Chapter 29: Everyone Saw

Chapter 29: Everyone Saw

Nobody moved.

For one terrifying second, the entire courtyard seemed frozen.

The silver handprint remained on the wall.

Bright.

Impossible.

Real.

Every student was staring.

Every teacher.

Every police officer.

Every single person.

And they were all looking at the same thing.

The handprint.

Then Lena.

The handprint.

Then Lena.

Lena's stomach dropped.

"Oh, no."

A whisper.

Barely audible.

But somehow Caleb heard it.

His eyes immediately found hers.

And for the first time since she'd known him, she saw genuine panic.

Not concern.

Not caution.

Panic.

The kind that comes when something has gone terribly wrong.

Around them, students began talking all at once.

"What was that?"

"Did you see it?"

"Princess?"

"Who was it talking to?"

"What does that mean?"

Phones were already out.

Recording.

Taking pictures.

Posting.

Sharing.

Within minutes the entire town would know.

Within an hour, probably the entire state.

Lena felt sick.

A police officer stepped toward the wall.

The silver handprint flared.

The officer yelped and jerked backward.

The crowd gasped.

Nobody went near it again.

Smart decision.

Ethan appeared beside Lena.

"What the hell was that?"

Good question.

She wished she had an answer.

Instead she said nothing.

Because saying nothing was safer than admitting she had started seeing silver-eyed girls in mirrors.

Liam arrived moments later.

His expression was grim.

Very grim.

Which meant he already knew something.

Or suspected something.

Neither option made Lena feel better.

The crowd suddenly parted.

Principal Hargrove was approaching.

Several officers beside him.

His face looked pale.

Sweaty.

Shaken.

The principal stopped in front of the wall.

Looked at the handprint.

Then at Lena.

The look lasted only a second.

But it was enough.

He knew.

Or at least suspected.

And that was dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Because Lena was beginning to realize something.

The message hadn't just been for her.

It had been for everyone.

Someone wanted the world to know she existed.

Someone wanted her exposed.

Someone wanted people asking questions.

Questions she couldn't answer.

The realization sent another chill through her.

Then the pain started.

Sharp.

Sudden.

Violent.

Lena grabbed her head.

The world tilted.

Voices became distant.

Blurred.

Muted.

"Lena."

Someone grabbed her arm.

Caleb.

She recognized his voice immediately.

But she couldn't focus.

The pain intensified.

Images flooded her mind.

Not visions.

Not dreams.

Memories.

Or pieces of memories.

A stone corridor.

Silver flames burning along ancient walls.

Footsteps echoing.

A woman laughing.

Warm hands brushing through her hair.

A voice saying:

"My little star."

The memory vanished.

Lena gasped.

The courtyard snapped back into focus.

People were staring.

Caleb was still holding her arm.

"Lena."

"I'm okay."

Lie.

Terrible lie.

Nobody believed it.

Least of all Caleb.

Before he could argue, another scream erupted from the crowd.

Everyone turned.

A girl near the gym had collapsed.

Students rushed toward her.

Teachers followed.

The girl sat up seconds later.

Eyes wide.

Face pale.

Terrified.

She pointed at the silver handprint.

Then directly at Lena.

"That's her."

The courtyard went silent again.

Lena's pulse spiked.

The girl was shaking.

Actually shaking.

"That's the girl."

Nobody understood.

Lena understood even less.

A teacher crouched beside her.

"What girl?"

The student's voice cracked.

"The girl from my dream."

Every hair on Lena's body stood up.

The crowd murmured.

Confused.

Uneasy.

The girl kept pointing.

At Lena.

Only Lena.

"I saw her last night."

Fear spread through the courtyard.

Slowly.

Like poison.

The student started crying.

"She was standing in the forest."

Lena couldn't breathe.

The girl's eyes locked onto hers.

Terrified.

Almost pleading.

"She was glowing."

No.

No.

No.

This was bad.

This was very bad.

Because the girl wasn't describing Lena.

She was describing the silver-eyed girl.

The one from the visions.

The one from the mirror.

The one with her face.

The student began sobbing.

"And she kept saying the same thing."

Nobody spoke.

Nobody moved.

The girl swallowed hard.

Then whispered:

"Tell Lena to remember."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Lena felt the blood drain from her face.

Across the courtyard, Caleb's expression changed.

Only slightly.

But Lena noticed.

Recognition.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

He knew something.

He'd known something for a while.

And he wasn't telling her.

The realization settled heavily in her chest.

Enough.

Enough secrets.

Enough half answers.

Enough people acting like she was some puzzle everyone understood except her.

The bell rang.

Nobody moved.

The sound echoed across the campus.

Meaningless.

Forgotten.

Lena looked at Caleb.

Straight into his eyes.

And for the first time she didn't look away.

"Tonight."

His jaw tightened.

"Tonight what?"

"We talk."

Silence.

"You tell me everything."

Caleb held her gaze.

Several seconds passed.

Then he nodded once.

Slowly.

Reluctantly.

Like a man agreeing to his own execution.

"Tonight."

For the first time all day, Lena felt something other than fear.

Because whatever Caleb had been hiding from her all this time...

She was finally going to hear it.