“—Just listen to me for a second!” Desmond snapped over the deafening party chatter in the big hotel ballroom. No one in their very-extended family understood the concept of an "indoor voice," and it drove the short one delightfully mad. “I’m not trying to be a drag. My exam is in three hours, so I have to leave now if I want to make it home in time.”

“Huh? Who said that?”

Everyone laughed as Erin looked all around, then shrugged and leaned her elbow on her maternal uncle Desmond’s head with a grin that looked wide enough to split her bottom lip right down the middle. Her mother, Archer, probably laughed the hardest.

Perfect, untouchable Archer, with her big, double-lidded eyes, snowy pale skin, and smooth curtain of long black hair. Daughter of the century. Mother of the year. And Erin was her perfect daughter, the jewel of the family and the apple of her ultra-traditional grandparents’ eyes.

“Archer, tell your offspring to have more respect for her elders,” Desmond demanded, swiping the girl’s arm away. Oops, she’d gone and ruffled up his undercut. Eh, no biggie. A little bed head never hurt anyone. Not unless they were as prim and prissy as Desmond, anyway.

Also… did he say elders? That was a good one.

With a snort, Erin beat her mother to the punch. “Please, Des. You’re a whole four years older than me… and a whole lot shorter!”

More laughter. She’d gotten pretty good at this in her sixteen years of watching Archer work her magic.

As usual, Desmond rage-quit the conversation a little too early, leaving everyone’s fun meters just shy of satisfied as he stormed off toward the hotel lobby. They all knew he didn’t want to be there anyway. All he cared about was his dumb veterinary degree. It wasn’t their fault that he was the only one in the whole family who couldn’t figure out how to balance the mandatory get-togethers with the equally mandatory education.

Erin gleefully watched him go until her mother gently elbowed her.

“You chased him off, now you get to go and bring him back,” Archer sing-songed at her daughter.

The smile on Erin’s face was good-humored, but her verbal response was a dull sigh. “That’s my favorite part.” She started to follow her uncle, but paused as the wind outside kicked up in a thunderous burst of noise, setting the ballroom lights to flickering for a few moments.

Desmond had just missed the two seconds of dead silence before everyone started chattering again. He’d have loved it. Oh well.

Erin sauntered out of the ballroom and scanned the lobby. No sign of her uncle there, so she went to check the parking lot. A quick glance through the glass proved he was on his way to his car. Upon an attempt at casually hipping the door open, the girl found herself pushing against the wind, and added her shoulder to the effort.

She popped through the opening when it was wide enough, only to have the door slam suddenly and violently behind her. “That’s some strong glass,” she muttered, then turned to yell, “Hey, Des!” He looked her way as she started toward him, passing by one of the thick white columns that supported the arch over the hotel porch.

A burst of wind whooshed across the space, shoving Erin into the column. She nearly fell, but managed to brace herself with her hands on the cool marble.

“Are you all right?” Desmond called.

“Ugh… Just get back in here, before you get blown away,” she snipped as she straightened, refusing to be embarrassed. Above her, a hanging lamp-style light squealed as it frantically swung back and forth. “Your dog-lover’s exam can be rescheduled—and anyway, the campus is probably closed because of this weather.”

“The building closed right after the governor issued the weather alert, like this stupid hotel should have,” Desmond shouted back over the roar of the wind, his undercut hair flying wildly and clothes rippling violently, as if about to tear away from his body. “We shouldn’t have even come out in this.”

“It’s just a little breeze.” Erin rolled her eyes. “Wuss.”

“Whatever, Erin. That class is online and the system they use doesn’t work on mobile. I already told you, the exam can’t be rescheduled without good cause. We’re just across state borders, so it’s already going to take me two hours to get home from here. If I miss the exam, I’ll have to take an extra semester for my veterinary degree.”

“I’ll give you good cause, kitten-kisser,” she crowed. Fists brandished for a flurry of playful punches, she started down the steps. “Right here in this parking lo—”

That was when the wind spun her sideways and the hanging light jumped from its hook and crashed onto her shoulder. She fell across the stairs to the sound of shattering glass, the panes of the entrance doors bursting toward her in a spray of glittering shards.

The hotel building groaned from somewhere within, long and low, as if it were in as much pain as she was.

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When Erin woke up, her uncle Desmond was there. His hands were folded in his lap and his monolid eyes were absent, as if staring off at something far away. There were dark half-moons beneath them, and he looked about forty years older than his actual twenty.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Baffled at first, she glanced around. A steady beep faded into her hearing as she took in the white walls, white lights, white bed, and the white privacy curtain that stretched across one end of the room. She knew where she was, then.

Desmond looked up as the monitor dutifully reported the rapid increase of her heart rate, and like a flash he was at her side, snatching up one of her hands in his. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Just rest for now.”

The memory was so strong that Erin felt the wind again, a burst so powerful and sudden that it had thrown her across the stairs in the archway of the three-story hotel’s entrance. Mid-sentence and all. Then the lamp had fallen…

That was all she remembered. She tugged her gown down from her shoulder and winced at the tenderness of the large, dark bruise, along with other, smaller wounds that looked like healing cuts. “It knocked me out?” She looked to her uncle for confirmation, rubbing her face and feeling numerous scabs and other tender spots that she couldn’t account for. Her pulse jumped again. Just how bad were those?

“Where’re Mom and Dad?” she asked.

Desmond’s jaw tightened. “They didn’t make it.”

“Neither of them could get time off to stay with me?” That came out in a panicked blurt. It had to be a prank, and one in poor taste at that. It had to be… unless she was dreaming. Right in the midst of a nightmare.

“No, Erin. Just listen—”

Trying to drown him out, Erin’s laugh came out sounding hysterical. “Not funny, Desmond.”

“Erin, listen… It fell. The hotel. All of it… including the ballroom. Everyone…” Her uncle’s voice wavered. “You and me… it’s just us, now.”

“Shut up!” She reached for the pillow under her head, but when she tried to roll over to fling it at her uncle, nothing happened. Her pelvis stayed flat against the bed. Erin went cold as ice. “Why can’t I move?”

Mutely, Desmond leaned close and handed her a necklace. It was a silver chain with a purple crystal cut into the shape of a heart. Her mother’s necklace, one she always wore. Always.

When she looked at her uncle, there were tears in his eyes.

Desmond never cried.

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The day Erin was cleared to go home and return to school, she was elated. After being confined to an out-of-state rehab for three months with no one but Desmond and his sad, tired face to constantly remind her just how alone she was, she would finally see some normalcy again.

She’d been texting madly with Vicky, Yoona and Sarah all weekend, the four of them utterly hype for her homecoming. I’ve got something super cool to show you, she’d told them. I’ll bring it with me to school on Monday, and meet you at the curb. You’d better all be there!

With a good chunk of the money they’d inherited, Desmond had traded in his car for a special van, fully kitted out with an automatic lift. Erin wouldn’t even have to bother with switching seats when they went somewhere. It was awesome.

She felt like a queen upon her throne as she descended to the pavement outside of the school, her trio of best friends standing there in a huddle to witness her grand return. It was still somewhat difficult to pull off, but she took hold of the rims and did a little spin once she touched down, showing off her shiny new toy.

They didn’t even notice the wheelchair. They were staring at her face.

Yoona realized it first and looked away guiltily. Sarah and Vicky quickly followed suit.

“Guys, don’t worry,” Erin tutted, “I’m not embarrassed at all. Look all you want. Scars are totally cool.” She grinned to show them that everything was fine.

“Oh gosh, your lip—“ Sarah began, then covered her mouth. Eyes wide, Yoona swatted her arm.

“Right? My coolest battle scar.” Among many others. That spray of glass from the doors had been devastating, permanently marking areas of her arms and chest as well as her face. “I am officially the toughest girl at Doone High. Y’all are going to have to keep the boys off me now, you hear?”

A few minutes later, with Yoona pushing her chair down the hallway and Vicky and Sarah flanking on either side, Erin again felt like a queen. Her numerous subjects stared as she passed them by, surprised by her unannounced appearance.

As the day went on, Erin attended several classes where she received plenty of attention as teachers and students welcomed her back, but three months was apparently enough time for the class to progress so far ahead of her that none of the lessons made any sense. By the time lunch period rolled around, she dreaded the massive catch-up that lay before her, and had the girls wheel her around the busy cafeteria so she could find a proper target on which to take out her growing frustration.

That target turned out to be Loser Lucy, who was spending her lunch time with sketchbooks spread out at an otherwise empty table, drawing her dumb little “OCs” that she used to play out her loser fantasies. She was the kind of girl who had long given up on trying to fit in, wearing baggy clothes and growing her bangs long to hide behind them instead of putting forth some sort of effort to make herself presentable. It was such a stupid thing to do, if she really wanted to blend into the background. All it did was make her stand out even more.

Sarah obligingly rolled Erin up to the table, but not quite close enough to snatch up one of Lucy’s sketchbooks, like she normally would have. She settled for putting her hands on her deadened hips, baring her teeth in a broad smile. “Hey, Luce. Hanging out with your imaginary boyfriend again?”

The girl looked up in a startle, her head shaking slightly as she processed the sight of Erin. “I didn’t know it was that bad,” she said, her voice faint with surprise.

“Psh, I’m fine,” Erin replied, waving the concern away. “I just wanted to know how you and Narrator are doing.”

“It’s Naruto,” Lucy corrected, her brow furrowing. “And stop calling him my boyfriend. I just really liked him as a character. Anyway, I don’t even write fanfiction anymore. All of my stuff is original, now.”

Erin glanced down at the girl’s half-completed drawing and smirked. “You wouldn’t know it, from that drawing there. All of your ‘original’ characters still look exactly the same.”

Just as Erin had predicted, Lucy slammed the book shut, keeping her hand on it like she expected the other girl to try and grab it. With the chair-bound girl goading her on, Lucy started to get up and collect her belongings, but paused partway through. “You know, Erin, we’ve all taken your bullying all this time, but I think it’s going to stop, now.”

Erin barely got a hand up in time to contain a barking laugh. Who was she to decide that?

Lucy’s stern expression cracked, but somehow, she held her ground where she normally would have fled, probably to go cry in a corner. “You could get away with it before because you were pretty. That’s the only reason why everyone liked you.”

The laugh escaped then, just a little too quickly to manifest the full power it should have had. “Oh, come on, Luce. Looks have nothing to do with it.”

“Everyone can see it now, even your own friends.” Lucy bit her lip, her eyes trailing down to the same location on Erin’s mouth. After a moment’s hesitation, she steeled herself and spoke again. “Erin… now you’re just as ugly on the outside as you always were on the inside.”

Just like that, the illusion of control shattered. Erin stared mutely at the girl until she gathered up her notebooks and walked away. Bowing her head into her hands, she was overcome by the tears of truth that had been threatening since the moment she saw the horrified expressions on the faces of her closest friends.

When Erin finally looked up, the cafeteria was deserted, and she was alone.