A ruin of charred stone
Octavia and Robert, with Tom following at their heels, sprinted up to the cathedral, sidestepping away from all the people who were running away from the fire. They saw several people lying on the floor, with shreds of glass lodged on several parts of their body. Some were bleeding profusely, some of them might even be dead. They tried to avoid looking at the horror the explosion had produced, but it was hard to turn your face to a young mother crying by her child, or to the couple holding tight together, both of them wounded. Some people started approaching the wounded with medical supplies, and some other were preparing makeshift stretchers to transport them to the nearest hospital. It was a massacre, and because of the traffic jam, it would take hours for the ambulances to arrive. Octavia didn’t want to think about how many victims there were, and it only looked worse the closer they got to the building. Just at the doorstep, several bodies were buried under the heavy iron gates, some of them were wearing priest robes, another, deeply disfigured, had long brown hair. They looked up to see how the black smoke started escaping through the holes of the windows.
Oddly, the fire had gone completely off after the explosion. The inside of the temple was a complete mess of blackened stones. The structure still held together, but most of the decorations had fallen off and were scattered around the place. To get inside they had to circumvent some fallen tubes, similar to some they had found outside.
-I think that is part of the organ.- Tom pointed out.- It was one of the oldest in the country, and it made beautiful music.- he finished sadly.
They left it behind and made way to the center of the temple. Everything looked desolate, and all the forms melted into one black mass. It was eerily silent after all the screams and crying they had heard outside. They wouldn’t talk, communicating only by signs, too afraid to say out loud what they all thought. That no one would have been able to survive that.
The altar, which had been covered in gold, had melted completely, brown fingers of molten gold streaming down of it. Because of the impression of seeing it in such state they hadn’t realized that there was a gigantic hole on the ground.
-What the hell is that?- said Robert.
The hole was full of glowing coals, red against the black. It was not until they got closer that they saw several forms next to it. The one that was closer to them moved slightly, showing its burned red skin through cracked black patches.
-Water, water.- they heard her beg.
Tom ran to her.
-Marla? Marla, is it you?- he said with tears in his eyes, not being able to believe that that mess of charred meat was his daughter.
She opened her blue eyes, unable to hold her head. Her father kneeled in front of her, too afraid to touch her, knowing that it would hurt her too much.
-Dad, I’ve missed you. I didn’t want to do all this, they made me do. And I became a prisoner in my own body. The power poisoned me, controlled me. There was nothing I could do. And now I’m dying, and all these people died because of me.- her voice started fading away.
-It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay. I’m here with you now, I forgive you, I know you didn’t want to do it. I really know. Now just go to sleep, baby. And wait for me on the other side.
Marla smiled weakly and closed her eyes, breathing for the last time. Tom fell on her side, holding her tight, crying desperately. Octavia and Robert left him mourning his daughter and started looking for their friends. Just opposite from the ember pit, they found Dalia, sitting next to a completely calcined body. She looked up at them when she heard them and quickly stood up to throw herself into Robert’s arms.
-It was terrible!- she said sobbing.
-Is that…- asked Olivia, fearing the answer.
-Albert, yes.
-And Myriam?- inquired Robert, still holding her tight.
-Dead too. She died trying to save Albert, and then Albert went crazy and made everything explode.
-Albert did this?- Octavia and Robert asked at the same time.
-Yes.
The silence covered all like a blanket, not even the mourners inside or outside the cathedral could break it. Everything was over, although not the way they had expected.
THE END
Intense.
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