[✔️] 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐾 𝑂𝐹 𝑀𝐸 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

"Where is he?" Annie questioned as the two of them returned to the cashier counter. "He doesn't live in the city?"

"No, he . . ." Mara shook her head, chewing on the inside of her cheek before continuing, "he lives far from here. I haven't seen him for a few months."

Annie raised her eyebrows, a smile tugging her lips as she inquired, "You don't miss the rest of your family?"

"No, I do." Mara gave her a smile as she shook her head once again. "He's just . . . more important to me than the others. In a different way."

"But wh—" A look of realization dawned on Annie's face before she squinted her eyes and whispered, "I thought you said they were your family?"

"Well, no, actually," she sighed. "It's more like they took me in because my real family didn't want me when I was eleven." She gave Annie a reassuring smile as she told her, "We have different last names, and we never saw each other as brother and sister, so don't worry."

"Oh, that's a relief to hear," Annie chuckled. "You got me all worried and everything!"

The chime of a bell suddenly rang through the air as the door opened, where two young ladies walked in, giggling to each other.

"Hello!" Annie greeted them with a smile before turning back to Mara. "So what happened? You two break up?"

"No, no . . ." Mara shook her head before pressing her lips together. "Just . . . there's something keeping us apart right now."

Annie raised her eyebrows as she questioned, "Which is?"

Time-travel. "Not sure."

"What do you mean 'Not sure'?" Annie tutted, glancing over to the two women who were browsing the rack of dresses. "Surely, you've got to know the reason?"

Mara shook her head as she heaved a heavy sigh and told her, "It's just . . . hard to explain."

"All right, well" —Annie smiled as she tapped her finger on Mara's nose— "you just tell me when you've gone and figured it out."

𝐈𝐈
— 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑎 —

Mara waved goodbye to Annie before heading out of the store, wishing that she had taken a jacket as she wrapped her arms around her waist for extra warmth in the cold weather.

Luckily, the rain had passed just as she hoped. It had been a few hours since the showers had stopped, and Mara made sure to avoid all the little puddles that came across her path.

She spotted the supermarket across the street and decided to stop by; she was running low on eggs and bread, after all.

As she entered the store, Mara looked around, not only for the food she needed but for any sign of a familiar face. Though she knew the chances were slim, she always kept hope that one of the siblings would pop up somewhere.

By the end of the little shopping trip, she, as usual, left with a paper bag full of groceries and no sightings of her loved ones.

Soon, she told herself firmly while ignoring the glimmer of doubt inside of her. They'll turn up.

Mara sighed as she walked down the street, her gaze solely placed on the sidewalk in front of her as she felt the chilly winds blow her hair back and ruffle her bag.

She headed inside her apartment building, giving a nod of hello to one of her neighbours before walking inside the elevator and pressing the button for her floor.

She shifted the paper bag to one hand with a sigh as she dug her keys out of the pocket of her dress while she approached her door. Swiftly, she inserted the key into the lock of her door and turned it, hearing the satisfying click as it unlocked.

Tossing the keys onto her counter, she walked in and closed the door with her foot before gently placing the bag onto the table and beginning to place the products into her fridge and cupboard.

Suddenly, the telephone rang, causing Mara to furrow her eyebrows. She put down the box of cereal that she had just picked out of the bag and walked over to the landline, which was attached to the wall opposite the door.

Quickly, she picked up the black receiver and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mara."

"Annie?" Mara's eyebrows knit even tighter together as she leaned against the wall and questioned, "What's up? Is everything okay at the store?"

"Yeah, I closed the store a couple of minutes ago. I called because . . . something else. I have a question about . . . You said your boyfriend's name is Diego, right?"

Mara gave a curt nod as she confirmed, "Yeah."

"And the family name is Hargreeves?"

"Mhm." Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Short-hair? Hispanic? "

Mara straightened up, an alarmed expression on her face as she breathlessly questioned, "How do you know that?"

Annie's voice was a little awkward as she tentatively asked, "Have you checked today's newspaper?"

"No, I don't usually read the paper." Mara shook her head before nervously questioning, "Is he . . . ?"

"Well . . ." Annie gave a short sigh before continuing, "I think it'd explain what's keeping you apart, to say the least."

"All right, I'll go check that out." Mara swallowed. "Thanks, Ann."

"Mhm. See you tomorrow."

Mara carefully put the receiver back onto its hook and grabbed her keys once again before leaving the apartment. She hastily locked the door before rushing towards the elevator, jabbing her finger into the downward button multiple times, though she knew it wouldn't speed the process up.

After what felt like forever, the elevator doors opened, and she headed inside. After pressing the button for the ground level, she impatiently tapped her foot and tried to resist the excitement that was building up inside of her; she didn't want to get her hopes up in the case that maybe it wasn't Diego. Maybe some other Diego Hargreeves who looked exactly like him (though she wasn't sure if that was really a valid alternative).

She quickly headed outside, looking for the nearest newspaper box. She swiftly spotted one across the street, and hardly looked both ways before rushing over.

Mara pulled the newspaper out with such force that she ripped the edge, though she paid no attention as she analyzed the front page.

It only took a few page-flips to find what Annie had been talking about.

On the lower half of the page, in bold letters, was the headline: 'DISTURBED MAN WITH MULTIPLE KNIVES ARRESTED OUTSIDE 1026 N. BECKLEY.'

And under that, was Diego's mugshot.