Dear Citlali [Completed]

Chapter 34. Citlali

The biggest question was: what happened to Lee?

"Is she alive? Where is she?" Kai asked. "The sitting room didn't seem to be occupied when we arrived."

"Maybe we should look for her," I said. "She may be alone, in danger, or hurt. If she's not, and we're right that Ameyal's death has something to do with her, she must be traumatized."

Dovi nodded. "I may be able to find her. I'll need some help but it's not a complicated spell."

"You have to find an object of hers for that, right?" I asked.

"Yes. If we re-read Ameyal's diary and we searched the house, we might be able to find something that belonged to her."

While Dovi called Carlos back to check with him how they had to proceed with the spell, Kai explored each room looking for possible objects, and I dived deep into the diary again.

It didn't take me too long to find something that could work. I closed the diary, jumped from the couch, and strode to find Kai and Dovi.

"I think I got it," I said. I opened the diary and I read a few lines of interest.

She always uses the same mug for her tea. It's the faded blue one with abstract designs. I consider it hers now and I don't even use it for myself anymore.

Kai kissed me on the cheek. "You're a genius," she said, enthusiastically. I laughed and Dovi smiled.

Without any hesitation, I grabbed Lee's mug in the cupboard - it was easy to identify as it was the only blue one with patterns - and I placed it on the kitchen table. Dovi read through their notes before starting to chant. Listening to their deep and warm voice, I wondered if they liked to sing. I thought I would love to hear them.

Strings of light appeared on the table and drew a map of the city. Kai gasped and looked at Dovi in awe. She extended her hand towards the light before thinking better of it.

Dovi kept on chanting, and Kai turned towards me. "Magical," she said, pointing her finger not at the map, but at Dovi. I nodded with a grin.

On the map, a point finally glowed in Brooklyn near the water and we checked the address before the lights disappeared.

"So do we have a plan?" Kai asked while taking her coat.

I helped her put it on. "Let's just check if she's alright," I said, straightening her collar. "And then, if she is, we can show her Ameyal's letter as proof that we knew her. And hope she'll trust us enough to talk to us."

Dovi gave me my scarf and, once we were equipped to face the cold, we went to the place in Brooklyn the spell had shown us.

It was a warehouse, mostly empty. The wind was blowing through broken windows.

"She's here," Kai said. "At least, I hope it's her." I squeezed her arm to encourage her, and we followed her lead.