Page 19 of The Stars

“For you to fulfill your destiny,” she replied calmly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “For you to become who you were always meant to be. Your journey has only just begun.”

Dante shook his head, frustration mingling with disbelief. “What journey? None of this makes sense. Why did Brea send me here? Why are you here?”

Hope’s glowing eyes softened and, for a moment, the ethereal light around her dimmed, revealing more of the sister he remembered—the one who had played with him when they were kids, who always had a smile for him no matter how hard things got. But this version of her felt beyond his reach, like she was more of an idea than the person he once knew.

“All will be revealed in time,” she said, her voice distant, almost mechanical. “There are forces at play you cannot comprehend yet. You must trust what you feel.”

“What I feel?” Dante nearly laughed, bitterness creeping into his voice. “I feel like I’ve been thrown into a nightmare I can’t wake up from. And now you’re telling me I’m supposed to just go along with it?”

Hope reached out her hand towards him, palm open. A gentle wave of purple energy shimmered between them, beckoning him to take her hand.

“You have a choice, brother,” she said softly, “but the fate of everything depends on what you do next.”

His heart clenched at her words. The fate of everything? He didn’t know what to believe anymore. His life had been turned upside down in a matter of hours, and now his sister—this glowing apparition of his sister—was asking him to trust in something he didn’t understand.

He hesitated, his hand twitching at his side.

“Dante.” Hope’s voice softened to a whisper. “You’ve always known deep down that you’re part of something bigger. Now is the time to embrace it.”

Dante’s jaw tightened as he stared at the hand reaching out to him, the violet glow casting shadows across his face. He wanted to believe her—wanted to believe that somehow there was a purpose to all of this, that everything would eventually make sense. But trust was hard to come by when the world felt so upside down.

“What if I don’t want any part of this?” he asked quietly, meeting her eyes.

Hope’s expression didn’t change, but the glow around her flickered for a brief moment.

“Then everything... will perish.”

Chapter Seven

Amy stood in the doorway, staring at one of the smaller rooms off the main silo area. The entire area had been transformed into a makeshift living space for those who remained.

The memories of sneaking into the silo with friends, tagging the walls with spray paint during their rebellious streaks, felt like a lifetime ago. The rawness of her old self, bold and carefree, contrasted so sharply with the quiet desolation she now felt. The soft blue color that the walls had been painted, covering all the old names and art that had once littered the walls, seemed out of place. She was sure that they offered some a sense of comfort, a layer of warmth amidst the bleakness of everything that had happened. All that she had been absent for.

She heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Joe walking in, his face worn and etched with lines she didn’t remember on him before. He wasn’t the same carefree brother she’d left behind. There was a heaviness in his eyes, one she couldn’t place. Behind him, three children shyly shuffled into the room—two identical girls and a boy.

Her heart melted at seeing the mixture of her brother and their mother in their faces.

“This is Luna, Stella, and Orion.” His voice was softer than she’d expected, his gaze flicking from her to his three kids. “Kids, this is your aunt Amy.”

Luna and Stella, identical with long dirty blonde hair and wide blue eyes, looked up at her with curiosity. They were the spitting image of their mother, Liz—now gone. The sight of them hit her like a punch to the gut. For a moment, Amy couldn’t speak, her throat constricting with the memory of Liz, her warmth, her laughter, all lost to the chaos Joe had only begun to hint at.

Had it only been moments since she’d seen the very pregnant Liz standing in the moonlight next to Joe?

Orion stood slightly apart from his sisters, his expression serious, a mirror of Joe’s face in his younger years. The boy had Joe’s strong jawline, his piercing eyes, and a quiet intensity that unsettled Amy. Seeing the three of them, her brother’s kids—Liz’s kids—alive in this broken world made everything feel even more surreal.

“Hi,” Amy managed, her voice cracking slightly as she crouched slightly to meet them at eye level. “It’s so good to meet you.”

Luna and Stella smiled shyly, while Orion simply nodded, still sizing her up.

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Luna said, stepping closer. “Dad told us stories.”

Stella piped up, “He said you used to sneak into this room and draw on the walls.”

Amy chuckled, glancing at the now pristine walls, a bittersweet smile on her face. “Yeah, I did. I used to get in a lot of trouble for it, too.”

Joe’s smile widened, though his eyes remained distant. “She was the troublemaker,” he added lightly, though the momentary levity couldn’t mask the weight of everything else in the room.

“Where have you been?” Orion asked, breaking into the happy silence.