A scream jolts Emilia from sleep, eyes snapping open. She's on her feet in seconds, stumbling out of the room towards the commotion.
Smoke is heavy in the air.
Emilia runs for the bedroom, swinging the door open. Inside the curtains are on fire, the children huddled on the bed.
The little one is still screaming, flailing her arms, one gets the black haired one in the face. She seems to be in a panic, but no one makes a move to get out of the room.
More items start catching on fire.
She is a scientist, she has had one too many encounters with it - Emilia always keeps a fire extinguisher in her room.
It does nothing against the flames, instead, they rear hire.
Emilia jumps on the bed, pushing the boys away to tuck the little child to her chest.
"There, there, sweetie. It's alright. You're safe, I got you," Emilia whispers fervently against her hot forehead.
"Let go baby, come on. Let go of the blankets, I'll take you to safety. I promise."
The child is not calming, and if the curtains aren't put out soon, the whole house will go up in flames.
The house is the last thing she has of Cassius.
Emilia cannot let of the child.
"Boys, get the twins out and bring me blankets and the phone, quickly."
She turns to the girl in her arms, burning hot. Emilia remembers. what used to calm Cassius from the worst of tempers, the lullaby.
She sang softly, ignoring the burning curtains.
Eventually it seemed to work, the child going slack in her arms.
Emilia handed her over to the black-haired boy, rushing back in the room.
She used a broom to bring the curtains down, throwing the soaked blankets on top. The fire puffed for a bit, gradually dying.
Emilia sighed in relief.
She met the children outside the room, in a line in the corridor. The younger ones were fidgeting in place.
The oldest one took a protective stance in front of them, watching her intently.
They feared her.
Why?
"Are you alright? Did any of you get hurt?"
Emilia approached, grabbing the oldest child's shoulders. She paused when he flinched. Emilia cupped his cheeks, running her eyes down his body - he had been the one trying to put the flames out.
Not finding any signs of burns on him, she turned to the other children, fussing over them.
Emilia ushered them to her bedroom, but when they hesitated at the door, she took them to the living room. There, she gathered all the blankets and pillows in the house and made a nest on the floor, where she made each child sit.
Within ten minutes, Emilia had 4 cups of hot chocolate and one of warm milk in front of each child.
Every single one had been bundled in a blanket.
"Nami, something is wrong."
Emilia had rung Naomi, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, far enough so they couldn't answer.
"What? Em, it's 3 am, this better be worth it."
"He's back," Emilia hissed.
"You're not joking, right?"
"No. The children's room was on fire Nami, on fire! What if I didn't wake up on time. It was a mistake to let them with me. I told you."
"Woah, calm down. From the top, now."
Rustling could be heard from the other end.
"I went to sleep, the kids divided themselves between the guest rooms upstairs. They were screaming, Nami. When I went to check, the curtains and anything that could catch fire was on fire. The little one was having a panic attack; I could barely calm her down enough to get her out."
"Is everyone fine? The fire?"
"I put it out, and no, none of the children were hurt."
"That's good. We're on the way, stay put."
"Yeah, whatever. I need the security team back, and you have to contact the police. If he set his eyes on the kids, he won't stop until he gets them."
"Relax, maybe one of the kids put the curtains on fire by accident. That son of a bitch has been dead for the last two years."
"Impossible."
She was interrupted, the oldest walking up to her with purposeful steps. He stood in front of her, squaring his shoulders.
"I did it," he said.
"You don't seem like the type to play with fire."
"I did it!"
"Good try kid, try next time."
"It was me," a soft-spoken voice adds.
The little girl stands up from the cocoon, big green eyes watery, shaking like a leaf, bunching the ends of her dress into tiny fists.
"I had a n-nightmare, I thought that the f-fire might make them go away. Daddy always said t-they did. I really...to hurt anyone, really!"
Emilia sighs.
She walks to the little girl, practically feel the tension in the air as all the children surrounded the little one, glaring at Emilia.
Emilia kneeled before the child, untangling the child's fists, and holding them gently.
"It's alright, little one, but fire is really dangerous. You could have gotten really hurt, or your brothers and sister could have. Did you want to hurt anyone when you played with the fire?"
The little one shook her head.
"Good, then it's fine, because you didn't want to hurt anyone, but in the future, when you have a bad dream, won't you please come to me?"
"Then y-you have to promise."
"I promise."
The little one cries out, jumping in her arms. Emilia tucks the child to her chest, rocking her.
"Listen Nami, it's fine you don't have to come anymore."
"Don't be stupid. Of course, I do."
For the rest of the night, the little girl doesn't budge from Emilia's arms, so she finds herself in a nest of blankets and pillows, surrounded by children.
Nicolas and Naomi came in an hour later. They settled in among them easily enough, winning the children over with sweets.
Perhaps, it wasn't so bad that Naomi took them in. She wasn't ready by any means to take care of a child again, but for a little while she could offer them shelter until they found their way home.
Still, a thought niggles at the back of her mind - those flames, she clearly put them out, yet they came back to life.
Perhaps, she was seeing things.