Chapter Two
A week passed, and as Lightning predicted, she hadn't been able to get rid of either of the strays that invaded her house. Lacey had wormed her way into Serah's heart by now, with the big brown eyes and flowing golden fur.
The other dog, not so much.
Serah couldn't come up with a name for the dog that was often moody and ill-tempered. She had affectionately called her "Grumpy" for a day or two, but the dog didn't seem pleased. Names like "Flower" and "Grace" didn't fit either.
Lightning called the dog "Stray". That was what she was. An annoying stray who showed up at her house last week during a big thunder storm and refused to leave since then. The dumb dog wouldn't do anything that Lightning told her to do. She would just growl until Serah or Lacey came into the room and convinced the dog to back off.
She couldn't believe that she was facing off against a dumb dog.
"I told you, Lightning," Serah said around a mouthful of food at dinnertime one night. "I've asked all around school. Nobody is willing to take them in."
"Well neither am I."
"It's us or they're dead." They had this argument before. If the dogs didn't remain with Serah and Lightning, then they would be killed, since the pound was overflowing with stray animals.
Lightning lost the argument again. Why did she even bother at this point? Oh yeah, it's because I'm as stubborn as that stray.
Stubbornness wasn't all that the two had in common. The stray also walked around like she owned the place. Chin held high, eyes always looking straight ahead—always staring up into Lightning's blue eyes whenever they were facing off against each other. Neither of them would break eye-contact when they tried to show their dominance. The standoffs were always broken by Serah dragging Lightning away or Lacey tugging at the stray's leg for the same reason.
An awkward truce lingered in the air. If that stray ignored Lightning, then she would ignore the stray. They could manage to live in the same house for that reason alone.
Or so she thought.
It was a Thursday when another storm hit. Only this wasn't just a storm—It was a hurricane.
And Serah was nowhere to be found.
If there ever was a time for Serah to have her cell phone on her, it would have been now. But her sister didn't use the mobile device often because of their very limited plan. It was for emergencies only, and this was definitely an emergency.
Lighting paced the living room, glancing out the window every two seconds to see the trees blowing in the wind that was growing harsher and harsher. "Serah," she scolded over and over again underneath her breath. She should have known better than to go out today. Even if she hadn't seen the weather report , she wasn't blind—she could look up at the sky and see the darkness that was nearly as dark as the middle of the night. It was only five o' clock.
While Lightning paced, the stray was also on edge. She sat by the window and stared outside, whimpering every once in a while. It took Lightning a few minutes to even realize that the dog was on edge. Scared of the storm? No, if that were the case, the dog would have been hiding from the window.
"What's wrong?" Lightning finally asked the dog. Stupid. Dog's can't talk. And why are you talking to it like it's human? You're going crazy here.
Yet if Lightning was crazy, then crazy was an okay place to be. Somehow, when the dog turned around, she could decipher the look of panic that shone in her own eyes. Not only was Serah missing, but so was Lacey.
"Serah took Lacey along?" Lightning thought aloud. Still a stupid move. With a storm like this, what good was a puppy going to do her?
She had to focus. Where would Serah go? Not to a friend's house; she would have called to let Lightning know that she was safe. Responsibility was a trait that Lightning attempted to infuse in Serah regularly. The only place that Serah could be was a place without a phone…
What's the date? Lightning thought suddenly. A crucial detail to this mystery. June 2nd. There was her answer.
Serah was visiting their mother's gravestone. Today was the two-year anniversary. Not even the weather would stop Serah from the tradition she started.
"Serah, you idiot," she scolded again. This wasn't worth the risk. What came next was surprisingly natural for Lightning. "C'mon, stray," she said to the dog as she started for the front door. "We're going to get Serah and Lacey back."
"Stray" hurried after Lightning, though the dog was at least smart enough not to run in front of her and trip her up. Apparently the dog had intelligence to back up its annoyingness. But those thoughts vanished when Lightning reached for a leash and the dog growled.
"Oh come on," she said strictly. "We're only going to find them by sticking together. You really wanna go it alone out there?" When the dog sat down, Lightning put the collar on her. "Didn't think so."
The moment the two of them ventured outside, a gust of wind blew the door wide open behind them and then slammed it shut. Hopefully the hinges weren't broken. By the end of the day, though, that could have been the least of her worries. Serah. I hope you're still there. Or two minutes away from here.
Lightning ran as fast as she could, though the wind was pressing against her and trying to force her back towards the house. No winds could keep her from her sister. Absolutely nothing would prevent her from protecting the only family that she had left.
Stray must have felt the same, because she was pressing on against the wind as well. Her eyes were narrowed and each step was a labor, but the two of them managed to go at a light jog. If Serah was coming back to the house, at least she had the wind in her favor. Unless, of course, the wind picked her up and tossed her to Nautilus or some other place on Cocoon. What, were the Fal'Cie having a temper tantrum? And why today of all days?
It took Lightning fifteen minutes to reach the cemetery, even at the pace she maintained. It had started to drizzle, but the rain had extra pressure because of the harsh wind. She could hardly feel her face as she entered the graveyard. "Serah!" she hollered into the wind.
The wind only continued howling.
"Serah!" Lightning screamed.
This time, she got a response. A small amount of yapping. Lacey was here. Lightning squinted and saw a figure running towards them—no, two. One human, and one dog. Oh thank goodness, she thought. Both of them were alright.
"Lightning!" Serah cried, running to her sister and stopping right in front of her. Lacey stopped beside her, staring mostly at Stray.
"What were you thinking!" Lightning hollered. "This is a serious storm. You could have gotten yourself killed!" That was still a possible outcome, actually. "We have to go home, now!"
"I'm so sorry!" she cried again. "I had to see Mom!"
"Well you may have been seeing her in a different way than expected! But we'll discuss that later! Let's go."
Lightning grabbed Serah's wrist with her free hand and pulled her along, holding Stray's leash in her other hand. She had nearly forgotten about the two dogs, but keeping the grip on the leash reminded her that it wasn't just Serah that she had to protect. Sure, she wasn't a dog person. But she wasn't going to abandon the dogs in the storm, or even not keep them safe. Serah viewed them as part of the family. That was enough reason for Lightning to protect them.
She didn't want to lead them along the back of the beach, but there was no choice. A tree blocked the path that she had originally taken. It wasn't huge, so the girls could have climbed over it. Not the dogs though. No man or dog left behind. As corny as it sounded, that was Lightning's philosophy for the moment.
They walked along the edge of the beach, away from the water. It was way above what was considered high tide. And the waves looked deadly, even at this distance. If anyone dared to go swimming, they would most certainly be pulled out to sea and never be seen again.
"Lacey!" Serah cried suddenly.
Right before their eyes, the dog bolted. Not towards the ocean, thank goodness. But straight ahead and away from them. "Hey!" Lightning cried. They had to stay together! Before she even recognized what she was doing, she had passed off Stray's leash onto Serah. Her feet carried her naturally as the wind pushed behind her, giving her that extra speed that she'd need to catch up to the fast pup. "Stop!"
Lacey did stop—right by a swaying palm tree. No, swaying wasn't the right word. The tree was actually twisting and bending in the wind in a way that couldn't be natural.
Then it happened. A sharp snap, right while Lightning and Lacey were next to it. The girl grunted, eyes wide as she looked and saw the tree break and fall…onto her.
"Lightning!" Serah screamed.
But it was too late. The palm tree landed on Lightning's back and shoved her down into the sand. For a moment, her vision turned dark because of the pain. Then everything disappeared along with her consciousness.