Fable (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #3)(3)

Chapter 2





A voice spoke through the pounding of her head. “Are you okay, miss?”

“My b-brother.” Something was covering her mouth, making it hard to concentrate.

The sirens were echoing between the buildings, making Mina wince in pain.

A young man with “EMT” embroidered on his jacket flashed a small light between her eyes, ignoring her attempts to remove the oxygen mask covering her face.

“Miss, do you know where you are? Do you remember your name?”

Mina looked around and saw that she was a few blocks away from her home, lying on a stretcher. Her eyes tried to focus, but it was now dark, and the yellow blazing fire lit up the night sky, distracting her. Was that her home? It sure looked like it was.

“Ch-Charlie?”

“Your name’s Charlie?” he asked.

“No. Where’s my brother? He was in the apartment, and I couldn’t find him.”

More yelling followed as additional firemen rushed past them, toward the burning building.

“MINA!” A frantic woman pushed past the police tape and darted around the EMTs to run to her daughter. Sara Grime’s hair was falling out of her bun; her eyes were puffy and red from crying as she pulled Mina into a hug. “Oh, God! I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried! When Mei Wong called me and told me, I rushed over here as soon as I could.” Sara’s words spilled out as she quickly craned her neck back and forth, looking in the other ambulances nearby. “Mina? Where’s Charlie?”

“Mom, I…I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? Mina, where’s your brother? How could you leave your brother in there?”

Mina started crying harder. “He was there before the fire, and then once it started I went back in and couldn’t find him.”

Sara dropped Mina’s arms and stood stock-still. Her face paled, and she began to shake. Then she turned and ran toward the burning building.

“MOM!” Mina screamed, and tried to get off the stretcher.

A policeman caught Sara Grime at the yellow caution tape and held her back as she tried to claw her way to the building, screaming out Charlie’s name.

“Ma’am, you can’t go in there. It’s not safe.”

“My boy’s in there!” Sara cried. “He can’t talk. He could be stuck in there, unable to call for help, and you wouldn’t be able to hear him. Do you understand? He can’t talk, and he is in there!”

The policeman shook his head in understanding. “The building is about to come down at any second. The fire has done too much damage. It’s too late.”

“No, no, no! He’s in there,” she argued.

A small Asian woman emerged from the crowd and wrapped her arms around Sara’s shoulders. “Shhhh, shhh, Sara. It’s okay.” Mrs. Wong tried to comfort her.

“Where is he, Mei? Where’s my boy?” Sara crumpled to the street, and Mrs. Wong knelt down with her, whispering and rocking her. Tears covered both women’s faces as they watched their home and business go up in smoke.

Mina got up from the stretcher and made her way over to the women. Sara’s eyes burned brightly with judgment as she looked at her daughter. “What happened? What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything! I don’t even know how the fire started. Do you?” Mina turned to Mrs. Wong.

Mei Wong shook her head. “No, it came fast, appear out of walls and cover ceiling. Never see the likes before. It was alive. Barely had time to get customers out, before poof! Gone.”

Mina stood there, numb; her mind began to play out the possibilities. She turned to look at her apartment building. The firefighters were spraying water through broken windows into what once was their living room. Others were soaking the buildings next to theirs to keep the flames from spreading. A policeman came up to Sara and Mrs. Wong, and they were filing a report on Charlie. He was shaking his head, saying that no one had seen a young boy exit the building. The firemen didn’t find anyone other than Mina in the alley, but he would check with the other cars. He pulled out his radio and put a broadcast out for her brother’s description, in case he had escaped the fire and was wandering the streets.

She ignored him and walked the perimeter of the yellow caution tape, trying to get a closer look at the building and the fire engulfing it. Charlie had to have gotten out before the fire started. He just had to. Maybe he saw the fire and went to find help? But if that was the case, why didn’t he try to warn her before he took off? He had to have left a clue. She couldn’t even begin to imagine he was still in there. He would show up. Any minute he would come running out of the crowd with a smile on his face, wearing the stupid Star Wars helmet, and all would be well.

Mina studied the people gathered on the streets. She began to run among them, calling his name. A few people stared at her as if she was crazy, but then she probably looked a wreck. Her brown ponytail had slid sideways and was now on the side of her neck. Her face was smeared with soot, and her brown eyes looked crazed with worry. Yeah, she was a definite picture of madness.

But her brother couldn’t have vanished into thin air, could he? A cool wind blew across her skin. Impossible, with all the humidity and the heat from the fire, but blow it did, and with it came an intuitive warning. This wasn’t an accident.