Silver Rain

Chapter 46

Olivia didn't see Sarah that night, nor did she eat dinner. In fact, her mind and body were inconveniently at war with each other which left her paralyzed in her room.

Mira and Calvin had helped drop an excess amount of bags in her room--things that Olivia didn't even remember agreeing to Mira purchasing for her. The bags were scattered across the floor like evidence of a life Olivia wasn't living. Bright colors, soft fabrics, and stylish cuts stared up at her, mocking her paralysis. She sat on the edge of her bed, hands gripping the edge of the mattress as though the solidity of it was the only thing keeping her grounded.

Her thoughts were a whirlwind: the Munsens, the screams in the forest, Felix's tension, and the undeniable pull she felt toward him despite everything. She couldn't focus, couldn't quiet the storm in her mind long enough to even unpack the smallest of the bags littering her floor.

Her body betrayed her stillness. Her fingers twitched, her foot tapped erratically against the floor, and her breathing was uneven. She wanted to move—to do something—but the weight of everything she'd seen and heard pressed down on her, rooting her in place. Her body buzzed with adrenaline, but her mind was scattered, replaying snippets of conversation from the day—everything tangled together in a web she couldn't escape from. The room around her felt suffocating, the silence almost too loud.

She knew why the Munsens had shown; why they were there. Knew they were there for her. For the Moon Stone.

Her hands shook as she pressed her palms to her temples, trying to clear her thoughts. She needed to focus. She had to make sense of it all before it consumed her. But it was impossible. The more she thought about it, the more tangled the web became.

The worst part was, she had no damn idea where this stone was.

Sending the twins out to search for coordinates was stupid. Their joking manner, inability to focus on the serious, or their foolish pranks were all reasons enough to not trust them in something so large. But desperation made fools of everyone, didn't it? Olivia knew better than to believe they'd come back with anything useful. Still, she'd let them go, if only to get their chaotic energy out of her immediate vicinity. She couldn't think straight with them around, their constant bickering and misplaced optimism like nails on a chalkboard.

Olivia's thoughts raced, each one spiraling out of control, one after another. She wanted to be furious with Felix, to question why he'd sent the twins out on such a wild goose chase, but deep down, she knew why. He trusted them. He wanted to keep her safe. She couldn't understand how Felix trusted so easily.

But where was the damn stone?

The truth was, she had no clue. She'd never been told what it looked like, where it came from, or why she was supposed to know all about it. Only that it was hers, tied to her in ways she couldn't comprehend. The Munsens knew that. They had to. They were connected to all of this, and they were going to come after her until they had what they wanted.

Her chest tightened as panic crept up again. Her skin tingled, and the air in the room felt heavier. She had to do something. She couldn't sit here, paralyzed, waiting for the storm to hit. She needed answers. And if Felix thought sending the twins out would help, then maybe it was her turn to take a more active role. The twins might be reckless, but they weren't stupid. Maybe they had found something, maybe they hadn't.

Olivia's breathing quickened as the weight of her thoughts pressed down on her chest, making it harder to pull in a full breath. Her pulse thundered in her ears, and the room around her began to blur. Every noise seemed amplified—the distant creak of the house settling, the faint rustle of wind outside, even the hum of electricity from her lamp. The scents around her started to blurr together; where she slowly started to ignore all of them they were now mixing into an overwhelming monstrosity. It all felt too much, too loud, too close.