Why didn t I know? I said numbly.

How could something like this happen and I didn t know? Why didn t anyone reach out to me?

Maybe it all happened too quickly, said Molly. It must have been a surprise attack, to catch your whole family so off guard.

The strength just went out of my legs and I crashed to my knees on the gravel before the doorway. It should have hurt like hell, but I didn t feel a thing. Too taken up with the greater hurt that filled my head and my heart and overwhelmed everything else. I would have liked to cry; I m sure it would have helped if only I could have cried but all I could feel was cold and lost and alone. You never know how much your family means to you until you ve lost them all. Molly crouched at my side, one arm draped across my shoulders. I m sure her words would have helped if I d listened, but there was no room in me for anything but the growing need for rage and revenge. If tears would come, it would have to be later and far from here. After I d done all the terrible things that I would do to my enemy.

I knelt before what was left of my home and my family and shook uncontrollably in the grip of emotions I never thought I d have to feel. Molly put her arms around me and rocked me gently back and forth like a mother with a child.

After a while I became aware that Molly was speaking urgently to me, almost shouting into my ear.

Come on, Eddie. We can t stay here! We have to go! There s always the chance whoever did this might come back, and we can t afford to be here if they do. If your whole family couldn t stand against them, we certainly can t.