*Ryatt*

I blink, and there’s nothing but unfamiliar faces all around me. Faces covered in dirt and soot, old and young. All of them stare down at me, their voices mingling into one as my head pounds and aches. 

“Get him some water. Be quick about it,” says a female voice nearby. 

“Ella-” I reach for her, my finger’s curling around someone’s wrist, but the face that comes into view isn’t my Ella, not even remotely close. I yank my hand back and sit up, my ...