As soon as Lily reached the cliff where her house was to see if her family was okay, James came out and stood in front of the door, smiling. Lily grinned back and ran towards the house but the ground shook really hard. Lily dropped to the ground and James grabbed the bench and sat down. It was an after shock of the earthquake. The after shock was even stronger than the earthquake itself.The sword she had got when she had gone to Dreamland with James rattled in the case it was in.Trees and buildings shook violently and some trees collapsed around. Within minutes, everything was in chaos once again. Lily couldn’t stand up to seek shelter because the ground was shaking really hard and she would have fallen. She wanted to scream. Tears flooded her eyes. She had just got back home. This again?! Lily looked at James who was staring at her. The look of shock and worry on his face made Lily want to cry even more. Then suddenly, the roof of their house collapsed. Lily screamed but amid the chaos of trees falling and the wind blowing fiercely, Lily doubted anyone heard.
Her brother was at the front scrambling out of the wreckage. He didn’t look away from Lily, as if looking away from her would make her vanish. Then a crack appeared on the ground. Lily gasped as her heart started beating fast. Her house was built at the edge of the cliff and the crack was forming on the ground around the house. Her house, including her family would fall of the cliff. Her family was inside somewhere. The roof collapsed in some places so there were chances that they were okay but if the house fell in to the water below…they would never survive. James seemed to have realized this. He looked at Lily, his eyes full of panic but somehow Lily found that comforting. James could still safe himself! He could run but Lily also knew he would never. There was just no way he would safe himself while sacrificing the parents and all the guests in the house. Lily made her decision. She was not letting them die without dying with them. She could never live with the pain or guilt. Lily started crawling towards the house. The after shock didn’t end. Instead it became stronger. A big crash behind Lily told her that a building had fallen but she couldn’t focus on anything except her family. James realized what Lily was doing. He shook his head and yelled,
” No Lily!!! Don’t!!! Get away from here!!!”
Lily looked at him and the worry in his voice made panic flare inside of her. James knew there was no time. The crack was forming and Lily would not reach them and die. Lily grabbed a pole and pulled herself up. The pole was shaking but Lily grabbed on and yelled back at James,
” Get everyone out of there!!! Come on!!! Hurry! Please!!!!!”
James dropped his head and yelled back,
” Grandma and Grandpa fainted from the sudden surprise of the earthquake. Both of them got a panic attack!!! They’ll never make it!!! Nobody will leave them!!! Lily, Please!!! Our time is ending!!! Run!”
Lily shook her head and stabilized herself on the pole. Tears ran down her face. She knew the situation was hopeless. No one would sacrifice anyone. Loyalty was her family’s fatal flaw. That meant it was Lily’s too. She would never leave her family. But before Lily could take another step forward, the crack formed completely and the cliff tilted taking the house with it.
Lily’s heart almost stopped. She couldn’t cry anymore. All tears had vanished. Her eyes widened. James was staring at her. He looked at her lovingly and sadly. Then he closed his eyes and let death take him away.
Everything was gone. Her parents, her family, her house and her brother. Lily couldn’t cry. Her heart and mind had forgotten how to function.
The after shock ended. Along with Lily’s world. She couldn’t believe she had just witnessed the death of 8 family members. Lily didn’t go back when the rescue team arrived. She sat near the cliff and just stared at the ocean. She didn’t say a single thing to anyone. She didn’t cry either. She just couldn’t take her family especially her brother, who was her entire world, out of her mind. Part of her still believed that they were not dead. That they were okay and soon they will be rescued from the water but it was hopeless. She looked up at the sky. She thought of Eric, Ava and Max. Her fantasy friends. They were in another world, not knowing what was happening. Suddenly, Lily thought of something. She closed her eyes and prayed with her whole heart that she would appear in Dreamland. Even though there were no tears in her eyes, Lily knew her heart was crying while wishing for Dreamland. She wanted nothing more than to go to Dreamland. She opened her eyes, thinking it hadn’t worked but her heart leaped when she saw Dreamland in front of her. She was on the same hill she had first appeared on with James. She got up and looked around. It was exactly like what she had seen the first time. Same beauty and sunset. She walked towards where the palace was and saw that it was newly constructed but with the same design since last time the war had destroyed it. Lily walked in, not caring that she was attracting a lot attention. Someone came up to her. It was Selene. Julia’s sister. She looked older and beautiful.
” Lily? Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?! How are you here?!” she exclaimed.
” Hey. How’re you?” said Lily, not being able to muster up courage to say anything. Her heart was still aching a lot.
” What happened to you? You look so…..broken,” said Selene.
Selene was right. Broken was definitely how Lily felt. Lily didn’t want to talk about it but saying that would sound rude.
” I…Can you tell me where Ava is? Then I’ll tell all of you, okay?”
” Okay. Come with m- wait, where’s James?”
Hearing James name said out loud made Lily want to cry but she couldn’t.
” Later,” said Lily. She couldn’t say anything more but Selene understood.
She guided Lily towards the library. Lily had suspected Ava would be in the library but she didn’t want to go in there alone. They stepped in the library and Ava, Max and Eric were there. They turned and looked at them and their mouths dropped open. Pure shock was plastered on their faces. Ava squealed and jumped up. She ran and hugged her tightly. This was more than enough sadness to make Lily cry. Ava’s warm and loving hug was just like her mother’s. Ava let go and took Lily to the small sitting area. Eric and Max were still staring at her. Selene left the library. She knew Lily would want to be alone. Ava squeezed Lily’s hand tightly. Lily relaxed a bit even though tears still flowed from her eyes.
” Lily, what are you doing here? How did you come here? Is everything okay? Where’s James?” asked Ava, calmly.
Lily told them everything with shaky breaths. At James and her family’s death she lowered her voice. When she finished, Ava’s eyes were glistening with tears. Max and Eric looked solemn and almost as if they were crying inside.
” You went through all that?” asked Max, breaking the silence.
Lily nodded lightly. Ava hugged Lily. When she let go, Lily smiled lightly.
” Your family and James will always be with you. I promise. You have made them proud,” said Ava, silently and calmly.
Lily smiled again. She was so glad that Ava didn’t say anything like ” Sorry for your loss” or “I’m sorry”. Somehow, that wouldn’t have felt right.
” I know,” said Lily.
Ava gave Lily a clean pair of clothes. Jeans and a shirt. She showered and then met with Queen Angel. She told the queen everything and the queen welcomed Lily to stay as long as she wanted. But Lily had decided. She was going to stay there forever. Her whole life. Dreamland was now her new home. She couldn’t bear to go back to Earth and the queen let her stay, happily. Everyone, especially Ava, Max, and Eric were really estatic. Soon she found herself sitting near Lake Mystery at night. This was her new home now. Dreamland. She missed her family more than anything. She wondered what everyone on Earth would be thinking about her. How she had magically disappeared? In fact, she wondered how she really had come here. She hadn’t even realized that she was here. But, Lily didn’t care much now. She was here and that was all. Someone walked over and sat next to her. It was Eric.
” Hi,” he said, smiling slightly.
” Hi,” replied Lily, smiling.
That was it. That was all they said. The simple ” Hi” and smile said a million things and both of them understood. Eric had lost a sibling, so had Selene. That’s why both of them didn’t ask any questions. They knew how it felt like. Words couldn’t describe the feeling of pain and sadness at the loss of a sibling or family. It was undescribable. Ava and Max joined them. They all sat looking at the shimmering lake. Lily was sure that she would never forget anyone or anything. Never.
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