Ecstasy was nowhere near the scene that unfolds on the television screen, so there's minimal chance the cameras could have caught her. I myself wouldn't have known Ecstasy was behind this, if she hadn't shown herself to me, so I don't fault Lucille for her .

"No, but that doesn't mean they're not around, Lucille. How do you think-- do you know how the fire started?"

"Beats me." She shrugs, a glint in her eye. "Could be a cigarette someone forgot to put out. Could be an electrical tool gone haywire. Faulty wiring... who knows?" Lucille continues. "For all we know it could be a---"

"A villain?" I cut in.

"Right. It could be a villain." Lucille stands. I assume she's walking away, but she ends up bent over me, hands clutching the top of the sofa on either side of my head.

Her eyes scan my face slowly and I have to take some time to swallow, already overwhelmed by her probing gaze. She tucks her bottom lip under her perfectly straight teeth, as if to try and hold back the smile that threatens to push up the corners of her lips a second later.

"You know something, Kobby?"

"N-no. I don't think---nope." I suck in a breath. It's not because she's this close to me or anything, it's because of my fumble. Jesus, I know I've had a problem with voicing out my thoughts but it's never been this bad.

"Well, I do." A wide smile. "And I want you to know, too."

Her head lowers for a second, a few dark hairs slipping from where she tucked them behind her ear. When she lifts her eyes again, they're penetrating and daring. Daring me to look away. Daring me to tell her she's wrong.

"Not everyone is gonna like you or see you for who you are. Not everyone is gonna listen to your side of the story, Kobby. We're all the villain in someone else's story, we all have our 'bad guy' moments."

Her hand frames my face, palm pressed flat against my cheek. It takes a whole lot of self-control not to lean into the warmth of her hand, to hold her gaze and listen to the words that roll off her tongue in an ever-lowering tone. "Trust me, I would know."

In a daze, my hand clasps hers and I take it in mine, lowering it from my cheek which had started to tingle from the delicious warmth. Her hand is like a heating pad. If I didn't get it off me, I'd be pushing against it any second. Now, it's in both of mine, and I look down at her dainty fingers.

"But I should also remind you," she adds. "Sometimes, the villains really are villains. Be careful around them."

I don't know the moment my thoughts shift to Ecstasy, but I'm suddenly reminded of her from Lucille's words. Ecstasy warned me during our first encounter. She tried to kill me on our second. This strange feeling nags at me to heed Lucille's advice. I will be careful, but I won't sit back and let evil win. Because that's what she is. Evil.

"Who are you thinking about, Kobby?" Lucille breaks me out of my thoughts. 

"Uh... who?" I'll admit it unnerves to hear her ask 'who' instead of 'what'. I don't think anyone has asked me that despite the numerous situations where my mind runs off.

"Yes. You kinda spaced out for a second, so I assumed you have someone on your mind," Lucille clarifies. Again, she has that look on her face-- the one which looks like she knows exactly what is going on in my head.

"No, just thinking about work," I reply. "And about how your hand is so warm. And pretty."

"My hand is pretty?" She laughs.

"Yes." I turn her hand over. That is how I discover something I don't expect. Burns.

They are angry red blobs that stain spots in her palm, like birthmarks that have been heated and reddened. In fact, it feels like the heat from her hand emanates from those scars.

"What happened?" I whisper. "If you---if you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Fire."

One word. Her answer. And it's Ecstasy all over again as my eyes lift to the TV screen, to the news channel which is now on a commercial break, and then to the hand in mine.

"Can I see your---"

Lucille presents her other hand to me before I can finish my question. It's the same as the first one, with the red marks, with that same heat I can swear grows stronger.

"I still think they're pretty," I say.

She smiles with a small shake of her head. "I already know."