The village was remote and had been badly affected by the earthquake that took place recently. The village chief, Aiden Zigger, repeatedly reminded me that I had to set off within seven days.
After he left, I found the place where my fiancé, Quentin Larson, was temporarily staying to retrieve my ID. Unexpectedly, I saw three people lying on a bed when I parted the curtains.
My older brother, Lennon Young, clung tightly to Jenn Surrey’s back, holding her in both his arms. Meanwhile, Quentin had Jenn’s feet on his chest and was massaging them. Jenn, wearing a thin shirt that made her innerwear visible, lay feebly between the two. The area beneath her collar was faintly visible, and she seemed to be muttering something.
I thought I was alert enough and mentally prepared to face everything, but the scene before me still made the blood rush straight to my head. I had been wondering why these two men had not even visited me, who was injured in the earthquake, once in the past month. It turned out they were here, accompanying Jenn.
The moment Lennon saw me, he immediately pulled the quilt over Jenn and glared at me, looking furious. “Elise, where have you been? Many houses in the village have collapsed, and we’re in urgent need of people. How could you just go into hiding? Has everything you read from books all gone down the drain?”
