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notice. All I could see was my house.  
    Or what used to be my house.  
    My eyes noticed irrelevant things, like how the ruins of my house were bunched together like a flat pyramid. Shingles were everywhere, slipping through cracks of the caved in walls. Tattered, snapped furniture was piled on the waterlogged grass behind warped metal appliances. The garage was completely flattened into the driveway. I couldn’t see Mom or Dad’s cars, and had no idea where the mailbox was.  
    I walked forward in a daze, my aching, soggy feet dragging heavily through the grass. I went toward the furniture, touching it and stupidly wondering why it was outside on the lawn. It wasn’t supposed to be here. It was supposed to be inside–  
    “Ava?”  
    I turned around and looked at the people standing in the middle of the road. I hadn’t looked back when Piper dropped me off. I went straight for my house, thinking that’s where my parents and little brother were. I didn’t think to look back, where they were standing now.  
    My eyes took in all of them. My Dad’s wide, shocked eyes as he held my little brother’s hand. My mother’s joyous tears as she ran for me.  
    Fresh tears slipped past my own eyes. I choked on a sob and ran for my family.  
    Mom met me in a crushing hug. I shuddered and cried into her chest, like I was a lost baby. She soothed me like I was one.  
    “Oh, thank God, Ava, thank God, thank God.”  
    Hearing the fear in her voice only made me cry harder. When I felt my Dad and brother wrap their arms around me, I was almost screaming.  
    It was eternity before they pulled away. I didn’t want to let go. I was still a shaking, crying mess.  
    Mom cupped my face in her hands and looked in my eyes. “Where have you been? We were looking for you everywhere.”  
    Speaking past my tears and the released pressure in my chest was harder than I thought it would be.  
    “I couldn’t get the door closed,” I sobbed out. “I tried, but I couldn’t so I tried to get to my school because I didn’t want to drown, and I… I…”  
    I couldn’t tell them about the Stormkind the way I had with Piper. I’d gotten too upset to know if she believed me or not. With my family, I was just too relieved they were alive to care. I would tell them later.  
    Just as I would tell them about that other part. I would have to tell them eventually. If Piper had seen the scar on my chest, there was a chance my family would too.  
    “When I woke up, I was in Palm Beach. I got a ride with Piper.”  
    “Did you stay with her?” my Dad asked.  
    Confused, I turned to look at him, but a crying baby caught my attention. I looked past him to where a young mother stood, holding her child. She was talking frantically to SPU soldiers. All across the road, my neighbors were standing together, moving debris and talking to authorities. They were everywhere , packed on the road like homeless sardines.  
    That’s what we were now. Fish out of water.  
    My eyes went back to the crying baby. To the woman that held her.  
    To the patch of street they were standing on.  
    Where Mr. Cortez had died. Drained of his life force by the Stormkind. I saw its skeleton glow bright in my mind. Watched it glow brighter as it stood over me, reached for me.  
    Saw a shadow and a pair of cruel eyes.  
    Felt a sharp punch in my chest before the world exploded into agony.  
    “Ava? Ava, sweetie, what’s wrong?”  
    I barely heard my mother. Hardly felt James touch my hand. The memory was clouding my mind. It hurt to breathe.  
    “Sit down, honey, sit down.”  
    I couldn’t make myself move. Dad had to help me. He knelt next to me with his arm around my shoulders. Steadying me. The ground felt wet. Everything was drenched. I felt like my very soul was soaked.  
    “It’s okay, Ava. You’re safe now.”  
    It was what I needed to hear. It was true.  
    It didn’t keep me from shaking.  
    I stared blankly ahead, unaware that I