"There's not enough rain in Oklahoma to wash the sins out of that house.
There's not enough wind in Oklahoma to rip the nails out of the past.
Shatter every window until it's all blown away,
Every brick, every board, every slamming door, blown away!
'Til there's nothing left standing, nothing left left of yesterday.
Every tear soaked whiskey memory blown away!"

~Blown Away, Carrie Underwood

~O~

Alyson

Age 7

~o~

"Zachary Goode, give me back my knife now!" I yelled. My brother had taken it again. I didn't think he liked that I was better than him at throwing- and most other attacks. It's not my fault he never tried hard enough to hit the dummy in the chest.

"Ally, I don't think we should be playing with them," my brother said, holding my knife over his head. I don't know why. We were the same height. I sighed and crossed my arms.

"Mom gave them to us," I huffed.

"Yeah, but I think it's dangerous to play with them when she's not here," Zach said, placing the knife back into the box. I don't know why he always had to ruin the fun. The day before, he had stopped me from trying to reach mom's gun. I had just wanted to see if I could get it without her noticing.

I stomped over to my red bing-bag chair in the middle of the room and plopped into it. "It's not like Mom does anything to stop us when she is here," I muttered. "Besides, she says we need to start practicing on our own if we want to join the Circle."

Zach sighed. He looked at me for a while, then walked over to the lock he had been cracking. I was so bored. Mom left about three hours ago to on 'urgent business' and left us to do what we wanted until she came home. We finished the little bit of school she had given us and had decided to go to the training room. Knives were my favorite weapon. I stood up and decided if Zach wanted to take my knife, I would take his lock.

"Alyson!" Zach yelled when I yanked the lock out of his hand- after stomping on his foot. I stuck my tongue out at him and dashed up the stairs and out of the training room that was our basement.

"Ally!" I heard his cry echo behind me. The walls flashed past me, fading wallpaper and scuffed wood. I liked our house. It was big and there were lots of places to hide and run. It was old and a little broken though. Mom would talk about fixing it sometimes. She said we could make it look nice again, like when she was a little girl.

The hardwood squeaked under my feet. I scowled at the sound of my own footsteps on the wooden floors while I ran. Mom and Aunt Laura said a Circle member has to silent when escaping. Squeaky footsteps are not silent.

I tried to put most my weight on the balls of my feet and kept pulling upwards with every step like they taught us, but I could still hear the squeaking. Then, I noticed it wasn't only my footsteps I was hearing. Zach had decided to chase me and was about fifteen feet behind me. I grinned. I always loved tag.

Not slowing my pace or turning around, I called, "Run, run, as fast as you can, Zachy!"

I heard a growl behind me as I ran up the stairs and into my room, laughing. Zach and I used to have rooms across from each other, but he was a big baby and moved downstairs two years ago because the storms scared him. The storms were fun to listen to- most of the time. They cracked and made the house groan. From my room you could see the flashes of lighting and hear the howling wind. It was cool. I liked the storms. I wasn't scared like Zach. Even when the thunder was really loud and kept me up at night, or the lightning would make the shadows look strange, I stayed in my room. I refused to be scared.

I would tease Zach about leaving. It would always make him mad.

The storms weren't scary. And even if they were, a Circle member doesn't show fear. Mom never did. Fear is weakness- that's what they told us. Zach was a baby for showing fear. I couldn't be like that. No matter what the storms sounded like.

Zach burst into the room after me and lunged. I sidestepped and shrugged. "Need something, Zachy?"

"Don't. Call. Me. Zachy."

I laughed as he lunged again, this time grabbing my arm. I raised my eyebrows. "Well, are you actually going to try to get it back?" Zach never tried when we spared. He always let me win. I always wondered if he could beat me if he tried. I doubted it.

Zach let go and held out his hand. I rolled my eyes and handed him the lock. "Why can't you ever have fun?"

My brother rolled his eyes, a playful smirk sliding across his features. "Fun?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

My eyes widened, and I dashed out of the room. I heard Zach laugh and follow me. We thundered down the stairs again. Halfway down I felt Zach grab my arm, and I tried to twist away. I failed. The result was both of us tumbling down the rest of the stairs and landing sprawled at the foot of the steps. I was about to get up and kick his butt, when two black boots stepped right in front of me. Both Zach and I glanced up to see a tall woman in dark jeans and a brown jacket looking down at us.

She raised an eyebrow at us. "Having fun are we?"

Zach and I stood up quickly.

"She started it!"

"I was about to kick his butt!" I said, hugging my mother's leg. I followed Mom as she took off her jacket and walked to the living room.

"You were not!" my brother cried.

"Was too!"

"Not!"

"Was!"

"No, you were n-"

"Oh, come on, Zach. She was," a clear voice cut my brother off. Zach and I turned to see a girl slightly younger than us standing in the doorway. She had black hair and clear blue eyes. Her face was round, and she had a few light freckles across her nose. "The statistics based on all previous matches indicate that Alyson indeed was about to kick your butt, Zach," she said with a small giggle.

"Clara!" we cried. Clara was Aunt Laura's, mom's sister, daughter. She spent the night whenever Aunt Laura was helping the Circle with research or a mission. It didn't happen often, but it was always fun having another girl around when she was with us, even if she was always reading or singing or something else strange.

Zach gave our cousin a hug while I turned to Mom. She was going around the room, looking for something.

"Mom?"

She didn't answer, just kept going trough the shelves.

"Mom!"

"What?" she snapped. That was weird. Mom never yelled at us. She normally would shoo us away if she didn't want to be bothered, never yell.

"Um, why is Clara here?"

Mom shook her head. "Not now, Alyson."

"Is Aunt Laura-"

"I said not now! Go do something with your brother and leave me alone for a minute," she said. Then Mom went back to pulling things off the shelves.

Frowning, I turned and went to talk to Zach and Clara in the hall. Clara was showing my brother the new book on computers her mom bought her. Clara was weird. She loved learning about computers and would rather read or mess around with a laptop than spare or practice with weapons. I didn't understand what was so interesting about working on a computer when you could go out and be in the field doing things, taking things, and fighting people.

Zach looked up when I walked to them. "Hey, Clara was just telling me about her new book."

Clara nodded. "Mom gave it to me before she left."

"Left? Left where? Mom didn't tell me anything."

Clara shrugged. "I don't know. Mommy said it was really important, and she wanted to give this to me before she left."

I groaned. Zach looked at me. "What?"

"Mom is acting weird. She was looking for something, and she snapped at me," I said. "I want to know what's going on."

"So?" Zach asked. "She was probably busy."

"Mom never snaps at us though. Plus she was going through the entire shelf. I think something is happening, and I plan on finding out what."

Zach shook his head. "Ally, maybe we should stay out of-"

"Oh, Zach, don't be a killjoy! We're going to be spies! I'm going to find out what's going on. You can help me, or you can stay out of my way. Your choice," I told him, crossing my arms.

Zach groaned. "Fine. I'm in."

I grinned. "Excellent!"

~O~

"Alyson, mom's a spy. I'm sure she's going to know you're trying to get information from her."

We were in my room, planning the best way to get Mom to tell us what kind of mission Aunt Laura was doing and why she was looking in the shelf. Zach hadn't been very helpful. He kept saying things I already knew and wasn't making a big effort to help. I was just glad he wasn't trying to stop me. I wanted to prove to Mom, and to him, that I could do things myself. I didn't need Zach to do things.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the confidence in your sister, Zach."

"I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying. I don't need you to walk me through things. I can do this."

Zach sighed. "Fine."

I turned to Clara, who was sitting on my bed reading. "What did you say happened when your mom left?"

Clara didn't move.

"Clara?"

Zach poked her foot and got kicked in the arm. Clara still didn't look up.

I leaned onto the bed. "Hey, you!"

Clara jumped and dropped her book, her eyes wide. "W-what?"

Zach started laughing. I asked Clara my question again. She furrowed her eyebrows. It looked funny because her eyebrows were really thin on her round face.

"Well, before she left, she was on the phone for a while. When she hung up, she gave me my book. She called it an early birthday gift; it was funny because my birthday is not until next month. Anyway, Mommy said she wanted to give me the book before she left. Then she told me to stay home and mostly in my room until she got home-"

"Wait, why did Mom bring you then?" Zach asked. I shushed him.

Clara shrugged. "I dunno. Mom left, then Aunt Catherine came and told me Mommy wanted me to stay with her for a little while."

I nodded. I liked asking Clara questions with Zach. It made me feel grown up, like we were real spies.

Zach looked at me. "Why do you think Mom was looking in the shelves?"

"I don't know, but I think I can find out."

There was a loud crashing noise downstairs. All three of us jumped. I heard Mom yell something. She sounded angry. Clara, Zach, and I crept downstairs. We wandered around all the big rooms in our house, following the sound of Mom's voice; she was still yelling things in a different language. I wondered what made her so upset. Most of the time Mom was calm. The only thing I remembered making her mad was when the Circle didn't listen to her. Mom wasn't leader, but her boss normally listened to her advise. When he didn't, Mom was more cranky. When Mom was cranky, Zach and I had to train alone, and sometimes Mom would leave on a mission for a few days. Zach and I were responsible, Mom said. We could take care of ourselves when she had a mission, though sometimes Aunt Laura would take care of us. I wonder if Mom being upset had something to do with Aunt Laura.

We found Mom in one of the extra bedrooms. She was surrounded by notebooks and was pacing around the room. Zach and I looked at each other; Mom never freaked out. What was going on?

"Mom?" I asked, walking into the room. Clara and Zach followed me.

Mom didn't hear me. She was sorting through the papers and notebooks. I walked to the bed and picked up one of the books. It had writing on it, but it was coded. I knew a little of the code though. After a few minutes, I was able to read a few sentences. It looked like an account of a mission with Aunt Laura. Why was Mom getting upset and looking at these?

The paper was ripped from my hand. "What do you think you are doing?" Mom yelled.

I flinched. "N-nothing."

Mom scowled. "Oh, don't flinch like that. Who said you could be in here? Never mind. What do you want?" she snapped.

I just shook my head. Mom never acted this way. She didn't yell at us. She wasn't mean. She never acted like that. I told myself that she was just stressed about something. Whatever was going on was messing with her. Even her eyes looked funny. They were too wide. Too angry.

Zach stepped closer to me and Mom. "We wanted to know why Clara is here."

"Because she is. Now go play or something," Mom snapped, turning away from us.

"But-" Zach started.

"Out!" Mom yelled. Clara dashed out the room quickly. I could tell she was scared. No one ever yelled at us like that. I didn't like it. Zach and I didn't move. I wanted to know what was making my mom act so weird.

"Mom, what's going on?" my brother asked.

Mom growled and grabbed my arm, pushing me out of the room. Her grip was tight. Too tight. It hurt. I stumbled out of the room.

"Ow!"

"Mom, let Ally go. Mom?" Zach grabbed her arm.

I didn't think I'd ever forget what happened next. Mom twisted around and smacked my brother. It was so quick, so shocking. Zach and I just stood there for a second. I didn't know what to think. Mom let go of my arm and went back to the room. She started mumbling things under her breath. Zach and I rushed out of the room.

I turned to Zach. His cheek was red, and he kept squeezing his eyes shut.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

He nodded. We walked to my room in silence. I don't think we could think of anything to say. We were too shocked. We found Clara reading in my room again, only this time she was reading Peter Pan. Where she got it, I have no idea, and at the time I really didn't care.

Zach and I just sat there for a while. After a while it got dark, and Zach went to his room. I couldn't sleep. Nothing that had happened with Mom made sense. Normally Mom was fun. She let us do what we wanted mostly. But when she told us stuff, she was never loud. She never yelled. She definitely never hit us. When she was home, she was mostly quiet, or working. She liked singing. Her favorite song was one about knights and castles. She sometimes sung it to us when we couldn't sleep.

Sometimes Mom would seem distant. Maybe a little mad or sad, but she never did anything to us. She liked to show us how to shoot or throw knives when she was like that. Or she would tell us stories about missions, or about her childhood. Mom liked to go on missions a lot. She wanted to be in charge at work I thought. Lot's of times she would complain about her boss. He made her mad sometimes. Even when she was angry she never yelled or hit us. She was a good mom. I thought it was cool how she let us do things by ourselves. She treated us like we were grown up. We were going to start our real training for the Circle soon.

After a long time, I couldn't sit still anymore. Clara was still reading. In the quiet house, I could hear thunder in the distance. A storm was coming. I liked that. It didn't feel like it should be calm outside when I wasn't calm. I wanted to know what was going on.

I rolled myself off of the bed. Clara kept reading.

Quietly, I made my way back to the room where Mom was. The door was closed, but not completely. There was a small crack where I could peek through. Mom was on the phone with someone. She looked worn. Her hair was really messy, like she had put her hands in it a lot. She was walking in circles while she talked.

"- I don't care what she did, you can't just- What?- Can't you ask him not to- Ugh!-"

I wondered who she was talking to. The way she was talking, frustrated, reminded me of when she was talking to her boss. The leader of her part of the Circle. Mom said the Circle had lots of parts. She wanted to be in charge of her part, but there was a guy with that job. Mom sometimes said she wanted to get rid of him. I didn't know how she would do that, but I thought it would be neat if she could. Maybe she wouldn't get mad at work then.

"- Has anyone contacted- Did he know?- How could he not know?- Oh, don't you put that on me! She never showed any signs of double crossing- What?- No, I didn't help her! I'm the one who told you she wasn't cut out for the Circle!-

That was funny. It sounded like she was talking about Aunt Laura. Mom sometimes said she wished Aunt Laura wasn't in the Circle. But why was she talking about double crossing? That didn't make sense. I leaned closer to the door.

"-Fine. He can interrogate me all he wants; he won't find anything- Does anyone know where she is?- No, she didn't tell Clara anything- because I already interrogated her- Oh, please, she's a seven year old bookworm, there's nothing to crack-"

There was a long pause. I wished I could hear what the person on the phone was saying. I knew there wasn't anything Clara knew that she wasn't saying. She told me and Zach everything. She wasn't good at keeping secrets anyway. After a while Mom let out a frustrated sigh.

"-Ugh, let me know if they find her- They can't eliminate her if they have no proof- I know I'm not in charge!- If he takes her out I'll kill him- I don't care if that sounds like treason; It won't be because I would be in charge then!- Don't you know how things work around here?- I don't care- Just keep me posted!"

I heard a small bang, like Mom had thrown her phone at the wall. Then I heard footsteps. It took me a second too long to realize they were getting closer to the door.

Mom opened the door just as I was scrambling back. She looked like she had been pulling at her hair, because it was sticking out in weird places. She was breathing hard, and her face was a little red.

"Mom, are you okay?"

She ignored my question. "What are you doing?" she snapped. I flinched. I didn't like Mom like that.

"Don't flinch! Flinching means fear; we don't show fear. Now answer me!" Her voice was louder now. It sounded off somehow. A little higher than normal.

I took a step back. There was a weird glint in Mom's eyes. She looked like she was either going to cry or yank her hair out. Instead, when I didn't answer, she reached out and grabbed my arm and yanked me closer. Her grip was tight- tighter than earlier. I didn't know my mom was that strong. Her nails dug into my arm.

What would have happened next, I was glad to never find out.

"Mom, what's going on? Is Ally in trouble?" I had never been that thankful to hear my brother's voice. Zach appeared behind me and slowly pulled me back.

Blinking a few times, Mom let go of my arm. She looked at us weirdly for a second, like she was trying to remember our names or something. Then she smiled. "Trouble?" she asked, her voice softer, but not completely back to normal. "No, not in trouble. She just needs to stops spying on people's conversations."

If the situation hadn't been so confusing, I would have laughed. She was training us to spy on people. I decided it wasn't the best time to point that out. I tilted my head a little. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" She laughed a little, but it sounded like she was forcing it.

"Is Aunt Laura okay?" I asked.

Big mistake.

Mom's eyes went hard. "Don't worry about that."

After everything that had happened that day, Mom telling me not to worry about what was going on hit a nerve. I wanted to know why she was acting weird, why Clara was here unexpected, and why apparently something was going on with Aunt Laura that had Mom upset and angry. I stomped my foot.

"No. I want to know! You said something about elimination. Is Aunt Laura in danger?"

Pain. A sharp pain on my cheek was the only thing I registered. After a second, I felt my arm being pulled, felt my feet moving, but my brain didn't begin to work properly until Zach had already dragged me all the way back to my room, where Clara was asleep on the purple bean-bag chair in the corner. I looked at my brother. He just stared at me for a while.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded. I could feel the tears in my eyes, seconds from spilling over against my will. Babies and weaklings cried. I wasn't a baby. Zach hadn't cried when he was hit.

When he was hit. Mom had hit both of us that day. She was acting strange. It was like she wasn't my mom- not the one I knew.

That was it. The tears started, and I hated myself for crying in front of my brother. I waited for the teasing, but it never came. Instead I felt arms wrap around me.

That's how I fell asleep, crying while my brother hugged me.

~O~

The next few days were some of the strangest of my life. Zach and I didn't talk about what had happened, but we did watch Mom carefully. Clara noticed us after the first day, and we had to tell her what had happened. She was shocked, but seemed more concerned about her own mom than what was going on with ours.

Mom had still been acting weird. She would stare out the window a lot and jump slightly when we came up to her. She would be drinking stuff from a bottle that smelled weird most of the time. We avoided her as much as we could, so we didn't know if she was still angry. The third day Zach and I made a deal to try to talk to her instead of avoiding her all day. It worked, mostly. After a few hours of Zach and I acting normal around her, she started acting normal too. She helped us with our knife throwing, tried to make dinner- then ended up getting us pizza, and she even tucked us in one night. I had started thinking everything would go back to normal. Maybe that day had been an off day. Maybe we were just being bad, or work had gotten to Mom. Either way, I was glad everything was going back to normal. I had almost forgotten about Aunt Laura. Though Clara was on edge.

Then Mom's phone rang.

We had been eating dinner (leftover pepperoni). Then the sharp ring went off. Mom jumped up and quickly answered. She went to her room and slammed the door. The only times the phone rang, it was the Circle.

Zach, Clara and I looked at each other. I pushed my chair back and started towards Mom's door.

"Where are you going?"

I didn't turn around when I answered my brother. "To listen. I want to know what's happening."

"Ally don't-"

"I want to know what's going on!"

"Maybe we shouldn't-"

I swirled around on my heel. "I don't care what we should do! You want to follow some rules that you think we should, but there's no one telling me I have to! Mom's acting weird, and I want to know why! I want to know what's going on, and if you aren't going to help me just leave me alone." I didn't wait for a response and marched off to Mom's room.

The door was locked, but a simple hairpin maneuver had it open in a few seconds. I eased the door open ever so slightly, only a crack in case Mom wasn't distracted enough. She was pacing like the day before, her hand not holding the phone was waving a bottle around. I lay on my stomach and peered through the crack to listen.

"Yes, I'm alone now-Did they find her?- Is she okay? What did they do?- Sanders, don't play games with me- What happened?- Sanders, I swear if you don't answer me right now-" There was a sharp intake of breath. Mom stopped pacing and stood still as a statue. She let her hand holding the phone drop, and closed her eyes. After a minute she opened them again. It looked like her hands were shaking when she brought the phone back to her ear. Her voice trembled when she spoke again, but I wasn't sure if she was sad or mad.

"Who gave the order?- Tell me!- Damn it, Sanders, if you don't tell me who gave the frickin' order right now I will-"

She stopped and scowled. When she started pacing again, her eyes were livid.

"I'm going to kill him- No, I am! He knew she- I don't care if she was in line with the CIA! I don't care what she helped Morgan get! They killed her!" She screamed.

My eyes widened. I hoped Mom wasn't saying what I thought she was. Because if she was- if she was, it meant Aunt Laura was... No. That couldn't be it. That's not what was going on. That's not why Clara was here unexpectedly. That's not why Mom had been acting weird. That's not what was happening. It couldn't be.

There was a crash as the bottle Mom had been holding hit a lamp. Shards scattered across the floor like confetti. A few larger pieces fell in a ring around the small table. I glanced back at Mom. She was staring at the now broken lamp. Her hands were shaking, and her breaths sounded shaky. Finally, she moved. Mom walked slowly to the pieces and crouched down. Picking up a few of them she started muttering things; but I couldn't make out anything she was saying.

A hushed voice from above me made me jump.

"What do you think this means?" My brother's eyes were filled with worry as he looked down from where he was standing over me.

Shaking my head, I whispered, "I don't know."

"It means I'll be spending a lot more time with you two." Zach and I turned to see Clara standing against the hallway wall.

Clara.

What was going to happen to her? Was she okay? She wasn't even crying. She just stood there, holding the computer book her mom gave her- the last thing she got from her mother. As if she read my mind, Clara looked down at the book. As if she was finally understanding some riddle, she gave a small smile. "She called it an early birthday present." With that, my cousin turned and ran down the hall and out of sight. Zach and I were left staring after where her small frame disappeared around the corner. We looked at each other, utterly confused what to do. Should we go after Clara? Did she want us to go after her?

Thunder boomed throughout the house, knocking Zach and I out of the trance we had fallen into. I looked back into Mom's room. Easing the door open, I crawled into the room, ignoring my brother's whispers for me to come back. I crept towards Mom. She was curled against the wall with her head in her knees. Her shoulders were shaking, and with a start I realized she was crying.

I had never seen my mother cry.

Standing up in the center of the room, I could hear a little of what Mom was saying. She sounded hysterical.

"-wasn't supposed to be there- I n-never wanted to go- Why'd you make me go- She wouldn't be in this- Your fault- Never there-"

I wasn't sure who she was talking to. Who was never there? Make her go where? I took another step closer to her. "Mom?"

Mom's head snapped up, her red hair sticking to her tear soaked cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy. She scowled. "Get out!"

"But-"

"I said out, you little brat!" Mom grabbed a shard of glass from the broken bottle and send it flying at me.

Eyes widening, I dodged the glass but not fast enough. A stinging pain trailed along my shoulder. Looking down, I saw the cut. It wasn't deep, it didn't even start bleeding a lot; it only sent a fire through my upper arm.

I almost tripped as I ran out of the room and pushed past my brother. I head the door slam as I ran up the stairs into my room, slamming my own door behind me. Zach came knocking within a few seconds.

"Ally? Let me in."

I walked to the door and sat against it.

"Ally, come on."

After a few minutes, I heard my brother walk away. I sighed, finally letting the sob I'd been holding out.

I refused to let my brother ever see me cry again.

I wasn't sure how long it was latter that I stopped crying; my arm stopped hurting. Not long though, because I had only started to hear the rain pound against the roof and walls. Opening the door quietly, I crept out of my room. I just wandered around the house for a while, making sure not to walk under any of the leaks from the roof. Passing one of the hall closets, I heard a few sobs.

When I opened the door, I didn't see anything, but I knew she was there. "Clara?" I whispered.

It took a minute, but eventually a flashlight shined in my face. From the top shelf of the closet, my cousin climbed down and stood in front of me. It looked like she had paint on her face and hands. She held something out to me. I took the paper, curious.

Clara, if you've found this, I'm sorry. I love you. I didn't want to leave you- but there was something I had to do. You won't understand right now, but you will someday. I had to help someone keep some dangerous information safe. I love you, Clara.

It wasn't signed. I looked up at my cousin. She had tears in her eyes, but she wasn't crying anymore. I held my arms open. She ran into them. I just held her for a while, rubbing her back.

After a few minutes, she whispered, "It was in the last page."

~O~

Hours later, when I thought Clara was asleep, and I was lying in my bed listening to the storm rage outside my window. It was louder than before. The wind sounded like howling. I glanced up just as a flash of lighting streaked across my window. I had never noticed how strange the shadows looked. The following drum of thunder made me jump- had it always been that loud?

My blanket slipped off my bed as I sat up and walked down the hall. My bare feet hit a few puddles as I crept down the stairs. The shadows moved strangely as I passed them. I was nearly shaking when I opened the door to my destination. I walked to the bed slowly, careful not to step on any figurines that littered the floor.

Zach jumped before I even touched him. "Ally? Are you okay?" My brother's voice was groggy as he sat up slightly. I nodded.

"Do you need something?"

I shook my head. The thunder that followed the blast was louder than any of the previous ones. I couldn't help myself- I jumped... a lot.

In the flash of lighting that lit up the room for a second, I saw my brother raise his eyebrows. I expected Zach to laugh. Alyson Goode- the one who wasn't a baby, who made fun of her twin brother, who was better at throwing knives- she was scared of the big bad storm. The laugh never came. Zach simply pulled the blanket out further and scooted over on the bed.

I crawled onto the bed next to him.

Zach wrapped his arm around me and hugged me. "Is your shoulder okay?"

I nodded.

"Good."

We were silent after that. Zach didn't go back to sleep; I didn't even try to sleep. We just lay there, listening to the storm. I didn't cry anymore that night. I couldn't. There was no time- no place for me to cry. Clara was the one who got to cry. She was the one who just lost her mother. Zach and mine, she wasn't gone. She was hurt. I knew she was still there underneath. We just had to wait and help her.

"Everything's going to be different now, isn't it?" The question floated into the room, much like the person who asked it. Clara crept into the room and climbed onto the bed next to us. She didn't wait for an answer to her question, but she was right. It seemed that past week had changed everything. I couldn't help the feeling that things were only beginning to change. No one knew what the future would bring. I had to be strong. No more crying. I had to stay strong; I had to train hard, and not take anything lightly. It was time to be a big girl and deal with the change.

After a while, Clara and Zach fell asleep.

I stayed up, listening to the screaming of the wind. With my cousin and brother there, the storm wasn't scary. It was powerful. Most people were scared of power. I couldn't be for any longer. Power was what I was going to need. As another streak of lightning lit up the room, and the wind howled and beat against the walls, I almost wished it could blow the house away. Shatter all the windows, every brick and board, until everything was blown away. Then we could go somewhere else. The storm could blow our past away, then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much trying to get used to the change.

Maybe it could blow all the memories away too.

.oOo.

I'm sorry it was so long, but there's the first installment of the prequel to my Gallagher Girls story Revenge is Deadly. I hope you enjoyed it and please review. (Please note I may change the title to this story)