Red looked as if he was hit by a carriage as shock registered on his visage. “You’re right.”

What was he thinking?  In that moment, he had been selfish and hyperfixiated on Roana’s well-being rather than paying attention to the person who was actually missing. Josephine needed him, and here he was arguing with Roana instead of doing anything to help her.  It was his fault that she was even gone.  If he only would have stayed, she wouldn’t have gone missing.  He should have helped her.  Why didn’t he help her?  Why did he let her end up like-

His thoughts were cut off by Roana embracing him.  Her soft body pressed against him as he brought his hands up to rest on her shoulder blades.  His heart raced and he couldn’t find himself calming down despite being close enough to smell the light scent of vanilla and feel her heartbeat in tandem with his own.

“It’ll be alright,” Roana chided. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do the best I can to keep myself safe. I have a knife with me that I use for bloodletting and other procedures. If I need to use it, then I will.”

She didn’t know what kind of relief that would bestow upon him, but she hoped that it would quell his fears a little.

“Hey, Roana?”

“Yes?”

“Do you really think Josephine was possessed by the ghost?” His voice was low and almost childlike in nature.  It was a very odd thing for Roana to witness him bearing his vulnerabilities like this.

“I’m uncertain, but I do know there is something wrong with her, which is why I feel time is of the essence. If we don’t save her soon…” She paused.  

Roana could only think that her friend would be found dead, if she hadn’t already passed somewhere.  The doctor’s words solidified the existence of the mad beaked doctor, which held the stakes to a whole new level.  “I don’t want to think of what will happen.”

“Can’t you look for her when you’re not with your creepy doctor friend?” Red really didn’t like the idea of him being around her.

“I feel he knows something about what’s going on. Either he knows what happened to Josephine or he knows something about that murderous doctor. He could possibly know both.” Roana had a feeling that the last of her suspicions held the most water. The doctor seemed to hold all of the keys, but he wouldn’t tell her which door they unlocked and that was problematic.

She shouldn’t trust him, but then again he was her only link.  He saw potential in her. He saved her life.  He was willing to teach her his craft, and all of these things were enough for her to not leave his side.  There was no man who would ever make a pact with her to stay loyally by her side.  If he wanted her dead or missing, he had plenty of opportunities for that.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that he found you after Josephine attacked you?” Red had to ask.  It was just too convenient in his mind. How did he find her? Did he watch Roana go inside? There were just too many questions that he wouldn’t dismiss with simple ‘he has a nosey habit’ rhetoric.

“He said that I was the only person there.” Roana informed.

“But why was he in Josephine’s house?” Red couldn’t stop thinking about that one minor detail. Why would he just go inside like that for no reason?

“He has the bad habit of coming in unannounced.” Roana repeated her answer from before.

“That’s not a good thing.” Did she really not see how harmful this was?

“He’s eccentric.”

“No, he’s creepy.”

Roana pulled herself out of the hug, leaving him cold from the lack of shared body heat.

“You would have to experience him for yourself. He has an aura around him that emanates energy that is odd. It’s as if he’s knowledge itself and he always has answers to my questions. When he offered this knowledge unto me, I had to accept.” It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for her.  Red had no right to judge a man that he had never met based on one thing that he did.  Roana was certain that if Red met him, then he would feel just as enamored by him as she did.  

The doctor was a mysterious enigma, and she knew that he was fond of mysterious people.  She was inviting him to get to know her mentor.  He would be a close-minded fool if he declined.

“What if he’s the killer?” How else would he know the details that he was telling her? How else would he know that the mad doctor was real and not just a legend? People who had that kind of insight held nefarious intentions.  He was using her.

“Rubbish,” Roana turned up her nose at the very thought. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“You barely know him!” Red stressed one important factor in this horrible equation.  What about that was she not getting? No matter how close she thought she was, the fact of the matter was that they only knew each other for the span of a few days.  That was not enough time to get to know someone enough to even gain their trust.  She was being negligent.

“I know him more than you. He wouldn’t do such a thing. He’s actually more than qualified to do his job. I believe in his practices and I believe in him.” Did he really take her for such a fool? Roana couldn’t believe that he was questioning her sense of judgment and made assumptions like she was just some innocent, naïve sheep who’d follow any shepherd’s lead. He really needed to stop undermining her intelligence.

“Something about this makes me uneasy. I have a lot of questions.” Red decided to express his concerns to her.  Maybe she’d understand where he was coming from if he gave her something to think about. “If he knew about this, then why doesn’t he do something about it? Why and how does he know this murderous doctor? Does he know if Josephine is alive or not? How does he even know who she is? Why  did he randomly offer for you to be his understudy? Why was he in Josephine’s house? Was no one home?”

“Red.”

“What?” Red began to get defensive. “You aren’t helping me. You won’t answer anything I ask directly and right now I can’t deal with not having a definitive answer.”

He had dealt with enough in life to be left in limbo about this.  If that doctor knew something, then Roana needed to stop pussyfooting around and actually pull information out of him.  This wasn’t a joke and Josephine’s situation didn’t need to be treated like one.  He had enough guilt over it and who even knew what the other girl was going through. Even if she was alive, no one knew what kind of torture she endured.

“I’ll find Josephine and I’ll get her back.” Roana’s features hardened as she stared at him in determination. “I promise you, Red. I can handle this. Just have faith in me.”