Page 8 of Dark Flame

What if there were men inside or men who tried to get in? She hesitated again and then opened the door. Silence filled the bright space. She noticed that all the showers had individual doors that locked. There was the first space where you could undress and set your things so they wouldn’t get wet. Then it was the shower space. Feeling a bit relieved, she chose one near the door and quickly undressed, setting her things on the bench.

Nat relished in the feel of the hot water soaking her road-weary body. The sudsy shampoo smelled of coconut and wildflowers, and she inhaled deeply, letting the warmth wash over her body as quickly as the water sluiced away the suds.

When she was feeling clean and refreshed, Nat pulled on her favorite pair of yoga pants. Well, to be honest, they were her only pair of yoga pants and a big sweatshirt. No real need for a bra out here since her breasts were rather small anyway. At least, that’s what she’d been told.

If Flip were considered a novice dater, Nat’s experience was nearly non-existent. She had no dating history to speak of other than a disastrous encounter with a man in Waco, TX.

She remembered every detail of pulling into the shop with her motorcycle making a strange sound she’d never heard before. He was the mechanic assigned to fixing her motorcycle and asked her to dinner. Alone and hungry, she thought, ‘why not.’

The ‘why not’ would have been because he was a complete dickhead. Anywhere he could grab, he grabbed. He was so fast she barely felt it when he unhooked her bra and gripped her breast so tightly she screamed.

His scream followed closely behind her own when she burned his hands so badly he had to be treated for third-degree burns. Nat left town before the police could question her, but it was her first and last encounter with a man. She’d learned, mostly through romance novels, how to make herself happy and felt she was more than capable of continuing if forced.

Her wet hair hung down her back, and she opened the door of the bathhouse only to slam into a man. A very unfamiliar, very dirty, very scary man. She barely got a glimpse of the greasy hair and full beard.

“Ex-excuse me,” she stuttered, trying to shuffle around the man. His large body blocked the doorway, pushing her back inside.

“No worries, beautiful,” he said, grinning through the most disgusting teeth Nat had ever seen. “Why don’t you come back in and join me?”

“No thanks,” she said nervously, “my boyfriend is waiting for me.”

“Your boyfriend, huh?” he said, looking over his shoulder. “I don’t see nobody.” He gripped her wrists tightly, and Nat screamed, hoping Flip would hear her.

“Now, now, baby, don’t scream. This is gonna feel real good.”

He pushed her back into the same shower she had exited, and Nat kicked out, missing his groin but hitting his knee hard. He shoved her hard, hitting her head against the tile of the shower.

She shook her head, her vision blurry and fuzzy from hitting her head. She searched for something to grab to steady her body. Feeling the heat rise in her hands, she gripped the man’s calf and heard him scream out.

“You fucking whore! What the fuck!?” He looked down at the blistering, red skin of his calf in astonishment.

She scrambled to her feet, her vision still swimming from the hit on her head. Hiding her hands behind her back, she hoped he would not see the flames rising from them. It didn’t seem to matter. He was determined to come after her. Just as he reached for her, the door splintered, and Flip entered the shower room.

“Get lost, buddy. She’s mine!” said the man over his shoulder.

“I don’t think so, asshole. She’s mine,” said Flip through gritted teeth.

He moved closer to the man, gripping his neck with his huge beefy fingers, flinging him across the bathhouse. His head and shoulders cracked the tile as he hit the wall with the force of Flip’s throw.

“Are you okay?” asked Spook, reaching for Nat’s hand. She pulled back, fear filling her blue eyes, making Spook even more angry.

“I-I can’t,” she said, looking at his hands and seeing her own in flames.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” he said gently, “you wouldn’t hurt me. It’s okay.”

She reached out, and the flames disappeared immediately. Somehow, he had known what she did not. Her flame would disappear if it were someone she trusted. Nat had never experienced trust before other than with George and the elderly couple at the cabin. This was her first taste of what trust and faith looked like with her gifts.

Flip lifted the man again by the throat, his face purple, his eyes bulging from their sockets.

“Let’s make this clear,” said Flip through gritted teeth, “You will never touch another woman unless she asks you. If you do, I will personally hunt you down, slice you to pieces, and feed those worthless pieces to every bear in these woods. Do I make myself clear?”

The man nodded, gasping for air, and without even an effort, Flip flung him through the splintered doorway.

“I think it’s time you left,” said Spook, looking down at the man.

The man nodded, staring at Nat and then back at the big man.

“You… you’re witches! You’re all witches!” he gasped, rubbing his neck and throat.

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