Bonded by Blood

T H I R T Y S I X

"What about Eric?" Atalia spoke up. "You said he ran after him-do you think he lost him!?"

"I-I don't know." My voice cracked out.

"Is everything okay?" Hitomi cautiously chirped out from the side of the door, causing all of our attention to momentarily land on her.

"Everything is okay, Hitomi. Go back to your room." Miya walked right past me to guide her little sister back to her room. "I'm sorry, but we haven't seen Leone at all." She says once she returned.

"What about Nikolai? Do you think he has?" I brought up.

"I'm sure he would've already told us if he did." Atalia shrugged before continuing with slight optimism. "He does own a cabin by Cloud Lake though-so you know, there's a chance he might find him before any of us."

"Yeah, that's right." Miya quickly rushed over to her phone and began dialing. "If there's anyone that could help us find Leone, it's him." The phone rang for awhile.

"No answer?" I asked once we were left in contemplative dread.

Miya's brows furrowed, a slow and uneasy expression coming across her face as she carefully slid the phone back into her pocket. "That's weird, he usually always picks up."

My heart raced with apprehension, anxiety coursing through me. "Well I suppose I should keep looking then-" My voice was abruptly cut off by a fit of violent coughs. I desperately attempted to conceal it with a clenched fist, only to find my hand drenched in a disconcerting amount of blood shortly after. Ashamed, I wiped my arm across my mouth, both of their gazes fixed upon me with genuine worry. "I'm sorry for coming here unannounced. If you guys hear anything can you please let me know? He really means a lot to me-so if you guys could-" I could barely finish my sentence as I averted my eyes downward, overcome by an overwhelming surge of emotions that threatened to consume me entirely.

Miyako quickly rushed towards me, her mouth pressed together in a comforting gesture to hush my impending tears. "Hey, you don't have to do this alone, you know? Leone's our friend too. Let us help, we wanna help." She enveloped me in her arms.

"Hell yeah we do!" Atalia added, promptly rising out of bed with growing determination. "I say we drive down to Eric's place and ask that piece of shit for any information he might have."

"He's throwing a pool party at his house today." Miya interjected in clear urgency, momentarily scrolling through her phone before presenting a digital flyer before my eyes. "It's absolutely insane he's even able to enjoy himself, considering what he's put you both through."

"But how can we be certain that he'll talk?" Curiosity and doubt filled my voice as I asked.

Atalia nonchalantly shrugged, exuding her naturally blasé confidence. "Trust me, with a bit of a push, anyone that's got a lot to lose will always talk the most. If push comes to shove, then we'll just have to burn that entire party down to the ground." She ended with an excited cackle.

The sound of excitement suddenly filled the air as Hitomi cheered. "Oouu did I hear someone say party!?" She crept up by the door, adorned in the same penguin onesie, along with springy-eyed glasses with last year's date displayed on them.

"Ugh." Miyako groaned out in annoyance before throwing us an apologetic laugh. "Hitomi, I told you to stay in your room!"

"You always tell me to stay in my room! It's no fair!" Hitomi loudly pleaded while stomping her penguin flippers and webbed feet that were made out of cotton on the ground. "I wanna help find Leone! He's my friend too!"

In an attempt to calm Miyako's annoyance, Atalia gently patted her on the back before addressing Hitomi with an understanding smile. "Alright little penguin, how exactly do you wanna help us find him?"