Everyone started to sit down, grownups in the front and the kids crowded at the back. The dining room was filled from top to bottom with laughter and yelling,mostly from the kids, fueled by Maverick's constant bickering and Leo's infectious, booming laughter.
Leon began shoving food into his tiny mouth as if it were his last day on earth. Maya, ever the disciplinarian, yelled at them to stop talking and just eat because it "disgusted her" and we needed "proper manners." Everyone just laughed at her.Maya's rules were as much a part of the meal as the food itself.
As I ate, I wondered when my mom would come by to say hi and pick me up. It wasn't that I didn't love being here, but I just missed her a little. Leon and I had been friends since birth; every day my mom would bring me over, and Leon would grab my hand, dragging me outside to play all day with the group we'd met on the playground.
We were more than friends,we were a pact. We had a saying that Aaron had come up with. He had learned to write and compose poetry early, always stating that he wanted to be famous for his words. We all supported that dream. Whenever we were together, we whispered our oath.
"Different blood, same sun; until the light is gone, we are one."
But soon enough, those happy dreams came to an end.
The shaking started subtly at first. The adults grew paranoid instantly, but we kids had no sense of fear back then. We laughed and shook along with the floor. Leo grinned, Maya looked around curiously, and Aaron was busy in a "cat-fight" with Maverick. But deep down, I knew something was wrong. This didn't feel like the small earthquakes that happened every five months.
My mom had always warned us that these tremors weren't normal…that something was warning us. But we were just humans,we didn't believe in the fire until we saw the flames.
Seth got up first. He looked out the window and then turned back to Leon's mom and Arthur with a look so serious it chilled the room. It seemed important, but I couldn't hear anything with my tiny ears. Arthur looked back at us, his expression disturbed, as he whispered something back to Seth.
Maya was the first of us to notice. She was always the smartest one.
"Guys... stop talking. I think something is happening," Maya whispered, her voice low enough that only we could hear.
"It's probably just another earthquake, May," Maverick chuckled, trying to shake off the sudden seriousness consuming the room.
"Maverick... can you shut your trap for a second? Gosh~," Leo said, turning his head to smirk at him, though his eyes were darting toward his mother.
We started chattering, trying to guess what was happening, but the words died in our throats. The floor didn't just shake,it groaned. And then, as if a giant hand had reached down and snuffed out the world, everything turned pitch black