The Charles estate was quiet that night. Too quiet. Henry sat alone in the music room, the grand piano untouched beneath the dust of silence. Moonlight poured through the tall windows, casting long, silvered shadows across the floor. He didn't eat that night. He still found it hard to accept Mia was gone.
Her letter lay on the bench beside him, folded and refolded so many times the creases were beginning to tear. He had memorized every word, every sharp line that cut deeper than it should have.
He wanted to meet her and reconcile. To tell her everything. But what would he say?
"I kept secrets because I was afraid you'd look at me differently"?
"I lied because the truth would burn everything down"?
"My sister suddenly disappeared and i pretended I forgot"?
No, he had nothing to say. He was alone. At least, he thought he was until the air shifted. It was subtle at first and then a sudden stillness, like the whole house was holding its breath. The warmth in the room slipped away, replaced by something cold and familiar.
Then came the whisper, 'Henry.'
A soft tone, haunting, faint, like it traveled through water and time. Henry turned slowly. She stood just beyond the doorway. It was Lily.
For a moment, he thought his mind had finally fractured. That the weight of loss and guilt had conjured her up like a ghost from the cracks in the walls. But she didn't flicker. She didn't fade. She was there.
He stood, breath catching in his throat. "Lily…"
Her eyes met his, it was hollow and hurt, shimmering with unshed tears. She looked older, as if memory had aged her. Her school uniform clung to her like it hadn't moved in years, like it had been trapped in time.
"You should not forget me," she said softly.
Henry's knees nearly buckled. "Lily, what did you mean the other time that I should not trust Charles that the house remembers? What is the meaning of the blossom mark you gave me? What was 'the apparition' you mentioned means? Why did you suddenly disappe…"
"I've always been here," she whispered. "But you stopped looking."
Henry took a shaky step forward. "I thought…I thought you were gone." He said as he stammered.
"No," she said, her voice sharper now. "You chose to believe that."
"I didn't choose…"
"Yes, you did!" she cried. "You tried to forget me, you wanted to let me go. Don't you care how I vanished and how I ended up this way? Why dad does not want to hear you mention my name?"
Tears burned in Henry's eyes as he regretted never been mindful of what happened to his sister.
She stepped closer. "You knew something was wrong. You felt it but you smiled and stayed quiet, because it was easier."
He dropped to his knees, unable to meet her gaze. "I did not know what to do."
"You could have remembered me," she said, softer now. "You could have told someone. You could have told her."
Henry looked up, his voice broken. "who, Mia?"
Lily nodded. "She believed in me when no one else did and you pretended I never existed. She sees the truth, even when it hurts. That's why she left you."
The silence that followed felt endless. Henry looked at his hands. It was shaking, guilty, useless.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Lily knelt beside him, her cold fingers brushing his cheek. "It's not too late. But it will be soon."
"What do I do?" he asked, breathless. "How do I fix this?"
"Find the truth," she said. "All of it."
"The truth? I would, I just don't know where to start from, I have no clues and Mia, what if she hates me?"
Lily stood, fading now, her voice like mist. "She already hurts but she never hated you."
Henry reached for her, but she was already gone and for the first time in years, he let himself cry.
Not just for Mia and not just for the truth but for Lily, the sister he had lost, and the memory he tried too long to forget.
Suddenly, he stood up as a thought flashed through his mind. "What was Lily's connection with Mia?"
He recalled when Mia asked him about Lily. "What is going on?" he felt so lost. That had never occurred to him for once. He became suspicious of Mia as he decided to use the moment they broke up to discover the truth. Whatever it was he and Mia has their role to play concerning Lily.
At Allen High, Hilda was happy that Mia was indeed slipping away. The relationship of Mia with Henry had depreciated. It was like an opportunity for her to take down Mia without Henry getting involved. Henry is influential and famous, his presence in her plans would be dangerous. She just left building C where Carl told her to go. She went through the pages in the notebook she took from the locker as Carl had instructed her. She found it too weird and it was difficult to understand. With this, her initial plan was not suitable.
Hilda already decided to twist whatever truth she discovered and make Mia the villain so that her reputation and that of Carl would be good. This was actually not good enough. The content in the book were cloudy and ambiguous. It looked like a gothic story that was so complicated: ability to detect lies, a ghost of Lily, Carl mistakenly kills Diva, a sorrowful girl haunting Mia in dreams, Ella tells everyone in school my secret, and a locked door.
On another page was Carl's handwriting. The page was different, it seems like it was not part of the pages torn out from Mia's diary.
"She saw me that day, I must screw her before she does anything funny."
There is something Carl knows and he is not telling me. He said the stuffs sound insane if you do not know the full story. Does he know the full story? Does he know Mia's secret? Was that why he tore out part of Mia's diary while they were still in Mancity's college? Or he wanted to use it against her because Mia saw him kill Diva? Why could he keep the pages of Mia's diary in his notebook and in a place like this? Questions kept popping in Hilda's head.
"Aissh! This is too complicated, how can I use the content in the papers against her? It sounds so stupid and real. Mia probably has a secret and this was just a code to it. I have to see Carl again" Hilda said to herself loudly. She recalled Carl mimicking Mia as a lie detector. She folded the pages of the diary and dipped it to her pocket and left.
Elise who had been trailing Hilda felt suspicious. "How can I use the content in the paper against her? Who could the 'her' be, it was likely Mia. What was in the papers she held? It seemed like pages torn out of a diary. Could it be Mia's diary by any chance? She has to see Carl again, has Carl been released? If not then why did he collect Mia's home address? Elise kept thinking to herself.
"I smell danger."
At Mia's house, Mia was cleaning her room when a thought dropped to her mind. She recalled that since she knew Lily, Lily was always on a dress but suddenly another time when Lily appeared, her dress was torn and she looked tattered. That time, she mentioned apparition and vanished. Now, Lily was back again but in Allen's uniform, though it was faded and worn. This time, Lily looked so real like a human and talked with her longer than usual and in a more calm and friendly tone.
Mia was confused as she thought about it. It felt like a burden and that there is a lot of things to know. Lily told her to ask Henry about the day she disappeared. Was Henry involved in Lily's disappearance? Is Lily still alive or trapped somewhere? Was being too close to Henry dangerous? Mia was frustrated as she thought about it. Though she knew Henry was hiding something and Lily was as the center of it. Whatever it was she and Henry has a role to play concerning Lily.
In Charles mansion, Professor Charles was walking to and fro in is room. His mind was not as rest since Henry and Mia were close. He sent a text to his personal assistant.
Professor Charles: I want you to monitor Mia Lawrence.
Not long after, Professor Charles personal assistant, Doctor Lee, replied his text:
Lee: there is no one with the name Mia Lawrence, only Mia Harry
Professor Charles: I think I saw that in the record. She bears Mia Harry now since she was adopted by Mrs Larry. Whatever her name is, pay close attention to her.
Lee: understood sir.