Laenie saw a suburban neighborhood at night appear before her. Sirens lit up in the distance, gradually moving towards a spot of billowing smoke. Voices cried out, and people began to gather outside of a house in a cul-de-sac. The house had its right k destroyed, with the smoke ing up from it.

  “Do yhis?” Twilight Umbra asked.

  “Yes,” Laenie said. “It’s the night Rem…” She stopped for a sed. "A-are you sure this is the right one?"

  “Rarely, the wrong memory appear for a jump fifteen,” Twilight Umbra said.

  Laenie spotted herself from that night, colpsed on the ground.

  “What…what happened?” the Laenie on the ground cried out.

  Four ambunces and a fire truck pulled up. Laenie groaned and sat up. Medics came to her quickly as others rushed to the site of the destroyed part of the house. Each of the medics had visible fangs.

  “I’m…I’m fine,” Laenie said. “Rem…”

  Lae to her feet, against the wishes of the medics tending to her. “Rem!”

  “There’s no ohere,” one of the mediing out of the house said. “This feels like a pyre situation.”

  “Got it,” Another medic said. The two moved to one of the trucks and pulled some heavy looking boxes out. They began putting together a turret-like device. Each piece ked together. As they got closer to finishing it, it looked more and more like a on.

  “What are you doing?” Laenie asked. “Don’t hurt Rem!”

  “Please stay out of the way, miss,” the medic at the strange device said. “If you wao be OK, you have to let us do our jobs.”

  Laenie didn’t want to stand back, she felt an angry rumble iomach, but she dismissed it.

  Another medic had a sing type device out that they checked as they walked around in the area. It beeped faster and faster. When it was at a rapid beep, the mediodded.

  “Should be right there,” they said, marking a spot.

  The turret fired a beam that hit the ground. Its impact created a yellow mist-like substance. A medic pulled Laenie away from the mist cloud. Laeared as something began to form in the ter of the mist. It was a morphing blob at first, growing bigger and bigger until someone was there, standing in the ter of the mist.

  “Rem!” Laenie cried, running to her brother, shaking off the medic holdiwo more medics grabbed Laeopping her from getting close to Rem.

  “I didn’t mean to…” Rem said. “I didn’t…”

  The medics roughly grabbed Rem and dragged him away.

  “Hey!” Laenie said.

  “Stay back!” A medic yelled.

  The medics took Rem to an armored ambund tossed him inside.

  “Don’t hurt him!” Laenie said.

  The medics were strapping Rem down to a bed on the ambunce, and he looked scared. Laenie felt her heart pounding. The rumbling feeling iomach got stronger. She had never felt this angry in her life. She felt a sharp pain ieeth.

  “I said…don’t hurt him,” Laenie growled.

  Suddenly the medid ambunces looked small beh her. Laehoughts were foggy, she just felt anger and fear and a dim sehat she had to protect Rem. She felt a sharp pain in her back, thehi dark.

  * * *

  Laenie woke up in a hospital bed. She had a jolt of panic, but it subsided. She felt strangely, overtly calm. There was an IV ected to one of her arms, and the liquid in the bag ected her retty shade of blue. She smiled as she looked at it and drifted bato sleep.

  After a long while of falling in and out of sleep alongside strange dreams and nightmares, Laenie finally woke up enough to feel like herself again. There was a silver band on her right wrist. She still felt exhausted. A few nurses had some brief, basic questions for her such as her name and where she lives, but that was all they offered before leaving her with an old video to watch.

  “We all live in the world,” the voi the video said. “But all of us are different. Upon reag puberty, some find themselves going through another gey ge. These are the people with the idodutessaic makeup. Do you know what kind you are?”

  Laenie felt a pain ieeth, and promptly bit her lip oeeth. She felt her eye teeth with her tohey were definitely lohan they were before. Her i awakening had finally happened.

  After the video fihe nurses came in and took the video away, asking Laenie if she had any questions. Laenie wao ask why they kept saying “gey ge,” but decided against it. A few mier, a doctor with short red hair arrived. She approached Laenie very calmly, which was greatly appreciated.

  “Hi Laenie, my name is Dr. Diast,” She said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Exhausted,” Laenie said. “And sore teeth. And kinda sore everything.”

  “You got hit with a lot of tranq darts and then a calming IV for a few days, and after everything else that’s not surprising.”

  “Tranq darts?” Laenie asked.

  “It took about a hu you down when you were all beasted out.” Diast said.

  “So...it’s true then?” Laenie asked. “I’m an Exa i?”

  Diast nodded. “No one was hurt by your first transformation, so that’s really good. It’s going to be a pretty big life ge, so let’s take everything very slowly from here to make sure you adjust.”

  A bit more of the night came back to Laenie. “What about Rem?” She asked.

  “He’s doing OK,” Diast said. “Another doore qualified to talk about his situation will meet with you soon.”

  Dr. Diast checked Laenie over and expined a bit more about her being an Exa i. She got a bunch of pamphlets and suggestions for emotion training, which would be much more important now. Somehow, despite all the worry and panic Laenie was feeling, Dr. Diast made her ugh.

  Dr. Diast reended a few schools for Laeo attend, with special reendation for Diast’s own school, Rising Shards.

  Laenie’s parents stopped by, obviously shaken by everything. They didn’t have much detail about Rem, it seemed like they knew as much as Laenie did. They weren’t allowed to stay long, but it was nice seeing them again.

  The other doctor that arrived ter was more serious, and Laenie felt immediately unfortable around him. He didn't give his name, and didn't have a ag, which made him feel even more distant from Dr. Diast.

  “Hello Laenie,” he said. “I’m here to talk to you about your brother.”

  “Is he OK?” Laenie asked.

  “Yes and no,” the doctor said, which was a much worse answer and showed much worse bedside mahan Dr. Diast. “Rem’s physically fier his i. But he’s a pyre i, so he has a great number of challenges in front of him.”

  “A pyre i? What is that?” Laenie asked. The video only mentioned i, Exa i, and Kanibari.

  “It’s a very, very rare kind of i.” The doctor said. “They are i with powers that are difficult to trol and intensely destructive. In his case, he iently trigger a massive explosion. With his own body.”

  “So he’ll just explode?” Laenie asked. “Is that what that weird mae was that brought him bay wn?”

  “He hat for his awakening, but unfortunately as time goes on he’ll learn to reform himself without any mae help.”

  “Unfortunately he’ll be able to reform himself?” Laenie asked.

  “That’s not what I meant,” the doctor said. “It’s unfortunate in that his explosion ability won’t go away. Unless pced under intense care in safe locations, far away from anyone who could be harmed by his ability.”

  “So I ’t see Rem anymore?”

  “You see him in very trolled situations. He o stay in a special chamber for a long time, especially now as his ability is so o him.”

  Laenie felt the surreal sensation of something truly awful sinking in; the dreamlike feeling that was also too real as her insides ed at the realization that nothing would ever be the same.

  “It ossible you’d be like him,” the doctor said. “So in a way, your i type is a relief.”

  Laenie couldn't her head around it. Around any of it. She could only cry. But the doctor offered no fort, a abruptly.

  The se went dark, and Laenie was back to herself.

  “How are you feeling?” Twilight Umbra asked. “We take a break if you .”

  “I’m…I’m OK,” Laenie said. “I know what you’ll show .”

  A hill formed, and the darkness around it stayed, but the twinkling stars of the night sky dotted in, as did Rem standing alone. Laenie ran to him, a phone in her hand that had a text from Rem up that just said “Meet me at the park. You know the spot.”

  “Laenie,” Rem said. “I’m gd you came.”

  “Why are you leaving?” Laenie asked. “They’ll help you!”

  “That pce wasn’t helping,” Rem said. “It rison.”

  “But…you’ll be in danger,” Laenie said. “Just tell me, why are you doing this?”

  Rem sighed.

  “I met someone who knows what I’m going through and hates to see my true abilities squandered in there.”

  “They didn’t want to squahem! They want to protect you!”

  “They want to treat me like a freak, just like mom and dad do,” Rem said. He softly added, “You e with me.”

  Rem got out his own phone and made a call.

  “What are you doing?” Laenie asked. She hoped he was calling home, or the ic.

  “I’m at the park, up by the steeper hill.” Rem said. “Thank you.” Laenie caught the name on the phone before he hung up; the name was Risa.

  “So will you join me?” Rem asked. “They won’t treat you as a freak, either. They’ll be different than everyone else

  “And what are we really? i? Because everyoreats us like i.”

  “We’re monsters, Laenie.” Rem said. “And the world will just treat us like that, taining us because they’re afraid of us. And maybe they should be afraid. But their fear shouldn’t e alongside my captivity. They be afraid of me, but I want it to be because of my might.”

  “What are you talking about?” Laenie asked. “What are you saying, you want to rule people?”

  “Maybe,” Rem said. “My new friend says I do anything with my power. And maybe I have more powers. Maybe you do, too.”

  Lights from a car appeared oreet. It pulled up to reveal a fancy limo.

  “Last ce, Laenie.” Rem said.

  “Rem…” Laenie reached out to him, but she couldn’t move.

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  Tears streaked down Laenie's face as Rem got into the limo. He stopped after opening the door o him.

  “Don’t tell mom and dad you saw me.” Rem said. “It’s for the best.”

  Laeched the car speed away, its windows too dark to see if Risa was in there with him. She felt the nervous rush of emotions that she had felt when she and Rem first got their fangs. Laenie ched her fists, then without thinking tried to run after him. But in her mental daze, she tripped on a rock directly in front of her, losing her banpletely. She tumbled down the hill, roughly nding at the bottom fag the stars. She stayed there, softly weeping for a long while. She reached to her side and dragged herself over, then straio get back to her feet. Rem and the limo were long gone. She didn’t want anyone else to deal with her situation in the middle of the night, so she started to walk home.

  “You are very brave for fag this again.” Twilight Umbra said.

  “I never saw him again.” Laenie said quietly, maybe more to herself than to Twilight Umbra.

  “I’m sorry,”

  “I don’t get why I have to look at all that,” Laenie said. “I don’t feel aer.”

  “You may not for a long while, but this is important for your journey as a i.” Twilight Umbra said. “And I think that moment showed something incredible about you?”

  “What? I don’t find the monster form very incredible; you know.”

  “Not that,” Twilight Umbra said. “When you fell. You still got up after all that. I find that very iing.”

  “Why?”

  “It shows a great deal of irength,” Twilight Umbra said. “Even at your lowest point, you found the willpower to rise again.”

  “Huh,” Laenie said. “I didn’t think about it that way.”

  “And that whole night passed without you transf?”

  “Somehow,” Laenie said. “I might have just been too tired from it all.”

  “Your future is still yours to choose, but I know which path I’d like to see you follow,” Twilight Umbra said. “Are you ready to go back?”

  “Yes,” Laenie said. “Thank you for helpihrough that. It was o meet you, too.”

  “Why, thank you. Not many take the time say that.” Twilight Umbra said. “I hope eak again soon.”

  “I’d like that.” Laenie said.

  Laeook the door baot feeling a weight off her shoulders or much better really. But she made it through a big trial at school she’d been dreading, and she felt like she deserved credit for that.