Grey

I was nine.  My brother was twelve.

I don’t always remember how old my brother was when stuff happened, but I remember this one because it was the day before he turned thirteen.

It was kind of hard for me to get outside that day.  I had to wait until he wasn’t looking.  Damian’s the best big brother anyone could have; he’s been protecting me for as long as I can remember, from the first time the bullies up the road stole my doll.

We woke up that morning, the day before his birthday, and got ready for school, like always.  Everything was normal until Mom and Dad didn’t appear.  I started preparing the porridge the way Mom had taught me, and Damian went to get them up; Dad had to go to work, Mom to start dinner.

When he came back, Damian looked worried.  “They’re not there, Kylie,” he said.

“Maybe they’re outside,” I suggested.  They sometimes went out there to watch the sunrise.  Mom really likes it.

Damian went to the front door and looked out.  When he came back, his face was grey.  “Don’t go outside,” he told me.  “We’re staying home today.”

Confused, curious, and worried, I demanded why, but Damian wouldn’t tell me.

We broke our fast with the grey slop I’d never liked but could already make perfectly.  Damian cleaned up afterwards, and in the moments he took his eyes off me, I darted to the front door and threw it open.

The road was covered in a grey blanket of ash.  So was everything else.  The houses over the road were not much more than charred plants.  Beyond that, there was nothing left.  Everything was gone.

I walked out of the house and turned around.  There were two roads beyond ours, and all the houses on those looked perfect.  The fire had been stopped here, and I knew with a sinking feeling who had done it.  My parents were the only people in town who could stop fire; it was part of their Magic.

A fire, though, that had engulfed most of the town?  That was more powerful than anything they had fought before.  Probably more powerful than anything they could handle safely.

Damian came out of the house.  “Were you going to keep me inside forever?” I demanded.

Damian shook his head.  “I don’t know.  I don’t know what to do.”

I turned around to look at the damage again.  “Mom and Dad did this,” I said.  “They stopped it here, anyway.”

Damian nodded.  “And they probably used everything to do it.”

Everything.  Magic.  Life energy. Everything.  I could feel tears brimming in my eyes, and I fought them.  Grey ash still rained from the sky, and there wasn’t anyone anywhere to be seen.

“Is everyone dead?” I asked.

Damian shook his head again.  “I don’t know, Ky, I just don’t know.”

“Should we find out?” I asked quietly.  Death was a constant part of our life in that crappy little town, from the day my twin died of lung rot two months after we were born, the when our grandpa died of the same disease the year before the fire.  It’s sad, but it’s part of life, and I know that.  Losing the whole town was too much, though.  Was there anyone left to take care of us?

“Let’s go,” Damian said.  He took my hand and led me to our neighbor’s house.  The man who lived there was nice, and I liked his lady friend, too.  No one answered our knock.

It was the same at the next two houses we tried, both previously inhabited only by adults.

I turned around and stared at the mess of ashes, the blanket of grey.  “They’re all in there, aren’t they?” I murmured.  I didn’t wait for Damian’s nod to sit down.

I felt tears coming again, and this time I let them fall.

“Ky, hey, Ky,” Damian said after a moment, nudging me in the arm.  “Look, someone’s coming.”

I looked up.  There were four people walking up the road, people I didn’t recognize.  I’ll never forget them, what they did, for as long as I live.

None of them were adults.  That was easy enough to tell by their silhouettes.  When they got closer, and I could make out details, I saw that two were girls and two were boys.  The older girl and the younger boy both had silver-grey auras.  They were Magic-users.  The older girl, who was leading the group, was very pretty, despite the look of fury on her face.  The older boy kept his hand on her shoulder until they were right in front of us.

“Did you see what happened?” the older boy asked.

Damian and I shook our heads.

“Is there anyone else left?” the older girl asked.

“We don’t know,” Damian said quietly.

The girl looked around, sadness mixing with the fury in her ice-blue eyes.  “I’m Elle,” she said.  “I’m sorry for what happened here.  It may not be much, but we’ll do everything we can to help.”