The day dragged on, as Kit's accusation echoed through Liliya's head. Betrayal stung so deep inside that she hadn't even been able to tell her mum what was wrong, despite her asking numerous times. Disappointment clouded her mind, so that she didn't even know who to be angry with anymore.

Once her mother was back in bed, Liliya left the house to walk around the block and clear her head. Her feet almost mechanically took her onwards, as her mind raced in circles, coming back every time to Kit's words.

He's the prime suspect in the Memory Thief case.

Are you listening to me, Liliya? You need to stay away from him!

She shook her head, clearing it of Kit's intrusive voice. Hot tears stung in her eyes. She kept her head down so that passers-by wouldn't see them.

How could this have happened? The first guy to have piqued my interest in over a decade, and he turns out to be a criminal? How bloody stupid is that?

Her feet stomped against the pavement. She ran her shoulder into someone else's, but couldn't bring up the energy to look back and apologise. They shouted something after her. It didn't matter.

All this time he's been spending with me, has he been hiding such a huge secret? All this time, was he nothing more than a psychopath?

Her head filled with images; the way he smiled at her when she made a dumb joke. The way his eyes would light up every time he said something flirty. The worry in his eyes when she told him she'd walk home alone. It wasn't the face of a criminal.

Her steps faltered when she had to stop in front of a traffic light. She looked around at the numerous shops and restaurants on either side of the street. Somehow, in her haze, she'd walked all the way to the south of the city. Nyron's pub wasn't far away.

The light turned green and she crossed the road to continue her walk. Was it a bad idea to go see him? Was he really that dangerous?

She hesitated only for a moment, then scoffed at herself.

No, this whole thing was ridiculous. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. That sweet boy with his delighted smile and his old-fashioned earring. That innocent boy who still believed in Cloud Kingdom. He would never do anything as horrible as steal people's memories. He wouldn't.

The police were making a mistake. Pinning a series of horrible crimes on the wrong guy. And Kit, Kit was facilitating it, ruining her chance at love over a misjudgement. Distrusting the one guy she's liked in years. And Nyron... Whatever he'd done to get onto the police's radar, that was a stupid move, too!

Her fists were balled by the time she turned into the pub's street. Enough was enough. It was time she sorted this out. She'd go inside, give him a piece of her mind and set this straight.

Pain shot through her arm when the door didn't budge after pulling on the handle. Trying again, she noticed the sign hanging just above the handle: We Are Closed. A scoff escaped her lips. Just because you haven't opened up yet, doesn't mean you're not here.

She walked around the pub and tried the side door – unlocked! With a triumphant push she entered the pub.

It was dark inside. He hadn't even taken the time to turn the lights on yet. But if the side door was open, Nyron must've been around. Since he wasn't behind the bar, Liliya figured she'd check in the back. As she got closer to the door leading into the back, she could hear him. He was talking to someone. Was someone there with him?

She held her ear against the door, but she still couldn't make out the words. Both hands on the doorknob, she pushed softly. The door gave a quiet groan and Nyron's words intensified, echoing through the empty room. They weren't English. In fact, they sounded a lot like...

Incantations? I didn't know he could do magic.

Pushing the door to a gap, she peeked through.

As the scene registered in her brain, her jaw dropped and her legs turned to stone.

No... No, this can't be...

In the middle of the small office-room sat a young man, not much older than Liliya, on a wooden chair. He slumped in the seat, his chin leaning on his chest. On his face, arms and legs were white, chalk-like marks. They went up across his body towards his temples, forming complicated shapes and patterns along the way.

Nyron sat in front of him, cross-legged on the floor. He hummed a chant of foreign words under his breath.

It is true... Kit was right!

A gasp escaped her lips, before she turned on her heels and fled.

"Liliya?"

She ran blindly through the building as fear clouded her sight. A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back before she even managed to reach the side door. With a shriek, she ripped free and dashed into the pub.

"Liliya, wait!"

Panic gripped at her throat. She raced to the front door, knocking over several chairs along the way, but the door once again wouldn't budge. Shit, locked!

She turned to see Nyron coming towards her, arms outstretched.

"Liliya, listen to me..."

"No! You stay away from me!" She barely recognised her own voice, shrill and trembling.

He held his hands up as if in surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you, Liliya, just listen to me. Please."

His words did nothing to calm her fear. "You're him," she whispered, side-stepping along the edge of the room to get closer to the side door. Tears filled her eyes. "The one they've been talking about on the news. You're the Memory Thief."

Slowly, she kept moving, as his shoulders slumped. "No! Well, yes, I guess, but it's not..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Liliya dove past him, reaching the door in three quick leaps. Putting all her weight behind it, she barged through. Without another backwards glance, she bolted onto the street and fled back through the city.

One last time, she heard Nyron call out her name. Her heart ached at the sound of his voice. Yet she never stopped running.

Liliya raced through the city, feet slapping against the street, the low afternoon sun blinding her. Faces of strangers, all turned her way, zoomed past. It didn't matter. She just had to get away.

Nyron was the Memory Thief. Though she'd seen it with her own eyes, she could barely comprehend it. Sweet, innocent Nyron – a monster. A new wave of fear overcame her and she cast a glance over her shoulder. She didn't see him, but that didn't mean he wasn't after her. She needed to get to safety.

Kit's house. It came to her like a jolt. There was no safer place for her than Kit's.

With renewed energy, knowing she was almost there, the haze in her mind cleared a little, like thunderclouds pulling away after a storm. Just a few more blocks. Safety was near. Kit would protect her from the monster that Nyron had become.

Or always had been.

Memory stealing... How could he? Memories were the most personal, the most intimate thing a person had. It was like breaking into their homes and stealing their all their belongings. No, taking memories was even more invasive. Like cutting off someone's hand.

His face drifted into her mind's eye. The way he'd laughed with her in the library. The way he'd chewed on his pen as he concentrated on his book, devouring the information. The way he'd smiled sheepishly as he told her he was looking for Cloud Kingdom.

But then the image of him sitting in front of an unconscious man, chanting, came back to her.

They were two completely different pictures, incompatible. As if Nyron himself consisted of two distinct people.

When Kit's flat came into view, Liliya finally slowed down. She'd be safe now, Kit would protect her from any monster. She would... she would...

What would she do?

With the cloud of fear in her brain subsiding as she climbed the stairs to Kit's apartment, she finally had space to think. What would Kit do if she found out what Liliya had just seen?

She'd hunt him down, that's what she'd do. Kit would inform the chief of police that she had an eyewitness against Nyron. He'd be arrested, sent to jail. Or worse. Memory stealing was such a terrible crime, they might even put him to death for it.

Is that really what I want?

As she hopped from one foot to another in front of Kit's door, his smile once again popped into her head. Only this time, it was quickly replaced by a Nyron with empty eyes, grey skin and his arms crossed over his chest.

She shuddered and shook the thought away. No, that's definitely not what I want.

With one last look at Kit's door, Liliya walked back to the stairs. I need time to think... I'll figure it all out, I just need time.

Once back on the street, her eyes darted back and forth. She stayed as far away from passers-by as possible and she couldn't help but flinch at everything that moved, even when a cat shot past her into an alleyway. It took her less than five minutes to get home, but it felt like an hour.

As she entered her home, she immediately locked the front door, sighing a breath of relief. Just to be sure, she checked on her mum, who was asleep, and then checked every other room in the apartment.

Once they were all cleared, she came back to the kitchen and put up a pot of water to boil. Her hands still shook as she took out her favourite herbal tea and added the hot water to it. The smell of it, a cross between ginger and cinnamon, calmed her nerves somewhat and she sat down at the dinner table with a sigh.

How did this happen? she asked herself, warming her cold hands on the steam coming off her mug. It was so hard to comprehend how that sweet guy, who'd sat with her in the library all day to study and learn about myths, could possibly do something like this. Memory stealing... One or the very worst crimes in existence.

Memories weren't just someone's background, something they'd left in the past and would never look back on again. They made up a person's identity. They were something to learn from, powerful enough to change a person. Memories made people who they were. Stealing them...

Stealing them was not the same as taking their money, or their jewellery, or even their favourite thing in the world. It was more like taking a piece of someone's personality, of their life.

Her mug was half-empty when she suddenly heard coughing from the other room. Mum. Liliya waited a moment for it to subside, but quickly went to help when it didn't.

"Mum?" she said, looking into the darkened room. "Are you alright?"

The coughing continued, and her breathing was ragged. Liliya hurried over and handed her mother the glass of water from the nightstand, while rubbing her back.

"It'll be okay, mum," she said, her voice higher than she'd expected. "You'll be alright."

"Thank you, darling," her mother whispered. "I'm just... I'm so tired..."

Tears stung in her eyes, but she refused to show them to her mum. She was in enough pain as it was. She stayed with her mother until she fell back asleep, before trudging off to her own room.

Once in her bed and crawled underneath the sheets, Liliya finally let the tears fall.

It wouldn't be much longer now. It wouldn't be long before her life would fall apart completely, like a sandcastle hit by an angry wave. It was already crumbling. It wouldn't withstand another push.

Wet lines streaked her face as she fell asleep. The last thought in her head was that she'd lose both her mother and Nyron very soon.