Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Kathy's eyes widened in shock, she could not believe what her eyes were seeing. She took in his green orbs with floating crystals, those eyes could hold a lot of answers. His face was well sculptured and defined. Full arched brows, and long lashes that any woman would love to have. His lips were shaped so nicely that cupid's bow would be jealous. He was handsome.

”Your eyes, ” they both said at the same time.

”Do you wear contacts?” he asked.

Kathy felt conflicted, she wanted to tell him that she didn't wear contacts but couldn't. He could be wearing contacts and she would tell him that she wasn't then end up being called a freak.

She bobbed her head then threw the question back at him, ”Do you?”

He smiled like he knew something she didn't.

”Yes, I do, ” he replied.

Disappointment washed over Kathy, she had hoped that finally, she could find someone like her. She shot him a tight-lipped smile which he returned with a knowing grin.

”Would you like to order now?”

He placed his order and she went to get what he had ordered. The longer he spent in the diner, the more her mark tingled. Kathy was worried, her mark was slowly starting to burn. She was scared that it would start glowing and expose her. Normally, it didn't burn during the day, only at night when she was asleep. She wondered what could have caused it.

Kathy could feel his eyes on her as she stood behind the counter. His gaze felt heated upon her skin. As he stared at her, her mark kept burning causing her much discomfort.

Finally, he left after eating. She could feel the burn slowly die down. She heaved a sigh of relief, this was becoming unbearable for her. It was already past nine pm, it was past time to close the diner.

”You should consider my offer. I'll treat you like the Princess that you are, ” Briana said while cleaning up the table the man just used.

Brianna could be a big flirt at times but Kathy loved her all the same. Stacy who was turning over the ’open’ sign smacked Brianna on her head, making the latter pout at the older lady.

”Stop bothering Kathy, she is as straight as a pencil. Look for a lesbian to bother, ” Stacy scolded Brianna.

”But look at her, she is so hot. A male would not treat her as well as I would. What a waste of good feminine genes.” Brianna sulked.

The other two ladies laughed at a pouting Brianna. Kathy loved those women, ever since she started working at the diner, they had always made her feel lighter.

Stacy suddenly got a call from her husband that her son was sick, she had to run home leaving Kathy and Brianna to lock up the diner.

”It’s you and me alone, Princess, ” Brianna said with a wink. Kathy chuckled, Brianna would never do anything to her.

”What did that man want with you? It looked like you guys were having a heated conversation, ” Brianna said all of a sudden.

”He asked about my eyes. That is what most customers notice first about me, ” Kathy replied, telling her the truth.

”People can never mind their business. ” Brianna rolled her eyes.

Kathy nodded in agreement.

”We should close the diner now before it gets very dark. It's almost eleven pm, ” Kathy announced, looking at the sky. The moon looked weird that night. Its usual color was tinged with something else.

”Yeah, you are right, ” Brianna replied.

”Did you hear anything about the red moon on the weather news?” Brianna asked Kathy. Kathy had heard the announcement on the news but she didn't pay much attention to it.

”Yes, it looks like it's starting.”

The moon was beginning to have a red hue over it. Something felt off, Kathy could feel it inside of her. Her eyes started stinging as she continued looking at the moon.

”We should leave now, Bri. I don't feel too well.”

Kathy was getting anxious, she didn't want anything to emerge as a result of her anxiety. She recalled when her arm glowed in school. She was being bullied, then she got so scared that her arm started glowing, and that tagged her the name–freak. The last thing she wanted was to lose Brianna due to her weirdness.

”What is wrong?” Brianna asked with a concerned look on her face.

”My eyes just started stinging all of a sudden and my body feels warm.”

”You should go home, I will lock up the place now.” Brianna placed her hand over Kathy's forehead, gasping when she felt how hot Kathy was.

”Kathy, you are burning up!”

”Really?”

Kathy touched her forehead and neck, she could feel how hot her body was. However, inside her body was warm.

”Take a cab home. I will lock up the diner. Call me when you get home.”

Kathy nodded, picked up her belongings, and left the diner.

She stood on the main road waiting for a cab. For almost ten minutes, she could see no cab coming forth. The moon slowly turned blood red.

A few minutes later, Kathy was sweating profusely, her eyes had begun to blur. She decided to walk home, as it was less than a twenty-minute walk. She took off her jacket, feeling very hot.

Five minutes into the trek home, Kathy could no longer see clearly. Her legs dragged lazily on the floor, she couldn't walk quickly. Then she felt it–the burn on her arm. She could see the outline of her glowing mark through blurred eyes. She looked around to check if anyone was around, luckily, no one was around by that time. Her legs felt like noodles, she looked like a baby Fawn learning to walk. Pausing for a moment, she tried to catch her breath. She took the next step and fell to the ground, she couldn't keep her body up any longer.

Kathy laid on the floor panting heavily. Her chest felt constricted, she couldn't breathe properly. She let out a muffled scream of pain, holding her chest in discomfort. Her eyes met the moon which had become fully red. The burn in her mark slowly traveled down to her hands which were placed on her chest. Both of her palms had heated up. Kathy's heart raced in terror, which had never happened to her before. The burns only happen on her mark, this time it spread all over her body.

By now, Kathy was full-on crying. Her pained sobs rang throughout the street. She shut her eyes, for it was of no use keeping it open since her vision got blurred. Heat flowed through every vessel in her body and it kept traveling through her body. Kathy felt like she was on fire. Her clothes were drenched in sweat. She imagined herself dying.

’Is this my end?’ she thought to herself.

She felt almost every negative emotion there was at that moment; pain, fear, anger, frustration, distress, to mention but a few. All of a sudden, the only emotion she could feel was anger. Anger for all those who called her a freak throughout her life, anger for her existence, anger for her eyes and mark, anger for life, and worst of all, anger for her biological parents who abandoned her.

Her palms radiated so much heat that Kathy felt like they were on fire. Kathy looked at her palms through blurred eyes, lo and behold, they were covered in flames. Red fire coated both her palms. She stared at her hands in terror, surprisingly the fire didn't hurt her. The previous burn had disappeared, leaving a fire that didn't hurt at all. Her blurred vision cleared up immediately, there was no trace of blur that was present in her eyes.

She wiggled her hands around trying to put the fire out, instead, it became bigger. She shook her hands harder and flames shot out of her hands, landing on a car that was parked two feet in front of her. The car was set on fire immediately.

Kathy's eyes widened in panic. She decided to get out of that place before the owner of the car came. She grabbed her bag only to put it back on the floor; her bag was on fire too. Her legs took her out of that place faster than she could think, the fear of getting caught took over her senses.

Kathy kept on running without looking back at the destruction she had inflicted. The only thing running through her mind was getting home without being spotted. Kathy noticed that the more scared she got, the more the flames increased.

’Is it controlled by my emotions?’ she asked herself.

”Kathy!” she heard someone yell from behind her. That voice sounded familiar but who would be out by that time?

She didn't stop to know who called her, she pushed her legs to run faster. The person ran after her.

”Leave me alone!” she cried out, huffing and puffing from all the running she had done.

”Let me help you, Kathy!” the person yelled back.

The footsteps were getting closer. Kathy tried to run faster, only to end up tripping over a rock. She fell hard, scratching her knees on the gravel road.

”Arrrrgh!” Kathy screamed. She couldn't touch her injured knees for fear of burning herself.

The person ran up to her, stopping in front of her. It was the man from the diner. Kathy moved away from him as fast as she could, but he kept on coming closer.

”Stay away from me! I don't want to hurt you!” she exclaimed, still moving backward.

He put forward his hands, trying to grab ahold of her. On instinct, she raised her hands prompting flames to shoot out of her palms. She stared at her hands stunned. She couldn't believe that she hurt someone. At first, she was only a freak, now she had become an abomination.