Monday: The Strangers Arrive
The morning dawned gray and heavy, the storm’s aftermath strewn across the land in shattered branches and splintered wood. The air carried the scent of damp earth and something else—something burned.
Jas stepped outside, scanning the damage, when movement in the trees caught their eye. Two figures emerged from the forest—a man and a young girl. Their clothes were patched and worn, their backpacks tattered like they had been dragging them through fire and ruin.
Ivy Mae and Roman stepped cautiously onto the porch as the strangers approached. The man, weathered and watchful, introduced himself as Henry, and the girl as his daughter, Clara.
“We’re just passing through,” Henry said, his voice edged with exhaustion. His eyes flicked toward the sky, as if expecting it to split open again. “We needed a place to rest.”
Ivy Mae, ever the welcoming spirit, nodded. “You’re welcome to stay for a meal and recharge, but we don’t have much to spare.”
Henry exhaled, shoulders dropping slightly. “That’s more kindness than we’ve seen in a while.”
Inside the cabin, the tension was thick. The radio crackled, catching snippets of a garbled broadcast before fizzling out again. The storm had broken, but something else lingered—an absence.
Jas noticed how silent Clara was. Her hands never left the straps of her backpack. Her wide, wary eyes kept flicking to the windows, watching the shifting light, the trembling trees.
Jas leaned in, voice low. “What are you looking for?”
Clara hesitated, then whispered, “The ones who walk in the wind.”
The room went still.
The tablet buzzed violently on the table. The screen, though cracked and flickering, showed a new X thread pinned at the top.
⚠️ X THREAD: VANISHINGS & REAPPEARANCES ⚠️
(Pinned by @SurvivorZeta)
🔥 CALIFORNIA FIRES EXPAND—CITIES BURNED TO ASH
- Entire neighborhoods wiped out overnight.
- Survivors describe unnatural winds shifting the fire’s path.
- FireAid overwhelmed—resources dwindling.
✈️ D.C. PLANE CRASH: “Not What They’re Telling Us”
- Family of a victim goes missing after demanding investigation.
- Flight data mysteriously unavailable.
- Witness claims “It didn’t fall. It stopped.”
👁️ UNSEEN FORCE AT PLAY?
- Reports of people vanishing mid-protest.
- ICE refuses to comment on “deportation flights.”
- New footage: A figure in the storm. Watching.
🚨 BREAKING: People who vanished in last month’s protests are... coming back.
- But something’s wrong.
- They don’t speak.
- They don’t blink.
- And they all say the same thing:
"The wind is listening."
The tablet let out a shrill, digital scream before shutting itself off.
Clara clutched her father’s sleeve, her breath shallow.
“We shouldn’t have stopped,” she whispered.