“Amelia?” she asked lowly, barely more than a whisper as fear gripped her. The maid only glanced towards the stairs. That was all the answer Shortbeak needed before she tore up the flight of stairs with a blinded speed, moving with such violence that the door to her sister’s dorm had been nearly broken as she entered it. The bed was empty, and Amelia was nowhere to be found. Shortbeak’s world fell apart around her. The light of the midsummer sun itself seemed to dim, and the colours seemed muted. A sense of unreality descended upon her, slowly, as if a heavy garment was being placed about her shoulders. She felt her head swim as she moved. Everything felt like a dream as she turned. She noticed a door ajar at the very opposite end of the corridor at the top of the stairs. Hers, she never left it unlocked.