Freaks

46 • premonition

❝ that's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt ❞
ｊｏｈｎ ｇｒｅｅｎ

___

ＲＩＣＨＡＲＤ Masters stirs awake.

A part of me is disappointed.

He begins his ramblings not a moment later. He's asking where Andrew is. He's crawling on the ground, grasping on the grass to help him regain his footing. He notices my gaze and turns to the wreckage. He asks me again. Where is Andrew? He sounds hysterical. He keeps talking. I don't care. I'm not really listening anyway.

When I look at the sky, at the burning building and the trail of grey smoke dancing up towards the heavens, all I remember is that night. The night my parents died.

"He can't be dead, no. No no no! They said he wouldn't get hurt. It's a lie." Despite my best efforts it becomes difficult to ignore Richard Masters pacing around, tearing at his scalp. "They said nothing would happen to him. Not after her. We had a deal. There was a deal!"

'A deal' he says. He wagered his son's life on a 'deal'.

I sigh. I slowly lift my head to Morgana to see if she understands a word the mayor is saying. She's still curled on the ground and heaving away. She must not be as okay as she's been pretending all along. I begin to move to help her when I hear my name being called.

"EMMA!" I pause, turning in the direction of the voices. Three figures are running towards me. "Emma! Emma, you're alright. Thank goodness you're okay."

I squint to make out the figures. Cass, Logan and Willow...?

But I could definitely hear Cole's voi—

Cole lands from the sky with a frosty gust of air. Within milliseconds, he's in front of me and wrapping me in a hug.

"You're okay. You're okay..." he repeats, squeezing me tightly. Then he pulls away, grabbing my wrists, and pulling me closer to look me in the eye. "You're okay, right?"

What is okay? All things considered, I could be worse. Physically, I don't have many bruises or any major injuries that required immediate attention. A bandage and a painkiller or two could cover most of my healing. Is this what okay is? Maybe not. Because I don't feel okay.

Cole is still waiting for my answer. I nod slowly in agreement to save him worrying.

His eyes trail to my palms, holding my dried, bloody fingers level with his chest. He stares at me worriedly.

"What happened?"

So much, I want to say. I feel my resolve breaking. My tear-stained cheeks begin to moisten again. "A-Andrew. He w-was inside the... He's d-d-d..."

Cole envelopes me in a hug again, freeing me from the task of completing that sentence.

"Emma! Emma!"

"Mom!"

The others have caught up to us by now. Cass, spotting her mother on the ground, screams and rushes to her aid.

I regain composure long enough to break away from Cole's embrace and ask questions of my own.

"Was the DA evacuated? How is everyone? Did everything else go to plan?"

"That part of the DA was cleared out long ago, don't worry," Logan confirms. "Most people decided to join the fight against the robots—"

"Though it all stopped right when that airship crashed," Willow says.