Spark

~ONE~

THE STEADY BLARING of Sirens intruded on the soft hum of the night, startling me out of my dreams to a chaotic nightmare. I couldn't see through the darkness of my bedroom. There didn't seem to be any immediate threat to me. Still, all of my senses told me I had something to fear.

Through my foggy bedroom window, every house on the street suddenly lit up. Silhouettes paced around from one window to the next. The crying of sleepy babies and the whines of scared children caused me to finally place my feet on the ground and climb out of my covers. By that time people started escaping their houses to follow the sound of the sirens.

I hopped around my room (still full of initial shock) trying to find my way to my dresser. Hurriedly, I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and slid a pair of flipflops onto my bare feet.

Snap!

The sound of the breaking plastic nearly sent me over the edge. It was enough to cause me to squeal, pulling me awake. I gazed down at my broken flipflop. Momentarily, I thought about rummaging for another pair but decided against it.

When my toes hit the wet grass outside, I could feel the wave of disaster. Cars raced behind the ambulance to the lake. Others charged through the crowd on the sidewalk. It was already past two A.M, yet everyone managed to get decently dressed and out of bed. A mixture of curiosity, anger, and fear seemed to build up in everyone. Curiosity, anger, and fear- all of the unknown.

As the mob of people reached closer to the scene, I recognized a faint burning smell. Just like everyone else, horror pumped through my entire body. It was all too real to be a dream. Yet, I found myself trying to wake up and find myself back at home, peacefully in my bed.

Caution tape was strung out, telling me that I had reached the limits. Policemen, firefighters, and paramedics surrounded the scene that was nearly twenty yards away from us. It was by an old rescue boat that drifted to shore years ago. The chipped and faded scrap was blocked from our sight by a fire truck. What we could see, was alarming. The burnt smell, the radiating concern, and the startled law enforcement were all quickly rising.

In the middle of the mess, I could make out my dad, the dock owner. He was talking with Sheriff Marshall, drastically using his hands, as he always had. Leaning in on the caution tape, I heard bits of yelling from my dad. I couldn't make out a conversation though.

"Kate!" I heard my mom's voice from behind. "I'm so glad you're here." I could barely hear my mom, despite her shouting. Angry slurs from Mr. White and Phillip Vincent led the crowd. No information had been given to anyone as everyone working on the scene worked to take care of the problem

"What's going on?" I shouted, stepping closer to my mom. After repeating myself several times, she answered.

"I don't know, sweetie," she said, holding back tears. "Your dad was called out here when the police were called. I didn't want to wake you too so I left you asleep."

Relieved to know where my parents were (yet still not calm at all), my mind wondered to the next thing. "Mom, I need to go look for Evan."

She just nodded, looking more exhausted than ever before. She had always been patient, helping my dad manage work at the docks. And although it was unspoken, she knew that whatever was happening would only cause more trouble for the dock and the town.

As I pushed through the crowd in search for Evan, I heard the demanding roar of everyone in the crowd. Even frail old Mrs. Vincent was shouting out in concern.

"What the hell is all of this about!?" The growl came from the town's newest resident, Mr. Maddison.

"Everyone needs to calm down," was the response of Sherriff Marshall, on the other side of the tape.

"Calm down?! Give us a reason to calm down," someone mocked.

"If someone doesn't tell us what's going on soon, I'll come over there myself!"

More panic aroused in me when no sight of Evan came into view. The chaos was suffocating me. Even I was getting sucked into the angry shouts, screaming for Evan.

I saw an outline in the dark of someone standing alone just outside the crowd. The hooded figure was tall, lean, and held his head down low. Hope filled my spirit as I approached the boy.

"Evan," I harshly slapped my hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't find you anywhere! Don't scare me like-"

"Ouch!" I was shut up as Aziel AlBear turned to face me. A cigarette hung loosely in his hand as a smile worked it's way slowly onto his lips. "Not who you were excepting, huh?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and tried my best to hide my embarrassment. "Where is Evan?"

"How would I know, Kate?" All at the same time he tilted his head with a smirk and stomped on the cigarette after letting it fall from his finger tips. His eyes seemed to linger on me for minutes, rather than a few short seconds.

The sirens were still going off, but something silenced the crowd. This was enough to turn my attention away from Aziel and back to the horror-struck crowd. Everyone fought for a front row seat, leaving me behind.

Next I heard the voice, undeniably belonging to Walter Maddison. "Why is my daughter over there? Who else is back there?"

"Dammit, who else is involved in this?!" Was another cry.

People started backing away from the sight as others inched closer. I took that opportunity to make my way forward. And as the sight of April Maddison came into view, I stopped.

Sheriff Marshall guided a very pale and cold girl from the other side of the caution tape. She smelled faintly of blood, but didn't have any on her. And though the smell of smoke hung in the air, none of it radiated from her. The child's gaze was fixed on the ground as she took shaky steps. No one was relived that she wasn't physically hurt, because we were all to aware of the mental scars. And I knew all to well who was back there with her.

"Where is Evan?!" I screamed once more, louder than I ever had before.

"Everyone needs to calm down or else we will start removing people." Sheriff Marshall glanced down at April, as everyone got silent. Then he started, "Unfortunately, there's been a murder."

Everyone stayed silent.

"WHERE IS EVAN?" I screamed once more, ready to jump across the barrier.

"Yeah," everyone started again.

"What's my daughter got to do with any of this?!" Walter Maddison shouted angrily, rushing as far as he could to April.

Walter Maddison and I had managed to set off the crowed again as more angry shouts drowned out the sirens.

"Mr. Easton," Sheriff Marshall shouted, referring to my friend Evan. Everyone was motionless again. "Mr. Easton has been murdered."

Sheriff Marshall looked around, his face softening when he got to me. He went on to explain how they had found April in the lake, but I wasn't listening.

Paralyzed, I found my mom's body a few feet away from me. My dad was also emerging from behind the crime scene. As he got closer, we could see him more clearly and he could see us. His eyes darted from my mom, to me, to the handcuffs bound at his wrists.

Then, causing sensory overload, came a stretcher from the lake shore. On it, was My best friend's lifeless corpse. His right hand draped off the side, bouncing with the wheels. Bound to his chest, was a red cloth.