I looked at my glasses in my hands and sighed. The scratches were deep.

I put them up on my nose again as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The scratches distorted everything I looked at.

I sighed again. "Great."

Having no choice, I opened a fresh pair of contact lenses and put them on.

It seemed like my phone wasn't the only casualty from last night's show of power. My glasses were going to need to be replaced.

I put on a T-shirt and jeans and went downstairs taking the steps two by two.

I was determined to find my phone one way or another.

I called around for my parents but they seemed to be gone early for a Saturday morning. It had been several hours before the electricity was restored to the neighborhood. It was funny to see how much we relied on it.

Woof came running up to me as soon as he heard my steps down the stairs.

I scratched his ears after I picked up a granola bar from the kitchen. "You want to go for a walk?"

He wagged his little tail and ran to the back slider. After I grabbed a jacket and opened the slider, he sprinted out the slider and down the deck steps to the woods.

We'd always let him walk outside on his own as long as we could watch him. While our backyard wasn't fenced in, he was never more than ten steps away from us when we walked him. Even as I walked into trees at the edge of the yard, he stayed close. He sniffed around and happily danced around in the grass.

"Woof," I called him when he started to stray.

The little fluff bounded towards me then ahead of me as I walked. I tried finding my way back to where I thought I'd met Leah and Damien the night before, trying to shake off the disorientation that wearing contacts always brought me.

It was always weird to put them back on after months of not wearing them. While it was slightly disorienting, at least this time, it wasn't awful. I was able to see every detail in the woods. From the happy squirrels that ran up the trees to the morning sun filtering through the new leaves in the trees.

I took a deep breath and let the icy air fill my lungs. Morning walks were always my favorite. If only my parents were home, I could then use one of their phones to try and find mine.

I walked deeper still into the trees, never letting Woof get out of my sight.

Questions raced through my mind as I walked through the woods. It started with the mysterious stranger with the hazel eyes that saved me. As soon as I saw his eyes I recognized them.

He was Cat.

I didn't know Damien's powers consisted of shapeshifting too. At least that was my guess since the brown haired man was able to turn into Cat. Damien was long gone before I could ask him. As I tried to sleep the night before I tossed and turned trying to think about the first time I'd seen Cat but nothing came to me.

When had he shown up?

And why then?

Why was he following me?

He was one of Damien's bodyguards which made me think that he could probably be protecting me and not Damien. I tried to think of a time when the three of us had been together but couldn't find one.

Which led me to another question. Why did I need to be protected?

That was when I saw it.

I put a hand to my mouth in amazement.

I'd found the exact location of where we were the night before. The only problem was that most of the trees were black, charred or gone. The tree that had stood at the epicenter, where Leah had previously held herself against, was gone.

It had been a huge tree with many branches that creaked and moaned as it bent to Leah's power but now...

That tree was gone, the only remnant was a black stump low to the ground. Even the roots that stood around Leah were gone. I looked closer, it seemed as if someone had taken a saw and hacked half of the root where it stood in the ground.

The trees around it were either stumps or black. The further the tree was from where Leah stood, the less the damage. The closest were stumps whereas the furthest had little singes of black.

It was a complete circle all around the dead tree. I looked up. It was a clear, unobstructed view of the sky. Anywhere else I would be obstructed by the leafless branches.

All of it was gone.

I touched one of the still standing trees and watched the tinted black charcoal crumble against my fingers and fall to the black ground. That's where I found my answer of where the missing trunks and branches had gone.

There seemed to be a thick cushion of black ash on the ground. A thin layer of black danced on top as the breeze ran through.

Damien or Leah - or both - had done this.

Everything was dead.

Woof didn't approach the area. He stood at the edges and whined.

I called him over but he didn't approach.

I then heard a muffled song in the quiet morning. I recognized it immediately.

The Doctor Who theme song. My ringtone.

I ran towards the noise, picking up black ash with each step deeper into the dark circle. When I was close, I started to dig through the ash and found it.

It was completely ruined.

The screen was completely cracked down the middle, leaving me to guess who it was that was calling. I could barely get the icon to swipe across to answer.

"Hello?"

"Emylin?"

I recognized the voice even through the crackle sound the phone was now producing.

Great, not only did I need new glasses, I needed a new phone too.

"Leah?" I asked.

"Sorry to call you so early - I got your number from the class website - I hope you don't mind."

It was hard to hear her but I got most of the message. "Yeah, that's okay. How are you feeling?"

"Better," she chirped. "Do you think you can come over? I need to talk to someone - I think you're the only one I can talk to right now."

I gripped the phone tightly in my hand.

I didn't like Leah. Not even a little.

She'd made me miserable for most of my teenage years but Damien -

Damien had been the one to unknowingly help me through most of it. He'd been there when no one else had. Even despite my parent's best effort to help me through my adolescence, it didn't compare with Damien.

If I helped her, I'd help Damien. After his father's death after seeing his despair at losing his last family member - I was determined to help him. Even if it meant putting myself in uncomfortable situations.

"Sure," I said, trying to genuinely smile. "Where are you?"

"I'm at my parent's place," she answered. "I'll text you the address."

She didn't need to. I knew where she lived, her parents hadn't moved since we were in high school. It was one of the biggest houses in one of the richest neighborhoods.

I looked down at my clothes. My jeans and jacket were covered in black soot and ash, I could only imagine what my face and hair looked like. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Em," she sighed then hung up.

I flinched at the affectionate nickname. Only Damien had been the one call me "Em." He'd call me that ever since we were children when he'd struggle to say my full name. It sounded foreign coming from her especially since she never shown anything but resentment towards me.

I looked at my phone and sighed. It was completely ruined, the screen was beyond repair. I could only see my elbow and Woof's fluffy tail in the corner of the screen in the selfie I saved on the phone's home screen.

I sighed. "Great."

I looked at my hands. My usually tawny skin was completely covered in black soot it was even under my fingernails.

I picked myself up from the floor and walked towards Woof who sat patiently waiting for me. "Time to go home," I told the excited pup.

He ran towards the house not even looking back.

I was so not looking forward to talking to Leah.