Lena didn't say anything else after that.
She just walked away.
Leaving me standing there with my heart pounding.
Later that day, I found her again — sitting alone in the library, reading something I knew she wasn't seeing.
I sat down across from her.
"You have to tell me," I said.
She didn't look up. "There's nothing to tell."
"There is," I said. "You remember more than you let on."
She sighed. "I remember enough."
I leaned forward. "Tell me what you remember."
She finally looked at me.
And for the first time since she came back, she looked scared.
"I didn't just walk away from them," she said. "I left behind someone I loved."
I froze. "What do you mean?"
She looked down. "I had a friend. Mira's age. Same ability. Same pull."
Her voice dropped. "She didn't run."
"She chose them."
I stared at her. "And you stayed?"
She nodded. "For a while."
"How long?"
She looked at me. "Long enough to forget why I left."
I didn't speak for a long time.
Then I asked the question I'd been afraid to ask.
"Do you still want to go back?"
She didn't answer.
And that was scarier than anything.