I brush my hands through my hair, looking around the room at the wreckage when my eyes catch on a small silver band sticking out from a broken floorboard. It sits on the edge of the wood by the Autarium remnants, glass, and debris surrounding it.

I shakily pull myself up and make my way over to the small silver trinket.

My fingers brush away the glass covering it, my heart instantly turning to stone as I lift up the metal band. ‘If…’ is carved into the silver platinum ring. His initials. My Joke…our joke…for Isaac Ford. A gift I gave him for his twenty-first birthday, one he was never seen without…until now.

Suddenly the room begins to spin, dizziness taking hold of me, my eyes clouding over fully as I fall forward. My knees give way again, with no hands to catch me this time as I hit the floor. The strength is completely taken from me as the air is ripped from my lungs.

Everything comes to a stop, only my heartbeat ringing in my ears, the thrumming becoming faster and louder. The coldness seeps into me from the floor beneath as my hands brush the broken wood, splinters stabbing into my palms and pricking my skin.

But all I could feel was the numbing pain and emptiness spreading in my chest.

The Autarium was gone…taken. The Library was a ruined mess, splintered and unrecognizable.

And Isaac…Why would he do this? How could he, to our home…to me?

We were supposed to be a family. Closer than even the bonds of blood.

I bend forward, resting my forehead on the cold wooden floor, trying to calm my racing heart and breathing. Why would Isaac betray me? He’s always been the one by my side, the one to have my back, no matter what. It just didn’t make sense.

The feel of the cool wood grounds me to the spot as I try to think things through. My mind trying to remember something about his behavior. Was he acting differently lately? Did he say anything out of the usual recently? I shake my head, nothing coming to me. He had been the same as always, maybe a little more grumpy because of being tired, but that was more than likely due to reading late into the night.

My mind grasps for every recent conversation, every move, every smile, and concerned look…every meal together. It just didn’t make sense. Nothing stands out.

We’d been together too long. Too many years, too many memories, both good and bad together.

It couldn’t have been a lie. We had been through too much, fought prejudice and pain together too many times for it to be.

If anyone knew Isaac…it was me, and this…this wasn’t him.

I don't know what's going on or why this happened, but I need to find out. I need a reason for why this happened, why he did this. Maybe he was being threatened. Maybe he had some crazy reason for doing it.