'Viewers, we return with the latest report from the scene. The violent explosion that rocked the Austeen Hotel resulted in numerous casualties and injuries. To date, authorities have yet to identify all the victims. Here are some of the names of those reported missing...'
The harsh glare of the television screen broke the silence in the living room.
Three figure sat frozen on the sofa, staring blankly at the news broadcast. Their faces were pale, tears streaming silently down their cheeks without a single sobs escaping.
Bella stared at the scrolling text. Most of the names were unfamiliar, but among them, lay one she knew all too well.
"They must be mistaken," Bella muttered, her eyes were puffy. She hugged Eido tightly. "Ishi… it can't be... she wouldn't..."
Eido remained silent, staring blankly at the screen. Something was wrong. Ishihara was nowhere to be found, yet her bag had been recovered by officers a hundred meters from the crime scene. Her spare clothes, shoes, and towel were there—except for her phone.
The phone was dead, untraceable. They had searched everywhere, but found nothing.
BANG!
The front door burst open, slamming hard against the wall.
Standing in the doorway was a woman with hollow, fatigue-stained eyes—Ashwini. Ishihara's missing older sister had finally arrived.
"Where's Ishi?" Ashwini demanded, her voice cold, though deep anxiety glinted in her eyes.
Bella burst into fresh sobs. Uncle and Eido couldn't speak, their tongues were too numb.
Without waiting for an answer, Ashwini strode toward the television, staring at the rows of news text on the screen.
Victims Declared Missing / Unidentified:
1. Neharika Praatyusha Omkara (Nehi)
2. Ishtia Hanna Varamika (Ishihara)
3. Lenore Philbertha (Lenore)
Her eyes widened, and she clenched her fists. "This is impossible," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Ishi can't be gone..."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"I've contacted the precinct," Uncle said, his voice hoarse and broken. "The police found no physical remains in her zone. No traces. No clues."
Ashwini spun around, her eyes blazing. "That's make no sense! A human being doesn't just vanish into thin air!"
A heavy, suffocating hush reclaimed the room.
"There's something you need to know," Bella interrupted quietly. "There was something strange about Ishi. Something... unexplainable."
Ashwini’s gaze snapped to her cousin. "What do you mean, Bella?"
"I don't know how to explain it," Bella stammered, hesitation lacing her voice. "When I found her unconscious in the shed before her birthday... there was ash scattered around her. Like burnt remains. But there was no smell of fire. Nothing was scorched."
Eido looked up and replied quietly, "Do you realize... Ishi looked as if her very soul was about to slip away every time we looked at her lately?"
Eido's words left Bella speechless. Ashwini stared at the two of them intently, trying to decipher the unsaid truth from their shaken expressions.
Without another word, Ashwini walked down the hallway into Ishihara's bedroom.
She searched every drawer, every shelf, searching for any clues. Bella followed passively, sitting on the edge of the bed.
On the study desk, among the piles of textbooks and pens, Ashwini found a diary with a faded leather cover.
She flipped open the pages. Her hardened expression slowly crumbled, tears welling in her eyes as her gaze scanned the neat lines of her younger sister's handwriting:
I never asked them to come—
Not with attention, nor affection, nor smiles I could never fully comprehend
Yet, they came
When I fell...
When the eyes of my heart were blinded by darkness…
When I felt useless, helpless, and discarded…
When I felt though the world—even my own family—had no need for me…
When I believed this life was never meant for someone like me…
When I chose to curl up within the clock face, watching time spin faster than my own heart…
They didn't speak much.
They didn't act much.
Yet they captured every fragment of my soul with the simplest of gestures.
They never forced me to believe.
They simply stayed... accompanying me in a silence that felt cool, profound, and peaceful.
Him, the White Robe—whose face was veiled in light,
Who pulled me from the shadows and guided me to hold his hand when I had nothing left to anchor me...
And him, the Black Robe—who smiled beneath his hood,
Who stood by my side as I faced my deepest terrors,
Who caught me when I plummeted into despair and pulled me back from the void...
TAP.
Ashwini closed the diary tightly, her tears dripped down, soaking into the leather.
When she turned back to Bella, her skeptical gaze had completely vanished—replaced by regret and deep understanding.
"She was just... too alone," Ashwini choked out.
With trembling fingers, Ashwini reached for her encrypted phone and dialed a high-clearance number.
"I need immediate intelligence support," she commanded into the receiver, her voice hardening into steel despite the tears on her cheeks. "My sister is missing from the Austeen Hotel site. The official report is compromised. I want you to trace her phone's last ping and retrieve the scrubbed CCTV footage from the hotel ballroom. Now."
She lowered the phone, looking out the window into the dark city sky.
She wasn't going to accept a missing person report. She would tear the truth out of whatever dark force had taken her sister—and she would never let Ishihara walk alone again.
Was she... already too late to keep her promise?