The Other Part of Me

Cassie

As Cassie approached her residence, she saw dark smoke billowing in the direction of Bloodstone territory. She stepped on the gas pedal and drove as fast as her Jeep could go.

Once she entered the gates, she realized the smoke was coming from the schoolhouse. Flames were shooting above the roof; people were running towards the building with fire extinguishers in hand.

Cassie sped up, she shook around the Jeep violently as she drove over the bump on the sidewalk and on top of the grass. Many people had already gathered around the schoolhouse in tears. Some were staring in shock. She saw one person with a water hose with a water stream that likely was doing nothing to extinguish the fire.

Thus far, it looked like the fire was burning angrily in the front part of the building. She hoped everyone was able to vacate the building before the fire started. Cassie quickly exited her Jeep, running towards the back of the building, where the united classroom sat. From afar, she didn't see flames but when she looked in the through the high windows, she could see there were still many kids huddled under the windows, furthest away from the doors.

From the tour Bridgette had given her, Cassie knew both room exits were facing the fire.

The kids inside were screaming and crying. The teachers were trying to get them to lie down on the floor face-down, but they were all in hysterics.

Cassie broke one of the windows with her elbow and yelled inside to one of the teachers. "Keep the kids in the left corner of the room. I'm going to try and break through the wall. Move them all now and stay out of my way!"

The teacher nodded. "Come on kids," he ushered them in a tight bundle.

Cassie ran to her Jeep. She drove it in a large circle to move farther away from the building. She buckled her seatbelt and pushed the gas pedal all the way down. The tires screeched before the vehicle took off full speed.

She tried to aim the grill of the Jeep to the corner of the building. A shrill scream escaped her lips involuntarily before the collision. She went into shock at the moment of impact. She was in and out with conscious thoughts after that. She recalled her head being against the airbag as the Jeep spun around but she had no recollection of when it deployed. When she came to, she saw kids squeezing through a small hole in the corner of the building she crashed against. She jumped out of her mangled vehicle, running towards the schoolhouse with adrenaline pumping through her veins.

As she approached the hole where bodies were emerging from, Cassie saw loose wires dangling from the broken wall. They were shooting sparks.

"Live wire," she got on her knees and yelled to the body that was coming out, and almost touched it. "Be careful." She reached for the people as they came out, pulling them out so the ones behind them could get out quickly. She saw eight bodies emerge. The final one had been the teacher. "That's all of us," he said.

Sounds of sirens came from the gate. Cassie turned to the fire truck approaching. She instinctively reached for the wall for support to stand up.

She felt her whole body seize before blacking out.