The sister in the dark

Chapter 8

"The golden statue..."

I am standing around the desk in Hirah's room, the unfolded note sitting between Hirah, Milly and I. Milly is the first to break the silence.

"Wow. I was not expecting that."

I nod in agreement. Hirah opens her mouth to speak.

"Milly, if your brother Hamika finds out you're gone, you said he would kill you?"

"Yeah," Milly replies, "But in the excitement, I forgot. Promise you won't go clue hunting without me?"

"Yep," I speak for the first time since opening the hole in the necklace, "Now where do we find your brother?"

"Um... he said he would be in the lodge but I don't know if he went looking for me."

"Let's go then."

Milly leads the way across the landing and down to the other end of the corridor, pulls a hairpin out of her hair and picks the lock on the fire door, revealing the fire escape down the back of the building. A perfect way to sneak out undetected. Not for the first time, I think how resourceful Milly is for someone 2 years younger than me.

The route to where Milly lives took us through unlandscaped forest, across a few streams, along a well trodden path and into a clearing. Milly stops when we get there, ears pricked in a kind of elfish way.

And then the first bird falls from out of the sky.

Hirah and I scream as it falls between us, dead. Then Hirah screams some more, pointing in horror at the dead rabbit that rolled out of the bush. My blood turns to ice, the logical part of my brain melts and I just can't understand why this is happening, why the birds are falling out of the trees, why all wildlife is dying.

A boy, around 16, comes to stand in front of us. It seems like he came out of no-where, but maybe he was watching us the whole time. It certainly seems likely.

"Are you Milly's friends?" he addresses us, surveying us with a sharp gaze. "I'm Hamika. Milly's brother."

He is really good looking. The bow in his sun-kissed hand makes me think he was the one making the birds fall out of the sky. And his face... It was so golden, so perfect. Just looking at him makes my heart flutter. I have to admit to myself that his gorgeous demeanor may have incited a bit more than a little crush on him.

The riddle plays through my head again. There's a golden man, bow in hand, waiting for you with another clue. Did my sister mean we had to get it off Hamika?! Hopefully not, because he is making my legs turn to jelly, and that would make it more than a little bit difficult for me to get it.

Milly and Hamika have disappeared by the time I have finished daydreaming, so I follow Hirah back the route we had come, but not stop thinking about how wonderful Hamika's full lips are...

Before I know it, we are back on floor 3, in our respective rooms. As I settle into my bed, thoughts of Milly's brother make their way into my dreams and I am fast asleep.