Reflections of Light

Confused Thoughts

Nyx and Maddie sat quietly in Maddie's car as Maddie drove Nyx back home down the evening-lit roads, both trying to process what had happened.

"That book was obviously fucking important." Maddie said at last, eyes fixed on the road ahead. "And I just let her burn it."

"Emilia's going to kill us." Nyx said, equally as tired-voiced. "That was obviously the book Owen had." Suddenly, she sounded horrified. "She came into my house to take it! I bet she did! I know she did! Oh my god, what if she was there with my family? I mean, she could have been there at any time!"

"But do you realise how important that book must have been? Obviously it had something in it she didn't want coming to light, or why'd she get rid of it?
For all we know, that could have been the secret to this whole thing. And I just let it slip through my fingers. "

"She obviously wants something." Nyx said, almost unconsciously tugging at her curls, a nervous action. "I'm not sure what, but nobody just does this stuff without having an endgame."

"And I bet that book is related to that." Maddie replied, turning the car down Nyx's road. "Bet it had some way to stop her, or destroy the caves or something, something she didn't want us having."

"... But why make a point of showing us it being destroyed. Why not... Just do it?"

"Power play, maybe? Some kind of mind game to discourage us."

"I don't know..." Nyx pondered, nibbling her lip. "Honestly, I never know. Nothing makes sense anymore."

"If it helps, you ain't alone there. I'm not sure if it's just all this, or if that's just life."

Nyx chuckled. "This adulting stuff is hard."

"Tell me about it. I think my 'How to be a grown-up' manual got lost in the post." Maddie joked back.

"Yeah, let's just blame the Post office." Nyx agreed, eyes twinkling with mirth. "It's obvious they're the root of our problems."

They pulled up on Nyx's front drive.

"Thanks for bringing me home, Mads." Nyx said, unplugging her belt, and moving to leave the car.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Didn't want you going out alone when it's beginning to get dark. Who knows what could be out there?"
She chuckled, shrugging. "Well, technically that's my job..."

Nyx laughed with her, slipping on her ratty, aged jacket. "You want to come in for a while?"

"I don't know..."

"Oh, come on. Abby's probably not asleep yet, so you can see her before bedtime. Read her a bedtime story and everything."

Maddie smiled, thinking about it for a second. Then, changing topics to a more pressing issue. "What are you going to say to your family about everything that's happened? Are you... Going to tell them...?"

"I have no idea." Nyx said, nerves making her hands go back to her hair. "Honestly, I don't know."

Okay, so after this chapter I'm going to try and pick up the pace of events a bit, as I think I've dragged stuff out for quite a while. Hopefully all goes well.