Plight Of Olympus

FOUR: WHEN IT ALL FALLS DOWN.

When I heard the loud sirens and saw the ambulance race ahead of me, I never expected to see it parked at my front yard, together with a fire truck, and my house up in flames and black smoke. People nearby were staring at the blazing house, their expressions sullen.

I couldn’t feel anything. Nor could I hear anything but the odd ringing in my ears and blood was draining out of my face. My legs moved by themselves. First, it was a very slow walk, but before I knew it, I was sprinting in full speed towards my house that was soon to become only ashes.

    Someone tackled me to the ground and I tried kicking and fighting them off, with tears blurring my vision. My head felt heavy and so did my legs, but I managed to get the person off me, and kept running.

Diana… where is Diana? No, no, please don’t let this happen to me…

    My sprint came to a halt when I saw Aunt Jane laid out on the stretcher, unconscious. More people held me back now, and seeing my foster mother’s half burned face broke something deep within me and I knelt down into the grass, weeping, before I finally passed out.

    My throat felt extremely dry, and when I tried opening my eyes, the blinding lights blurred my vision. Someone was next to me, holding my hands and murmuring something I couldn’t comprehend.

Diana.

Visions of my house in flames and Aunt Jane on the stretcher forced me to open my eyes. As they got accustomed to the strong lighting in the hospital room, I noticed that the person sitting next to me was Torren Miles.

     “Where are they?” I croaked out, and he handed me a glass of water which I took gratefully. When I had drunk the whole thing, I repeated my question and he looked down almost apologetically.

“Ms. Parker is still in ICU. But Diana…”

“What happened to Diana?” I demanded, trying to get off the bed, but feeling a sharp pain in my head. I realized for the first time that my arm was connected to a drip.

   “The nurse said you shouldn’t move. She’ll be back around shortly…” he stated.

 I took a deep breath, and looked at his eyes which were alert, yet comforting. I carefully chose my next words and hoped he wouldn’t try to hide the truth from me.

   “Torren, where is Diana? You can tell me if something… bad has happened to her. Please, I need to know where my sister is.” I pleaded, trying not to break eye contact even though his comforting eyes had the opposite effect on me.

  “We don’t know.” He finally admitted.

What?

    “What do you mean you don’t know?” I cried out and he winced at the volume but still tried to explain.

“The police are on it right now. Ms. Parker said they took Diana before she lost consciousness. But nobody knows who took her… or how the fire even started.”

No, this isn’t happening.

   I painfully ripped off the small needle that was attached to my arm and swung myself out of the bed ignoring the sharp, piercing pain in my head. Torren tried holding on to my arm to stop me from leaving but I brushed him off.

After walking around the hospital trying to find the reception, a nurse I had seen somewhere but couldn’t recognize asked me to follow her. Aunt Jane was in a stable condition and wanted to see me. I was expecting the nurse to give me an earful on why I was out of my bed, but it seemed like she had an experience with teenagers who never listened, and so, she just excused my actions.

    I had told myself I wouldn’t cry when I see Aunt Jane because I had to be strong for both her and Diana, like I had always been. But looking at her face just made me cry harder.

“How?” I managed out in-between silent sobs.

  Her disheveled and graying hair made it seem like she had aged an additional ten years. Her eyes were sunken and tired, but still calm, if nothing, they were more peaceful.

“I had hoped to protect you longer. But it seems like this is goodbye…”

“No, you’re not going anywhere. You’re okay, you’ll be okay. The doctors will heal you, and the police will find Diana, and…”

    “Listen to me, Cali.” She cut me off. “This is beyond doctors and police. The close blood has been shed, and they’re coming for you. You have to find Silver. Follow the mist of Iris. Don’t look for Diana.” She trembled, looking straight into my eyes.

   “You’re… you’re probably having a concussion… ahh… nurse…” I stammered out, attempting to call out the nurse and see if she could help her, but she held my hands tightly, crushing my fingers. A crazy, yet pleading fire burned in her eyes.

   “I don’t have long Cali. Promise me you’ll find Silver.” She commanded.

When I didn’t speak or move, she repeated in a more authoritative voice “promise!”

“I… I promise…” I choked out in tears and she finally let go of my hands, staring up at the ceiling.

“Meum est corpus meum liberatum. Honorifico sidera antiquis summoto iter ad.” Aunt Jane whispered in what I recognized as Latin. A few heartbeats later, she was gone.