Gemotions

“The bonfire… it was so bright,” she said, her voice unsteady, as we stood in the ruins of the place where it used to be. The charred remains of the fire pit lay cold and dead. A few crows circled the skeletal trees above. I tried to focus, to recall a warm, jovial scene.

I swallowed, the act a struggle. The bonfire had been a celebration. But the heat I remembered was not the warmth of the flames. It was something else. A burning. A consuming feeling, a threat.

"You remember the man, then?" Her words hit me like a physical blow. The man. The man in the shadows. The one I had tried to forget. I felt a familiar shiver race down my spine. I took a step away, but the ground seemed to be moving beneath my feet.