John and I walked around the Metro for what seemed like all day, but it was really only a few hours. I asked a few people if they had seen a red haired man lately, but so far no one has. We were approaching a small shop. Where John's father and sister would be waiting for us. Admittedly, I was excited for the chance to see Aeryn now that I'm free.
When we stepped inside of the small shop, all sorts of aromas teased my nose. My belly rumbled with a hunger I didn't know I had and my face lit up with a smile at the sight of my very best friend.
Aeryn and I shared a lingering embrace.
"I am so glad you are here," she said. I smiled big. "Me too. I thought I would never see this day."
"Well come on, sit." She gestured to a table where John and their father, Jordan, sat smiling and talking. Aeryn and I sat down.
"Devaney, so glad to finally see you somewhere other than that Gods forsake house." Jordan said.
I smiled and said, "Thank you, I'm happy to finally be here."
Small talk erupted around the table. John told his father and Aeryn how William planned to eliminate my betrothal to John so that he could marry me himself. He told them of my escape and our hurry to marry. So far, Jordan and Aeryn seemed to be on our side with all this. Not that I didn't think they would.
"So, sister-in-law, are you ready to finally see Sector One?" Aeryn asked, as she took bites of her barbeque chicken. I nodded, and took a sip of my water.
"Oh yes, definitely. You know I've always wanted to." Ever since I met Aeryn, I've wanted to see her lands. Sector One is known to be one of the most beautiful Sectors in our realm. Mountains as far as the eye can see in the west, beautiful coastal lines, and thick forests galore. Not to mention the giant lake that sits at the center of their town. Lake Sedonia. I have heard many stories of Sector One from Aeryn and John. But hearing about the Lake is by far my favorite.
"We'll leave for Sector One first thing in the morning," John had said to me after we told his father and sister goodbye. As we were leaving the little shop, I decided to ask one more person if they had seen my brother.
"Excuse me," I said to the man behind the counter. He turned and smiled at me. "Can I help you?" he asked. I nodded.
"I was just wondering if, by chance, you've ever seen a man around here with red hair? He goes by the name Archie."
The man's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up. He gasped, "Are you her?" I knitted my brows together in confusion.
"Are you the twin sister Archie so longingly spoke of?"
I opened my mouth to confirm but he started to speak once more. "Of course you are," he said, reaching a hand across the counter to touch my face. "I see you share his freckles."
Tears began to sting my eyes. I blinked a few times, "Yes, I'm Devaney. Would you happen to know where he is? It's been so long since I've seen him. Seven whole years."
The tears that had been welling up in my eyes started to spill and stream down my face.
"I can imagine going any amount of time away from your twin is hard. But, I'm sorry. I don't know where that boy has gotten off to." The man began to grab something from under the counter. He laid it in front of me. It was a map of our realm and the Nether.
He stuck his finger on the Metropolis. "This is where we are. Where Archie was, too, a few years back."
My heart sank. And flashes of anything and everything that could have gone wrong and happened to him began to eat at me.
"The only thing I can tell you is that his old shack he was staying in is a few blocks south of that inn just inside of town."
The inn we were staying in.
"He may be gone, but his things are still there. Around here, when people go missing, it means they either died or were shipped off to No Man's Land. In that case, you'd better hope it was the former. I know that isn't the answer you wanted to hear. But that's all I got."
I nodded in thanks. And John walked us back to the inn with his arm draped over my shoulder. He comforted me and told me we'd stop by Archie place and have a look around if it would help me to feel any better.
It would and so we did. The door wasn't locked when John turned the knob, so we walked right on it. John pulled a match from his pocket and struck, lighting a candle in the windowsill. The place was dusty. Spiders had spun webs in every corner. But it was just as Archie had left it. I walked around, touching anything that he touched. Clothes, books, and empty glasses.
Your brother is not dead, the voice whispered in my ear.
I kept looking around for anything, any sort of clue that could tell me where he went the last time he walked out of that door.
Look under the table, the voice whispered. And so I did. But there was nothing there to see but dust and creepy crawly bugs scattering away from my sudden presence.
Under the table, said the voice. This time, it didn't whisper. It dawned on me. So I got up from my knees and walked over to the window, taking the candle back with me to the table. I crouched down and held the flame to the bottom of the table top.
"What is it?" John asked. I shushed him. He knelt down to inspect it as well. It was carving.
Dev, I've gone to Netherrealm. DO NOT COME TO FIND ME.
My heart sank, and a panic swarmed in my chest. He knew I would leave that hellhole one day and come to find him. And he was right. I would come to find him no matter where he had gone. Even if that meant saying screw any plans I had to see Sector One.
"Don't even think about it, Devaney." John stood and held out a hand to pull me up. I took it.
"I have to, John. I have to find him. He could be- he could… Oh, Gods know what he could be going through right now." I put my face into my hands and sobbed. Why couldn't he have waited here for me? Why couldn't he have come back to the Thomas family home and taken me away from there?
John put a hand on my back and rubbed small circles on it. "Shh, it's okay. He'll be okay."
But that didn't help me feel any better. My body shook with controllable sobs. I would never see my brother again. And it only made me hate William Thomas even more.