Lina
Time passed terribly slow as Noah rushed the car through the highway.
Mika had called me earlier, her voice frantic and breathless. She’d moved into the apartment above the Pine Valley shop a few months back, wanting to be closer to work and tired of commuting from across town. Tonight she’d been getting ready for bed when she spotted someone outside the shop window, throwing liquid all over the storefront.
She’d called me immediately, words tumbling out so fast I could barely understand her. Someone was trying to burn down my shop. My parents’ shop. The place I’d built my entire life around.
I’d told her to wait for me. Told her not to do anything stupid. Told her the police were on their way and she just needed to stay inside and stay safe.
Then she’d hung up on me.
I’d tried calling back. Once, twice, three times. Nothing. Just her voicemail clicking on, her cheerful recorded message mocking me with every unanswered ring.
I’d called Vivi next, asked her to get there as fast as she could. Then I’d called the police and reported the attempted arson, giving them the address and begging them to hurry. But Pine Valley was a small town with limited emergency services, and I had no idea how long it would take them to respond.
All I could do was pray they arrived on time.
Noah, bless him, must’ve broken a dozen traffic laws on the drive. He pushed the car to speeds I didn’t want to think about, weaving through the sparse late-night traffic with the kind of reckless precision that would have terrified me under normal circumstances. Right now I just wanted him to go faster.
The two-hour drive took us barely an hour and a half. When we finally crossed into Pine Valley’s borders, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
Then I saw the police cars.
Their lights bathed everything in alternating red and blue, illuminating the familiar street in harsh, clinical flashes. My heart stuttered when I spotted the ambulance parked near the curb. And behind it, a fire truck, its crew milling around with equipment I couldn’t identify from this distance.
The second the car stopped, I was out the door and running toward the scene. My pregnant belly made the movementawkward and my back screamed in protest, but I didn’t care. I needed to see. I needed to know.
“Sorry, miss, this is an active crime scene and you can’t pass-”
A young police officer stepped into my path, one hand raised to stop me. He looked barely old enough to be out of the academy, his face earnest and apologetic.
“I’m the owner!” I told him, desperation making my voice crack. “I own the shop and my friend was here! Please, you have to let me through.”
His expression shifted from professional to sympathetic. He stepped aside and waved me through the yellow tape barrier.
I rushed past him, my eyes scanning the scene frantically. Please let everything be alright. Please let Mika be okay. Please let my shop still be standing.
I took a quick look at the storefront and felt one of my worries ease slightly. The building wasn’t destroyed. It wasn’t engulfed in flames or reduced to rubble. The side of it looked charred, the exterior wall blackened and scorched, but only on the outside. The windows were intact. The door was still standing. Whatever had happened, the authorities had arrived soon enough to prevent total destruction.
But where was Mika?
I spotted the ambulance first, its back doors open and lights still flashing. Vivi stood near it, her arms wrapped around herself, staring at the ground with an expression I’d never seen on herface before. She was always the sunshine one. The optimist. The person who found silver linings in every situation.
Right now she looked broken.
“Vivi!” I shrieked, running toward her as fast as my body would allow.
She looked up at the sound of my voice and her face crumpled. We collided in a hug, her whole body trembling against mine. I held her tight, feeling her shake with silent sobs.
“What happened?!” I demanded, pulling back just enough to look at her face. “Where’s Mika? Is she okay? Why isn’t she here?”
“When I got here-” Vivi tried, her voice breaking. “When I-”
“Breathe,” I said, even though I wasn’t breathing very well myself. “Just tell me where she is.”
“She’s at the hospital, Lina.” Vivi whispered the words as if saying them too loudly would make them more real. “There was so much blood. When I arrived, she was on the ground and there was blood everywhere and the paramedics were trying to stop it but there was so much-”
She trailed off, her eyes going distant as she relived whatever nightmare she’d walked into.
