6

Two days later, the ghouls attacked all over the kingdom. It was on the news. They attacked my neighborhood again. People have managed to go to hospitals and fix some of the damage to the neighborhood. We also got rid of the snow.

    My injuries hadn’t healed completely, but I wanted to protect people.

    During the attack, Mom and I went to help people and get rid of as many ghouls as we could. Dad couldn’t fight, so he stayed inside the house and called the police and the fire department for help.

    Mom and I helped a lot of people.

    We kept the ghouls from burying them in snow.

    We helped some of the pets in the neighborhood.

    We each killed two ghouls.

    Unfortunately, the ghoul population outnumbered humans by twenty-to-one.

    Some officers and people from the fire department came to help.

    Things got a little easier after that, but everyone was still in danger.

    The people Dad called could only protect others, but they couldn’t fight the ghouls because of the agreement and the spell.

    The ghouls were still using snow.

    I noticed a man my age, whom I didn’t know.

    He cast a spell to take away a ghoul’s ability to use snow.

    The ghoul attacked him physically.

    The man teleported a few feet away.

    He took out something that looked like a syringe, but I knew it was filled with a potion, and injected a ghoul with it.

    The ghoul melted.

    I was shocked.

    This man, Mom and I did the most to protect people.

    There were others who protected people too.

    Only one other person did it with magic, the rest with martial arts or guns.

    After the ghouls retreated, I looked at the wizard.

    “Good job,” he said.

    He smiled a little, but he still looked scared.

    I was still scared too.

    “Thanks,” I said. “You too.”

    His genuine smile made me feel a little better.

    I had a few bruises from the attack.

    A woman walked over to Mom.

    “See what snow does?” the woman yelled.

    I knew what this meant. This woman knew that Mom was born on a day when there had been snow. And the ghouls’ powers over snow caused problems. Like many people, she was taking her hatred for the ghouls out on the people who reminded them of the bad things the ghouls had done. Hating snow and connecting it to bad things has become a part of how some people thought over the last two decades when the ghouls had given the other species a hard time.

    There was no connection between regular snow, people who were born when there was snow and ghouls. Not everyone handled difficult situations well.

    “Be reasonable,” Mom said.

    “I bet you’re proud of yourself,” the woman snarled.

    “The ghouls have nothing to do with Mom,” I said.

    Another woman gave Mom a dirty look.

A man tried to shoot Mom!

    The wizard gasped.

    He teleported to the man and pushed him away.

    He didn’t have time to use another type of magic.

    The man stumbled.

    He looked at the wizard, angrily.

    The man pushed the wizard away.

    The man aimed the gun at Mom again.

    The wizard pushed him away again.

    The wizard took out another syringe with a potion and injected the man with it.

    The man shook and dropped the gun.

    Some people stared.

    Others left.

    Mom, the wizard and I backed away.

    After a minute, the man stopped shaking.

    An officer grabbed the gun.

    Everybody stopped arguing.

   The officer questioned the witnesses about the man who tried to shoot Mom. Mom was innocent, so there was no problem for her. The man needed bail money to get out of jail.

    Mom and I went to the wizard and thanked him.

    “No problem,” he said.

    “Are you okay?” I asked.He smiled at my compassion.

    “I’m fine,” he said.

    “I’m Lily Ford.”

    “I’m Jenna Ford.”

    “I’m Christian Reeves.”

    “Are you a wizard?” I asked.

    “Yes. I’ve been training for many years.”

    “Are you new here?”

    “No, I was just exploring the city. I live in the forest.”

    “Could your magic fix some of the neighborhood?” Mom asked.

    “I can only help a little.”

    Everyone in the neighborhood who was hurt went to the hospital first. When we came back we rested, then we started fixing the damage to the neighborhood.