1 The Fire a few Blocks away

So there I was, running through the streets with mom's phone in my hand. I had to reach Kai. Glancing down at the news article, I skimmed it for his current location. To my relief, I would only have to run a few blocks away from where I lived. As I looked through the few pictures, apparently it was just his house. It was his entire neighborhood. I almost tripped and looked up to see that a car had pulled into a driveway, a family of four or five loaded out. There was a bike attached to the back and I stole it as quickly as I had left my house.

"Hey, where are you going with my bike!" a man shouted at my face. It must have been the father of the family and wasn't happy to see that I was running off with his bike. In fear of getting the police called on me, I hopped on and rode like the wind down the street. I barely stopped to catch my breath, for Kai had done something not even Kayhari could have foreseen.

The wind blew through my hair as I biked to the top of the tunnel hill that bordered the start of the final block. After I crossed this, I would get the Kai. From the top of the hill, I could see ashes blowing through the wind and a neighborhood set ablaze. I was scared to say the least and pray they wouldn't die if I tried to save him. The sun is going down behind me letting the glow of the fire warmed the entire town that this was Kai's fault.

With what courage I had left, the weight of my body sped the bike down the hill, the smell of smoke whiff causing my wrinkle. It was suffocating, and I could only imagine the sheer amount of fear coming as tears for Kai. Even so, I rode straight into the burning neighborhood. "Kai!"

I called his names through my coughing and heavy breaths. Gasping for air, I could just see him. First, I noticed his brown hair and orange streaks popping out at me. And then bright tears dripping from his eyes and sparkling in the light of the fire. As much as I didn't want to believe it, it was definitely him. There was a man shouting at him and I could just hear the sound of his voice through the sirens of the fire trucks and men police cars that had congregated in the neighborhood.

That's when the grown man slapped Kai across the face and I knew I had to help him. The closer I got, the more I was this astonished by the man's words. "You aren't my son! You're nothing but a monster! Get out of my family, NOW!"

He screamed with hatred in his voice to make an army fall to their knees and bawl their eyes out. I could see Kai try to fight the horrid words that came to the mouth out of whom I assumed was his dad. That's when something came from within me, a feeling of rage that even I knew better than to act on. "KAI!"

Both the man and his son looked over at me. I witnessed Kai's eyes widen with hope and courage. "Lily? How did you know-"

I swiftly cut the boy off, hopping off the bike and walking over to them. "Kai! Take this."

His face conveyed slight confusion, but he took the bike, anyway. I shouted 'ride' with barely a moment to catch my breath, for it all happened so fast. The man now staring down at me had a look of pure rage that I could never explain unless I experienced it myself. That's when he reeled his fists back as far as he could and took a swing, but not before a nearby cop could stop him.

"Sir, we have reason to suspect that you of child abuse," the officer cuffed his wrists and dragged him into the car.

Another police officer ran over to me. "Are you alright!? I saw what happened back there and would have come quicker if I wasn't busy helping others civilians get to safety!"

"No need to worry, I saved Kai," I turned around to see Kai, staring back at me from the top of the hill. "Thank you for everything!"

"I should be thanking you," she smiled. "It was a brave thing you did back there. do you know that boy?"

"Yeah, we are friends," I replied.

Can I get your mom's phone number, so we can call her and give her updates about the boy's father?" she kindly asked, and wrote it down. "Thank you. I assume he will be safe staying at your house."

"Yep, he'll stay with us!" I smiled.

"Good, but he will have to come with us to the station for now," she told me. "We'll have to question him about his father as well as figure out what caused this explosive fire."

"Alright, I'll get him," I pulled the police officer as I ran up the hill to collect Kai. He was still sitting on the bike at the top of the hill, probably too scared to leave me anywhere his dad.

He obediently came down the hill and was escorted into a police car. I watched as the bright red and blue lights drove off onto the highway and into the night. I grabbed the bike and rode back home, to my mother who was worried sick.

What nightmare had I just walked into?