A strange sensation was spreading through Riley. She seemed to be surrounded by light. But it wasn’t the harsh, sharp light of the flames. It was a cool and gentle light. The light grew brighter and brighter as the shape in Riley’s mind grew clearer and clearer. The screams and cries could no longer be heard. Riley was aware of nothing but the shape in her mind.
All the flames and guns seemed to vanish along with the pain in her heart. Riley felt Sally’s grip on her hand grow tighter. Yet, somehow, she knew it wasn’t out of fear. It was a trusting, hopeful little squeeze. There was no more danger. There was no more fear. There was only light and warmth and the shape that the sisters had created. Slowly, the feeling left Riley. She was in reality once more. But as her eyes opened, she realized she had taken a part of the dream with her. The fires still burned all around them. But the screams of fear and shouts of rage had faded away. Every single person around them stood perfectly still. The humans had lowered their guns. Everyone was just standing still, looking at each other with confusion, shock and bewilderment on their faces.
“W-what did we do?” Riley breathed. The world had become perfectly still.
“Come on. Let’s get out while we still can,” said a voice. Riley turned to see Lisa holding out her hand to her. The sisters ran through the town as if in a daze. Riley’s heart was racing but she didn’t know why. Was she safe now? What was happening? Why was everything so still? Had she and Sally caused that to happen? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? After a little while Riley decided that it had to be a good thing. Nobody was actively trying to kill each other. That was a good thing. She couldn’t waste time wondering about what had happened. Riley knew that she just needed to stay focused on her task of fleeing the town.
They still didn’t have anywhere to go. But at least they were still breathing. Yes, she would focus on that. She would savor the feeling of the air in her lungs and the beating of her own heart. The little group stayed as close together as they possibly could. The smoke in the air began to fade as they got further and further from the town. What now? They were alive but they had nothing now. Nowhere to go and nothing to do. What about food? What about shelter? What about home? Was anywhere safe? Riley waited till they were outside of the town to speak.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“We have no idea,” said Lisa and Jorden in unison. She hadn’t really been expecting an answer. There was a long pause. Lisa was the next to break the silence.
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“I vote we find somewhere calm to rest and think things over. Maybe on the edge of the forest. We should be hidden there,” she said. Jorden nodded.
“Yeah, rest sounds good,” he muttered. Riley felt Sally’s head on her shoulder. The poor thing was breathing heavily and shivering. All this traveling was starting to affect her. Danger and peril on an empty stomach weren’t good for anybody. But despite this, Sally’s eyes were glowing. She smiled up at Riley, and Riley found herself smiling back.
There was a large willow tree that sat on the very edge of the forest. It provided shade and a tiny bit of shelter. Riley had a clear view of the town, but thanks to a steep hill the group was relatively hidden from sight. Riley flopped down into the soft, sweet-smelling grass. She hadn’t realized just how tired she had been. The group took a few minutes to just relax and breathe and not think about death. Maybe they could just live here and sleep forever and ever. Yeah, that sounded like a great plan to Riley.
“So, now that we are all more or less safe, I’m going to ask a question,” Jorden said. “What happened back there? Did you girls do something? One minute people were butchering each other like animals, the next they were all standing still. I wasn’t the only one who saw that, right? We all saw that!” he burst out. Lisa stayed quiet. Sally was already snoring.
“I-I have no idea,” Riley whispered.
“Were you trying to shift the world around you?” Lisa asked. “Like you and Sally told me you could. What were you trying to make?”
“I-I wasn’t trying to make anything! That’s what’s so weird! I was just thinking about home! I have no idea what I did if I did anything at all,” Riley groaned. She really was too tired to think about anything but sleep.
“I started thinking about home too,” Lisa said gently. “It almost felt as if I was there once again. I could almost see it. I felt so at peace. Then the vision or whatever it was faded, and I was back. I’ve never felt so scared before. It was like watching a perfect dream melt away to reveal a real-life nightmare.”
“I had the same thing,” Jorden added. “I think I was starting to see things by the end. I had this agonizing pain in my shoulder, but there was no wound or injury. It’s completely gone now,” he said. Riley frowned. What had they done exactly? She knew that her ability was very strange and unpredictable. There were lots of things about it that she didn’t understand. If the things that affected it the most were Sally and her emotional states, that explained some of the strangeness. This was all too complicated to think about right now. Riley looked up at the sunlight as it shone down on the grass around her. She would turn her brain off and just savor this little bit of peace that was left. Her heavy eyelids closed.
She could hear Lisa and Jorden talking with calm, serious voices. She would let the adults figure something out while she took a nap. Thinking was almost as draining as constant danger. Riley listened to the gentle, comforting sounds around her. She savored them. Now she could feel Sally snuggling up next to her. This was all that she needed. She had no clue what the future held. But for now, she was happy and safe.