The following evening, as he sat in the town's old park under the dim glow of a streetlamp, the boy opened the journal again. His eyes scanned the strange diagrams and fading symbols when suddenly, a voice startled him.
"Are you sure you should be reading this here?"
He turned around. Behind him stood a girl, about his age. Her long silver hair shimmered faintly in the moonlight, and in her hand she held a small, round device that glowed softly. Her sharp eyes seemed to notice everything, and he realized he had never seen her in this town before.
Before he could speak, she stepped closer. "I'm new here," she said calmly. "My name is Elara. And… I think I know something about the symbols in that book."
The boy's heart pounded. How could a stranger know about the journal I just discovered? he thought. Was she a friend… or a threat?