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“You got it to work?”
“And look at this great shot I got. You’re a natural.” I showed him the picture, and he rolled his eyes.
“You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”
“Very.” I smiled at him. “But thank you. At least I’ll have something to remember this hellscape by.”
“Youwantto remember something bad in photos?”
“Life is full of all of it. So why wouldn’t I? Besides, it can’t get any worse than this.”
He raised his eyebrows, but then the power flickered. I frowned and looked at the ceiling light. “What was that?” I asked.
“I’m guessing you don’t know the cardinal rule of survival.”
“And what’s that?”
“Never say things can’t get worse.”
Like a curse, the lights flickered once more. And then they completely went out, leaving us in darkness.
EIGHT
“Apparently,over ten thousand people in rural areas don’t have power,” Melody Summers, Stella’s mom, said over FaceTime. “The ice is weighing down the lines, and the wind is making it worse. They’ve even warned the city that our power could go too. I’m surprised the phones are even still working. The cell phone towers must have emergency backup power.”
“And that won’t last forever,” Stella said. “This is a nightmare. When I talked to Winnie earlier, she mentioned even the city might have rolling blackouts.”
“Glad we have a fireplace at our house.”
“This isn’t how I wanted to spend Christmas.” Stella sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I hate this.”
“We’ll get together after all of this is over,” Melody reassured her. “And we’ll make it extra special for getting through this storm. Now, do you know how to make a fire?”
“I know how to,” I replied, coming into frame. I hadn’t made myself known simply because I didn’t want to get too close to Stella again. Her vanilla scent was already burned into my nose, yet each time I was around it still made my brain whiteout.
Melody’s eyes widened. “Alden? You’re there too?”
“Yes.”
“Oh,interesting.”
“There’s nothing interesting here.” Stella shook her head. “It’s just two people who happened to be in the same place while Amma disappeared.”
“Whatever you say, honey.” But she had the same look Amma did whenever she didn’t believe something we were saying. “So, Alden, you know how to handle this?”
“I do.”
“We’ll be fine,” Stella insisted. “If the wind doesn’t get us first.”
“That old house always sounded terrifying in a storm,” Melody said. “But it’s strong. And you have someone experienced there.”
“But turn your phones off to conserve power,” her dad, Chris, said. “You won’t be able to charge them, so save what you can if you need to call for help.”
I could see Stella pale at the mention of calling for help.
“We’ll save power, but we should be okay.” I hoped my voice came out reassuring.
“You never know what will happen, especially sincethere’s snow coming afterward,” Melody added. “I’m glad you’re not alone, Stella. We were worried about you.”