KiraNaberrie
|• Thank you for being a marvellous reader •|

"Rise and shine, sweetie." Peeks of light invaded Lyra's vision as she tried opening her eyes to the voice. Her head was buzzing due to the sleep deprivation and she couldn't raise her limbs as she felt numb. "Come on Lyra, it's time to eat." The mention of food made her stomach grumble; who knew I was so hungry?

Lyra lifted her head, though it felt heavy and dead. She rubbed her eyes so it the light wouldn't hurt them when she opened them. Regardless of her efforts, she felt the light burn the back of her eyes.

"My goodness," said the voice which Lyra couldn't quite pin-point, but it sounded familiar to her. "Your eyes are so red. Get up, get up, let's rinse them, and see if they look any better." The girl dragged Lyra through another door to what Lyra assumed was a bathroom. It was extraordinary. Lyra hadn't seen a proper bathroom in what felt like a lifetime. It all was white with specks of lilac. She could smell the wild lavender, something she recognised from her life at the outskirts of the forest.

"Come on, come on. Wash your face." Lyra peeked at her through half-closed eyelids and realised she recognised her.

"You're Katherine, aren't you?" Katherine nodded at Lyra. Katherine was one of the first survivors Lyra had met when they first evacuated to the forest, she was also one of the first to leave and find herself refuge. Katherine pushed Lyra forward and turned on the tap. Lyra watched the water gush out like a fountain of abundance. "Freshwater?" She asked in disbelief.

"It comes from the stream. Juniper, Hunter, and River have amazing skills when it comes to building, and all the mad stuff they do. They restored the water system in the city and made sure only this building gets it. We all helped." Katherine seemed to be mystified by the memory.

"How many of you are there?" Lyra asked groggily.

"Oh, many, many, many." Katherine had a habit of repeating her words which Lyra found quite annoying, but she felt good, even satisfactory, to know that Katherine was alive. "We have a register. I think there's about fifty of us in this building, but with you and Lincoln, we are now fifty-two. Some of the others think there are more survivors, but I fear if we don't find them soon..." Katherine focused her sight at the window on the left, avoiding Lyra's gaze. "They will all be dead." She whispered.

Lyra untangled herself from Katherine's clasp and began to wash her face. The water was piercingly cold, it caused her face to insensate, but it felt comforting. "Now," Lyra smiled at her. "Where's my well-deserved food?" Katherine beamed at her and gestured for Lyra to follow her.

After a hearty breakfast, Juniper came back to take Lyra somewhere. Lyra wondered where Lincoln was, but she had a feeling he was okay. Her intuitions were right. As Juniper and she walked through another corridor, Lyra saw Lincoln playing with some kids, probably aged twelve or thirteen. He looked carefree and gleeful which made a sad smile inch on Lyra's lips. Lincoln saw Lyra through the window and smiled as Lyra wiped away the sadness from her eyes. He waved at her which she reciprocated.

Juniper led Lyra through a metal staircase that led to another section of the building. Adam, who seemed like he was mute, awaited their presence.

"Adam, here, found this door-like thing. He is a quiet boy but one of the smartest." Juniper ruffled his hair. "We've tried opening it, and we managed, however, there's another one behind it. I'll show you." Juniper pressed the tiny red diamond on the top right corner of the door, a tray slid out, parallel to Lyra's chest, holding what looked like a keypad. "This requires a deciphered passcode, which we already worked out."

Juniper jabbed in a few numbers.

52454249525448

The combination was long, Lyra wondered how she figured it out. Something about the numbers seemed intimate.

"Adam and I worked it out." Lyra looked at Adam, his eyes were fixed on her. He definitely knew something and Lyra feared he knew something that even she didn't know.

The door slid open to the left, revealing another door, but it was a bit smaller. A blue light blinked above their heads, it looked like it was creating a pattern that held importance but Lyra decided to ignore it, for now.

"Look down there." Juniper pointed her index finger at an inscription below a square-shaped black window.

It read: Theses doors shall only abide by the hands of the green-eyed girl.

"You have green eyes." Juniper stated the obvious.

Lyra shrugged, "Surely I'm not the only one."

"Yes, Jenna has green eyes." Juniper must have seen my clueless face so she elaborated. "She's another one of the survivors who we found and brought here. For her, it didn't work. She couldn't open it."

"And how do you know that I can?"

"Well," Juniper cocked her head. "Maybe you didn't read properly." Lyra looked at the phrase again, this time she noticed that it said Lyra below the sentence. "When Adam saw you in the forest, burying Aneesa."

So her name really was Aneesa, Emma wasn't lying.

Juniper smiled sadly, probably because she recollected the memories she shared with Aneesa. "He saw your beautiful green eyes and had a feeling you were Lyra. He's the only one who believed 'Lyra' was a name. We all thought it was some kind of marking or code." Finally, Lyra understood why Adam had ran.

Juniper continued, "He informed Croy, who's a genius when it comes to tracking people down. He's the one who found you." She paused for a minute, Lyra had a feeling that Juniper was contemplating whether she should tell her more.

"You can tell me, Juniper, I can keep secrets." Lyra assured her.

Juniper sighed, "Well, Aneesa was accompanied by Jude when they went looking for more survivors, we know Aneesa...has left us, but Jude never returned, did you see him by any chance?"

Jude, the name caused Lyra's heart to ache. She felt like it was the missing piece of her heart but she tried her best to ignore it.

"No," Lyra whispered and watched Juniper's face fall. Lyra felt the need to quickly change the subject.

"How do you open it?" Lyra asked.

She truly had no idea what Juniper was talking about.

"You see the blue light up there, it's a modified laser scanner; you need to let it scan your eye." That made more sense to Lyra. She stood on the tips of her toes and widened her eyes, focusing on the blue light. It burned the back of her retinas as she tried her best not to cry.

"Access. Granted." Said a mechanical, female voice.

Lyra watched the door slide up, revealing another door.

"I hate doors." Huffed Juniper which made Lyra smile.

There was an intricate design embroidered on the wall. A pattern that was engraved and sealed at the back of Lyra's mind. The pattern that was cut in at the back of the gift Lyra's mother had given to her.

Lyra pulled her sleeve down to hide it.

"Juniper, I know how to open this, but I need to go back to our home in the forest, it's where I left it, the key to this door." Juniper squealed in excitement and squeezed Lyra into a hug.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning."

Lyra felt like she had betrayed Juniper's trust, but what could she do? She had to know what Emma had wanted to tell me her, or else she would never be able to sleep.

—

What do you think is behind this door?

Well don't ask me because I don't know! Or do I...