Chapter 10 - Searching
It has been several days since Emil had moved in with Leon to search for his sister. He had forgotten about the injury on his arm, but luckily the bullet hadn't gone through the flesh completely. Leon helped him bandage it and it started healing by itself with time. He had some other little injuries and bruises around his body but there wasn't anything serious.
Emil was watching Leon brew the coffee from the couch. It had become a daily routine for them to sit down with coffees in hand and search through stuff whole night. He had also learned that Leon was quiet fond of the late night, so he usually went to bed when the sun was newly rising. It made the matters better since there was only one bed. It wasn't like they slept much but it still provided them both a comfortable sleeping place. There was rare times when Emil pulled an all nighter to help Leon. They would sleep together when it happened, but none of them minded.
When Leon came back with coffees and sat in front of his working desk as usual, Emil murmured a little 'thanks' and took his place near the table. They weren't able to get much information like this and needed Emil's professional computer kit to get better results. However, they both knew it was nearly impossible for Emil to go back to his house. They could ask Tina or Berwald to go get it for them but they weren't able to find a good enough excuse. Finally, Leon decided to get it himself since he was a special detective and had some reasonable excuses. Emil, however, wouldn't be able to go with him, and decided to cook something instead. They were going with coffee and choco bars for days, so a decent meal would be nice for once.
"What should I take when I get there?" Leon asked from his place, and turned his chair towards Emil. He thought for a while before speaking.
"Well, you should get my laptop first of all, that's mostly what I use to get stuff done. Then you should also take the cables for charging and the little box with green lights, that's a mini wi-fi I use. Do you have internet here?"
Leon was taking some notes and sipped from his coffee once in a while.
"I do, but I don't use it much so it's limited to 4GBs."
"Oh... well, that definitely won't get anything done." Emil remarked bluntly. "Is there anyone or any place that I can get a better wi-fi from?"
Leon thought for a while.
"Hmm, I think there's an internet cafe a few blocks from here, and a cafes' street in about a kilometer. I could ask some neighbours but I don't think their situation is much different from mine."
Emil thought hard for a while.
"Damn... well, I will try speaking with that internet cafe sometime. They might want money since I'm gonna use a lot."
"How much, approximately?"
"Uh... I can't be sure of the exact amount but definitely more than 4."
There was a short silence while they both drank some coffee.
"Okay, is there anything else you need?"
"Yeah, try to find my usb's around my room. I don't know if dad has taken them but I don't think so. You should find the neon green and red one first, the rest are not that important but take them too if you see some."
He stopped to think again, "Try to pick up anything you see that's laying around my laptop, and that should be it."
"Mhm." Leon finished writing with a nod and put the memo in his little work case.
"You can go to sleep, I will be up for a while."
Emil nodded and stood up. He was going to buy some stuff for the meal the next morning. It would be done by night and then he'd work and set up his stuff. He took his mug to the kitchen and poured the remaining coffee into the sink. Then he went to the bedroom. He was wearing some baggy trousers and a t-shirt Leon had lent him for daily life. Then he changed into the pajamas which were also lent by Leon to him, and got in the bed. He hadn't been able to sleep much after all the events he'd been through. So now was a good opportunity to get himself together.
ooo
The weather was cloudy and seemed like it would rain soon. Such a nice setting for the mood, Tina thought. She was walking along the path at a nearby park with Berwald. It was a gloomy mood they had, and no one spoke much. After they'd gone through the shock of what happened a few nights before, the situation dawned on them worse than before. They couldn't reach Emil by phone, since he didn't have one anymore. His whereabouts were unknown to them for the second, and his family didn't realy help the situation.
In the end, they were left with no information whatsoever in their hands and had no choice but to wait. Tina kicked a little rock nearby, and it skipped on the ground a few times before it flew into the grass and got lost. She felt really uneasy, and she knew that Berwald was the same too, but he was better at keeping his composure calm. Tina, on the other hand, wasn't as good at it, and one could almost see the dark aura surrounding her. She kicked another rock on the way and huffed with anger and boredom.
"I can't believe we're like this..." she stopped walking and turned to Berwald.
"I can't stand this, are we gonna just stay like this from now on?" She asked with a pushy look in her eyes. Berwald looked back, but didn't really give an answer except a 'hm'. He didn't like the situation neither, but he couldn't find an idea on what they could do. Tina sighed and continued walking through the park. It was another five minutes before Tina's phone rang.
"Hm?" She looked at the screen with curiosity and a little bit of excitement.
Unknown number.
She accepted the call and waited for whoever it was to speak.
"...Tina?" There was a reluctant voice from the other person. And it wasn't just any person.
"EMIL?!" she almost screamed as she recognized the voice, "Oh my god! Where are you, are you okay?!"
"You're hurting my ear calm down. Yes, I am safe right now. I was meaning to call you earlier but things had to calm down a bit."
"Where are you right now?"
The sudden excitement and screams from Tina also took Berwalds attention (well, it was impossible not to notice actually) and he quickly walked closer to hear what they were talking about. He was relieved that they finally got a word from Emil.
"I am, uh, at a friend's place. But I'm okay here don't worry about it."
"What happened with your injuries? Or the police? What happened after that..." she didn't know how to finish her sentence. "A, anyway, do you know how worried we were?! Don't ever try something like that again!"
"Sigh, I'm sorry..."
Tina calmed down a bit after hearing his genuinely apologizing voice.
"I, it's fine."
"I didn't have any serious injuries so don't worry. The bullet didn't even go through my arm completely. And the poli-"
"Wait, the bullet?! Oh my god what happened in there?!"
"It's not important right now geez! I dont have that much time to speak so calm down."
Tina sighed with defeat and became silent.
"The police didn't do much, but I'm still under watch. Actually, a friend from there is helping me right now. Anyway I gotta go now, I just wanted to let you know that i am okay. Just call this number or leave a voice message if you ever need to reach me, okay?"
"O, okay! T-take care.." she mumbled with her words from the suddenness of all of this. Then the 'beep' voice noticed that the call has ended. For a few seconds, she just stared at the phone. Then put it away in her pocket.
"Let's go back home." She mumbled.
ooo
"You shouldn't take a bath alone again."
"So what, will you take them with me?"
It was near evening, and Nora was still in bed, sitting in Matthias' arms. While it was pretty unusual of her to let him hug her, she didn't care for that second. She had hardly recovered from her near-death situation, but felt somehow good in between his arms.
"While the idea is pretty tempting, I was thinking about sending a maid with you." He chuckled, "or, did you want me to?"
"No, takk, I will punch you if you ever propose that."
"Woah calm, you were the one who came up with the idea." He grinned, "not that I care ya know."
Nora hit him on the shoulder, it was rather a weak punch due to her situation, and he laughed. A short silence followed after their conversation.
"Hey."
Nora called out to him while staring out at the dawn.
"Hm?"
"This is pretty strange when you think about it."
"What do you mean?" Matthias turned to her in a questioning manner. Her face features looked angelic under the dim light caused by the dawn.
"You don't know me, yet, you care about me." She had a calm composure, but Matthias could tell her uneasiness.
"It isn't one sided at least."
"How can you know?"
"Well, would you let a man you loathed hold you like this, or do this?" He asked as he hugged her tighter, and buried his face in her ash blonde locks. She smelled like fresh autumn snow and the cold night. He didn't know if those had a smell actually, as it sounded pretty cheesy. But whatever she smelled like it reminded him of those.
"Maybe I would." She answered. She hadn't returned his hug, but she didn't push him away neither.
"We're both pathetic..." Nora told silently and sighed. Matthias only smiled to her comment and continued to look out the window while embracing her. He knew she'd be asleep soon, and dawn slowly mixed into the night as he dozed off along with her.
ooo
Leon checked the entrance for his car keys, then proceeded to wear his coat and shoes. Emil was watching from the living room as he leaned on the wall lazily and waited for him to get ready.
"When will you be back?"
Leon dusted off the invisible layer of dust on his coat and opened the door.
"It won't take long, I will be back before the dawn."
"And you call that early..." Emil murmured under his breath. "Have a nice trip, and good luck with my dad."
"Don't worry about that," he opened the door and took a step outside, "I'm off." There was the bang of the door. Leon waited for the elevator, and several minutes later he was out of the building, walking to his car. The weather was dark and gloomy, sun could not be seen. He continued to take quick steps and unlocked his car. He started the car as he threw the bag to the back seat, and drove to The Bondeviks Mansion. He felt like laughing at the name actually, Nordic names always seemed funny to him. But the situation was nothing to laugh at.
After driving for a good hour, his car was not the best, he finally reached the big twin doors that led to the gorgeous, white mansion behind it. There wasn't anyone to be seen around the gate, so he went to the little box near the gate and pressed the button. There was a short silence before a man, who he guessed was Emil's dad, opened the dial.
"Yes, who is it?"
"Hello Mr Bondevik. I am from the special investigation department. I have to do a little investigation in your son's room regarding the recent occurances in events."
There was silence, then a 'beep' sound was heard and the doors of the big mansion opened. He walked in the garden and watched the doors close automatically after him. His steps echoed through the dead silent way, and he finally reached the main door. Two maids opened the door and he got inside. His little chat with Emil's dad didn't take long and he soon collected all the things he needed from his room. After a brief explanation, he went out back from the way he came, and placed his bag in the back of the car. Now that he thought about it, Emil was going to prepare the meal for today. The thought of a decent dinner actually took his interest, and he got in his car, sitting for a while and watching the cars passing from the road.
He thought about Emil for a brief second. There was something that took his interest in him. Supposedly, his reason of helping him was because of his sister, and at first, it was. But somehow, day after day, Leon gained a different view about him. He didn't yet know how to describe it, but decided not to linger on it for too long. He had a case to help, and his thoughts could be left for another time.
He pushed on the gas pedal, and with an unsteady start, lead the engine back to his home as he pushed his thoughts deep inside his mind.
ooo
Good news! this story is not on hiatus anymore~ (and hopefully will not be any time soon).
I haven't been able to write as there have been a lot of bad stuff happening in my life, but I am much better now and this is that one story i don't want to put on hiatus and actually finish. So there you go with another chapter!
