Chapter 6 Noctalab

"Great," Evelyn muttered. "I lost him."

She moved through the streets of Terran territory with heavy steps, still not knowing the name of this place. Her eyes dropped to the coffee stain spreading brown and stubborn across her shirt.

She exhaled through her nose. She had been in Terran for less than a day and already that man had managed to ruin both her shirt and her mood.

She kept walking. She needed to find at least one Hima before nightfall.

Her steps slowed in front of a shop displaying televisions in the window. One of the screens was running an advertisement that mentioned the name of the territory.

Terran.

"Terran," she repeated quietly. "So that's where I am."

She was still looking at the screen when four people walked out of the shop beside it. One of them stopped her cold.

A girl. Jeans cut above the knee, black tank top, glasses sitting on her nose.

From this distance, there was no mistaking it. The girl was Hima.

"Definitely Hima," Evelyn murmured as the girl passed.

She followed. This time she was not going to lose her.

Three Terran and one Hima. Evelyn trailed the group from shop to shop until her legs began to ache and the afternoon had stretched itself thin. She had lost count of how many stores they had wandered through. But she didn't stop.

She had also noticed, during all that time, that she hadn't caught the scent of a single other Hima. Either they were exceptionally well hidden, or their numbers had been reduced to almost nothing.

She pushed the thought away. She had to believe they were out there.

"Don't give up, Eve," she told herself.

Then she looked up and the Hima girl was gone.

She tracked the scent immediately, moving faster than any Terran would have, and found her just in time to watch the girl slip through the front door of a white-painted house standing apart from its neighbors.

Evelyn crossed the distance and stopped at the door. She raised her hand and knocked.

Nothing.

She knocked again. Still nothing.

"Hello? I know someone's home. Could you come to the door for a moment?" Her voice was polite but firm. "I'm not here to cause trouble."

She knocked a third time, quicker than before.

The door opened.

A woman stood in the frame. Mid-forties, short dark hair to her shoulders, eyes that assessed Evelyn in a single sweep.

She was Hima. The girl must have been her daughter.

"Who are you?" the woman asked. Sharp. Careful.

Evelyn hesitated. She couldn't just announce herself, but she couldn't let this woman close the door either.

The woman's expression flattened. She started to push the door shut.

Evelyn stopped it with her hand.

The woman looked at her with open irritation. "What do you want?"

"I'm Hima," Evelyn said.

The woman didn't look surprised. She crossed her arms. "And?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about."

The woman studied her slowly, top to bottom, weighing her. Whatever she was calculating, the answer she reached wasn't favorable.

"No thank you."

She moved to close the door again. Evelyn held it open.

"My name is Evelyn Adler," she said.

The door stopped.

"I'm the daughter of Anthony Adler. The leader of the Hima who died in the war ten years ago."

The woman stared at her. The sharpness in her face had shifted into something else entirely.

"Come in," she said.

———

Evelyn sat in the living room, taking in her surroundings. Footsteps approached, and the woman reappeared carrying a cup of water.

"I'm Matilda," she said, handing it over. "You followed my daughter to get here, I assume."

"Thank you," Evelyn said and drank.

"I didn't think any of Tony and Serena's children were still alive. Where have you been all this time? Most people assumed you were dead."

Evelyn set the cup down. "I've been hiding in Aloew Forest. I stayed there and did nothing for ten years." She paused. "Yesterday I went back to The Quirk. When I saw the Bloddy had claimed our land as their own, something in me broke. I need to make them pay, for my parents and for every Hima they destroyed."

"And that's why you came to Terran?" Matilda asked.

Evelyn met her eyes. "I need the Hima who survived. I want to take back what belongs to us."

Matilda closed her eyes briefly. "Don't tell me."

"I'm going to fight back, Matilda. I want them to feel what we felt."

"And your plan? Fighting the Bloddy is not simple, Evelyn."

"I know. That's why I need you and the others. We should reclaim Hima territory."

Matilda shook her head slowly. "No. I can't do that."

"Why?"

She stood, turning away. "I survived that war. After it ended, I made a choice. I was done. I built a life here with the Terran, and I am not going back to that."

"But if we stand together—"

"Evelyn." Matilda's voice was gentle but didn't leave room. "You're young and your fire is real. But the Bloddy are not a fair fight. They're calculated. They're always one step ahead. They know how to dismantle us one by one." She turned back, her expression heavy. "Bury the plan. Start a new life. One that isn't built on grief."

Evelyn said nothing. The words landed, and she let them sit. She wasn't going to abandon her purpose over one conversation. But she wasn't foolish enough to ignore what Matilda was saying either.

Before she could respond, footsteps came down the stairs.

Both of them looked up. The Hima girl stood at the bottom, watching them with quiet curiosity.

Matilda looked back at Evelyn, her expression softer now but no less certain. "Stay tonight. As for your plan, I'm sorry. I have a family here. I can't risk them."

Evelyn sat with that for a moment. Then she nodded. A small, tired smile crossed her face.

At least tonight, she had somewhere to rest.

———

"I'm Eliza Gonzas. You can call me Eliza."

Eliza extended her hand. Evelyn didn't take it. Eliza grabbed her hand anyway and shook it herself.

"So you're Evelyn Adler?"

"Yes," Evelyn said.

They were sitting on Eliza's bed, the room quiet around them. Eliza watched her carefully.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Eliza," Evelyn said.

Eliza blinked. "Yeah?"

"When I was following you earlier. Did you know?"

"Of course," Eliza said easily. "There are plenty of Hima in Terran. At first I didn't think much of it. But when you kept following us into every single store, I figured something was up." She paused. "So I came home."

"I see."

Eliza nodded slowly. Then, without warning, she grabbed Evelyn's hand and pulled her into a hug.

"I have an idea!" she announced.

Evelyn pulled back, startled. "What?"

"What if we go to Noctalab tomorrow?"

"Noctalab? What's Noctalab?"