Eco: The Discovery

Chapter 4

“Ziron, it’s been a week! Where is she?!” Neil was screaming out his frustration. Ziron knew better than to answer, but he was frustrated too.

“If I knew where she was, I wouldn’t be worried, would I?” Both Ziron and Neil were pacing back and forth, looking very much like father and son. Ivy was seated on the couch very calmly reading a magazine.

“She didn’t tell you where she went?”

“I’ve told you, no!” Ziron was very tired of telling him that. “She only said that she was going to go meet a friend. She didn’t say who; she didn’t say where.” Ziron stomped his way upstairs, leaving Neil pacing before he could say anything else. 

As he walked down the hall, Ziron saw that Sade’s door was slightly open. He slowly pushed it open the rest of the way. It was neat and dark. She’d painted her room in a dark purple and used black decorations, including black curtains. She hated it when it was too bright, said it “messed up her vibe” when she was painting. Her paintings were often bright though. One hung over her bed. Ziron remembered the day that she did it. She’d seen a sunflower walking home from middle school and ran home to paint it. It had strokes and swirls of greens, yellows, oranges, blues and pinks and purples. Sade can see the colors that hardly anyone notices. That painting was so realistic and… tilted?

Ziron and Sade were both neat freaks, and Ziron knew that Sade would not be careless and fail to straighten the painting. He stepped onto the bed without taking his boots off, thinking that Sade would tell him off if she got the chance. He carefully tried to straighten the painting, but no matter what, it tilted to the side. Ziron finally lifted the painting off of the wall and examined it. The front seemed normal, but a recent addition had been made to the back. It was a folded piece of paper wedged into the corner. Ziron tried to pull it out and could see how that paper could upset the balance. It was tucked in well. Still he pulled it out without damaging the painting. 

He hung the painting in its spot and then threw himself down on Sade’s bed. 

He unfolded the paper. There was a name and a phone number. He’d heard the name before, he just couldn’t recall from where. It tugged on his mind, like something to be acknowledged and taken very seriously. After a minute or so, he realized whose name it was.

His blood ran cold.

Ziron ran to his room and pulled his hoodie over his head. He was putting on is coat as he reached the first floor and walked into the living room. “I’m going to look for her.” He told his parents. 

Neil momentarily looked hopeful. “Right now? It’s getting dark. You know where she went?”

“No, but I have an idea.” Ziron shoved the paper towards his father. Neil took the paper eagerly, but when he read it, his face paled. Ivy saw Neil’s expression and became interested. She set down her magazine and moved to look at the paper.

“Oh, my. Well we always knew she was a bad egg, didn’t we?” There wasn’t a hint of worry in her voice, which was odd because Ziron and Neil were about to freak out. 

Ziron just took this as another reason he hated his mother and the last thing he needed was to have to listen to Ivy. “Shut up!” he snapped. Neil didn’t even bother telling Ziron to not be rude or to watch his manners. Ivy scowled and went back to her magazine. 

“Good luck,” Neil told Ziron. 

“Any ideas on where to start?” Ziron was nervous. 

“Start at The Bar.” Ziron swallowed hard. Of course, this search would probably take him to the Darkest places of their world.