Neon Lights

02

"Thank you for your patronage! Please come again," said the owner of the small restaurant Callisto was in.

Nodding at the older man who had a smile on his face, he took his takeout container in a paper bag and turned to look at the entrance of the shop. The apprehension that had been thrumming underneath his skin on his way here hadn't left him even when he was given a good thirty minutes wait on his order. His breathing exercise helped only for a moment before the man with fluorescent green eyes flashed into his mind and kicked back his anxiety to a higher level than it had been before.

Even the old decors in this shop where its walls were decorated with abstract painting of greys and blacks did nothing to ease his worries. Outside, the cool weather had welcomed the drizzling rain, wetting the pavement and creating almost neon reflections on wherever there was a smooth surface.

He didn't even think to bring an umbrella with him, especially when he didn't usually pay mind to the weather forecasts.

Just another unfortunate incident to add to his ever growing list of things that didn't work out today.

Thankfully, Luna's apartment building was just a ten-minute walk from here. He could make it without getting their food wet from the rain if he ran with the lab coat covering it. Taking out the coat from his bag before shifting the strap back to his shoulder, he placed the white cloth on the paper bag now hugged close to his chest and then he took a step outside.

A shiver ran down his spine from how cold the weather was. There had been a time where Luna had dumped ice water into the bathtub when he had come home drunk as a way to sober him up. It felt as if he was experiencing something similar — and it was unpleasant.

Shaking his head, Callisto eyed the quiet path before him. This place was mostly hidden from people's eyes. It was located past a small alleyway and walking here would reveal a row of restaurants and shops that people only knew if they needed specific things — tattoos, piercings, toys of the adult variety and small restaurants that didn't have the permit to put up in the main city of Alatus. Despite the quiet location, he had always felt safer here than when he had been out there trying to cross the roads.

Immediately, the man's face crossed his mind and he closed his eyes shut to take in a deep breath.

Come on, Cal. Luna was waiting for him and she would worry if he took any longer. He should eat his dinner, take a shower and crash in her spare bedroom. There was no way he was going back to his own place tonight.

Alright, he would start running in three, two, one — and he was off with the cold rush of air hitting his face with every step bringing him closer to his sister's apartment. He hadn't been the most athletic growing up, but even so, wasn't it ridiculous he was panting for air by the time he reached to the tall building? Ten minutes and he was already dying!

Luna may had been onto something when she said exercising helped with stamina.

Her apartment building wasn't the biggest one in the area, but it stood imposing amongst the other constructions scattered around.

The building had a fluorescent blue sign, occasionally glitching to indicate that the holo sign was almost at its end of its life. It had been like that for years as far as he was concerned but now was the first time he noticed that the stuttering image — Paradise Night — had some pinks in it instead of its usual hue. Huh, the things one would notice if they paid attention. Frowning, he forced his body to move to the lobby of the building before he got soaked fully from the rain.

The elevator to the fifth floor was a mess as always. It occasionally rumbled and shook and one time jostled due to the creaky chains and had Callisto pitching forward. Thankfully, he managed to stop his body from colliding to the rusting metal doors in front of him by shifting most of his weight to his other leg.

Luna really needed to move out of here.

Though, he knew exactly what she would say if he brought it up: 'Moving takes money and money isn't easy to get. Plus, with each year, the prices of rent just near the main city is getting higher and higher — I may be a researcher in a subsidiary company owned by Fragment Co., but that doesn't mean they pay me enough to sustain myself out there. That place is made for those in support of Gulls and I clearly don't like Gulls.'

Callisto couldn't really understand why her political preference would affect where she could live, but he didn't question it further. Money wasn't easy to get was one of the truest form of reasons to not moving out and he could empathise. He had a decent income but it was nothing big enough he could live in the main city.

"Still, she could've tried to find somewhere better than this junk of a place," he muttered to himself as he got out of the elevator. Even the hallway was moulding with green moss creeping on the walls and the paint chipping away along with dusty, tiled floors leading to her apartment door. "Luna better appreciate me bringing her food in the rain."

Just as he reached her door, he stopped at a particular sight in front of him. He furrowed his eyebrows at what he was seeing — an opened door and the usual ugly doormat turned to a corner to show its underside.

Was Luna outside?

He scanned the hallway in case he had missed her. Maybe she had gone to see a neighbour? No, that didn't sound like something she would do. She had always been someone who would rather lock herself in her house than to go out anywhere. His heart skipped a beat when he closed the distance to the door and noticed the gold knob wasn't in its place. In fact, it was protruding from its hole as if someone had wrenched it out.

What had happened?

Callisto hesitated. A part of him thought to call the police — but the other half wanted him to explore and take in the situation first. Maybe Luna was still in there and something had happened. If he could assess the situation, perhaps it wouldn't look so scary.

The anxiety that he had been harbouring grew in intensity. His hands had grown cold. Clutching his takeout bag in a dangerously tight grip, he forced his feet to move. Taking a step into her home, he was immediately greeted by silence.

He froze right at the doorstep. The silence wouldn't be so out of place had it not been so eerie. It was almost deafening. Scanning the living room, or what part of living room he could see from the entrance, nothing seemed out of place. Crouching down a bit to place his food on the floor alongside his bag, he made sure his phone was in his grasp as he took another step into her apartment.

There everything was — her sofa pillows in its place, her wide-screen television turned off and her gaming console, the latest one this year, on her coffee table, untouched. Her laptop was next to it and so was her tablet but neither had their screens showing anything but a blank, black screen. Callisto sucked in a shallow breath, his fingers shaking as he turned to his left to look at the small hallway leading to two bedrooms.

There were no sounds of anyone else here but him — and a brief check at the two rooms later, nothing looked like it was missing.

And... that was what bothered him.

"Luna?" he said, finally being able to call for her. His shaky tone didn't go unnoticed by him but there was nothing he could do to stabilise it. Not when she wasn't answering him back. Phone — he would call her. He fumbled with the device in his hands, swiping across the screens to her name and hoped she would pick up the call with her usual snarky, 'What?'. But with each ring unanswered, his heart sank to the pit of his stomach and panic began to take over him. "Luna?"

It was then something caught his eyes.

At the coffee table near her laptop was a piece of paper.

And on it, in black marker, was a symbol he recognised. Clearly. Undoubtedly.

He crouched down to his knees in front of the table as his breathing grew shallower and shallower.

The man from today with neon green eyes flashed before his eyes.

He had been wearing the same symbol on his arms and now the symbol was in front of him, in his sister's apartment, and Luna nowhere to be found.