Reflections of Light

Patterns Of Ash

Maddie walked along the shore, shivering slightly in the breeze.

She shouldn't have come back here, not really, but it had been preying on her mind since the moment she'd left to come back and look for any kind of evidence.
The beach had almost seemingly been chosen to be far enough away that she couldn't just claim to be dropping by, and had to have specifically set out with intent to get there, something she couldn't help but picture Alysha being irritatingly pleased about if she knew.

But finally, it had gotten too much. She'd given in and gone.

It looked like no one had been here, even in the few days since they'd last been here.

Wandering along, she squinted at her surroundings, trying to recognise the path. She hummed casually, hands in pockets, kicking at the stones under her feet distractedly.

And then, at last, she came upon it. The remains of Alysha's book bonfire.

Warily, she approached the circle of driftwood 'seats', surrounding the black smear of char and ash staining the sand.

Taking a second look, Maddie observed that the ash had not lated untouched after they'd left.
No, very much on the contrary.
A meticulous mandala-like pattern spun out from the centre of the fire-pit, the ash meticulously arranged into petal-like patterns; the remains of the destruction coming something hypnotically raw and beautiful.

Almost loathe to destroy it, she took a branch of driftwood, and carefully began to carefully search through the remains for a clue, any clue, anything left over.
Alysha had something to hide, she'd physically destroyed of the evidence in front of them to rub it in, use it to score points over them; but she hadn't won the game yet, not if Maddie had anything to say about it.

Turning over the ash, she almost missed it.
Pouncing, she picked it up almost reverently, holding the delicate item carefully in her hands like it was going to crumble away any minute; a small, charred-edged fragments of smoke-stained paper.

Bingo.