MODERN LOVE
CHAPTER 1
THE BOMB
Fire was everywhere in a second. The girls were screaming while red and yellow flames brushed along the floor and walls towards them. Black smoke billowed in dark clouds above them and Nikita was forced to remember one day.
Another day where they found themselves dying in a circle of blue flames and a giant rock falling from the sky. Ruth was the first to fall as the door to the roof was blown off its hinges and Megan was sent flying as the computer exploded almost in her face.
But Nikita was the one with the power to get them out of there without being hurt.
“Stop!” she screamed, throwing both hands into the air.
The roar of the fire quietened, the heat blazed less and the threat of the black smoke hung in the air motionless.
“Get up.” Nikita shouted at her friends. “Come on, I can’t hold it for ever.”
“Where are we going?” Megan asked, as Nikita dragged them up the stairs to the roof.
“If we go back the way the men at the back door will probably have been told to kill us.”
“So why are we going to the roof?” Ruth asked.
“You’ll see.”
The air here was clear and the roof was yet undamaged by the explosion, Nikita had acted fast enough after all. The helicopter that Mama had escaped in was a few miles to the east and steadily getting further away.
Nikita was losing grip on time and soon, when they were directly above the side entrance, the explosion shook the building and fire rent the air. The girls were blasted off their feet, blasted off the building and were falling to the ground.
Nikita, as her friends were screaming in terror, grabbed each of their hands and time slowed down again. They were still falling but slower and slower all the time till they were about three foot from the ground where they stopped, hovering in the air.
Exhausted, Nikita let time slip through again and the girls hit the ground hard.
“Oh!” Ruth groaned, “A bit warning would have been nice, Nikki.”
“I’m sorry but there really wasn’t the time. It was splat,” she said smacking her hands together, “on the ground or get barbecued.” She pointed to the roof.
“We’ve got to get out of here before we draw attention to ourselves.” Megan said, getting in between the two before they started bickering. “Where can we go?”
“I live nearby, come on.”
Megan and Nikita slumped onto Ruth’s couch after they got into her apartment.
“Wow, this is nice.” Megan said, as Ruth gave each of them an ice cold bottle of beer.
“Did anyone get burned or injured? ‘Cause I don’t have a first aid kit.”
“Fine.” The girls chimed.
“There are spare beds upstairs if you want to rest. We don’t need to talk about this just now.”
“Yeah, I think I may just take you up on that.” Said Nikita.
Ruth was just showing the girls to the upper level when someone burst in through the apartment door.
“Stop! Who the hell are you?” Megan said, nearest to the intruder pointing a gun to his head.
Jack through his hands up whilst Ruth shouted from behind, “Dude, stop pointing your gun at my boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend? Gosh, she sure moves fast.” Said Megan.
“Uh… hi.” Jack said, lowering his hands back to his sides. “I heard about the explosion on the news.”
“Wow, that was fast.” Said Nikita.
“How did you get out?” Jack asked.
“Oh, uh… this one.” Ruth pointed to Nikita, “She can control time.”
“Ruth!” Nikita exclaimed.
“It’s okay, he knows everything about me.”
“Everything?” Megan asked.
“Everything; from the meteorite to Mama.”
“So, did you manage to help her?” Jack asked.
“No, she double crossed us.”
“And these are…?”
“My friends? Yes. This is Megan Archer and Nikita Rice. Guys, this is Jack Cooley.”
Both girls could see what was so alluring about Jack Cooley with his piercing green eyes, dark hair, chiselled cheek bones and cocky grin.
“Hello.” They both said a little flirtatiously.
“Hi.” He said, smiling that lopsided smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“Weren’t you two going for a nap?” Ruth cut in a little crossly.
“Oh, yeah,” Megan feigned a yawn, “we’re so tired. Come on, Nikita, let’s leave them to it.”
Jack followed Ruth to her own room where she lay down upon her bed.
“You don’t look so good.” Jack said, lying down next to her.
“I’ll be fine. Some rest and a little time; I should heal up nicely.”
“Are you sure you don’t need a doctor?”
“Nah, there’s nothing they can do for me.”
“So what happens now?”
“Well, we’ve got to stop Mama Goody.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why does that fall to you?”
“It’s not just me, it’s all of us. If we want our lives back, Jack, we’re going to have to fight like hell for them.”
YOU ARE READING
Close To Embers (formerly known as Modern Love)
Science FictionSP: Double crossed, cheated, victimised and torn - yet the girls are still standing strong. LP: Not even a week had passed since the girls had parted ways to do Mama Goody's bidding. They were successful, if not unorthodox, in their roles. Flame...
