Stardust Soul

14

"What the hell is going on?!" Ren quaked with his teary eyes.

Lauren threw her fireballs towards our direction. I ran over the countertop and rolled down to the floor, merely dodging the flames. "I'd like to explain but right now, focus on saving your ass!" I yelled, grabbing a few knives and throwing it towards her.

She used her arm to deflect the incoming knives, not even scratching her one bit. "You think throwing those knives would hurt me?" She laughed maniacally as she made the flames emerge and threw her flames like rapid fire. "You don't stand a chance against me!"

"Lame pun, sister!" I grabbed Ren by the collar, dragging him outside the kitchen. The flames missed but their impact was so immense we could feel them from behind the wall.

Lauren bellowed again, "You see that? That is the power of my Stand, Scandal! You brats who don't even know how to use your own Stands will just die if you continue to fight me. How about you surrender and I'll spare your life? Be my minions and I'll shower you with wealth!"

"C'mon, you have five seconds to change your mind... Five!" she raises her arms, making the flames around her emerge once again, gathering to form a huge ball of fire.

I held Ren by the wrist as I was about to run away, but he just froze in place. I started pulling him away, "Ren! We got to get out of here!"

"Four!"

The huge fireball just gets bigger and bigger as she counts down. I tried pulling him again but he wouldn't budge. What is wrong with him? Why is he spacing out?

"Snap out of it, Ren. You got to focus on saving your life!"

"Three"

"Franz..." he muttered, staring at Franz's body. Is he waiting for him to gain consciousness, or he still couldn't absorb the fact that Franz is already gone? I held back my tears; I hated people dying around me. I do want to mourn for Franz's passing, but our lives are at stake right now!

"Two!"

I shouted at him once more, using all the strength I could muster to pull him away from the chaos, "Ren, listen to me! We have to leave Franz. We have to go!"

"B-but Franz!"

"THERE'S NO TIME!"

"One!"

I finally managed to haul Ren with me, running for both our lives. The last thing I saw when I turned was Franz's body engulfed by the flames charging towards us, giving me chills down my spine. I felt adrenaline course through my veins, my shoes pounding hard on the marble floor as I ran past doors, opening each one in random. I don't know where we're going, but as long as we can get away.

I ended up dragging us in a room with four doors, each leading to who knows where. I glanced at Ren, about to ask him where to go, but he stood behind me, staring blankly at the floor. I put my hands on his face, slapping his cheek to get his attention. "Hey, snap out of it. Ren, hey- HEY!"

I started to panic when I heard insane laughter from outside, "Now, where did you run off to? I will find you and kill the both of you~!"

"Ren, please!" I begged, shaking his face. "Where do we go? We need to get to safety!"

His blue eyes appeared frozen, gazing somewhere else other than my face. It took me a few more shakes until his eyes hovered to mine. We stared at each other for a while, I waiting for him to say another word.

Another explosion echoed from outside, not far from the room we secluded ourselves in, followed by Lauren's screeching voice. "Kumiko Matsui and Ren Ueno, where are you~? I can't wait to kill you~!"