Chapter 3

03

A month later, in the dead of night, it happened.

The sky looked like it had been ripped open. A wall of water crashed down from the clouds.

The world went black. The wind howled like a wounded beast, carrying the scent of salt and doom.

Everyone woke up in a panic.

As the rain thundered down, the Class B students were terrified. Even with all our prep, the scale of the storm was soul-crushing.

The Class A students, however, were celebrating.

They swarmed around Jessie, showering her with praise.

“My god, Jessie! Thank goodness you warned us. If we had picked those land mutts, we’d be dead for sure.”

“Look at those losers in Class B. They’re shaking! Serves them right. Look at those land shifters jumping around like scared kittens.”

Within two days, the roads were gone. Based on my memories, the school would be underwater in a week.

Aquatic shifters were limited on land. They needed to get to the open sea to be at full strength.

Jessie led her group to the edge of the rising shore.

They were preparing to head out into the deep with their shifters.

The massive Tiger Shark leaped into the water, sending up a huge spray.

A crowd of school staff members gathered, begging Jessie to take them along.

“Miss Montgomery, please! The school is sinking. We’ll die if we stay here.”

Jessie sat atop her shark, looking down at the desperate people kneeling in the mud.

She let them beg for a while before speaking with icy arrogance.

“I can take you. But everyone has to hand over forty pounds of food and water.”

The crowd was overjoyed. They called her a saint.

Giving up their supplies hurt, but it was a small price for a chance to live.

The staff members loaded their crates onto a wooden boat tethered to the Tiger Shark.

Jessie then turned to Autumn. “Well? Are you coming? For the sake of our families, I won’t charge you. I can’t watch you drown.”

Autumn looked at Jessie with suspicion. But seeing the water already seeping into the buildings, she finally gave in. “Fine. Thank you.”

She and her White Tiger shifter boarded the boat.

As the boat began to move, Jessie suddenly looked back at me.

“Summer, if you get on your knees and beg me, I might let you on. You don't want to know what it feels like to drown.”

I just watched her coldly.

I knew Jessie. She didn't have a selfless bone in her body.

Seeing I wouldn't budge, she snorted and ordered the Tiger Shark forward.

The group of aquatic shifters surged into the dark water, leaving us behind.

But halfway out, disaster struck.

The Tiger Shark whipped its tail, deliberately flipping the boat into the churning flood.

“Help! Miss Montgomery, help us!”

The people in the water screamed, but Jessie just threw her head back and laughed.

“Who do you think you are? You think I’d actually waste energy on you? Your deaths are just a way to clean up the trash. I’ll keep the supplies, though.”

She didn't look back as she urged the shark to go faster. They vanished into the gray mist.

Autumn was being held tightly by her White Tiger, but even he was struggling to stay afloat.

Just as hope seemed lost, a flock of avian shifters appeared from our direction.

They were carrying long ropes attached to a sturdy rescue boat.

“Get in!” a student shouted. “Summer has built a sanctuary nearby. You’ll be safe there.”