Almost as soon as he thought he smelled smoke black billows of smoke came from the church.

Kids cried and clung to each other and Miss Jean was herding a few strays closer to the front.

Did he hear a noise from in the church? Faintly he heard a noise but it wasn't, it couldn't be…

"What's going on?" A kid had tapped him, not a kid really but a teenager with bleached blond hair cut choppily, dark eyebrows. A look of deep concern on his face.

"Well, we don't know for sure," Jerry said with a lemon sucking grin on his face, "we were having a school picnic up here and the first thing we knew, the place is burning up. Thank goodness this is a wet season and the old thing is worthless anyway,"

The teenager looked unconvinced that these were things to be thankful for, and something in Jerry wavered a bit as he thought he heard, faintly, cries from inside the church. Who the hell was this kid, anyway?

"Stand back, children. The firemen will be coming soon," It didn't make him feel any better to be saying that, though he thought it would.

"I bet we started it," The blond kid said to a black haired kid who sort of materialized beside him. His hair was cut in the same choppy style, as though they'd hacked it off with a knife. Who the hell were these kids?

"We must have dropped a lighted cigarette or something," The kid with black hair stared at him with big, solemn eyes. Jerry couldn't take his eyes off of them.

"Jerry, some of the kids are missing," Miss Jean said calmly, but the calm was cracking, and her eyes were too bright, like she had a fever.

"They're probably around here somewhere. You can't tell with all this excitement where they might be,"

"No," Miss Jean shook her head, and her pupils were pinpoints of fear, and Jerry realized she wasn't calm at all, "they've been missing for at least a half an hour. I thought they were climbing the hill…"

Inside the church, clear as day now, there was screaming.

"I told them not to play in the church…I told them…" Miss Jean was cracking. Jerry shook her.

"I'll get them, don't worry!" The bleach blond kid in the cracked leather jacket took off at a dead run for the church. Almost subliminally Jerry thought "hood" when he looked at both these teenagers. They were lean and slouchy and dressed in faded jeans and tee shirts. Jerry caught the kid's arm.

"I'll get them. You kids stay out!" He jerked loose and ran. The dark haired kid squinted up at Jerry, looked at the fire, and ran after the first kid.

Jerry watched them run into the church, watched them not even hesitate. He hung his head as he realized he would not have done the same.

"They're fucking crazy," Jerry jerked his head up as another hoody looking teen stood beside him. This one was tall, and meaner looking than the other two. He had natural white blond hair and pale blue eyes.

This new kid went over to the church and yelled at the other two. But he helped set the kids down outside and dragged the first two out of the church as it collapsed. His arm was engulfed in flames, but the fire department had arrived by that time, along with ambulances.

All three were unconscious.