We arrived at the airport at a rough two o'clock in the afternoon. Already, the skies were gray with rain and as if suspecting our landing, it began to pour. Not especially surprising considering the fact that the city was Seattle, but I was starting to miss New York already. Yet, I was indeed looking forward to seeing James again, along with crazy Max.

Syl and Krit were detached, listless, and all around unreachable to either Case or I. Sure, we could ask them questions, but the most we would get would be perhaps a substantial grunt or a one word answer. Neither of which was especially appealing. Case blamed it on the fact that they were tired. I said they were just being adults. So, he reminded me that we were basically adults, and, having no appropriate comeback, I shut up.

Krit handed me my suitcase after retrieving it off the circle of luggage with a sad smile as Syl rummaged around in her leather purse for the keys. "There you go, Alanza," he said, speaking the most words that I had heard in the time of twenty-four hours.

"Thank you," I replied, clutching the nylon handle in my sweaty palm. "Thank you for everything…the hotel…the food. The trip. It was great, really it was." My words were forced, unsure of what to say to him.
"Thank you for coming."
"I'm sorry Dad bailed on you guys," I apologized, although I knew that Dad's leave wasn't my fault. But, then again, someone had to take responsibility for his actions because he wouldn't. Guess that role belonged to his daughter.

"I should have seen it coming."
"Don't blame yourself."

Krit shrugged, then turned back to his fiancée. "Did you find the keys?"

"Right here," Syl mumbled. To me, she added, "Case says he'll give you a ride home, Alanza."

"Ok." Pausing, I glanced around for Case and found him seated in one of the chairs, lightly dozing. "I'll be around," I said to Krit and Syl.

"It'll be nice to see you again," Syl smiled.

"And you," I replied, then left, figuring that it was better to leave the conversation at a bare minimum. After all, neither adult was up to a gritty talk about politics or the weather, so I wasn't about to waste my time and energy into one.

Awakening Case, he groaned in protest, but led the way out to his car in a slow, plodding manner. If he had walked any faster, it might as well killed him. Sure, I could run to the vehicle, begged to be let in and get out of the rain, but it wouldn't have mattered. Case had the keys to unlock the doors.

He put our suitcases, which were only two, in the seats behind us of his truck. The vehicle itself was a 1500 Dodge Ram, painted in midnight blue and decked out in black cloth seats. With my limited knowledge of cars, I was unable to tell if it was pre-pulse or not. Few cars were nowadays anyhow.

Starting the engine up, Case asked me, not making eye contact if I was going to be all right.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"About everything that's happened. The attacks. Zack. Syl and Krit. Not your average everyday high school stuff."

"I know that."

"And?"
"And I can handle it, Case. Why do you seem so concerned all of a sudden?"

"You're family, I'm gonna worry."

"Hate to say it, but you really haven't before."

"Fine," he sighed as we merged with traffic on the highway. "I want you to be in a decent mood before you confront James."

"James? What's up with him?"

"He's not feeling too good lately."

"I noticed. What? The flu? Cold?"
"Dad," Case grunted as if that would tell me everything that I needed to know about the secrets of the universe.

"His dad?"

"Yup. Apparently, when I last talked to James, which was before we left to see the play the other night, his dad wants James to stop seeing you, stop hanging out with me, so that James can apply more concentration onto his career."

"Which is what? Architecture?"

"Uh-huh," Case mumbled. "His dad's some kind of office man who's in charge of the construction company that James' field does business with."

"Is his dad…how should I put this…scuzzy?"
"Scuzzy?"

"Yeah, like half-mast construction crew dude scuzzy."

For the first time, I got a laugh out of Case. "Hell no. The dad, who I've met before, is an absolute prick who wears too much after-shave and screws prostitutes while watching the stock market sales on TV."

"Oh."

"Good to know, huh?"

"So, basically, James can't stand Daddy Dear because…why?" I asked Case.

"I don't know the real reason," he replied, getting off at an exit as he head checked around him. "You'd have to ask him all the exclusive details."

"Great."

"He loves you, Alanza, everything will be fine."

"I don't want to start a fight."

"You won't," he assured me. As the conversation lulled, I could hear the faint tickling of a CD in his stereo system. Turning up the volume, I nearly slugged him when I figured out what we were listening to. It was that damned song called Iris, about the world breaking and everyone finding out who I was.

"Is this all you listen to?" I nearly screamed, having heard the song only hours before.

"No. Max loves this song, so she not only bought me the band's album, but burned a bunch of different songs-along with this one-and gave me another CD."

We continued riding along in silence, pushing through the mud puddles and dingy walls of inner ghetto Seattle. Finally, we arrived at my apartment. Looking up at it, the building seemed dwarfed in comparison to the skyscrapers of New York. Yet, I had to remind myself that this was my home, nothing else. Just as I was ready to close the door, suitcase in hand, Case called out.

"Hey, Alanza? You remember the song?"

"The Iris one or whatever?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?" I asked.

"We were talking about James earlier, so I thought that you might want to hear this."

"Fine. I've been through enough in the past week, so I don't see how it could get any worse," I sighed, closing the door, but leaving the window rolled down so he could still speak. The rain fell in waterfalls, coating my hair to a slick helmet, but leaving Case virtually untouched in his cozy little truck.

"I told you a long time that when the world breaks, people will know what you are, and they will fear you, Alanza, because of the power you hold. Yet, what I didn't tell you-and you should probably know-is that James will be the one to cause that breakage of your life."