Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lyra was focused on the slice of cream cake on her plate.

The cream slid down her throat, sweet and rich, and she narrowed her eyes, savoring taste she hadn’t had in forever

Back at the psychiatric hospital, maybe because Mom and Dad had stopped coming to see her, the doctors had switched all her food to nutrient fluid. Hmph!

The iron door of the fireplace shifted. A faint scrape carried through the quiet room.

Lyra didn’t stop. She popped another piece of cake into her mouth.

“Hey..” the girl whispered from the fireplace.

The voice was tiny and trembling, squeezed out through the fireplace gap.

Lyra turned her head and met a pair of eyes wide with terror.

Crouched behind the fireplace was a foreign-looking girl, face streaked with soot, hair a tangled mess threaded with cobwebs.

“You’re… a Draconian player?” the girl forced out in stilted Draconian.

Lyra nodded and gave a muffled hum around her mouthful. “Mm.”

The girl blurted, “You can’t eat that.”

The girl panicked, her voice rising – then her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes went wide as she strained to listen for sounds outside.

A heavy thud landed on wooden floorboards downstairs.

“The stuff in here… it’s contaminated. You’ll die if you eat it!” the girl whispered urgently, eyes desperate.

Lyra ignored her. She picked up a red apple, wiped it on the sleeve of her hospital gown, and bit into it

Crunch. Clear and crisp.

Lyra said, “Sweet. Crunchy

す

Lyra lifted the apple and waggled it toward the fireplace “You want some?”

The girl stared at her like she was some kind of monster and shrank deeper into the fireplace

The girl urged, “Are you insane? Get into hiding.”

The girl said. Tin a player from Southern Reach. My name is Lina”

Lina urged. “Our country and yours are allies. I swear I’m not lying Hurry, get into the cabinet

Lina was so frantic she was about to cry Clearly she had never met a contestant with nerves this steady

Lyra swallowed her bite of fruit took another, and only then answered, slow and unbothered

14

20 art

ANTON Hade in a shiner That just gift-wrapping yourself None of the cabinets are safe

The words set a shiver through Lana and the color dramed from her face.

Corrow An ill-umed sounds through the air Lina’s stomach was protesting, painfully audible in the quiet dining ro She lowered her head mortified, and pressed a hand to her belly

Evra smiled, picked up an untouched apple from the table, and tossed it hightly It arced through the air and rolled to a stop right in front of Linas fireplace “Go ahead It’s not poisoned”

Lana stared at the bright red fruit, her throat hobbing as she swallowed hard

She hadn’t tasted real food in over a decade. Ever since the nuclear war, the world had been a scorched rum. Food? That was a luxury Just being alive, with one packet of nutrient goo a day, was a blessing

Even as her mouth flooded with saliva, reason told her everything inside this instance was laced with malice

1 I cant eat it. Lina forced out, then pointed at a heavy mahogany cabinet in the corner. “Get over there, quick I already checked. It has a hidden compartment.”

Lyra glanced at the cabinet and shook her head. “They’d find you there too.”

And that fireplace of yours is staring straight at the door. One Wraith walks in, gives one swing, and you’re dead, dead. dead Lyra grinned as she said it.

“D-don’t scare me. Lina stammered, trembling.

She was already teetering on the edge, and Lyra’s words made a chill crawl up the back of her neck.

Lyra shrugged, set down her fork, strolled to the window, and pointed at the ledge outside. “You’d be better off out there than in there

Lana’s eyes went wide as she peered through the crack. This was the second floor. Outside there was no cover at all-just a stone ledge less than four inches wide.

How are you supposed to hide outside a window? That’s suicide!” Lina hissed.

Lyra didn’t answer The corner of her mouth curved up in a soft arc. She thought this Southern Reach girl was a little slow but kind of fun Her stomach was full anyway Time to stretch her legs

Watch this

Lyra booked a finger around the latch and fucked it open

The window swung open without a sound. letting in a cool breeze sweet with the scent of roses from the garden She brand against the frame light as a cat planted her toes on the sill, and swung herself clear over the wall

Lana held her breath, a scream almost tearing louse

Lyra reached back and card the window duur She pressed flat against the gray white caierior wall tors balanced an narrow ridge From inside the room anyone looking would only see an empty sill

A few seconds later the window sind open agam and 1 yra lopped lightly back into the sout

“Well?” She dusted off her hands, grinning Beats your fireplace doesn’t it Want to vom ind out there with me

2.4

1:28 am

anja briza, petoroshe could answer. Lyras expression suddenly shifted

Ivea raised her right hand and touched her ear A faint crackle of static hummed against her eardrum

Lana said. “Lyra, can you hear ne? This is the Draconia Strategic Game Command Center. I’m Lana Sterling, the director in charge

Lyra tilted her head. I hear you. How are you talking right next to my car like that?”

At the command center, Lana stared at the giant screen, briefly thrown by the question. But this wasn’t the moment to explain

Lana said. “Listen. The three rooms on the first floor are nearly destroyed. The Wraiths from the courtyard, the parlor, and the back garden are all converging on the main building. In about three minutes, all ten of them will be on the second floor

Lana continued. The third floor and basement are still clear. On the first floor, the game room’s southwest corner has a recessed safe spot. The second floor also has an exterior corridor. If you reach the third floor, you can evacuate through it”

Lana spoke at breakneck speed, the clatter of keyboards filling the background.

Lyra looked down at the half-eaten plate of cake and sighed.

Lyra said. “Evacuate? I haven’t finished my snack yet.”

‘Lyra. They’re almost there. For your own safety, for Draconia. Move, now.” Lana pressed.

Lyra didn’t budge. She simply cut the one-way comm, and the noise in her ear vanished.

She looked up at Lina.

Lina’s eyes were vacant, her lips moving silently-clearly. Southern Reach’s command center was on the line with her too.

A moment later, Lina cut the call and slumped back into the heap of ash.

The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over, carving two pale streaks down her grimy face.

They said… the Wraiths are coming up. They said only three people on the first floor are still alive.” Lina spoke to herself, her voice hollow with despair.

Lina said, ‘Southern Reach has only one region left. If I get caught, even that last patch of ground falls to the Wraiths I’ll have no home to go back to.”

r

Yes. Southern Reach had already worked out a full migration with Draconia. But it would always be living under someone else s roof. No premium nutrient goo could ever replace the smell of home soil.

Lyra walked over and crouched down in front of her.

Lyra said. “Two minutes before those red-coated freaks come up the stairs You planning to sit here and die so the last scrip of your country turns to rubble? Or do you want to come out the window with me and catch some fresh air”

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