Glimpse of Us | Ben Hargreeves

iii. the case of disappearing matter

C H A P T E R T H R E E

Celeste relished the quiet, cold breeze as she walked through the streets. She was almost determined to walk back to the hotel as an excuse to reminisce and delay the inevitable job of helping her family fix yet another mess they've gotten themselves into. However, for all the reasons she had, she was thankful she decided to when she saw Luther and stopped in her tracks. "Luther?"

"Celeste?" The blonde turned away from the little kiosk to see her speed towards his direction. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "Heard you were kidnapped by them, so I dropped by their home."

"Oh. They let me go, though. Amazing hosts."

"I know, but they let you go about an hour ago. Why are you still in the area?"

"Oh, uh, shopping." He stuttered.

Celeste looked at the cart Luther was at, and at the item in his hand. "For condoms?" She asked. Slowly, realisation dawned on her and she covered her mouth in shock. "Oh my. . . condoms, you — that means you're —" She gasped, understanding completely. "With Sloane! That's why she wasn't with us at dinner, because she was with you—"

"Wait, you had dinner there?" Luther interrupted.

"Yeah. Fei, Number Three, invited me. They were quite pleasant. . . surprisingly. Very well-mannered."

He grinned, readjusting his hold on the tote bag from the Sparrows. "Right?"

Suddenly, waves pulsed through the city, and half the people in the park disappeared. The joyous mood the two were in quickly changed as they stared at each other with wide eyes.

"Did you see—?" Celeste began.

"Yeah."

"Shit." They both cursed.

Celeste bit her inner cheek. "What if. . . this is what happened to Marcus?"

"We don't have Marcus?"

"No, we don't. Viktor and Allison arranged to meet him for the briefcase, but he never showed."

"Viktor?"

"Yeah, our brother, Number Seven. Why, do you have a problem with it?"

"No, no, not at all. It's just, wow — how did I not know?"

"You were kidnapped the entire day, bud."

"Should we throw him a party?"

Celeste smiled. "Let's run back to the hotel first and tell them about the disappearing people before you plan one."

"Right. Fill me in on the rest on the way back."

"Diego had a kid with Lila, by the way. Just getting it out here before I forget."

The two took a taxi to the hotel, thanks to the money Luther received from the Sparrows.

As soon as Luther saw Viktor, he ran up to him and gave him a hug. "I am so proud of you and I just want you to know that I love you."