The Hex Files

3

For once, he'd had no trouble finding the place. The smoke was impossible to miss.

Sol staggered to a halt at the edge of the crowd, wheezing as he struggled to catch his breath. This was what he got for forging doctor's notes to get out of gym. That he had actually managed to run the ten blocks was nothing short of a miracle.

The street was a haze of red and blue as he pushed his way forwards. Sirens wailed into the night, the police forming a perimeter around the building as paramedics ushered people away in shock blankets. He spotted a teenage girl with flowers in her hair in the back of an ambulance- he'd seen her somewhere before, but just then he couldn't think where.

Even from down here, he could see the damage. Smoke billowed from a scar in the side of the building, where the billboard had been ripped out at the seams by the force of the explosion. A gaping pit had been blown in Sebastian Underwood's perfect smile.

The next part was a little fuzzy.

He remembered the crowd getting louder- turning, just in time to see the paramedics coming out. Two on either side, carrying something between them.

He remembered pushing forwards. Someone catching his arm. Hands and voices, trying to pull him back. Eventually, they did- but not before he saw the stretcher.

He nearly didn't recognize her at first.

Her arm was gone from the shoulder. The side of her face was dark with soot and blood, and there was something very wrong with the tilt of her neck. Her eyes were closed.

Nearby, Sol could hear someone shouting- and the funny thing was, the voice sounded an awful lot like his. 

***

Because this chapter is so short there will be more this week! It's a James Patterson chapter. A chaplet?

Let me know what you think in the comments below, and don't forget to vote! :)