The sky wept smoke. Above the broken highway, the train bridge had vanished-gone in one fierce roar. Twisted metal hung like the limbs of a fallen beast. Below, the road had cracked open, as if the earth itself had gasped in horror. Cars were crushed, flipped, and burning. Screams rose like birds fleeing a fire-high, sharp, endless.
High above, the shadow hung in the smoke-filled air. It stayed in the air like a piece of night that had come to watch the day burn. Its gaze, if it had one, was fixed on the broken highway below.
It saw the twisted metal, the hungry orange flames, and the tiny figures running and screaming. But it felt nothing. There was no pity in its silent form, no remorse for the agony that reached up to it like a prayer.
It was not here for them all. It was here for two.
Down in the chaos, Alcy grabbed Lara's arm. "Lara, are you alright?" he yelled over the crackle of fire and the cries of the injured.
Lara let him pull her to her feet. Her legs felt like water. "Yeah," she whispered, though the word felt like a lie.
Her eyes were wide, taking in everything and nothing at once. People were broken. She couldn't understand it. She couldn't make her brain form the words for what she was seeing.
Her heart started to pound in her chest. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. It grew louder and louder, until the beat was all she could hear, drowning out her own thoughts.
She saw the blood. It was on the concrete and on shattered windows. She saw the tears, mixing with the dirt on a woman's face as she screamed for someone who would not answer. She felt the rage of a man pulling at a piece of metal, and the helplessness of those who could only watch.
A sour feeling rose in her stomach. She felt sick. The ground seemed to tilt under her trembling legs.
"Lara!..... Lara!"
Alcy's voice cut through the fog in her head, sharp and desperate. She turned to him, her brother's face a mask of fear. "Alcy," she breathed, his name a fragile thing on her lips.
In that exact moment, the world turned white.
A second explosion erupted right beneath their feet. It was a deafening roar that shook the very bones of the earth. The ground vanished, replaced by a blast of hot, violent force that threw them into the air like dolls.
Alcy's body was flung sideways. He crashed against the side of a crumpled car with a sickening thud.
Lara flew higher. For a moment, she saw the whole terrible scene from above, just like the shadow in the sky. Then she fell. She landed hard on something that gave way beneath her. For a second, she thought it might have saved her, a soft landing. But as her vision cleared, she knew the truth. It was not soft.
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It was the bodies of the dead. Still and cold. And she was alone among them.
Lara's hands sank into something that gave way beneath her. It was cold, and still. A strange, coppery smell filled the air. She pushed herself up, her eyes blinking open, and saw what she had landed on. A sea of faces, frozen and pale. Dead bodies.
A scream tore from her throat, raw and sharp. She scrambled to get away, to stand. Her feet found purchase for a second, but then one leg shot out from under her. It had slipped on something wet and slick. she crashed back down into the horror.
"Aaaahh!" she yelled, the sound swallowed by the carnage around her.
"Ugh... Lara-! Hold on. I'm coming!" Alcy's voice was strained. He was on the ground too, trying to push himself up, his body shaking with the effort.
He took one step toward her. In that single moment, the world in front of his face turned into a bright, white light. It was a light so pure it was silent. Cold, raw instinct screamed at him. He threw himself sideways, hitting the ground hard as the air exploded.
Lara heard the blast. It ripped through her own terror and snapped her back to the world. The danger was not just beneath her. It was all around them.
"I'm fine, Alcy!" she lied, her voice cracking as she shouted. "Let's run!"
She pushed herself up again, her eyes locked on him, ready to move. But little did she know, another bomb was right on her back.
BOOM!
The sound of the explosion raged behind her. It ripped the air and tore through the world. Lara threw herself to the side, a desperate, clumsy dodge. She hit the ground hard, landing right next to Alcy.
A quick glance passed between them, a silent message in a world of noise. They turned, their backs pressing together. They guarded each other, leaving no side open for an attack.
Instinctively, they forced their own beating hearts to slow down. They pushed away the fear and focused their senses, listening for the slightest sound, the smallest movement that would give away their pursuer.
All around them was chaos. The highway was shattered. People were yelling. Some were crying as they ran for their lives, their screams mixing with the roar of the fire. But through it all, the siblings remained focused. They listened only for the one sound that meant danger was coming for them again.
Swish, the distant sound of movement. Without hesitation, the sibling burst into flames and blasted toward the noise.
A low echoe reverberated for miles before falling silent. The explosion was so immense that even those far away could witness it.
Clank, thud! The sound of something falling and crashing to the ground.
"I think we hit the person," said Lara, eyes fixed on the smoke straight ahead.
"Stay still until the smoke clears," Alcy spoke calmly. "Yeah," Lara replied.
As the smoke begins to lift, a body emerges, ashes drifting off it.
Alcy and Lara remain stationary, watching intently to confirm the person's death. They observe in silence.
Suddenly, the body jerks upright, a grin spreading across his face. His causal clothes were burnt, ashes still evident.
"HAHAHAHA-IMPRESSIVE! I never imagined kids like you could be so dangerous!" he laughs wildly.
His laughter abruptly ceases. "Well, I'm out of time. The place will soon be swarmed with cops. Sorry, kids, it's time--!"
Suddenly, the man drops dead, a bullet hole evident in his head. His body still smoking from the siblings' fire, blood pooling on the cracked road.
Lara and Alcy stand frozen, shock etched on their faces, but their resolve remains unshaken.
In that moment, a woman appears behind the siblings. The siblings sensing her spun around immediately, eyes fixed on a new threat.
A woman, her silhouette sharp against the orange fire. She didn't look like a soldier; she looked like a reaper.
She holstered a silver pistol, her eyes cold as they swept over the two teens.
"Sorry," she said, her voice smooth and chillingly calm. "But they're my targets."
*Chapter ends*
Alcy and Lara just burst into flames! did you expect them to have powers like that?
