Prologue

"Have you ever noticed how the ocean just comes and goes but remains in the same place?" I say facing the ocean. My sun-tanned legs are dangling over the edge of the cliff as my wavy dark hair blows in the ocean-kissed breeze.

"It's funny, isn't it. It could come over the entire Earth but it stays where it is. In massive amounts too." He says. I can feel him looking at me so I peer over at the chocolate eyes that meet mine instantly.

"Don't forget pollution and climate change has changed the ocean." I say before turning back to the ocean.

"She's a fighter. She fights the pollution for her life. She could take revenge and kill us all, but she doesn't. She sends warning waves and floods but she doesn't kill us all."

It grows silent.

"Should we head back?" I ask.

"Do you want to?" He asks.

"Not really. I don't wanna face reality."

"Then we'll sit here as long as you need."

"Thank you, Lakota." I say.

He places a warm hand over mine.

The sun starts to go down from the sky. I push myself back from the cliff and stand up.

"Okay. I think I'm ready." I say.

"Let's go." He holds my hand and we walk back.

"Cece! There you are!" My mother exclaims. She embraces me.

"I'm sorry, Mama. Lako and I were out at the cliffs." I say, holding her tightly.

"C'mon. The ceremony is about to start."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." The officiant says.

I watch my dad kiss my now-stepmom, Sadie. I didn't like her. She seems off to me. She tries to talk to me all the time and it's weird.

Lako holds my hand through the ceremony gently rubbing his rigid finger on the back on my thumb from my right side.

The wedding guests clap and cheer as the newly-wedded couple kiss.

The reception was nice, but I was on edge. I walked off to the house from the garden. The garden was decorated in fairy lights and had a bright pale-white gazebo. The wildflowers bloomed and had been lightly blowing in the breeze.

I walked over to the edge of the balcony in the house in my room. It was quiet as a slow song played at the reception.

I heard footsteps but made no move to move.

I heard gunshots ring out and I gasp and jumped before running to my bed and grabbing my pocket knife and getting onto my roof and hiding my pressing myself into the hardly-moonlit roof.

I heard the house being ransacked. I couldn't see the reception but I could tell by the silence that everyone was either dead or ran away with some injuries.

I heard them leave and I sat motionless on the roof with the cold wind bringing my skin up into hundreds of little goosebumps. My hair was blowing everywhere's including in my lipgloss and my mouth when I opened it to calm my breathing down.

After a few hours, I saw the sun raising and I decided to get off the roof.

I wiped the mascara from my face.

It felt like the Earth stopped moving for me. My room was trashed. My stuff toppled over. They, whoever they were, were looking for something.

I walked slowly around the toppled stuff to the door which had scratches on it. I walked to my father's study. I went into the room. His journals pushed around and opened. Some pages torn out and crumpled. I opened the closest one to me.

October 23

It's too late for me. I've made a deal with the devil! He can't know about her. She could be killed. My little Lily.

Lily?

I've hidden a lockbox. It's somewhere only my lily would know to look if something happened to me. She'd know. She'll know. If anything happens to her the world could be at it's destruction.

Destruction?

Dad?

I hear footsteps and I reach for my pocketknife and turn as I see Camden Lancaster, my older brother. Lako walks on behind him with a blood stain on his dress shirt. They both look disheveled.

"Oh my god. You're alive! How'd you hide?" Cam hugs me tight to him.

"I was on the roof. I blended in well to the roof." I tell him.

"C'mon. We have to get out of here. Lako, call the director."

Lako nods and leaves the study.

"The director?"

"Shit." Cam whispers under his breath.

"Cam. What's going on?" I ask, pulling away slightly suddenly even for me.

"Cece, please. Not here. Not now. We need to leave."

"Cam..." I say in a warning tone.

Lako walks back into the room.

"They'll be here in 30 minutes."

While they're distracted, I dodge out the door of the study and down the steps out to the garden where the sight that meets me. I clench my pocket knife tighter in my hand. Cam puts his hand to pull me away. I put the knife up to his throat and he backs off. I hear a gun clicking off of safety and turn to see a man pointing a gun at my head.

"Put the knife down." He says.

"Who the fuck are you?" I ask, incredulous.

"Put the gun down, agent."

Lako says casually.

The guy puts the gun down. My knife is snatched from me.

"You won't be needing this anytime soon." My brother says

I glare and walk off from him and find my mother on the ground, pale as the gazebo and her veins on her face suddenly clear. Her face in a permanent shock face. Her eyes open wide. A bullet decorated her forehead with dried, dark blood coating the bullet.

My eyes water at the sight and I drop to my knees in front of her dead body. My tears coming down my face.

"No.. no.. no.. no! Mom! Please not you, Mom! I love you. Please please please come back." I then proceed to laugh, "Haha! This is so funny guys!" I yelled at Lako and Cam who watch me laugh like a maniac on the ground, "the cameras can come out now. This was a great prank, you guys!"

They look at me with sorrow and I go back to crying on the ground. I reach a shaky hand out and close my mother's eyes and reach for her hand. Her cold, dead hand. I feel something cold. A locket. My mother's locket. I try to open it but it doesn't budge.

A helicopter is heard in the distance and I walk around to all the guests and watch memories of each of them in my mind.

"How's my favorite cousin!" I hear Danny say as he approaches with his little brother, Nathaniel.

"Danny! Nathan!" I say as I grab Nathan and give him a raspberry on his tummy. He giggles.

Nathan fortunately wasn't at the wedding yesterday, but here lies Danny Lancaster on the floor, bullet through his chest.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I don't fight it. I pull my legs to my chest.

"I'm sorry about this, Cece."

I feel a poke and my vision goes spotty.

"What did you do?" I ask, not hearing my own voice.