Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Friendship Runs Thicker than Blood ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Prologue:

The explosion comes suddenly, with no warning. It tears through the walls that were supposed to contain it, sending debris flying outward with such force that the gift shop next to the laboratory is affected, as well. The gift shop roof collapses; a secondary explosion occurs within the store. Dozens of lives end with terror and fire in the blink of an eye. Only one girl, the closest out of all to the initial explosion, is protected. A shimmering barrier protects her from falling debris. Her eyes widen in fear and incredulity; she watches the fire come closer…closer… and miss her altogether. Only after the fire has mostly burned itself out does she collapse on the floor.

Two hours later, after firefighters have lost all hope of finding survivors, one young man finds a black-haired girl unconscious under an intact section of wall. Except for a few bruises and a thorough coating of dust, she seems unharmed.

“I have a live one!” he shouts to his comrades, who are still combing the rubble. EMTs hurry to meet him as he carries his precious burden out of the decimated zone. He helps them gently place her on a gurney, then takes off his helmet to breathe in the fresher air. The girl's glazed brown eyes fly open, and she starts to hyperventilate.

“Hey honey, you're okay,” the firefighter tells her gently. She focuses on him, and he smiles reassuringly. “Can you tell us your name?”

“Seda Volind,” she pants. “What happened?”

“There was an accident in the lab, and it exploded. The gift shop you were in exploded, too. You are a very lucky girl. I found you under part of a wall. It must have protected you from the rest of the explosion.” She suddenly reaches out and grabs his hand, pulling a blood pressure cuff from the hands of one of the EMTs.

“The fire just missed me,” she tells him. She is terrified, confused, and agitated. “It was heading right for me—and it just missed me. Nothing hit me. Everything would just bounce off the air in front of me.”

“Fear can cause us to see things that aren't really there,” one of the EMTs tells her. “It may have just looked that way to you.”

“No, it really missed me! It bounced off a shield in front of me!” the girl shouts. She starts to writhe madly on the gurney. One of the EMTs sedates her.

“See if you can find her parents,” another one orders the firefighter. “We're going to take her to the hospital.” They load Seda into the ambulance and drive away, sirens blaring. The firefighter starts combing the crowd, looking for people who resemble Seda, shouting out her last name.

In the ambulance, Seda slides in and out of consciousness. She hears the activity of the EMTs, but also a faint whispering. Before she can figure out what the other noise is, the sedative takes hold fully and sends her back into unconsciousness filled with dark, strange dreams.