Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12

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Lana stayed silent for a long me. Long enough that Lyra set down her fork and tilted her head at her.

Lyra asked, “Sis? Why aren’t you saying anything? Can’t you find my mom?”

I yra stuffed the last strawberry into her mouth cheeks bulging, and mumbled, “It’s okay. I can wait. I’ve already waited more than ten years. A few more days won’t hurt.”

Lana’s fingers tightened around the seam of her pants. She glanced over at Ms. Reed, who gave a small nod.

Lana drew in a deep breath and pulled her chair closer, squaring herself with Lyra. “Lyra.”

Lyra asked, “Hmm?”

Lana said, “Your mom… she can’t be found.”

Lyra asked, “Why?”

r

Lana’s throat went tight. She forced her voice to stay level. “Fifteen years ago, the nuclear war that Aurelia set off-do you know about it?”

Lyra said, “Yeah. Dr. Hanson told me.”

“Your dad, your mom, and your brother…” Lana paused for a beat. “They died in that war.”

The cafeteria went quiet. Lana watched Lyra’s face and braced for everything-a breakdown, screaming, tears, denial, even an episode.

Lyra didn’t cry. She didn’t make a scene. She just sat there, eyes fixed on the strawberry stem on the table, as if she were thinking something through.

About ten seconds passed before she spoke. “Dead?”

Lana said, “…Yes.”

Lyra asked. “So just like Red?”

Lana blinked. “Red?”

Lyra nodded and picked up a napkin to wipe her fingers. “Red was in the room next to mine. Room 103. Then one day the doctors wheeled her out and never wheeled her back.”

Lyra looked up at her. “Dr. Hanson told me Red got transferred to another hospital. But she didn’t get transferred. She’s still

in 303

Goosebumps rose along Lana’s back. “What do you mean?”

“It just means nobody else can see her. Lyra tilted her head, as if it were obvious. The nurses skip her on their rounds. Dr Hanson ignores her, and the cleaning lady walks straight through her body”

“But I can see her.

“Red told me being dead isn’t so bad. Just a little boring, since no one talks to her anymore. But she’s got the to talk to so

she’s not bored.”

14

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as Revil hooked Lyra Young lady

Hiom

Are you talking about souls

Lyra thought about it, then shook her head Red said she’s a ghost. But she looks exactly the way she did when she was alive Just a little see-through.”

She held up her hand to show the height. “And there’s Uncle Maddox–he says he’s been dead a hundred years!”

A hundred years?” Lana’s voice cracked.

Mm-hm. Uncle Maddox said he died in a war. Burned alive. He paces up and down the hospital, says he’s waiting for his squadmates to come pick him up.”

Lyra counted on her fingers. “And then there’s Sister Jo. Sister Jo is the most dramatic of all. She says she’s been dead for a

thousand years! Her clothes are pretty too-long flowing gown, hair piled up high.”

Ms. Reed stood up, walked over to Lyra, and crouched down to meet her at eye level. “Young lady, when did you first start being able to see these people?”

Lyra tilted her head and thought about it. “Always. Since I was little. Dad even yelled at me for it-said I was making things up.”

She pouted. “But I wasn’t making it up. There was an old man standing outside Mrs. Walker’s apartment downstairs, and every time I said hi to him, Mrs. Walker burst into tears. After that, Mom told me not to tell anyone about these things.”

Ms. Reed and Lana exchanged a glance. Lana’s mind was racing-if Lyra really could see the dead…

That would explain how she’d pinpointed the number, appearance, and position of every Wraith behind those walls. To her. seeing ‘what shouldn’t be seen” had been ordinary since she was a child.

Lana’s palms were slick with sweat. “Lyra.”

“Hmm?”

“What I said about your mom… aren’t you sad?”

Lyra blinked, as if she’d just heard the strangest question. “Sad about what? Being dead doesn’t mean she’s gone.”

She tapped her own eyes with a finger. “Dead just means nobody else can touch her or feel her But can still see her

“And as long as I can see her, I can talk to her. And if I can talk to her, how’s that any different from being alive?”

Something stung behind Lana’s nose.

Lyra propped her chin on both hands. “So because Mom died, she’s just walking around somewhere and can’t get out to come find me, right? Just like Red. She’s probably at our old house, waiting for me to come back for her

Her tone was still light and breezy, like she was talking about what to have for lunch tomorrow. “It Mom can’t come find me, then I’ll go find Mom! And when I do, I’ll tell her the food here is way better than nutrient goo

Ms Reed straightened up, stepped behind Lana, and lowered her voice. “That explains everything”

The Wraiths in the game are, at their core, a kind of non-human entity. If she can see souls, then seeing Wraiths is nothing

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