Scroll of Starlight

Chapter Twenty Three

            I was still anxious about Adrian inserting himself in this investigation, but Dean walked back over with the paper in hand and sat next to me on the mini sofa and I tried to calm down. We peeked to his computer where Adrian's fingertips where going crazy all over the keyboard.

            He had uploaded the images already and as the search bar was loading. I sighed and leaned my head back on the couch. I winced, trying to shift my leg and breathed out.

            "Did you force the leg too much today?" Dean asked, a concerned look on his face.

            I shook my head. "I guess it's just a little sore still. I'll need some Tylenol." I reached down for my bag and looked around, my big constellation book in my bag getting in my way.

            At that exact time, Adrian broke the silence and updated us on the search results. "Well, there's not much on the actual symbols, but a bunch of things about stars are coming up."

            I stopped shuffling around my bag and looked up. "Stars?"

            Adrian leaned over his desk and nodded at me. "Come look, there's literally nothing on these symbols."

            I forgot about my pain at that instant, which made Dean roll his eyes and look for my Tylenol himself in my bag. This had become a regular occurrence between us as my mind was easily distracted. This time though, there was an instant stickler for the word Adrian said.

            I looked over at the screen and saw four points resembling a polygon on the screen. But the image didn't have a description of what constellation. "I recognize this constellation. Not much from viewing it myself, but I've seen it before. It's not really known."

            I reached down and took my book out of the bag. The stars were organized by location and I went straight to the Ursa Major constellation, since that seemed to be near the constellation on screen. Flipping the pages, I ran a finger down the page to the lesser known constellations sections.

            "Are you going to enlighten us and take the meds or are we supposed to keep guessing?" Dean raised a brow from my side, holding out the medicine and waterbottle from before.

            I sheepishly looked up at him and Adrian, who had his arms crossed and said, "Yes. What he said."

            I took the water and the pill, quickly chugging it down. "I was thinking about this beforehand. What is the island known for?" I didn't allow them to answer because I went back to looking at the book. "Star gazing. We have the least light pollution in the country. But, there is something here."

            I reached the section that I was looking for and pointed, reading out loud. "Some constellations are easily removed from the Universal Constellation Collection, but we still have records from the 1700's. Some are removed because they are too small or just too close to the other major ones. Such is one from French astronomer Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande." I looked up at them. "Can you search him up?"

            "Can I search him up." Adrian muttered under his breath, clearly hating being left out of the loop. "How do you spell this freaking name."

            Dean chuckled under his breath from beside me as I spelt the name out for Adrian to search up. "What's coming up?"        

            Adrian leaned into his chair and said, "Le Murale or Quadrans Muralis is one that was discovered and created by him in 1795. It was just not big enough and left the Collection later on." He turned the monitor towards us and the same polygon figure from before was staring right at us. "It's the same thing."

            "Alright." I looked around the Cave and to the rolling white board. "Adrian do you have a map of the island anywhere here that we can use?"

            He instantly flew from the desk and started rummaging through the drawers. I got up, trying not to put too much weight on the bad foot. "Alright, Dean can you redraw the symbols, but bigger on the board?"

            Dean nodded and pulled the whiteboard closer to us so I could lean on the arm of the couch. He got to work using the red and black dry erase markers on the bottom of the board. I continued to stare at where the polygon was on the computer.

            "Where does this connect?" I muttered, watching Adrian and Dean get to work. It couldn't be a coincidence that only stars came up when we searched the image up.

            After Adrian was able to find a spare copy of the map of the island, I asked him to give it to me and folded it only around our area. By that time, Dean had finished drawing out the symbols. I placed it with some tape on the board and looked at all of them at the same time. I got up and grasped the remaining blue marker on the board.

            Starting off where there was a strong point, I drew the constellation where there was an empty space in the symbol that Dean had seen before. On the map, I drew the larger constellation with many pathways. After that, I went to the symbol that we haven't seen before and only the outline of the mural was made with one major pathway in the middle.

            "So, there's the actual constellation on this symbol..." I pointed out, looking to Dean who was also in deep thought on the path. "And this one is only half."

            Adrian made an acknowledgement noise at the back of his throat and asked for the marker. Without taking his eyes off the board, he grabbed a ruler from behind him and started to draw on the map. Starting at where our school was, he drew the outline of the constellation with each point landing on different places like the library and the woods. As soon as he started drawing the  main pathway, I gaped. "Dean, that's where the star event was held."

            Dean slowly nodded, recognition finally flickering behind his eyes. "And that's where we encountered the note."

            Adrian made a noise from beside us. We turned to look at him even as the wheels in our brain started to turn. He raised his brow. "So does that mean you lied to me earlier?"

            I frowned. "What? What are you talking about?"

            "You said, and I quote, This is a note we found earlier." He narrowed his eyes while crossing his arms. "Is anyone going to actually tell me what's going on?"       

            I began to panic and he continued to talk. "And don't tell me it's nothing because I remember the guy from the hospital and the one you thought you saw during your escape from gym class."

            There was a sigh from beside me as Dean slightly pushed me towards the sofa so I could sit. "Fine. But I need to emphasize that this is very serious and dangerous, Adrian. You can't take this lightly at all."

            Adrian's whole demeanor seemed to change. His usual bubbly posture turned into serious journalist time. "Of course, Dean. What's wrong? Are you guys in trouble?"

            I took Dean's hand and told them both to sit down. "I guess we'll start from the beginning."

            From that point on, Dean and I explained the situation to Adrian. Where Dean wasn't able to talk, I filled in for him. At no point during the explanation did Adrian laugh or crack a joke, but took everything pretty seriously.

            When we finished telling the story, Adrian crossed his arms and nodded. "Alright. So, what I'm thinking is that we have to follow the path."

            I frowned. "That's it? No questions or anything?"

            He shook his head and stared at Dean. "I am pretty perceptive, Branwen. It makes sense now why Dean was so hesitant during the initial interview. But, I understand and want to help."

            Dean leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "You are aware that this could be dangerous and can't share this with anyone, right? Especially with your family, you're going to have to be as careful as possible. You don't want them to become a target."

            Adrian continued to stare at Dean. "I am aware, but I won't let my friends go through this alone when I know I can help." He stood and walked over to the map. "So, when are we going on the hunt?"