It really was strange. Riley’s new life had been ripped away from her. She had every right to feel angry and miserable. But she didn’t. As she looked around the car at the loving faces that surrounded her, she felt nothing but joy. She didn’t really need a nice house. Her home was right here. All that she needed and all that she could ever want was right here with her. The only thing that was missing was world peace. Oh, and not having to worry about starving. Now, those problems would be a bit of a challenge to fix. But things could always be worse. At least she had her people.
“So, the plan is to steal food, right? Because we don’t have the money to buy any, right?” Riley asked. Jorden gave her a strange look. Lisa just chuckled softly.
“We might have to,” Jorden said after a pause. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Can I come if you do end up stealing? I could be very helpful. Trust me, I have plenty of experience,” said Riley.
“She probably does,” Lisa said softly.
“We’ll figure stuff out when we get there,” Jorden said. The hunger in Riley’s stomach was growing. It made sense that Jorden disliked the idea of stealing. Riley herself had no problem with it. There were things far worse than stealing a few snacks for her starving sister. Jorden had probably had a very different life from Riley.
“When we get to the village, I want you girls to keep your heads down, okay?” said Lisa. “We don’t want anyone to see your faces or recognize you,” she ordered.
“Okay,” Riley said. Well, her stealing expertise wouldn’t be needed this time. She would just have to focus on protecting Sally and staying hidden. Riley was pretty good at staying hidden. Sally was hard to protect sometimes. There were so many people out there who wanted to hurt Sally. Maybe it wasn’t fair of her to think that. Maybe Riley just wasn’t a good protector. Riley glanced over at her sister.
Sally was smiling and looking out the window at the world around her. She seemed pretty happy to just be alive. That was good. Riley slid over closer to her sister. The best thing that she could do for now was just keep Sally close. Riley followed Sally’s gaze and noticed the tiny line of buildings in the distance. They were growing closer with each moment. That must be the village.
“Alright girls, heads down now,” Lisa ordered.
“Alright.” Riley took Sally’s hand and pulled her down.
“Wait… what?” Jorden said suddenly.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“What’s wrong?” Riley asked.
“I-I’m not sure,” Jorden whispered. “Lisa, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Jorden asked.
“Are you seeing pure destruction?” Lisa’s voice sounded so lifeless and horror-stricken.
“What? What is it? Can I see?” Riley asked. Her heart was racing now. She peered out of the window at the town. A soft cry escaped her. The houses had just looked like little dots a moment ago. Now that they were closer, Riley could see the village more clearly; or rather, what was left of the village. Half of the houses were burned down. Ash and dust blew through the air. What could have possibly happened? A soft cry escaped Sally. She was staring at a body that lay just a few feet away. The flesh was burnt to a crisp. There was no telling the age or gender of the body. It was completely destroyed, beyond recognition. The sight made Riley’s heart shrivel up. Now she could see them everywhere. Bodies lay scattered all across the ground.
Riley pulled the trembling Sally into her arms. Sally squeezed her eyes closed and buried her face in Riley’s shoulder. Everywhere she looked, Riley saw bodies. She too closed her eyes and tried to block out the awful sight. What in the world had happened here? A whole village had been burned to the ground. But the area around it hadn’t been burned. Clearly there hadn’t been a forest fire. It was just the village that had been destroyed. How many people had died here?
“W-what should we do?” Riley asked. Nobody answered her for a moment.
“We still need food.” Lisa’s voice had grown more controlled. It sounded sharper, more determined. Riley wasn’t used to hearing her talk that way.
“Yes. But I also don’t think we should spend too much time here,” Jorden said. “We have no idea what happened here and why. It might not be safe,” he said. Riley opened her eyes.
“Can you stay here with them? I’ll see if I can find something to eat,” said Lisa. Riley swallowed her protests. She wanted Lisa to stay close. What if something happened to her?
“Alright. We’ll be right here. But if you see anything, come back, okay?” Jorden said. Lisa nodded. The sisters watched her leave. Hopefully she would be back soon.
“So, you two are half Forma. That’s interesting,” Jorden said cheerfully.
“Yeah.” Riley didn’t know what else to say.
“You don’t seem too happy about that.”
“Well, I-I don’t know. If we were fully Forma or fully human, the lady would have left us alone. She wanted us because we were both. I don’t think we’d have our ability if it weren’t for that.”
“I think I heard an old Forma folktale once. It reminds me of you. It told the story of two uniquely gifted sisters. In the story they ended up saving the Formas from a dark fate. This was well after the Formas had discovered the humans,” he said. That was interesting.
“I would like to hear that story! Do you remember it well?”
“Not really. I read it a while ago, let me think.” Jorden opened his mouth to speak again. A sharp cry cut him off. It was Lisa’s cry. Horror filled Riley. Before she could stop herself, Riley was climbing out of the car. Had something horrible happened to Lisa?
“Riley no!” Jorden tried to grab her, but she was too fast for him. She had almost lost Lisa twice now. Riley wasn’t going to let her die.