Concealed no More

"What the hell..." Silva incredulously stared at the source of the blue light. She had no idea what it was, nor could she begin to guess. 

All she could do was just stare at the blue, floating bead. It was barely comparable with a raindrop in size. Around it, there was undulating blue liquid encompassing it.

Silva watched as the liquid gathered at the bottom of the bead, forming a droplet. It slowly grew bigger and bigger - until finally, it came loose, dropping to the ground. But before the droplet could reach the ground, it vanished mid-air, leaving no traces.

Slowly, she entered the room, circling around the bead. Whatever it was was beautiful. If Silva reached out, it could become hers. 

At this moment, Silva shuddered. The thought of touching it came too easily to her. It could be dangerous - probably was dangerous. There was no need to take any risks. Or at least - not any further ones.

Silva licked her lips and started feeling out her surroundings and herself. After a short while, a silent shock settled in. 

No matter how she looked at it, she felt her ability was moving too smoothly. While it was never hard for her, it still took her some conscious effort to use it. But standing before the mysterious object, there was almost no effort involved.

Alarmed, she studied the floating bead again, trying to understand it. Under the blue mass of liquid, Silva could make out that it was almost transparent and crystal-like. Silva felt the urge to touch it again. Almost like the bead was calling for her. No, she was sure that it was calling!

“That's impossible...” Silva muttered. She tried to stomach what she was feeling and seeing.

But she had run out of time. Her head whipped back to look at the entrance as she heard someone rushing down the stairs. Then it struck her that she was with no place to run, stuck at a dead end.

After re-checking if her ability functioned, Silva spun around several times, looking for a place to hide the incoming threat, wishing there was something more than her conditional invisibility.

But as she already knew, the room was empty aside from the floating bead. While panicking, Silva tucked herself in a corner and hoped that whoever came would not be able to find her.

No matter how she looked at it, the clearly supernatural floating bead was far above what someone like her should be dealing with. In her mind, there was a not-so-small possibility that whoever had hidden the bead here could find her.

Then, the owner of the place was here. Silva watched the same man she had stolen the keys from charge into the room. He was still in his underwear, but that did not take away from his imposing presence. She felt that he was someone who was used to being in charge.

That is not to say he was tall. Silva approximated his height to be about 1.70 meters, making him shorter than most. He had a short, trimmed, grizzled beard and hair and piercing blue eyes. While the man’s age was clearly showing, he still had a wiry body full of power.

Silva covered as the man carefully examined the room. Her heart rate was going higher and higher as she felt his gaze slide past her position several times. 

In the end, the man turned around, but before she could sigh in relief, he turned again. His gaze once again scanned the room. Silva felt like he was concentrating on the corner where she was for a moment. She feared the worst, preparing to fight.

But the man, after a minute of silence, turned around again. This time, when he left, he did not look back.

After realising the man could close the doors and that it would leave her locked in, Silva rushed after him. Nervously, she looked at the back in front of her. She wanted to distance herself more, but the circumstances as they were asked for the opposite.

Silva barely managed to slip out with him as the man entered his workroom. Her leg did get caught by the closing door, leaving them ajar.

Luckily, the man’s attention was elsewhere. Seeing him enter his bedroom, Silva used the chance to escape into the hallway.

Before she could get very far, the man followed her footsteps. A loud shout shook the building. “Wake up! We have an intruder!”

As Silva rushed to the exit, she glanced back and saw the man standing at the doors with a bathrobe draped over his shoulders.

The loud shout had done its work, and Silva heard a commotion rising in the rooms she passed. As she reached the exit, she heard people rushing out of their rooms, filling the hallway.

It didn’t take long for Silva to reach the exit. Only once she did, they were thrown open as a thug rushed inside. She did not manage to avoid the collision and was bumped aside, hitting the wall.

Fortunately for Silva, the door guard, in the rising commotion, only glanced in her direction before returning his attention to the now very loud hallway. She could hear their leader shout commands behind her back, but she did not have the leisure to listen. 

There was a chance, and she had to use it. The entrance doors were still slightly open. Silva jumped forward, squeezing herself through the gap and swiftly exited the building.

When she reached a respectful distance from the building, Silva finally looked back. Panting, she listened to the shouting travelling a good distance from the building. But it was a little too far, making it impossible to understand what they were saying.

Several men exited the building, spreading out and searching for any signs of her. Silva gave a final glance at the seemingly mundane warehouse, then left.

The building was now buzzing with activity. One thing was clear, she would not be returning to this place. It was too dangerous.

As Silva slowly made her way back home, she found her head swirling, full of confusing thoughts. 

What was the thing in the basement? Why did she think it was calling for her? What of the men who stayed there? What was that blue liquid? Did she really feel stronger when being close to the blue bead? Will they find out it was her?

Silva agonised about these questions and many more. She knew too little. She was just a girl, not yet even an adult. 

The only thing she decided was to not call the police. Discovering something like that in the Oldsteel could bring unwanted attention to the whole city, including her and her friends.

A hidden world under the mundane. And unwillingly, she was part of it. “It’s scary…” Silva shivered. At first, she thought it was from the cold, but the trembling did not stop. “What now?” She was lost on what to do.

Absent-mindedly, she pulled out her phone. It was 2:46. Only a couple of hours had passed, and her world had once again gone through irreversible changes. 

Silva wanted to talk with someone, but it was the middle of the night. There was no doubt that both of her friends were already asleep. And even if they were not, what then? She could not just abuse their kindness. 

They had their own families and lives. She did not want them to worry about the weird girl who had done a stupid thing.

“Yes, I’ll go home and try to get some sleep… It is for the best. For the best...” Silva thought to herself. As distracted as she was, it took her a moment to discover that she had already started a call. Silva panicked, but it was already too late to hang up.

“Hello?” Mika’s clearly drowsy voice asked for Silva’s attention.

“Ah, hello! Sorry, I did not mean… I did not want to wake you up...” Silva apologised for her blunder.

“Silva? Is everything alright?” Mika’s demanded, her tone now having a steely undertone full of worry. 

After a short silence, Mika received an honest answer. "… I just wanted… Needed to talk with someone," Silva admitted.

“Oh. Wait a sec...” Rustling sounds came from the speaker. “So, umm, what did you want to talk about?”

“I... You know, I messed up...” Silva decided to confess.

“What did you do?”

“Ah, I wanted to help... I went to the Refuge. You know, the place where the thugs hang around. And… I saw something...” Silva did not know how to explain.

“You WHAT!” Mika’s sharp screech distorted the call’s sound. “Where are you now?”

"Um, why?" Silva wondered. "I am… I am on my way back home." She, in the end, answered.

"Just tell me exactly where you are so I can go and get you." From the sounds, it seemed that Mika was getting dressed.

“That's, that is not necessary!” Silva realised her friend would do that. She really did not want to bother Mika that much. It was just an accident that she had made the call after all.

"Just tell me already. I am awake, dressed and ready. Ah! Give me a moment. Mom wants to talk," For a moment, the line went silent, only occasionally transmitting muffled sounds of a conversation. Until, finally, Mika was back. "So, where?" Her tone made it clear there would be no objection.

“You really shouldn't... It's really late...” Silva tried to argue anyway. But an oppressing silence halted her feeble resistance. 

Despite everything, she felt happy to have such a good friend. Even her trembling had stopped at some point. Finally, she revealed her whereabouts.

 

–

 

Silva trudged forward. Her head was full of regrets regarding the nightly excursion.

Only now, that regret was overshadowed by an even larger one – waking up Mika. Silva felt there was no need to go as far as to come and get her. 

Silva was capable of finding a way to Mika’s house by herself. But it would be a lie if she said she was not grateful.

Streetlights illuminated her path forward as she faithfully kept walking. There was no one else around. Only a rare car passing disturbed the night’s peace. 

The nights were getting colder and colder. It had been a good choice to dress so thickly, even if the reason was not keeping herself warm.

Silva found a bench near the walkway and decided to wait for Mika there. She felt slightly nervous without her ability activated. But this way, Mika would have no problems finding and greeting her first. 

But even with the choice made, Silva was fidgety and feared someone would come and ask what a minor like her was doing outside in the middle of the night.

It took a while before Silva heard footsteps. She turned to see who was the comer, fearing she would have to escape again.

But to her relief, it was Mika. The girl was wearing a brown jacket, black jeans, sneakers and a blue winter beanie with her brown, uncombed hair sticking out from it. Her cheeks were red from the cold, and she walked at a brisk pace. Silva felt the girl's searching gaze finding her as Mika fastened her pace.

“Are you really okay?” Mika scrutinised Silva. The girl clearly had rushed and was out of breath. The quick breathing made Mika appear surrounded by white clouds.

"I am fine, really..." Silva trailed off. "Well, you know… Apart from the whole breaking in a dangerous place thing," She joked, hoping Mika would not scold her too harshly.

“Oh, so now you know it was dangerous!” Mika fumed. “You call late at night, tell me you want to talk, tell me you messed up and then announce that you broke in a place I and Steven clearly warned you not to go to! Do you know how worried I was? What were you even hoping to achieve by going there? What were you thinking? Did they see you? Are you in danger?” 

Silva shook her head, finding no words to defend herself. She prepared herself for a lecture.

Instead, Mika let out a sigh and plopped down next to her. The next moment, Silva found herself in Mika’s embrace with her voice whispering in her ear.

"At least you are fine. I was so worried…” Mika’s voice broke for a moment.

It made Silva feel worse and worse with each passing moment. "I… I wanted to help… You both helped me so much, but I am… And then I found..." She ran out of words. All she wanted to do was to help, but she had made her friend cry. “Sorry…”

“Idiot! You are a friend, you don’t have to do anything special! We won’t think any less of you!” Mika’s voice was regaining strength. “I know you wanted to help, but this issue involves Steven’s family. He will tell you in time, but it is not anything life-threatening. Just… Just unpleasant. Don’t put yourself in danger.” Silva felt Mika’s embrace strengthen at the same rate as her voice.

“Sorry…” Silva repeated as she hugged her friend back. 

When was the last time she had seriously hugged someone? There were those brief moments when she hugged her father. 

But it had not felt anything like this. This embrace filled Silva with peace and warmth up until a tickling sensation on her nose tip brought her back.

“Achoo!” Silva’s sneeze ended the silence.

"Oh, sorry!" Mika apologised as she quickly let Silva go and gathered her hair back under her beanie. “Sorry, you were saying?”

Silva rubbed her nose, watching the agitated girl trying to remember what they had talked about. "I… I wanted to find something illegal and call the police. It was the simplest solution I could think of, but… There was nothing. Nothing illegal, but there was… something else. I found something in their basement.” She gathered her thoughts, trying to recall exactly what she had seen.

There still was no good way to describe it. But Silva tried. “In their basement, there was a room with only one thing inside. A small, glowing, blue crystal bead. It was floating above the ground. It was… I can’t be sure, but... I felt stronger near it. I thought it was calling for me…”

Silva looked up to the sky. “And then someone discovered that I had entered. I managed to run away. They… They did not see me.”

Mika looked straight into Silva’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” She nodded. “It was in the deepest part of the building. I saw it clearly. I could have touched it. It was behind the only locked door there. The key was around the neck of their leader! There were no cameras, and no one saw me. I am sure.” Her recollection became chaotic.

"So, how exactly did you get into that room then?" Mika narrowed her eyes and leaned closer, making Silva lean backwards. "Don't tell, I don't think I want to know," Despite her words, she didn’t stop glaring.

“Aren't you a bit too close?” Silva asked, making Mika jolt and straighten herself. “But thank you... I was… I was scared.” she mumbled.

Silva found herself in Mika’s embrace again. 

“It's okay, you are safe now.” Mika tried to soothe Silva.

It did not seem like Mika was going to let go, making Silva feel embarrassed. “It’s fine now, you came and I am better now. You can let me go.” 

As Mika untangled herself from her, Silva asked something that was on her mind. “Do you think they know? About Steven…” She wondered.

“No, I don’t think they do!” Mika denied it and continued. “But we will have to speak about this with Steven.”

Silva thought that she was lucky. Even though she had messed up, she now had someone to rely on. But she had been almost useless. This event only reaffirmed Silva’s belief that she should do something for her friends.

“It's getting colder, we should head back home.” Mika finally spoke after the prolonged tranquillity between them.

"Ah, yeah, it is getting cold and late." Even through the layers of clothing, Silva could feel the cold bite her skin.

“What about your father?”

“Ah, he has a night shift. He is not yet home, hopefully. Oh! I kind of told him that I was staying with you just in case. Sorry for that, too.” Silva hung her head.

"Oh, but you are," Mika stated.

“I am?”

“Yes, you are coming with me.” Mika stood up as she spoke.

“I am?”

“Yes, it is of great importance that you are not left alone after such a traumatic event.”

“It is?”

“And tomorrow, there is no school, so you can get all the sleep you need at my place!”

“Huh?”

“We have a free room, so you can sleep there! I already asked my mother to prepare the bed just in case.” Mika took Silva's hand and started to forcefully pull her confused friend.