Another 10k

LOL did I forget to tell you guys I crossed the 10k mark for Beastly Protector? Oopsies. Well:

I REACHED 10,000 WORDS, GUYS. YUP.

Sorry for forgetting. I was busy with school and stuff. Anyway, yeah, book's going fine. Hopefully, I'll get Gepard Valk back soon because I really wanna work on it. I miss it sooo much! I think even if I make it to the last sentence of Beastly Protector, I won't write the last word till I finish Gepard Valk because I wanted it to be the first novel I finish. Sounds cheesy, but whatever.

But the real reason I posted this is to see how far you guys have gotten. Are you sticking to your book? Are you typing, or writing or whatever, a paragraph a day? If not, why? What's stopping you? Nothing? Oh, well that's a good excuse... not! Get off your ass, you lazy bum and get writing! Or else I'ma stick Kal's army of queenly rainbow farts on you! Yes, that's right, fear me!

But seriously, comment on how you're doing!

Now, for your entertainment (which is laughing at my writing), the next few chapters of Beastly Protector:

~CHAPTER THREE~

The statue’s weight bore down on me, and the only thing keeping the pointed marble sword from protruding deep into my stomach was my shaky knees that were about to give way!

            “Help!” I shouted out. “Help me!”

            My knees fell a bit and the marble sword drew blood from my stomach. I cried out in pain and tears began to sting my eyes. Oh God, this thing was heavy. How was I even holding it up?! I was only a girl, with no strength!

            “Please, help me...” I was about to pass out when something trickled into vision... Was that a paw?

            Then darkness overrode my senses and I blacked out.

***

The quietness scared me. I just knew I was dead. I just knew it. I was dead and I was in some sort of limbo where I didn’t want to open my eyes.

            A whisper like wind brushed against my ears. Someone else was here? Were they dead too?

            This time I heard the whisper. Feint, but prominent. “Zelda, wake up...” It was Cameron.

            Slowly, I opened my eyes to his face. He was worried, and as much as that upset me, I was happy to see it. He looked like the old Cameron.

            His hair was matted to his head from sweat, and tears were running down his face, which was pale-white. Brows furrowed, he said, “You’re awake.” Then he turned and shouted something.

            I tried to speak, but no words came. My body ached from keeping the statue at bay... but what had happened?

            I forced myself to open my eyes fully, get control of myself. There were tubes in my arm, connecting to a machine monitoring my heart rate.

            Cameron smiled at me, the tears already beginning to stop.

            “You’ve been here for one day and you’ve already been nearly crushed by a statue.” He laughed a little before returning his eyes to mine.

            I had seen something before I’d blacked out. A white paw. It could have been a dog, but I knew it wasn’t.

            “Is there a zoo around here?” I asked.

            The puzzled look I got back told me Cameron thought I was crazy. But he answered anyway.

            “No, why?”

            “I saw a wolf. Before I blacked out, I saw a white paw, and I know it belonged to a wolf, because we studied them in art class back home for a while. Dogs paws are a bit different... well, a lot. Smaller. And just, different. It must have come from somewhere. I mean, a wolf can’t just appear out of thin air!”

            Cameron rubbed his fingers along his chin. “Hmmm... I’m not sure, Zel. Dunno what could have happened. Maybe—oh, coming Mom!”

            He ran from the room as if a train was about to hit him. I glared after him. He knew something, and I’d get him to spill eventually.

            Aunt Lyd loomed in the doorway and hugged me tightly, nearly cutting off my air supply with her giant bosoms.

            “Oh, honey, I should never have let you go with that girl. I’m so sorry.”

            When she finally let go I responded. “It wasn’t her fault, Lyd. She wasn’t even near me. I don’t know where she and Cam were. I was about to go and find them when it fell...” Then I remembered the sword.

            I quickly pulled up the hospital gown I was wearing. Thank God they’d let me wear pyjama bottoms. But there, right next to my belly button was a giant bandage wrapping around my torso. The weird thing was it didn’t hurt. At all...

            “Oh my God, you cannot tell Mom or Dad!” I blurted when I suddenly thought of them.

            “Zelda, I have to. They’re your parents.”

            “But they’ll make me go home! Please, Lyd... please?” I gave her the puppy-dog eyes and the big pouty lips.

            “Okay, fine! God, you’re just as bad as each other!” She rolled her eyes.

            “What?”

            “Cameron told me you wouldn’t want your parents knowing. He told me not to tell them, to keep it on the down-low.”

            Out of nowhere tiredness took over. My eyelids could barely stay up.

            “I think I’m going to rest for a while...” I shut my eyes and lay back on my pillow.

            “Okay. The doctor will be here when you wake up.”

            Then I drifted off to sleep.

***

“Zelda. Zelda, wake up you fool.” Cam.

            I opened my eyes to see him sitting beside the bed, eating a McDonald’s.

            “What?” I asked, annoyance lacing my tone.

            “Food,” he said between bites.

            I took a plain burger from him, the paper wrapping feeling dry on my hands, and chips, which I ate by the handful. God, was I hungry. I chewed monstrously on my burger and Cam actually had to pat my back because I was choking on a piece that was too big.

            “Where’s Aleesha?” I asked when we were done eating.

            “Legged it when she saw what happened. She can be a bitch sometimes.”

            “Oh... How’d you two meet, anyway?”

            “I don’t think that’s any of your business, to be honest.” His face returned to looking angry, with the shield protecting anyone from getting through to him. He was an empty void. He was a disgrace to his mother, who needed my help as much as he did, but I was just one girl, not Superwoman.

            “Cam, don’t do this. Please. Just don’t. I’m in hospital, for Christ’s sake, and right now you’re the one that should be helping me. What if I had died?”

            “Then I would have said good riddance.” He stood up and walked from the room.

            That had hurt. A lot.

            Tears were streaming down my face at this point and I had my head in my pillow. He was such a jerk! Why couldn’t he be Cam-Cam, not the I’m-so-cool-and-mysterious-I-can-be-rude-and-people-think-I’m-awesome Cam?

            “Zel, hon, the doctor’s here.”

            I wiped away my tears with my sleeve before turning to face the doctor. He was handsome for an old guy, his wrinkles making him look very kind when he smiled.

            “Hi, Zelda. I’m Doctor Gilbert. Just here to do some tests, and if they’re good, you can go.”

            I nodded and he walked over to the bed, his shoes echoing throughout the room.

            “Okay, so, feeling any pain?” I shook my head. “That’s good.”

            He pressed his hands down where the cut from the sword was. I wondered what it looked like.

            “No pain. That’s very good. Okay, you’re free to go. I think Lydia will take great care of you and be super protective now.” Aunt Lyd’s face lit up when he mentioned her.

***

The wind had calmed down and the evening was as quiet as the end of the world. Aunt Lyd pushed Cameron through the front door and sent him straight to his room.

            “Stay up there until you want to tell me what happened.”

            “Whatever.” Cameron ran into the book room and I heard his footsteps bound up the stairs.

            “I swear, that boy is getting worse and worse.” She turned to me. “You okay? Want to rest?”

            “Yeah, I think I’ll go to bed. I might go to the library tomorrow if I’m allowed,” I said, remembering Cam saying there might be a book about the town there.

            “Of course.” She smiled before walking into the living room.

            I walked up the stairs, into my bedroom, and pulled on my pyjamas. I was deciding whether or not to say goodnight to Cam when I heard something outside my window—mumbling.

            When I reached it, I pushed the bit that could move outwards, and stuck out my head. Cameron was on his windowsill, about to jump!

            “Cameron, what the hell are you doing?!” I shouted.

            His eyes darted to me and he lost his balance. He fell to his behind and slipped off the windowsill.

            “Cameron!” I yelled.

            Without thinking, I jumped from my own window. The air brushed through my very soul and my eyes were stinging with the cold. There was Cameron below me, plummeting to the ground.

            I put my hands in dive-mode and fell faster, catching up to him. Wrapping my arms around him, I braced myself.

            Time to die, I thought.

            But I didn’t. All I felt was the air getting softer and softer, before I landed on my legs, still gripping Cam tightly. I didn’t dare open my eyes.

            I knew he didn’t either. We stood there for a few minutes, and I noticed he was clinging even tighter to me, his knuckles digging in to my skin.

            “Zelda... look,” he said. He must have opened his eyes to see our death... I wondered whether we were in Heaven or Hell.

            Slowly, I opened my eyes a crack and peeked out. We were in the garden... the back garden.

            I opened my eyes fully and stared at him.

            “What just happened?” I said in astonishment. “We fell two storeys and we’re not even scratched!”

            “I don’t know! I’m so confused right now! What... gah!” He let go of me and stormed off towards the house.

            “Where are you going?! Like I just said, we fell two storeys and we’re fine! You don’t want to talk about this?!”

            “Not really!” he called back before shutting the door behind him.

***

The next day was stormy with a big chance of rain. The skies were dark, and from my view out of the window, the forest looked really sinister. As in, wow-there-must-be-an-evil-witch-with-apples-living-in-there sinister.

            I quickly got dressed, ran a brush through my hair and ran downstairs. It was eight a.m., according to the clock above the sink. Would the library be opened? I guess I’d just wait for Aunt Lyd.

            Pouring myself a bowl of cereal, I noticed something outside the window. It was terrible... a rabbit... with its ear ripped off! Blood had flowed out and over the tiny body, then stained the grass beneath it. I really wanted to help it, but I know I couldn’t. So I turned around and began eating my cereal.

            I wonder what had actually happened yesterday. A statue can’t just randomly fall... And the paw. The wolf paw. They don’t just freely roam around here, do they? Maybe they do. I mean, they do have them on the gates of the Garden Statue..

            I’d been here two days and the town was already totally strange. And that book... I had to find those pages! I just knew they were hiding something amazing. But first, the library.

            I glanced up at the clock—nine a.m.

            After running up the stairs, I knocked gently on Aunt Lyd’s door and opened it. She looked really bleary-eyed and they were encircled by read blotches. She’d been crying.

            I walked over and sat next to her on the bed.

            “You okay?” I asked.

            She smiled and waved me off. “I’m fine, darling, just a bit upset. It’s nothing.”

            “You know you can talk to me, right? It’s not like I don’t understand.”

            “No, really, it’s fine. Just, seeing Cameron like this gets me a tad upset. Don’t worry. Oh, did you want me to drive you the library?”

            “No, I can walk. You stay in bed. I was just wondering when it’s open.”

            “It’s already open. Closes at three. You know where it is, don’t you?”

            “Yup, in town... about five minutes walk, right?”

            “Right.”

            I told her to sleep all day and she agreed, then I went back to my own room where I retrieved my jacket.

            It was cold outside, really cold, even with my jacket on. But I didn’t really mind. I walked down the path towards the Statue Garden, then turned right into town. There was a lot of shops and hotels. But I walked past them all, past the giant statue—of the Guardian of The Shifters—to the library. A big, grey building with giant white lettering.

            I pushed open the glass door to be greeted by the scent of new books. I inhaled, sighing happily.

            Inside, there was a reception to check books out, then behind it was the young adults section, to its left the adults, to its right history. That’s where I headed.

            I turned into the aisle and realized just how long it was. About ten bookshelves on either side of running down the length of the building. This was going to take ages... wait, duh, there’s a librarian.

            After returning to the reception, I rang a tiny silver bell on the counter that made an ear-tingling ding sound.

            A woman appeared out of the corner of my eye and shuffled towards her seat. Once she had sat she looked up at me, smiling.

            “What can I do for you, dear?” She pushed her half-moon spectacles up the bridge of her nose. The pushed into her fluffy white hair at the corners, probably a wig.

            “I was wondering if you had this book... about the symbols drawn on the gates of the Statue Garden?”

            “Oh, yes! That just came back.” She stood up and went down the aisle I’d just been in, before picking out a sky-blue hardback. It was a normal-sized book, but it didn’t seem very lengthy.

            “Here you go,” she said, handing me the book. I took it.

            It felt weird in my hands... like it was fuzzy. But it was a hardback. Maybe I just had pins and needles or something.

            “Thanks, can I check this out?”

            “Do you have a library card?” she asked sceptically as we returned to the desk.

            “Umm, no, but my aunt—“

            “Sorry, darling, but I need a library card.”

            I didn’t know what to do. I sighed and was about to put the book back when I heard a voice behind me say, “She can use mine. I’ll take full responsibility if she steals it and decides to ruin my reputation here.” It was such a deep, velvety voice.

            I turned to face whoever it was to thank them, but no words formed.

            Stood right in front of me was a seriously hot guy. Black hair that was nicely gelled up in a Mohican, sea-blue eyes, and a smirk that would make you melt.

            I couldn’t speak, but I did giggle a bit at his ears. They were pointed like an elves, but not as eccentric.

            “I’m Andro.” He extended his arm and I shook his hand.

            “Zelda,” I said.

            His eyes brightened and I couldn’t help but smile. God, he was hot. I hadn’t even noticed his body. Had he worn that shirt to expose his muscles on purpose? I nearly swooned.

            “Here,” he said to the librarian, handing her his card. I noticed how tan his arm was... how would he get a tan like that in Rossbane?

            “So, you new in town?” he asked me. His teeth were so perfect... too perfect. Dental perfection, perhaps.

            “Oh, no. Well, yes, but I’m not staying. Just visiting relatives. My cousin said I should check this out,” I said as I took the book from the librarian. She coughed and glanced at the queue that had formed behind us.

            “Oh, sorry,” Andro and I said in unison.

            Once out of the library, I sat on a bench I hadn’t noticed that was sitting right outside the place. Andro sat next to me.

            Oh my God, did he like me?! I mean, if he didn’t then he would’ve walked away, right? Wow. I’ve liked guys before, but none of them have ever liked me back.

            But he might not like me... maybe he just sat with me because he wanted to sit down? Maybe his legs were tired...

            I turned to him and we both began to speak at the same time, then laughed awkwardly.

            “How long are you staying in town?” he asked after I nodded for him to go first.

            “About two months. Then I have to go back to school.”

            “Oh, that’s a shame. I was hoping we’d have more time.” He smiled at me, flashing those perfect teeth. I nearly swooned.

            “More time for what?” I managed to get out.

            “Well... hey, this is out of the blue and all, but... do you wanna meet up tomorrow?” His cheeks turned a bright red as if someone had turned on a light inside.

            I blushed too. My first date!          

            “Sure,” I whispered, fascinated as he pushed a hand through his hair.

            His eyes lit up and he smiled before saying, “Great! But I really gotta go now. I’ll see you here at one?”

            “Definitely.”

***

             “That was great, Lyd. Thanks,” I said as I pushed the empty plate away from me. I was so full I felt as if I were about to burst out of my jeans and just roll away like a ball.

            “No problem, Zel, just remember you have to make dinner tomorrow. Maybe pizza?” she teased. She knew I couldn’t cook to save my life.

            “Where’s Cam?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him when I’d come back.

            “Out with his friends, of course. I tried to tell him that he should stay in, maybe we could watch a movie, but he said no, that it was stupid and that he didn’t want to waste his time on it. I really wish he’d come around.”

            That boy had some nerve, speaking to poor Aunt Lyd that way. Well, I was going to have a serious talking with him.

            “Don’t worry, Lyd. I’m getting sick of all this crap with him, and by God, I’m going to sort that joker out soon.” I could feel my hands clench into fists and my face contort in anger.

            “Oh, Zel...” I don’t get to find out what Aunt Lyd was going to say because she burst out in tears. Damn Cameron!

            I rushed over to her and wrapped my arms around her. Her hair tickled my face in the awkward I’m-standing-she’s-sitting hug. But she radiated warmth, as if she had a fire that burnt throughout her whole body... wait, she was too warm.

            I pulled back and stared down at her. Damn. Aunt Lyd’s pupils were dilated, her skin pale, and when I pressed my hand to her forehead it was like a volcano. I was about to tell her she was sick and should go to bed when she bent down and got sick all over my shoes!

            After throwing my shoes in the bin, because there was no way they could be salvaged, I tucked Aunt Lyd into bed, gave her one of those seaside castle-building buckets, and hugged her.

            “Don’t worry,” I said, pushing her hands onto the bucket. “Everything’s going to be fine. Cam’ll be fine, you’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. All of us. You just get some rest.” I smiled as she nodded and laid back, instantly starting to snore as loud as a wolf howl.

            Downstairs the ticking of the clock was as defined as a screech of a hawk, annoying me so much I eventually took out the batteries. They felt slightly cold in my hands, and I was about to put them on the counter when they slipped and fell to the floor with a clang.

            I bent down and closed my hand around them, my fingers lightly brushing the tiled floor around them. Cold. Why was everything so cold today?

            After retrieving the batteries, I turned and threw them on the counter, before gasping and clutching frantically at my chest.

            There was a wolf outside, through the window. Even though it was night, and the sky was dark, I could see it clearly. Snow-white, almost as aluminous as the moon that shone above it. Its eyes were a mesmerizing yellow, as yellow as the sun, in fact. It was like a night-and-day wolf, fur like the moon, eyes like the sun.

            But it just stared at me from its perch beside a tall, branch-filled tree. What was it doing? Why would it just stand there? Why was there even a wolf outside the house?! Wolves can’t just roam free!

            I blinked and it was gone, but I saw the tip of something white, probably its tail, wave into the tree. That had been my second encounter with a wolf since I’d come here, and it had only been a few days.

            I gazed after the wolf, wondering it would kill tonight. Wolves don’t kill humans, right?

            As I ascended the stairs, walked into my bedroom and slid under my blanket, one thought rang in my mind: I hoped that I was right.

           

           

           

~CHAPTER FOUR~

I rose to the sound of thunder attacking my window. After checking the clock, I realized it was only six a.m. Would I ever get a good night’s sleep around here?

            As soon as I got dressed my mind began to reboot. The fall from the window, which I somehow hadn’t even thought about, the paw in the Statue Garden... and the wolf. The snow-white, yellow-eyed wolf.

            So much strange things happening in Rossbane, and all of them unexplained. Well, today I was going to find out what was happening, and I knew that one person was sure to have an answer.

            I barged into Cam’s room, slamming the door behind me, making sure he’d have no escape route... but the window, which he’d gone through just nights before. Damn it!

            While I contemplated pushing the wardrobe in front of the closed window, Cam was sitting up in his bed, rubbing away the sleep.

            “Zel? What the hell are you playing at? It’s...” He checked the alarm clock on his light-brown bedside table. “Six a.m.”

            “You’re going to tell me the truth, and you’re going to tell me now. It’s one thing for you to go all emo  or goth or whatever it is you are now, but it’s another for crazy things to happen to me! First the paw in the Statue Garden, then the drop from there!” I shouted quietly, pointing towards his window. “We landed safely, without even a scratch! And last night.” I quietened my voice to a barely audible level. “Last night I saw a snow-white wolf in your back yard. It just stared! So tell me what’s going on!”

            “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Cam sat up in his bed, his eyes focused. “You saw a wolf in the yard? And you didn’t call anyone?! What are you, nuts? Zelda, it was a wolf! The thing could’ve killed you!”

            “And what would you care if it had?” Let’s see where that struck him.

            His eyes hardened. “Shut up, Zelda. You know what I said at the hospital wasn’t me. I was just angry, sad, upset. I was in a mix of emotions and it just burst out of my mouth. Look, I’m sorry for being a prick. It’s just... things in my life are complicated now—“

            “And that’s why I came! Because you need help! You said so yourself.”

            “But not the help you can give. I’ll try to be nice to you, and Mom, but I can’t promise anything. My moods are kinda unpredictable lately.”

            “Yeah, I’ve noticed. Dick.” I stormed over to the door and pulled it open. Before I left, I turned around and said, “I don’t think you were lying at the hospital.”

***

It had been eight hours since my fight with Cam, if you could call it that. I had been so sure going into his room that I would get answers. And I came out with even more questions. Like why was Cameron always happy-sad. One minute he’s nice, the next he’s wishing my death. And why couldn’t I help him? What was so wrong with me that any help I give him would crumble at his feet?

            “Ugh!” I threw my shoes across the bedroom. They smacked into the wardrobe with a thud, before dropping the ground as if they weren’t damaged in the slightest.

            Sighing, I retrieved them and shoved them over my pink socks. I had to look respectful for my date. And I thought I did in my purple hoodie, Coldplay t-shirt, skinny dark-blue jeans, and, of course, the Canvas shoes I’d thrown.

            I gave my hair a quick brushing before I left. The day was still stormy, just not as much as it was earlier. Thunder rumbled far off in the distance, and the sky was as dark as coal, but it wasn’t raining. Yet.

            By the time I’d reached the library, the wind had picked up dramatically and I was pulling my jumper around me as tight as I could. But I let my hands fall to my sides, my mouth open in an ‘o’ shape, and my eyes widen when I saw Andro standing outside the library.

            He was wearing a blue Leatherman jacket and dark jeans that fell over all but the tips of his white sneakers. His arms were crossed, protecting his chest from the cold, and his eyes had changed from the sea colour they had been to dark-navy. Was that even possible?

            Andro smiled at me, and I could feel my cheeks flushing. Surprised with this sudden burst of girly hormones, I smiled back.

            “Hey,” he said when I reached him, the wind really starting to cut through my skin. “How are you?”

            “I’m good. So, what’re we doing?”

            “Well, I’ve decided I want to bring you to my favourite restaurant around here.” He smile down at me, and I smiled back. It was almost too perfect. Almost. But right now, I needed perfect. Everything was so strange I just pushed it out of my mind, and today would help with that—hopefully.

            “Oh? And what’s the name of said restaur—“ I cut myself off when I felt Andro’s hand connect with mine and his fingers slid between my own. His touch was so gentle, so warm. It made something deep down inside me stir, as if it were being awakened for the first time. It couldn’t be love already, could it?

            I hadn’t looked at him since he’d touched his hand off mine, but I knew my cheeks were rosy-red. My head slowly tilted upwards and I found his eyes—sky-blue. They had changed again. But that wasn’t what I first noticed. What I first noticed were the butterflies that seemed to be having a party in my stomach, the smile that I couldn’t help forming, the squeezing of my hand to his... and the beauty of him. Not just looks, but gentleness, kindness.

            We stood for a while, staring into each other’s eyes. He broke the moment by pulling me forward, towards the town centre. Towards the statue of The Guardian of The Shifters.

            “Um, if you don’t mind, can we not go near that thing? It’s just, one of the statues in the Statue Garden put me in hospital the other day.” I still couldn’t believe how quickly I had healed. Something like that should’ve killed me, yet here I stood, alive and well—and on a date with hotness himself!

            “What happened?” Andro’s eyes were searching my face. What did he think he would find?

            “It just...,” –I didn’t want to tell him about the wolf—“fell. Just fell. I was looking at it and next thing I knew I was pinned under it, my knees the only thing keeping me alive. I’m glad I didn’t die though, because if I did... I would never have met you.” I grinned and laughed slightly at the clichéd line I’d just used, but it seemed to make Andro happy. Ecstatic, actually, because he beamed.

            The wind picked up even more and my hair began flailing wildly. That must look really attractive.

            “Wow, you’re freezing,” Andro said. I looked down at our intertwined fingers and noticed the incredible heat coming from him. How was that even possible?

            I was about to ask him how he was so warm when the sky rumbled and the rain bucketed down on top of us, bringing with it that familiar scent. Andro seemed to stiffen. But then he smiled at me and brought me running. We ran through the centre of town, past the shops, past the Garden Statue, and ended up at a bus stop. We slid under the cover of it laughed. We were both soaking wet, dripping with water. My shoes felt like a river.

            “Here, lemme warm you up,” he said, pulling me close. He wrapped his arms around me. It felt so good. I knew we’d only met each other yesterday, but I also knew there was something there... something special. So, instead of pulling away from him, I pushed closer, nestling my head into his chest. He was sat in the corner, one leg up on the bench, one leg on the ground, and I was sat in between. His chin rested on the top of my head.

            I was glad that the rain didn’t stop. Because I didn’t want to leave this moment—ever.

            My phone began to ring. I dug it out of my pocket, the fabric feeling strange on my wet skin. “Hello?”

            “Zelda.” It was Cam. “You need to come home. Right now. This is important.”

            “Cam, I’m on a date!” I growled. Why couldn’t he leave me alone for one day?

            “A date? With who? Whatever, just come home Zelda. This is serious.” He hung up, and from the way he sounded it was serious.

            I cursed under my breath and looked up at Andro. He was beautiful. So very, very beautiful. Sighing, I whispered, “I have to go.” I had been hoping he wouldn’t hear me, but he clearly did. His hands slid away from me and suddenly, I felt cold—like something was missing. Him.

            “It’s okay,” he said. “Can we do this again?” His was soft.

            “Hopefully.” I smiled at him, then without thinking, I kissed him on the lips. A quick kiss that lasted less than a second. A peck, really. But it was enough. Sparks ran through my body, igniting everything I had never felt—every good thing I had never felt. And then it ignited those I had felt even more. And I knew I loved this boy—the boy I’d met a day before.

***

            Closing the door behind me, I heard shouts coming from the living room.

“Well, what’re we supposed to do?!” Cam.

            “We tell her!” Aunt Lyd.

            “But she’ll freak! She’ll probably go on some sort of bender—“

            “What, like you?” Aunt Lyd’s voice is soft now, somewhat edged with pain.

            I walked over and pushed the door open before stepping inside. “Are you talking about me?” I scanned their faces for any evidence—a giveaway of what they’d been talking about.

            “Zelda.” Aunt Lyd’s face is wet, she’d been crying. “Honey, sit down.” She gestured to the chair beside her, smiling sadly.

            I took the seat and looked up at her. “What’s wrong? Do I have to go home?”

            Aunt Lyd took the seat opposite me and Cam stood by the door. “Zelda... I’m so sorry.” Aunt Lyd wiped her sleeve across her eyes. “Your mom and dad... there was a fire. Honey, they couldn’t get out—“

            “No!” I bellowed without knowing. I didn’t realize I’d stood up at all. But I had. “No! You’re lying. Why would you say something like that? It’s sick! You’re disgusting.” I glared at her as if she were the worst thing in the world. As if she were my eternal suffering, trying to make my life hell.

            But then it sank in, after I’ve stood there for what feels like hours glaring, and I dropped to the floor, tears streaming down my face. I felt my hair covering my face, causing darkness to swarm around my vision. How could they be dead? They were the people who were so well prepared, so organised. They’d always turned off switches that weren’t in use, put on their seatbelt straight away after getting into the car, made sure both the front and back door were closed before hiding the key in the kitchen drawer.

            Before I knew it, I was in bed, staring at the wall. How long had I been there? A day? An hour? A few minutes? I didn’t care... I just felt dead.

            My parents were dead, and now, so was I.