Edited by: Waning_Crescents
Going over the speed limit more than he should, Sigal arrived at Shuri Town not long after. He recalled that Cal had told him how his last memory involved this area and the orphanage, so this seemed the right place to look for him.
Sigal let his eyes wander left and right as he ran through the streets until he reached the orphanage. All the kids gathered happily around him, clinging onto him after they hadn’t seen him for a while. Sigal had to calm them down in a kind manner, even with his limited patience. They were still children after all; they didn’t understand such matters, nor should they have to.
“That's enough! Leave him be!” Mrs. Shayla, ultimately, freed him from his misery and urged the kids inside.
Sigal expressed his gratitude and then cut to the chase. She told him Cal had been here around two hours ago, asking questions. She also added that when he left, he acted quite strangely, as if he had been in some kind of pain or felt uncomfortable all of a sudden, which worried her.
Sigal frowned. “Which direction did he go?”
“This way!” She pointed to the west side of the area.
“Alright. You still have that phone I gave you, right?”
She nodded.
“If you should see him again, please contact me.”
“I will.”
Right after, Sigal rushed off, while she gazed after him with a worried expression on her face.
In the hope that Cal still roamed around this area, Sigal dashed through the streets like the wind, worry plastering his face. The last time they had been in Shuri Town, both had been targeted by the cartel, after all, but back then he didn’t have the knowledge he had now. Axis alone posed a threat, but through the interrogation, he found out that not Axis but someone else had pulled the strings all along, which meant that their eyes could be everywhere, even watching him and Cal right now. Who could tell what else they had planned?
Cal. Sigal gritted his teeth. The words Mrs. Shayla spoke when she told him how Cal left also caused him some stress. Are his wounds acting up, or… He thought for a moment. Did he start to remember? Can it be?
***
After Cal had recovered his composure, he strolled around the western part of Shuri Town a while longer until he hit a dead end. Some places gave him a familiar sensation, but none of them triggered any more memories; therefore, he had to abandon his search there and leave.
With his gray hood pulled over his head from his half-sleeved shirt and his jacket tied around his waist, Cal walked aimlessly around the streets of Lake Avenue. He remembered that he had been here before with Claire, when they had been searching for clues regarding the case. Last time he couldn’t take a look around the streets, but now that he had some time to spare, he noticed that this part of West-Colst seemed less busy. Not many people lingered around the streets, and overall, it appeared slow-paced.
Even though the colorful buildings were a sight to behold, his mind wandered off once more to his regained memory fragments. He assumed that his mother must have loved him a great deal; at least that’s what her kind gestures and the words that echoed through his mind suggested. However, if that was the case, then where was she now? And why did she call him by another name?
This left him with more questions than answers, and a kind of uneasiness crawled up inside of him. Does that mean I changed my name? But why? Cal’s eyebrows drew together. Does that also mean I lied to everyone? Or do they know? Does he know?
He stopped and took a deep breath. If he knew, why would he take care of me then? Unless… A noisy rumbling from his stomach pulled him out of his thoughts. Just then he realized that he hadn’t eaten all day, not even breakfast, which he started to regret. I will never be able to taste his cooking again… He let out a sad sigh. I wonder what he is doing right now.
From afar, shouts from the markets toward the docks echoed through, advertising their popular dishes. Cal lifted his head at that and gazed into the distance. The seafood at their restaurants and stalls was praised far and wide, known for its rich and unique flavor, which attracted not only locals but also people from afar to taste their meals.
Cal grabbed his wallet from his pocket, checking how much money he had left after donating most of it to the orphanage. He counted the banknotes and coins before nodding in affirmation. This should do.
While Cal wandered off to the restaurants near the docks to grab a bite, two figures eyed him from a safe distance. “Look at how innocent he is now.” Axis licked his lips in ecstasy. “This makes me want to play with him even more.”
“Mn.” Killian stood beside him, scrolling through his phone.
“I still can feel the thrill from last time. It was so good.” He took a deep breath, as if trying to keep himself in check.
“Calm down, it’s not time yet.”
“I know. We still need more data, or we can’t start distributing it.” Axis paused for a moment. “But we sure need more test subjects. The boss has gotten pretty antsy lately, especially since Noin has been caught.”
“This was unexpected, but it’s also not a problem yet.” With a short vibrating noise, a message popped up on Killian’s display, which he clicked to open. “It seems like your acquaintances have arrived.”
“Great.” A grin spread over his lips.” I will pick ‘em up, you stay and keep watch. We can’t afford to lose track of him.”
Killian nodded, after which Axis left.
***
When dusk fell over the city, Cal decided to find a place to rest and settled down at a small inn. When he entered the room, he looked around. The room consisted of a bed, a nightstand, a small table with a chair, and a little bathroom in a separate room.
Cal hung his jacket over the chair and pulled his hood off his head before he walked to the window and pulled the drapes aside, gazing outside. Just where should I head next? He let out a sigh. I barely have any money left. I probably should think of making some first.
He closed the drapes again and walked to the bed, letting himself fall onto it. As he lay there, he turned to the side, staring at the free space beside him. So many questions spun around in his head, yet at this moment, none of them mattered. He stretched out his hand, feeling the other side of the mattress while his eyelids lowered. Sigal… His mind traveled to the time Sigal took him in, the warmth he began to feel over time, and the way he fell asleep without any worries whenever he had been there.
Cal wrinkled part of the sheet in between his fingers and gritted his teeth in frustration, unable to let go of the loneliness that engulfed him at this very moment. He remained in this position for quite a while until, after almost two days of no sleep, his body gave in, and he eventually fell into a slumber.
***
As soon as the sun went down and night fell, Sigal’s anxiety reached its peak. He searched for hours, so did Lucien and part of his team and yet, there had been no sign of Cal.
“What do you mean we should regroup?” Sigal angrily shouted into his phone.
“We searched high and low and couldn’t find him. If he is still somewhere around here, we need to generate a plan. There is more here at stake. You know that, right?” Vince said, his tone serious. “He is not the only one who will be in danger if we keep this up. It is pretty clear by now that we are all targets, especially you. So—“
“I don’t care!” Sigal blurted out. “The difference is, we are aware of the facts, but Cal isn’t. He doesn’t know in what kind of danger he is. He is alone out there somewhere, confused, and clueless.”
“Sigal, please.”
“You can pull the others back, but I won’t return until I find him.” With that statement, he hung up and put the phone back into his pocket.
The moon shone bright in the evening sky, and a warm summer breeze wafted through the streets. In the middle of the night, most people preferred to stay inside, sleeping in their beds where they were safe, but some people still roamed around outside. Usually, these were people who either went out for fun or those whose agenda revolved around a darker side. However, aside from these two types, there were also the unfortunate ones who lived on the street. Homeless people could not only be found in Shuri Town; they also resided in all kinds of different places around Colst.
Sigal walked around these places; on one hand, because he asked around if anyone had seen Cal, but on the other hand, he checked if Cal was among those people. After he heard from Mrs. Shayla that he had donated quite a sum of money, he wondered how much he had left to seek shelter, so he considered this a possibility.
Unfortunately, his search didn’t bear any fruit, and he ended up the same way he had started. Just how far did he go? Sigal opened the door to his car before he plunged himself into the seat. How is it possible that there is no sign of him?
If he considered that Cal had indeed been in Shuri Town not too long before he arrived there, then how was it possible that he still couldn’t find any clues? The only possibility he could think of was one he absolutely didn’t want to consider. He had pushed that thought aside the whole time, wanting to believe that Cal was safe and sound, walking the streets of Colst, somewhere. However, in the dark of the night, his worries grew steadily, and his mind wandered to a dark place.
If Axis… He gritted his teeth as he clenched the wheel. Then what will become of him? All kinds of scenarios rushed through his head, one worse than the other while his pulse sped up, reaching a new record. No. He closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down. I can’t lose hope. I will find him. I must!
A knocking sound against the window to his left pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned his head, where two familiar figures stood there; one had his arms crossed with a frown on his face, and the other smiled, gesturing to roll his window down.
Sigal did as told and asked in quite an annoyed tone. “What do you want?”
“Charming, aren’t we?” Asher remarked.
Sigal’s eyes shimmered dangerously as he opened the car door and stepped outside. “Did Vince send you to drag me back?”
“As much as I would love to kick your ass and drag you back.” Asher grinned. “This is not why we are here.”
“We are here to help!” Nowe smiled as he jumped in between them to avoid an escalation.
“Help?” Sigal raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Why would Vince send you two to help all of a sudden?”
“Initially—“
“Because he knows you are too stubborn to reason with right now.” Nowe interrupted Asher, answering in his stead. “So, instead, he asked us to help you.” Nowe glanced at Sigal, his smile vanishing. “He is worried about you, but I also understand where you are coming from.” Nowe briefly looked, through the corner of his eyes, at Asher before he continued. “I would do the same if it was Asher.”
Asher pressed a hand on top of Nowe’s head. “Stop talking nonsense.”
“Ow, ow.” Nowe winced. “You are so mean! I was being serious!”
Ignoring the little spectacle that unfolded in front of his eyes, Sigal turned to Asher. “I am surprised you are even willing to help. Aren’t you the one who suspects Cal to be a traitor?”
Nowe slapped Asher’s hand away and quickly answered before he could. “He keeps an open mind now.” He gazed at Asher. “Right?”
Unable to refute Nowe, even more so because he did promise him that the other day, he only said, “…Yeah…”
Sigal didn’t want to waste any more time on this subject, not right now at least, and nodded in agreement. Then he grabbed a map from the car, on which he had marked all the spots he and the corps division had already covered. “Let’s split up then.”
