Chapter 7
Amira woke before dawn, the scent of salt and damp earth filling her lungs. She'd dreamt of Selene — not the girl in the photograph, but a voice calling her from beneath the waves. It wasn't just a memory anymore. It was a presence.
Elias barely spoke in the days that followed his confession. He returned to his duties with mechanical precision, but his eyes were distant — like he was watching a world she couldn't see.
The lighthouse itself began to change. Windows rattled when there was no wind. Books toppled from shelves. The whispering returned — but this time, it called Elias' name.
Desperate to understand, Amira visited the old woman from the village, Mma Nkem — the one people called "the Keeper of Lost Things." The villagers said she once calmed a child who saw the dead.
Mma Nkem listened as Amira told her about the whispers, the dreams, the sea, and Selene.
"The sea is a memory keeper," Mma Nkem said, voice hushed. "It does not forget what it swallows. Neither does the spirit of one taken too soon."
She gave Amira a small pendant containing a sliver of obsidian. "This is to protect you when you listen. But know this — not all spirits want to be found. Some want justice."
That night, Amira stood alone at the edge of the lighthouse cliff. Wind whipped her hair around her face as she clutched the obsidian.
And for the first time, she spoke to the sea.
"What do you want from him?"
A moment of silence.
Then the tide roared, waves crashing violently below.
And just before retreating, the wind whispered back:
"Truth."