The front door hung open ahead of her. Whatever happened to the door, it didn't stop her from fleeing into the night. The cold air should've been a relief, compared to the orange and blue flames consuming her home. Instead, she found the air grating and painful against her coat.
Compared to the flames behind her, the outdoor air was freezing cold, chilling her through to the bone. There was no smoke, only a growing cloud of steam, blinding her. Where was it coming from?
Then she saw. It was raining again, a gentle patter of moisture that coated the entire world. Her struggling lawn was soaked through with it, along with all the other homes.
It wasn't enough to protect her house. That vanished into the night in a billowing cloud of smoke. Fire roared higher and higher, inviting her back inside. It whistled and roared with an unnatural, primal hunger. Part of her wanted to toss the spellbook back into the building, and leave it behind for good.
But no matter how much she wanted someone else to blame, the book also held important knowledge, her only way to ever be human again, or even cross over to Equestria to get help from the horses of the other world. She could not lose it, no matter the risks.
She wanted to find the neighborhood deserted. The others would all be cowering in their homes, waiting for the single volunteer fire truck to make its way across the town. That would be the best for all involved.
They were all outside. The neighbors lingered in front of their homes, huddled in fearful groups. More watched from their windows, faces lost behind the blinds. She couldn't get a good look at them, or guess what they were thinking.
"Lotus!" yelled a familiar voice from just beside her. She turned, and saw Iron Feather on the lawn, out of reach. "Listen to me! You don't have to let it control you!"
What did their audience think about all this?
The fire wasn't burning hot enough to cover her shame anymore. They could all see her—dozens of different eyes, looking at an alien—a girl alien. But worse by far was Iron, standing far enough away that the heat didn't reach him. She let him down.
"Is Gus still in the house?" she asked, terrified of the answer. Heat radiated from the open door, far more than any living creature could possibly survive. How she could stand comfortable in those conditions, she didn't know, or want to.
"No!" Iron yelled back. He pointed behind him, towards the street. Her pickup wasn't beside the house anymore—it was backed up onto the lawn. Exhaust rose from behind it, and the driver's side door was open. She almost hadn't noticed it. "Wake up, Lotus! You weren't a monster before! You don't have to be one now!”
There in the driver's seat was a dark figure, not even vaguely human-shaped, standing up on its hind-legs to reach the wheel. Gus! Only—not the Gus she knew. That was the one she had created.
There were already enough monsters, she didn't have to be another one.
The heat radiating from around her abruptly went out. She gasped, staggering backward momentarily with the sudden chill that followed. Her vision shifted, and instantly became clearer. She saw the firelight flickering from behind her, illuminating the faces of dozens of terrified neighbors. A few of them had their garden hoses out, spraying down the area around their property. Others were rushing to throw things into their cars. A few stared at her, or the other alien creatures out in plain view. At least one glittering phone lens pointed in her direction.
She stumbled forward, scraping along the grass. Something thumped onto the ground beside her—the spellbook, no longer levitating. All that heat made magic easier while it burned. When it was gone, the need to focus came rushing back.
"What... happened?" she asked. She rubbed at her eyes with one leg, brushing away a thick layer of ash and slime. Behind her, the house was still burning, getting brighter instead of dimmer.
"I don't know." Iron took a few tentative steps towards her. He kept his good wing open, though whether to look bigger in front of all the watching people—or maybe to keep her from getting too close, she couldn't say. "The spellbook—I think it took you over for a minute. It changed you into a Nirik—a fire demon. You see what happened."
She saw, and she heard. Her neighbors' voices had been just another insignificant bit of background before. But now that she wasn't burning, she felt their eyes on her, growing more intense as the seconds passed.
The flame terrified them, but that fire was gone now, leaving only her behind. Surrounded by a crowd of people she kinda-sorta knew. People whose homes and families had just been threatened by a monster—her. Almost everyone in this neighborhood owns a gun.
Another sound cut through to her, just as terrifying as the growing anger building in her neighbors—police sirens. They started far off, all the way from downtown. But they wouldn't stay far away for long.
"Yeah," she nodded, struggling back into a standing position. "I don't think it—" But this wasn't the place to admit that. No matter how much she wanted to tell him the truth, it could wait. The spellbook didn't force me to try transformation magic. I just wanted to be normal again.
"I couldn't think straight. It was all... blurry."
"Eric!" Gus's voice echoed from the car, high and sharp. But her best friend was still audible under the change. It wasn't like her. Gus hadn't changed in the same fundamental ways that she had. Lucky bastard. "Eric, get your ass into this truck! I can't reach the pedals."
Someone stepped forward, clutching a shotgun in both hands. They weren't quite brave enough to point it directly at her—but it probably wouldn't be long. Fear and anger were close together.
She stumbled across the grass towards the truck, tearing up bits and pieces of it as she ran. It was a good thing that at least one of them had their thoughts together enough to make a decision, because she felt hopelessly lost.
Only her own fear kept her moving. I destroyed everything. They're all going to hate me now, and they should. This isn't random chance anymore, this is my fault.
Iron lingered in the grass behind her a little longer, but she soon saw why. He had the spellbook in his mouth, looking visibly disgusted by the taste. Unsurprising, if there was as much ash on that thing as there was on her own body.
"You can't just leave!" someone yelled. She wasn't sure exactly who, one of the neighbors who sometimes yelled through their window if they left the trash cans on the curb for an extra day without bringing them in. "Burn their house down, then steal their car? What kind of monsters are you?"
Iron hopped into the car ahead of her. Then Lotus, or Eric, or whoever she was, scrambled up into the car, beside the petals. She had to grab the door in her teeth to pull it closed behind her.
Good thing the yelling neighbor wasn't the one with the gun. That one seemed content that they were leaving. But if she was really a “fire demon,” a little buckshot probably wasn't going to slow her down. Maybe she'd burn their homes next, with everyone inside.
The book wanted me to. It didn't want her to think of anyone as people, it saw them only as fuel. The hotter those flames got, the more powerful she would be.
The voice was silent now. She wasn't holding the spellbook, and there was no more fire. She was safe. "She's in drive!" Gus said, "Give me a little—slow at first. Too many people out here, don't want to hit anybody... now more! We need to get the hell away! I'll get us onto the highway, I think I know somewhere!"
She obeyed, bracing her back against the seat. Close enough that she was bombarded by more strange smells. Why did it feel like she was in a car with a big cat?
Compared to the cacophony of noise from outside, the drive was relatively quiet. No more rushing flames, no more whispers in her ear. All Lotus heard was the occasional command from above her. "Get ready to turn, ease off the accelerator," or "We're on the highway now, floor it!"
That was her only company, that and the occasional sound of cargo shifting in the back. Iron Feather remained silent, and Gus made no attempt at conversation.
Neither did she. If shame was a liquid, it probably would've filled the area meant for a driver's legs, then drowned her. She would've welcomed it.
"I don't think the cops are following us," Gus said, after some time. She wasn't sure exactly how long. "Maybe they're calling in backup from Springdale. They'll need everyone they have to contain the fire. Can't chase some witness account of a fire demon and a few mythical creatures that drove away in your pickup truck."
Lotus smiled in spite of herself, then looked up. Gus stood uncomfortably in the driver's seat, back legs, digging into the leather. Those were clawed paws, entirely unlike anything she had. Or Iron, for that matter. Not hooves. There was a tail back there too, the same creamy yellow as his fur. Like a mountain lion, except she was pretty sure mountain lions didn't have wings.
She couldn't get a good look at his face, not while he was driving and she was focused on the pedals. They were using cruise now, but she had no way to know when that would end.
"They'll find us," she whispered. "You can't keep driving all the way to Springdale. Even if we don't run into any cops on the way over, they'll report my car missing. They'll be looking for us."
He didn't answer for a long time. Gus remained focused on the road, or at least that was his excuse. She couldn't see his face to see what he might be thinking. "I know a turnoff a little way ahead. Rich asshole from California has a little hunting lodge up here. I put the satellite in, when I was still working for Comcast. Bet you fifty bucks he didn't change the combination on his gate. I'll tell you when to slow down."
"Hunting lodge..." she whispered. "We're gonna break into someone's house?"
"Nah. Helped him set up his security system too—gave me a few hundred cash for it. The house has cameras. But the woods don't. So long as he's not up hunting, we'll be fine."
They drove a little while longer. Gus gave her instructions, and she slowed them to a stop. Finally, he heaved the door open, and stumbled out onto the pavement in front of her.
He looked as bad as she imagined. Totally inhuman, covered in creamy fur on his back half, and dark feathers on the front. She'd never seen anything like him—at least not in the real world. Maybe on some old European coats of arms.
He stumbled into the bright light of their headlights, towards a locked gate. His front legs were nothing like the back—dark avian talons, ending in sharp claws.
"Gus, I—"
"I'm not having this conversation right now," he snapped, so loud and abruptly that she fell instantly silent. "Stay in your damn seat, Eric. Right now, we're surviving. Just shut up."
She shut up. A few minutes later, the gate opened. They drove through, then he hopped out again to lock it. Then he was back inside, and she helped them drive. Slowly, as the ground soon changed to a gravel road through trees.
She bumped and jostled, occasionally smacking into the plastic molding of her car. She gritted her teeth, ignoring the pain. She deserved that and more, for what she'd done.
"I don't see any lights on," Gus finally said. "His truck isn't parked out in front, either. I'm taking us into the woods... so long as we don't hunt any of his deer, he shouldn't even know we were here."
"What kind of activity is that?" Iron Feather asked. He sounded as exhausted as Lotus felt, overwhelmed. "Hunting must not... mean the same thing as it does where I come from."
"We can talk about it later," Lotus muttered. "Just let him drive, Iron. We need to hide."