~Rain~

Chapter Four

Chapter four – Alice

It surprised me how easy it was, really. One second I was grabbing the left over berries in my still-warm hands and shooting one last, long look towards the sleeping figures of the people I could almost call my friends. After all, it’s not everyday that the world ends and ninety-seven percent of the population perish, only to be replaced by scaled aliens on a mission to inherit the earth as their own.

By the time the edge of the forest met the cobblestone road, my hands were shaking and my feet were soaked and numb. Every breath I took felt like that time I ate a whole packet of mints and then went outside on a snowing January morning. Burning. Freezing. It had long since stopped amusing me that every time I breathed a large cloud of thick white mist filled the air in front of me; this town had always been colder than everywhere else in America.

The sky was clear, at first, as I broke through the woods without a backwards glance, but by the time I had made it down the road, picking my way around the puddles and potholes, the clear, full moon was completely hidden beneath thick, grey clouds. Light was out of the question – the only way I knew which direction I was heading is the fact that I’d spent my entire life staring out, down the hill towards the town, thinking that somehow life there would be better. Fat chance.

With no light to see where I was going, where I was coming from, I was pretty much stuck with either wishing for electricity, hoping it wouldn’t rain before I reached wherever I was heading, and praying to a god I didn’t even believe in that I would see the Nelia before they saw me.

It turned out not one of my wishes came true. The electricity stayed determinedly off, but that might have been a good thing – it hid me from the world, even if it did hide the world from me.

The heavens opened just as I reached the bottom of the hill. It wasn’t a very heavy shower, but by the time I had crossed the road and reached the beginning of the main street, looking obediently for cars that would never come, I was soaked to the bone underneath my thick black tights, woolen black jumper and red-checkered kilt. I never liked school clothes.

I saw the flames before I saw the Nelia, hundreds of meters away on the far side of town. A couple of days ago I might of turned back, used it as the excuse I had been searching for the whole way. The excuse to turn back, pick my way back up the path and duck into the darkness of the forest, find Tyron and Willa and Miles before they even woke up. Before they even realized I was gone.

Maybe I’m already too late, I thought, Maybe they’ve already woken up now. Maybe they’re worried, looking for me. Probably not.

This thought did nothing but make me speed up. It was so terribly important that I didn’t turn back now. I had decided to leave for a reason, and I intended to stick to it. It was a risk, I knew that. I’m not stupid. But it was worth a try.

By the time I had reached the street which I was sure I was looking for, the water that was spraying up behind me with every step and the biting cold that had numbed my fingers and toes was no longer a problem for me. I ignored it, biting my lip hard and feeling the blood trickle into my mouth.

Apparently the street that I had been searching for was Gartner Road, according to the signpost that had tipped so far over in an invisible wind that it was almost touching the tarmac road. The houses here were just the same as every other street in this town – old and brick and plain. That was not the first time I had wished I had lived in any other town, somewhere more exciting.

Well, what was more exciting than having five-foot aliens burning down your corner store, huh?

Trust me, do not wish for excitement. You don’t want it.