Fire in the Sky
Prologue
Within the thick brush and forest of the park, the sun shining brightly, specks of light glimmer on the trees from the morning dew. The day seems peaceful as the squirrels and chipmunks jump from branch to branch in the treetops. All of a sudden a scream is heard.
A young man runs for his life, breathing heavily. His loose white shirt torn and singed possibly by fire. He turns his head to get a glimpse at his attacker, he sees nothing and he stops. He hears the crackling of dry leaves, looks beyond the trees and notices a figure standing in a black robe. "Oh My God! Get away from me!" he yells, and again begins to run.
Terror filled his face as he became pale. He did not know what to do or where to go. His mind encased in thoughts of death and fear. All his running is making it hard for him to breathe, and he is extremely tired. He looks back again but does not stop this time. All he sees are the trees, shadows, and the stranger attacking him. His eyes were gleaming a bright red and he wielded a golden wand that held rubies of glimmering red.
To his dismay he does not see the tree branch on the ground, and trips. The sorcerer was a lot closer than he thought. "What do you want from me?!?!" he cried out. Tears of fear rolled down his cheeks, and he was shaking. "Please!"
The mage's eyes glowed even brighter and it seemed like his eyes were on fire. The flames were emanating from his eyes. He lifted his wand into the air. He looked at his next victim and saw his tears. He just stared at him, as if he felt remorse of some sort. Tears rolling down from his eyes, the fear in him manifested through his struggling, and his trembling. He did not have a clue as to what to do.
The mage stood above him, "Fiat Ignem!" the mage called out. Suddenly, a ball of fire began to build onto the wand where the rubies were placed. His eyes widened and he smiled an evil grin. carefully took the wand and directed it at his victim.
His face grew pale of fear. He cried softly, "Please, no. Don't do this." As the mage positioned the wand, he yelled out even louder, "No!" The sorcerer just stood there acquiring more energy. "Please," and the fireball was released, "NOOOOO!!!" a few seconds later, nothing was left but ashes.
The mage just walked away quietly as if nothing had happened. But the ashes also left a mark onto the leaves. It took the shape of his body.
Chapter III
Tom and Matt pull up into a parking lot at school in Tom's car. Music blasting, Tom Parks the car and they both get out. Tom turns the car off and Matt gets his stuff in the back. A few of their friends come to talk to them, Tom's giving hi-fives as is Matt. "Later dude!" Tom says to Matt. And he walks away towards class.
Megan approaches Matt, "Hey Matt, what�s up?"
"Hey Megan, Nothing much, been pretty busy with a lot of stuff. How about you?" he replies.
She looks at him for a while, "Is something wrong? You seem different. What happened to your arm? You have a bruise!" She grabs his arm and takes a close look at it. "You get into a fight or something?"
"Megan I'm fine don't worry about it. I got that trying to wrestle Tom. It doesn't hurt though," he says. He pulls away from Megan's grip, "C'mon, we're gonna be late for Economics." Then they both walk together to class.
Paolo and Vinny walk into Math class 5 minutes late. "Glad you could make it boys, have a seat, we're going to be having a quiz today!" the teacher said surprising the class. All the students sigh and complain. "Stop complaining, this should be easy if you have been paying attention in class. This is worth 10 points..."
Paolo leans over to Christina, "Hey, guess who I saw just now," he whispered. "Yeah, I saw him in the hallway walking into the office."
"I have no clue, C'mon just tell me!"
"Kevin, I saw him...Hahaha!"
Christina turns all red and takes her notebook at hits Paolo's arm. "Ouch, bitch!" he said with sarcasm.
"Now what do you have to say?" Paolo sits in silence. "That's what I thought, shut up," she laughed.
Matt looks at Paolo, and they both start to laugh. "...Ok class, quiet down, we're going to start now."
As usual, Mike is asleep in Italian. Suddenly, he wakes up as the door slams shut. He looks up and suddenly he is wide-awake. He sees a beautiful girl standing at the teacher's desk as the teacher takes down her name. Amy Amaretto. She had silky red hair that flowed down to her shoulders, she wore a denim jacket over a white tank top, and blue jeans. He just stared at her, and noticed how perfect she was.
"You can sit at the empty desk over there next to Michael," she directed pointing at Mike and the empty desk directly to his right. "Michael, please raise your hand."
At first he hesitated because he was shocked and so nervous. Then he realized what she asked him to do. He raised his hand quickly, and she came down the aisle and sat down next to him. "Hi, I'm Mike."
"Amy, nice to meet you Mike. I think I've seen you around a few times," she said. "You hang out with Tom and Paolo right? Cause I've seen you guys together."
"Well yea, we hang out a lot. We're all like best friends."
"That's cool. I just got back from vacation. That's why I'm here so late."
Then, out of nowhere the bell rings. All the students get up and leave the classroom. "So I guess, I'll see you around. It was nice talking to you," she said and walked out the classroom. Mike followed behind her.
"Hey Amy," he called out. "When do you have a free period, maybe we can talk a bit more."
"Well, I have lunch 6th period."
"Ok. That's perfect, so do I. So can I meet you somewhere?"
"Yea, I'll be in the Cafeteria. Meet me there."
"Great! I'll see ya then."
Amy walks away , and Mike just stares in amazement. All of a sudden, someone jumps on him. He turns around and finds Matt standing there, smiling with an evil grin. "Does Mike like? Uh oh...I think Mike's got his sights set on someone..." he teased.
"Shut up," he retaliated and smiled. "She's pretty amazing..." Matt was about to laugh, but then Mike raised his fist, and Matt quickly stopped and left.
As he was walking away, he bumped into Kara. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'm really clumsy. hehe."
"It's ok, You're Matt, right? Yea, I've seen you on the Track. You're pretty good. And I hear you're smart too," she says.
"Ah, I see you've been doing some homework," he said in reply. "You must be Kara. Well, nice to meet you."
The bell rings again. "Damnit," he thought to himself, "I can never catch a break. Well, I guess I'll see you around. You're already late to class."
"No I�m not, I have a free now."
"Really? wow cool."
"Nah, not really, but I just gave myself one."
'Oh my God,' he thought, 'this girl is crazy. She's so awesome!' "You wanna go somewhere and talk?" he asked.'
"Yea, sure, why not. Let's go sit in the shade over there," she points to a tree that shades the ground. "It looks pretty nice over there."
They run towards the tree and sit down. They try to get comfortable sitting, so Kara sits down with her legs to the side, and Matt sits down Indian style. They began a conversation, and it was difficult to pull them apart.
The bell rings to signal for the beginning of sixth period. Many students leave the building to go to lunch and others stay. Paolo, Tom, Vinny, and Christina go approach Tom's car and enter with Chris and Vin in the back and Paolo in shot.
Paolo turns on the radio and puts in the Incubus CD. "Put it on number 8," Tom says. The music begins to play and Paolo and Vinny begin to sing.
Christina suddenly bursts, "Oh, I love this song!"
While at Wendy's, Paolo notices a girl that he's been seeing around school. She just sits there alone, eating, and reading. Tom walks over to the counter and orders his food while Vin goes to the bathroom and Chris stands in line. "Hey guys, I'll be right back. I think I know that girl, I think I'll go talk to her."
Christina nods, and Paolo walks away towards the girl. As he walks up to her she looks up and notices him coming, she smiles. "Hey," Paolo says as he approaches her. "My name's Paolo, I've seen you around the school before. You're in my journalism class right?"
"Yea, I know who you are. I've heard a lot about you. Yea. I�m in your Journalism class. I've been meaning to talk to you, but my timidness always overcomes me, and I never get the chance to go up to you," She explains. "By the way, My name is Kate."
"Nice to meet you," Paolo smiles. As they talk, Their conversation gets deeper and more personal. He just forgets all about lunch. Tom and Christina just finished their lunch so they walk over to the table and try to pry Paolo away from Kate.
"Hey stud, we gotta go," Tom says sarcastically. "We're gonna be late.
"I'll be there in a sec. Sorry but I have to go now. Or they will leave me here. So, I guess I'll see you around," he says.
"Yeah, I'll see ya." As Paolo gets up and leaves she calls out, "Wait!" She reaches into her backpack and pulls out a piece of paper and a pen and she writes. "Here's my number, give me a call sometime."
"Sure thing. I definitely will. I'll see ya," he says in reply. "Thanks."
As Paolo steps out of the restaurant, Tom grabs him from behind and puts his arm around him. "Uh oh, Paolo got some digits! Aww, you're all red!" he says jokingly. Paolo then pushes him away playfully.
They all laugh and get into the car. Music goes on again, and they drive off.
Later in the day, everyone is at the Tolentine. Tom and Chris are sitting on the couch watching TV, Vinny sits in his room playing his guitar, Mike and Paolo are sitting at the dining table doing homework, and Matt and Megan are sitting on the other couch along side Tom and Chris.
Tom suddenly gets up and says, "I'm in the mood for Starbucks. Anyone want anything? Matt? Megan?" They turn to each other and nod declining the offer. "Vin!" he yells up the stairs, "I'm going to Starbucks want anything?"
Vinny yells back, "Nah, I'm good thanks."
"Mike, Paolo?" Mike just nods, and Paolo looks up.
"I think I'll come with you. Hold on, let me just get my jacket." He gets up, closes his books and piles them up. Then reaches behind him to get his jacket and they both walk out the door and to the car.
When they get to Starbucks, they get on the line. Tom looks out the windows and notices a huge man standing outside. He, motions for Paolo to approach him. "You see that guy? Is that Carlo?"
"Yea, I think so. Hold on, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go see," Paolo volunteered. He gets off the line and leaves the store. Walks up to the guy, and he notices it is Carlo. "Hey, What's up? Why are you here?"
"I came in search of you guys. There's something going on in the cemetery. I'm not sure what but I think its pretty bad," Carlo dictates.
Inside, Tom sees Paolo's facial expressions and runs outside. "What's wrong? What�s going on?"
"Carlo says that there have been some attacks over at the cemetery. I think we should go check it out like now! Let's go," Paolo says imperatively.
"What about the others? I'll call them and tell them to meet us there as soon as possible," Tom states.
As they turn around to go back to the car, Paolo says, "Carlo..." but then stops suddenly cause he just disappeared. "Where did he go?"
"I have no idea but that dude is weird," Tom says.
When they arrive at the cemetery, it's all quiet and no one is there yet. Tom and Paolo go scouting around to find something of use to their search. As they're searching around, they notice that they're finding a lot of trails of ashes. Suddenly, they hear the rustling of dry leaves behind them. They turn around and see nothing, so they walk further. They look at each other and get ready for a fight. Tom conjures up a dagger and a wooden stake, and Paolo takes out a stake himself.
"What do you think it is," Tom asks. "You think it's a vampire?"
"I have no idea, Vinny would know by his senses...but I can't tell."
Then they hear the rustling of the leaves again, followed by a bright flash of yellow light. They ran towards the light and the sounds. But when they go there, emptiness is all they found. Except for another pile of ashes on the ground, only difference was that the ashes took the shape of a human!
"Holy shit! What the fuck do you think happened here?" Tom asks fear.
"I have no idea. I can't believe we were too late," Paolo said.
Back at the Manor, everyone sat down. They discussed what had happened at the cemetery. But, everyone was stupefied at the events. No one knew what could have done this.
Back at school the next day, they all thought about it.
Paolo and Kate are sitting in journalism talking. He just falls off track and just stares into her eyes. As does she. The bell rings, and they both get up and walk out of the classroom.
They both walk out to the parking lot to meet Tom and Christina. "Where's Mike and Matt? I know Vinny has class now, but where are the others?" Paolo asks.
"They were talking to a couple of girls. Mike was with this girl Amy, and Matt's with Kara," Christina assures them. "Our little Tom here has trouble with that."
"Fuck you, midget," he says with a great deal of sarcasm. "I'm joking, I love you Christina...haha."
"Ha-ha," Christina says, punching Tom. "Hey Kate. We're going to Checker's, you want to join us?"
"Yea sure. If you don't mind," she replies.
******
Matt and Mike are sitting at a table with Amy and Kara. They are all talking and laughing. Matt takes a bite of his sandwich and Mike is drinking his sprite. Amy and Kara sit there with their sandwiches in hand. Then they take a bite. "So, have you guys ever been to OZ?" Matt asks.
"No not really, we've been waiting for these guys to ask us," Kara says.
Amy interrupts her and concludes, "But they haven't yet. I don't know why they're taking so long to ask us out."
"I think they're just scared," Kara states.
Matt and Mike look at each other, "What are you doing tonight?" Mike asks Amy.
"Do you want to go out tonight?"
Matt also asks, "How about you Kara, are you busy tonight. We can go out tonight too," Matt says with a great streak of confidence.
Amy and Kara look at each other and smile. "Yea," They both answer. "We'll both be at Amy's house, we'll meet you there," Kara Says.
"Yes, awesome, we'll be there," Mike says happily.
Later on, Vinny is found conversing with the cheerleaders. Then, out of the blue, he walks away with Kristen, hand in hand. They go over to the field and sit on the bleachers. They too have an interesting and deep conversation. It seemed as if love was in the air.
"So, what are you doing tonight?" he asks Kristen.
"Why do you ask?" she says.
"Me and a bunch of guys are going to Oz tonight. I was just wondering if you would be able to make it," he requests. "I'd like to go with you."
"Yea, sure, I'd like that too. Pick me up around 7?" Vinny nods in agreement. "Ok I'll see you tomorrow then." They both get up and walk separate ways.
Later that night, Paolo, Mike, and Vinny arrive at the cemetery in search of whatever caused the fire or however that pile of ashes came about. Meanwhile, Christina, Tom, and Matt search over at the park.
Paolo, Mike, and Vinny went back to where they saw the ashes in the shape of a human. "Vinny, can you sense anything?" questions Paolo. "I knew there was something here, but I couldn�t tell what it was."
"No, whatever it is its not here now. But I do sense a dark magick that was here." Vinny closes his eyes and tries to get a deeper knowledge of what it was. "I'm getting the feeling that it was a sorcerer whose main power is that of fire. But, his magicks are definitely not used for good."
"Shit, we're dealing with a Pyro," Mike exclaimed.
"Wait!" shouted a concerned Vinny. "That sorcerer might not be here, but there is another source of magick that is here...I think its coming from behind the brush over there. And I believe it has been watching us."
"Why don't we fight magick with magick?" suggests Mike. He looks at Paolo and smiles. And with that they all move around and separate to try and trap this source.
Paolo begins his magick and his eyes become as black as the night. He sends a gust of wind towards the brush. And a small cry is heard. Mike closes in but then does not see anyone. Vinny sees Mike and yells out, "She�s right in front of you, what are you doing?"
"What are you talking about, there's no one here!" Mike states.
"Shit she's got the power of invisibility. I'll get her." Vinny says.
Mike leaves to show that he doesn't know where she is. But Vinny closes in behind her and grabs her. She starts to struggle and scream. "I got her!"
They all regroup with Vinny holding the girl. She's still invisible; but, after a few seconds, she gives way and reappears.
"Kate!!!" Paolo exclaims in amazement.
"Yea, I know about you and your friends, I�ve been watching you guys for a while now. Sorry." She says.
"I guess it's ok that you know, since I�m guessing you have powers too." Mike comments.
"Are you guys sure its ok? Cause I can erase her memory of this." Vin suggests to them.
"But she said that she's been watching us for a while. We don't know how far back she's known. And I don't want to totally erase her memory. So it's fine." Paolo says.
"Ok, good point. Can I let her go now?"
Mike agrees, "Yea let her go."
She jumps away and throws her arms around Paolo. And she kisses him. "Well, What were you guys doing here anyway?" she asks.
"We're trying to find a sorcerer with a very 'hot' temper." Vinny says.
"Yea, this guy is bad news. His main power is the use of fire. And that�s why I think you should go. We don't want to risk your life," Mike adds.
"I think that's best too," agrees Paolo.
"But...wait, Here let me show you." She shows them her hand and suddenly little flickers of light gather in her palm. Then, a burst of flame appears. Altogether, a ball of fire has appeared in her grasp. The others look in amazement. "See, I can help you."
"Ok, I guess you can come." Vinny says to her.
Meanwhile, Tom, Matt, and Chris are searching around the park. And they run into Carlo. "Dude," Tom calls out.
"Shh," Carlo says with annoyance. "She's here."
"Who's here?" Chris asks.
"Mary, I think she's found another victim."
"Shit she's here? Fuck, I'll go call the others." Tom decides.
Within Minutes, They are all complete. Kate tagging along. "Guys, be careful, she�s not alone," Carlo warns them.
"Shit, he's right. The sorcerer is with her. This is not gonna be good." Vinny says in a concerned tone. "They're both really strong and powerful."
Suddenly, a scream is heard. They all sprint to where they heard it. But they see nothing. "Oh my god! Look up there," Kate yells out. And they all look up in the air. There flies Mary and the Sorcerer. The sorcerer is wearing all black and is carrying a staff with a red orb resting atop it. His hair is long and silky black. But his eyes glimmered a bright red and looked as if fire emanated from them.
"So, you guys finally decided to show up. How nice. The whole group is together, and with new recruits I see," Mary said evilly. "And this is my friend Pyro."
Paolo puts his hands in the air ready to cast spells and Tom does the same to try and conjure up some weapons. Mary shakes her head, "Uh uh...not so fast. I have some other friends here too. And Chris, I got one for you too."
Out of trees, five other vampires emerge. Then one other vampire comes out, holding a tall brunette captive. "Holy Shit! That's my sister Diane! You fucking let her go," she shouts with fear. "Guys don't let them hurt her."
"We won't," they all say at once. Then Paolo says, "Guys get ready. Kate," he whispers, "go invisible and sneak up behind the guy holding Diane, when I say to."
"Ok." she says with confidence.
"Guys, close your eyes." Paolo commands his friends. The enemy did not hear this, so they all close their eyes and Paolo lets out a blinding flash. The Vampires on the ground are blinded and Mike charges towards one and knocks him flying into a tree. Then, charges once again and crushes him. Tom conjures up a couple of stakes and tosses one to Matt and Christina. He takes out his dagger and starts attacking another vampire.
Carlo takes out his sword and keeps Christina out of harms way. He swings his sword around and manages to decapitate one of the vamps. He then keeps Christina behind him.
Matt charges at another vampire really fast. The vampire cannot see him because he is moving at such a great speed, and Matt plunges the stake right into him. Mike and the other vampire are in an all out brawl, both throwing mighty punches and kicks. Finally, Mike throws a powerful round house at his head, and it came flying right off.
Paolo cast his shadow attacks and wraps one up to a tree. Kate is invisible and creeps up behind the vampire holding Diane. "Watch out behind you, the other girl is invisible," Mary calls out to him. He quickly turns around swinging his arm. He hits Kate and she becomes visible again, but she is on the ground.
"KATE!" Paolo yells out. He charges at the vampire and knocks him down with a spear. Kate then creates a ball of fire and puts it down the vamp's throat. Christina charges at the Vampire wrapped up against the tree and stabs it with her stake right through the heart. All the vampires disintegrate into piles of dust.
"Impressive. But not quite good enough," Mary says. The sorcerer then creates a fireball at the top of his staff. Aims it at Diane and releases it. Carlo runs at tries to get Diane out of the way, he is successful but the fire hit him on the leg. And he lets out a cry of pain.
Christina runs to him and starts to tear, "Oh my God, are you ok?" she asks.
"Ouch, that shit fucking hurts." He lies in Chris' arms and just sits there helpless, in pain. "You asshole!"
Paolo gets up and holds Kate in his arms. Then moves in front of her. Mary uses her magick and lifts up a couple of knives the Vampires carried and directs them towards Mike. He does not see them until the Last minute. Paolo yells out, "MIKE! NO!"
Mike's eyes widen and he sees the Knives flying towards him. They make contact but surprisingly they did not hurt him and it just went right through him. "Holy, Shit! They went right through me?!?!" he said with nervousness and fear.
Paolo ran to him and said, "Wow, that was awesome! Thank God your ok," he said relieved. Kate stood right by him.
Everyone turned their attention to the sky and notices that Pyro and Mary have
disappeared. Damnit, we lost them again.
Christina picks up Diane, and says, "Are you ok D?"
"Yea, I think so, What the fuck just happened here? I'm so confused." she says.
"I'll tell you all about it," Vinny assures her.
Christina runs to Carlo and takes a look at his leg. She puts her hand above it and suddenly she sees a bright white light surrounding her hand. "What the..." she says in confusion. And suddenly Carlo's Leg is healed. "How did I do that? I just did that?"
"Yea, Chris, you just healed me. Looks like you got a power after all."
"Yea. This is awesome."
Paolo holds Kate and hugs her. Then they kiss, "I'm so glad you're ok. That scared me."
"Yea, I'm fine Paolo, thanks. You saved me."
Tom approaches Mike and says, "Dude, you got a new power, that�s so awesome."
Matt also comes and says, "Yea those knives just went right through you. That was definitely awesome."
"I don't even know how I did it. All I knew is that they were coming right towards me then I froze. I was so scared, then I closed my eyes and I didn�t feel anything. I realized that it went right through me." he explained.
"Well, guys can we go home now?" Vinny suggests. "This day was way too long. I�m tired."
Carlo just disappears again, "Why does he always do that," Tom asks. "He's gotta learn how to say goodbye and be polite. Jeez." he says with sarcasm.
Diane is in Vinny's arms and he puts her into Chris' car. Christina gets into the driver�s seat and Matt gets into the back seat with Vinny. Mike gets into the front seat of Tom's car and Paolo and Kate get in the back.
Christina drives ahead of them back to the Manor. Tom's group drives off, but then stops for gas. Paolo and Kate go into the store to buy some drinks and food. Once they got up to the counter, someone pulls up behind Kate and puts a gun to her head. "Give me all your money and your jewelry," he yells out, he looks at the cashier and Paolo, "You too, give me all the money in the register.
Paolo lifts his arms, but then realizes that there are cameras in the store as well as other people. He doesn�t want to use his powers and blow his announce his powers to the world. Kate stands there being held captive and crying. Tears rolling down her face. "Please let me go, don't hurt me." The thief is wearing a black face mask long sleeves and black jeans.
"Please don't hurt her, I'll do anything, just please don�t hurt her," Paolo cries out.
Suddenly the door opens and Mike charges at the robber. He spears him to the ground and the gun goes off. Everyone stands in shock. Then Paolo notices the Kate is on the ground, blood trickling down from her side. "Oh MY GOD, someone call an ambulance! She's shot!"
Mike throws a punch at the guys face and knocks him unconscious. Paolo holds Kate in his arms and presses down on her wound to stop the bleeding. The cashier picks up the phone and hurriedly dials for the police, "Please come here now, we were being robbed and one girl has been shot. Please hurry."
Mike crawls up to Paolo, "Can you heal her?" he whispered. "My powers don't deal with healing. Christina has that power now, but she�s not here."
A few minutes later the ambulance arrives and takes Kate to the hospital, Paolo goes in with her. Tom stays behind with Mike while the police do their investigation and questioning. They handcuff the criminal and throw him in the back seat of the patrol car.
In the ambulance, Kate lies on the stretcher, unconscious. Paolo holds her hand crying. "Everything's going to be ok. You're going to be fine Kate. Please."
The next day, Saturday, the group sits in the living room at the Tolentine, and everything is quiet. Paolo sits in anguish that Kate has been badly injured. Christina is tearing as well as everyone else.
"I'm really sorry, but there's something I have to do," Mike says, interrupting the silence. Everyone nods and stays quiet. Mike gets up and calls Amy on the phone.
The silence resumes, save for Mike's fingers rhythmically tapping the wooden armrest of the futon. To Mike, everything else in the room--everything else in the world, becomes a void, a blur, like a camera out of focus--except for one gentle, soothing flame, burning in his ear.
"Mike? Oh...hey! What's up?" Amy for one reason or another, sounded a little caught off guard. Along with the end of her sentence came the abrupt end of Mike's finger tapping. The dead silence resumed. Mike stroked his chin with one hand, pensive. As if time stood still--as if it would wait forever for him to come up with a suitable response. Time wouldn't stand still for Amy, however.
"Mike? You there?"
"I'm here."
"What's up? Or what's wrong?, I should say. Is something wrong?"
"Well...yeah, but that's not what I want to talk about."
"Then there's something else you want to tell me, maybe?" Amy's voice was like a hunter, looking through the trees and shadows of Mike's thoughts with an eagle eye, searching, looking; for something...
"....Yes. Well maybe I should tell you what's wrong..."
"Alright, go ahead Mike!" Amy definitely wasn't angry with Mike...just anxious. Very anxious.
"I need to see your face."
"What? Mike?...." Amy might've found what she was looking for...she didn't expect for it come so suddenly though. "Can you come over here then? Now?"
"Right...you live around the block from school, right?"
"Good memory."
"Thanks, give me a few minutes alright?"
"Okay..." Amy took a deep breath, and "Bye Mike," almost whispered. Another snatch of silence, that might as well have been an eternity, ensued until Mike hung up the phone with a resounding click. Everyone's heads still hung low.
"Paolo," Mike started apologetically.
"Nah don't worry," Paolo stopped him, "do what you have to. You're safer when you're away from the rest of us, I think. They always seem to attack when we're in a group."
"But wait a sec...," Matt spoke. Didn't lift his head though. Nobody did. Only eyes rose. "Have any of us really been completely isolated? I mean who knows what'll happen if one of us IS alone. Look what happened last night when...." His voice trailed off. Everyone drew a blank. Some were still tearing. It was as if the transmissions of everyone's thoughts erupted into a blank TV static, which just kept getting louder and louder. Mike's chin came away from his chest, and he looked over at Tom. Tom nodded, and both rose, exiting the Tolentine house.
Tom and Mike spoke little on the way to Amy's house. Mike broke the silence.
"I hope Kate's alright," stating the obvious.
"Yeah, well...it's...all up to, uhhh..." also stating the obvious. "So what do you have to say to this girl? I only caught bits and shits of that conversation and it sounds like you might tell her what happened last night. Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Well she's someone I really care about, someone who's not involved with this--"
"Obviously you care about her...that's what I'm saying, Mike...If you tell her...who knows, maybe you'll be getting her involved--"
"Just by telling her?"
Tom shrugged and made a turn sharp enough to cut stone, and gunned it in the direction of the school. Before either knew it they came to a screeching halt in front of Amy's 1 story ranch style house.
"Thanks Tom," said Mike, already on his way up to her door. Tom, nodded, smirked and gunned it back to the Tolentine. There was something about going four times the speed limit at all times that took his mind off the events of the previous night for a moment. Just for a moment.
"Sit!," Amy pulled out her computer chair for Mike, and plopped down on her bed. Their eyes soon locked. Their phone conversation...so little was said, yet so much was meant. And everything except her faded out of focus yet again.
She sits there staring at him so very anxious. "So, what did you want to tell me?" Still, she stares and receives no answers.
Mike doesn't know what to do. 'Should I tell her?' he thought. 'This might put her in danger, should I risk it?' He stares into her eyes. He gets lost in them and he gets up and sits on the bed next to her. He takes her hand, reaches out for her face.
'No. I can't let her get involved,' he thought to himself. "I just wanted to tell you that you mean so much to me, and that I don't ever want to let you go." He said to her. Then she moved closer, put her arms around him, and kissed him with a tear rolling down her cheek.
Onward To:Chapter IV
Return To:HomeChapter I Prologue Chapter IChapter IIChapter III
"This is dedicated to the victims of the terrorist actions. I hope we get them back badly."