Beyond What Meets The Eye

Chapter Twenty

"Mom, why do you like the stars so much?" Mira asked her mother, her hair tied with ribbon in two long braids that sat against her shoulders. The two swung gently in the swing on their balcony, ten year old Mira's head nestled against her mother's side as they gazed up at the sky. Her mother let out a light, melodic laugh.

"Because they're pretty." She replied, running her hand along Mira's long braids. "And because no matter what, even if we can't see them, they're always shining."

Mira's brows furrowed at what she considered a rather lousy response. Of course they kept shining; just because it was cloudy or she was inside somewhere didn't mean the stars went away.

"I like to think that we're like stars; even when we have bad days, or we feel lost, that doesn't mean we stop shining."

Mira looked up at the peaceful smile on her mom's face. She still thought it was weird that her mom liked watching the stars so much, but she liked how happy it made her mom, and because of that, it made her happy too.

***

The past few days had been rather uneventful. Mira's father was busy most of the day so she spent most of her time in her room or wandering the building, eavesdropping on conversations she had no business in and trying to better understand the dynamic here.

Luckily, she'd managed to inconspicuously make some trips to the library, playing up her nerdy reading habit to seem genuine and innocent to her father's driver who took her.

"Wow, aren't you just flying through these books," the librarian chuckled as Mira placed her stack of books onto the return desk. Suddenly, the woman's eyes went wide.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I believe you left your phone here the last time you came in," she ducked behind the desk. Mira opened her mouth to correct the woman and assure her that she had her phone with her, but clamped her mouth shut when she popped back up holding a iPhone with a picture of herself and Jada as the screensaver.

Adrian.

"Omg, I've been looking for it all over the place, you're a lifesaver!" Mira exclaimed with a smile as she took the phone.

"Of course, someone brought it to the front desk saying they found it on one of the shelves and I recognized you from the Lock Screen," she replied sweetly.

Mira quickly grabbed three new books and made her way back to the car, the phone shoved in her bra. Luckily she decided to wear a sweatshirt today.

Mira nearly sprinted back to her room when they returned to HQ, making sure to close and lock the door before slipping into the bathroom. She was fairly confident there were no hidden cameras in the room her father had given her, but just to be safe she decided she'd only use it in the bathroom.

She turned the shower on before sitting on the toilet, using Face ID to unlock the phone. There were no apps, no contacts, nothing.

She let out a disappointed sigh. Was she just supposed to wait?

Suddenly the screen lit up with a message.

Unknown Number: Don't let anyone find out about this phone. If they do, we're all fucked.

Mira smiled to herself. Finally, she could actually talk to someone. Kind of.