Redemption (Triplet Sequel)

Chapter 8

Zefra POV

Everything happened so fast, we barely had time to grasp what was going on. Davian, Ma and I were downstairs watching a movie and Phyllis was napping upstairs when the call came. We heard mom's scream coming from Ma's phone the second she opened it.

"Get out of the house-" mom's scared voice yelled before the connection was cut off. Immediately, Ma took action.

"Out now" Ma screamed at us. "PHYLLIS"

Davy and I shot up from our seat and ran towards the television while Ma sprinted upstairs. There were numerous emergency exits throughout the house but the closest one was a small mouse hole in the wall. Davy shifted in a snake at the same time as I shifted into a mouse. The snake was bigger than I, so I jumped on his back and nailed my claws in his skin. Davy didn't seem to notice the pain because he slid through the hole. The tunnel was not particularly long but it seemed otherwise.

My heart was beating so fast and yet I had no idea what was going to happen. I kept remembering my mom's scared voice and that alone made my blood freeze.

It was when we arrived outside that I felt the heat wave throwing me a few feet away. I could feel my fur almost burn from the intensity of the heat. The wave was so powerful I didn't feel myself falling on the ground. My ears were ringing and my vision was all blurry. I hadn't noticed shifting back into my human form until I used my elbows to lift me up. But I almost wished I hadn't looked.

The house had been blown up. It was all gone; there was nothing left but ruins on fire. Black smoke covered the sky. Fire and debris of the house surrounded us. The home I spent the three best years of my life was suddenly all gone. All the memories, the laughs and the tears disappeared in flame.

I looked around, seeing the extent of the damage until something caught my eye. I turned towards the street in time to see mom getting hit on the head and thrown in the back of a black car. I wanted to scream at her to tell her to watch out; tell her we were fine but the man standing beside her made my throat tightened.

Standing there with a grin on his face was James Hartman. I recognized his straight posture and red-orange hair. He spoke on the phone before walking around to the passenger seat with a satisfied look on his face.

"Get up" I faintly heard my brother say as he pulled my arm up. "Zefra, let's go"

I got up and stood shakily by my brother but something blocked my movement. I looked down and saw a piece of wood sticking just above my hip. With a grunt I took the wood in both my hands and removed it from my flesh. Tears appeared in my vision but I refused to cry. This was not the time. Blood instantly started flowing but the gash was not deep enough to cause problem. I'll survive.

"We have to find Ma and Phyllis" Davy said. My brother didn't seem to have any serious injuries which gave a little relief. He had cuts and bruises over his body and his head was bleeding.

I swore. I completely forgot about them for a moment. I started running through what was left of the house as Davy took flight as a bird. I could feel the heat on my skin, almost burning. My eyes were getting blurry from the smoke and the debris was making it hard for me to walk. I tried not to touch anything so that I wouldn't get burned, but it was getting harder with the uneven ground.

I saw the remnants of beds and sofas. Pictures and paintings were up in flames. I saw Phyllis' favorite stuff Pegasus on the ground. It was mostly burnt, and one of its eye had melted off. I picked it up and continued my search.

"Ma! Phyllis!"

I screamed Ma and Phyllis' name over and over again but there was no response. I could hear the sirens in a distance which didn't leave us much time. We couldn't be seen here, like this.