OBLITERATE- The Ring of fire

6. Hard truths.

"Mr. Herman!" I yelled, chasing the grumpy boss outside the office.

Misty was panting dramatically.

I caught a couple of double takes from the students who were outside; sunbathing... or doing whatever.

"Mr. Herman." I made a stop quickly, right before I crashed into him.

He was standing by the dinner pavilion, arms tied back, and face grim, as usual.

"Destiny," he nodded. "Misty," he widened his eyes, as Misty let out a highly audible sigh, and kneeled on the ground.

"Phew...," she said in her small voice. "That was divirsome,"

"Tiresome, Misty," I said. "Tire-some."

"So," Mr. Herman said, trying a smile. Can I just say that? How else would I express it? Every time he begins to smile, eventually he turns grim; doesn't last for one second.

"So?" Misty asked, getting up on her feet.

Mr. Herman inspected her carefully. It was fair to, she didn't speak much.

"So you heard what Derek had to say?" he asked.

"Yep," I blinked, looking at the empty dinner pavilion. "That was wild...."

"I'm sorry," Mr. Herman said, much to my surprise.

"No-no," I shook my head, and pressed on my temples. "It's not your fault, and-" I broke off, and sighed.

Dad wouldn't do such a thing, I reminded myself.

"But there's more," I started. "Right?"

He nodded. "Do you want to hear about it?" He had an honest worry in his eyes. "Now?"

"Yeah," I said, without thinking.

Misty was nodding her head like a bobble head.

"Very well," Mr. Herman gestured them towards the office.

The kids outside, gossiped as we walked. Then they kind of hid when Mr. Herman caught their eye.

"Take a seat," Mr. Herman said, just as soon as the door closed behind us. Me and Misty shrugged and took a seat each in front of the boss's desk.

Mr. Herman fished out a ipad from his drawer. He tapped at it.

I hoped that he had good news. My heart seemed like it was tied to a bulldozer. The anxiety was more than could handle, and my eyes stung.

Just then, a hologram opened. It's light was transparent but if you stare long enough, it would give you a headache.

The scene was a forest.

Flames caught the trees. They fell to the ground and turned to ashes. It was chaos; the entire surrounding was an orange and red collage. The scene gave me chills. I felt like the atmosphere was decreasing its oxygen percentage. I felt like any moment, I would've dissolved in thin air.

Mr. Herman's mouth was a hard line.

"The forest fire," He paused. "It destroyed ten acres of the Alekshian forest. It occurred in 2082, and took over fourty-eight hours to complete the eradication of it, due to-"

"Would you get to the point?" I said. And then realized I was being a typical bad-tempered person. I sighed, and said in a low voice, "What happened to my parents last night?"

Mr. Herman bit his lip. I felt something was very wrong. He was procrastinating on this for so long, I was too afraid to hear it.

"Your parents had their secrets," He said.