Synopsis: Secrets of Shisiwa Unefu

At a young age, Lilah witnesses devastating crimes against humankind at the hands of her native tribe, the Societé Mulâtre. After witnessing the enslavement of her own people and the brutal rape of a close friend, she determines to leave the violent life behind before it can victimize her, too. Refugee of a violent, secret Mulatto Supremacy, Lilah Westbrook flees the island of Shisiwa Unefu, armed with only adrenaline and a fish knife. En route to her escape, Lilah is forced to murder a politically powerful member of the Societé Mulâtre Militia. The fresh burden of this memory and a bloody fish knife in her pocket, Lilah stows away on a ship exporting vanilla to Madagascar. From there, she calls upon her cousin Amandine, who arranges for her transportation to her home in Mayotte.

Safely in Mamoudzou, Mayotte, Lilah tells her cousin about the tribe’s bigotry and questionable political practices, Amandine exchanging grave glances with her husband. Her husband, a powerful member of the French military, coerces her to return to Shisiwa Unefu and the neighboring island of Mohéli as a political spy for the French. The French government and the UCP, both aware of the treacherous practices of the Societé, had been battling to recover the Comoran territory occupied by French-governed Mohéli citizens. He convinces Lilah that it is her duty to return to the Societé to feed information to her homeland Mayotte and its French government about the UCP’s plans to invade and recover the territory.

She returns to the island with her cousin, who is armed with detailed maps and the French army’s Intelligence reports indicating the locations they intend to spy on. They arrive in time only to witness the brutal murder of Lilah’s baby brother by the SMM.

Lilah and Amandine are separated when they are forced to flee in separate directions to avoid the encroaching SMM before their political motivation is uncovered. Lilah evacuates the island without her cousin, narrowly escaping the wrath of a devastating tsunami. When the tsunami strikes, she assumes the worst—that her cousin had fallen victim to it.

Nearly two decades later, Lilah returns to the site in hopes of recovering the remains of her own family, especially her brother and cousin. Unbeknownst to her, the tragedy is far from over.

Amandine's remains are recovered with signs of obvious mutilation. Lilah begins to suspect that the SMM discovered her cousin before the tsunami struck, and had perhaps uncovered the sensitive government material she had been carrying with her. The forensic reports leave no doubt of Amandine’s murder.

As the geological project continues, it becomes apparent that Lilah's life is in danger of the remaining militia after all these years. She realizes as pieces of the geological puzzle come together, that the militia who killed Amandine had intentionally created a tsunami as an act of genocide to wipe out the entire island of Shisiwa Unefu. The motivation of the massacre is further uncovered as the geological investigation turns political: the Societé Mulâtre had become too tainted with non-Mulatto descendants of the neighboring island Mohéli as well as its homeland Mayotte. The small, radical militia had initiated warfare on the island and its own people. The massive destruction of the tsunami had wiped out not only the island of Shisiwa Unefu but it also eliminated numerous inhabitants of the neighboring island Mohéli. In the process of torturing and ultimately murdering Amandine, the militia had discovered that Lilah had returned to the island as a spy, and had escaped the militia and its tsunami with privileged political knowledge about their illegal practices.

Nearly two decades after the tsunami when Brodie Pierce’s geology team returns to the site of the genocide, the militia is displeased. Wanting to keep their genocide coup under wraps in addition to their countless other crimes, they set out to abolish the intrusive investigation. Upon doing so, they discover that Lilah has returned, and their bloodthirst for her is renewed.