CHAPTER 42

Once I finished reading the letter, I knew immediately what it meant.

"I deeply enjoy you in the color red." One might wonder how Russel Van Doren could know what I looked like in red. But once I put the pieces together, the theory proved itself as more concrete:

Russell Van Doren, the leader of the Council, knew me from the past.

The sweat from my palms began to seep through the parchment, making it damp. I stared at the words over and over again, rereading the letter, memorizing Russell's penmanship. I did this until Mama came into the kitchen and snatched the letter from my hand. I didn't try and take it back from her; I stared at the ground, deep in thought. I couldn't move from my post. My mind began making up these images - of Russell, of me, of the past. I imagined Ru