Day Six

Meg stood among the fresh ruins of the Temple.

Clouds of dust stung her eyes as she stared absently over fallen hunks of stone. Only a handful of the magic fountains still churned away as if nothing happened. As if they weren’t attacked. As if the once gleaming floor wasn’t littered with rubble, blood, and bodies.

Mostly girls her age… who used to be alive. Who laughed, and sang, and probably did each others’ hair, and took shits and stuff. Gone. Fucking dead. Killed by monsters. Or crushed or—her eyes caught on the slack face of a teenage girl in a pool of blood and water. Swooning, she looked away before she threw up. Again. Not that there was anywhere to look. It was the same horror repeated in all directions.

This wasn’t her life, man. This wasn’t her fucking life. She was just some dumb, hippie chick who thought she was funny. She wasn’t built for all this magic, and bullshit, and… and explosions and shouting and… all this fucking blood.

Where the fuck was Horatio? She needed him. To hug her and say something smart but totally stupid she could make fun of and feel like everything was going to be okay. To pretend he knew what was going on and… it didn’t matter. He was gone. They were gone. All of them missing since the walls came down.

Were they trapped? Captured? Killed? Her friends' lifeless faces waited behind every blink. Jimmy, a fresh tear plummeted down her cheek. Sasha and Kevin, two more. Fucking Kelly, she choked on a sob, poor fucking Kelly, man.

Why did they have to go exploring some dumb, old temple anyway? If they just stayed with her and did bong hits until they passed out... they’d be okay. They’d be safe. They’d be here.

Her eyes flashed upward, glaring accusingly at the night sky. Looking for faces to blame like a crazy person. But it was just stars, twinkling away, pretending everything was normal. Mocking her until the pinpricks grew haloes and blurred away entirely with new tears. It was all their fault.

Those fucking fucked-up stars.

***