Strokes of Fate

Chapter 3.7

As the police began questioning witnesses and securing the area, Zara and Kai found themselves huddled together near the gallery entrance. The night air was thick with tension and unanswered questions.

"Zara! Kai!" Olivia's voice cut through the chaos as she hurried towards them, her wild curls even more disheveled than usual. "Are you both alright? What in the world happened in there?"

Zara exchanged a quick glance with Kai before responding. "We're fine, Olivia. But we're not sure what happened. Everything just... erupted all at once. It went dark and then...everything just happened so fast."

Olivia's keen eyes studied them both, clearly sensing there was more to the story. "Well, the police will want to speak with everyone. But first, I need to know - did either of you see Dr. Vance or Mr. Wolfe leave? They seem to have vanished, and the police are particularly interested in their whereabouts."

Kai stepped in, his voice steady despite the tension evident in his posture. "We saw them briefly, but then the lights went out. When they came back on, both were gone."

Olivia nodded, though her expression remained troubled. "Very strange indeed. This whole evening has been... well, unprecedented."

As Olivia moved away to speak with other guests, Zara leaned in close to Kai. "What do we tell the police?" she whispered urgently. "About the Nodal Web, the patterns... everything?"

Kai's brow furrowed in thought. "For now, I think we should keep that to ourselves. We don't know who we can trust, and until we understand more about what's going on, it's better to play our cards close to the chest. We say nothing."

Zara nodded in agreement, feeling a mixture of relief and apprehension at the decision. As they waited for their turn to be questioned, her eyes scanned the crowd, taking in the mix of confused guests, harried gallery staff, and stern-faced police officers.

Suddenly, a familiar face caught her attention. Lena Castillo was standing off to the side, engaged in what appeared to be an intense conversation with Professor Blackwood. The two women's heads were bent close together, their expressions grave.

"Kai," Zara murmured, nudging her brother. "Look over there. Does something seem... off about that?"

Kai followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Now that you mention it, yeah. They seem awfully calm considering what just happened. And wasn't Professor Blackwood supposed to be Dr. Vance's guest? Why is she still here if he's gone?"

Before they could ponder this further, a police detective approached them. "Ms. Frost? Mr. Thornton? I'm Detective Zoe Kingsley. I'd like to ask you both a few questions about tonight's events. We were provided your names since you know this place more than others."

As they answered the detective's questions, Zara found herself choosing her words carefully, acutely aware of the fine line she was walking between truth and omission. She could feel Kai doing the same beside her, their responses aligned in their vagueness about Dr. Vance and Everett's disappearance.

"And you didn't notice anything unusual before the lights went out?" Detective Kingsley pressed, her sharp eyes moving between them.

Zara hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Nothing specific," she said finally. "Everything happened so fast. Like really-really fast. I didn't even have time to gather my thoughts, to be honest."

The detective nodded, making a note in her pad. "Well, if you remember anything else, no matter how small it might seem, please don't hesitate to contact us." She handed them each a card before moving on to the next group of witnesses.

As the night wore on, the crowd around the gallery began to thin. Zara found herself growing increasingly restless, the weight of everything she'd learned pressing down on her.

"We should go home," Kai said softly, noticing her discomfort. "We can't do anything more here, and we need time to process... everything."

Zara nodded, grateful for his understanding. They said their goodbyes to a still-frazzled Olivia, promising to check in first thing in the morning.

The drive home was silent, both siblings lost in their own thoughts. As they pulled into the driveway of their family home, Zara was struck by how normal everything looked - the soft glow of the porch light, the familiar silhouette of the old oak tree. It seemed impossible that her world had been turned upside down in the span of a single evening.

Inside, the house was quiet. A note on the kitchen counter from their parents said they'd gone to bed early. Zara felt a pang of guilt at the normalcy of it all, at the secrets she was now keeping from her family.

"We should get some rest," Kai said, though his tone suggested he knew sleep would be elusive for both of them. "Tomorrow, we'll start figuring this out."

Zara nodded, offering him a small smile. "Yes," she agreed.

As she climbed the stairs to her room, Zara's mind was a whirlwind of questions and possibilities. The Nodal Web, her apparent ability to tap into it, the competing interests of Dr. Vance and Everett - it all seemed too fantastic and out of this world to be real. What the hell was going on?

Yet as she entered her room and her eyes fell on the antique drafting set, she knew there was no going back.

Sitting at her desk,Zara opened the drafting set, feeling the familiar tingle of energy as herfingers brushed the tools. With a deep breath, she set pencil to paper, readyto see what new patterns and mysteries the night would reveal.