Chapter 9: Fire on Foster Land

York looked at me like I was nothing.

“For the sake of your dead family, I’ll spare your life today. If you dare slander Rachel again, I’ll make sure you disappear for good.”

His words cut deeper than the slap—a threat as heavy as a tombstone, and he made sure I knew he meant every syllable.

I got up, wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, and left in defeat. There’s no way—I can’t beat him. I thought to myself: Forget it, let it be. Noisy is noisy—better than losing my life. I really am a coward.

My sneakers squeaked on the polished floor as I walked out, my shadow long in the late afternoon light. Back outside, the city was loud and bright, but inside I felt small and hollowed out.

But when I returned to Foster, I found the once thriving land engulfed in raging flames.

Smoke clawed at my throat. My eyes watered, vision swimming in orange and black. The air tasted of burning plastic and scorched grass, sirens wailing in the distance. It didn’t feel real—like some apocalyptic scene straight from cable news.

I rushed into the fire like a madwoman. Where is Big Ben? Where’s my Big Ben?

Even though he’s a unicorn, he fears fire most of all. Back then, his unicorn family helped the President fight the darkness by using their bodies to block the flames. After that, his family was wiped out, leaving only him as a foal.

The Foster family has only me, an orphaned girl. The two of us, relying on each other in this empty stretch of the world.

The heat pressed in, singeing my hair, but I kept running, heart screaming for a miracle. We were all each other had left.