Flames and Starlight
TWENTY-FIVE

The hot, overcrowded building was suffocating. The sounds of everyone’s voices echoed off the walls at an uncomfortable level. Misery and dread filled the air. Alison Harper desperately wanted to get the hell out of there.

The building was three stories tall with a lot of space and was still packed on each floor. The two upper levels had rooms but they were already taken. The rooms were hosting four to six supernaturals at a time. There were no more rooms available for Alison and her family to be in so they had to stay in the common area on the first floor. For two days, they had to rest in sleeping bags on the hard cold floors. They had to share restrooms with everyone else there and it was a mile-long line to get in. There were no showers available and everyone stunk to high heaven from the temperature being a million degrees.

But all of the discomfort and annoyance failed in comparison to the worry she felt. She and everyone else hadn’t been able to replace Laura or Ruben in the two days they’d been there. All of them were worried sick about them. It didn’t make sense why they weren’t there when they were supposed to have been following them. She and the rest of her family had been looking for them relentlessly.

All of them had been trying to call and text them but had gotten no response. The worst scenarios were running through their minds. Laura would’ve texted them if she and Ruben had been taken to another shelter. She and the rest of them had wanted to go out and look for them but no one was allowed to leave. They tried to ask the Guardians to go replace them but they said they had to stay here and watch over everyone in here. They were stuck and had no idea where Laura was.

Alison sat on the floor with her family in one of the far corners. Hundreds of other supernaturals were sitting around the large space. Voices echoed off the walls and vibrated in her ears, causing her to have a headache. She wished she had thought to bring her noise-canceling headphones.

She once again searched the sea of faces for Laura but couldn’t replace her. Earlier in the day she and Derek had searched the upper two stories even though it was a long shot. She wasn’t there and they’d been kicked out by very pissed-off sups for going into their room.

Guilt was also churning inside of her for the way she’d been treating Laura. When Laura moved out, she’d done some reflecting on the way she’d treated her little sister all her life. She knew that her issues with their parents were no reason to be so hateful to her. She was hoping she could start over with her but that might now be the case now. Their arguments and the way she’d treated her were going through her head and she couldn’t believe what a horrible sister she’d been.

Alison sighed and looked at Derek. “I’m so worried about her.”

He took her hand. “I know, sis. So am I.”

She looked down at their hands. “I was a terrible sister.”

“No, you’re not.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You’ve told me not to be a bitch a million times and get on me constantly. You know I’m terrible.”

“Okay, you’re not terrible, but you could be a lot better. I think the issues with Mom and Dad are getting to you. But the best thing you can do now is when we replace her, you can start things over. It looked like you two were getting on the right path and when we get through this you can continue it.”

She started to respond but a familiar face in the crowd. She got to her feet and called out, “Mark! Over here!”

Ruben’s uncle Mark looked up and Alison and Derek waved him over. Mark rushed over to them immediately.

Her mother embraced him and said, “Oh thank goodness you’re here, Mark. All of us were worried about you.”

Mark pulled away and asked, “Have any of you seen Ruben?” His face was etched with worry.

“No. He was at our house but a separate van was going to take them,” her mother told him. “We haven’t seen him or Laura and we got here two days ago.”

Mark shook his head in frustration, gritting his teeth. “This is ridiculous. Why hasn’t Queen Lilith said or done anything yet?”

“I have no idea,” her father said, sounding equally frustrated. “The whole time since this shit started and the queen hasn’t done anything. What do you think’s happening with her?”

“I’ve no idea. I have no idea what’s going to happen next.”

Alison glumly stared around the common area. She gazed at the terrified faces.

She was scared for Laura and Ruben. She was scared for her family. She was scared for herself as the unknown future loomed ahead of them.