For some, the horror was over in a second, but for Laena it unfolded in an eternity.
She saw the glass burst as the shockwave broke out of the truck. She saw lights flicker and shatter as the flames spread. Laena watched as the fire engulfed Markus and the other player on the field.
The shockwave reached the bench. A glittering shower of sparks came with it. Small fragments hit something in the air.
Laena reacted before Safora and her parents even twitched, pulling them all down between the seats.
Everything moved so slowly in her perception. They all fought back to their feet a moment after the explosion, but it looked like everybody moved in slow motion to her. The ringing in her ears and the general confusion made the scene chaotic for Laena.
She saw the panicked look in Safora’s eyes and held her friend from flying to search for Markus.
Safora locked eyes with her, the fear and horror as prominent on her face as on her parent’s faces. Laena shook her head and took Safora by the hand running to the stairs and down toward the field. Thankfully Safora let Laena lead her down that way.
The grass was still burning and parents and players ran like headless chickens.
Out of the smoke crawled players from each team. Laena stopped to help them but they weren’t injured.
Safora ran on into the smoke searching for her brother. Laena felt rain hit her should as she helped one of the players to his feet and supported him.
It wasn’t rain coming down, however. She watched soil drizzle down from the sky. When she sat down with the boy she had helped and turned around the smoke had significantly cleared.
The scene was apocalyptic. It reminded Laena of the bombe craters of the World Wars as they were depicted in their history books.
But all over the crater player tumbled crawled or sat. Alive, unharmed. Laena saw Safora hugging her brother, and her heart skipped a beat. She had feared the worst, and to see Markus alive and healthy just overwhelmed her. Laena sat down beside the player she had helped off the field.
Laena didn’t notice that the boy looked at her. The whole situation was just too much for her.
The world around her still moved in slow motion. Laena closed her eyes trying to calm down, trying to get her emotions centered so she could stop perceiving everything in such painstaking detail.
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Ravela had taken the tire to the head rather well.
It nearly had broken her concentration when it broke her whimpering attempt at a last-second re-shielding. Her nose felt like it was broken and she was bleeding all over her clothes.
She waited for the backlash from using her powers to claim her but it didn’t happen.
Ravela stood up soar and exhausted, she expected to feel the weight of her effort would hit her any moment.
But except for the extreme tiredness, no other symptoms appeared.
She turned to the spectator ranks and slowly made her way to inspect the full scale of her failure. Ravela felt physically ill, but she had to see.
Tires screeched behind her and blue lights flashed. Ravela turned and saw a police cruiser race into the parking lot.
Two deputies jumped out. One ran right onto the field, and the other spotted Ravela and hurried over to her. He called out to her his tone alarmed and panic in his eyes, “What happened?”
Ravela responded by steadying herself against one of the cars in the lot before responding. “Some big guy rolled a truck onto the field and the entire thing exploded. He left,” Ravela pointed in the direction the stranger had fled, “that way.”
The deputy looked mortified. His gaze didn’t follow Ravela’s indication at all. His eyes looked only at the field.
A man appeared behind the deputy. Ravela recognized him. ‘When did he come back?’ Ravela reacted promptly. Stepping past the deputy. “That’s him!” She called out.
She made two steps before the deputy even reacted. She spotted the revolver in the big man’s hand. It was aimed at the still-turning deputy.
Ravela saw the finger on the trigger contract. Her hand flashed forward. Everything happened so fast. Two of her fingers slipped between the hammer just in time.
The revolver couldn’t fire and the man let go of the gun. Ravela took a punch to her already hurt nose. It didn’t hurt exactly but it sent her down to the pavement, more blood gushing out of her nose.
Meanwhile, the deputy had drawn his revolver, and to no surprise, he emptied his revolver without hesitation into the man that had just tried to murder him.
Six shots rang out in short order. The big man made a few steps toward the deputy who didn’t hesitate to use his weapon like a club.
After one swing the big guy went down. Ravela felt so weak she could stand up anymore. The deputy looked all kinds of traumatized, but he put handcuffs on the man before running back to the patrol car.
Ravela pulled her fingers out of the gun careful not to accidentally fire it. Ravela fiddled a moment with the drum mechanism before she found a way to unhinge the chamber drum and emptied the bullets onto the pavement.
Ravela rolled onto her stomach and slowly got up. She never felt this fatigued before. At this point, she almost wished she’d feel the cramping of her muscles instead. It felt cold, and Ravela shivered even though she felt comfortable and cozy before.
“Mr. Roice,” Someone called out to her.
The deputy from before had returned with a first-aid kit. From it, the deputy offered her two huge chunks of cotton.
“Stick those in your nose to plug the bleeding for now. Help me get this piece of trash into the cruiser, and then we’ll try to help the people.”
Ravela did with the cotton as she was instructed. Looking down at the handcuffed man she said, “I believe that man doesn’t need to be secured.”
Kneeling beside the handcuffed man, she checked for a pulse and found none. “There is no pulse. Let’s go help his victims.”
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The deputy hesitated only a moment before he ran off in a hurry with his first-aid kit, Ravela following as fast as she could. People were coming toward her making for the parking lot. She looked them over for injuries while passing by.
They looked to be uninjured. Though some were shouting very loudly. Some of them had been hit by the shock wave. In front of the spectator ranks, there were people passed out. The shock wave hit those in the higher ranks much worse. People were carrying people down.
Her eyes searched for Chi Han, the Pontis’ and Laena. She spotted Chi kneeling with one injured child, trying to console them. The sight broke her heart.
Ravela felt intense shame. She had failed that child. Doctor Han looked up and spotted Ravela walking toward her. The look on her face was indescribable but the paling on her face spoke volumes. Ravela looked at the crying child then down at her bloody clothes and nodded to Chi while walking onto the field away from the young children she would traumatize with her current look.
The field was a mess. the boxes and benches for the team were partially collapsed. In the middle of the field sat a big crater, and Ravela couldn’t believe the players all looked to be unharmed.
When she turned back to the edge of the field she finally spotted Safora and Laena standing between the cheerleaders and players of both teams. Ravela spotted Markus by Safora’s side, the girl desperately clinging to her brother as though he was in danger of vanishing into thin air. Ravela’s inner eye repeated the explosion for her and the flames swallowing the players. She felt acid rising in her throat.
Ravela walked away not wanting to disturb the teenagers. His feet led him in an arch back to the spectator ranks.
She spotted a man with a camera looking ill. Staring at the construction that used to hold the point display for the game.
Upon reaching the side of the photographer, Ravela saw what the man took a picture of in the flower bed. Her legs gave in at the sight of the two teenagers dead among the flowers. They hadn’t been protected by anything. Sharp chunks of metal and fragments carried by the explosion were catapulted through them and went into the lower wall of the scoreboard construction.
Ravela could see that they were both dead seconds after the explosion.
The teenagers died still holding hands, and the blood sprayed over the white flower bed like a fine mist. A gruesome, yet somehow beautiful sight.
A scream rang out behind her a high-pitched scream of agony. A woman in a Raven scarf and jacket had walked up behind them. “Maduk! Maduk! Noooohooo!” She wailed. Pushing past Ravela and the reporter, the woman kneeled beside the boy wearing a Raven’s uniform, sobbing profusely. She couldn’t watch another second of this.
Turning around in time to see an angry father in a Raven jacket run toward the reporter, Ravela got between the men before they could clash. The man looked like he considered punching Ravela as well, but then he glanced over to the scene, and he completely forgot about the reporter and Ravela. His face drained of all color he stumbled into the flower bed.
When the reporter tried to lift his camera Ravela held it down. Some things weren’t meant to be documented.
The reporter walked away after a moment of hesitation. He was hurrying off to other shots he might need. For the first time, she felt disgust for a profession in this world.
Ravela waited beside the flower bed in silence. The scene burned itself into her memory. Failure came at a price.
After what felt like an eternity someone pulled her around on her should. She found herself face to face with Sheriff Thorn.
Ravela blinked confused. She had no idea when it had become night. Hours must have passed while she just stood here. She looked back at the flowers; the parents and two teenagers were gone.
“Son, snap out of it. You need help. Come on. I’ll take you to a doctor. Come on, son. You can’t stand here forever.”
Ravela let the sheriff guide her to the spectator ranks where people were being treated still. There were still people around. A surprising amount of firetrucks and ambulances now filled the parking lot. The cars from townfolk that were still being treated or now in hospital, all had not a single window left in them
She was led to doctor Maven. The first thing the doctor did was snap his fingers around her ears on both sides. “Did you hear that, Mr. Roice?”
Ravela noticed that the man looked exhausted. “Yes.”
“On both sides?” Doctor Maven inquired with a hoarse voice.
“Yes, doctor. I am fine except for the nosebleed.”
He looked at her nose and with the most gentle touch felt the ridge of her nose before saying, “It isn’t broken, you’re lucky. I think the bleeding has subsided too,” Getting out a small flashlight from his breast pocket, he performed some tests on her eyes. “so you can take the cotton out of your nose. Once the doctor checked her nose and mouth for more bleeding Ravela was free to go.
Ravela looked for Chi in the group of doctors, and couldn’t find her.
She walked to the parking lot, her state of shock wearing off. Her heart slowing down only served to intensify the feeling of fatigue. Witnessing actual evil today had changed her perspective on things.
A drop on her cheek and her forehead made her look up. The bulky clouds overhead promised a downpour.
Sheriff Thorn and his deputies were busy helping firefighters, doctors, and any family that looked lost.
Ravela felt someone touching her shoulder. Turning her head she looked at the deputy she had saved in the parking lot. The man squeezed her shoulder a bit and said, “Thanks, for helping me out back there. You have a habit of saving officers, don’t you? If there is ever something I can help you with just call the sheriff’s office and ask for deputy Briar.” Just as spontaneously as he had stopped in he ran off. She watched him return to the couple he had been helping before he came over.
Sheriff Thorn gave her a grim nod when she passed by.
Ravela slowly walked away from the parking lot. The football field was on the outskirts of the town. The explosion had cracked plenty of windows. The city was unsettlingly silent. Everywhere, inside the homes lights were still on, and Ravela saw people running around organizing things.
While walking through the streets now and then an ambulance passed by Ravela. The way home felt insufferably long and her fist balled in impotent rage. Every passing car marked another failure, inadequacy, and stain upon her. She felt dirty.
Goosebumps crawled up her back as she reached the front door of Ma Stone’s hostel. In the hallway, Ravela could hear many voices inside the dining room. A few adults were talking inside. Ignoring them, Ravela went upstairs. All the rooms upstairs, even the one with the wall only partially repaired, were filled with chatter.
All things considered, most of the visiting parents and teenagers probably wouldn’t leave tonight. ‘Not after how things ended today,’ Ravela thought bitterly.
Her room was dark but warm. Ma Stone must have turned on the heater when she changed her sheets and towels. Ravela felt grateful, not for the first time for Ma Stone’s quiet care.
She locked her room, threw off her ruined clothes, and fell face-first into her pillow.
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Laena closed her eyes for the hundredth time. Trying to get the second indicator of her alarm clock. ‘Move god damn it! You stupid- why won’t you move?!’
She silently suffered the drag of time she perceived. Beside her, on a folding camping bed, Beth slept blissfully unaware of the torture Laena suffered.
Laena scolded herself. It would be wrong to say Beth didn’t suffer. The Raven’s cheerleader turned and kick her feet in her sleep which did exactly nothing but keep her senses in a state of alert. Even with closed eyes she still felt like time was passing slower.
She felt cursed. Substituting this waking state nightmare with a normal nightmare seemed almost enticing. In her dreams, at least, everything happened like it should, at normal time and speed.
Slowing her breathing, Laena focussed only on the sound of the second indicator of her alarm clock. Relaxing her muscles she felt the tenseness drain from her with every new breath.
Then inevitably Beth gasped and sat up, leading Laena to open her eyes. Immediately she felt her body tense up again. The world ever slowing down for her. Beth looked around wildly hyperventilating.
“Beth, it’s okay. You’re okay.” Laena’s attempts to comfort one of her rivals didn’t work well. She still wasn’t quite happy with her getting to stay in her room, but her grandmother insisted they would take the girls and parents, whom they had room for, in for the night. Laena thought about all the people in town who rushed to the scene after the explosion. People who could walk without a stick had come all but running to help. Her grandmother called out her name searching for her. The voice of her grandmother had been unrecognizable. The panic in it scared her more than the explosion did.
She got up from her bed. “Wait I’ll get us some tea. Maybe we can just stay up for the night and talk.”
Beth looked at her and smiled wryly. “Yeah, that’d be great.”
Laena walked down the stairs quietly.
The empty dining room still looked wrong with the new table. All wrong to the teenager who only wanted back the old table. In the kitchen, she put on a kettle prepared two cups got into the cupboard, and put the jar of honey and some cookies her grandmother baked this morning on a tray.
Filling a glass of water for herself, Laena took sips from the cold fluid.
Someone knocked on the window. The Laena from the past would have jumped up scared but now her body reacted to the startling noise of the world slowing down giving her time to respond more controlled. However, that didn’t change the fact that she felt her heart beat in her throat.
Laena turned around and saw her best friend's face pressed to the glass making a silly face. No matter the reaction time nothing could have prepared her for Safora making the cleaner wrasse while looking at her cross-eyed. The water she was drinking ventilated out of her nose and mouth. She coughed and tried not to laugh too loud.
After she gathered herself she opened the window.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your family?”
Safora floated into the room pretending to luxuriate on her side on a bed or couch. “Markus is alright. I came 'cause I needed to talk to a friend.” Safora declared. “Also, I need a hug. And you know not anyone will do for those.”
“Stop fooling around.” Laena felt flattered but pulled Safora down from floating in the kitchen. Once she got her friend to stand like a normal person in the kitchen, Laena gave her a big hug.
“So, what are the honey and cookies for?” Safora inquire.
“I’m making tea for Beth and me. We both couldn’t sleep, and since we both couldn’t sleep we decided to stay up and talk.”
Safora put her hands on her hip. “Fraternizing with the enemy? Having a sleepover without your best friend, tsk tsk.”
Laena rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that so quit your whining. You can come up too, so zip it.”
Safora looked at the tray. “Bit sad for a sleepover, isn’t it?”
Laena stuck out her tongue at her friend and got the whole cookie jar off the countertop. “Go bring that up to my room, but quietly don’t wake the adults or Ma. And don’t you dare float through the house like some ghost, you hear me?”
Laena concentrated on the kettle after Safora left, already chowing down on one of her precious cookies. She got the teabags in the now three cups and snatched the kettle off the stove before it could whistle.
Then she waited, for the tea to be done. Pulling out the tea bags she made her way upstairs. Her new heightened sense helped her balance tremendously.
Laena stopped outside her room and carefully opened it while holding the tray with one hand.
The door opened and Laena found that Safora had gathered all the girls from the other rooms. This is going to be a long night.