The Fate of Destiny (Fates #1) (15 page)

The three girls were still screaming and crying, huddled together near the curb. Theron spat something onto the ground and walked toward Emerson.

“
What
in the world just happened, man,” he said.

“
I don't know, I don't know. Everything seemed fine.” Emerson paced, looked for ways into the building. A way in where he wouldn't get burned. There was too much fire and it was spreading fast now that it had caught on.

“
She's in there. Farris...she's--” Emerson couldn't finish.

“
I'm sorry. Man, there's no way she survived that. She was in the back when it went off.” Theron spat another wad of blood tainted saliva onto the ground.

“
No,
nooooo.”
Beelah, overhearing Theron, cried harder.

Emerson jogged away from the group, wary of more explosions, for the side of the building. There had to be a back door. Maybe Farris had gone into a walk in freezer. Maybe a load of boxes took the brunt of the explosion.

It was possible she was just badly hurt and unable to move.

Whatever it took, Emerson wasn't giving up even if it meant finding her dead.

. . .

The first thing Farris felt was a burning sensation all along her right side. Which was fantastic, since that was the side the rusty barrel had hit. Those aches were minor compared to the new aches she'd developed. Opening her eyes, she saw billows of smoke pass between her and the stars. Or were those clouds?

Why was she laying out here anyway, staring at the sky?

A crack-and-hiss drew her attention to the left.

Fire. There was fire ten feet away.

That was all she could hear, too. The crack and hiss. She couldn't hear cars or traffic or birds that usually nested in nearby trees.

Then there were hands on her. Tugging at her shoulder, cupping her head. A face loomed into view. She knew that face.

Emerson.

Farris suffered a bout of deja vu. This had happened before.

He was talking fast and urgent. Words she couldn't understand. Lifted off the ground, Farris hung onto his shoulder while he ran with her away from the fire. Away from the smoke.

Suddenly, she started coughing. Spasms shook her head to toe. Snippets of words filtered in.

How bad...hurt...where...expl...dine...

Someone searched her pockets. She thought she heard someone crying. Hands touched her, soothed her.

The next thing Farris knew, a bright light beamed down from heaven—or the ceiling—blinding her. She opened her eyes while two nurses rushed around.

“
What happened--”

“
Farris, can you hear me? You're all right, you just took a nasty hit to the head and have a few minor burns. Stitches in a couple places from some glass.”

A nurse fiddled with an IV going into her arm and blocked the blinding light when she leaned over to smile.

“
Okay.” She wasn't sure what else to say. Or what, exactly, had happened.

“
Do you remember anything?” the nurse asked.

“
I...I'm not sure.”

“
There was an explosion--”

That was all Farris needed to hear. Her mind replayed the instant the explosion had ripped through the diner, throwing her several feet through the air. Something hot had hit her side and splinters pricked her hands and her legs.

The coat, she thought, had helped protect her torso.

“
Yes. Work. What happened?”

“
Nasty thing. Explosion of some kind, maybe a gas leak. Fire chief and the police are out there now. Do you want to see your friends? Beelah's here.”

“
Yes.”

The nurse pressed a button and raised the head of the bed another degree.

“
I'll be right back.” With quick steps, the nurse departed.

Farris examined her hands. The right one had several scrapes and two tiny stitches. She felt more bruising on her legs and a hot burn on her cheek. Unsure what it was, she reached up to feel it.

All she could tell was that it seemed as if she'd scraped a bit of skin off.

Beelah stepped into the room followed by Emerson and Theron.

“
Farris! I'm so glad you're awake. We thought you died in the diner.” Beelah came over and leaned in to kiss Farris' brow. She had scrapes and minor cuts of her own.

“
Bee, hey. What happened?” Farris hugged her friend with one arm, careful not to knock the IV out.

She met Emerson's gaze past Bee's shoulder. He wore a troubled frown.

“
I don't know. I was clearing a table and then
boom!
The kitchen went up. Pete didn't make it.” Beelah choked up a little.

Farris closed her eyes. Somewhere, down deep, a niggle of fear struck. Why so many close calls? Was her grandmother right? Were these all 'lead ins' to the big event? Was she really going to die on her birthday?

Paranoia was easy to nurture after an explosion like that. After the fire at the loft and the tornado they barely escaped.

“
That's such a shame. Poor Pete. He didn't deserve it,” Farris said, genuinely remorseful that the cook had perished.

Beelah, with her clothes a bit dirty and wrecked in a few places, sat on the edge of the bed.

“
Hey Emerson. Theron.” Farris greeted them both. Emerson and Theron both had the same scraped up look Beelah did. The explosion hadn't blown up the entire building, or none of them would be sitting here right now.

Just the kitchen, and that had been bad enough.

“
Good to see you, kiddo,” Theron said. He tapped the bed rail with a hand.

“
How're you feeling?” Emerson asked. A few butterfly bandages made an 'X' on his forehead. “You look pretty good, considering.”

“
Better by the minute. How long was I out?” she asked.

“
It's just after ten. A couple hours,” Emerson said.

Beelah rubbed Farris' shoulder with gentle strokes. “I called Mom and Dad. They're in the waiting room. Mom says you can come home with us if they release you.”

“
Thanks, Beelah. Maybe I should...I mean...the farmhouse is all right.” Farris was scared to death that another catastrophe would hit, as if the Reaper himself was chasing her down. She didn't want to subject anyone else to danger.

What a crazy thought, Farris.

“
The cops said that if you'd been inside the door instead of outside, you would have wound up like Pete,” Emerson said. “The wall and all those shelves saved your butt.”

“
But what
happened?
The nurse said something about a gas leak?” Farris sat up a little more in bed. As lucidity returned, she wanted to be gone from the bed and the hospital. She didn't want to think about poor Pete and what he must have suffered.

“
They're still investigating. But that's the preliminary estimation,” Emerson said. He braced his hands against the foot board of the bed, leaning his weight there.

“
It was so weird. I thought I smelled something when I went through the kitchen, but I couldn't tell what. If I would have only known--”

“
You can't feel guilty. No one could have foreseen it,” Emerson said.

“
How weird is it that all this stuff keeps happening?” she whispered, confessing her fears. “Maybe O'ma's right. Maybe something bad
is
going to happen.”

Emerson scowled. “What?”

“
Nah, no way, Farris,” Theron was quick to interject. “Although I'm not sure who, or what, an O'ma is.”

“
Don't think that, Farris! It's just coincidence.” Beelah smoothed hair back from Farris' forehead, then explained to Emerson and Theron, “Her grandmother warned her not to go out on her birthday. She said something bad would happen, so now Farris is wondering if it's coming true.”

“
What?” Emerson repeated. He let go of the foot board and paced instead. “When did she say this? How did she say it would go down? What kind of threat is it? Is she psychic or something?”

Farris watched Emerson go from concerned to downright uneasy. He stalked back and forth at the end of her bed, mouth pinched in a tight line.

“
She's not a psychic,” Farris interjected.

“
It was yesterday. On the twenty-eighth. She warned Farris not to leave her house,” Beelah said. “But the nurse told us that Ada is probably just becoming senile. She's really old, you know?”

Emerson grunted. The frown deepened. “Has she ever said anything like this before?”

Farris glanced at Beelah.

“
Not that I know of,” Bee said, looking at Farris.

All eyes turned on her. Farris shook her head. “She's never said anything like it before.”

“
What about your parents? Where are they? You should stay with them,” Emerson said.

Beelah fiddled with the bed covers, eyes downcast.

Farris groaned inwardly. Now she had to explain about her parents. The last thing she wanted to do. “My dad left when I was little and my mom--”

“
Her mom moved away not long after, so she went to live with her grandmother,” Beelah interrupted.

Farris, surprised that Beelah dropped a white lie, fell silent.

Emerson didn't seem to notice. “She probably
is
just imagining things, Farris. All these things are pretty coincidental but sometimes life just happens that way. As long as you're extra careful, you should be okay.”

“
I know. It's just...people keep dying around me. Old man Henson, now Pete.”

“
Henson?” Emerson stopped pacing and glanced at her.

Theron sat forward in the chair, hands clasped loosely over the edge of his knees.

“
Yes. The Sheriff came to see me early this morning before I went to work. Said Henson was trying to save someone during the tornado and died.” Even saying the words felt surreal to Farris. It reminded her that her life was about to change—again.

Emerson looked flabbergasted. “So what are you gonna do?”

“
Who is Henson?” Theron asked.

“
Her landlord,” Beelah replied.

“
I don't know yet. I figure I have a few days at least until the Sheriff tells me I have to move out.” Overwhelmed, Farris rested her head on the bed. She stared at the light on the ceiling. The last thing she wanted to think about was finding some place new to live right this second.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow was soon enough to worry about that.

Moving all her things out of the loft was going to be a chore, too, what with the busted staircase.

“
Okay kiddos. The doctor's coming in. You can go wait in the waiting room,” the nurse said when she returned. She shooed Bee, Emerson and Theron out after a round of well wishes and
See you laters.

Farris watched them go. Although she hadn't known Emerson all that long, she was glad he was here.

Chapter Eleven

Emerson stood in front of a vending machine, elbow to elbow with Theron. Beelah was in the waiting room with her parents while the boys got drinks.

“
So what are the chances that her grandmother knew about this?” Theron asked.

“
None. It's a coincidence,” Emerson insisted. He slid four quarters into the machine and punched out a bottle of chilled water. Not a big believer in coincidence of this nature, he couldn't get rid of his frown.

Or his concern.

“
Seems awfully...well let's just say I don't believe in coincidence like that. If Farris knew
you
were the one who conjured the tornado and the fire--”

“
Well, she's
not
going to know.” Emerson cut Theron off.

After Theron snagged a can of soda, they headed out into the hallways toward the waiting room.

“
I'm just saying, it's better she hear it from you than anyone else,” Theron said. He popped the top on his can. It snapped and hissed.

“
She's not going to hear it from anyone. Devon asked
me
to call up the tornado, to target Beelah. She asked
me
to set the fire. This other thing—it was just one of those weird coincidences.” Emerson cracked the cap off the water.

Theron knocked his hand against Emerson's stomach to stop him from walking and faced him. “Look, brother. I know you. I know how this works. You're questioning that explosion as much as I am. You didn't get the job done, man. It
could
be that Devon got someone else to do it.”

Emerson tipped his head back and poured a stream of cold water down his throat. Theron was right. That was exactly what he was thinking. Swallowing the mouthfuls, he smeared the back of his hand across his mouth and met Theron's eyes.

“
That's one possible scenario, sure. Do I
think
Devon did that? Probably not. You know as well as I do that outside influence can sometimes change someone's Destiny. Maybe that's why I'm here. To change Farris' Destiny. Maybe I was
supposed
to actually save her, no matter what I was doing there in the first place.” If he was honest, Farris finding out that he'd had a hand in the beginning bothered him more than he wanted to admit. She would never forgive him.