Neon Lights

11

 "I'll call you in the next coming days. Pick up your phone."

With those words, Callisto had found himself back to his old life. Except, there were too many things wrong with this thing he called his reality. Perhaps he had pressed a wrong button sometime this week that changed the course of his routine, throwing him into a loop without even a warning. Now, he was left to grasp at straws as he tried to understand what was happening, what to do next and how to survive this sudden catastrophe that hit his world.

As if he was standing under a moving meteorite coming right at him, the common helplessness that was quickly finding a home in himself came rearing its ugly head again.

A low sigh escaped his lips.

Luna was still missing and he had struck a deal with Draven. He wasn't sure if he had done the right thing but every road that he had tried left him with a wall standing in his way.

This... was the only way he could go.

His sister was out there somewhere without him, alone and possibly scared — he had to do something.

Heart clenching tight in his chest, Callisto shook his head from those thoughts. For now, he had someone willing to help him even if it wasn't the person he had hoped to get assistance from. Though, waiting for Draven to contact him again didn't really make him feel assured. There was no time given for him to look out for for his call nor was there any indication it would be anytime soon.

And... it just felt like he was wasting his time.

With every ticking second passing by that Luna was not found, didn't that mean the chances of her being alive grew slimmer?

A cold shiver ran down his spine at that.

Briefly, an image of her eyes slowly losing its light as she was on the ground in a pool of her own blood assaulted his vision — and that was enough for him to stop walking.

No.

He couldn't afford to think like that.

Until he saw Luna again, he would hold onto this tiny, minuscule spark that she would be alive.

He had to.

A shoulder bump as someone rushed past him had him startling away from his thoughts. Stumbling a little backwards, he pressed his weight on his feet and stood straighter. At a busy street in the early mornings, he was the only one who was standing still. People passing by occasionally threw him narrowed gazes — enough for Callisto to swallow past his dry throat and hurry his footsteps to the familiar building where he worked.

Standing in the middle of Alatus City was an almost skyscraper of an architecture, made out of glass from the topmost floor to the ground floor. There were a few people cleaning the windows with their railings and rope, and from the gusts of wind, shaking them a little from that high up. It was enough of an indication just how big it was. He was sure that this building was one of the tallest in the city, overtaking the entire plane of space in front of it with its imposing shadow whenever the sun was behind it. While that should have intimidated anyone, Callisto always enjoyed how it overshadowed everything.

The shadow was a nice place to be in — safe. And what was safer hiding in the shadow of something big enough to keep people away?

It was an odd thought for sure. Luna had commented on how cowardly that line of thinking was when Callisto had brought it up a few months back, but he couldn't really agree.

The familiar helplessness crashed onto him once again when the remains of peace he had thought he finally got shattered with her disappearance and Draven's entry in his life. It was as if he had been given a breather after everything he had been through before he was pushed into chaos again.