Dionysus (Hades Series #1.5)

Chapter Eleven - Dionysus

late update, i'm sorry my loves! i've spent the last couple of days moving into my new flat, and it's all been very stressful and tiresome ;-;

Chapter Eleven

Kenzie goes into a state of shock as soon as I utter those words, her entire body stiffening as her mouth open and closes several times in speechless stupor.

"Dollface?" I grip her shoulders, shaking her slightly. She blinks blankly at me. "Kenzie, snap out of it. You're scaring Jasmine."

The mention of Jasmine's name seems to shake her out of her reverie a little, and she tightens her hold on the little girl in her arms. "Can you-?"

I nod, knowing exactly what she wants. "Of course."

The entire car ride home is filled with deafening silence, giving me an uneasy sense of dejavu; but this time the silence is for all the wrong reasons.

Not like the silence was right the last time, but you know what I mean.

This time, the silence is deafening with the endless possibilities of what I just told Kenzie. What bombshell I just dropped on her and her.... daughter? Even though she wasn't saying anything, I could see her mind racing behind those big blue eyes of her, and I can only imagine the endless possibilities she's coming up with. I sigh, and grip the wheel tighter. I just hope it isn't as bad as I thought it was when I drove past.

But my hopes were in vain, just like I knew they would be.

Kenzie lets out a strangled sob as I pull up near the blazing fire, keeping well out of the way of the fire engines as they whiz past with their sirens blaring. Tongue-like orange flames stain the sky, daring to dance higher and higher as the blaze of the fire roars on, and if you didn't know what was previously there, you'd hardly suspect that it was once a house, so bad was the blaze.

Kenzie practically falls out of the car and sprints over to the other side of the road, shouting at the top of her lungs. Firemen rush over to meet her, barring her way so she can't get any closer to the blaze, and her screams grow even louder and more desperate. I resist the urge to run after and comfort her, instead forcing myself to hang back as I slowly unbuckle Jasmine and allow the firemen to explain the situation to Kenzie.

I've already heard what's going on. I don't need to hear the details a second time.

"Is that my house?" Jasmine whispers, her eyes wide with horror as I lift her out of the car awkwardly hold her in my arms. She grabs my hand and doesn't let go, her grip tightening so much that I can almost feel the bones in my hand clicking against each other.

I twist my lips to the side, trying to smile reassuringly but knowing that it more than likely only comes out as a half-assed grimace. "Yeah it is kiddo."

"What happened?"

I don't reply straight away, my eyes fixed on the hysterical girl sobbing on the sidewalk. "That's what I really want to know."

We finally reach Kenzie, and she turns at the sound of my footsteps to look at me with tear-stricken cheeks. "How did you know?"

"You forgot your shoes, so I came to drop them off." I watch her sympathetically. "When I arrived the fire was only just starting, so I called the fire department and then you."

"They said they talked to you." She swallows. "What did they say?"

"Kenzie are you sure you want me to-"