Timeline of Errors

Part 20 - Findings

Antonio pushed the door open, revealing two bookshelves standing against the wall. Several books could be spotted in some rows, along with yellowed and torn pieces of papers lying around. The young man looked around with his flashlight, looking into the books and papers left behind.

"Surely there's no way they'd take Matias' draft papers as well," he said and opened the drawer at the bottom of the bookshelf, "...or not. They're gone,"

"What?" I asked and walked over to him, only to see the empty drawer in front of him, "maybe Antonia was the one who took them? Then got attacked on the way back?"

"Hmm... Valen, can you check the window?" he asked, "see if they break in through the window?"

"Sure," I said and turned to the window across me.

It was only then did I notice that there wasn't as much dust on the windowsill. I opened the window and the cold night breeze immediately broke in, blowing the papers on the shelves to the ground. However, suddenly I caught a whiff of metallic scent. I looked down and suddenly found splotches of dark red pigment, with a thin line of red going all the way to the bushes down in the garden.

"...Antonio," I called out.

~~~

The two of us have stood in front of the bushes right below the archive room in silence. The young man called out his Salamence and commanded a cut, which cleared and slashed the bushes and outgrown grass around us. It was only then did we notice that the wall behind the bushes was dyed brown-black in an uneven random, swirly pattern, as if someone had vandalised it. The grass beneath it was slightly flattened. However, there was nothing flattening it - at least not then. Not a single soul could be seen on sight. Just the cold, hollow mansion behind us surrounded by tall grass and bushes in the dead of the night. The red trail too stopped there. There was no other hints of red here and there. Just pale grasses swaying with the wind.

"...where was she taken to?" the young man in front of me muttered.

"...maybe the Gris' estate?" I asked.

"They have a lot of buildings under them, there's no guarantee they'll take her to their estate," he replied, "I'm gonna guess that the enemy was flying with a Pokemon, dragged her down, then went off with her. But now..."

We have no lead, I thought and gulped.

"I'll look for witnesses," I quickly said and was about to turn around.

"...thanks, Valen," he said in a weaker voice.

I stopped in my tracks and looked at the young man kneeling on the ground. His figure, clad in worn out brown coat, looked small in the face of the huge mansion and towering tall grass.

"...I'll be back in a bit," I said and patted his shoulders.

~~~

"You sure it was this way?" he asked.

The two of us came back riding Salamence through the night, flying eastward.

"That's what that Hoothoot told me," I said, "there was a Talonflame flying eastward after taking a human down in the big empty building,"

"Back to the Eastern Island..." he muttered, "don't tell me..."

"...the abandoned supermarket building?" I asked.

"...let's hope not," he replied, "but..."

~~~

"Let's try this way," he said and turned to the walls. He pushed a button and suddenly the walls opened up into an elevator.