The Black Flames

Chapter 1 - The Noise Away from Home

This time, it was the lentil soup to go bad. Lying in a small black container at the back of the shelve in the fridge. She sniffed it and winced. The rest of the refrigerator was empty. Clearly, she had maintained her streak well. She realised a bowl of soup would have to do. For breakfast.

Then, it was time to head out to her unattended garden to forage for any vegetables that may have survived her absence.

Only a bottle guard and three tomatoes lived to tell the tale.

Kiara was back to the cabin for her usual once-a-month weekend getaway from the city din. A six-hour drive from her home in the hustle-bustle, this place restored her mental peace. Well, as much as it could.

Just enough for one person, her father had built this cabin as a holiday home for their family. After her parents separated and her brother suddenly left for unplanned higher studies, the onus had fallen on her shoulders. She was now supposed to take care of the cabin.

As the new owner, building a vegetable garden was the first rash decision she had taken, one that she was sure to regret. Her father had warned against it, telling her it needed daily care. But everything else was falling apart around her; a garden would have just added to the list of disasters.

The surrounding mountains and a village a few miles away were the only things that caught her attention during her monthly stay. The lush green made her feel calm, and the lights from the village after dark always managed to put a smile on her face.

It was serene.

She picked up the surviving vegetables and headed back inside. The vegetables seemed to be in a good condition. Each tomato covered her right palm and was firm enough.

She was inspecting the third tomato as she pulled the door open. That is when she felt an eerie silence that made her stop in her tracks. A moment later, the vegetables dropped from her hand as she tried to cover her ears. They were buzzing incessantly, with the ringing growing louder by the second.

The ground shook, and an explosive noise followed as if the surrounding mountains had cracked open. Kiara lost her balance and tumbled to the ground. The windows shook as if about to shatter, and her kitchen window, facing the garden, yielded and cracked.

A gust of wind forced her to shut her eyes and lower her head. Whatever caused the loud explosion also triggered this dust storm in the lush green area that housed a sprawling mountain range.

Amid the din, she heard the vessels in her kitchen crashing to the ground with a series of loud bangs that managed to make their way through the ear-splitting noise. Next was her television, which succumbed to the surrounding clatter.

Every inch of the earth seemed to be in uproar, with a blasting sound forcing its way through from every corner. After a few moments that felt like hours, the ground stopped shaking. But the ringing in her ears persisted and snaked to her head. Although the earth survived whatever calamity had befallen, her head was indeed about to split open.

When no sound came for a few moments, Kiara slowly opened her eyes. Her head was resting on her right knee, which had a three-inch splinter sticking out. Her eye was saved by mere inches.

She turned her head to locate the source, still grasping her ears firmly. She first spotted people from the village who had come out to inspect the source of the disaster, with their palms covering their ears just like her. They were pointing and apparently shouting something that she couldn't make out. Her gaze followed the direction they were pointing in. That's when she saw.

An airplane was burning in the valley about half a mile away from her cabin. It was a small private jet with a red and blue tailfin that was quickly being consumed by fire. Its entire body was up in flames. But there was something odd about the whole scene.