i didn't sleep well that night.
Too many thoughts spinning in my head. Too many questions I didn't have answers for.
But one kept looping over and over:
Why did Lena come back?
She said she had to.
But why now?
And what changed?
The next morning, I found her again before class.
Same spot as yesterday. Different vibe, though. She looked tired. Not physically — just… emotionally drained.
"You're not going to stop, are you?" she asked without looking up.
"Nope," I said. "Not until I get real answers."
She sighed, then finally met my eyes.
"I didn't want to leave," she said.
That wasn't what I expected.
"When I was gone," she went on, "it wasn't because I wanted to. It was because I had to learn how to control this."
"This?" I echoed.
She glanced around, making sure no one was close enough to overhear.
"The flashes," she said. "The feelings. The way we see things before they happen."
I stared at her.
"You mean… you've always had it?"
She shook her head. "No. Not always. But I got it a few months before I left."
I blinked. "Wait. You got it?"
She hesitated. Then nodded. "It started small. Like Ava's does. Feelings. Hunches. Then it got stronger. Clearer."
Her voice dropped. "And then I saw something I wasn't supposed to."
I swallowed hard. "What?"
She looked away. "Something bad. Something that made me realize this isn't just about us seeing ahead."
"What do you mean?"
She finally looked back at me.
"It means someone else already knows about us."
And they're watching"