Page 34

34

Kairhyse

“ T his has to be the place,” Sydni whispers beside me. “The list of owners of BV-14 vans in Sidence is low. Especially with the sliding doors. Those were only made between 3098 and 3102.” She is typing away at her laptop when I pull into the driveway of a house that looks unoccupied. There are no cars parked, and all of the lights are off.

It’s been five days, and I feel like I’m on the verge of losing my sanity. None of us have slept, and while it’s not an issue for me personally, I can see Sydni nearing her breaking point.

“Let’s go.” She closes the laptop and tucks it under her seat.

“You stay here—”

“No, I’m safer with you. What if someone comes to the car?” I hadn’t even thought of that. How does she even think of something like that happening? I can’t imagine that Xeraphine has put her into any situation like this in the past, but I’m not in the headspace to ask.

“Okay,” is all I say and I get out of my car. Tyson is back at my place, trying to work with his underworld contacts to see if he can find any leads. My car is faster, and I can navigate better through the city. No offense to his beat-up sedan—actually, all the offense. It’s a piece of shit. How it got to another state is beyond me.

The moment we take the step up to the one-story house that has no neighbors for miles, I smell it. I bring in such a long breath that I hear Sydni take one in tandem. “You are onto something, butterfly,” I say, placing my hand in front of her and moving her behind me. “Listen, if we separate for whatever reason, do not run back to the car,” I whisper, turning to look at her. “Find somewhere with a lock, and hide. Then just constantly whisper my name. I’ll know where you are.” She nods, and I continue. “If anyone touches even your hair, scream for me. Whatever it is I’m doing, I’ll drop it and come for you.”

She swallows loud enough for me to hear it, and whispers, “Do you hear anyone?”

I shake my head, “Doesn’t mean they aren’t in there. I suspect if this is the house, they don’t have her here, but maybe we can find something to help lead us to the next location.”

Her lip trembles and she nods. She loves Xeraphine, and this is absolutely destroying her. Since the incident, she hasn’t cried once. She’s been so damn strong, and I know that my little demon would be so fucking proud of her.

I cannot let anything happen to her. Absolutely nothing.

Straightening, I put my hand on her shoulder and squeeze it gently. With as much pressure as needed, I slam the bottom of my palm to the doorknob, knocking it off and pushing open the door.

As I suspected, we are met with silence. Not even the snuffling of a pet or a ticking clock. There are no lights on, other than the red blinking of the digital player under the lone television in the corner of the living room. There are several couches of all different textures and shapes. Nothing is unison, which makes me think this is a throw-away house; something in-between moving from one place to another.

There is nothing on the walls, and the silence is eerie. Not even the buzzing of electronics filters into my ears, and as we step in further, Sydni grabs hold of my arm. Poor thing is shaking like a chihuahua in the winter. I don’t go to hold her; if I have to spring into action, that would just be another second wasted to keep us both alive.

She takes a deep breath, “My Mundane ears hear nothing, but it is too quiet. I don’t even hear the wind.”

I nod and navigate us through to the dining room, which is sectioned by a half wall but open to the kitchen. There are no smells of food, garbage, or anything. This is annoying; it’s as though the house is up for sale and no occupants have been here in months. That’s impossible, because as we were walking up, I could smell exhaust and oil, along with that Vampire from her apartment.

“Wait.” She releases me. “Do you hear the buzz?”

When she goes silent, I listen. How in the bloody Beyond did she hear that? It’s the soft hum of a monitor, and as I look down the hall, I know it’s coming from there.

All the doors are closed. The white walls make no difference in the haunting stillness this house has. Fear is obnoxious, and I don’t feel it now, but something about this place pisses me off. It’s likely because I know she isn’t here and hasn’t been. I would smell her and feel her.

I begin moving us down the hallway, the sound coming from the first room on our right.

There isn’t anyone here; I would hear their heartbeat, so I open the door without hesitation. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the singular laptop on a desk with files upon files stacked was not it. The room has newspapers and strings from one point to another. It looks like someone who solves murders for a hobby lives in this room. A singular mattress lies in the corner, with no sheets or pillows, along with no windows or closets. This room could have been considered the latter of those with how tight and compact it is.

Sydni moves across the room while I walk to the wall. The first newspaper I read is titled, ‘Abductions on the Rise’. The subtitle reads, ‘Trafficking a big concern for the City of Ashfer’ .

Hearing the clicking of a keyboard, I look over to see my little butterfly typing away, trying to get logged into it.

I move to the next article, which has a few photos around it. ‘Girl Missing in the City of Ashfer: No Leads’. There are photos of a child, short hair which I’d assume is black, but because the photo itself holds no color, I can’t be certain. She’s got a smile on her face and her eyes closed.

I want to say that it’s Xeraphine, but the photo itself looks old. I haven’t seen a black and white photo in so long, but who else could it be? Especially as I look back at the article, and I see the name Xeraphine Nora, the girl that is missing.

Moving down the wall, there are no more missing person articles of her, as Xera mentioned likely would have happened. There are some about Achille, which does surprise me, but nothing of note. Most are of Ansford, and more about the City of Ashfer. I’m not super familiar with where that is, but I’m sure a quick web search will provide that information.

Though it doesn’t seem important, for now.

“Rhysie…” I step away from the wall and move to Sydni. “I can’t get logged in, which is surprising. I’m sure I can with some more time. But look…”

She’s holding a folder with the name ‘Xeraphine’ on it. It’s small, but I’d suspect it’s because everything about her is on the walls. When she opens it, several photos fall out, and I immediately place my hand over her eyes.

I wish I could do that to myself.

“Put the file down,” I request softly, and she does so without hesitation.

I pick up the first photo and I’m nearly physically incapable of staying upright. In it is my little demon, chained up in that shipping container. Bloody, beaten and crying. I never imagined the first time I’d see tears in her eyes would be in a photo. I’d always hoped it would be from laughter or finding some happiness in something. Not like this .

I flip the photo over and grab the rest, which are no better, and place them into the folder. A single piece of paper rests in there, and I take it out before closing it and releasing Sydni.

“Thanks…” she murmurs.

“Mhmm.” I flip over the paper and read a toxicology report.

“I have no idea what the rest of this means, but I think what’s important is that this was the day before she was moved from the shipping container to being buried.”

“Look,” she pulls my attention from the paper, and I lean down to look at the locked screen. “Do you see the background?”

“Looks like a cabin, very generic butterfly.” My tone is dull; none of this is getting me closer to my girl. “Grab the laptop and let’s go. I sense if we can’t find anything in this room, the rest of the house will be of no use.”

She hums, “This was taken by a phone; you can see a finger in the corner.” That is in fact, true, a sharp nail pointed into the frame. “Those mountains, they look familiar.” When she stands, her phone is already in her hand, and after a few taps, it is turned to face me. “I think that’s Bearsted Mountain Range.”

The peaks are similar, but the range of those mountains are hundreds of miles long. They are also four hours outside of the city. “What are you getting at?”

“Call it a hunch,” she tucks her phone into her pants and grabs the laptop, “but typically my background is something important. It’ s why I have Mister on my lock screen and Phiny when it’s open. This place is important in some sense. Maybe we can get another clue there, but we are at a dead end here. It’s worth trying while I work to get into the laptop.”

I hesitate, looking into her baby blue eyes.

Eight hours. Four there, four back. Plus, who knows how many hours searching and driving that windy road. Except, she’s been on the right track so far; at least it is a direction to go.

“Okay.” I take a breath and lead her back to the car quickly.

We are on the highway, heading East within fifteen minutes, when Sydni speaks for the first time since getting into the car.

“When did you know you loved her?”

Her bluntness catches me off guard—she doesn’t even ask if I love her, she just assumes. I sneak a quick peek at her; she’s got the chair laid back, my jacket over her like a blanket, even though I’ve got both the seat warmer and the car heater on.

“What makes you think I love her?” I suppose I need to know that answer first because if she just assumes it, I’m not going to call myself out.

She laughs softly, “The way you are acting about finding her. It’s irrational—” I’m offended. “You don’t care about anything else but getting her back. You were willing to burn down Sidence and probably everything else to find her. If this was just about you stalking her or an obsession, you would see this as a game. Just another hunt.”

Okay, I’m no longer offended.

“This is more than that to you.” When I sneak another look at her, she’s crying. “Thank you… I couldn’t do this without you. I may be able to find her location, but I can’t fight to get her back…” Her hands pull up my jacket to hide her face. “She means everything to me, and I love her too. ”

I look forward and take a deep breath. My chest tightens for Sydni; the pain in it is strong, but no more so than the ache in my heart. “I know, butterfly.”

Confessing to her how I feel is wrong. I can’t tell her how I love Xeraphine because it should come out first to my little demon, not to her best friend.

“We will get her back,” I reassure her and put my hand down onto her leg, over the jacket. “Get some sleep; when we get to the park range entrance, I’ll wake you.” She had tried to get into the laptop the moment we sat in the car, but closed it minutes later—she’s tired, and I didn’t want to push her.

I put some wordless music on the radio, and it drowns out her soft sobs until she passes out.

Please let this drive be worth it. At least give me some more information on where to go.

You aren’t glass, little demon; you’ve got this. I’m coming for you.