disappearance

Alexei bounced on the balls of his feet, his mind scrambled and darting at every possibility. Thoughts sloshed back and forth, coming up with an explanation before common sense slammed him back to the present. How he felt strangely reminded him the first time he attempted to drive a stick shift car. Unable to switch the pedals smoothly, the car would jerk back, the seatbelt cutting him across the chest.
Alexei stared at the red arrow of the elevator, impatiently watching the numbers ascend. He didn’t remember the last time he felt so scattered.
He practically barreled out of the elevator as soon as the door opened wide enough for him to slip through. His thumb found the used doorbell of room 411, ringing it a couple of times for good measure.
Soft footsteps graced the wooden floor beyond the door before it slid open. Yuwa hadn’t changed out of her clothes the night before, her oversized shirt rumpled from a fitful sleep. She had even heavier bruises under her eyes.
She leaned against the ajar door, a familiar grin pulling at her mouth, but not her eyes. “Do tell,” she said before he could get a word in.
“Artel.”
She raised an eyebrow, her face now unreadable. “Ophelia Artel?”
“Yes, her.” He took a deep breath, hoping Yuwa was ready for the news. “We found her.”
Both of her eyebrows were now raised. Her face was fully controlled, cautious.“Where? And how exactly?”
“Well, not really,” he admitted, resisting the urge to fidget and shift his weight back and forth. Her poignant questions never failed to make him feel like he was taking an exam he was severely underprepared for. “I…pulled some strings within my circle. We were able to trace her phone.”
“I thought she left it in the car, right before her disappearance.”
“She did,” Alexei agreed. “But we were finally unable to unlock it by brute force.” Ophelia was one hell of a character, but she lacked creativity when it came to making up passwords. “I took screenshots of her last text messages. They were sent a couple of minutes before she basically went off grid.”
She pushed herself off the door. "You're going to need to explain."
Yuwa didn’t even need to wave or tell him to enter her apartment. A part of him acknowledged that this sort of alliance was getting dangerous. He had spent so much time around her, chasing around these murders and dissapearances that she could direct him with a simple look. A couple more weeks, he promised himself as he walked in, the cold sound of the lock resounding behind him. I need her for now.

Author Notes: very short excerpt of something im working on!! so much plot to figure out :')

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