sure whether the sugar was good or not but she almost did not care at this point. After pouring around 1/3 of the bag into the cup, so much that it overflowed the cup, spilling tea everywhere, Lysette turned to Ember and placed the cup down in front of her. Ember nodded in appreciation and began drinking the tea happily.

" Is it good? " Lysette asked sarcastically, but was surprised to hear the response " It could have been a little sweeter" from Ember.