The Girl From Above [Ground: Zero, Book 1]

17: and Then the World Shattered

The halls pulled at her arms and hair, threatening to stop her as she sprinted along their slippery back. Every step she took rang clear across the stone floor, sending echoes bouncing off the walls.

Run. She knew she had to run. It was all she could do at the moment, nothing else mattered but finding the source of that scream. Something was deathly wrong, she could feel it from the tip of her scalp down to her toes.

She could hear Liam and Zack trailing after her, yet their voices were nothing but static. She shook her head. Her stomach turned, she knew it was stupid, suicidal even to be sprinting out impulsively like this. But in that moment, her feet thought for her.

Ryan slammed into something and got a mouthful of feathers. She backed away to find Dominic standing with his back turned to her. If he noticed her, he didn't pay any mind, he stood rigid as stone.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Silence.

Ryan pushed in front of him. She braced herself for a bloodbath.

She blinked. At the end of the hall sat what appeared to be a pile of fine golden sand. Particles of the sand curtsied and waltzed in the air. They embraced Ryan's cheeks in their sun-kissed touch, before fading away into the morning.

She caught a familiar silver streak buried within the sand. She tilted her head. What was Devany's locket doing in there? Did she lose it on the way out?

She stepped forward to the pile. It was as if fairy dust had come to life and was floating away from her very eyes. With every move she made, the glowing sand pirouetted back in greeting.

"Don't take another step." Dominic growled.

Ryan whirled around to face him. His teeth clenched, his eyes bubbling with tears that ran down his face, painting his cheeks. His jaw trembled as he turned to the ground.

"Please." He whimpered.

Ryan ran her thumb over her fist. What was his problem? It was golden sand. It wasn't a murder scene. She scooped up the locket by its chain, brushing some of the sand from her fingers.

She held it up to Dominic. "Here, I think you'll be able to get to her this faster than I can."

His lip trembled. His claws wrapped around the locket, he held it to his face. It was as if the invisible foundations holding his expression together had come undone in one single blow. He pressed his forehead to the locket.

Her heart flopped to her stomach. What was going on? Was it something she did? Why was a pile of sand such a big deal?

Zack and Liam met her gaze. They stopped dead in their tracks, as if they hit an invisible wall. Their ears flattened in a synchronized motion.

Zack flickered and vanished. He left behind only the trace white hairs that had been on his sweater earlier. The hairs floated to the ground gingerly, catching the wind and mixing with the quickly fading sand pile.

Ryan's gaze darted between the three remaining magics. The rock in her stomach grew. It tossed and turned, splashing against her chest up to her throat. Her mouth felt sour, the hairs on her neck stood on end.

Liam bowed his head. "Dominic, I'm so sorry."

Dominic placed the locket to his lips and shut his eyes. He trembled, his feet stuck in place.

Ryan gulped. "I don't understand. Please, can someone tell me what's going on?"

Liam took a step towards her. "Ryan, when a magic dies, they don't keep their body. They instead turn to, well...this."