Chapter 1: painstaken memory

*beginning of flashback*

I can hear sounds coming from outside and I squeeze myself further in the closet. I was already on my knees and I closed my eyes, too afraid to think about anything.

I had been warned before and I knew this was going to happen, I tried to comfort myself. My resting hands on my lap are shaking as the sound of footsteps come closer and closer. I try to adjust my breathing, but I can't.

I am too afraid that they will find me and I can't imagine what they'd do. I heard no sounds anymore.

These few seconds of pin-drop silence made my whole body stiffen as every muscle in my body tightens and I realize this might be the end of my freedom, my family and my life.

Through my closed eyes, I feel the light from outside coming my way as the door of the closet opened. It was over. Everything was over.

I opened my eyes and saw a Sendrit soldier standing in the opening. His face was in the dark but I could see his deep blue eyes, reminding me of the ocean. Footsteps were coming our way and I heard the loud bustling sounds from outside.

Seeing his eyes was the beginning of a flood of sealed away emotions finally coming out. It has been too long since I have allowed myself to leave the cold basement. The last time I allowed myself to laugh, I don't remember it anymore. Too long, way too long ago.

I lost myself in nostalgic memories and I could feel a teardrop slowly making its way to my chin. All my good childhood memories seemed to be overshadowed by the imprinted sounds of many gunshots and screams.

In this distracting moment, where I realized I lost myself in my thoughts, the soldier started closing the door. Relief washed over me, no it wasn't relief. It was a glimmer of hope.

The last thing I saw before my tears blurred my sight and my surroundings turned dark, was a tattoo of a purple-eyed lion. An image I would never forget for the rest of my life.

*end of flashback*

2 years later

"Sya! Come downstairs real quick." I swiftly hid my diary away in the second drawer of my desk. When I came downstairs, I saw a tall and handsome looking man next to my brother, who just called. "Sya, I want you to meet Jake. He is the current leader of our resistance movement." My brother continued. "Jake, this is my little sister."

Jake gave me a gentle smile. But something in his eyes told me that this man was up to no good. "It's nice to finally meet you, Sya. Your brother told me a lot about you."

"I'm sure he did." I paused for a moment and gave a quick smile before I continued. "You two must have a lot to talk about, I'll be upstairs." My brother stopped me and took my hand. "I was thinking you might want to join us. Come sit over here."

"I already told you about some of our previous plans. This time we want to trick a few enemy officers to come to us. They will get invited to a party and we will throw a bomb in the room when they are together. That is the basic idea." My brother was full of enthusiasm when he spoke. "And what has this got to do with me?" I asked, although I already had the idea that they wanted me to take part in this.

Jake took over. "We want a specific officer to come. It is officer Tyrell Cagney. We want you to invite him." "Why me?" "We need someone who knows the purpose of this party to invite him. And we can't just tell anyone." "Take Audry, she can do this." "That's the problem, she has already met Cagney." I closed my eyes, then opened them again. "Fine, tell me what to do."

Three days later, I walked into the agreed-on cafe. Tyrell Cagney was supposed to sit in the back. I nervously looked at my long dark blue skirt and tried to calm myself down. I adjusted my breathing and walked to the table. "Hello there, is this seat taken?" I said with the sweetest voice I could muster up looking at the Sendrit officer in front of me. "Please." He said pointing at the seat in front of him. He had beautiful familiar looking eyes. Just enjoy yourself, I repeated my brother's words in my head. One of the waiters came over and Tyrell ordered wine. I have never been someone to talk a lot. So I waited for him to speak up. That tactic didn't seem to work out. Though I didn't dislike this silence between us, I still decided to start a conversation. I had a mission after all, so I had to say something.