Audrey’s bike gave a low rumble as it rolled down the highway. She was going slower than usually, trying to make the most of the dollar-and-thirty-nine-cents worth of gasoline she had put in miles and hours ago. It was making her regret everything she loved about her bike, because for all of its power, it drank fuel greedily. She put on a final burst just after taking the exit ramp, and flew across the Greenbriar city limits.

With a few hours before high tide, Audrey procrastinated the inevitable return to her grandpa’s house by hitting Beach street, and parking just past the cafe. Rather than patronizing the coffee shop(with what money?), she walked past it toward the cliff, where there was a series of switchback stairs carved right out of the stone. She marched down them, hands in her pockets, and across the beach to lean against a mussel covered rock and stare out at the ocean until the tide hit her boots.

As she looked, she caught sight of a figure out on the waves that were crashing against the rocks. She didn't have to look too hard, there were only a few people crazy enough to surf in these waters at all, let alone at night. She waved Sol over, and he turned his board toward her.

A glow reflected on the water made her turn around to witness something that was striking fear into the hearts of parents all across town. A spread of lights across the sky, outshining the moon and in shades of red, mingled with yellow and orange. They enveloped most of the sky directly over the town, with some tendrils spreading out even as far as where Audrey stood.

She turns back to Sol, her mouth open in surprise, just in time to see him lose control of his surfboard and strike one of the jagged rocks that dotted the shore. Audrey made to rush into the water to help, but the dark figure never reached the water. Indeed, the figure didn't stay dark. A white hot glow emanated from him, and rather than flailing into the water, he suddenly shot off like a glowing rocket into the sky.

“Fucking shit!”

~~~

Two Harleys roared down Beach Street, carrying tall men in matching denim vests. One pointed, as they came up on the Cliffside Cafe, to the the bank of vehicles parked on the street. The other looked, and suddenly both veered across the the street to park among them.

“Look at this piece of shit!” Thomas Morhaime said as he came upon the other motorcycle that was already parked there.

“Yup,” Michael, who matched him in more ways than clothing, replied. “Don't think anyone else rides a Honda, let alone this sparkly eyesore. Think she's inside?”

“Good bet.” He snatched the helmet that Audrey had left on the handlebar and the twins marched into the Cliffside Cafe.

They were a year ahead of the current graduating class, but were still among what everyone called the “Greenbriar Miracles,” who had survived the mysterious rash of infant deaths some eighteen or nineteen years ago. They were even more miraculous than some, as those two years had brought an unusual amount of twins, and they were one of only two pairs that had both survived. They were tall, lean and swaggering, with brown hair, blue eyes, and square features.

When they came in, Michael approached the counter, ignoring that Maren was already there, and slapped a twenty on the counter.

“Two coffees, leave a little room,” he patted the pocket of his vest that had a flask in it. Then, in a magnanimous voice as if this was a great deal of money to throw around, he added “Keep the change.”

Thomas, meanwhile, had already made a round of the few patrons in the shop, and peered out the window. He shrugged back at his twin when their eyes met, and Michael looked back between Zoey and Maren.

“Where’s Aud?” His voice was just barely on the right side of casual, with a hint of ill intent behind it.

Thomas was peering out onto the balcony seating when the windows were all lit up by a warm glow from the sky. He called his brother over, and he looked out just in time to see something blindingly bright soar up and out of sight, close enough to rattle the windows.

~~~

In a windowless basement, where the sky couldn't be seen, even as miraculous lights filled it, another graduate sat alone. Anthony Finch, sickly and frail as ever, was still wearing his graduation gown and cap. He had a blank look on his face, and his mouth was somewhat slack.

This passage into adulthood meant nothing to someone who could never travel far from home, who needed his dialysis every other day. Who became tired and had to sit and rest twice and hour.

What could someone like him accomplish? What sort of life was he doomed to?

He didn't mean to find out.

He twiddled the razor blade in his hand for a moment longer, but no matter how he twisted his mind, he couldn't talk himself out of it.

He put the blade to work.