“Hello this is Jeromy-”

“Jeromy! Hey, I need you to-” I was so relieved to hear his voice.

“-I’m busy with work right now, but if you leave your name and phone number, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Leave a message!” The phone beeped. The numb realization that I was talking to a dead end seeped into my mind. I hung up, and called again. It rang, until…

“Hello this is Jeromy. I’m busy with work right n-” I hung up again. I called again, refusing to give up. He was just late getting up, that’s all.

“Hello this is Jeromy. I’m bus-”

“Hello this is Jerom-”

“Hello this is Jer-” I finally gave up, and switched to my mom’s phone number. It clicked almost right after the first ring.

“The number you have dialed is not in service at this time. Please try again later.” Came the automated message. I let the phone slip onto the floor as I flopped over onto my side on the couch. I’m just overreacting, right? The nightmare flashed through my mind again.

I rose. Deciding I wouldn’t just sit there and wait to see if they’d suddenly up and call. If I’ve learned one thing during this whole thing, it’s that I’m never just paranoid. I picked up my phone again, and went off to find my shoes.

“Got that feeling, huh?” Jett asked as I scurried about.

“Yeah. That nightmare I had. It was about them, and so many others. I need to check it out.” I bent down to retrieve my hat, and winced at the movement. Then I wrapped myself in my scarf, and was about to go downstairs.

“Wait.” Jett said, and I paused. “Camilla said some people went missing, right? Maybe you should have her go with you. Just in case.”

I looked back to the door, then down the stairs. I hate it when he’s right. I turned on my heel and went through the kitchen door and past, to knock on Camilla’s door in the living room. I could hear her grunt in acknowledgement. I opened to door to find her sitting cross legged on her bed in front of a laptop looking concentrated. I cut to the chase.

“I think something happened.” I began, she looked up now. “I think my family are in danger, I need to check. Jett said to ask you to come with.”

“... Yeah. One sec.” She didn’t look happy, she kept glancing at the computer, and I had the sense she knew something. She closed the lid and started moving about her room to get her winter clothes on. I got lost in my own head for a minute or two just thinking about whatever could be happening, and only snapped out of it when suddenly she was in front of me. She raised an eyebrow, I could feel the ‘get out of the way’ energy coming off of her in waves.

“She could carry on entire conversations with just her eyebrows, you know.” Jett said, probably trying to be funny. I just rolled my eyes as I started heading downstairs. I grabbed my coat from the hook and went to the employee exit, Camilla wasn’t far behind after too long. We nodded to each other, and turned out into the cold.

It was snowing, and didn’t show any signs of clearing up during the day. It didn’t give me that comfortable feeling like it used to. It felt like it was shrouding terrible things. We went around to the front of the building to start walking toward the parking where Camilla’s car was. We didn’t get too far, before we heard Emma calling out. I turned to see her on the sidewalk nearing the shop. She lightly jogged the last bit of distance.

“Hey. I came as soon as I could. Where are you going?” She asked as soon as she was in earshot. I glanced to Camilla, then back to Emma. I opened my mouth when she started talking again. “Is this about all the missing people? I’ve been seeing posts all over the internet about it. And you, Fin.”

She was likely referencing that ‘swordsman Neo’ thing. Camilla nodded, and turned back to keep heading to her car. I assumed Emma would follow, so I followed her.

“We think so. I want to check on my mom and brother, specifically.”

“You think they’re one of the missing people?” She asked, sounding nervous.

“I hope not. That’s what we’re going to go find out.” I said as we entered the parking. Emma unspokenly decided she was coming with, and hopped into the back seat when we got to the car.

The ride to my mother’s apartment was quiet- when did it become my mother’s apartment, and not mine? I think everyone had similar feelings about this. Like we all knew what we’d find when we got there. I got my keys ready to unlock the door for when I got there. I hopped out of the car as soon as it stopped in temporary parking, and I started rushing into the building. Emma had to rush to follow me, since she didn’t know where my apartment was like Camilla did.

I made it to the door. It was unlocked. I suddenly froze, and held up my hand for Emma to be silent. We wouldn’t know if there was someone in here or not. I slowly opened the door, and peered inside as silently as possible. So far nothing stuck out, I creeped my way inside, and made sure to check the kitchen as I passed. I went to the living room, next. The room was silent, I walked through, looking at everything. My eyes rested on the table, and I noted almost sadly that my mother’s phone lay upon it. I went over to it, and checked to see if it was damaged at all before I put it back down to search the rest of the house.

My mother wasn’t there. Neither was my brother. The apartment was silent through and through until Camilla began snooping for clues. Emma came to sit beside me on the couch where I sat with my head in my hands. The mood was absolutely melancholic, and I waited silently as Camilla reappeared soon, on the phone with someone. After a long bout of waiting, listening to her ask questions and eventually shout at someone, it finally seemed to end.

“Yes, alright... Got it.” She hung up, dropped her phone into her pocket. “Get up. We think we might’ve found them.”

I stood up faster than my body liked, but there was no time to wince. I was already at the door again by the time Emma was standing again. I then made my way back outside to the car and got into the passenger seat without another word. The other two didn’t have far to catch up, and soon enough the car was starting back up again.

“We’re going to a warehouse at the edge of the city. Apparently there’s been a lot of unexplained activity there since two nights ago. It was already being watched because we thought there might have been HEARTLESS hiding out there for a while. There was a huge spike in disappearances last night though, and that’s where we think they might be.” Camilla explained while she started driving us toward the warehouse district.

“How many people disappeared, exactly?” Emma asked, leaning forward between the two front seats.

“We aren’t sure. We think a lot of them haven’t been reported yet. Hopefully not as much as I’m worried about.” Camilla answered. I said nothing, I merely sat and waited for this warehouse to get in my line of sight, anger slowly rising. It was tainting my perception of danger, and instead of that nervous feeling I get before we go somewhere, I felt anticipation.

“So… How you holding up?” Jett asked, and I shook my head.

“How do you think?” I snapped.

“Hey, I’m just asking. You seem upset.” he seemed to be insisting on pointing out the obvious today.

“Go figure.” I turned away to glare out the window. He got the hint, and stopped talking about it. Instead just chattering aimlessly like I was used to.

Eventually the car slowed to a creep, and Camilla pointed out the warehouse to us. We parked on a different street, deciding it would be safer to approach on foot. I took Jett out of his satchel as we got close, and held him close to myself under my coat so I could be ready for a fight quickly. It was snowing harder, and I barely noticed when a shiver racked its way through my body.

“Are you sure you can do this right now, Fin? You’re still hurt from yesterday.” Jett eventually said when we were outside the warehouse, preparing to find a way to sneak in.

“Shut up Jett, I'm fine.” I hissed quietly as Camilla found a side door. I saw her glance around before kneeling with some metal sticks that she fished from her bag. I watched her pick the lock to the door, and waited impatiently for her to peek through the crack in the door. She pulled back from the door, glanced at us and jerked her head to the warehouse. A silent command to ‘follow me’.