To whoever finds this, the Facility is not what it appears to be. Pickering is a monster. No matter what he or his brainwashed followers tell you, do not trust any of it. People are not leaving the bunker of their own free will. They are being silenced for threatening to expose the truth.


    F.L. is testing some technology for trans-dimensional travel. He is rushing the testing but the tech is not ready. Vagrants have been lured into the bunker (or drugged if they are non-compliant) and are being used to test the volatile machine. Not one of them ever leaves the labs. I don’t know what he is doing with them but I do know that they are never seen again. He has also tested on those expressing dissent. They too are never seen again.


    I know my time will soon be up. I can’t say if they will perform testing on me or simply leave me in this room to die. No one has come to this room since I’ve been put here.


    There are people in his inner circle planning a coup. I can’t name any names in case this falls into the wrong hands so I will leave you with this: our Dear Leader shall fall, like all tyrants before him. He has provided us with the weapon of his inevitable demise.


    If you find this as the next unfortunate soul to be locked away here, stay strong. Conserve your energy. Time is all you need now. The end is near.


    Mateo sat at his desk, looking at the stretched-out rag before him. He tried to piece together what fragments of information regarding Francis-Lloyd Pickering, the once president of the Facility, he heard over the last three years. The few that knew anything of that time remained tight-lipped about it. There was no way to obtain accurate accounts of what transpired during the forty years of his leadership. Mateo did know that he and Rydal James started the Facility together, and Francis had gone a bit mad after Rydal left him and the community without a trace. There were rumours of something terrible happening to Rydal, although nothing was specified or confirmed . It seemed as though just speaking of Francis, or F.L. as he was more commonly known, was a traumatic experience for those that knew him personally. Mateo sensed a paralyzing dread come over any of the original Facility members when questioned about those times and so he decided to stop asking.


    As years past and the silence deepen surrounding those forty years, F.L.’s influence loomed over the energy in the Facility, as though his ghost still walked the halls.


    Mateo fixated on the mention of trans-dimensional travel. Why were they developing such a device? Why was F.L. rushing the experiment? What was so pressing, or possibly threatening, that he was willing to murder for it? The longer Mateo contemplated the contents of the inscription, the more questions surface. Parallels from the note and the current state of affairs in the Bunker became unmistakeable. The frigid damp air cut through him in his agitated state, forcing Mateo to stand and pace the short length of the office.


    He recalled his recent encounter with Katerina. The urgency he sensed from her in conjunction with her insistence to know more about the palilas now alarmed him. Could there be a hidden threat kept from the general public residing in the bunker? Why do they need individuals with unique abilities? Are they searching for something specific and if they find it, how do they intend to utilize it? Mateo’s mind raced. He sat down and focused on deepening his sharp, shallow breaths. If he couldn’t get a handle on his mind quickly, he would likely spiral out of control.


    With each even breath, Mateo''s heart rate slowed until it eased to a steady pace. His clenched jaw release which he had not noticed until it had relaxed. For several minutes, his mind was clear, blank, peaceful.  Slowly, thoughts began to creep back in as he softened his focus. A recollection rose to the forefront of his mind.


    Before leaving the commune to pursue a chance to research the gene mutation and its relation to the Sensory Field, Mateo was confronted by one of the elders. Much like all of the oldest Longeavitates he encountered, the exact age of this man was a mystery. The elder recounted a long-kept secret about a particularly dark time for the Longeavitates. For several hundred years, secret laboratories, run by non-mutants, ran tests on the Longeavitates. They were looking to discover what they were capable of so that they could exploit their abilities for various purposes. Avis and palilas alike were plucked from their everyday lives and taken to secret locations where they were maimed and tortured, day in and day out, in an effort to push their abilities to their maximum. If they survived the months of gruelling experimentation, they were sent off to never be seen again. If they died, their bodies were disposed of in a manner that left no trace of the person’s existence. Either way, nearly everyone kidnapped by these secret organizations was never seen again. A few victims succeeded in escaping, and some found refuge in the commune. The elder warned the Longeavitates who ended up captured were often discovered while seeking answers regarding their genetic peculiarity. Their curiosity exposed them to predators.


    At the time, Mateo heeded the elder’s warning, promising to keep his work under the radar of any non- Longeavitates. What struck him now was the possible threat from within the community. In any passionate pursuit, someone can be led down a nefarious path. How often do we justify our actions as reactions to opportunities to improve a situation? Is it even possible to act in the best interest of others, without their knowledge, in times of desperation?Was this the situation unfolding presently? The concept shook Mateo to his core. It was essential that the information contained in this document be kept secret so as not to raise suspicions with the members of the board.


    Mateo tucked the rag into a sock in the back of his drawer and silently devoted himself to protect the palilas. He would need to ensure that particular abilities were not shared with the Board at any cost. He knew his assistants Jovas and Paulina could be trusted. He would need to determine who is a risk. They would also need to maintain a outwardly cooperative appearance. The palilas could not be alerted to this. They were not trained well enough to hide their secrets. As long as the board continued to trust him, they would defer to his judgement. He must maintain that trust at all cost.This was the only way he could keep the palilas safe.


    …..


    So what’s up with us always having to sit in this corner of the library? - Emelie inquired silently as she and Amir sat side by side at two desks that had been pushed together, holding books up in front of them as though they were reading. It’s the only place in the library without a camera aimed at it, Amir responded.


    Emelie’s eyes scanned the ceiling and corners trying to locate a camera. Interesting, she thought once she was satisfied that there were indeed none pointed in their direction.


    How was your last session? Amir conveyed.


    All cotton-mouth and suffocation again, Emelie responded. I can enter with Mateo now and even talk to him for a few minutes but I can’t seem to connect with anyone else.


    Amir noted the disappointment radiating from her. How about you? Emelie asked.


    The last session went pretty well, actually. I was able to enter with Jacob. He noticed Emelie recoil at the mention of the young palila. She never explained why but it was clear she was fearful of him. Amir resisted the urge to press her on the matter just yet and continued recalling the session he had had the previous day.


    When I entered the Field, there was no cottonmouth. Only hard rain. I could hear a faint voice in the distance so I followed it through the downpour. It was hard to move under the pressure. It did seem that as I drew closer to the voice, the rain started to lighten up. There was a tension weighing down on Emelie’s heart but Amir continued, hoping that the positive outcome of the story would cast Jacob in a better light. Eventually, the rain was more of a drizzle and I noticed him in the distance.


    Emelie sat next to him, holding perfectly still as if motionlessness would somehow allow the fear that circled her to move on without actually taking hold of her. Amir felt guilt at the fact that he did not stop sooner. He could no longer hold back. Em, you know you can tell me anything, right? Emelie met his eyes as hers began to well up with tears. Amir extended a hand and placed it on her back, putting her slightly more at ease. She dropped her gaze down to the book now lying on the desk before her. You need to be careful with him. He isn’t what he seems, Emelie clenched her jaw as she transmitted the warning to Amir. She noticed that he wanted to interject with further questioning but held back to allow her space to tell her story. Although reluctant to continue, she figured he would not heed her warning if he didn’t know the depth of the danger Jacob posed. He- can take hold of you. Push you out of control, like he is possessing you or something. It’s like being locked in a cell within your own mind while he takes over. Emelie’s discomfort was palpable. Amir focused to keep his temperament even as she continued.  He did it to me. At first, all he could do was project that horrible memory of losing his little sister onto me. But then it worsen as he started training with Mateo. His ability seemed to strengthen and grow out of control. One day - she paused for a moment to stabilize her mind -  We were talking in the rec room and his imagination seemed to get the best of him. His teenage hormones produced some fantasy scenarios in his mind, like most boys his age. Only Jacob is obviously not a normal seventeen-year-old. I noticed my perspective shift and my vision narrow. It felt like I was a passenger in my own body. I could see, hear, feel everything but had no control. The fantasy seemed to be playing out just as he envisioned it. I felt myself walk over to him and begin to unbuckle his belt. I screamed from inside, trying to break myself out of the trance but I couldn’t. I realized I had no power to regain control. I tried reaching out to Jacob, pleading with him to stop. It seemed to have worked and he pushed me away. He was unfortunately still very much in control. I could feel his guilt and self-loathing as though it were my own.  That familiar memory began to strangle his, and ultimately my mind. I didn’t see the sister in my arms this time. She was laying on the floor next to the mother. I was walking towards the open balcony doors. The pain and suffering I had been feeling when the memory had begun were now evolving quickly. A numbness overtook me. My thoughts were now clear, unencumbered by any grief or emotion at all. My eyes scanned the room around me. They locked onto a picture frame on a small table next to me. There was no time spent to consider anything. My body was in a state of autopilot. In one swift motion, I took the picture, smashed in on the edge of the table, took the largest piece of broken glass, and jammed it into the side of my neck. Amir stared at her in a total state of shock.


    The action seemed to break Jacob’s hold on my mind and he lunged forward towards me to help. By the time he had reached me, the wound had healed. I ran from the room fearing he would take hold of me again if I stayed.


    Emelie could feel the stuntedness of Amir’s ability to react to what he had just been told. She stared forward at the book before her.


    Em, I don’t know what to say. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.” The apology was delivered verbally in a hushed tone. Amir was trying to make eye contact with her but her sense of vulnerability was so uncomfortable that she feared she would cry if she met his eye line. Amir’s hand was still on her back and he rubbed it in a circular motion. She closed her eyes in an effort to wipe the experience from her mind.


    “Can we go for a walk?” She said with her eyes still shut, tears collecting now behind the lids.


    “Yeah, for sure,” Amir replied.


    As they walked the halls of the bunker, more crowded than usual as most of the day’s work duties had let out a couple of hours prior, Emelie suppressed the urge to ask Amir about his brother Fadil. She had lived her entire life not ever acknowledging that she was different. Her curiosity around Amir’s completely opposite experience as well as his elusive twin brother had been gnawing at her for months now. What always held her back was the pain Amir felt every time his brother crossed his mind. Emelie identified the unique feeling within him as one that was only associated with Fadil, so she could tell when Amir had a passing thought of him. It was a similar sensation to the one she felt when she thought of Adrian.


    “I don’t mind talking about him,” Amir said, having sensed the curiosity in her when she had noted his momentary reflection on his brother.


    “Are you sure? I don’t want you to have to open old wounds.” Emelie replied with a distinct caution in her voice.


    “Maybe they should be opened,” a bitterness hung to the sentence, as though Amir was frustrated with the fact that he had had such difficulty addressing the subject. “What would you like to know?”


    “Just - how did you guys figure it out? You know, that you were different?”


    “Well, we didn’t really think we were different at first. We could communicate with our minds but didn’t really acknowledge that it was odd until we were older. People always spoke of twins having special connections. We thought that this is what they meant. We did realize we had something other people didn’t have once we discovered we could heal.”


    “And how did that come to be?” Emelie asked.


    They turned a corner and found themselves in the male quarters wing. There was a bench against a wall next to one of the sleeping courter doors. Amir took a seat and gestured for her to accompany him, tapping the space next to him. She obliged. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    “Can I try something?” Amir asked Emelie, turning in his seat to face her.


    “Sure,” Emelie replied, taken off guard by what seemed like a sudden change in subject.


    “Before we ever spoke to each other, you showed me a memory,” Emelie nodded at him, recalling the time she tried to block him out with a memory of her grandfather. “I’d like to try to do it on purpose this time. Are you in?” Amir said, hopefully.


    “Sure,” Emelie replied.


    “Okay,” Amir replied with an excited smile. He turned forward again and instructed that they should both lean back against the wall and close their eyes. Luckily, this wing was barren in the afternoons, or else Emelie would have felt uncomfortable sitting this way with people passing by. She closed her eyes and was immediately taken to a forest. She saw before her two a small boy looking up into a tree. Following his eye line, she looked up to see an identical boy climbing quickly up a tree. As she looked up at the boy, she began to recognize the boy as her brother. She was no longer a viewer of the memory. She was the bearer of it. Unlike the overwhelming sensation she experienced with Jacob, however, her own identity was not pushed aside by Amir’s. They seem to share the space simultaneously. It wasn’t frightening or destabilizing. Emelie felt no reason to not allow the memory to carry on and leaned into the experience.


    “You’re going too high! I can’t see you!” Amir shouted up to his brother Fadil from the ground below the massive oak tree in the forest behind the local sports complex. Fadil had seemingly shrunk to the size of a cat, from where Amir was standing. Amir knew that Fadil was going to have to try to beat his record by climbing higher than he had a few minutes before. His brother was fiercely competitive. This time however, Amir feared that he was about to push it too far. From what he could tell, Fadil was already several feet higher that Amir’s record and was continuing to ascend.


    “Okay! You win! You beat me! Come on down now!” Fadil ignored his twin. Amir, who had always looked out for his dare devil brother, sighed as he dropped his eyes, looking around him now as though there may be something that might help convince Fadil to come down. The oak was old and at least 100 feet tall and Fadil seemed to be about 80 feet up, Amir thought. Every worst-case scenario was racing through his mind until his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sense of pride and reassurance. Fadil was doing that thing again. Ever since they turned 10 years old a few months ago, the boys had started to notice that they were able to send signals to one another.


    It started in the classroom, during a test, when Amir started to sense panic from what seemed like an outside source. He knew that he was not panicked and felt confident about the test. It was a math test after all, his strongest subject. An image of a hardly filled out test sheet with eraser makes all over it and wet blotches emerged in his mind. He knew right away who the test belonged to. Amir looked over at his brother who was holding his head in his hands, red faced and silently sobbing, making a great deal of effort to mask the state he was in. Fadil had always struggled tremendously with math. This was very unfortunate as the boys’ father was a mechanical engineer and expected his sons to follow in his footsteps. Amir was well on his way, even at this young age, but Fadil’s lack of success in subjects that were key to a future in engineering was a sore spot for their father.


    Amir was not sure what had happened that day, but it started to happen more frequently. They soon developed the ability to send each other emotional signals. This was what Fadil was doing to Amir now.


    A sharp cracking of a large branch rang out across the forest. Fadil sent Amir a sudden sense of dread and terror. The branch beneath his feet was breaking.


    “Fadil you have to come down no-”, alas, it was too late. Another loud crack rang out followed by many others as Fadil fell from the top of the great oak.


    “Shit!” Amir panicked as his brother’s body hit multiple branches on its way down, raining small trigs and leaves onto him as he looked up, down and around for a solution. Fadil was quickly approaching the ground now and Amir did the only thing he could muster in his state of panic. He ran the spot where Fadil’s body was about to crash into the ground. He extended his arms, moving about beneath his brother’s descending body, trying to follow the trajectory that continued to change slightly every time it hit a branch. Fadil was no longer sending any emotional signals. Amir continued to look up as the body reached the last few braches of the massive tree however, the debris from the fall what pouring down so hard on his face that he could no longer keep his eyes open. He closed them and hoped he was in the right position at the right time…


    Fadil landed directly on his brother, breaking both of his extended arms immediately and scraping the skin on his forehead and nose. They both hit the ground hard. After a moment of total blackness, Amir’s eye shot open widely. At first, he felt the sharp pain in his arms, but it subsided quickly. He turned his head to the right, as he felt a weight on his arm and extended leg. His limbs may have been broken but he wanted to reach out to touch his brother, who was in a fetal position, turned away from him. He made the effort to reach his left arm over to Fadil’s back, and to his surprise, it worked! His arm felt fine actually. He could have sworn it was just broken. He didn’t have time to dwell on that now. With his left hand griping onto Fadil’s shoulder, he propped himself up on his right elbow, not immediately noticing that his right arm was indeed fine, as well.


    “F-fadil” he said allowed softly, almost as though he was afraid to wake his brother from a deep slumber. No answer.


    He gently pulled his shoulder towards him to flip Fadil onto his back. His brother’s face was covered in blood and dust. The feeling of pure terror rushed over him. Could Fadil be…


    Just as the thought entered his mind, he felt a spark shock his body, as though he had just touched an open light socket. Then a huge gasp came from Fadil as he jolted forward and back down again. Coughing and gashing for air.


    “Oh God, I thought you were dead!” Amir shouted gently raise his hand over his brother’s face and picking some of the blood-soaked debris off. “I have to get you home right away.” Amir tried to pick his brother up, but he was too heavy. He looked around frantically and heard the voice of some kids playing at the park. He remembered as they had passed the park earlier, he saw his older sister making her way to the picnic tables where all the teenages would hand out and smoke. He really did not want to involve her, but he admitted reluctantly to himself that he had too as he could not bring Fadil home on his own. “I’m going to go get “his sister”! She’s just down the hill at the park!’ he placed his brother gently on his side as he continued to come to, moaning a little and rocking slightly. Amir ran as fast as he could though the thinning trees. He did his best to dodge the stumps and branches, occasionally hitting one and stumbling a little but never fully losing his balance. Finally, he reached the baseball diamond and sprinted across the out-field towards the picnic table were his older sister was, sitting on some tall, lanky boy’s lap who had his arms around her waist. As Amir drew closer, he began shouting for his Mira.


    “Come quick! Please, Fadil is hurt.” After three or four attempts, his sister finally turned her head towards him and, seemingly as she noticed that it was her brother, she quickly jumped up from the boy’s lap and brushed the front of her clothes with her palms.


    “Amir? What did you get into, you are filthy!” she walked towards him, quickly distancing herself from the crowd she hadn’t wanted to be seen with, especially not by the one brother she knew would rat her out. This time however, her secret would remain quite safe as Amir could not have been bothered to care if her greasy boyfriend whom her parents despised and for bayed her from associating with had been groping her at the park. Normally, this would have deeply bothered him, but in the moment, he considered the fact that his punishment for Fadil’s injuries would supersede anything he could have imagined his parents would ever lay on his rebellious older sister.


    “Mira”, please, come quick. Fadil is hurt bad.”


    His sister’s eyes widened “Where is he?” she asked firmly.


    “Amir pointed to the bushy hill behind him. “In the back woods.” He and his sister hurried across the baseball field as towards where Fadil lied and Amir attempted to brief his sister on what had happened. Amir realised she was quickening her pace a great deal as he told her more and more of the gruesome details, until she was quite a way ahead of him. “Fadil!” she bellowed out with a strong urgency in her voice. “Amir, now moving as quickly as he could to catch up with her, though he could hear Fadil responding to her quite clearly. It could be though. His brother had barely been conscious when he had left to seek help.


    Just then he spotted them in the distance. to his complete shock and amazement Fadil was standing!


    “Oh, you two really think this is funny? Someday, you two are going to get it!” She was storming away from Fadil and was fast approaching him. She looked very annoyed and as she came up on him, she sot as him.  “You two think this is some clever prank?” she sassily said to him as she barreled closer. He though she might knock him out by the way she approached but at the last moment, she stormed right passed him, down the hill. She stopped for a moment at turn back to face him. “And you can go ahead and tell mom about Paul. I will just have to make sure she knows that you two destroyed your good clothes by messing around in the gutters again.” She turned on her heel and continued back to her forbidden friends.


    Amir was stunned and turned back to where his brother stood. Fadil was running towards him now, like nothing had even happened.


    “Amir! I think I’m like Superman! I am invincible!”


    Amir pushed off the tree he was leaning on with his shoulder and took a few steps towards the memory unfolding before him. This was the second time he had come back to this memory, the day that changed his and Fadil’s lives forever, in hopes that it might help him decode the message behind his nightmares. They became more frequent since he arrived in the bunker. This day had to hold some answers for him, he thought. When Mateo had trained him in regression memory generating, he had briefly mentioned that it could be used for more than just a tool to analyze old memories as snapshots of mission developments. There were some that had used it in the early years of mutation harnessing training to help troubled sleepers overcome reoccurring nightmares. Those that practiced this technique began to recognize that they were able to solve deep subconscious problems during their practice. If Amir wanted to decode anything regarding his relationship with his brother, he would have to thoroughly analyze the day they realized they were super human.


    Unlike many of the Palipas in the Facility, Amir had always known that he and his brother were very different from other people. After the day Fadil had fallen, they had each jumped out of that tree a dozen times, jumped in front of moving cars, and had even cut the top of Amir’s pinky toe clean off. In conducting there makeshift experiments, they determined “the rules” of their “powers”. The first was that they could heal from almost anything, so long as the injury didn’t consist of some part of the body being detached from the rest (much like the tip of Amir’s toe, which never did manage to grow back.) The second was that they could communicate with each other if they were in great danger. They would not discover until their late twenties that they could in fact communicate any time. There were many rules they would devise over the years, but rule number eight would remain the only rule that ever really mattered to Amir. Rule number eight, we never tell, or show anyone what we can do. Fadil did try to challenge him on it, stating that they could fight crime and help others, but Amir was addiment. It could put them, and their family in danger. This was how Amir made all decisions in life. He would play out every possible scenario that could occur, then base his decision on what would be the path of least resistance. “Why live dangerously when you don’t have to, right?” he would always tell Fadil. Amir finally convinced did Fadil to stay quite after reminding him that true superheroes always hide their identity.


    Amir walked down the forest hill as Fadil excitedly told his younger self that he had died at first but came back like a Phoenix reborn! Amir smiled to himself and he took another step down the hill. He stayed in the memory just long enough to hear his favourite part of Fadil’s recanting.


    …..


    Amir made his way down the hall that housed the offices and labs for sensory and medical testing. The agenda indicated sensory training would take place in room A. J. at three-thirty pm with a new, unnamed partner.


    With a hurried pace, Amir scanned each door, feeling a pain of anxiety in his chest at the thought of Mateo’s disappointment in his tardiness. The sensation was both nostalgic and irritating as he reflected on his long deceased father''s influence on him. Although he appreciated the values instilled in him, he didn’t enjoy the child-like paternal fear that lingered after so many years.


    Lost in thought, Amir nearly missed the door he was seeking. He twisted the door handle and entered hurriedly, turning to the two-way mirror to apologize to Mateo on the other side.


    “Not to worry, Mr. Rahal,” Amir noted the disapproving tone of the trainer’s voice even through the muffledness of the speaker. “Please take your seat.” Amir turned to face his partner for the session. Seated on the mat in the center of the room was the slim, long-legged brunette with dark brown, almond-shaped eyes that Amir had come to know quite well in the last several weeks. Emelie smiled widely at him and, in a circular motion, rubbed the carpet before her.


    “Have a seat, Mr.  Rahal,” She said playfully. Amir chuckled as he walked over to a seat in front of her, assuming the position for sensory field entry. This should be fun, Emelie projected with a coy smile. Amir sensed a curiosity and excitement in her that mirrored his own. Their connection was so strong. How would this translate in the Field?


    He closed his eyes, and there was Emilie, sitting inches in front of him, just like she had been a second before. She smiled widely at him. Her eyes shone with elation.


    “Hi.”


    Amir smiled back, “Hi.” Emilie crinkled her nose as she smiled. She had an aura of excitement. Her sense of infatuation mirrored his own for a brief moment, but as suddenly as he had noticed it, the sensation had been stifled. Emilie broke off into another emotional direction.


    “This is amazing, isn’t it?” Emilie said as she looked around them. Amir hadn’t noticed until now that they were sitting in a green field, with the sun shining brightly above and a forest to their right.


    Emilie focused on the forest. “Shall we?” She said and stood up. Amir stood beside her and followed her as she entered the woods.


    As they walked through the trees, Amir could feel himself tapping into Emilie’s core being and she into his. She brought him into a memory of hers; she was 8 years old, standing in a small pond looking into the water. Her rubber boots were too quick to keep the water from trickling over the rim. Amir felt cold water run down his leg. He was standing in the same pond, both looking at and feeling like he was the little blond girl before him. She suddenly and swiftly drove one hand into the water, followed by the other, and as she pulled her arms out of the pond, a small, brown and green frog was trapped firming between her two small hands. Amir felt something cold and slimy in his own hands. He looked down and noticed that he, too, was holding the frog in the same fashion as the girl. A rush of excitement and pure joy filled his heart. He felt like a boy again, bike riding through the back streets of Boston with Fadil. And just like that, he was there, pedalling down Melville Ave as hard as possible. Fadil was just ahead of him, as usual. They may have been identical, but somehow, his brother was always just a little faster than him. Amir didn’t mind, though. He wasn’t very competitive but loved to indulge Fadil, who very much was. The cool late summer air brushed across his cheeks and through his hair as he dropped his hands to his sides and continued pedalling, slowing his pace a little. He felt free. Any worries he may have were many miles away. At that very moment, he felt as though someone else was with him. Well, not with him in the sense that they were riding alongside him, but sharing his perspective from inside of him. It was Emilie. She was right there, feeling, seeing and experiencing every moment with him and as him.


    At that very moment, they both heard someone in the distance say, “Time’s up!”


    Then, someone loudly clapped their hand.


    “Times up!” It was much louder this time, and they realized it was Mateo''s voice. They both opened their eyes and were back in the booth, Facing one another. Emilie’s eyes were watery as tears streamed down her cheeks. She wasn’t sad, though. She was overwhelmed. Amir knew the feeling. He was also in a state of awe. He could not even categorize the feelings swelling in his chest.


    “One hour!” Mateo exclaimed. “The best time yet!”