Deep into the night, the research still goes on and yet we don't even have a clue about what the mark is. We've read almost every book in the library and visited thousands of websites but to no avail.

The more I understand that no one knows about the mark on Elon's arm the more scared I get. I'm terrified that I won't find him, that I won't see him again. He was my responsibility and I was given the task of keeping him safe. I think I have failed my parents.

After a few hours Etan tells me to take a break. I just sit in my chair for a few minutes before deciding something. I won't give up until I find my little brother and that's final. I'll do anything. I can't lose him too. I mean that's the sole reason why I came here.

Etan and I are still a little awkward around each other. It's weird to finally get to spend time with my brother, who I thought was dead, after so long. I'm happy though. I have my big brother with me and soon we can have the whole family together again... hopefully.

Etan disappears behind the shelves of the library as I sit there staring at the ceiling for a few minutes before a great idea hits me. I jump out of my seat and run out of the library. I hope he's still there.

When I get to the lab, I knock on the door and wait. I hear things falling inside before the door opens and a disheveled looking guy with striking red hair and green eyes is in front of me. "Yes?" He asks me tiredly.

"I came to see Doc..."

"Who are you?" He narrows his eyes at me suspiciously.

"My name is Evin and I just-"

"Come in!" He grabs my arm and drags me in before I even have the chance to finish what I was saying.

After the door slams shut, I find myself in a very dimly lit room. I'm dragged right to the middle, where I was earlier today, but this time the tube is gone and instead there's a caldron placed right in the middle of a circle of salt. There are people standing around it and the closer I get I notice that there are two girls, one with brown hair and on with red, and a guy with blond hair.

There's a shorter man, running around the room, chanting things under his breath. Doc. Is he really crazy?

I find myself standing next to the others and looking at Doc who is still running around.

"What are you doing here?" The girl with the brown hair says. She has bright emerald green eyes and she's looking at me as if I've gone mad.

"Are you crazy?" The girl with the red hair says. She's really similar to the guy who just dragged me in.

"Go! Save yourself while you still have the chance!" The boy with blond hair says dramatically. His grey eyes are wild and he seems to genuinely think that I won't have a chance to "escape" later.

I blink at them. Has Doc made them go mad like himself?

"Shut up! I say we leave her here and escape!" The guy who dragged me in says urgently to the others.

Yup. Definitely crazy.

The girl with red hair slaps him on the back of the head before turning to me. "Excuse my brother, he's just tired and isn't thinking." She sticks her hand out to me. "I'm Rose and this is Gabriel, my twin." I shake her hand and look weirdly at Gabriel who is muttering things under his breath.

"I'm Ariana! I'm on the Rostra." The girl with the beautiful green eyes says as I shake her hand.

"I'm Felix. I'm one of the spies and still don't understand why she should be on the Rostra." He points to Ariana who's scowling at him.

"I'm Evin. I just joined."

"Yeah we noticed." Gabriel says, eyes narrowed at me. That earns him another slap on the back of the head.

That's when Doc comes back carrying glass bottles full of different things in his arms, still chanting things but louder.

"What is he doing?" I whisper to Ariana who's standing next to me.

"He's trying to figure out a new potion. He does it a lot don't worry." Ok then. "We are here because last time he did this the whole building was set on fire," she adds grimly.

"I don't know about you guys but I'd rather not burn to death in my sleep." Felix frowns while keeping his eyes on Doc cautiously.

Doc looks at every bottle thoughtfully before dumping them in all at once.

Everyone's eyes widen before Rose shouts, "take cover! It's going to blow up!"

We all jump behind shelves while Doc remains standing in front of the caldron. What about him?

As if hearing my thoughts Ariana grips my arm and shakes her head.

Suddenly a big explosion occurs but the blast remains only in the circle of salt. Actually now that I look at it I can evidently see the strange engravings on the floor. Maybe a spell to keep everything inside? It could be a similar spell to what the Angels use to ward off the Sun Walls. They say nothing can get in or out of that country, not even air.

Doc sneezes, otherwise unfazed, before groaning and stepping out of the circle. We come out of hiding. As he sees me he yelps and runs into the shadows.

Everyone frowns and looks at me as I put my hands up in surrender. I really don't know why he does that.

This time Doc returns with a wand in hand. He points it at me before muttering words. Something in a different, probably ancient, language, I notice. A bright white light comes out of the wand and towards me as my eyes widen. I don't have the time to jump out of the way as the light hits me. I feel the sting from the top of my head all the way to my toes. Everything is blurry for a moment before I feel myself hit the ground.

I don't go unconscious though. Everything just blurs out before going back to normal again. I'm on my knees on the ground, rubbing my head and sending murderous looks towards Doc.

Everyone is standing around me and asking if I'm alright.

I stand up with their help and suddenly hear someone shout my name. "Evin!" I look around for the owner of the voice but don't find anyone. Am I hallucinating?

"Evin!" The voice calls out again. This time when I look around my eyes suddenly fall on a very familiar figure. Elon.

He's looking right at me with worried eyes. He seems to be so close but yet so far away.

I don't notice when I break away from the others and start walking towards his figure.

"Elon?" I whisper softly.

"Evin!" He smiles at me.

"Is it really you?" I ask him, still whispering.

He looks down at himself, as if to make sure, before answering. "I guess," he says with a shrug.

I want to hug him, I really do, but something's holding me back. Like an invisible force or something.

"Listen Evin, I needed to see you but I couldn't find a way how..." He trails off.

"You just disappeared." I look at him as if he might vanish into thin air again.

"About that," he rubs the back of his neck, his sleeve rides up, the mark coming into view. I stare at it, not taking my eyes off it. It's not red and sizzling anymore but I'm scared that any minute now it will get like that again and take my brother from me.

Elon notices me staring and pulls his sleeve back up again, hiding the mark. "Listen," he says urgently. "I can't control where I go or when I go there. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. I see you took the job." I can only manage to nod. "Good. Evin, I need you to forget about me at the moment until I find a way to come back okay?"

"What? Elon what's going on?" I ask immediately.

"It's hard to explain." He shakes his head. "Just forget about me and don't try searching, you'll get into trouble. Please just listen to me okay? Now was the only time I could feel the veil getting weaker, which let me be here." The urgency in his voice makes me want to listen, but this is my brother we're talking about, my little innocent brother who I need to take care of. The veil getting weaker? It must be the spell Doc cast at me.

"Lonny, I can't just forget you exist." I use the nickname I used to call him when we were kids.

"Please Evie. Please." He starts to fade out.

My eyes widen. No!

"Evie let me go. I'll find you when I have to. Please, don't make me worry." He begs me. "I love you Evie."

And then he's gone. And I've lost him all over again. And I've lost another person again.

Suddenly my legs aren't strong enough to keep my up and I want to fall to the ground. I want to let go but I can't. I can't breathe.

I shake my head. I can't be weak. I need to be strong and instead of sitting around and weeping like a little kid I need to find him. I can't do that if I'm wasting time.

The only family I have left right now is Etan, who I really don't know how to act around. He's still my brother though, my own blood, the only person who can help me right now.

I ignore everyone in the room and the look of guilt that Doc gives me and go out of the room and straight to the library. If anything the events of today have showed me that I need to find Elon and get my parents out of the prison the government put them in.

When I enter the library I'm a broken mess.

"Hey, where were you? I found something you need to..." Etan trails off and his smile fades away as he sees me. "Are you okay?"

I try to give him a wobbly smile, but it comes out as a grimace. "I'm fine." My voice breaks and I feel the tears in my eyes start running down my face.

The empty feeling I have inside is killing me. It's like I don't have anyone else left in the world and I feel homesick.

Etan immediately rushes to my side and takes me to his arms. I feel like when we were kids again.

It was only 11 years ago when we were running through the woods, 11 years ago when he just vanished and we thought he was dead, 11 years ago when I couldn't sleep at night because I wanted my big brother with me, 11 years ago when I used to cradle Elon to my chest, while he asked me about our big brother, falling asleep with tears running down my cheeks. Elon and I had grown closer after Etan vanished. We took care of each other no matter what, and now I've failed him. He's gone, I don't know where he is and I can't help him.

Right now I feel like I'm 9 and I've lost Etan all over again. But this time I've finally found him and it's not just a dream where I hug him, afraid to let go. He's really here and he's not going anywhere.

Somehow we end up on the floor, backs to the shelves of the library as I tell him about the day he vanished, about the day I started high school, the day Elon started high school, the day Mother and Father were taken, everything, and we both sit there on the cold ground, telling each other stories like we did before, and cry like there's no tomorrow.