The memory sheared slightly, like a damaged video tape. She couldn't hear her brothers' voices, and as they turned halfway to talk to each other, she couldn't quite see their faces, either. The radio just went on tinnily.

Something creaked somewhere and she jerked back to the present, dropping her hands from her face. The blue lights swam dizzily around her as she crossed the courtyard to the squat, unmarked buildings on the opposite side.

"Jeez," she whispered, rubbing her eyes. One of the weird little ghost-lights hovered near her hand as she reached for the reed door.

The light flashed, suddenly, from teal to a livid orange. A gust blew Liya's hair and jacket forward around her, and as the lights--every single one of them, simultaneously--went from orange to neon red, she was suddenly completely aware of something barreling towards her from behind.