Chapter 1

            The night still held the slightest touch of summer as Brielle and her two oldest friends sat at a wrought-iron table outside the gelato shop. They were the last group of people to be there, and, despite the brief glares they were receiving from the high-school worker who was mopping up the floor inside, they had no intentions of leaving anytime soon.  Brielle brushed her reddish-brown bangs out of her eyes as the breeze yet again lifted her wavy hair off her shoulders.  She ignored the laughter of her friends, opting instead to close her eyes and listen to the sound of traffic on the main street just a block away.  She felt a wonderful disconnect from the busy world and for a moment wasn’t sure if she was ready to go back to New York.

            “Bri!”

            Bri’s opened one eye slowly until she could see the face of her friend, who was trying to glare at her, but could only succeed in a sassy smirk.

            “Do not tell me that you’re going to bed already.”  Melanie showed a row of perfectly straight teeth as she grinned at Bri’s return glare.  Emma giggled in response, deciding not to get involved in the banter that was sure to begin between the two friends. 

            The three girls had decided that tonight, the last night all of them were going to be in town, they would spend all of it together.  And, since Melanie was notorious for going to bed early, it had turned into a kind of death match to see who would be the last one standing at the end.  This explained why, even though the gelato shop had closed at 11, a half hour ago, they were still scooping out bites, taking their sweet time and ignoring the young worker, who apparently was unsure whether or not he could leave the girls outside the shop, even though the chairs would be left out all night anyway. 

            Brielle smirked as she spooned a bite of melty vanilla lavender gelato onto to tongue.  “I wasn’t snoozing, Mel dear, I was simply enjoying the night.”

            Melanie eyed her friend was skepticism, but then let a smile grow on her lips.  “I can forgive you; this is one of the most gorgeous nights I’ve ever seen.”

             Bri nodded happily and sighed as she leaned back against the chair.  The night was unseasonably warm for Rochester, Minnesota.  Even though it was still summer, it was rare for her to be able to sit out in the middle of the night in August wearing only a short sleeve brown tunic-length linen top that was belted around then middle and a pair of denim Capri pants.  Her brown and tan flip-flops hung lazily off her toes as she leaned back and looked up at the stars through the trees.

            Emma seemed to read her thoughts.  “Don’t you miss the stars when you are in New York?”

            Bri cocked her head to the side and answered her friend without looking at her. “Sometimes.  I don’t know, it’s hard to miss the stars when I love so many other things about that place.”  She looked up to give her friends a smile. “You have to promise to visit me this time, because you would both love it.  There’s so much energy there, and I feel like if I ever need some inspiration, all I have to do is walk around Manhattan a little.  I used to think I had inspiration here but then when I went there… it just went into overdrive.”

            Melanie shook her head, her long, straight brown hair ruffling over her shoulders. “But visiting just isn’t enough, we miss you! We definitely haven’t been able to make a friend at UM that can replace you yet.”

            Bri glared at her friend.  “Well just keep trying; I’m sure you’ll find someone eventually.  There are plenty of people in the Twin Cities.”

            Emma frowned, “Melanie, you know we don’t want to find a replacement Bri…”

            Melanie cut in happily, “No, you’re right – we want a better one!”

            Bri stuck out her tongue and took a scoop of her second flavor, turtle cheesecake, instead of replying.  She happily tuned her friends out as they mentioned a class that they were taking together and Emma tried to dissuade Melanie from what the girl called “friend interviewing.”  Bri could help but smile as she watched the two of them, whom she had known all since middle school.  It sure did feel like home to have them around again.

            Brielle had taken a big step when she decided to go to New York in order to study design.  Her parents weren’t all too thrilled for her to be far away but once she set foot on campus… she knew it was the place for her.  It was so full and vibrant and she felt like the city held everything open for her.  As much as she had enjoyed her summer back at home, it would be good to be back in New York.  She had to admit, she was looking forward to seeing her roommates again.  They weren’t that close of friends, but they sure were fun to be around.  And then, of course, there was Kyle.  Brielle gave a little smile as she thought about her boyfriend back at school.  He was super cute with short red hair and he had the added attraction of being super artsy – a must for any boy of Bri’s.

            “Bri, I think I know that smile.  Thinking about Kyle?”  Melanie winked at her friend. “So, when are you two getting hitched?”

            Bri almost choked on her ice cream.  “What?  Mel, we dated for a grand total of three weeks before we parted ways for the summer.  There will be no ‘hitching’ going on.”  She shook her head. Maybe it would be good to be away from Melanie and Emma, after all.  They always gave her such a hard time.

            She wasn’t lying when she said she loved New York.  It was on a whim when, a little over a year ago she had taken a chance and submitted her art portfolio to the school.  She hadn’t really anticipated getting in… but when the school replied with a very enthusiastic invitation – well, she just couldn’t say no.  And now she was living her dream, spending hours in an art studio and even more time on the computer, getting into a side of art that she had never before anticipated, graphic design. Just thinking about it made her feel a little antsy inside, remembering the project she had left half completed at the end of last semester, but found that she couldn’t finish it in Minnesota because the atmosphere was wrong.  Part of her wondered if she was going to be able to capture that idea again or if it was just part of being a freshman in a new place, and perhaps it was now gone forever.

            Brielle grinned as Emma threw her hands up in the air in exasperation of Melanie’s antics.  Melanie only mocked her friend some more, rolling her eyes and then winking in Brielle’s direction.  Bri shook her head and let her gaze wander out over the street to look at the quiet neighborhood. She found it hard to believe that it was already going to be the start to fall, and the start to a new semester.  She remembered one time when Emma asked her if she didn’t just feel like a little ant in such a big place like New York City.  Brielle just laughed and told her that Minneapolis wasn’t a little village either. Bri had to admit, it was so easy to get lost in a place like New York, and yet feel like she belonged to something big and wonderful at the same time –

            Brielle felt herself come out of her daydream as she caught the flicked or something just across the street, at the corner of the road where they sat and the main road that still had cars buzzing past.  Melanie and Emma, too, raised their heads as their conversation halted. It took only a split second, not enough to Brielle to think, before the enormous, deafening crash exploded through the air.  In seconds, she was on the ground, but not before she saw the dark sky light up in a brilliant orange fireball.

            “Bri!”  She heard the girls yell.  Blinking, she looked over to see he two friends who were also under the table. Without thinking, Brielle rolled out from under the iron table and got to her feet.  She rushed into the middle of the street, looking down at the corner. Where there used to be a corner gas station, there was instead a huge, red fire.  Her mind was in a daze.  Where the air had before been cool and calm it was now angry and gritty. Brielle could feel the heat of the fire on her face but couldn’t look away from the scene.  It was hard to tell in the dark, but it looks like there was a large tanker blazing, and it seemed obvious that the tanker had somehow run into the pumping stations.  The smoke was black and heavy, swirling dangerously through the air.  Brielle barely registered the fact that her friends were pulling at her arms, telling her that they should back away because they were too close to the fire.  But Brielle couldn’t tear herself away from the catastrophe, vaguely aware that she could see the forms of people still in the convenience store part of the gas station, their silhouettes obvious against the fluorescent lights into the store.  Bri realized with horror that it was obvious that the driver of the truck was still in his cab, apparently knocked out. 

            Brielle felt her heart race in her chest and before she realized what she was doing, she was bolting toward the blaze. Before she made it three steps though, her friends were holding her back. Melanie yanked on Brielle’s arm and shouted over the loud blaze into her ear.  “Bri!  You have got to step away!  If that thing explodes again it’s all going to be debris and glass.  We need to get out of here!”

            Bri shook her head and tried to pull her arms away. Her efforts were quickly halted as she felt something fly past her head.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw something speeding toward the fire.  Startled enough to stop, she turned back, unable to catch the glimpse of what she had seen before.  It was big enough to be a person and he was wearing jeans. 

            “Mel – did you see-?”

            “No!  I didn’t see anything, I’ve been trying to make you see what kind of danger we’re in.  Come on!”  Melanie said as Emma yanked harder on her arms but she wouldn’t budge.

            “No way, I just saw someone.”  Bri was saying quickly, barley believing what was coming out of her mouth.  “I swear, he was in the air.  I don’t –“ Brielle faltered, remembering what she saw.  His hair was blonde, he was wearing a blue shirt, but – was he really flying?  That just didn’t make any sense.  Was he running really fast?  Bri shook her head, still gazing intently at the flames.

            Suddenly they heard the cries and shouts of other people on the street.  She hadn’t even noticed that a crowd had gathered around the outskirts of the blaze as people emerged from the bars and homes nearby.  Emma was pleading with her to just take a few steps back as they were still inside the circle of people that were arriving.  There was a commotion on the far side and Bri could see that, safely out of the range of the fire, the driver of the truck was laying on the sidewalk.  The light from the flames showed that blood ran down his face and his entire body was black with smoke, but he was obviously alive as he slowly came to consciousness, looking bewildered.  Seconds later, Brielle followed the sounds of astonished voices to the other side of the street where a couple of people were hugging each other and crying before pointing to the convenience store and shaking their heads.  It was obvious they were the people who were, just moments before, stuck inside the convenience store.

            “Wait, how did they -?” 

            She didn’t have a chance to finish her thought as an eerie creaking sound was emitted from the gas station and she felt a third set of hands grab her shoulders from behind.  Turning her head, she locked eyes with a man she didn’t recognize, whose deep voice filled her ears

            “You have to get back, it’s going to explode!”

            The gas station gave another creak and Bri felt herself nodding.  His hair was blonde, his eyes were blue, and his lips were pinched with urgency. She turned quickly and the four of them ran away from the blaze, toward the line of people who were at least a block away.  Bri hadn’t realized just how close they were and suddenly felt the urgency that her friends had been feeling before.  Bri pushed herself to run faster but they didn’t make it much further before there was another enormous explosion, bigger than she could have thought was possible, and Bri felt herself being pulled off her feet.  With a scream that couldn’t be heard over the roar of breaking glass and metal, the four of them were thrown to the ground.

To continue reading, go to the bottom of the blog and click on “older entries” to find Chapter 2 and so on!

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