Part-Time Griffin

Explosive

Rain seems to appear when you need it the least. It pours from the sky and then you're wet. Completely, utterly wet. Rain always makes itself present at the worst of times.
I fly through the harsh downpour. My goal: get to town hall and stop whatever is about to unfold there.
I use my internal compass to guide me through the blinding rain. Every feather on my body is soaked. Every inch of my body is cold with wet precipitation.
I'm heavier than normal, but I easily deal with it using my 'super-duper griffin strength'. It's just one of those things that come along with being a part-time griffin.
Blue and violet lightning streaks across the sky and thunder roars everywhere. Fear surges through me as the thunder's vibrations go through my body. This makes me go faster than ever. The fear of being electrocuted and having nobody know how I died scares me.
I'm instantly satisfied to see the lights of town shine through the rain shower. Blurry yet recognizable.
Letting myself drop, I dive bomb toward the earth. A high pitched shriek emits from me and then it morphs into a lion's vicious roar.
My feet hit the wet asphalt when I land. Pounding rain surrounds me. It splatters off the dirty pavement and onto me. The only thing that can be heard is the deafening rain and the rolling thunder. Everything smells wet and watery. Nothing more than ten feet ahead of me can be seen, but I race forward nonetheless.
I finally reach the foot of town hall's steps. Two figures stand there before me. I can't see them clearly, but according to their size it's probably Roxanne or one of her brothers. Both are dressed in black as always. The rain blocks out most details as to who it is exactly.
They leap backwards when they see me standing there ominously. Rain slides down my already soaked feathers and I open my closed wings. The huge feathered limbs make me much larger in appearance. They start shouting and I do another one of my shriek roars to scare them.
I didn't come here to hurt anyone though. I know these people like family. Roxanne's parents and two brothers are like a close family to me. I would never intentionally inflict harm upon any of them.
The intimidation works and they retreat to the doors yelling about a winged creature. Instead of reaching the doors, three other people run straight into them commanding that they run away from town hall as fast as possible.
The three other figures haven't seen me yet. So they aren't running from me... No, they're running from something else.
If they are running, maybe I should too...
Spinning on a dime, I sprint toward the nearest cover, the woods. A massive noise explodes behind me, and a wave of energy and heat pushes me forward.
I arrive at the edge of woods only to glance back to see a quarter of town hall missing. Rubble and burning wood is all that is remaining of that portion of the building.
No!
Cringing, I retreat deeper into the woods. I hear something faintly familiar in the distance, but it doesn't register in my mind.
"I failed. I failed. I failed..." I have no idea that I'm even saying these words out loud until something blocks my path.
I jerk up to meet the black concerned eyes of Diesel. Water drips off his dark alicorn face.
"Thea, I saw what happened. Are you okay?" He asks hastily.
"I didn't stop them in time." Is all I can say.
Murmuring to himself, Diesel grunts, "I'll take that as a yes."
Then he speaks directly to me again, "Where have you been, Thea? I was worried."
His act of concern for me finally snaps me out of my state of shock.
I shake my head, "I've been stuck inside my friend's laundry shoot for nearly half an hour."
He gives me a weird look, but I keep talking, "Diesel, listen to me. I know who's been doing this. There's more to it than we ever thought!"
"Tell me then."
I don't care what I say next, because it no longer matters if Diesel knows my real identity now.
Everything pours out of me quickly, "Roxanne left a note at my house. It matched that note we found the other night. I went to go see her this afternoon. She explained that her family has been blackmailed into doing these crimes. I ended up getting knocked out and left in her basement. I got out through their laundry shoot."
Pure shock covers his face, "Wait. Roxanne, the girl from my school, is the culprit?!"
"I've known her for ten years. She would never do this willingly. Roxanne and her whole family have been forced into this." I tell him.
A sudden recognition replaces the last expression on Diesel's pegacorn face, "If you know Roxanne... who goes to my school... that means you must go to my school too..."
"What are you talking about, Diesel?"
A sly smile spreads across his face, "You're Olivia Davis, aren't you?"
"You are seriously thinking about this right now? Town hall just blew up and we find out who the criminals are, and you're thinking about what my real identity is?" I ask flabbergasted.
"Now I can stop calling you Thea. Olivia. I like that name. O-live-eh-ah." Diesel goes on.
I roll my eyes at him.
He snorts, "I knew there was something up with you at school the other day when I ran into you. Wow, I can't believe that you are Olivia!"
"Been there. Done that." I grunt.
I then stomp my foot, "Diesel, please. We'll talk about that later. If we can get to Roxanne's house before they get back maybe we can figure out who is blackmailing them."
"Okay, Olivia." Diesel says my name like it's his new favorite word.
I glance back at town hall which lays a hundred yards from where we are in the woods. Smoke, black and choking, rises into the cloudy sky. The rain has ceased to a slight sprinkle. Huge drops of water drip off the leaves above me and land annoyingly on my face.
Fire engines can be heard screaming in the distance. An ambulance wails along with it. Sirens signal that the law is on its way as well.
"Come on. We have to get to Roxanne's before they get there." I turn back around and we race through the forest so we can find a good launch pad.
And as usual, my front eagle feet urge me to trip and stumble.
Why do I have to have eagle hands? Why did I not turn out to be just a lion with wings?
Instead, I got an eagle's upper body, and a lion's lower half. Whoop-de-do.