When he told them to come in, Brendan noticed that Miss Putin's rage-filled eyes were fixed tight on Thomas who, to Brendan's surprise, looked outdone. He felt overjoyed, not that Thomas had committed such an offence, but because there was a great possibility of his expulsion.
Unnoticed, Brendan went into class and grabbed his books and left school. From Principal Johnston's office there had been a debate in his mind. A debate about Samantha. Simon said that when she had called him, she sounded like she was in a great deal of trouble. And she had mentioned the words "Fred" and "help". Was it her brother that had been in trouble last night or had it been her? Even still, either case was not something he could easily dismiss. If it were her brother in trouble, a boy who could create…wait, the Finch said "manipulate" particles to create, or was it to summon…fire, what kind of trouble could you be in, except if the Finch was the trouble in question?
And if it were Samantha in trouble, it's possible the Finch could have come for them both. Or maybe her brother's powers had gone out of control and he was spraying flames in all corners of their house?
Brendan could no longer afford to speculate. He had to investigate. He knew that skipping school as many times as he was doing was very bad for his education but he also knew that Samantha's life could be in danger. The first location to look for her was at her house. But what if she was not even in trouble? He thought it best to look into it though.
Before Samantha's house there was the Town Bank. When he arrived at the block with the bank he saw something unexpected and terrifying.
People were rushing out of the bank screaming, others were even weeping as they sat by the pavement. Their clothes were filthy-black with ashes, an indication that they had been exposed to smoke. Everything, every movement was like a disturbed ant colony. Just screams and noises and people running from one indefinite spot to another, others desperately trying to attend to those lying on the floor as if dead. Despair and fear were in all their eyes.
Just then, he heard police, fire trucks and ambulance sirens. The wailing of the sirens, each in different tones added chaos and a somber weight to an already devastating scene. It became hard to concentrate on one spot when everywhere was just bedlam and clamor, a melting pot of gloom and doom.
The police cars parked by the entrance and soon enough, guns were pointing at the entrance of the bank.
Brendan felt like he was watching a movie; Action blended with Horror, and Suspense hanging like an additive in the air. This all seemed too unreal.
'Clear this block now!' An officer who seemed to be in charge had stepped out of his car, an amber badge nailed to the right side of his black and blue chest.
'Sir, there are too many wounded and dead people here, there's not much time.'
'Darn!' the officer in charge shouted, now scratching his sideburns, thinking. 'Make sure all civilians are safe. You, you and you..,' he pointed to some officers beside him, 'don't let the criminal catch you off-guard. Okay..!' he raised his megaphone to his mouth, facing the entrance to the bank, 'Come out with your hands behind your head!'
As though the arrival of the police had brought a level of peace, the entire street grew silent.
'Excuse me, ma'am,' Brendan had approached an elderly woman, 'can you tell me what's going on in there?'
The woman was covered in smoke from head to toe and discerning the original color of her clothing was impossible. She was cowering beside a taxi.
'There's a teenage boy in there, probably a junkie. He's got some kind of flamethrower he's using to burn money up,' the woman answered him.
Brendan's suspicion was that the Flicker was responsible. It was too much of a coincidence that soon after the arrival of this boy, the Town Bank goes up in flames. And so where there is smoke, there is a Flicker.
The police were still waiting for a response. 'Are there any more people in the bank besides this junkie?' The officer in charge asked a female officer beside him.
'No, sir. Everyone ran out. He's just…burning everything up,' she answered.
'Good, because our main priority is the safety of the civilians.'
The female officer nodded in agreement.
'Alright now..!' the officer in charge continued through his megaphone. 'I want you to drop your weapon and step out slowly with your hands behind your head!'
The silence grew, except for a few groans and whimpers from those the medic team was attending to, the suspense so heavy it began to suffocate everyone present.
But just as Brendan had predicted, Flicker stepped out with his hands behind his head. He had a wicked smile on his face.