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🪷 LYRA 🪷
The administration office was busier than usual.
Students lined up in front of the long desk, signing forms, collecting clearance slips, confirming departure times.
Lyra stood in line with her bag slung over one shoulder.
Sienna had left minutes ago. When it was her turn, the woman behind the desk adjusted her glasses and looked at the screen.
"Lyra Hale?"
"Yes."
"You're cleared for departure. Visiting break is strictly three days," she said in a rehearsed tone. "You must return before 6 p.m. on the third day. Late arrivals will face disciplinary review."
Lyra nodded. "Understood."
"You'll sign here. Have a pleasant break."
---
The gates of Ravencrest closed behind her with a heavy metallic sound.
She didn't look back. The air outside felt completely different. Her phone buzzed in her hand, full signal.
She laughed under her breath. So it really had been the academy.
The ride home felt surreal. It was a two hour drive, endless and empty routes and roads. Only after she passed an intersection did she see the buildings she hadn't thought about in weeks.
When she finally stood in front of the house, her chest tightened unexpectedly. It looked exactly the same, not that she expected it to change.
Cream walls, the little potted plants her aunt obsessively watered. The slightly tilted mailbox that had never been fixed.
Before she could even knock, the door flew open.
"Lyra!" Her aunt rushed forward and pulled her into a hug so tight it almost knocked the air out of her.
"You're thinner," her aunt said immediately, pulling back to look at her properly. "Are they feeding you?"
"Yea."
"Properly?"
"Yes!"
Her aunt squinted at her suspiciously. "Turn around."
"What?"
"Turn around. Let me see."
Lyra laughed. "What are you inspecting me for?"
"Making sure they didn't replace you with a less healthy version."
Lyra rolled her eyes but did a half spin anyway. Her aunt nodded once, satisfied.
"Hmm. Acceptable."
Lyra smiled without meaning to. The smell coming from inside hit her next.
"Wait," she said slowly. "Is that-"
Her aunt's lips curved. "Maybe."
Lyra dropped her bag right there and rushed toward the kitchen.
"You made it?"
"Of course I made it."
Her favorite dishes were laid out across the counter. The stew she loved, the crispy fried rolls. The dessert her aunt always claimed was "too much sugar" but made anyway.
Lyra turned dramatically. "You said you weren't going to cook all this."
"I lied."
"You complain about being tired after cooking all my picky meals."
"I can complain and still cook."
Lyra laughed and wrapped her arms around her aunt from behind.
"I missed this," she admitted quietly.
Her aunt's hands stilled for just a second before she patted Lyra's arm.
"You sound like you were gone for years. It did feel like it. The curry is still on the cooker, come."
They cooked together, bumping into each other in the small kitchen like they always did. Her aunt scolded her for cutting vegetables unevenly. Lyra accused her aunt of over-seasoning.
"Don't you dare insult my seasoning."
"I'm not insulting it. I'm saying it's…too much in the curry."
Her aunt gasped. "Too much? Since when did my cooking become too much?"
Lyra laughed harder than she had in weeks.
They ate at the small dining table, talking over each other, interrupting, arguing about nothing important.
"Did you make friends?" her aunt asked.
Lyra hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Yeah."
"Boy friends?"
Lyra nearly choked. "What?"
"I'm just asking."
"No."
"Hmm."
"What does 'hmm' mean?"
"It means I don't believe you."
Lyra pointed her fork at her. "You're impossible, and my friend's a 'she'. Her name's Sienna, she's really nice and friendly."
"That's good. You're not one to socialize, at least I know someone's there to watch over you."
After dinner, they washed dishes together. In her room later, Lyra stood in the doorway for a moment before stepping inside.
It was smaller than her dorm room. Simpler. But it was way more comfortable.
The boy-band posters were still taped to the wall, and her old bookshelf was more organized than before. Her aunt did do a clean job.
She sat on her bed and exhaled. Home.
Her phone buzzed, it was Sienna. They'd exchanged numbers before she left the academy.
The second Sienna's face filled the screen, she shrieked.
"You have service!"
"I KNOW."
"I thought you got kidnapped! I told you to ring me when you arrived."
"I totally forgot."
"That's fine. Ravencrest is basically a home of darkness and zero service. A gothic dungeon academy."
"Tell me about it."
_-_-_-_-_
Lyra lay on her bed staring at the ceiling until exhaustion dragged her under. She was way too tired.
One minute she was staring at the ceiling, the next she was standing inside Ravencrest.
Her bare feet touched the cold stone floor and she felt every step as she walked toward the lower staircase.
"No, no... not again. This isn't real," she told herself, she'd experienced it enough to know it wasn't real.
A metal door stood at the end. She'd seen it before, the basement at the high-class dorm. The carved symbol on it was clearer than before. Circular lines crossing each other in exact points.
Her chest tightened. She did not want to get closer, but she did.
She reached out, her fingers pressed against the carved symbol.
Suddenly something shifted behind her. She turned, the hallway was no longer empty.
"Oh God..."