The Four Roses: Book 1

Chapter 4

"C'mon we gotta go find mom!" I said sprinting from my house honestly not knowing where to go.

"Alane wait slow down!" Jake said catching up to me a lot faster than I thought he would. "Alane stop running off!" He said scolding me. "Listen to me. We have to stick together no matter what okay? So, no more just running off".

I was taken aback about how serious Jake had gotten suddenly. I silently shook my head at him. He was right, right now all we had was each other.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"It's okay, I know you're scared but don't worry. I'm going to do everything in my power to help you find your mom," He said with a reassuring smile, something I hadn't seen in a while, but I was extremely pleased to look at now.

I was honestly afraid of what I might find when we got to my mom. I mean I had no clue if she was alright, I also didn't exactly know where she was. I just prayed that she would be okay. Heck, I wasn't even sure if she was caught in the earthquake. My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden thud. What, another earthquake? I thought to myself.

"Nope Just me!" I heard a female voice from behind me shout.

Jake and I slowly turned toward the voice. It was a girl with jet black hair with a streak of red on the front of her hair (very original). She had on a black and red jogger with an Adidas crop tank-top. She looked to be Asian, but these days you never knew what someone's race was.

"Oh, and who might you be?" Jake said sarcastically as usual.

"I'm going to be your worst nightmare!" She spat

"Honey I'm gonna need a name".

She paused a moment while eyeing us both.

"Fine. Tina, but you can call me... Panda".

Jake scrunched up his face and I tried my best to stifle my own laughter. Panda? What the heck kind of name was that? Panda didn't seem too amused by our attempt of chivalry because with a slight move of her hand she moved a piece of house ruble from the ground and pointed it straight at me. I was frozen solid in my place. I couldn't believe my eyes, just what in the world was this girl. Before I could understand what was happening the debris came straight toward me. I ducked as quickly as possible. Jake sprang straight into the action.

"I want you out of here!" He shouted at me and he didn't have to tell me twice.

I sprinted away from them into the woods that were behind my neighborhood. I ran until I felt like I was going to pass out. I eventually stopped to catch my breath by a large tree. I felt dizzy and my head was pounding. What just happened? I thought to myself. My world as I knew it seemed to be crumbling before my eyes. For the first time in a while, I was actually hoping that this was just another case of my hallucinations. I was hoping that I would suddenly wake up and be back in my room. Heck if Jake wanted to call my mom and snitch, I would be all for it. As long as I could just have everything return back to normal. It seemed like everywhere I went something bad was happening. I sighed after finally breathing normally. I was debating whether I should go back and help Jake or if I should just run for my life when suddenly my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said answering.

"Alane is this you?" my mom asked in a panic.

"Mom!" I said trying hard to fight back tears. "Where are you?" I asked.

"I went salsa dan- ah" I heard her give out a sharp cry.

My heart suddenly began to race. She was hurt!