At Second Sight

Chapter 13

***Well, here we go. This was my third time rewriting this chapter. If anything doesn't make sense, let me know. I'm surviving on very little sleep LOL***

***(Kai's POV)***

I run another red light. By this time, Skylor has her nails digging into my arm as she calls up everyone on the team. She tried getting hold of Nya, but she never picked up.

I can barely breathe. My sister – she could be dying. On her sixteenth birthday.

I blink back tears, hoping I don't remember this day in the future for all the wrong reasons.

Skylor hangs up after talking with Cole. "They're all on their way, Kai. And the emergency help should arrive soon. It's going to be okay."

"But Nya – I swore to protect her. I never should have left her alone."

"Kai, she's old enough to be on her own for a while. This is a freak situation. It won't happen again."

"'Again'? What if there's no 'again'? What if my little sister is" – I swallow – "gone, Skye? I need her."

"Don't think about that, Kai. Don't you dare think that your sister won't make it. That kind of thinking just lowers our chances of getting her out all right." She massages my tense arm muscles, then goes back to squeezing the life out of me when we take a turn too fast.

To her credit, she hasn't asked me to slow down at all.

"There! We're on our street," I say triumphantly. "And I can see the shop from here!"

Strangely enough, though...I can't see any flames.

"Skye, where's the fire?"

"Maybe...maybe my Dad's loser henchman never got here?" she says, hope tainting her voice.

I hold my breath.

As I lurch to a stop right in front of my house, I see Lloyd waving his arms at us. I throw the car in park and rip out the key, coming to meet him.

"What happened?" I demand. "Where's my sister?"

He frowns. "Kai...I can't get to her. There are flames running all across the hallway to your room."

My face turns white. The fire...it's consuming the inside of the house. "And you left Nya in there?"

He shakes his head adamantly. "No, Kai. I decided I would wait a moment for you to get here so I could see if there were any other possible entrances. You arrived just as I was about to go back in for her." He rubs a hand over his face. "This is not good."

"Where's the emergency help?" Skylor exclaims.

I curse, already running for the house. "I guess the stupid mayor of Ninjago still hasn't given them enough funding to expand their services."

Skylor jogs right alongside me. "We need to be careful how much oxygen we use, Kai. We don't want to breathe in smoke too heavily, or every one of us will be killed. And running, which causes labored breathing, is not going to do you any favors once we get inside!"

I ignore her, going even faster for the door. "I have to save my sister!"

My hand reaches for the doorknob, and I try to wrench it open. Lloyd grabs my arm.