The Lores of Lyra - Rising Star

The burning is gone, Miriam thought as she woke up. She felt relieved – although sore and exhausted. Whatever Blake did earlier, must have worked.

The thought of Blake made her bounce up and look around in confusion. Where is he? She was sure that he had been beside her when she fell asleep. When did he leave? Frowning, she slowly stood from her bed. She took in her appearances in the large mirror. The bird nest on top of her head would be a pain to comb out. At her vain thoughts, she couldn’t hide a small smile – Never before had she been that awful, and still be able to smile. I blame Blake.

Miriam wasn’t bothered about her unusual pale, almost colorless skin. For the first time in an awful long time, she was able to stand up and get ready without any help. In a sense, she felt like things were now up to her, even if for such a short time.

After fixing up her looks, she stood in her room stretching her limbs. Lying down all day yesterday had made her body feel stiff and she needed to shake off the numbness. As she squatted down, her eyes fell on the book that was pushed under the bed. Not wanting to think about the fact that she was adopted - or any of the other mess currently in her life - she remembered the missing pages.

She still wanted to get a look at those. Her gut once again told her that those pages were essential. I have to find them.

Tripping down the hall, and down to the kitchen, she smiled at every person she met. They rewarded her with a big smile in return. All of them were happy to see her on her legs again. Yesterday’s events had left them all scared and to see her up and functioning, made the tension…easier, for both parts. Yeah, I can see it in your faces. All relieved, huh? The change in her thoughts was something different. Despite her exhaustion, she felt energized and whole. It’s like something has finally been put in place.

“Madam Hertz is out for the day, Miss,” Christina informed her. Miriam took a seat at the table and gave the girl a single nod in response.

Breakfast was served and she was left alone. At first, she had hoped that the maids would be around to talk with her during breakfast, though, when they didn’t, she took this opportunity to think up a plan for today. She was glad they had left in such a hurry. I guess they think I need time to be alone. Well, they are right.

The fact that her mother was away for the day meant she could resume her snooping. She had to find the key to the drawer in Veronica’s private study. I should continue looking in Ma’s private chambers since she’s gone for the day – I won’t be disturbed.

Her good mood helped her not to come across as shady. Miriam strolled freely throughout the house, smiling to all of the employees, and finally just casually slipped inside her mother’s bedroom.

She went straight to the small table and opened the secret drawer. It was empty at first sight, and she felt her heart sink a little. Panicking a little, she stuck a finger in there. Perhaps it’s in the back. Something was taped to the top. Wow. Ma genuinely doesn’t want me to find this. A moment of shame flashed through her, but the thoughts were quickly forgotten.

Miriam struggled to get it out, but finally managed to make it fall out on the floor. She picked it up and scrutinized it. The key was a silver one; the way it was formed made it seem both modern and old style.

Gripping it tightly, she ran excitedly to the library, almost tripping over her own feet. Her heartbeat thumped at a frantic pace when finally she stepped behind the curtain. Nothing had changed since the last time she had been here. It didn’t even look as if her mother had put a foot in here for a while. Dust had gathered on her mother’s desk, which surprised her. Veronica Hertz had always disliked dust. In fact, she disliked when things were unclean in general—something Miriam had witnessed many times during her childhood.

Sadness appeared and spread through her when she imagined the reason why her mother had been preoccupied these past weeks to dust off her workroom. She knew that it always took an enormous effort for her mother to pull through every time she had an attack.

She sat down in her mother’s seat and carefully placed the key into the hole. A slight click signaled that it fitted, and with shaking hands, Miriam turned the key and fumbled to open the drawer.

In there, she found more papers, something she had expected, although, frustration kept growing as she flipped through them quickly, at first glance it seemed like work pages. Taking a deep breath, she calmed down before looking at each individual paper.

The mound was full of old newspapers; none of them caught her attention. It wasn’t until she stumbled upon something she recognized that her attention was on high alert. The thick, worn out paper felt familiar in her hands, and when she saw the writing on the page, she recognized this as one of the missing pages from her book. For a moment, it felt as if her heart had stopped beating. Her mother had actually hidden this from her.

Skimming the page her eyes found something that made her stop to read more carefully.

’The first part of the prophecy tells of the day when the Rising Star will return to earth once more. He or She will help us defeat the black holes, and help protect Terra for all eternity.

The prophecy follows:

’On an autumn night the Aurora Borealis will show

on a night where the moon will grow

The seas will begin to roar and rise

as the stars begin to fall from the skies

Where a new shooting star will open her eyes

and shine bright enough to light up the skies

On a night were the sky fills with colorful light

A Rising Star will come to reach a new height’

Miriam read the words repeatedly. She didn’t understand them. However, her instinct told her that this was important and not only to her but to people all over the world.

She couldn’t make sense of the secrecy around this. Why her mother would need to hide this from her, she didn’t know either. Her head was a rumbled jumble of thoughts. ‘Ugh.’

Her head snapped up when she thought she heard someone groan. Looking around the room, she couldn’t see anyone. She shook it off as a figment of her imagination.

For a minute, she wondered what she should do with the prophecy, but concluded that she already had broken many of her mother’s rules. Packing the things away and stuffing the worn out paper inside her dress, she stood up, ready to leave, but came to a halt when she remembered the key. I have to put it back!

She placed the rest of the papers safely in the drawer and locked it. Her fingers shook, and adrenaline rushed through her as she quickly gathered a piece of tape, and ran out of the office.

For once, luck was on her side, and she sighed in relief when finally she sat down on her mother’s bed and attempted to place the small piece of metal back in its place.

‘No!’ The sound startled Miriam and she dropped the key. Looking around confused, she couldn’t figure out where the sound came from. She bent down to pick up the key, and managed to fix it in its place.

‘Stupid good looking boy, why does he walk so fast?’ she heard once more, realizing the sound came from inside her head. Her heart began beating in a faster beat. Was she going crazy now?

‘Meathead, you have to walk slower!’ It rang inside her head.

Miriam closed her eyes hard and screamed, holding her head with both her hands. Inside of her head, all she got was more screaming in response. It sounded like a girl.

’What the Solem was that?’ she heard once she stopped the screaming herself to breathe.

The girl had a southern accent to her voice.

‘Hello?’ Miriam tried to think in response but a skull-piercing scream resounded through her head in return. Gritting her teeth and holding her ears in a foolish attempt to cut of the sound, she waited until the screaming stopped. When it finally did, the silence hurt, and she was afraid that she might have tinnitus.

‘Can you hear me?’ Miriam thought again. She stared out into the air and was about to scold herself for being so silly to think that her hallucinations would answer her.

‘Yes,’ a careful, strange voice responded.

‘Wow! Am I going crazy?’ Miriam asked surprised, and felt annoyed when she heard the voice laugh in a humorless manner.

‘If you are crazy, why would you be in my head then?’ it replied. The thoughts had a sarcastic tone to it, which made Miriam feel slightly uncomfortable.

’Oh Solem, what is this? Who are you?’ Miriam panicked. Normally she never took the stars name in vain, and she instantly regretted it after the words had escaped her lips. Her mother had taught her better than that.

‘I’m Annabell, who are you?’

Miriam thought about what to answer for a few seconds, but decided to tell the truth. After all, the voice was in her head. It couldn’t hurt that much.

’I’m Miriam,’ she replied,

’Oh boy, I got to sit down. I have to tell Joshua this! I’m going insane!’ the voice sounded in a panicked way. Miriam thought that the voice reflected her own emotions perfectly.

‘I don’t freaking know.’ Miriam didn’t know what to respond to that, and she quickly realized she didn’t have to either, when the voice continued, ‘Why would I ask that?’

Miriam leaned back on the bed and listened to the fragments of a conversation she could hear. She didn’t dare think of anything special, afraid that she might interrupt something.

‘You there?’ the girl in her head asked.

’Yes.’

’Who are you? Last name I mean. Tell me!’ Miriam furrowed her brows at the rudeness in the tone of voice.

“I am Miriam Hertz!” she proclaimed and couldn’t stop herself from not only thinking but also saying the words out loud. Her hands shot to cover her mouth, and she looked around in hopes that no one had heard. Her eyes fell on the clock. Realizing the time, she knew she had to go back to her room early. Standing to do so, she began walking as carefree as possible.

’Why are you in my head?’ the voice demanded as she turned a corner. She could see Beatrice dusting off something further down the hall – causing her palms to become sweaty.

‘Why are you in mine?’ Miriam snapped back, focusing on only thinking the words this time. The last thing she needed was for the servants to think she was insane too.

’This is weird,’ she thought when the voice didn’t answer back right away.

Running the last distance to her room, she hurried inside and closed the door a little too hard.

’Where do you live?’ the voice asked. Not replying to her earlier thought.

‘In Kokab, why?’ Miriam asked. She thought she could feel the other voice sigh and her eyes sprung wide open. How was that even possible?

‘I guess I can tell you since I am pretty much stuck with you. I’m on the search for my sister, and I thought…’ the girl didn’t finish her thought.

’You thought what?’ Miriam urged on when she figured that the other person didn’t intend to continue. The whole concept of speaking with a person in her mind was foreign to her, and somehow, she was sure that she was losing her mind.

‘I thought… that you might be my sister, but my sister lives in Yildun,’ the girl finally answered.

Miriam didn’t need to think an answer there; she didn’t know what to respond. The disappointment and sadness that tainted the earlier demanding voice of the girl inside her head was heartbreaking.

‘I’m sorry,’ she responded after several minutes. Her mind became silent after that. Miriam had a headache and needed some air.

’When is your birthday?’ the voice came back as she made her way down to get her shoes and a short coat.

‘The 11th of October,’ Miriam responded quickly. She felt sick. Her head pounded, and she couldn’t wait to get outside.

The breeze against her skin felt sensational. She wasn’t burning but felt extremely hot. Different thoughts whirled around inside her head, and she was glad that Annabell kept quiet so she could think.

First, there was the prophecy. She had no idea what to do about that. While she pondered about it, she walked down to the lake and sat down on a small bench. Pulling the paper out, she read it once more.

’On an autumn night the Aurora Borealis will show,’ it read. Miriam knew that ‘Aurora Borealis’ was also known as Northern Lights. Something they didn’t get to see often in Astron.

The prophecy confused her as much as it intrigued her. She couldn’t wait to show it to Blake.

‘Who is Blake?’ the voice interrupted. Miriam groaned.

’Would you mind staying out of my head?’ she thought back with as much venom as she could muster, which wasn’t much. Even when she was angry, she somehow managed to stay polite. Apparently, that applied for her thoughts too.

‘Don’t tell anyone about that prophecy!’ Annabell demanded. Miriam was beyond annoyed now.

“What are you doing out here?” a familiar voice interrupted the string of curses she was about to send to the obnoxious girl in her head. Looking back, she smiled widely when she saw Blake walking towards her.

“Just getting some fresh air,” she replied and patted the seat next to her.

“Why don’t we go for a walk? I haven’t been much out since I arrived here. You could show me some of your favorite spots?” he suggested with a smile. With a blush, she nodded and together they walked around the lake.

The lake was her favorite place on the entire premises. Cozy, wooden benches were placed around it and were a perfect place to unwind after a long walk. When she was younger, this was where she could come to think.

“I love this part of the grounds,” Miriam told Blake.

“I can see why,” he said and looked at the ground.

His long hair fell down, covering his forehead. He was dressed in a red hoodie, something she had never seen him wear before, and with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He looked like the typical teenager.

“Is something wrong?” she asked when she noticed how pale he looked.

“No. Nothing for you to worry about,” he answered with a small smile. He gave her a weak smile, but Miriam didn’t fall for it.

Miriam studied him. He did look tired and weary.

“Did I do that to you?” she asked in a small voice. He looked at her with a puzzled face.

“What do you mean?”

“You look sick,” she said and looked down at the ground. In her mind, he did, but she wasn’t so sure if she had the right to say anything.

“How would you have done that to me?” he asked, not picking up the hint. Maybe he didn’t get it?

“Well, you know, when you did that thing to me last night,” she explained. He turned away from her, but she saw the look of anger in his eyes.

“I told you that I don’t want to talk about it,” he said in a cold voice.

‘Seems like there are something fishy about this one,’ the voice in her head suddenly spoke.

‘Shut up,’ Miriam thought back.

‘Don’t tell me to…’

Stretching a hand out to touch Blake, she changed her mind, and in a matter of seconds, her arms were wrapped around his torso, shutting of Annabell. Hugging him tightly, she was glad that her mind was quiet. She didn’t need to think of anything else than Blake now.

They stood in silence, the wind whirling their hair around.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. He didn’t respond but didn’t remove her hands either. He turned around slowly. Wrapping his strong arms around, he took a deep breath before hugging her tightly.

“No, I should be the one to apologize. I just really don’t want to talk about it,” he said as he stepped back and took her hand in his. Their eyes met, and Miriam felt herself blush again. This blushing thing had become quite the thing lately. She couldn’t seem to stop it, as soon as she looked into his dark blue eyes, she could almost feel the blush rush to her cheeks.

They walked hand in hand back to the house, and Miriam made sure to steer away from any sore subjects. They sat down to play a game of cards before dinner, with her mother and his uncle.

Both of their family members pronounced their joy over seeing Miriam up and about. The dinner was the first they had eaten together since Blake’s arrival.

Miriam laughed, and joked with both of them, and for a moment, she felt herself being able to pretend that she was a normal girl. However, several times when her mother and Dr. Johansson asked if she was okay during the dinner, she simply smiled and said yes. The reason she looked so flushed was her hand in Blake’s underneath the table.

It wasn’t until she was safe in her room that she thought of the prophecy once more. Blake had asked her a question about it, and she found herself struggling to answer. The warning from Annabell was evident in her memory.

The other girl had been surprisingly silent during the day, something Miriam didn’t need to complain about. She wasn’t overly thrilled about the fact that her thoughts could be invaded and spied on all the time. Praying that Annabell hadn’t been spying on her all day, she finally told Blake that she hadn’t found anything.

When he left, a feeling of nausea came over her.

’What happened?’ the voice, Annabell, asked.

’What do you mean?’ Miriam answered in a tired voice.

‘I thought you were dead,’

’Why would you think that?’ Miriam rolled her eyes and rolled over on her stomach. Hiding her head in her arms, she tried to breathe slowly to get rid of the nausea.

‘I felt … empty.’ Annabell answered.

’I felt fantastic, I am not dead, and can you go away now?’ Miriam said, and breathed a sigh of relief when the other girl didn’t respond.

She leaned back on her bed, and felt butterflies increase in her stomach as she thought of the embrace she had shared with Blake down at the lake.

’I think you should stay away from that guy.” Annabell said in her head, this made her cry out loud.

’And who are you to decide that?’ she snapped.

’I think… I think you might be my twin sister!” the voice replied. Miriam didn’t know how to respond to that. At first, she snorted, but when her eyes fell on the death certificate of the one she should have been. Silent tears began falling, when she realized that it could be true, her mother might have known about this. The knowledge of all the things her mother kept hidden from her was burning her inside more than her latest attack had.

She crumbled in a fetus position, hugging her knees. As she lay there, Miriam was glad that Annabell didn’t say anything else that day.