City On Fire

15

Ella was the last to leave the dirty back street and head into the city but before leaving Mellissa had called Ella to the side.

“Here, take this. You’re going to lose that if you keep carrying it around like that.”

She pointed at the sketchbook Ella has clutched to her chest as she dug a black shoulder bag from her shopping trolley. As was with all their kind gestures she was hesitant to accept but ultimately did when Mellissa shoved it into her hands and walked off refusing to hear another word. The fire was the best place to start. Any disaster that big would make its way into the history books, though not the ones she used, and into one other place which would be her next stop.

The morning sun forced the shadows that clutched the sides of the buildings back into their dark corners. In the light of daw the gray structures came to life and flaunted their colours in the sun’s rays. It was still early and the crowds were minimal which left Ella uncomfortably exposed. Everyone seemed to turn and look at her and in their eyes she could swear she saw recognition, something that made the whole thing just a little worse.

A local gallery owner had been arrested after a fire yesterday, literally brought the roof down.”

Ella stopped when she heard the news. Fourteen televisions in the window of an appliance store all showed the morning news which consisted of a dark haired reporter and a still imager of the building in ruin.

The owner of the building, Demetrio De Veil, was taken into custody early this morning when it was discovered that the building was not structurally up to code. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened but in a surprising twist an act of arsine was what saved the lives of all those present. According to officials the building was evacuated after a fire was deliberately set at two locations and noticed by one of the visitors. The fire alarm was triggered and everyone managed to get to safety before disaster struck.” Ella felt relief wash over her and the stares of what she believed was suspicion from the onlookers no longer made its way into her mind. All she could think of was the disaster which was narrowly avoided thanks to something she had come to despise.

In other news, the Lake Rise Sleep Clinic was brought under scrutiny yesterday when several documents were leaked of unethical treatment and unlawful practice.”

The name made her blood run cold.

“The director of the institute Dr. Nicholas Meer is facing serious charges and several lawsuits after it was reviled he used Hydro Isolation one of his long term patients. Hydro Isolation involves the patient being lightly sedated and them placed in a sealed water chamber which devoid all sensory perception. The treatment in its self is highly controversial and its use not permitted. Several emails reviled a conversation with Dr. Falmer Prince, a man no stranger to similar allegations, stating how ‘no one would know’ as long as he said noting. One email also stated that ‘as long as the patient recovered no one would care as to the method.”

The screen flashed to a recording of the mob attack outside the gallery the day before. Ella crossed her arms on her chest, now suddenly cold to the bone as she watched the events unfold before her eyes all over again. After a view moments the footage ended and the screen showed the reporter again.

"This was the scene outside the very gallery which would collapse only hours later where a mob attacked the clinic staff accompanying a group outing. The situation was eventually brought under control several minutes later when authorities arrived on the scene and it became know that the leaked emails had also made its way to the relatives of those admitted to the institution. The patient who had been Dr. Meer’s guinea pig, twenty three year old Ella Morae, is currently missing. It is assumes by authorities that she had somehow been separated during the altercation as she was seen later the afternoon back at the gallery after its collapse. Authorities on the scene stated that she seemed frightened and disorientated and when they tried to approach her she ran.”

A photograph of her filled the screen and again it felt like all eyes were on her. She glanced around nervously but the crowd around her was far too busy to pay any attention to either her or the news. “

Should anyone have any information as to her whereabouts they are asked to contact authorities immediately.”

She had seen enough. It was time to go before someone really did notice her. After taking her leave of the news broadcast she hastily made her way to the local library. If there was information to be found that was where she was going to get it. She walked though the crowds out in the open without a hitch but was forced to stop only a few feet for the library’s entrance. She should have expected it but there was a guard posted at the entrance. It might just make things difficult, but the information she needed was on the other side of that door and besides, she had come this far. It wasn’t as if she could just turn and leave now. So after a deep breath she walked right up to him and through the door. It was probably the single most nerve wracking moment of the past view days. Hell, it was the single most nerve wracking moment of her life but she made it. Or something like that.

The guard, who worked for a private security company didn’t recognise, didn’t even look at her. That was probably what gruelling hours and peanuts for pay did to you. Whatever his reason was for staring off into the clouds really didn’t matter, she was in. Though she had never been there before it was probably the least visitor friendly place she had ever come across. Other than the fact that there was no librarian there was also no one packing shelves or organising drawers, the place was abandoned. On the one hand this was probably good, if there are no informed officials she would have nothing to worry about. Only thing she had to figure out now was where to find the information of the great fire that was assuming there was even any.

She wondered past the shelves lined with thick volumes in every colour and thought of what a long shot this was and as a result remembered why assumptions were never a good idea. What she really needed was a search engine, if not Google something ells. It made sense that a disaster so devastating would have some kind of memorial and if there was a memorial there would be something in a place dedicated to history, such as the library she was currently wondering through.

Finally out of desperation she grabbed a book and started scanning. There was a very nice section dedicated to the Tulbagh earthquake of 1969 with a full picture display of what the town looked like before and after the disaster and even pictures of its restoration in the same style and then there were two books on the frog passage. All in all it was really quite nice but it didn’t tell her what she wanted to know.

There was nothing on any fire of any kind. She had been through every book from one end to the other and even consulted a directory of the library’s contents, nothing. She was one part disappointed, one part heartbroken and one part devastated.

How the hell something like that happens and there is nothing in the largest library in the city she had no idea but now she was just burning daylight. There wasn’t anything more to find here and so she turned to leave.

Still nervously clutching the strap of the shoulder bag she made for the exit. What to do now?

The reason she had gone to the library in the first place was because finding a place with internet access costs money, which she didn’t have. That and internet cafe’s were usually filled with the internet savvy and the socially up to date. There would be more than one who recognised her and a view more who would be sceptical but quite sure. That was a little too risky.

“Excuse me miss.”

Ella froze right outside the door and turned slowly.

“I think you dropped this.”

When she turned around the guard who had been staring off into the clouds held out a pencil. He still had a fairly blank expression but he meant well. Just to be sure she patted her pocket and sure enough she found her pencils gone. “Thank you.”

She reached out and gripped the edge of the pencil he held out to her. When her hand was on the pencil her other hand gripped the strap of the bag and she suddenly remembered that her pencils were never in her pocket. She had put everything into the bag. Her book, the two pencils and even the rosary. Trying not to panic she tried to play it cool but the guard would not let go and by the time she realised the trap had been sprung it was too late. He snared her wrist in a cable tie cuff and held on to the other end for dear life. “Don’t be scared. No one is going to hurt you.”

His reassurance did nothing and she struggled desperately to get free. She stepped up her efforts when she saw a police car slowly approaching. The sod hadn’t been day dreaming half as deeply as she thought. When the car stopped and a uniformed officer got out she stopped struggling and as she thought the guards grip loosened. She waited for the cop to get a little closer before she shoved the guard and escaped his grip. “Stop!”

Was the last thing she heard before she took off running into the crowd that had slowly gathered with the cable tie still attached to her wrist. As she ran with both the guard and the cop no far behind the people on the street duck out of the way making her usual method of escape nearly impossible.

Again she had no idea where she was running to, the only difference now was that her pursuers were fast and gaining faster. She ran through a drug store and just like she saw in the movies knocked over a rack of sunglasses behind her. It worked and the fuzz had to find a detour. Amidst the angry outbursts form the employees and the alarmed customers she ran through the building and out the back into a narrow street. The place was littered with rubbish, syringes and used condoms. Halfway down she came to a stop. She felt dizzy and was out of breath. To steady herself she rested her hand on the edge of a dumpster only to have someone next to it moan. Leaping away right into the opposite wall she saw a man fall on to his side, a bottle of Jack rolling out of his hand.

“Hold it!”

The cop yelled from the drug store’s back door and she took off again. All the commotion had startled the man next to the doomster even more and he sprang to his feet. “They’re here! They came for me!”

The man threw himself at the police man and started crying.

“It’s the aliens!! They’re here!!”

The last thing Ella saw was the man leaping into the cop’s arms. After that she closed her eyes and just kept running.