She was surrounded. Fire, smoke, dust and flashes of light. Red. Green. Through stinging tears she saw it all. The villagers, screaming and running, were trying to fight the terror that had finally come for them. In the commotion she had lost her wand. Frantically, she felt around for it. Through her tears, she saw them. Just ahead there was a family of three. At least they could have been, a man, his wife, and their baby in his arms. If she could just get them to where she was hiding, they would have a chance of escaping the massacre happening around them. Now!
"No! This way! Hurry! Follow me!" That was all she could get out between gasping for air to the tall man, his wife and their… Where was the baby? "What happened to your baby?" Can they even hear me, she thought. They looked at her with sad eyes. Was that worry? Pity?
They were surrounded. Fire, smoke and flashes of light. She was behind them again. Running. Running for their lives with their wands out, sending their own flashes. The man turned to her. Was he speaking to her? Yes. She was looking up into his face now, but didn't remember… Wasn't she just behind them? She could see sparks of light above his head and felt the woman's hand on her head.
"Don't worry, honey. Mum and Daddy will protect you."
She tried to speak, but all she could do was cry out.
"DAD!"
Salome woke up covered in sweat, gasping for air. It took a moment to register where she was, who she was. She reached over for the glass of water on the nightstand and saw that is was 3:45 in the morning. She watched the clock change to 5:45 and managed to hit the off button before it could make that annoying buzzing noise. She went through her normal morning routine of showering and brushing her teeth, dressing and trying unsuccessfully to do something with her unruly, jet black head of curls. Frizz. She put her hair in a ponytail for the millionth time. Then it was off to work and another day. If ever there was a time Salome wished she was not an only child, it was now. She'd so wanted a brother. She would have even settled for a sister. But it was a brother she really wanted. The closest she had to a brother was her cousin. But he was older and had lived in England. She had lived in America with her parents, where it was assumed they would be safe. Wrong. They found them. They came for them.