Lilah was usually awakened nowadays by the insistent swatting of Lumos's paws against her face, his demanding meowing shattering her dreams no matter how deeply she was drifting inside them. The rapid pounding against her door, frantic and endless, was something else entirely. It reverberated through the entire cabin, shook the floorboards, and Lilah shot up in bed with her heart in her throat and hair tangled around her neck.

"I'm coming!" She shouted over the frantic knocking, but her impromptu visitor didn't seem to hear her. She grabbed some sweatpants off the floor and shimmied them over her hips, hurrying to her door and unhooking the several chains she'd had installed and twisting the thumb-turn lock open.

Robin pulled her hand back as Lilah opened the door. Her ginger brows were skewed with concern and her green eyes looked past Lilah to scan the inside of the cabin.

"Is Sebastian here?" She was breathless, voice thick with emotion.

"No, I haven't seen him since last night." Lilah frowned.

Robin swayed and Lilah barely caught her before she crumbled to her knees and wailed.

"I was so sure he was here," she cried.

Lilah looked at the sobbing woman in her arms and felt her insides freeze over. Robin always seemed so cheerful, it was terrifying to feel the heat of her tears drenching Lilah's T-shirt. She carefully pat Robin's back, unsure of what to say to calm her down, her own thoughts running rampant as she tried to piece together the reason she was even in this situation.

"Robin, what happened? What's going on?"

It took a few more moments, but Robin finally calmed herself. She took a shaking breath and scrubbed her face with her hands. She seemed almost afraid to meet Lilah's eyes, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she pulled away and crossed her arms against her abdomen.

"Sebastian is gone...he's missing."

"Missing?" Robin may as well have been speaking Gotoro for all the sense she made. Lilah couldn't imagine any truth to her words, her mind couldn't even accept the idea. Why would Sebastian be missing? She had just seen him last night— laughed with him, smiled with him. He'd seemed so happy.

"Demetrius found...I guess Sebastian has been smoking pot in his room. I tried to tell him that Sebby is an adult, but he was angry so he waited outside until he got home," Robin sniffled and covered her face, "I don't really know what happened. When Demetrius finally came to bed, he told me everything was handled so I just...let it go. I thought I'd talk to Sebby today and get his side of everything but him and his motorcycle were gone when I woke up!"

"Maybe...maybe Sam or Abigail know something?"

"I tried them first. I thought that since you two were having such a nice date last night that he may have come back here but...no one knows where he's gone and his phone is turned off."

Lilah shook her head against the sudden dizziness that overtook her. Sebastian couldn't be gone for good. He wouldn't have left without telling someone...she hoped. She took Robin's hands and squeezed them, giving her a small smile.

"I'll go talk to them. We'll find him or at least get a hold of him and make sure he's okay. I promise."

"Thank you...I'm going to try calling him again."

Lilah rushed back inside after Robin started home, tying her hair up and pulling on her boots. Lumos meowed in question, orange eyes curious and unaware of the storm rolling deep in her chest. She quickly left some food for him and dashed out the door. She wasn't even off her farmland before she spotting Sam and Abigail running past the bus stop. She met them halfway, the worry on their faces was more than enough to tell her what they were coming for.

"You've heard?" Sam asked.

"Robin just left. You haven't been able to reach him at all?"

"No, we've both been calling him nonstop," Abigail lamented. "It goes straight to voicemail."

"We've put together a list of where he usually goes around town to cool off. We thought it'd be faster if the three of us searched together," Sam pulled a folded up paper from his jeans and held it out to Lilah.

"Robin said his motorcycle was missing," Lilah said with a grimace, reading over the list. "Are you sure he's still in town?"

"He had to sleep somewhere," Sam said. "His bike is pretty big so it should be hard to miss. I'm sure he wouldn't go too far from it."

"Okay...I'll check the forest," Lilah offered.

"Sounds good. I'm going to hit the beach and Abigail said she'll check the mines."

"The mines?" Lilah frowned. It seemed like too risky a place to go clear one's head. She'd heard stories about the caverns that lurked beneath the town through Saloon gossip. The dank tunnels were riddled with wildlife and the risk of cave-ins, she truly hoped Sebastian wouldn't brave its depths just to hide out for a while.

"He sneaks in there sometimes," Abigail revealed. "He knows his way through pretty well and he showed me around a couple of times. I can check the most obvious areas with no problem."

Lilah nodded, and with the agreement to meet up at the Saloon in two hours to report, they went their separate ways. She cut through the brush still littering Haven to reach the forest. It was a large area to cover by herself, but she tried to stick to areas that someone would be able to ride a motorcycle through. She watched where she was walking, searching for any signs of tire tracks or hints that a vehicle might have driven by.

It wasn't long until she found herself deep in the forest, the remnants of the Flower Dance still scattered around her. Flower garlands, streamers, balloons, none of it had been cleaned up yet. The party had been so lively, so full of joy, to see it as it was now was unsettling. It was as though the party-goers hadn't just returned home, instead, they'd been spirited away along with Sebastian.

She stood in the center of the dance floor. Yesterday felt so long ago, the happiness she'd felt gently swaying to the music. The peace that had settled inside her, made her feel like everything would finally work out in her favor, was replaced by the gnarled knots of anxiety settling deep inside her, hooking into her stomach. She wanted to be positive. She wanted to believe that even if she didn't find Sebastian here, Sam or Abigail surely would. But, standing there, with the empty festival field stretching farther and farther out around her, she knew.

Sebastian was no longer in the Valley.

Sebastian sighed and splashed the cold water running from the convenience store's bathroom sink into his face. He'd be the first to admit that he could act impulsively at times, his agitation taking control of his body like a demonic possession. He looked at his tired reflection, the dark circles under his eyes even more prominent after his night spent curled up on a rest stop bench. He shook his head, drying his face with the thin brown paper towels hanging from a rusted dispenser. Maybe he had taken it too far.

Zuzu City was as grand as it had always been. The sun glistened off the skyscrapers, the streets were flooded with cars and pedestrians all blissfully unaware of the world around them. The city was so alive even when he had arrived so early that morning. So many people usually caused nothing but anxiety for him, but he knew, to them, he didn't even exist. They didn't care about what he did for a living, what sort of vehicle he drove, what he ate...what he smoked. He was exactly what he had always wanted to be: invisible.

Yet, he couldn't stave off the twisting ache in the pit of his stomach. The coiling, barbed sensation of knowing he had done something terribly wrong. It was an odd feeling. He was right where he had always wanted to be. His payment for his last job had just been transferred to his account and the sky was the limit at this point. He was just an email away from being signed on as a permanent programmer and starting his most coveted life of being a city-dweller, but he couldn't bring himself to send it.

He shouldered the door open and stepped out of the bathroom. He shook his hair out and wandered through the store, needing coffee and something to eat before he took the long drive back out to Pelican Town. He'd have to retrieve his belongings from his room before he could even start to think about accepting the job and moving to the city, anyway. There was no reason to jump on a job offer that was already his until he was completely prepared. It'd be stupid just to grab an apartment but without any of his computers or clothing. He couldn't afford to go that crazy. Not to mention…

Some notice would still be nice…

Sebastian grimaced. He could still hear Lilah's voice in his head, how concerned she'd been for his wellbeing. He felt like he couldn't do anything until he told her first— like he had made a promise with her last night as they talked about the moon balancing on the same bridge he had just driven over. He dared to think that she would be worried about him when she found out he was gone. He was disappointed in himself when he realized he hoped she'd be worried— It was a sick thing to wish on someone. The least he could do was tell her he was okay before packing up his entire life and leaving the Valley behind.

He grabbed a can of double espresso shot and an energy bar and headed for the cashier. His mind was exhausted, it was the only reason he was so fixated on her. She energized him in ways that he would never understand. He usually felt so drained after spending time with other people, but whenever she'd leave his room for the night and head home, he'd be left amped up and inspired to work for several more hours before succumbing to sleep. Something resided in her storm-churned eyes that electrified his mind more than caffeine ever could.

He wished he could catch even a glance from her to wake him for the trip home…

And then he did.

As the cashier rang out his purchase, all his air left him in a rush. Lilah's face stared out at him from a poster taped to the back of the register. Sebastian blinked, scrubbed at his eyes with his hand, but she was still there. Pretty silver eyes, pointed nose, and pink lips on a heart-shaped face framed by onyx-black hair, there was no mistaking her. He tugged the flyer free and poured over it, numbly paying for his meal and taking the paper with him outside.

MISSING— SUICIDAL

Name: Lilah Marie Casey

D.O.B: 04/11/XX

Age: 25

Lilah Marie Casey was last seen on March 2nd at the Zuzu City Bus Depot. She was last seen wearing a dark red camisole, ripped blue "skinny" jeans, lace up black boots, and carrying a large backpack. Casey made multiple suicidal statements, including a desire to commit suicide by cop, to her fiance and is possibly armed. Female is reported to suffer from mental illness, is unmedicated, and has multiple self-inflicted injuries on her person. Casey is considered to be a threat to herself and others and should be approached with caution.

Any information should be passed on to Detective Emery Rowe of the Zuzu Metropolitan Police Department. Reference Case Number XX-11726.

It had to be a mistake. The picture was clearly Lilah but what he read seemed all wrong. Lilah did have multiple injuries on her when they'd first met, but she couldn't have done them all herself, could she? And as far as he could tell, she hadn't had anything fresh since— minus a few minor scrapes and cuts from working the farm. She may have been a bit reserved at first, but she seemed so positive now. She frightened easily but there wasn't anything that made him feel like she was threat to anyone.

She told him he mattered. She panicked when she thought he was talking about killing himself. Was that something suicidal people did? He didn't Lilah he knew was different from what the flyer was trying to tell him. She smiled and laughed easily when they were together, teased him and their friends like they'd known each other for years. But, a dark feeling settled in the back of his mind. That was only the Lilah he knew.

He didn't know anything about her from before she came to the Valley. She talked about the city when pressed but otherwise he couldn't remember her ever mentioning anything personal about her past. He knew nothing about her family except that her grandfather used to own Haven before he left it to her. He didn't know anything about her parents or if she had any siblings.

He didn't know she had a fiance.

His eyes rested on that one word, unable to look away. His chest felt as though gravity had increased one hundred fold, mercilessly crushing him to the ground, shattering his sternum and stabbing splinters of bone through his heart. He knew he was in no position to be upset that she didn't tell him, they were just friends— and it was better that way. But the more he stared at those three syllables, the more he felt like he had been betrayed.

Why would she have lied about something like that?

Why would she make a point to tell him not to leave without notice, emphasize on how much people loved him and would miss him, when it seemed like she was guilty of doing just that?

There was a phone number at the bottom, a tip line for the Police Department. His phone battery had drained hours ago, so he wouldn't be able to call unless he used a business's phone or went to the Metro PD directly. He wondered if he should. Wouldn't it be better for her to be back with the people that cared enough about her to report her missing?

Sebastian folded the flyer up and shoved it into his pocket. He leaned against his bike. His body felt sluggish from lack of sleep and yet his thoughts were racing with no end in sight. He reached into his bag and pulled out the double shot and popped the tab.

Coffee first, decisions later.