JACKIE:

  This was my window of opportunity to stop the Redistribution Program.

  Now or never.

  With his defenses down, I broke into a sprint and leapt into the air. I grabbed onto Alpha and used the momentum to kick Mark in the chest.

  He fell backward, over the railing and into the volcano. It seemed to happen in slow motion, time unfolding frame by frame.

  “Father!” Grace desperately reached for Mark as he fell to his death.

  Their fingertips missed each other by a mile.

  “Jackie, what have you done?” Grace went ballistic seeing her father’s body thrown into her mother’s fiery grave. Her body shook as her face turned the color of blood.

  Zayne comforted her, but shed no tears himself.

  “But it’s not my fault. It’s the most probable death for him,” I tried to explain.

  At least in this timeline, Grace didn’t have to live with the guilt of killing her own parents.

  But the struggle wasn’t over yet.

  I held on tight to Alpha. It was heavier than I expected, so I wasn’t able to throw it into the volcano as I’d hoped.

  Alpha had to be destroyed at all costs.

  Whether or not my blood was special, I couldn’t risk that parasite infecting the Slipstream and eventually eradicating the Dusters and the Climbers with its Redistribution Program, as Beatrice prophesied.

  “Let me go,” Alpha said, “or I will dispose of you. This is your final warning.”

  I swung my legs over the balcony railing, still holding the drone. My bodyweight dragged Alpha and me over the volcano.

  Its fan whirred, trying to work against gravity. Alpha’s eyelid clicked feverishly, attempting to stay afloat despite my weight.

  “Jackie, what the heck are you doing?” My already-distraught mom screamed through sobs.

  “I’m healing the wrongs of the past. Please, Grace, I beg you. Put an end to Life Rite. Shut it all down.”

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  Grace furrowed her brow. “Why?”

  “Mom, please. Just do it. Trust me.”

  “Hold on, Jackie, I’m coming for you.” Zayne ripped off his long-sleeve shirt, flexed his muscles, and released his magnificent wings he had tucked away.

  “No, Zayne. I have to know it’s destroyed. Please don’t come after me. This is for the Dusters, the Climbers, and the villagers too!”

  Alpha buckled under my weight, falling a few feet into the volcano before catching itself.

  “Do something. Save her,” Grace begged Zayne in a shrill voice.

  Maybe in some other life my mom and I could be best friends. I longed to connect with her, but destiny never gave us that chance.

  Zayne followed Grace’s orders and ignored mine. He climbed over the balcony railing to the rescue.

  “No, don’t come after me. Alpha must be destroyed.”

  Sweat dripped down my face. My arms ached.

  Can I hold on to Alpha long enough to make this life altering change without my dad interfering?

  “I’m also doing this for Firestorm,” I called.

  Zayne froze.

  “What are you waiting for? Quick, save her,” Grace insisted.

  My stomach lurched as Alpha and I fell deeper into the volcano.

  My sweaty palms threatened to lose their grip on the circular drone, so I tried talking some sense into it. “If you obey my command and power down, we might have a way out of this.”

  “I only serve Mark’s programming,” Alpha reminded me, confirming this was the right thing to do.

  The drone’s internal fan stopped.

  We began to free fall into the volcano, the air instantly searing my lungs as waves of blistering heat pounded into me.

  I screamed, my fatigued arms desperately grasping onto Alpha. I refused to let go until the lava consumed us both.

  Do I still have the phoenix gene? Will I rebirth?

  My mind raced with the realities of this timeline. Grace never took the serum. Zayne received less doses. Maybe I was out of lives.

  I screamed, “I love you guys. Protect the eggs. Live the way the villagers intended, as guardians of this place.”

  My mom’s weeping echoed through the volcano’s deep shaft until the bubbling lava overpowered it, the deafening roar of molten rock filling my ears instead.

  The image of my parents in a tight embrace, looking down at me, faded into the distance.

  Alpha and I rolled as we plummeted into the lower magma chamber.

  Ash stung my eyes while the acrid stench of sulfur clawed its way down my throat. My body tensed as the sweltering heat of the lava burned my skin. Every breath was like inhaling fire.

  Beatrice sacrificed her life for the sake of humanity. Now it was my turn.

  My life was the most beautiful thing I could offer my family, Bennu Island, and the Dusters and Climbers that deserved a chance at survival in this messed up world. It was time to make space for future generations.

  Alpha spiraled out of control and broke through the hot magma. He melted on impact, swallowed by the volcano.

  Screams of agony ripped from my chest as the bubbling lava consumed my flesh.

  Who would write the most probable future in the wake of my death?

  Do you think Jackie will rebirth?