For the next couple weeks, I helped the prisoners out and I resumed my usual training regime. Astrid and Kalina had returned after a three day trip to deliver the message for Archean, and Gram and Caspian were on the mend.
Talia would not stop bugging me about the search for Lily. She left notes and found every opportunity to pester me. I remained firm on my decision and after a day of training I was rewarded for it.
I was walking back to my room when I noticed a letter slipped under my door. I quickly closed the door and opened the letter. Elegant writing was scrawled across the paper. It seemed to have been written in a hurry. It read:
Dear Amara,
I am sure you already know my name, so I will skip the introductions. I will keep my message brief as I don't have a lot of time to write this. You are probably wondering if I know your parents and my answer is: yes. I wouldn't go into the details, but, yes, I did know your parents. I also want to warn you about the storm ahead. When the time comes, I hope you will be strong enough to bear the weight of your fate. Keep your friends close and stay strong, Amara. Whatever happens, please, for the sake of all of us, don't give up.
-Sincerely, Lily
My heart raced as I read the letter. Questions started to pour into my head. How did she get in here? Did she even deliver the letter herself? What fate? What did she mean by "for the sake of all of us"?!
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. I pulled out my phone and texted everyone in our group chat.
"Emergency meeting, now!"
In the next couple minutes, everyone came running to my room. Astrid and Talia arrived first, both of them panting. I let them inside. Not much later, the rest of the team arrived. Everyone waited for me patiently. I didn't realize it, but my hands were shaking.
I silently gave it to Astrid. She read it aloud for everyone to hear. I stood there, shaking. My thoughts were running a million miles per hour.
"Astrid, read it again," Gram said. Astrid read it again. Gram started pacing. "Lily must be well-informed because she must have known that we looked her up in the system. Her warning is strange. She is speaking in quite a vague manner. Amara, do you know how she might know your parents?"
I hesitated. "Um, I don't know."
Luka stared at me with a scrutinizing gaze. I felt myself grow nervous. If anyone can get the truth of anybody, it was Luka.
"Spit it out, Solis!" He snapped. I swallowed. Man, I really couldn't escape his radar. I shuffled my feet, still deciding whether to tell them or not. I felt everyone staring at me, their eyes burning a whole into my head. As I thought, I remembered the letter. "Keep your friends close and stay strong." As I thought longer, the stronger my resolve grew. Finally, mustering all of my courage, I spoke.
"She's my cousin," I mumbled, barely audible. The room fell into deadly silence. I could hear my own heart beating rapidly in my chest.
"Woah," Talia said, her voice barely a whisper. Even Luka seemed genuinely surprised.
"Amara, do you realize what this means?!" Talia exclaimed. "We have--"
Astrid stopped her with a curt no. "Obviously, if we are ever going to find Lily, it will be on her own terms, not ours."
I decided since I had told them about Lily, I was going to go all in. Gently, I reached behind my neck and unclasped my necklace, pulling it out for everyone to see. The gem in the center swirled in a strange light.
"This is the only thing that remains from my parents," I said. "I was told that I was found with it on."
Kalina gingerly took it into her hands. "Interesting, I have never seen this type of metal before. I mean, I have a lot of samples of different kinds of metals and rocks from all over the universe, but this one is new."
She kept fiddling with it when Talia spoke up again.
"Guys, Lily said that she did know Amara's parents, but what about now?"
Silence reigned in my room. I must have looked pretty shaken because Kalina wrapped an arm over my shoulder, steadying me. I felt my stomach churn. I really did NOT want to think about that part of the letter. I wanted to believe that my parents were still alive, but I knew that Lily was probably in contact with my real family, so she would know more than me. I felt like curling into a tiny ball right then and there.
Before anyone could say anything else, Kalina suddenly raised her hand. Everyone stayed silent. It was her signal to be quiet because she had heard something. Caspian listened too. An almost inaudible footstep could be heard outside my room. Talia pressed her fingers to her lips and motioned Wren to follow her. They both crept forward with silent footfalls.
They reached the door. Talia raised her hand and counted to three. On three, they both flung the doors open and Wren dashed forward into the hall. Everyone crowded around the doorway. Whoever was originally there was gone. They checked everywhere, but they could not find anyone. The person's trail had just disappeared into thin air.
We went back inside and started to discuss who it could have been. There was a heated debate how it could have been Archean. Luka said no because it had to have been someone who had dark powers. Nobody could make their tracks just disappear like that unless the person was able to travel through shadows. Gram agreed and so did Astrid. Caspian suggested someone who had a light ability, but Luka disagreed. Traveling through light was different from traveling through shadows.
In the end, we could not find any suspects nor any clues as to where the person might have gone. I think everyone was a little more alert because of the intruder. Even though we didn't find anyone in specific, we knew one thing was for sure.
Someone was spying on us.