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Chapter Fourteen

The words come out of her mouth like she asked me to sign up for a secret mission and assassinate Henry Kissinger.

The words come out of her and my blood flow stops.

The words come out of her and everything that seems to happen around me stops.

The words come out of her and the living soul inside me dies.

Flame Harper had an accident.

I don't even think twice and I'm standing in front of the bus exit door.

'Let me out, Starky.'

He shoots me a weird look. 'But we're not even halfway there, mate!'

'I said LET ME OUT.'

Starky looks me with big, unsure eyes.

I never have talked to him like this.

But this is Flame. This is war.

His head moves up ad down and he opens the door.

I push it open further and race up the road.

Flame Harper had an accident.

Sweat beads my forehead my my legs are wobbling.

Numerous possibilities run through my mind.

An accident.

House on fire?

Mother dead?

Got kidnapped?

Committed suicide?

My eyes are filling with tears and my vision gets blurry.

I shake my head wildly and fasten my pace.

An ambulance zooms past me, and I stare after it.

What if Flame's inside?

I start to run, ignoring the runny sweat flowing down my back.

Run, Vanessa, run.

The ambulance stops, and a worried man with a bowler hat rushes outside.

'Open the doors! Hurry up!'

I walk up to him and ask, 'Please, who is inside this van?'

He checks his watch. 'I don't have time, kid. Get out of my way.'

He pushes me aside and opens the back doors.

'Okay just tell me this. Is it a girl with black hair?'

The driver, who was previously busy shouting at his partners, tilts his head at me.

'You know her?'

Relief enters me. 'YES! YES! I KNOW HER!'

'Nerdy glasses, black hair, fair complexion...'

I clap my hands nervously. 'Yes! Yes that's the one! I'm her best friend, please let me in.'

After shooting me an awkward glance, he motions his partner to open the door.

I push myself through.

The interior is large enough for me to stand on my knees and slither all the way to a stretcher.

On the stretcher is a body.

Flamora Sierra Harper.

Her black hair is twisted in to a braided bun, and her eyes have dark circles underneath.