fragile time

~chapter 4~

Silence filled the room as everyone looked around to see if anyone would. Every face wore an anxious expression. I thought the six of us were the only people who knew where the treehouse was located...

"Right." I continued, "I didn't think so. We'll say I have a... a secret admirer. Accept, this admirer doesn't send me love letters. They send me, uh, death threats." Blade, Xavier, Lillith, and Taylor all exploded like fireworks.

Xavier roared, "Someone sent you a death threat?!"

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" Taylor countered.

Blade yelped, "Are you serious?!"

"When did you find this out?" Lillith exclaimed.

"Okay, okay!" I raised my voice over theirs, silencing them, "I know, I know. It's kind of a lot. We're a little nervous, so be... aware. Emily, if you would."

I gestured to the paper she was gripping in her hand, and she read it aloud to the team. I could tell she was timid. She tried desperately to stop her voice from shaking. While the others watched with wide eyes and listened with open ears, I tried my best to ignore her. As Emily continued, my fear slowly started to transform into anger. Someone had the audacity to say that I was using people, hurting the author— who I don't even know—, and planning to destroy my own home. Prank or not, I was going to find out who wrote this.

Blade's voice broke my train of thought, "We only have to figure out who's handwriting it is, right?"

"How?" Xavier reasoned, "We'd have to compare the handwriting to everyone Micheal knows—maybe even more— and that'll take forever!"

"We could get a list of people we think it could be and compare only their handwriting." Blade countered.

"How are we going to get a hold of their handwriting, if you're so smart?"

"Steal their homework, duh."

"The author could be disguising their handwriting," Emily chipped in, "they could have someone writing it for them."

"Are we not telling an adult? We're only children." Lillith added.

"Exactly, we're only children." Emily said, "Who's going to believe us with only this note as proof?"

"I guess we could get the suspects and question them?" Taylor suggested.

"They'll lie." Blade said, rolling his eyes.

"Micheal can read minds, though."

I shook my head, but Xavier was the one to respond, "They know he can read minds."

Emily agreed, "It's hard to control your thoughts, but some people can."

Everyone was quiet as we waited for someone to present the next idea. "I can cast a spell to see each place the paper has been in the past forty-eight hours." Lillith mumbled.

"Do it." Taylor said quickly, "It can't harm anyone."

Everyone nodded their heads. Nothing bad could come from this, right? It hasn't been in the treehouse that long, and even if the author wrote the letter in a strange place to throw us off, nothing would change. However, this would be the perfect opportunity to frame someone. What if the author wrote it in someone else's house? No matter what, we'll have to keep our options open. "We don't have many choices now, so..." I agreed. Emily handed the letter over to Lillith, who held her wand loosely in her hand.

"No pressure." Blade joked, trying to bring some light into the situation. Lillith silenced him with a glare.

Lillith drew a cross with her wand on the delicate paper while reciting the spell, "Prope et longe, diversimode, ostende mihi ubi hoc in praeterito biduo processerit."