I start awake and fling off the covers. Since I pretty much destroyed the phone yesterday morning, there’s no wake-up call. Nobody’s knocking or calling my name either, this is just the time that my mind decided to switch itself on.

[11:25]

[Yuri]: Am I late…?

Even though I said that my mind was ‘on’, as always, there’s a brief delay before I can understand the world.

[11:30]

[Yuri]: I’m late!

I change into rumpled clothing, take a bag of chips from the minifridge - guess that’s breakfast - and shoot out into the hall.

[Yuri]: Grr, how can Lily complain about me being sloppy when she left her own door ajar?

I move to close the door. Then I remember and then understand - what I heard last night was no dream. Inside her suite, the carpet’s coated in glass shards,and rich red blood.

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[Yuri]: Lily…?

There’s an empty-frame where a glass table must have been; and the rest of the furniture is in a tumult. The nightstand had been knocked over, the lamp is toppled and unplugged, and the bedsheets are agonizingly twisted.

She has to be hiding somewhere in the room. I check by the bedposts, where there’s nothing but another bloodstain.

[Yuri] : Lily? Lily, are you there?

While the room’s a mess, here too is a digital clock, diligently programmed, numbers marching in their orderly way to my deadline.

[Yuri]: Lily, please… show me where you are.

I lower myself onto the bed, head in my hands.

It’s obvious that whatever happened, she put up a fight. Maybe even tried to escape. An opaque metal sheet seals the window shut in her room, and there aren’t any secret passageways. So if she did leave, it must have been through the door.

[Yuri]: This is okay. She’s okay. She’s okay, she’s okay! She’s okay!

She’s resourceful and reliable. She has to be okay… maybe what happened is that the Wolves came and she fended them off… and then she… fell back asleep. Then, she woke up, out the door and…

…she’s in the Trial Room. Yes, she must be in the Trial Chamber. Of course. Why was I so worried? It’s almost time for the Trial to begin and naturally she’s never late.

She must be waiting for me there. Yes, it’s that simple. Don’t worry Lily; I'll never fail you. I can't.