Karma:

I didn't expect that morning to go the way it did. I expected boredom, a few hours of unhappiness and the relief of a summer to ourselves. Standing outside while smoke curled out from my school up to the sky like tendrils. Angel and I stood there in disbelief one human and one four legged shadow skittered off into the distance.

"Did you see that?" Angel asked as I blinked in surprise.

"Yeah," I replied, "what was it?"

"I don't know, but we better tell someone and quickly." She grabbed me by the hand and began hauling me towards the nearest squad car. My cheeks heated but I didn't protest. We reached the first police car as the first cop was stepping out of his vehicle. "Officer! I we saw masked figure fleeing the scene-" the cop held a hand up to stop her.

"Slow down," he ordered in a tone that was firm but not unkind "What did you see and where did you see it?"

Angel briefly, but in slightly more detail, explained how we had evacuated the scene whwn the fire alarm had gone off and had seen an unknown person leaving in a hurry.The officer seemed skeptical but promised it would be checked out, and he signaled for two of his colleagues to investigate the path my sister had indicated.

I was about to add my thoughts when Ms. Henderson came rushing towards us.

"Girls? Girls! Stop bothering the officers and back with the group!" Our teacher barked sharply, making us stiffen from the harshness of her anger. "I 'm very sorry officers that these silly girls were bothering you during your investigation." She glared at us like we were scum that had gotten caught on her shoe. I hand half a mind to give her a piece of my own mind. Instead, we quickly went back to our spot. I was focused on the ground, but I could feel Angel crying softly next to me. Grasping her hand once more I gave it what I hoped was a comforting squeeze while I stared daggers at Ms Henderson while she wasn't looking and sometimes when she was, though I'm sure she could have cared less at the moment.

The investigation took forever, and obviously none of us were able to leave until we were interviewed. The fire continued to spread, and I could smell the smoke. Fire fighters rushed into the building while their colleagues worked to suppress the flames that started to creep out of some of the open windows. Angel coughed, her crying making her more vulnerable to the smoke. I patted her back and grimaced in a sort of sad satisfaction. We wouldn't be back there- at least not for a while. The officer Angel and I were just about to get to talking with us when his colleague came sprinting back with what looked like a plastic bag. The cops had a brief but tense conversation before turning to face us.

Taking the bag in one hand and the police radio in the other, I saw him speak some indistinguishable words into the device.

Then he stated walking towards Angel and I. Ms. Henderson, like the vulture she was followed- probably thinking we were in trouble and wanted a front row seat.

I was worried that we might be in trouble due to the intensity of his approach. I felt Angel's grasp tightened in mine and I knew she had the same fears. Relief flooded my system

"It looks like you ladies were correct about the suspects fleeing the scene." He held up the bag labeled evidence, what looked to be a piece of torn cloth visible through the plastic. "Someone obviously was trying to get away in a hurry." He concluded, he paused to let the information sink in. The look on Ms. Henderson's face was priceless as she took in the conversation. I gave my least favorite teacher a pointed look before turning my attention back to the detective. I was about to say more but Angel beat me to it.

"You're going to catch them, right?"

"Don't worry young lady, they won't get far. Tell us everything you can about what you saw." I gave a brief recap of the morning, up to the point where I saw the arsonists flee. The the officer's partner took notes as I spoke. After I finished speaking, he gave us his contact details incase anything else should come up. I took the paper gratefully, which was then taken by Angel to ensure its safe keeping. We were told that we could go home but we it was insisted that someone pick us up, so I reluctantly called Ms. Green, and let her know what was going on.

The limo was there in two minutes. Thankfully most of the students were well off, so the expensive so its arrival didn't raise too nany eyebrows if any. Zack appeared at our side moment Ms. Green pulled up to the curb. "Ard you guys alright?" He asked as he pulled us into an imbrace.

"We're alright, Zack. Thank you." Angel replied, her voice muffled by his uniform. He didn't pull away for along time and he had to be reminded that we still had to get into the vehicle in order to get home. The three of us awkwardly pilled in to the luxury limo and closed the door. I took one last look at the still smoldering building as we slowly pulled away. I smiled at Ms. Green but she didn't seem in the mood to smile back. I could tell the incident had rattled her, even though she hadn't been there, so I decided not to push too hard. When we greeted her, she asked all the usual questions and we did our best to answer them. Angel gave her the contact information that had been written down for us, leaving it on the dash so the maid could look at it once we got home.

"I called your parents and let them know what's going on," she warned us. "They want to talk to you. I would call them as soon as possible."

"We'll do that ma'am," Angel replied, "thank you."

"I'm just glad you're okay." Ms. Green told us, her grip on the wheel tightening slightly.

"I hope they catch the person who did it," I added, "and why."

"We all want that, dear."

The rest of the few minutes it took to get home passed in an uncomfortable silence. None of us knew what to say and nobody knew how to break the spell of unease. The four of us shuffled into the house, and Ms. Green was extra sure to lock the door and arm the security system as soon as we got through the door. I didn't blame her: with arsonists on the lose I didn't feel like taking any chances either that was done she turned her attention to us.

"I'm going to put the kettle on and the news. I'm curious to see if they're covering your school yet. Does anyone want to join me?"

"I think I'll pass," I told her in a way I hoped was polite. "I think I wana go see trouble."

"I'm in," Zack said, already heading towards the family room. "I want to see if they have any leads on who might have done this."

"Me too," Angel chimed in last before following our older brother.

I headed up the stairs and headed towards the room Angel and I shared. I opened the door and immediately my blood went cold. I ran over to the glass enclosure I kept him in the lamp that kept him warm had been pulled from its plug and knocked to the ground. Immediately I plugged it in back in and set it upright. I turned it on and aimed it towards the glass hoping against hope that it was just a fluke and that my lizard was alright. My eyes scanned the enclosure and when realization hit I let out an ear piercing shriek.

Angel was the first to make it up the stairs.

"What? What is it?"

"My lizard- he's gone."