It had been seven days since Aselia and Xiran’s teleportation from Altair to Tromalius. Though on Tromalius it was only one day, on Altair it was a whole week.

Everyone had been giving them space but Rivan found it extremely odd that Xiran had not contacted him or visited him for so long. So he placed a call to Xiran, but his number was switched off. He then tried Aselia but her number was inaccessible as well.

This was very unlike them. As he was pondering over his next line of action he received a call from Frila.

"Hello! Señor, I was calling because I can’t reach out to Señor Xiran and Aselia. Aselia’s partner Yurian called me, he and his parents are rather worried because Aselia hasn’t been receiving any calls from them and now her number is powered off," Frila went on and on in one go, she seemed panicked.

"Yes! Frila, I was just thinking the same. This is quite odd. We need to visit them and see what’s going on. I hope they didn’t have a fight and are simply brooding," Rivan answered, adjusting his hair with his fingers.

"Señor! I am heading over to their place. I will meet you there."

Rivan kissed Irlana goodbye and headed out for Xiran’s home. Reaching it he found Xiran’s car was still in the driveway. Frila had already arrived and she was knocking on the front door.

"How long have you been here?" Rivan asked, striding towards her on his long elegant legs.

"Just a few minutes but no one is opening the door. I have the spare key but I don’t want to intrude," Frila answered while she bit her lower lip in apprehension.

"Give me the key?" Rivan stretched out his hand and Frila placed the key on his palm. He inserted the key in the door and clicked it open.

"Xi!!! We are coming in," he loudly called out, knowing his friend could hear him from any part of the house. But only silence welcomed them.

Uneasiness settled in Rivan’s gut and he knew something was wrong. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

They entered and Rivan instructed Frila to check upstairs while he began exploring the ground floor. There was no disturbance, the living room light was on and their bedroom door was shut.

Rivan dragged his feet as he walked over, making as much noise as possible so that if they were sleeping, they would wake. Reaching the door he swiftly knocked.

Once

Twice

Thrice

And then he banged on their door but there was still no answer. He tried the knob but the door was locked from the inside. Rivan kicked open the door using his vampiric strength and entered. The night light was switched on in the room so he turned on the other light, flooding the space with white light.

Xiran’s clothes lay on the bed and the sheets were crumpled, meaning they had slept in it but never made the bed. Rivan carefully moved around, inspecting every minute detail and found their phones and Xiran’s wallet.

Taking a deep breath he could smell them very faintly meaning it had been days since they were in the room last. But the door was locked from the inside, so where could they have gone? The only plausible explanation seemed like they had vanished in thin air. Rivan’s forehead creased in perplexity and his eyes narrowed.

Frila soon joined him and was as astonished as Rivan was. He turned to face her as he held their mobile phones in his hand and asked:

"Frila, you were the last person to see them. Was there anything you noticed? Or anything they might have mentioned about going somewhere?"

"Señor Xiran brought a guest along. He was Señor’s uncle and resembled him. They were planning to meet Señor Xiran’s family which lives on another planet I presumed. Do you think they went there? Without informing anyone and so suddenly. It doesn’t make sense," Frila answered, recalling the conversation that had taken place between them during dinner.

"I see. No, it’s very unlike Xiran to just leave like that and he was still apprehensive of that man. He would never leave with someone whom he didn’t trust completely, especially when it comes down to Aselia. He never takes those risks. But Xiran did tell me that he was going to talk to him. And since he brought him home, it means they developed some kind of trust."

This was extremely bizarre and Rivan knew they had vanished from this very room and the only explanation was they went to his mother’s planet Tromalius. With the changes Xiran recently underwent, it wouldn’t be a surprise that he acquired some new abilities.

"We still need to be sure. I am going to alert everyone and call Warise to search thoroughly for them. Frila, you need to handle the situation with Yurian and his family. We are not sure where they are but we can only hope they are safe. Xiran can take care of himself and Aselia. Let’s remain optimistic and wait for their return. Meanwhile, the city will run smoothly and for any outsiders, Xiran and Aselia are simply on a vacation in another city."

Rivan gave his final instructions with a dreading heart, trusting his gut feeling that they indeed were safe somewhere and will return soon. Not knowing it was going to take them a while to make their way back home.

"Yes, Señor!" Frila meekly answered. Her own heart was burdened and she was on the verge of tears. How was she going to tell Yurian and his family that Aselia had gone missing? This will destroy them.

Rivan called Warise and asked him to station two men outside Xiran’s home and to inform him if anyone approached the house.

Turning off the lights and locking the house, Rivan and Frila threw one lingering look at the now-empty house and left. Rivan remembered how excited Xiran was to start his new life in the home with Aselia but it was yet empty again.

What if they were lost on some planet and could never return?

Or if they decided to stay on his mother’s planet?

The negative thoughts clustered in Rivan’s mind and he pushed them away. He needed to keep his positive approach and be strong for Irlana. She was going to cry her heart out on discovering her brother was missing.

Frila reached the Hotel Cafris and decided to place a call to Yurian. She knew he would be extremely furious. Yurian picked up on the first ring as if he had been expecting her call.

"Hello! Frila, did you go to see her?" He asked quickly, almost panicking.

"Hey! Yurian... umm yes I went to their place," Frila then went on to explain everything to him, starting from who Sulran was and ending on how both of them were missing.

The news unsettled Yurian and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. His heart pinged with unbearable pain.

"Missing? Frila, are you telling me the truth? How is something like that even possible?" Are you sure he didn’t do something to her? Is she hurt and you people are hiding it from us?" Yurian’s suspicions were on his tongue. They could never be sure when it came down to vampires, anything could go wrong.

"No, I swear I am telling you the truth. I wouldn’t lie to you," Frila meekly answered, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"I am coming to Fritez tomorrow. I want to see for myself. What am I going to tell my parents that she just vanished from our world? This is so ridiculous," he cut the call in frustration. When everything was finally on the right track, this had to have happened. He picked up the glass lying on the table near him and hurled it towards the opposite wall. The glass slammed against it and shattered into tiny pieces, reflecting his frustration.

He threw the door open and walked out of his room. He needed fresh air to breathe and calm down before he made a call to his parents and planned his trip to Fritez City.

The news of their disappearance soon spread to their inner circle. Rivan held a small meeting at his house and gave them the news. It particularly didn’t sit well with Irlana as he had expected. So he held her close and comforted her.

"Both of them can take care of themselves and my heart says they are safe, Irlana. Don’t worry."

Irlana sniffled and Rubisha signalled to her brother to let her handle Irlana. She had decided to stay with her brothers because of her pregnancy and Silver Wolf had also insisted because he was occasionally away on missions.

Rubisha held Irlana and comforted her, both women growing closer with each passing day.

Rivan then announced the course of action in Xiran’s absence. He took charge of the city under him and gave out strict orders that no one other than them could know of their absence. They had to act normal and life should go on.