The Everblooming Flower [Book One of The Dreamers Series]

Chapter Twenty-Five

To put things simply, Samara was a wreck. She got home, looking stressed out, and was too tired to make dinner. I repeat, she was too tired to make dinner. Zak looked just as shocked as Jade and me, so clearly this wasn't normal.

I wanted to do something, but I was going to guess losing her little brother had taken more of a toll on her than she let show. It might explain why she wasn't as neat and tidy as I remembered her being. Yeah, she used to be more of a neat freak. I understand that may be difficult to believe, but I assure you it is true.

Problem was, I had no idea what to do about it. I'd always thought adults didn't really get sad. Like, obviously I knew they could be sad, but I'd never really thought about it. So... I didn't know how I was supposed to help her out. This was my Dad, so I should be able to. Pun not intended.

So, I did what I could. Worry about problems I could solve. Like, the dream situation. Nimue had asked me to find Lancelot. I was going to guess he was somewhere in the castle, but I also wanted to help out that girl. I'd left behind some boy in the hospital, I wasn't about to leave this girl behind.

So, when I opened my eyes and found myself in the castle, my first objective was to find this girl. I could remember what had happened to me, where I'd woken up in the alley. I figured she'd be back at the burnt-up house, just as confused as I had been.

I left and followed the rusty junkyard path until I found myself back at the house. It was a sad thing to see. Someone's childhood home was destroyed, burnt to a crisp, gone.

I caught a glimpse of dark red hair and walked up to the figure in the blackened house frames. I was struck by surprise when she was roughly five centimetres shorter than me. Were all immortal girls super short?

"Hey," I greeted, startling her. "I'm Flora. Flora Fickle."

She wiped her puffy red eyes and stepped up to me.

"I'm Flare," she said with a lump in her throat. "Flare Worthe."

I nodded. "Was this your house?"

"Yeah...," she frowned. "Stupid bushfires."

"So, you lived in the bush?" I asked. "What area?"

"Yallingup," she said, seeming to calm down slightly. "Moved in with my Grandma yesterday. She's really broken up."

"Why?" I asked.

"My Dad died in the fire," Flare wiped her eyes. "They found his charred corpse right over there," Flare pointed to the hallway entrance. "Apparently he was coming in to find me. I had climbed out of the window and started screaming for him..."

I felt my own eyes water at her story. It was so sad...

"So, your Grandma is taking care of you?" I asked. "Because her son—"

"Oh? No," Flare shook her head. "Dad never told me much about his family other than that it was complicated. I'm living with my Mum's Mother."

"Oh," I nodded. "So, how is your Mum taking this?"

"Don't know," Flare shrugged. "I imagine they're together in the afterlife. Mum died of cancer when I was young. I don't have many memories of her."

I frowned, and pulled Flare into a hug, feeling weird about finally being taller than someone.

"Join the orphan crew," I said.

"What's your story than?" She asked.

"I—"

I was cut off when I noticed the charred framework was fraying like fabric. The red light was back, and it was coming for both of us. I turned to Flare with a look of alarm and only needed to say one thing.