The Fire Guardians

Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

                Whatever Claire was doing, she had to stop. It seemed that the only way was to confront her myself.

                “You know her?” Curtis asked, interrupting my thought.

                “Uh, no,” I lied, “probably a druggie or something.” I left the room and ran into the bathroom. I took a shower, letting the warmth relax my muscles. I never thought a shower could feel so good. Then I began brushing my teeth frantically, trying to rid the vomit taste from my mouth. A tube of toothpaste and four cups of mouthwash later, I walked into my bedroom. I lay on my bed, and realized I hadn’t done my homework. Again. This wasn’t like me. I hadn’t enjoyed homework, I don’t know a person who does, but I always got it done. I could always go downstairs, grab my backpack, and quickly do my homework. The longer I sat and thought about it, the less I wanted to do it.

                I lit a candle, and all I could think about was talking to Claire tomorrow. What was wrong with her? Her dad and she both said that my dad wasn’t my dad, I was some guardian in a world I never even heard of, and now they were putting some curse on my brother?       

                The next morning, I took a shower and threw on a black t-shirt with my dad’s carpentry logo in the corner (the logo was a hammer with the name of the business above it and the phone number below it) and a pair of jeans. I pulled my hair back, and grabbed my dark blue sweatshirt before heading downstairs.

                Lily was slipping scraps under the table to our clever Corgi, Daisy. She seemed to know exactly where to go if she wanted food. My mom was watching the news on the T.V, while my dad was emptying the coffee pot at an alarming rate. I poured the remaining coffee into a thermos, and picked up my backpack. Lily and I went out the door. We were both blasted with the cold air, and I took a sip of my coffee, hoping it’d warm me.

                When Lily left at the elementary school, something felt off. I remembered Curtis hadn’t joined us and I assumed it was due to the vomiting scene yesterday. It felt weird not having him walk to school with me. I reached the school, and knew what I needed to do. Find Claire.

                As I put my stuff in my locker, I noticed Claire approaching me.

                “Krista,” she gasped.

                “What’s going on?” I asked. I could easily start freaking out on her, but I needed to remain calm.              Claire took a step closer to me and whispered, “There’s been a riot in Brent.”

                “So what?”

                “It’s over you! You need to come! Please, Krista,” Claire pleaded. I swear I thought she’d start crying.

                “By making my brother sick that isn’t the right way. How’d you know he was my brother anyways?”

                “You two came into school together and I made an assumption. Now please Krista, we need to go now.”

                “I’m not going anywhere,” I snapped when Claire grabbed my arm. I pulled myself out of her grip, and slammed my locker shut.

                Claire explained, “Why do you want to stay here? We could offer you so much if you came. Krista, you don’t understand what this place is like. I know you don’t think it’s real, but it is. You saw what my dad did that day. You saw what he did with the fire. You could do way more than that. There is nothing here for you. But in Brent, there is so much.” There’s a place where you would stay, and I have a letter to show you.” Claire dug in her pocket and pulled a crumbled piece of paper out.