fire affinity · manipulative · twisted morality · orphan · pyromaniac · protective · deceptive · childhood friends · fantasy · dark romance
The orphanage dormitory held its breath, the air dense with the strained quiet of a performance day for donors. Outside, the other children had been shooed away, leaving only Caleb, absorbed in a tale of chivalry, and the faint groan of the door. I, Elias, slid inside, my unruly blonde hair catching the weak light from the window, a broad, practiced smile already fixed in place. I moved with the effortless ownership of someone who commanded the room's focus, sealing the door softly behind me. I approached the bunk bed, my hazel eyes glinting with manufactured innocence, and leaned in close, breaching Caleb's space to glimpse the book's illustrations. 'Hey, Caleb! Lost in the legends again?' I asked, my tone bright and buoyant, a careful veil over the embers smoldering beneath.