Vivian slowly stood up from the mud. "Why the hell are they here?"
She looked down at herself. Her clothes and hands were dirty, sweat was running down her neck. She really did look like a mess.
"There’s no way I’m meeting them like this," Vivian muttered to herself.
She turned around and hurried toward the back of the house. As she pushed open the back door, she gasped at the pile of dirty dishes overflowing from the kitchen sink.
Vivian stared at the grease and leftover food.
Then, she firmly shook her head. "Nope."
She wasn’t doing that. The only reason she’d fixed the garden was because it belonged to her mother. She had her reasons for cleaning the fireplace, too.
But she wasn’t spending scrubbing their dirty plates.
Vivian ran to shower. She stood beneath the cold water, watching the ash and mud wash off her body down the drain. Her long hair fell down her back.
She lifted her arm and touched her left wrist. The Guide sigil was glowing beneath the water. She stared at it.
So this is real.
She quickly dried off, dressed in a fresh pair of oversized jeans and a black hoodie, and tied her long hair behind her. She made sure to pull her sleeve over the sigil.
’Compass,’ she called out in her mind.
[Yes, Vivian?]
’Can they sense me?’
[Yes. They can feel your energy.]
Vivian carefully opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Voices drifted up from downstairs. Her stepmother sounded unusually cheerful, using that fake, sugary voice she only used for important guests.
"Please, sit down," Helen was saying. "Chloe, dear, bring one of these handsome young men some tea."
Vivian rolled her eyes. Of course.
She quietly crept down the stairs but stayed near the shadows of the staircase banister. She didn’t want to be noticed just yet.
One of the men finally spoke. Both of them looked young, and they were dressed in fancy black suits. The one with silver hair had a perfectly straight posture and a cold expression. The other looked a bit more relaxed.
Vivian held her breath, leaning closer to the wooden railing.
"We received an awakening alert from this residence," the man said. "Someone from this house has awakened as a guide."
Helen gasped loudly. "Oh my..."
She turned around and grabbed Chloe hands, smiling at her daughter. "Chloe, darling!"
Chloe looked confused, blinking her eyes. "What?"
Her mother squeezed her hands. "You awakened as a Guide!"
"I did?" Chloe smiled back at her. "No wonder, I’ve been feeling all tingly since morning."
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.
Helen threw her arms around Chloe, hugging her tightly. "My beautiful, talented daughter!"
Vivian had to bite her lip hard to hold back a snort. She whispered inside her head,
’Compass.’
[Yes, host?]
’Did she actually awaken as a Guide?’
[Probably in her dreams.]
A laugh nearly escaped her throat. I really like this system.
Downstairs, the man with dark hair cleared his throat loudly. "Ma’am."
Helen pulled away from Chloe and turned around, smiling at them. "Yes?"
"It’s not her," he said flatly.
Helen’s smile instantly disappeared. "What?"
"We can’t detect any Guide energy from her at all. Not even a teeny tiny bit."
The other man stood up, his huge body towering over the living room furniture. "Is there anyone else in this house?"
Helen’s expression hardened. "What do you mean? There is no one else. Just me and my daughter."
"We can feel it," the man insisted, looking toward the hallway. "Someone here has definitely awakened."
Helen looked offended. She crossed her arms tightly. "So you’re telling me my daughter isn’t special?"
"That isn’t what we said."
"It is exactly what you said!" Helen pointed a finger toward the front door. "My daughter Chloe is the most special person in this house! Get out of my house!"
The dark hair man stepped forward, and walked up to her. "Watch how you speak to me."
Helen scoffed. "And who exactly are you to tell me what to do?"
"I am a Sentinel. We are both high ranked sentinels."
The room went silent. Helen’s face paled slightly,
"You would do well to remember that, lady."
The silver-haired Sentinel immediately reached out and touched his partner’s arm, calmly. "Calm down, Logan."
Logan stopped, though he kept his eyes locked on Helen.
The silver-haired man then reached inside his suit jacket, and pulled out a golden emblem and held it up right in front of her face.
"We’re not here to argue with you," he said, in his deep voice. "We have official authorization from the Central Agency."
He flipped the emblem open, revealing a stamped piece of paper. "And a warrant to search this house by force."
Helen stammered. "A warrant?"
"Yes."
Vivian watched the whole scene from the staircase. Her heart began beating faster. In her past life, no Agency had ever come to their house. No one had ever come looking for her.
Vivian touched the sleeve covering her silver sigil. So the future is already changing.
Maybe her second life was going to be a lot more interesting than she’d expected.
[Host,] COMPASS’s voice chimed in her mind.
’What?’
[Are you planning to go downstairs anytime soon?]
’Not yet.’
[Why?]
Vivian’s eyes narrowed as she watched Helen tremble on the couch. ’Because I want to see how long they search before they realize the person they want is right under their noses.’
[That seems unnecessarily troublesome.]
’I’m enjoying it.’
[Noted.]
Vivian glanced back at the living room. Chloe was standing right beside her mother, looking frightened as she clutched Helen’s arm.
Then Vivian looked at the two Sentinels. They were already adjusting their gloves, preparing to split up and search the rooms.
She sighed softly, relaxing her shoulders. Enough hiding.
Vivian stepped out from behind the shadows of the staircase. Her long red hair fell over her shoulders, glowing in the sun spilling out from the window.
Everyone in the room turned around instantly. The living room went silent. Vivian looked directly at the two massive agents, completely Helen.
Helen’s eyes widened in shock. "Vivian?"
Chloe glared at her. "What the hell are you doing down here?"
Vivian ignored both of them. She stood right in front of the two large men and let out a calm smile.
"There’s no need to search the house," Vivian said, softly.
The two Sentinels just stared at her, caught off guard by her sudden appearance.
"You can spare yourselves the trouble," she said softly, sliding her hands back into her pockets. "It’s me you’re looking for."