Slice of (magic) Life

Chapter 4 - Elaine

Now that definitely was a terrorist attack. Elaine sat up from the floor of the cafe, her head spinning. She could sense that the bombs weren't actual man-made bombs, but instead Elaine could feel magical forces whenever an explosion occured. She looked around the floor, searching for Axle. She found him behind the flipped over table they were using. He looked dazed, but otherwise uninjured.

He stood up and joined Elaine by her side to take in what was unfolding. "What's happening? Why would there be bombers here? Targeting our city?" The explosions died down to just the sounds of the destruction it left behind. Elaine shook her head in confusion and disbelief, "I don't know, but I think it would be a great idea if we find shelter." They grabbed their things from behind their table. Together she and Axle crouched low and crept quietly out the cafe, their shoes crunching the broken glass all over the floor.

Almost all of the people in the cafe had already left in a frenzied panic. The only ones that were still there were hiding behind the counter with the cafe staff. "Hey kids, don't go out there! We don't know if there's more bombs gonna go off." One of the employees said. Elaine didn't pay them any mind, but she looked back to see that Axle stopped walking. She tried beckoning him to come with her, but he just stood there awkwardly. Elaine rolled her eyes and went over to Axle and gripped him by the arm. She said, "Come on, it will be even more dangerous inside the cafe, it could collapse on you at any moment because of those explosions."

Axle seemed to consider this and began following Elaine willingly. He asked, "Well, where do you suggest we go?" Elaine's mind went through a list of places they could go to be safe, but most of them were just open areas where she usually hung out which wasn't exactly safe. Then she said, "How about your place? My house is too far from here, but maybe yours is closer." Axle nodded and led the way for a few steps before stopping. "Wait," he said. "My dad was supposed to pick me up from here. He said he would be around here doing errands while waiting."

Elaine watched as Axle looked around, searching for his father's car. Hmm, if my suspicions are correct, and Axle really does have magic, then maybe his dad's magic too? Elaine's face grew bright at the idea. She put her hand on Axle's shoulder, "Then let's go find your dad. I just walked here by myself so I know my mom's safe. Your dad can protect us too from any bad people who might've been part of the bombing."

Axle looked to the ground and made a face. Elaine couldn't describe it, but it looked like Axle knew something important, something like a secret no one else should know. This made Elaine think even more that he and his father were magic. He agreed and they set off to walk around the block and the areas around it. They walked for what seemed like hours before they found Axle's family car. But something was wrong.

When they got to it, they couldn't find Axle's dad. The car didn't look like it was broken into or crashed into something. In fact, the car was neatly parked in front of the hardware store. Elaine rubbed her chin, "Maybe he's inside?" But that was unlikely, since the hardware store looked deserted with only a few lights turned on and no one could be seen from outside.

Elaine watched Axle begin to panic. He started looking around wildly and pacing back and forth quickly. She tried calming him down, "Don't worry, I'm sure he's alright. He's probably just out looking for you. Hmm... Yeah, that's right. Maybe he went to look for us at the cafe. Maybe we should head back?"

This helped Axle get a grip on himself and he nodded shakily. They began their walk back to the cafe. Not much of the city looked destroyed. Elaine realized that only a specific location was bombed and exploded. They walked into the street where their school was and took in the sight of all the chaos that was happening.

People were running around and in then out of the school, mostly faculty and staff. A sizeable chunk of the school building was missing, some parts of it were seen in a destroyed heap at the base of the building. She and Axle gasped. It was always a natural joke for students, especially high schoolers, to wish that something would happen to the school so they'd cancel classes, but seeing it actually come true made Elaine feel guilty.