4:09 P.M.

I am not so naïve to think things are not going to change. Everything is slowly changing all of the time. Seasons, situations, people...they all change. How can someone be prepared for their entire life to change overnight? In only a matter of seconds, minutes, hours? For it to take a 180° turn without warning? No one can possibly be ready for change. Even when they have convinced themselves they are ready, they still never are. The world is always changing and if you want to survive, you have to be able to evolve.

Change this.

Change that.

Make sure nothing is ever the same.

I, for one, know what change is like. It sucks you into a black hole, trapping you from ever escaping. How am I supposed to escape this sudden change?

I am dead.

And nothing about that is ever going to change.

I stand in the corner of the room with my arms folded across my chest, my eyes focusing in on the two men arguing at the table. One is standing while the other is sitting down with his feet on the wooden furniture. His arms, much like mine, are across his chest and he knits his eyebrows together as he listens to every word coming out of Harry's mouth. He does not try to interrupt Harry but I notice how he constantly runs his thumb along his bottom lip. This man also wears rings on his fingers but I am too afraid to get a closer look—as if he will see me if I step into the light.

A woman steps into the room and has three bottles of water—one in each hand and the other tucked safely under her arm. She hands one to Joel and the other to Harry, keeping the last bottle for herself. Her hair is a dark shade of brown and it curls down her back. From what I can see, she is wearing a black tank top, denim shorts, and her feet are bare. Gloss covers her lips and it shimmers underneath the light. She makes herself comfortable beside Joel and listens to Harry speak. Her facial expression goes from neutral to confused in only a matter of seconds.

"Hold on," she raises a hand to silence him. "Are you saying the girl is dead?"

"Yes," Harry sounds out of breath. "Have you not been listening to me? She left me messages on my refrigerator and on my mirror—"

"And how do you know it is her and not something else?"

"Tessa," Joel looks at her with warning in his eyes.

"What?" she struggles to open her water. "I just want to be sure. We need her and if she is truly dead, as Harry said, we are screwed."

"No, we would not," Harry starts. "Tessa, you would be able to see—"

"Why would she be dead?" Joel looks at his feet on the table and Harry throws him a look for being so rudely interrupted. "I thought you went to check on her yesterday. I believe you told me she was at someone's house."

My eyes widen.

The doorbell.

Harry was the one behind it.

"And she was fine," he says. "I left her there and returned to my apartment. I do not understand how she is dead."

"Car accident, maybe?" Tessa suggests.

"How ironic," Joel snarls. "Right when we need her most, something happens to her. Is that not suspicious?"

Harry looks at Joel before looking at Tessa, "Not many Vlaigryds know about our power source missing. They would have no reason to kill her because they do not know she has it."

But I do not have it.

And what the hell is a power source?

"Besides, they are back at home," Tessa agrees with him. "They have no idea the queen sent us here to retrieve it from the girl."

I do not remember sitting down but I am sitting on the floor with a hand over my mouth as I listen to them all speak. They talk about my death as if I am not in the room with them and I cover my face with my hands, remembering they cannot see me at all. Harry has not told them I am here in the room and I do not think he will tell them. He is here for answers, not to tell everyone how I am here but not at the same time. I bite down on my tongue and watch Tessa go back into the kitchen. Joel and Harry continue the conversation without her and I rise to my feet, following her. I can no longer listen to what they are saying about me.

She stands in the middle of the small room and her hands are outstretched in front of her. With one quick wrist movement, the cabinet doors open at once and my jaw drops. I know I should be used to things such as this by now but I still cannot wrap my brain around how any of this is possible. Tessa moves her wrist again and chuckles when her snack starts getting itself together.

A pack of crackers opens by itself and a jar of peanut butter comes flying out of the cabinet, settling itself down on the counter. The lid unscrews and a butter knife comes out of one of the drawers. I rub my eyes and watch with bewilderment. The knife starts to put the peanut butter on the crackers and Tessa turns around, her brown eyes locking with mine. She gasps and her hands immediately fall to her sides, the knife falling onto the counter before landing on the floor. Her jaw drops and she tilts her head to the side. I raise my eyebrows at her and assume she is looking at something behind me. When I look over my shoulder, I only see Harry and Joel at the kitchen table. I slowly turn my head back to Tessa and her hands are shaking at her sides.

"Hello there," she whispers. I look back over my shoulder to see if she is talking to the men. "No, no, I am not talking to them. I am talking to you."

"Tessa, will you keep it down a bit in there?" Joel asks. "We are trying to figure out how we are going to fix this."

I point a finger to my chest, "You...You can see me?"

"See you?" she chuckles. "I can do so much more than that. For one, I read your thoughts."

I take a small step back, "But...how?"

She shakes her head, "Wow, I never thought you looked like this. Harry would report your every move to us but he never once told us what you looked like. I know Joel has seen you but he never spoke a word about your looks. Gosh, you are absolutely beautiful. Or were. I mean, I am sorry." She smiles and two dimples dig into her cheeks.

"How can you see me?" I try again. "How were you able to do those things?"

"I do not think answering that is wise right now. I must tell the others I can see you. We can finally get this show on the road, as you humans say." I open my mouth to ask her what she means but she steps out of the kitchen, careful not to walk through me. When she joins the others, she clears her throat. "Joel? Harry?"

"Sister," Joel looks at her. "Do you not see—"

"Oh, I can see perfectly. So perfectly that I can see the girl, in case you were wondering."

Harry quickly turns his head to look at her, "What did you say?"

"I said—"

"Why did you not say anything about her?"

She shrugs, "I just saw her in the kitchen. Why did you not tell us she was with you?"

Joel waves Harry off, "How did you not see her when she first walked in?"

"I was in the kitchen, remember? I cannot see through walls, my dearest brother."

"Why are you smiling, then?" Harry raises an eyebrow.

"Because," she looks at me. "I think I know a way to get our power source back."

ϟ ϟ ϟ

I pace back and forth as the three of them continue to argue in front of me. Joel yells something at Tessa in a language I do not understand and she raises her wrist. His eyes widen as a book flies off the book shelf, smacking him right on the side of his head. He curses and Harry pinches the bridge of his nose while shaking his head. I constantly run my hands down my dress as if there is something on it. I do not know what I am supposed to do while they argue. What can I do? Their argument is about me, after all.

"What do you mean you promised to bring her back to life?" Joel asks Harry. "Do you know how long it has been since anyone has accomplished such a difficult task?"

"I can do it," Harry says, his voice calm yet determined.

"With what?" Joel continues. "The plant you need is extinct."

"On our planet, it is. But here? I can find it."

Tessa looks at him, "Harry, I do not think it can be done. Your powers have been limited, remember? Without your wings—"

Wings?

These...These abnormal people have wings?

He holds a hand up to silence her, "We are already saying too much. Is she still around?"

Tessa's eyes meet mine and she smiles, showing her teeth. I smile back and this makes her shake her head. My eyes widen and Harry sighs before pulling at his ponytail. She places a hand on his back, "We will find a way to get it back. We may not be able to bring her back but we can help her find her way so she can give us back what is ours."

I knit my eyebrows together and stop pacing back and forth. If they cannot bring me back, Harry is breaking his part of the deal. If he cannot do what he told me he could do, I am not going to help him get back whatever it is he is looking for. I do not want them to help me find my way. I want them to undo what they have done to me and bring me back to life! I place a shaky hand on my forehead. They act as if they did not do this to me but I am having such a hard time believing them. Harry has not given me much reason to believe him. He has tortured me enough and me dying has made me realize how serious this really is. Are they truly willing to spill blood over whatever this power source is?

Why do they think I have it?

"That is the thing," Harry looks down at the table. "She claims she does not have it and I can no longer feel its presence...its power. It is gone."

"What?" Tessa covers her mouth with her hands.

"When did you last feel it?" Joel asks.

"When I went to check on her last night, before I messed with the doorbell. I still felt it when I left but now..."

"We need to find her corpse." Tessa says.

"Now isn't the time for your foolish ideas, Tessa."

She moves her hand and Joel's chair moves from underneath him. He falls on the floor and looks at his sister for a few seconds before moving his hand. She stops moving completely and my lips part. By the looks of it, she is frozen in place, unable to move. Some of her curls are frozen mid-air and her mouth is open as if she was going to speak before this happened. Joel rises to his feet and smiles as he looks at her. Harry moves away from the table and starts pacing back and forth just as I had done. He looks up at the ceiling and when I follow his gaze, there is a red 'V' painted there. I purse my lips together and squint my eyes to get a better look.

Harry has one on the wall in his living room.

Tessa and Joel have one on their ceiling.

What does it even stand for?

Vlaigryd?

"Your sister has a point, Joel."

"She is new to all of this," Joel scoffs. "She barely knows what she is speaking of and her plans usually always backfire. I do not want her to ruin this mission. I do not even understand why the queen sent her in the first place. She is just a burden—"

"I want to hear what she has to say."

"You are joking."

"Do I look like I am joking?"

I cannot see Harry's face but it must look threatening. Joel moves his hand quickly to the side and Tessa immediately moves. Her curls fall back into place and she gasps for breath. Joel moves away from his sister as if she will do something to him in return. Her hand goes to her chest and she shoots Joel a look of anger.

"You do not think I am good enough to be here?" she snarls. "I am just as good as you, Joel, if not better. I can communicate with the girl directly. Can you? What can you do other than freezing people, time, and shooting lasers from your eyes? Tell me, brother, is any of that useful at this moment?"

"Stop this nonsense!" Harry snaps. "Our species is at stake and this is what the two of you are doing? Arguing over nothing? Tessa, tell me your plan so we can have somewhere to branch off from."

She rolls her eyes at Joel and clears her throat, "You said you can longer feel its presence, yes?" He nods. "And the girl is dead. Am I the only one seeing the big picture here?" Both Joel and Harry look confused. "The power source is with the corpse. If we find the body, we find what we are looking for. It is as simple as that!"

"We do not know where the body is." Harry frowns.

"We can start looking where you saw her last. You said she was at someone's house. We should start looking around there."

"What if she does not want us to find it?" Joel exhales. "I still find it odd how she is dead all of a sudden. What if she killed herself to try to hide it?"

I gasp, "I did no such thing!"

"She said she did not do it." Tessa says.

"Perhaps she is a professional liar. Maybe if she apologizes for taking what is ours, we might see if there is any way to bring her back."

My hands ball up into fists, "I'm not sorry and I'm no liar. My life was perfect before you three showed up. I was happy! You took everything away from me by silencing me for good! I have nothing to hide and you killed me without reason."

Tessa turns to face me, "You think we killed you?"

I snarl, "There's no one else who could have done it."

"Oh, great," Joel sits back down. "She thinks we killed her."

Harry turns around slowly, looking at Tessa before following her gaze. He looks right through me and his voice is soft as he speaks, "I give you my word we had nothing to do with your death. We are just as confused as you are and we are trying to figure out how this could have happened. Please, I am begging you, work with us and we will work with you. Rosie, you have my word."

I relax my facial expression and tilt my head to the side as Harry continues to look in my direction. Tessa smiles at me and Joel picks at his fingernails. I do not know what to say or how to react to what Harry just told me. He sounded so truthful, so convincing. If they had nothing to do with my death, who did? I take a couple steps back and my eyes begin to water. What if Tessa is right? What if I got in a car accident and died because of it? Joel is right, though. All of this is suspicious and I am having a hard time believing a car accident is the reason for my death. My entire body is shaking and I feel so overwhelmed. I expect my heart to race but there is not a heart to beat inside of my chest. It is with my corpse...wherever that is. I feel like a hollow shell; fragile and empty. If I have any organs, they sure as hell do not know how to work. I place a hand over my chest and imagine a heart beating. I smile and when I look back at the others, Tessa's smile is sympathetic.

Of course.

She can read my thoughts.

"Has she said anything?" Harry asks.

"No," Tessa tears her gaze away from mine. "She is just standing there."

I do not know when I started, but I am crying. Tears roll down my cheeks and my shoulders heave up and down as I silently sob. Tessa closes her eyes and I wrap my arms around myself. When will they believe I do not have what they are looking for? More tears rush out of my eyes and my nails dig into my sides. The feeling is not painful but I wish it is. I want to feel something else other than this anger and confusion built up inside of me. There are other emotions cooped up inside of me and they all want out. Fear. I am terrified of what is yet to come. With all of these tears, I am able to cry a new ocean. If they see how much pain I am in, will they leave me be? I highly doubt it. They all seem very determined to get this mystical power source from me. I cannot wait until they figure out I have nothing to hide. Instead of me apologizing to them, it will be them apologizing to me.

And when they find out just how wrong they are, I will be right there with a bright smile on my face, ready to see each and every one of their shocked faces.

ϟ ϟ ϟ