Anna crouched behind a thorny bush just across the street from Andrew's house. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows over the neighborhood, but her eyes were locked on the scene unfolding beyond the cracked white fence. Something was wrong.
Andrew's door had been forced open, the wood splintered like a jagged wound. Men in black suits moved through the house, tossing drawers and books aside with surgical aggression. They moved like a trained unit, calm but swift, clearly not ordinary burglars. And among them stood Mr. Huntsman, the man from the hospital. The man with the politician's smile and the scientist's cold eyes.
Anna's fists clenched against her knees.
Andrew lived in a modest two-story home tucked between overgrown hedges. The exterior had always looked a little worn, but cozy. Now it looked like a crime scene. The interior lights flickered, casting strange shapes across the walls as shadows of the intruders shifted across the windows.
She didn't want to be seen, but something inside her snapped. The need for answers boiled over into courage.
She emerged from the bush, storming across the lawn. Her voice rang out.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her eyes locked on Huntsman.
He turned, startled. For the briefest moment, guilt flashed across his face.
"I'll ask you to stay out of this, young lady," he said sharply, regaining his composure. His voice was low and smooth, like silk pulled over a blade.
"You enter my boyfriend's house without a warrant and you ask me to stay out of it?" Anna snapped.
He didn't answer. Instead, he gave a slight nod to one of the suited men. The man approached and, without a word, shoved Anna out of the gate and slammed it shut.
Anna stumbled back onto the sidewalk, fury flaring in her chest. "I knew this man was bad news," she muttered. "Gave off evil scientist vibes the moment I saw him."
She circled the house, keeping low, searching for another way in. Then she saw it: a ladder propped carelessly against the side wall, leading directly to Andrew's room. His window was open.
Perfect.
She waited until the men turned their backs, then darted from the bushes and climbed swiftly. Her boots scraped against the metal, but the sounds were masked by the chaos inside. She swung herself through the window and landed on the floor with a soft thud.
Andrew's room was a mess. Posters were torn, drawers spilled across the floor. But her eyes were sharp, and her mind focused. She began to search, quickly and quietly. Then, on the corner of his desk, half-hidden beneath a fallen lamp, she spotted his diary.
The last time she was here, she hadn't had time to look. Andrew had been missing school for days. She found him lying on his bed, unmoving, unresponsive. In a panic, she rushed him to the hospital, not thinking to check his room.
Now, she flipped the diary open. Sketches filled the pages, spirals and symbols like puzzles. But one stood out.
The pendant.
Blackened silver, etched with curling spirals.
Anna's breath caught. The same pendant she'd seen on that woman's neck in the hospital.
"But how?" she whispered. "How is Andrew connected to her?"
Her eyes darted to the edge of the bed. A VR headset lay there, almost unnoticed.
She reached for it just as the door slammed open.
"What are you doing here again?" one of the suited men barked.
"U-urm, nothing," she said quickly, hiding the VR behind her back.
The man stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. "What are you hiding?"
"I said nothing."
He snatched the headset from her hands. At first he looked confused. Then his expression lit up.
"I've found it!" he shouted.
The others came rushing upstairs.
Anna stood frozen, her thoughts racing. They tore apart Andrew's home for this? A VR headset?
She didn't wait to be escorted out this time. She ducked low, slipped past the men, and darted out the back door.
Outside, she crouched behind a trash bin, heart pounding. Then she heard the men loading into a black van. She peeked over the edge.
They were leaving.
No way she was letting them vanish.
She spun around, looking for a ride. A girl her age was coasting down the sidewalk on a mint green bicycle.
"Hey!" Anna called.
The girl barely had time to react before Anna darted forward, grabbed the handlebars, and yanked her off. "Sorry! Emergency!"
"Hey! Where are you going with my bike?!"
Anna didn't answer. She pedaled hard, chasing the van as it pulled away from the curb.
The black van weaved through the narrowing streets of East Lorn as dusk crept in, painting the city in streaks of amber and rust. Anna pedaled furiously, the stolen bicycle rattling beneath her. Every muscle in her legs screamed, but she didn't stop..not when they were this close.
Ahead, the van rolled to a stop before a rusted iron gate on the outskirts of the industrial district. A section of the city long forgotten, cracked roads, shattered windows, buildings choked in ivy and silence. The gate creaked open as if it hadn't moved in years, and the van slipped through like a shadow swallowed by dusk.
Anna dismounted and crept closer, crouching behind a wall of rusted barrels. Her breath came in sharp bursts as she watched the van pull up beside a massive warehouse..gray and hollow, flanked by broken lamp posts and silence. The men stepped out briskly. One of them, Mr. Huntsman held the VR headset carefully in both hands like it was a sacred artifact.
More men emerged from inside, nodding wordlessly as they began unloading other crates. Anna's eyes scanned the crates no labels, no markings. Just thick black seals that shimmered faintly under the dying light.
She ducked lower as Mr. Huntsman typed into a pad on the side of the warehouse. A low mechanical rumble followed, and the heavy steel doors began to shut behind them.
Anna's fingers dug into the concrete.
She couldn't just watch this happen.
Andrew was connected to all this. That pendant. The VR headset. The woman in the hospital. Mr. Huntsman. None of this was random.
She rose slightly, eyes narrowing as the last sliver of light slipped between the closing doors. Her heart thudded like a war drum in her chest. Every part of her screamed to run, to go back, to tell someone.
But no one would believe her.
No one but herself.
Anna stood up fully, eyes locked on the warehouse.
"Screw it," she whispered to herself.
She sprinted toward the building..silent, swift, like a shadow chasing truth.
And just before the metal doors sealed completely...
She slipped inside.