Pretty Little Liar (Aruani Element Shifter AU) ✔️

Eight

My lower lip quivered even more as I opened the book. It was dusty, and very fragile. Christa was silent.

"She read this book the day before I went on holiday. I was looking for a good book to take on holiday with me, and while I was doing so, she was reading this. Telling me all these facts."

My hand was shaking as I read the exact same fact that she had told me.

Christa sighed. "Why would she have it then? If it was library property, I mean."

"It doesn't seem to have any stamp or whatever. She definitely didn't take it out when I was with her. No, that's impossible. It must not have been library property. Somebody must have left it there."

"Unless, maybe she bought it from them?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would she buy a story book?"

"Well, you know. Its certainly interesting..."

"Its stupid," I frowned. "You're probably right. Annie always liked these kind of stories."

I shut the book, telling myself that I might as well take a look through it later. But as the rest of the pages and the back cover fell down onto the front, I noticed that the edges were burnt. In fact, half of the back cover was black.

"Look," I said, pointing at it. Christa put her hand over the burnt patch.

"Its been burnt. Slightly ironic, don't you think? A book about fire people being burnt."

"Yeah." I was very deep in thought.

As memories came flooding back into my head, I remembered about all that fussy security that was going on around the area. Come to think of it, I hadn't really noticed the security and extra government members that were scattered around town these days until now.

I shoved the book away quickly, and sat, playing with Annie's necklace in my fingers.

"Lets take these upstairs, shall we?" I asked.

I grabbed a box of tissues from the kitchen drawer, and passed it over to Christa, who pulled out several tissues gratefully.

"Thanks," she smiled, holding the box tightly, and wiping her damp face. I sighed, and took the box of memories upstairs to my bedroom.

Firstly, I put Annie's necklace around my neck, where I hung tangled with mine. Then I went about putting the photo frame of her on my desk, along with an ebony elephant figurine her mother gave her when she was young.

There was also Annie's little treasure box of memories in the large cardboard box. Inside, I found pictures of her and her parents when they were very young, and she was only a baby. They looked so happy. I smiled sadly at each picture, watching Annie's sweet expression. There was only a few pictures of her and her parents, after that they were all pictures of her as a child in the garden next door, going to school, down by the river, all taken by her aunt.

"I miss you Annie," I whispered at her still face. With a long silence, I stared fondly at the pictures of us again, and placed them on my bedside table, ready to by put up on the wall. All of Annie's sketchbooks were put on a shelf above my bed, along with all of her books and other boxes and things. I left a few things still in the box, ready to sort out later.

I was about to reach for the door when I heard paper fall behind me. When I turned to look, I saw the letter from the box had fallen out of my pocket and onto the floor. I picket it up, staring at the thick envelope, about to open it, until I heard Christa's footsteps coming up the stairs, and I threw it under my pillow.

She opened the door, her eyes puffy and slightly red. She took one last look at the photo of Annie on the desk.

"Bye bye Annie. I'll see you soon," she smiled, and grabbed my hand. "C'mon Armin, lets go for a walk. I need fresh air, or I might gag on pity towards you."

I smiled, and nodded. "Okay. Bye Annie."

We both left the house, and the cold, fresh air hit us with the familiar reminder that we were okay, together, with each other.

As we walked, I took a minute to look around the silent area. Truly enough, I counted four policemen between my house and the end of the road.

What were they guarding? Were they looking for someone? Was somebody on the run?

I decided to ask Christa if she felt anything strange about them. As yet another policeman walked past us, she scowled.

We had talked about this in the past, but not really into any detail. It was normally to play a sarcastic game of "Count the Policeman".

"Yeah, I definitely know what you mean. I have no idea what they're doing. Then again, does anybody? I asked dad a while back, and he said that there was a new council that went super secretive and quiet one day."

I nodded. "Yeah, I remember. About five years ago. This new council overtook the government and we never really heard about them."

"Its like that story you told me about the airport. There's definitely something happening. Like, why would you be checked and stuff before you've even gotten in? And why did they only target you? It's very strange," she smirked.

I never really took any interest in the local politics, but something about our government sent a shiver down my spine.

What was going on? What are they hiding? And more importantly, was there a possible threat nearby?

I couldn't keep Annie safe, so I'm determined not to make that same mistake with Christa.