When Fate Calls By: Daniel Ferguson

"Mike! Mike!" Christie shouted at the top of her lungs... trying to get Mike's attention in the house which was full of young teenagers, dancing, leaping, singing like crazy and all that Christie wanted was to get Mike's attention towards her, so that she could give him the shocking news.

"Mike!" Christie finally made her way through the crowd and turned him around.

"What's wrong with you?" Mike shouted angrily at her, but calmed down as soon as he saw tears in her eyes. "What's wrong Christie? What happened?"

"Mike---th--they..."

"They what Christie?"

"Mike we need to go out of here fast... come on."

"But at least tell me what happened?" Mike was stunned... he was literally being dragged out by Christie because his mind was too numb at the moment to perform any action.

"Christie stop!" Mike finally shouted as they got out of the party hall into the parking lot.

"Mike, you don't know what just happened... do you?"

"Of course, I don't know and that's why I've been asking you for the last hour WHAT'S WRONG?"

"Mike they died!"

"Who died?"

"Mike, the apartment caught on fire and they were all there, Bob, Walter, Jake, and Samantha... they were all there."

"You're kidding me... right?"

"No, am not... I just got a call from Samantha's neighbor, she broke the news to me. She said that the rescue team is there but... but..."

"But what?"

"I don' t know..." Christie broke into tears.

"Christie, hey... look up! Nothing will happen to them okay... nothing! Just get in the car and let's go there okay, believe me, they all will be fine."

A Day Before

"Hey Christie, did you get that invitation for Kate's party?" Samantha asked Christie who was busy painting her nails.

"Of course I did... do you seriously think they won't send 'me' the invitation," Christie smirked at Samantha.

"Yeah! Of course, the popular blonde hair, blue eyed girl, who's the school's cheerleader won't get the invitation to a party?... Impossible."

"Hey!...Do you mean that I only got the invitation because I have Blonde hair and blue eyes?" Christie said making a pout.

"No... or maybe yes! Well, Christie after all these years of being your roommate, I have only learned that people want you in their parties because you are popular, pretty, cool and..."

"Wait--wait--wait! Did you get the invitation?"

"Yeah! I did."

"So what should I make out of it... you have this almost black hair with pale green eyes which sorry isn't a very good combination and you are one of the schools 'A' graders, so why are you invited miss?"

"Oh come on...!"

"Hey ladies," Bob greeted the two with his everlasting smile as he entered the room.

The two girls gave him a look which he quickly understood.

"Oh sorry... so what are you guys arguing over?" Bob said, he sat on the ottoman.

"Nothing, we were just talking about that Kate's party invitation," said Samantha.

"Oh... so even you guys are invited?" Bob asked.

"Yeah and you too?"

Bob winked and grinned teeth to teeth, "And we too!" Said Mike, Jake, and Walter together.

"Hey..." Christie quickly got up her bed and hugged Mike, her twin brother.

"So who all are up for the party?" Mike brought up the question after they finished eating the snacks, the boys brought with them.

"I am not!" Said Samantha rolling her eyes.

"But why?'' Asked Christie who wanted her best friend to come along.

"You know am not a party person... but you go. And I know Mike's going for sure."

"Yeah! I am... I'll take you Christie!" Said Mike.

"Ok, then what about the rest of you?"

"I don't think I'll be able to make it to the party either," said Bob.

"Me too," said Wallace raising his hand.

"And me too," said Jake.

"What's wrong with you guys, what kind of friends you are? I thought we all are gonna enjoy these vacations... have fun, party..." said Mike disappointed with everyone drawing out.

"But we all have our reasons Mike and none of us are stopping you from going to the party and as for the vacations, well they've just begun... we've plenty of time on our hands to enjoy this summer!" Said Jake.

"Well, okay..!" Mike said making a funny sad face and everyone started laughing.

Suddenly, a painting fell off the wall scaring everyone.

"Oh shoot! Guess, we'll have to pay some extra rent Christie," Samantha said and then started laughing.

"Yeah sure!" Jake said as he stood up to pick up the photo. He picked up the shattered glass from the floor and it suddenly pricked his finger.

"Ouch!"

"Wait dude!" Bob knelled down on the floor and took the frame from his hand. "Time never waits for anyone!" Bob read it aloud. "Look you were just talking about having plenty of time Jake and the next moment time pricks you!"

"Oh shut up... why did you always have to be so scary?"

Present time

"I wish they would have come to the party with us," Christie sighed.

"Don't worry, I know, they'll be fine okay? Just relax," Mike said as they drove back to the apartment.
When Mike and Christie reached the apartment, they were shocked to see the sight of the apartment where they once lived. The entire place was burned down and what remained was a cruel reminder of the disaster that just took place. There were firemen, cops, and ambulance. The entire place was filled with the screeching sound of the sirens and yet there was still a strange silence.

"Hey... what about everyone inside the apartment?" Mike asked a fireman.

"Sir, I guess you better ask the doctors over there in the ambulance," the fireman went away with this comment.

Mike started to look around and suddenly saw Anna, their neighbor who was standing near the fence, "Hey, Christie let's go and ask Anna over there."

Mike and Christie walked toward Anna who seemed a bit relieved after seeing the two of them.

"Oh, thank God you are here. I just came back from grandma's house and saw this bizarre thing happening. I tried to call each one of you, but only Christie picked up the phone," said Anna with a tensed expression on her face.

"What happened to all of them Anna... did you... did you see any of them? Bob, Samantha, Wallace..." Christie asked desperately.

"Relax Christie! I don't know much, but I did see Bob coming out of the building. He wasn't able to walk properly and he was being rushed toward the ambulance, so I couldn't talk to him but he's ok."

"But what about the rest?"

"Well, everyone has been taken to the city hospital, I think both of you should go there and see for yourself."

"Ok, thank you Anna," Mike said with a soft smile.

"Never mind," Anna shrugged her shoulders.

Mike and Christie rushed to the reception to check where their friends are.

"Sir, if you are talking about the apartment case, then all the injured are in ward no. 5 and for the dead bodies you have to go and talk to the police over there for identification," said the receptionist in a cool tone.

"Mike, what is she saying... dead bodies?" Christie looked at Mike with an alarmed expression.

"Let us first go to the ward okay? I am sure they'll be alright."

They entered the ward and looked around to find their friends. Christie's heartbeat grew faster as she saw how severely some of the people had been injured.

"Hey Christie, look Wallace is over there and so is Samantha, let's go and see them," Christie took a sigh of relief as soon as Mike saw them.

"Hey," Christie hugged Samantha as soon as she reached near her bed.

"How are you?" She asked examining her face.

"I'm fine Christie cool down... in fact we're all fine," Samantha said trying to calm Christie.

"Yeah... she's right. Now won't you greet me Christie?" Wallace asked with a smirk.

"You..!" She bumped Wallace's shoulder.

"Ouch! Now that hurts," said Wallace making a pained face and they started laughing.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay," Mike said with a sigh, "Where are the rest of them?"

"Well, poor Bob got his leg fractured while trying to save Samantha from the burning curtains and Jake is not hurt a bit because he was out to get himself something to eat while the accident happened. Right now he's with Bob, watching him getting plastered with a grumbling stomach," said Wallace.

"It's not funny you guys! A lot of people have been killed," Mike said turning the mood serious.

"Ah! yes, I feel so sorry, but I don't understand that how did this fire break out? I mean even the alarms didn't work?" Said Samantha with a serious look on her face.

"Now that's strange," said Mike.

"Do you think... I mean... could it be that the fire was intentional?" Asked Christie.

"What are you saying... you know what the only people who are alive are us and Amy who went out to see her grandma. If anybody hears you Christie, the fingers are going to turn towards us first," said Wallace.

"Rubbish! You can never think serious, can you?" Said Christie angrily.

"Okay, now you two stop fighting okay? Let's go and check with Bob and then get out of this place now that we've found... okay?" Said Mike.

"We can't get out of this place till the cops say so and Bob will come here when he's all plastered up. Poor thing, he got hurt because of me," Samantha said making a sloppy face.

"Think of the devil..." Mike said with a smile as he went ahead and helped Jake to support Bob.

"How are you Bob? Does that hurt?" Samantha asked touching his leg.

"Oh! no... I cant feel anything! I must be paralyzed," Bob said sarcastically and they all started laughing.

"Hello, young people... share the joke," said a policeman who had entered inside the ward without any one of them noticing. "Hi, I am inspector George and since you're the only alive witnesses, I have a few questions to ask you if you are done with your silly jokes."

"Ah! Yes sir, sure," said Jake.

The inspector then interrogated them about everyone living in the building and when did the fire break out.

"Well, the building only had five apartments inspector. It was built only a year ago you see, and all of us were college students or either young people who earned just enough to live in a shared apartment," explained Samantha.

"Hmm, I see... a building full of young people. Was anyone an alcoholic or a bit strayed?"

"No, everyone was decent enough sir. The building is owned by a couple living in Nashville right now, but they do come here every month to collect their rent and stay here for a few days, three at max. They've made sure that they only provide home to people who are decent enough and on top of that, only two people are allowed to share an apartment, so that doesn't even make the place too crowded for accidents."

"Yeah, I guess, the place has a good reputation to think of any such angle then," said Inspector George rubbing his temples. "What about you all?" He eyed all of them.

"Well, we all study in William high school and are all classmates. We've been living in the building since a year, the time it was built I guess. The two girls share the apartment, while the three of us boys do the same," said Mike.

"Didn't you just say that only two people were allowed?"

"Yes, but we stayed making a special request and paid a little extra."

"Hmm... house owners who can break their own rules for a little money can't be trusted, can they?" George looked at Mike with a slight smile on his face. "Well, I am on this case till we find out the cause of the fire, you people can let me know if you remember anything or find any clue. Till then, I guess, I'll have to talk to the owners. Does anyone of you have their contact numbers?" George paused for a reply and then said, "I am sure you have!" He said walking towards Mike, Mike switched on his cell phone and gave him their number.

"Nashville is way too far, I guess, I'll have to call these people down here in New York now. Okay, you guys can go home if you want, I have your numbers and I'll call you when I need, so keep your phones switched on."

"Wasn't that inspector a bit strange. Suspecting us and the owners. Who wants to bring their own house down?" Said Samantha while they were driving back.

"Well, making us the only people alive, I guess, he has the rights to suspect us," said Mike.

"Anyway, where are we going? We no longer have a place to stay anymore," said Christie with a sigh.

"Of course we have," said Bob.

"Okay, which place?" Asked Christie making a confused face.

"Well guys, have you forgotten that small apartment where me and my band have our jamming sessions? That's where we'll stay. I know... I know... it's not very comfortable for all of us, but beggars can't be the choosers now, can they?" Said Bob.

"Okay, at least we'll have a place to cover our heads," said Samantha.

"Even a car can do that, and his place is not a bit more comfortable than that," said Christie rolling her eyes.

"Oh, seriously? Then why don't you stay in the car Christie, the less people we have in that place the better," said Mike teasing her.

"If I stay, you stay too," said Christie hugging her brother in a manner to show him fake affection.

"Ahh! Guys think about it, we are all laughing right now when an hour ago we didn't know that we'll make it out alive or not," said Wallace.

"Yeah! I have never been that close to death before," said Samantha agreeing with Wallace.