THE GIRL WHO LEFT NO SHADOW Chapter One — The Stranger at Midnight At exactly 12:07 a.m., Emily Carter received a text message from a number that did not exist.She was sitting alone in her bedroom, staring at the rain sliding down the window, when her phone vibrated.UNKNOWN NUMBEREmily almost ignored it.Then another message appeared.«Don't open your bedroom door.»Her fingers froze above the screen.For several seconds, she simply listened.Rain.The low hum of her air conditioner.The ticking clock on her desk.Nothing else.Then came three slow knocks.Knock.Emily's heart jumped.Knock.She stared at the bedroom door.Knock.Her phone vibrated again.«I told you not to open it.»Emily swallowed."Mom?"No answer.Her mother had gone to bed nearly two hours earlier.Emily slowly stood.She was eighteen, but suddenly she felt like a little child again.The knocking stopped.She took one careful step toward the door.Then another.Her phone vibrated.This time, the message contained only four words.«Look under your bed.»Emily's breathing stopped.She looked down.The darkness beneath the bed seemed deeper than it should have been.She didn't move.The phone vibrated again.«He's already inside.»Emily backed away.Then the bedroom light went out.---Chapter Two — The Boy at the Bus Stop Six months earlier, Emily had believed her biggest problem was choosing a college.She had never imagined disappearing people, secret photographs, locked rooms, or a boy who seemed to know things about her that nobody should know.It began on an ordinary Monday afternoon.Emily was standing at a bus stop outside the downtown library when she noticed him.He was leaning against a black motorcycle.His name, she would later learn, was Noah Bennett.At first, she assumed he was waiting for someone.Then he looked directly at her.Not glanced.Looked.As though he had been waiting specifically for her.Emily frowned."Do I know you?"Noah shook his head."No.""Then why are you staring at me?""Because you look exactly like someone I've been searching for."Emily laughed nervously. "That's probably the strangest introduction I've ever heard.""I know."There was something unusual about him.Not dangerous.Not exactly.Just... mysterious.His dark jacket was soaked from the rain, but he didn't seem to care. A small scar crossed one eyebrow, and his expression carried the exhaustion of someone much older than he looked.Emily looked away.When she looked back, he was still watching her."What do you want?" she asked."Nothing.""Then why are you here?"Noah hesitated."Because if I don't talk to you today, someone else will."Emily stared at him."What does that mean?"Before he could answer, a bus pulled up.Emily stepped toward it.Noah suddenly caught her attention again."Emily."She stopped.She had never told him her name.Slowly, she turned around."How do you know my name?"Noah's face changed.For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes."I don't."Emily's stomach tightened."You just called me Emily.""I know.""How?"Noah looked toward the street.A silver car was parked across from them.Its windows were tinted black.He lowered his voice."Because someone told me.""Who?"Noah looked back at her."Your father."Emily went completely still.Her father had been dead for eleven years.---Chapter Three —The Photograph Emily didn't get on the bus.She followed Noah.She wasn't sure why.Maybe it was curiosity.Maybe it was the strange confidence in his voice.Or maybe it was because nobody had mentioned her father in years.Her father, Daniel Carter, had died in a boating accident when Emily was seven.At least, that was what her mother had always told her.Noah walked into the library.Emily followed.He went downstairs, through a narrow corridor, and stopped beside an old storage room."This is where I found it."He pulled a photograph from inside his jacket.Emily stared at it.The picture showed a young man standing beside a lake.Her father.Emily's hands began shaking."Where did you get this?""Your father gave it to someone.""Who?"Noah didn't answer.Emily looked closer.There was another person standing beside Daniel.A woman.Her face had been scratched away.But Emily recognized the necklace around her neck.She wore it every day.Emily touched the small silver pendant beneath her shirt."No."Noah watched her carefully."You recognize it.""My mother gave this to me.""Emily...""No."She stepped backward."My father died.""That's what everyone was supposed to believe."The library lights flickered.Noah immediately turned toward the staircase."What?"He grabbed the photograph."We need to leave.""Why?""Because we're not alone."A sound came from the corridor.Footsteps.Slow.Measured.Someone was walking toward them.Emily whispered, "Who is that?"Noah pulled her behind the storage-room door footsteps stopped.Silence. Then a man's voice echoed through the hallway. "Emily?" She covered her mouth. The voice belonged to her mother. Chapter Four — The Lie They escaped through an emergency exit. Emily didn't speak until they were there

THE GIRL WHO KEPT THE LIGHT ONChapter One: The House at the End of Willow StreetAt the very end of Willow Street, where the pavement disappeared and the road became a narrow trail surrounded by tall grass, stood a small blue house.It was not beautiful.The paint had begun to peel from the wooden walls. One of the windows was cracked, and whenever the wind blew hard enough, the roof made a strange rattling sound.But every night, at exactly seven o'clock, a small yellow light appeared in the upstairs window.Everyone in the neighborhood knew about that light.Some people thought it belonged to a lonely old woman.Others believed it was a lamp that had been forgotten.Children invented stories about it.But nobody knew the truth.The light belonged to a twelve-year-old girl named Emily Carter.Emily lived in that little blue house with her mother, Sarah, and her younger brother, Noah.Their father had died when Emily was seven.She remembered very little about the day except the rain.It had rained so hard that the streets looked like rivers.Her father, Daniel Carter, had left that morning promising that he would return before dinner.He never did.After his death, Sarah had struggled to keep the family together.She worked long hours at a small grocery store downtown, sometimes coming home after midnight.Emily had learned to cook simple meals.She learned how to wash clothes.She learned how to help Noah with his homework.Most importantly, she learned how to smile even when she was tired.But there was one thing Emily had never learned.How to give up.Every evening, after finishing her homework, Emily climbed the narrow stairs to her bedroom.She would open the window, place a small lamp beside it, and turn it on.Seven o'clock.Every night.No matter what.One evening, Noah stood in the doorway watching her."Why do you always turn that lamp on?" he asked.Emily smiled."Because somebody might need it."Noah frowned."Need a lamp?""Not exactly.""What do they need?"Emily looked through the window at the darkness outside."Hope."Noah rolled his eyes."You can't see hope from a window."Emily laughed softly."Maybe not."Then she looked at the little yellow light."But someone might see it."She did not know it then, but that little light was going to change her life.And eventually, it would change the lives of people she had never even met.---Chapter Two: The Girl Nobody NoticedEmily was not the most popular girl at school.She wasn't the smartest either.She wasn't the fastest runner.She wasn't the best singer.She didn't have expensive clothes or the newest phone.Her sneakers had a hole near the left toe.Her backpack had been handed down from an older cousin.Sometimes she brought the same lunch three days in a row.But Emily had something most people didn't notice.She paid attention.She noticed when someone was sitting alone.She noticed when a teacher looked tired.She noticed when someone stopped laughing.She noticed when somebody said, "I'm fine," but didn't sound fine.At school, there was a boy named Ethan Brooks who always sat alone during lunch.Ethan was quiet.Very quiet.Some students called him strange.Others laughed at the way he dressed.Emily never laughed.One afternoon, she walked over to him."Can I sit here?"Ethan looked up."You can sit anywhere."Emily sat down.For several minutes, neither of them spoke.Then Emily opened her lunch."Do you like peanut butter sandwiches?"Ethan shrugged."Sometimes."She broke her sandwich in half and placed one piece on his tray."You don't have to eat it."Ethan stared at it."Why are you giving me this?""Because I have two halves.""You didn't have to.""I know."He looked at her suspiciously."Why?"Emily smiled."Because sometimes people need someone to do something without being asked."Ethan didn't answer.But he ate the sandwich.That became the beginning of their friendship.Emily discovered that Ethan loved drawing.He could sketch houses, trees, animals, and people with incredible detail.One day, he showed Emily a drawing of a lighthouse standing beside a stormy ocean."It's beautiful," she said.Ethan shook his head."It's unfinished.""What's missing?""The light."Emily smiled."Then you should add it."Ethan stared at the drawing."What if I don't know how?"Emily pointed toward the lighthouse."Just start."Ethan picked up his pencil.He drew a small circle of light.Emily watched him."See?""What?""You knew how."Ethan smiled for the first time.---Chapter Three: The LetterOne rainy Thursday afternoon, Emily found something strange in her mailbox.An envelope.There was no stamp.No return address.Only her name.EMILY CARTERShe looked around.The street was empty.She opened the envelope.Inside was a single sheet of paper.There were only six words written on it: Please don't