Lightning and Heala shared a room; I must have been blind not to see it coming; he never left her side. Unfortunately, it left me to share with Mercy. She showed me into her childhood bedroom, still hanging with Metallica and Nirvana posters. Not exactly Goth dark but still…I couldn’t judge though, my childhood room was filled with Justin Bieber and Theo James posters.

Robbie brought in a cot for me to sleep on and bed sheets.

Seeing Mercy staring at old photos I grabbed a towel and the clothes her mother left and went in search of the bathroom.

I blindly walked into three rooms before stepping into a beach themed bathroom with a blue, vinyl shower curtain picturing a beach and seashells. The towels matched the curtain while a seashell toilet seat cover, toothbrush holder and soap dispenser competed the set. Everything was impeccably clean though.

I zoomed in and started the shower. After two days in the car nothing felt better than hot water beating against me.

I dressed and made my way downstairs. John and his sons went back to the stables. Susan was alone in the kitchen. I hesitated in the doorway.

Susan looked up, smile in full bloom, “Come in, child. You can help me start dinner.”

I smiled back. She told me what to do. I hadn’t cooked in almost two years, like riding a bicycle I hoped.

Pork roast, potatoes, green beans, and a slew of other foods belonging in a 50’s family TV show dinner. Well if anyone fit the description of a typical 50’s family it would be…I realized I didn’t know Mercy’s last name.

“What about your family? Where are they?” Susan asked after a while.

All I remembered were arguments and wanting to get away. “Still in Andover, I assume,” I shrugged like it didn’t mean anything to me, “I haven’t been back since moving to the city.”

“Why ever not?” Susan asked surprised.

I shrugged again trying to think of a subject change.

“I’m sure they miss you, and knowing what was happening in New York City, I’m sure they would like to know you’re all right.”

All right? Was that what I was? “I doubt they care,” I said instead.

Susan stopped what she was doing, waiting till I looked her in the face, “They’re your family, they love you, you need to contact them. They’re worried, I should know. Not knowing whether my daughter was alive or dead, if she was hurt or in danger. No parent should live like that.”

“Not all parents are like you,” I said before I could stop myself.

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Susan smiled, “That’s sweet but your parents are still your parents, I’m sure you want to make sure they’re okay too.”

I fidgeted and the gang started piling in for dinner. Saved. Ruth and Lisa helped finish setting the table and I was glad conversation stayed far away from families.

Susan and John found chores for all of us. Heala turned out to be a miracle at gardening, Lightning, of course, didn’t leave her side. Mercy helped at the stables, already knowing what to do. Shadow, Brad and I ended up learning how to fix horseshoes and saddles, bail hay and other chores involving a bit more strength.

Somehow the months that followed were…normal. Get up in the morning, eat, work, laugh, talk…it made things fade. The pain and loss, the fear and grief, all faded enough to feel like myself again. I thought I forgot what that was.

Almost five months passed. We watched the news but the gods seemed to have disappeared taking their Worshippers with them. The government spoke of rebuilding, of things getting better, of the gods being gone once and for all. None of us believed them.

Summer arrived with a rainbow of flowers and a heat that seeped into the bones the moment one stepped outside. We had gotten used to the chores, the early mornings, and the excellent home cooked meals. Why did Mercy ever leave?

Tryon, the nearby town, may have been small but it had a Starbucks and a movie theatre, what else could we ask for? Weekly outings for the nearly latest movies became our tradition.

We got to know one another: that Brad, against all likelihood, was afraid of horses; Shadow threw a tantrum if someone pretended not to understand him; Heala was actually a doctor before she was changed. And Lightning was bossy, he took over giving orders since Toni wasn’t around. Sometime during those five months we had a ceremony for Toni, just us, in a circle with a short eulogy.

I was even starting to enjoy having supernatural speed and strength. My chores got done faster. I learned that I liked reading, under the right circumstances.

I sat on the porch swing, novel in hand. The breeze blew just hard enough for me to smell the hyacinths growing on the lawn. Movement caught my eye and I looked up from the book. I stopped breathing, frozen to the spot before my brain started to work again.

“Mercy!” I yelled as I ran inside the house, “Get everyone out of here.”

“What is it?” Susan came out of the kitchen. Similar questions came from all directions as everyone filed in.

Lightning went straight to the window, “The Prince.”

They moved quickly, getting the family into the basement. John and the boys wanted to stay, Lightning tried to convince Brad, Shadow and Mercy to go down; neither got what they wanted.

It didn’t occur to me to wonder why it took so long for him to get to the house. That he may be purposefully giving us time to prepare. The Prince opened the door, another clue that something was off. Heala directed all the power from the area into him as he crossed the threshold. Lightning added his own powers to hers, I still hadn’t figured out how his power worked.

I stood frozen. I could no more lift a finger against him than I could attack myself. From where I stood I could only see the door and his shadow. The figure didn’t move throughout the assault.

When they ran out of energy to keep blasting him, Shadow ran to behead the Prince of the gods. A second later, Shadow flew into Brad and Mercy. The Prince continued into the room as if he just paused for breath.

I jolted with surprise. It was like looking at a completely different person. Physically nothing changed but he walked differently, more relaxed, his back not so stiff.

Shaking his head, he said, “Put them away.” Heala’s and Lightning’s arms flattened to their sides, they couldn’t seem to raise them again.

He turned to look at me with solid white eyes, terror made my knees weak. His lips twitched as if he was about to smile.

I didn’t understand.