Lacuna

Chapter 24 - Gut Feeling

POV: Lev Durand

'I wonder what Cole is doing? He must be safe with Rhys right now...right?'

I ponder to myself as I step off the car.

"This is the Baile en Ceau? It's gorgeous now!" Vie exclaimed as she twirls around, admiring the scenery.

But I just stood there, by the car door.

'My gut tells me something's wrong, but what?'

"So, what did you bring me here for?" Vie asks, her face beaming with excitement.

"How about we buy some new clothes? You're gonna stay here for a while, correct?" I answered, shaking off my anxiousness.

"I am! Let's go then, Let's go!" Vie shouts as she tugs on my arm, dragging me towards the row of shops and leaving my men by the car.

"Do you shop here often, Lev?" She asks.

"I guess you can say that," I answered as I wear a nervous smile on my face.

"Then you must know which shops are the best ones!" She insisted.

"O-Of course, let's go... there," I replied, pointing to the closest clothing shop.

"Cool, quickly now!" She gushed, dragging me by the arm into the shop.

As we enter, Vie excitedly browses the clothing racks by herself.

I pause for a moment before I distract myself by browsing the other clothing racks as well.

I pull out a fine blazer from one of the racks.

'Would this fit Cole?' I ask myself.

After a long pause, I snap back to reality.

'I've been thinking about him a lot, what if he's hurt?' I continue to ponder as I return the blazer to the rack.

But I finally decided to shake the thought once again and focus on Vie to distract myself with such things.

Without realizing it, time had passed and the sky had grown dark outside the window.

"Have you picked out some clothes?" I turn to Vie, who has piles of clothes piled up on her hands.

"Yes!" She excitedly replied.

I sigh. "Let me get those for you."

I carefully picked up the pile off her hands and handed them over to the cashier.

As the cashier scans the clothes one by one, I take out Father's card from my wallet and handed it over to the cashier.

'I can't believe I'm using Father's card for this.' I groaned.

After the cashier returned the card, the clothes had been neatly folded and inserted into neat shopping bags.

Vie and I share a fair amount of the bags we have to carry and left the store.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine!" She said but her stomach said otherwise as it growled. "Fine, I guess I am."

I let out a small chuckle. "Let's go eat something."

We then walked towards a nearby restaurant and sat at our tables.

I had not ordered much as I wasn't hungry but Vie ordered a bunch of food that is already filled the whole table. 'I thought I was the one who had a big appetite.'

She immediately gobbled up some of the dishes and I just watched in amazement.

But then someone knocked on the table and I quickly turned to see Rhys. 'Wasn't he supposed to be with Cole?'

"Oh, hello, Rhys," I greeted. "How's Cole?"

"That's what I'm here for, Young Master," Rhys spoke, his tone seemed a bit off.

Before Rhys lets out another word, he notices Vie and bows. "Greetings, Lady Vie, but I might need to borrow Young Master for a little while, Is that alright, Ms. Vie?"

"Sure, go ahead!" Vie cheerily responded.

I quickly followed Rhys outside and into a back alley. "What is it that you're trying to say?"

"I don't mean to worry you, Young Master but Cole had run off and we failed to find his whereabouts." He replied.

"What do you mean he ran off?" I asked, tilting my head.

"It was because of personal matters, Young Master." He answered. "I apologize for my unreliability."

"I'll find him myself then," I declared. "I would like you to escort Lady Vie back to Father. Take the other car, I'll use the one you came here with."

Rhys immediately nodded and handed the car keys over to me.

I hastily ran off towards the car and started the engine. 'My gut was correct, something's wrong.'

I quickly stepped on the gas and drove off.

============================

POV: Cole Celestin

There was a long awkward silence between me and Flavio.

"Are you still alright with staying over?" Flavio asks.

I nod. "Of course, but I can sleep on the couch tonight if that's alright."

"I can't let you do that! You should stay in my room like last time." Flavio insisted.

I responded like that out of politeness, but I quickly nodded again as I remember the last incident with the noise. "Alright, if that's okay with you..."

"Of course..." Flavio replied, slowly turning away from my face and stared into his glass of milk.

"I think I'm going to hit the sack now," I spoke, putting my half-empty glass of milk down onto the glass coffee table in front of me.

"Hit the sack?" Flavio tilts his head.

"...Hit the sack— I mean, go to bed, sorry," I replied.

"O-Oh, of course, go ahead. I'll be sleeping on the floor like last time, so don't worry about me, I'll be right inside." Flavio responded.

I nodded and waved as I enter the bedroom, giving the red door one last glance.

I immediately close the door behind me and plop myself onto the bed.

As I adjust myself under the sheets, my eyes finally grow heavy and my vision went dark.

------------------------------------------------------

Hi! A few words from the Author here,

I'm sorry for not updating for almost a month now, I had a bit of a burnout and at one point I had different plans for how Lacuna will end therefore I didn't know how to progress it further but don't worry! I will try to update as often as last time.

I rarely put author notes in chapters so, If you've read this far, I would like to know if you have any questions about Lacuna! Let me know in the comments!

I know I probably have plot holes and the story might have been confusing for most readers but I hope some of you have been enjoying the series so far!

That is all, thank you for reading, have a nice day and see you in the next chapter!

- Lucien.