Into the Road of Night

Eugene was quietly humming while sitting on a sofa elbow. Sylvia was besides him in a chair, she was slowly sipping coffee and observing the expressions of others. They were all quite sullen, especially Vera's whose skin was pale, making her look older in comparison to her 2-days-ago self.

The one who caused such gloom in the room, Douglas, was leaning on the sofa with his arms wide open. He appeared to be quite indifferent, but such awkward silence really pushed his nerves, and thus he tried to cover his worry by acting cool. And finally, Garland, he was still not quite sure about the whole situation, which should not be surprising. In the end, he bore the least amount of information regarding the case, and as it goes he was also the one to finally speak up regarding the story at hand.

"I wonder why this guy helped you out. From your story, he was not really keen on doing it."

Everyone looked at him, but the one to answer was Douglas, "Who is to say. Perhaps, Chris's infamy made him reconsider his option."

"He is also the 2nd American professor we met in the span of these 3 days. Who also just happened to know French" murmured Eugene, making Douglas nod as well as Sylvia raise her brow.

"Good point! Well, Paris is big and maybe there was some kind of event in one of the universities. By the way," Douglas looked at Sylvia, "This Vincent guy, is he your butler?"

Sylvia slowly nodded, though her thoughts were still elsewhere.

"Why are you investigating this case in the first place?"

The one to explain it was Eugene, he wearily muttered, "George was a close friend of the la Avise family. Her name, by the way, is Sylvia la Avise."

"Why would not you also write it in the newspapers?" Sylvia snorted displeasedly.

"And have you discovered who the culprit might be?"

"Indeed I am." The woman confirmed and looked at Eugene, "Though one person still doubts the truth."

"As I said, this is just a coincidence! Maybe it was that Harvard professor who snitched on Chris and Vincent to these gangs, or whatever. You can't just throw accusations based on such insignificant cause!"

"That's enough!" Sylvia hit the table with her palm, which made her tear up and everyone else jump in surprise. "How can't you see, that the same is done by you as well!? In my case, I have proofs to back up my theory, but you! All you do is averting your nose from the truth. You really are stupidly naive if you refuse to doubt anyone close to you. Your brother's life is on the line or your connection to him so fragile that you are willing to sacrifice him to not destroy your petty view of the world?"

"Sylvia…" Eugene's eyes widened from her words. He did not feel angered or annoyed, but more so frightened. There was indeed a glimmer of truth in her speech, Eugene was scared of knowing the truth.

She stood up and came up to the front door. Then she made a majestic turn to everyone present and explained her plan, "Vera, Monsieur café owner and you there, you all are going to the police. Tell them to go to the hospital immediately, the hostage trade will happen at that place, likely at the back of the building. Make sure to not scare them off."

"But Sylvia!" Vera came to her with a worrying expression, "The officer said that will see us tomorrow."

"It will be way too late if we wait more. They will certainly rearrange trade as soon as possible, and Marco's stance as hospital worker will come in handy for them."

"As if they will even listen to us." mumbled Douglas, which was overheard by Sylvia.

"They will not, if it is common folk." She came closer to Vera and placed a strange insignia in her palm. It was round and quite heavy. The outer layer was glittering in yellow as if it was golden. The centre, was decorated with an engraving of an owl with a Greek letter "Alpha" that were painted white to contrast the black background. It felt ancient and at the same time quite new.

"Show them this, and they will listen." she turned to Garland, "And your job is to be a driver."

"That was quite rude." Eugene crossed his arms, but the one to whom this demand was addressed only giggled and exclaimed, "At your service, Madam la Avise."

"Now, you." She pointed at Eugene, whose expression was now more displeased, "We will visit Marco together, and I will make him confess. Make sure to not cry after the revelation."

Her haughty words further got on the boy's nerves, but he agreed to her plan and soon all five of the people exited the house to retrieve a man with many roles: husband, brother, friend, acquaintance and a total no one.

When the pair of self-proclaimed detectives sat in the car, Eugene spoke to Sylvia once again. He asked, "And what will you do, if Marco is innocent in this ordeal?"

Sylvia smiled wryly and gave him a side look, "His innocence is impossible, but if such miracle will indeed happen, then I will beg for an apology."

Eugene smiled, "Sounds good to me." and the car slowly moved forward. With time, it accelerated to quite an impressive speed, Eugene was not as scared to drive as he was in the beginning, mostly because there were not any cars nor people on the road in the first place. Due to the moonless night, it was pitch-black outside, but street lamps scared away the darkness of the night and illuminated the road further ahead, making it easier to drive after the twilight. Once again, Eugene was astonished by the advancements of Paris in comparison to his home town, but his awe did not last too long. In the end, the story of his brother's disappearance was coming to its climax. Now only one question needed to be answered.