[Ashlynn J. Kelley]

Ashlynn awoke with a jerk, his heart pounding in his ears and sweat dripping from his shoulders. The darkness was stifling, almost choking him with the cold dry air as he struggled to be free of the sheets that held him to his bed before the heat from his skin burned them. As he stood up, taking a few stumbling steps away from his bonds, he set his hands on the window sill to steady himself. Taking in a deep breath, he shivered, looking up through the open window at the stars twinkling slightly behind clouds. He slowed his breathing, feeling safe once again from the nightmares. God, he hated how unsettled it all made him feel. Like he was completely out of control for a year now!

That's why he slept with the window open to begin with. He spent most of his nights outside recently, camping out and hiding away from the real world, living almost like a homeless man. Sleeping inside was so stifling, and made him feel like he was in a cell. He could handle the nightmares as long as he woke up to the stars and open air. He grit his teeth in anger at himself, shaking his head ashamed of his weakness. He picked up the glass of water from the side of his dresser, throwing it angerly across the room. The cleaning lady wouldn't be pleased with him...again.

He had been living in the hotel for awhile now, trying to get used to sleeping inside again. Ashlynn was trying to get his body used to the fact that it responded to the air around it like a fire would. Closed in areas made it hard to breath, days when the rain came down in buckets made his whole body ache, and when someone fed his emotions, it only made the fire in him grow bigger. He could barely go to work any more because alcohol made things about a million times more worse than they needed to be. He had gone from being a heavy drinker to quitting cold turkey in a month because he couldn't drink any more, in excess that was, without completely setting himself on fire.

And then the nightmares started! The heavy dreams of pressure on his chest, his skin heating up and then being doused out by oceans of cold water. He sat down tying his wild hair back out of his face with a rubber band and gritting his teeth. He hated feeling weak. It made him want to scream and set the whole building on fire.

He growled stretching his arms up above his head, goose bumps breaking out across his skin. Looks like he wouldn't be sleeping tonight, just like last night. He couldn't keep this up. It was starting to effect his work! Ashlynn closed his eyes, trying to get himself back in the mood to sleep, slowing his breathing. In a flash the room seemed to be closing in around him again, cutting off his air.

He shivered, gripping the end of his bed, curling his back and holding his sides as he tried to catch his breath. Nope. No chance of sleeping.

He pulled on his black sweater, and a pair of, probably dirty, pants he found on the side of his bed. Ashlynn left his jacket as he walked out, locking the door behind him, and headed into the more busy part of the city. It was nice to not have to wear anything to keep warm any more. The cold air didn't really bother him now that his body temperature was an unnatural 115 degrees all the time. He stood on the side walk, breathing in the cool night air for a moment before walking slowly down the street. It was a quite night in the darker side of town, but he was glad for the peace for once. In a life filled with fire, sometimes a little bit of quiet was welcomed.

He silently lit up a cigarette, using a flame from the palm of his hand. It lit up his face for a moment before dying to a slow burn, sending smoke drifting around his head.

Ashlynn walked to the edge of the street, sitting down on the empty bench next to the road, closing his hand into a fist and snuffing out the fire. He looked up as he saw someone approaching, narrowing his eyes in the darkness. Too bad. He really wanted to be alone tonight. He wasn't worried about people, really. The last thing he was concerned about was someone attacking him. That didn't mean he was off guard about strangers walking alone at night, but he wasn't concerned. Why worry when you were a human torch?

He took another breath of his cigarette, glancing at the person as they got closer, "A little late for a walk, don't you think?" He asked, his eyes fixed on the stars, "You lost?"

This wasn't a dangerous side of town, per say, but it wasn't exactly sunshine and daisies either. They were either lost, or looking for trouble, neither of which Ashlynn particularly cared for at this moment.

((WOW, so i know this is freaky long. I kind of let the writing get away with me >>. Don't feel obligated to post this much XD)

[Samantha Pike]

It was two o'clock of the morning. Even though, it was still Summer, the night was cold, and the lady, walking down the street, couldn't help it but shiver. Wearing a simple black dress and a light gray jacket, she wouldn't be very visible at night if it wasn't for her golden locks of hair, falling softly on her shoulders, moving with the cold breeze. It's been three months since she discovered her mother had a brain cancer, growing slowly for years. According to the doctors, the cancer had already disseminated to other parts of the body. That explained the pain her mother felt throughout her body, especially on the bones.

Samantha wiped out a few tears that persisted on her eyes. Tonight, like many other nights before, she just couldn't sleep. So, she decided to take a walk on the city, alone, which was very unlike her. It's not that she was afraid of the dark or being mugged. After all, she could feel differences of temperature in the air and at night it was easier. Sam shook her head, smiling slightly. Her... 'powers'... were still so new to her and they were basically dorment for almost one year. However, they would appear from time to time, on special occasions or painful ones and she fainted everytime they did.

Her mother was already worried with her, wondering what was happening. She even insisted for Sam to make exams, a complete check up. And she did, but only to satisfy her mother. The obvious conclusion was that, Sam was in extremely great health and there was nothing wrong with her. So, the next thing her mother started to worry about was her weight. She would comment how Samantha was thin, and that she needed to eat more. She would even imply that maybe that was the reason for the faintings. How wrong she was. But Sam couldn't tell her. She would tell her mother everything but that. It was her secret, her burden. Beyond that, she didn't want to scare the only person that she loved the most, in the whole world.

Sam stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, listening to the silence and feeling the air in her skin. It was refreshing. Three months ago, after receiving such sad news, Sam's powers appeared again, but never settled after it. Even though they wouldn't enhance enough to be too overwhelming, Samantha could feel, see, smell, listen and taste more than any human could. That could be good, sometimes. For example, she could taste deeper the wonderful flavors of food. Nevertheless, it was usually bad. At night, she would listen to all the noises and feel things moving on her sheets, while she tried to sleep. It was very difficult to sleep, and it has been three months since. Sam was tired.

Wait! Something was wrong.

She felt a slight heat from the birds's bodies, on the trees, but there was something else, something that was awkwardly hot. Samantha opened her eyes and started walking toward the heat. She couldn't see it, but could feel it, like if she could touch it with her bare hands. Like a termal missil going toward the hottest spot of the region. While she waslked, Samantha thought about many possibilities for that extremely high temperature. Sometimes, the homeless would fire a garbage can to warm themselves. However, as closer as she got, she was getting more and more convinced that it wasn't fire. She couldn't see any flames, or anything like that. In fact, as she got closer, the only thing that she saw was a human shadow, a few hundreds of meters away. Sam stopped for a moment, evaluating the shadow, trying to understand why that human was so hot. Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was inside the rooms behind him.

Samatha started walking again, more rapidly this time and when she was about ten meters from the person, she finally realized it was a man. She could now feel it in her skin. The heat wasn't inside the hotel, it was, somehow, around his body, like if he had a fever. But, in this case, it was more that high fever. She knew this, because her mother, during the last months, would have really high fever, everytime she did chemotherapy. This man, however, was even hotter than anyone she ever saw in her life, but he also seemed extremely comfortable.

How odd.

Sam walked slowly this time, crossing the man's path. She was expecting to walk away without a single word, or maybe the possibility of being attacked, but instead, the man talked to her. 'No, I am not lost', she thought after he finished his question. "Why? You think women can only be lost during high hours of the night? Well, i'm sorry, but i'm not lost. Maybe you are! Are you?" Samantha replied with a cold look and more sarcasm than she wanted to. He could catch fire, with all the heat that was coming from him. But what the hell. Men were always so sure of themselves, so convinced that they were the kings os this world. She really hated them, sometimes, like her father, who was so sure of himself that he ran to live his dream life in New York, leaving a girlfriend and a daughter to struggle for their lives, alone. No word ever came from him. Men were all the same. They were just disgusting and typical chauvinists.

((Don't worry, i think i did the same, with this long and badly written post. At least yours is better written than mine. ))

[Ashlynn J. Kelley]

Ashlynn looked at her with a mixture of amusement and annoyance, his eyes narrowing at her as he sneered, "Well, someone's got some issues to work out. I didn't say anything about you being a woman now did I? I was just trying to be friendly."

He leaned back again, looking up at the stars, "Wouldn't matter if you were a guy or a girl to me. Most people who come around this late at night are generally lost. You being a woman has nothing to do with it."

Ashlynn shrugged, sighing out smoke from his cigarette thinking about her question. Yes, he was lost, but not the way he meant it. He snorted at her words, "Look lady, I was just offering a friendly hand. You don't have to be a bitch about it."

A little mean, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with her snippy attitude. He put out the cigarette and lighted another one, this one with a lighter thanks to his new companion. "So you're not lost, so what are you doing? Or am I not supposed to ask that because a man doesn't have to know where and what a woman is up to at all times?"

He glanced at her, his eyes flashing a little, playfully. He liked playing games like this, regardless of how annoyed it made him. People were always so quick to jump into a fight, and Ashlynn simply rose to the occasion, no real intention of winning or loosing, he just wanted to be a participant.

[Samantha Pike]

As expected, the man's reaction to her mean attitude was a rispid answer. Even though she had a hard time being with men, she deserved that answer. Not all men were bad. Raymond, her mother's husband, was the proof of that. Her friend Karl was also an example of it. He was a nerd like her, and he respected her at all times. He was a good friend, but now she didn't know where he was or if she was ever going to see him again. Maybe this guy was actually trying to be friendly. However, that didn't mean she was going to be all sweet and cute to him. "It's funny, you know? Men aren't usually friendly, especially those who walk these street at such high hours of night. Unless, you're an exception. But, that's something you still have to proove." Sam smiled slightly and moved closer to the man and the light, trying to tolerate the horrible smell coming from the cigarette he was smoking. Having her smell sense more enhanced than any other human, also meant she could smell everything more intensely. She could almost smell the nicotine and all the components of that cigarette. It was just overwhelming and horrible. Why did people smoke or did drugs, or whatever? She could never understand it, but dealt with it everyday.

Coughing a little, she reflected on the other words the man said. "Well, but i'm not lost, like i said before. I've been living in London for a few years and i basically know all the alleys, even though i don't usually walk alone, at night." she said, with a gentle tone. 'And I'm always alone' she thought to herself. "You must be the first man that doesn't have mean comments to women, then. Which is exceptional." Samantha added, looking up to the starts as well and thinking about her absent father and all the boys that always tried to jump on her knickers or joked with her glasses (the ones she used when she was younger, she now uses eye lenses) or her obsession with the studies and helping people.

Samantha looked down when the man continued, actually calling her a bitch. That was an extremely mean answer, which meant she probably touched some sensitive part of his soul. She wondered what she said that could have made him so mad at her. However, there was also some kind of a glow on his eyes. She touched some sensitive point, that was for sure, but he was also amused. Ok! That was a different reaction to Sam's words. And then the question. It was a normal question, but she wasn't really in the mood to answer. "Well, i just couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk. It's the only thing that actually relaxes my senses, right now." Bad, extremely bad, she mentioned her senses. That would seem awkward. But maybe he didn't realize it.

The man threw the smoked cigarette to the street, which was still burning when he did, and then, using a lighter he lighted another one. Sam frowned a little. She probably shouldn't do it, but she just couldn't help it. "I thought you would be able to light the cigarette with your own body heat. After all, you're basically burning right now. Samantha said, looking at the man's eyes, trying to read something from him. If he lied to her, she would know. She was a psychologist, after all. "By the way, i think i didn't catch your name. I'm Samantha." Sam said, leaving her surname secret, for now at least.