Burning Hearts (22 page)

Just as they were about to go on and perform
one of the most anticipated scenes in the play, Riddick tossed his
script to Jenna. “Potty break,” he announced, before heading off to
the cast-and-crew only restrooms.

Jenna and Pru waited a long time before he
returned, looking out of sorts.

Mrs. White slapped the playbill against his
head. She’d been waiting too. “What’d you do? Fall in?”

“
Got talking with someone,”
he replied cryptically.

“
Go talk out there,” she
ordered, pointing to the ready set onstage.

When she left, still huffing and puffing,
Jenna asked Riddick, “Who were you talking to?”

“
Just some dude,” he
replied, still cryptic. Then he forced a smile. “C’mon. Let’s get
this scene started.”

Jenna had a bad feeling, but she pushed it
aside. She had to get through the play for Mrs. Thames’ sake. The
thirty-something teacher was nearby, in her pencil skirt and silk
blouse, checking over the progress of the production with an
iPad.

The trio got onstage, resuming their places
behind the cauldron, and waited for the curtain to go up.

“
It’s filled with water,”
Jenna observed. “Why the change?”

Pru shrugged. “There’s other
stuff in there too.” She wrinkled her nose. “I hope those
aren’t
real
dead
animals.”

Jenna noticed bones floating to the top and
what looked like large eyeballs. “Me too.”

“
Relax, girls,” said
Riddick, smiling. “There’s no reason to get scared.” He put an arm
around each of their shoulders. “It’s just a play.
Everything’s
scripted
.”

Jenna smiled, strangely comforted by
Riddick’s embrace. “You’re right.” She sighed, happy. “This has
been going great so far.”

“
Yeah, it has,” Pru
agreed.

Riddick smiled and removed his arms, but not
before giving Jenna’s shoulder a tight, almost hurtful squeeze.
“And then there’s the show stopper.”

“
The what?” Jenna
asked.

“
Shh!” He put a finger to
his lips, and then removed it, whispering, “We’re on.”

Jenna got back into performance mode as the
curtain was raised. They said their lines, mesmerizing the crowd.
Finally, they’d come to what everyone was waiting for.

In unison, they chanted, “Double, double,
toil and trouble: fire burn and cauldron, bubble.”

It was Riddick’s turn next, but instead of
speaking, he grabbed the back of Jenna’s neck; her hood was forced
down, exposing her face. Jenna wasn’t in pain but shock.

“
What’re you doing,
Riddick?” she pleaded to know.

His face was still concealed
beneath the hood, but she could see his eyes widen, giving off a
deranged look. “If I can’t have you,
NO
ONE CAN!
”

With all his force, he pushed Jenna’s face
into the cauldron of—unbeknownst to her—scalding hot water. She
screamed, letting bits of plastic bones and rubber eyeballs run
into her mouth. The audience was screaming with her; some were
laughing. As Riddick held her head deeper, she felt her fake nose,
mole, and eyebrows peel off. She grabbed the side handles of the
cauldron and pushed back, emerging from the water, and knocking
Riddick down on the wooden floor. Pru had been trying to pull him
off and got stuck under him. Jenna, spitting out hot water and
slimy props, yanked her away from Riddick, his hands still grasping
for his target. Someone had already closed the curtain, and the
only lights that shone were the ones above the stage.

Riddick tried to get up to continue his
assault, but Jenna clamped a hand on each of his shoulders and
pinned him down, hoping that she didn’t crack his collarbone. He
went limp as his madness evaporated, but he wasn’t responding to
her pleas.

“
Get out of the way!”
Malcolm growled, suddenly behind her; his blue eyes were scorching
with hatred.

“
No, no!” Jenna pleaded.
“It’s not him. It’s not him. He’d never hurt me.”

Malcolm ignored her. He hand flew down,
targeting Riddick’s chest, intent on ripping his heart out.

She threw herself over Riddick, shielding him
with her body. “NO!” she yelled.

Malcolm hit her with the force of a steel
hammer, but stopped just in time before punching a hole in her
back, reaching in, and ripping her heart out.

He quickly removed his hand. “I’m so sorry.”
He was panicking. “Jenna, are you all right?”

She nodded even though her back was throbbing
in pain; she knew it would heal soon. “Riddick didn’t mean to,” she
urged Malcolm to understand. She looked at her friend. “Right?”

Riddick looked lost, confused. He blinked
several times before locking eyes with her.

“
Jen?”

She gave him a reassuring smile. “Hey, it’s
okay.” She felt her face; it was no longer tender, already healed
from the head dunk in the fiery water, as was her back from
Malcolm’s blow. “You didn’t hurt me.” It was as if she said it to
both of the guys in her life. Riddick closed his eyes and banged
his head against the hard floor. “They told me to.”

Her heart almost stopped beating. “The
Jinn?”

Riddick nodded, keeping his eyes closed. “I
heard whispers.” He rubbed his ear as if it itched. “They told me I
should kill you…during the play…for everyone to see”—he finally
opened his eyes, staring only at her—“for Malcolm to see.”

Jenna was paralyzed. Malcolm unexpectedly
helped Riddick up, who leaned on a willing Pru for support. Jenna
was glued to the floor until Malcolm with extremely gentle hands,
lifted her up; he held her to his side, one arm wrapped around her
waist in security and love.

No one said anything. If they had a line,
they kept it to themselves.

It was deadly quiet until their scene was
interrupted by the loud arrival of Mrs. White, Mrs. Thames, other
staff and students—along with Principal Greene—and Officer Marlowe,
who Jenna watched in horror, slap handcuffs on Riddick.

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

“
Are you sure, Miss
Love?”

“
Yeah, I’m sure.”

The officer nodded to her and left through
the front door of the Love residence.

Her parents shook their heads in confusion,
wondering why she’d refused to press charges against Riddick. They
didn’t understand. It wasn’t his fault, and she couldn’t stand to
see him sitting in jail when the real culprits were still out
there.

“
But why?” her dad
asked.

“
It doesn’t make any sense,”
her mom added.

Jenna assured them that Riddick was fine; he
wouldn’t try to harm her again; he was truly sorry. She gave them
the Cliff Notes version of what had happened, omitting any and
everything about the existence of the Jinn.

Her parents still weren’t convinced and left
to talk to Riddick’s dad and step mom; but both were out of town,
so they called Jenna from the road and told her to stay at home;
they went back to the funeral home and continued the arrangements
for the Jennings’ funeral.

She wasn’t going to stay at home. She had to
see Riddick, who’d been escorted back to his house by a police
officer.

The sun was fading and the sky was turning a
grayish-blue as she left her house, prepared for trouble; she was
wearing her amulet around her neck, and the dagger sheathed at her
hip, hidden by a jean jacket. The weather had turned cold, quite
unnatural for the time of the year. It could’ve been just a change
of seasons, arriving sooner than expected, or it could’ve been the
machinations of the Jinn.

She tried not to think that evil was the
cause of every weather fluctuation, but it was better to think that
way, and to be on guard, then not to, and expose herself to
attack.

Riddick’s house was all the way down the
road, but Jenna didn’t care, enjoying the walk and the cool
twilight air.

But she was forced to stop in her tracks,
along the grassy edge of the road as a black fog appeared in front
of her, forming into Malcolm.

“
Where are you going?” he
asked, concerned.

“
To Riddick’s.”

“
Take off your amulet. I
want to see you.”

Jenna did and put it inside her jacket
pocket. “Don’t try and stop me.”

He put his arms around her, pushing her
against him. “He tried to kill you.”

“
I’m a strong girl.” She
rubbed his arms, trying to soothe his concerns away. “He can’t harm
me unless I allow him.”

“
I know you love him…as a
friend. You think you know him, and maybe you do, better than me,
but he was
seduced
by the Jinn. They know of his love for you, and of our love
for each other. They used that against him. Yes, they failed, but
they’ll try again.”

She lifted her lips in a half smile. “I’m
counting on it.”

He furrowed his brow. “You want a fight,
don’t you?”

“
It’s who I am, Malcolm. I’m
a Mage. I fight Jinn, demons. There may have been a time when I
didn’t want it, but now, seeing the destruction they’ve done to my
town, how they influenced Riddick, I can’t sit by and wait. I have
to take the fight to them.”

He cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb across
her skin, soothing her with his warmth. “I admire your courage, but
I wish this wasn’t your fight. I wish there were other Magi, here,
who could slay them, and then you and I can be together, without
worry of attack.”

She sighed. “I know. I want a normal life,
but I can’t stop being a Mage, just as you can’t stop being—”

“
Yes,” he interrupted with
feeling. “I can stop being a Jinni. I can repress that bad blood
and let my human side emerge triumphant.” He left her cheek to run
his fingers through her hair, and then halted his hand at her
shoulder, clamping down. “You can lay down your arms and join me,
living like others, free from the constraints of who we were born
to be.”

“
But not all your abilities
are bad. You can travel at will. You put out that fire in the
woods. You can do
good
things.”

His hand moved from her
shoulder to her arm, holding it gently. “It’s only because my human
side, my conscience, my ability to love, is stronger, and it wants
me to do
good
things.”

“
I have a moral compass too,
and it’s telling me to fight evil.” She kissed him lightly on his
lips. “Lemme go.”

His tightened his hold, but not enough to
cause pain. “I want to come with you.”

She shook her head. “I wanna see him alone;
tell him I’m not mad, that I forgive him.”

He sighed, defeated. He knew when to give in
to his beloved. “Be careful.” He planted a kiss on her cheek,
claiming her with an invisible burn mark. “I love you,” he
whispered in her ear.

“
I love you too.”

He released her, forced a farewell smile, and
then vanished.

She continued her journey and Riddick’s house
came in to view. It was small and white. There was an El Comino in
the garage that Riddick had been slowly working on, trying to save
up money, buy parts. Jenna was sure that if he could make it run on
blood, sweat, and tears, he would’ve already fled Oasis, desiring
to put as much distance between him and the girl who he’d been
possessed to kill.

She stepped onto the porch, surrounded by
dead plants that his step mom didn’t know how to take care of.

She rang the doorbell. Nothing. She knocked.
Nothing.

“
Riddick?” she called out.
“It’s me. Jenna. Lemme in.”

“
Well, well, well,” said a
deep, exotic voice from behind her. “We knew you would come,
Mage.”

Jenna didn’t even bother with her amulet, but
quickly unsheathed her dagger and whipped around.

“
About time you—”

She was cut off by the sight before her: two
dozen Jinn, half male, half female, stood on Riddick’s lawn. The
females, the Jinniyahs, were covered from head to toe in black
gowns, with only their fiery eyes escaping from the slit in their
veils. They took the rear, while the Jinnis, wearing black
long-sleeved tunics over loose-fitting black pants, were in the
front.

The one who spoke earlier, now laughed. “One
against twenty-four.” He spread out his hands; his nails were a
dirty brown, the same color as his long matted hair. “Who do you
think will win?”

Jenna summoned up her courage and stepped off
the porch, approaching the head Jinni. “That’s easy,” she said with
a smile. “Me.”

And with one quick stroke, she stabbed him in
the heart, before retracting the blade with a shout of victory. He
caught fire, screaming in agony, and was finally reduced to
ashes.

She scanned the rest. “One down,” she called.
“Twenty-three to go.”

But her courage started to wane when all of
them, howling in fury, ran toward her. She fought her fear and got
ready, blade up high, poised in strike mode. But instead of rushing
her, they began to disappear, and then reappear, all around her.
She was caught in the middle of a Jinn swarm, and she didn’t know
where they’d land.

Amidst shrieking in
laughter, they chanted, “
Despair and
surrender, submerge and drink
.”

They kept singing this strange lyric. At
first, Jenna was confused until she realized what they were doing:
they were swaying Riddick. She didn’t understand what they were
trying to make him do, but she knew they were trying harm him, and
she couldn’t allow that.