~ Chapter 8 ~

The visit to the hospital that night was short to Thor who had gotten away with only a broken heart and some bruises on her wrists from being bound. Her mother was also well off considering what had happened. It was Odin who had to stay for treatment due to the abuse his old body had taken.

But Thor couldn't stand to be in the hospital, and since their home was closed by the Police for security, so she was took in on a hotel. The media had found out of course, and was hounding her, the hospital, and the police for details. Family friends and friends in general was calling them non-stop but Thor couldn't stand to talk to them at the moment.

Her mind was too busy with worry to even focus on normal things. She knew that her parents would be fine, they were receiving the best care possible. Eric, even if her heart bleed at his betrayal, and his companions were being watched by the police.

But there had been no words about her little sister.

Victor Doom said he didn't know. The police couldn't find her. No one had seen her for days.

The unknown about her sister, was she alive or dead? It was all tearing Thor apart.

That was why Thor stayed in her room, staring at her mobile phone. Every now and then she picked it up and dialed the number, hoping with a trembling soul that the other side would pick up.

"You have come to Loki. I can't answer right now because I'm busy with some unimportant thing that my family will not like. Is it important then call me back later."

And it ended with a peep.

By the end of the voice Thor's throat was so dry and tight that she couldn't say anything. So she simply ended the call and did her best to hold back her tears. Sometimes they burned at the corner of her eyes, other times they fell heavily down her face.

This continued for a few days until she got word that her father could be brought home to their house which had been repaired.

At first Thor was happy to see her father, despite being bruised and limping with a cane, on his feet again. Her mother was staying close by just in case he needed anything. But the second Loki came up in speech it turned sour.

"I can't believe you." Thor said in disbelief. "Are you not going to look for Loki?"

"You heard what Eric said; she's probably already dead by now."

Thor looked around for a moment, trying to breathe. "This is your daughter and she could still be alive somewhere and you are just giving up on her."

"No, but I'm being realistic." Odin said calmly. "As you said, she's been gone for days and the chances are against your hopes that she's still with us. You better not get your hopes up in vain."

"My hopes? If it wasn't for Loki we would all be dead now. She suspected Eric and looked him up at the cost of her own life and you are just giving up on her like she never existed. She saved your life."

"Don't twist my words." Odin was growing frustrated.

Not able to stand it anymore, Thor stood up with a hard glare in her eyes. She didn't know the man before her anymore. "I'm not twisting them. I'm just translating them."

Walking away she felt a stone in her guts that this must have been how Loki's life had been like with their father. She had known that they hadn't gotten along for a long time, but because of her own good relationship with the man she hadn't seen the true meaning of their arguments.

For the first time the house that had always held so many good memories started to fade, and when she thought back to her disagreement with Loki it broke her heart. The emptiness that must have haunted her little sister.

It was with those thoughts that she brought up her cell phone once more and dialed the number.

"You have come to Loki. I can't answer right now because I'm busy with some unimportant thing that my family will not like..."

"Oh, God." Thor moaned, her free hand coming up and shielded her eyes. "Lottie."

"Have you heard anything?" Thor asked the police officer at the front desk.

"No, I'm sorry." the man said gently, feeling sorry for the girl.

"Has 'he' said anything about where he left her?" Thor tried.

"No. Nothing." Thor sighed. "But," she looked up. "there's been a report of a blood spot in a local parking lot, but no body or victim has been found. I don't know if it's related to your sister but we can't exclude it either.

"Really?" A kindle of light went on in her mind. No body or victim meant that there was a chance Loki had survived. At the police officer's nod she thanked him and walked outside. Once out in the free air she once more dialed the number to Loki's phone.

"You have come to Loki. I can't answer right now because I'm busy wit-" Thor shut it off and swallowed hard.

"Where are you, Loki?"

"Thor you have to let her go. She's not coming back even if she is somehow alive somewhere." Sif said with conviction.

The gang of friends had tried to pull Thor out of her obsessive search for Loki, but so far hadn't made much progress.

Thor still called Loki's cell several times a day in hope that the other end would pick up some day. She talked to the police twice a week and kept an out for any hospitals that might have taken in an unnamed patient.

So far nothing, and Thor's friends wanted her to move on with her life. Forget about Loki like it was no big deal. How wasn't it a big deal? Thor could now honestly see what Loki had most likely seen her whole life. The relationships she had was getting strained, and although she wouldn't call it a total turnaround, she had spent some hours with Victor Doom – learning about Loki's life that she hadn't been privy to before.

Sadly, Victor too hadn't heard anything from Loki, if she was alive.

It showed on the man that he missed his friend's presence in his life.

Nothing was the same without Loki.

It was early, barely enough for the sun to look in through the window to the hotel when Thor started to stir in her bed. At first she didn't know why she had woken up this early, her head aching from too little sleep.

But then she realized her phone was ringing next to her. She reached for it and looked at the display, expecting it to be one of her friends or even her parents.

However, the number was from Loki.

Snapping awake in the blink of an eye, Thor sat up and tried to answer the phone, failing once before she could put it to her ear and said in a dry voice.

"Loki? Thank God you are alive! Where are you?" One of her hands came up to push away her blond hair that was fallen into her face in heavy bangs.

For a long moment there was nothing but silence on the other side before a voice came through.

"Who am I talking to?"

A man's voice.

TBC