Hands are gripping me, shaking me into the first lights of the day. Instinct hits me first, and I grab the dagger out from under my pillow and thrust myself on top of whoever it is in a straddle, knife at their throat.

"Kaya! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you!" A female says, voice shaking.

I blink through the last hold of sleep and focus on the face in front of me. Frightened, blue eyes stare back at me.

"Julia," I breathe. Her lip is quivering. "Why are you here?"

"Your mom never came back after leaving suddenly yesterday.. I thought maybe she would be here," she whispered, and then looked pointedly at my hand, still holding the dagger at her throat.

I practically jump off of her and give her a sheepish smile, "Sorry about that."

"Well, don't stop on my account," Melani chides, striding into the inlet with scrutinizing eyes towards both Julia and I.

I stare at her like a fish out of water.

"It's not what it looks like," I mumble, but Julia interjects over me.

"Kaya's mom, Heidi, is missing."

Melani's eyes flash with surprise for a brief second, I think... Maybe I imagined it? Too quick to tell.

"When did this happen?" Melani asks.

"Yesterday she left in a hurry- I thought maybe she had been sick. She'd turned white as a sheet and then hurried off saying she had to do something..." Julia trails off, looking to me. "Did you see her at all yesterday?"

Guilt and anxiety burn through me. I hadn't been home. I'd been dicking around with Ronan, Sai and Deirdre.

"No," I whisper, feeling heat burn my cheeks as shame consumes me. I look down at my hands, not wanting to meet Julia's gaze. Melani, however, has a stare that can grip you from anything. We lock eyes and her stare is all-knowing.

"What are you even doing here?" I ask incredulously.

Melani raises her eyebrows at me, "You didn't show up for training last night." All business.

Embarrassment, guilt, disappointment, anything negative, you name it. My chest is full of it. 

"I thought that was tonight."

"Well, it was yesterday. I'd say we could reschedule for tonight, but it seems you'll be occupied finding your mother. I'll help in any way I can." She says, sounding more military than friendly. "Where were you last night, Kaya?" Her gaze is stern, calculating.

"I was with Ronan, Sai and Deirdre... We lost track of time and it was so late when I came home I didn't even notice my mom wasn't here." I grimace.

Melani's aura had changed to slightly smug.. She knew what I'd been up to yesterday, she just wanted to see if I would lie. I never know how she does it, but she always seems to know what I'm doing. She gets a kick out of trying to catch me floundering over little details, especially when she knows it's something I'll be ashamed to admit.

I'm at the point where I don't even try to weave my sentences into something that is more palatable or filled with niceties. If I don't like something she made for me, she somehow knows and likes to prod at me until I tell her it sucks. At this point with Melani, I just have to be blunt. It's kind of nice, throwing polite conversation to the wind. She sees me for what I am.

"If you already know, don't bother asking," I snap, sinking my head into my hands. I've only just woken up and today already sucks.

I start to work on getting dressed and brushing my teeth, following the conversation as it goes.

"What time did she leave yesterday?" Melani asks, turning her eagle eyes onto Julia. Good luck, Julia.

"Ummm probably noon?" Julia replied, not a hint of a fluster from her. "I am not quite sure because we were working with patients at the time."

Melani's face goes deadpan and dismissive. "So you didn't think to check the time?" 

I grimace, Julia is not having an easy day, either. Melani is all business with no room for mistakes, even if the mistake is only that when you look at it in hindsight. Heidi, my mom, is a grown woman - Julia wouldn't have cared what time she left.

"I don't make a habit of tracking the comings and goings of other adults, in general," Julia said with a fierceness I haven't heard before. Go Julia! Get her!

If Melani's eyes were dismissive, now they were ice. "You tracked well enough to know it was unusual, the next most basic step is checking the time."

Julia starts to respond, but instead goes red in the face from anger when she notices that Melani has already turned away, peering outside the inlet. She glares towards Melani, and I realize how much she has to care to be putting up with any of Melani's crap.

"Thank you for coming to check on her. She's lucky to have a friend like you," I smile at her gratefully.

Julia smiles back at me and then presses her lips back into a line, thinking. "Melani, what are you looking at over there?"

"I'm checking around to look for any signs of struggle, of her even coming home... but it looks like maybe someone else was in a rush to get home yesterday based on the skid marks along the rocks, the grass that's not just squashed but torn up from the root, and the nail stuck in the rock here... Judging by Kaya's missing fingernail, I'm assuming this was you?" She smirks at me.

I send her a glare. "Yes, I was rushing home late last night. I was in such a flurry I didn't notice my mom was gone. I'm a terrible person. Moving on."

Melani smirks at me but continues looking around. After about ten minutes of us all checking the area of the inlet and the perimeter, we meet back inside.

"I think it's pretty clear that Heidi never came home despite her saying she felt sick. I'll put a notice out for her, but the Sky Faction isn't likely to do much for her. More than likely, it's just going to be Safe Haven keeping an eye out for her, so be extra attentive to any whisperings you hear in town or in Safe Haven." Melani is in full mission mode, and I couldn't be more thankful for having her on my side.

"Thank you, Melani.. It means a lot. I'll go around the ravine and see if she maybe got caught up when gathering herbs.. I haven't been doing as much of that lately," I say sadly.

"We'll find her, Kaya. The Sky Faction is big, but Heidi wouldn't have left without leaving some signs," Julia says, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. Her big blue eyes are full of compassion and concern for my family, and I let myself feel a bit of hope.

"It hasn't been that long.. Maybe she went to visit someone? I don't know of any romantic partners, but she could have gone out with someone and had a late night. It's still pretty early in the day," I say, more to myself than to the others. We all know my mom hardly has time for herself. It's unlikely, and probably delusional, to think she left to go with someone else.. But a girl can hope.

Julia and Melani both look at me as if they are thinking the same things, that it's unlikely, possibly delusional, but they don't say anything. Julia offers me a small smile and pats my shoulder again, before turning to head back to the clinic.

Melani waits for her to leave and then turns towards me with an eyebrow up.

"What?" I ask.

"Ronan is not worth your time. He's a selfish idiot. Also, Sai and Deirdre are not all that they seem. I haven't done enough research yet, but I know enough to tell you to be careful." Her eyes shine with something that looks like pity.

I feel my throat tightening and my stomach churning. "Why are you saying this right now? Do you think they had something to do with my mother's disappearance?" I whisper.

"I don't think so, not at this time. There's something off about Deirdre and Sai, but I can't place it yet. I need to do more investigating, which I have been doing since they arrived, but it's difficult to find information. It seems like everyone has a different idea of where they came from and when. I should have warned you sooner, but I wasn't sure enough to even say that anything was wrong before. Now, I'm sure that there's something they're hiding, I just don't know what it is or what their intentions are." She said, eyes sharp, watching my every reaction.

I straighten up my posture and swallow my feelings. All that matters right now is my mother. Also, Sai and Deirdre have been here for as long as I can remember.. She must be making a mistake.

"Sai and Deirdre have been living in the Sky Faction for as long as I can remember. We took our first year of school together, and before that I wouldn't know if they had lived here or some other faction, but I'm damn sure they didn't come through Safe Haven, so.. Any intentions that aren't for the Sky Faction would have to be from their parents, and that doesn't seem right to hold them accountable for."

Melani's mouth tightened into a thin line, "Interesting." I can't tell if she's saying that to me or herself. Frustration grows in my chest.

"Whatever the case may be, the most important thing right now is to find my mom," I say, the dismissal in my tone clear as day. It's not fair for me to be so annoyed with her for bringing this up, but what the fuck? Obviously we have a task at hand, and if she's not even sure about any issues with my friends, then she shouldn't be talking about it at this time of all times. She had plenty of other opportunities to let me know.

Melani gives me a nod and heads out of the inlet. My mind is swimming, and with a huff of frustration I decide I'll keep my distance from everyone until I can get my mom home safe and sound.