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Dusty brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a familiar smile.

Aaron.

15. Sixteenth Missing Person

“Evan,” Celie was the first to spot her brother, eyes wide as if seeing a ghost. The rest of the group whipped their heads around, and after a brief, stunned silence, they charged towards Evan. Crying like chicks who’d discovered their lost mother hen.

Nick and Elysia threw themselves at Evan. “Oh my God, we found you! Thank the Lord.”

“He’s alive! Big Bro is alive!”

Although Rumi and Wren hung back, Elysia pulled them closer, pretending they were part of the group hug. Celie stared at Evan with a look of concern and agitation. Like she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how.

Evan stood frozen in the group hug, not even minding the whining teenagers latched onto him as he stared at Aaron. His initial shock at seeing his best friend standing there unharmed gave way to confusion, then finally relief.

His shoulders, which had been tensed since Aaron’s disappearance, sagged. There were so many words flooding his mind that he had to forcefully gulp them down.

Deep dark crescents highlighted under Aaron’s eyes, and although a bit of his usual playfulness was missing, the gentleness in those eyes remained. He quirked a small smile at Evan.

There it was. That face that said,Hey, I’m alive.

Without thinking much of it, Evan patted the teenagers’ heads as they clung to him, using that as a diversion to not look at Aaron. An unusual sense of helplessness gripped his spine.

“I’m fine. Sorry for making you all worry,” Evan said, his hands grazing Elysia and Nick’s heads since they were the only ones wetting the front of his shirt with snot and tears.

Seeing the idle discrimination, Wren inclined his head closer. Surprised, Evan’s hands stilled. It was confusing whether he was asking to be petted or threatening to headbutt Evan.

Wren raised his vacant eyes, not particularly displaying any sentiments, then almost shoved his head into Evan’s face. The message was obvious.

Awkwardly, Evan patted his head too. “Alright.”

Rumi remained two arms distance away, glancing up every three seconds but unable to hold his gaze. The girl was quite peculiar since the first time Evan had seen her. He’d initially thought she was socially awkward, much like himself. But it was only now that he was registering something strange about her eyes. A barely perceptible light flitting past her pupils.

“Where were you?” Celie asked, directly aiming for the elephant in the room. She was growing more and more frustrated as she saw her friends clinging to her brother. And her usually indifferent brother was actually letting them. He even patted their heads. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere for the last two days. We almost filed a missing persons report.”

The group hug scattered, making space for the sibling face-off. Evan was left standing amidst the crowd of expectant faces awaiting an explanation. Clearing his throat, he looked at his sister. “I…was away for work. Personal work. I wanted to let someone know, but I left my phone at home,” he quickly diverted the attention from him. “I thought you guys were staying only for the weekend?”

Celie almost broke character and scowled. “Did you expect me to just leave after you disappeared overnight?”

Evan didn’t respond, just stared blankly at his sister. Was she…worried about him?

“If not for Delos reassuring us you were safe and would return soon, Celie would have filed a report,” Elysia hugged Celie sideways, smiling at her impassive face.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Nick prompted, sensing the rising tension and quickly switching the topic. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Evan ran his fingers through his hair, dusting off some small leaves stuck in the midst. “Just ran into a little…storm on the way.”

He threw a look over his shoulder, remembering how Xen had almost torn down the array of the Enclave Passage. As he looked back, he found Xen’s eyes already trained on him, burning with a palpable tension.

Zeev had disappeared as soon as the group had approached.

“Alright, what’s done is done. Big Bro's back, and that’s what matters,” Elysia said, her smile bright enough to dazzle the crowd. Then she turned to Evan. “Let’s get you home and warmed up. You're pale as a sheet.”

And so, with Nick and Elysia—and, surprisingly, Wren—sticking to Evan’s side like he might disappear again, the group made their way back home from the forest. The kids had not wandered into the Dark Woods, only searching for Evan in the safe area of the forest. For some reason, Evan thought that had something to do with Xen.

The red-clad figure trailed at the very back, hands clasped behind his back, wearing his ever-present impassive mask. His face didn’t give away his thoughts, although a small line etched between his eyebrows as the chatters of the group fell on his ears.

Aaron was unusually quiet as he walked beside the lot crowding around Evan. There were so many questions coursing through Evan’s brain that picking one seemed nearly impossible. Even though a huge part of him was relieved to see Aaron, a small, mildly frustrating part of him was itching to ask Aaron all about what had happened. But he wouldn’t do that in front of others. He had to wait for the right time.