What the hell is happening

Strangers

Haniel and I start searching in the dining room. Nada.

The living room. Nada.

The kitchen. Nada. Well except for some cookies Rye left us on the counter. I always wonder where and how she disappears. Maybe another cookie will help me think.

We head to the study. It was of course, massive. There was a white desk and chair opposite to the center of the wall. Books were stacked on only two walls, but the number of the white lamented sheets were more than I could count. I brush the cookie crumbs off me while heading to the books. Maybe there's something that could help us. I feel like I'm on a spy mission except I don't know what the hell the mission is. Moving the flashlight along the books I notice one book that stood out. Of course all the books are white but this one was a little more yellowish I guess? Whatever.

I carefully remove the book from the shelf, afraid it was some sort of trap and flying tranquilizers would shoot out from every direction. It doesn't have a title, but when I'm about to flip through the pages, Haniel interrupts.

"You might want to take a look at this."

I place the book on the desk and move towards him.  I see him pointing his flashlight to a wall. "Um yeah I believe that is a wall." I nod at him confused.

He sighs then steps behind me. He grabs me by my shoulders and moves us backward. He redirects his flashlight to the wall then bends down to my ear and whispers. "Now look."

Holy shit.

The wall has a huge 'Y' marked on it. The contrast between the color of the 'Y' and the wall is subtle but once you see it, it's the most obvious thing in the world. His hands were still on my shoulders so I break free before approaching the wall. "It's writing in the shape of a Y." I turn back to Haniel. The flashlight was contouring his features. He looked like he belonged in a Greek Mythology picture book. I refocus on the wall. This isn't the time Lilith. I start reading:

"The world has given the weak power, made them supreme. We praise the truly powerful and eradicate the weak. Once the powerful unite, the world will regain peace."

Again, I appreciate the word play but this is starting to feel like a poetry slam. I'm about to glance back at Haniel when I notice him standing next to me. He was like a slender man.

"Thoughts?" I didn't really care what he thought because I was already forming a conclusion in my head, but he did help and he found the wall. Okay maybe I actually do need his insight.

"So the people who started all of this want to create some fucked-up revolution where they rearrange the hierarchy and then make the powerful its leaders. In other words, it's like the hunger games." He looks at me with a completely blank expression. "The question is: Why are they kidnapping teens then broadcasting them to the world?"

"You watched the hunger games?"

He shrugs. "I read the books."

I disguise my shock and focus at the issue at hand. "If it's a revolution then clearly they'd pick people who are old enough to carry through with their plans but also young enough to create a legacy. Their way of showing us to our families and well the world is a way of showing people who's in control. " I glance back at him. I knew that second cookie was a good idea. "Or it's a way of showing people why their plan works. They're demonstrating the powerful and the weak." I finish off.

We look back at the wall in silence. This just proved to us that there's no going back to the world we used to be a part of. This new world has new rules, and if you don't abide then you're weak. And the weak will be eradicated. My hands start shaking, but I don't cry. I refuse to be weak. I turn off the flashlight and Haniel turns his off too. His hand then slowly intertwines with mine, and my hand steadies. I take a long breath then slowly exhale.