Missing Winter

Richard stood on the balcony, outside his designated room in the large castle. He was holding a glass of wine, sipping and staring quietly at the moon.

"Aren't you going to talk about what happened earlier, at the field?" Naomi asked, walking towards him. She had seemingly entered the room without him knowing, and she was holding on to a plate of cake. She smiled and stretched the plate towards Richard.

Richard chuckled and collected the plate. "You know there's something called knocking, right?" he said

"Eh, what's the fun in that?" she replied and rested on the paling of the balcony. "Besides, shouldn't you be thanking me for the cake,"

"Well, considering the fact that it was your fault I didn't get any dessert in the first place, no. No I shouldn't," Richard stated, before putting a slice of cake in his mouth.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault either. Blame it on the red princess, she robed me into telling Carmilla about the fight between you and Michael. I couldn't break the code. And you should be thankful that Aunt didn't do any more than refuse you both some cake," Naomi said defensively

Richard scoffed. "I thought mums were supposed to be 'Immune' to the code?" he muttered

"I may have stated earlier that it doesn't, and she used my word against me. Apparently, she's mad about Winter not showing up and so she decides to vent all her anger on something... or someone," Naomi explained

"Poor us," Richard said

Naomi chuckled. "It's the humans I fear for the most, she's gone feeding with Michael. Poor them," she muttered with a look of pity

"But it's unlike Winter to miss a party," Richard stated, putting down the plate, which was now empty.

"That's true. I've tried reaching out to her several times after dinner, but I got no response. I'm worried, Richard," Naomi said with a worried expression

"It's going to be alright, sister. I'm sure Winter's just busy, is all," Richard comforted his sister, having felt her emotions.

"You're not trying to take away my feelings, are you?" Naomi asked with a chuckle

Richard shook his head. "No, I can only sense, adopt and augment emotions. I can't take them away, believe me... I've tried," he muttered with a forced smile.

Naomi sighed with compassion. "I know you think that, you don't have one of your own, Michael. But deep down, you do. You just have to find the right anchor," she said with a smile, rubbing his shoulders gently

"Thanks sis, but we all know that's never going to happen. The only thing that I feel everyday of my life, is anger. And sometimes, nothing at all," he uttered sharply

Naomi sighed deeply. "Richard, we want to help you. We always have, but you keep pushing us away. Winter tells me anytime she tries to find or visit you, you avoid her. She was the only one who took it upon herself to keep tabs on us, always calling and visiting. For years, she had been in contact with everyone. Everyone but you," she stated with a displeased expression

"I've been avoiding her for her own good, it's best she stayed away," Richard said, before picking up the plate and entering the room

Naomi scoffed and followed him. "Really, and what about Michael? Was what you did for his own good as well? Or was it for yours," she said sharply

Richard stopped in his tracks and turned to face Naomi, he was slightly surprised.

"That's right, I know. How you ruined that girl's life, how you... Made them suffer," she added

Richard clenched his fist tightly, in rage. "I did nothing!" he roared. "It was her decision to make and she made it, on her own. But I don't even care what you all say anymore, because I think she got what she deserved for tearing us all apart,"

Naomi shook her head in pity and disappointment. "That girl wasn't the reason we all seperated, it was a thing of choice. We seperated because it was bound to happen someday, we each needed to find our own path," she explained

"But I didn't need to find any path," Richard said softly. "All I needed was my family, and they left... You all left,"

Naomi took a deep breath and walked closer to Richard. "I understand you pain, I..."

"No! You don't," Richard cut her off. "I'm the empath, not you. I'm the one who has been feeling the emotions of others without knowing his own, the one living with only one emotion; Rage," he snapped at her, gritting his teeth

"Well that doesn't give you the right to cause others pain, the right to toy with emotions however you like. I wonder what mum would think of you now," Naomi retorted, with a rage of her own

Richard scoffed. "Well mum's not here, is she?" he muttered, his eyes starting to glow.

"Oh, so now you want to fight me, huh? You just want to fight with everyone, so you can get retribution for us leaving you all those years ago. Isn't that right?" Naomi chuckled. "Well, I'll gladly fight you. To beat some sense into that thick lycan skull of yours," she added and instantly, her purple eyes began glowing intensely. And flames erupted from her hands, coating her fists.

But before a brawl could break out between the two siblings, a soft ring was heard in the room. It was consistent and it seemed to be that of a mobile device, one owned by Naomi.

She sighed and stood down, her eyes dimmed and the flames on her fists were extinguished. "This better be good," she mumbled and took out her phone, carefully reading the name of the caller. Richard just stood there, stunned. Amused, but stunned.

Naomi's face brightened seeing who the caller was, she accepted the call and spoke into the device. "Thompson, that was fast. What'd you find?" she asked.

"Good afternoon, Naomi. Or is it night there already?" Thompson replied through the phone.

Naomi frowned. "Tom, we just spoke together about 30 minutes ago. Skip the bloody pleasantries and tell me where she is," she clicked.

Earlier, just after dinner. Naomi had tried reaching out to Winter through every contact she knew, to even contacting Wimter's workplace and friends, but no one knew where she was. So she tried using a different approach, since Winter place of residence was in London, she reached out to the her intelligent friends there.

Thompson sighed. "I'm sorry, Naomi. But we couldn't locate her, phone calls, Atm, chat history. Nothing, we found nothing for the past one month. Wherever she is, it's not in Britain. And how she even left, I have no clue, because there are no records or physical evidence of her leaving the nation. I hate to say it but, she's gone AWOL," he explained

Naomi gasped in shock and horror, her worst fears had come to happen. "Alright Tom, thanks. Let me know if you have a new lead," she muttered softly

"Will do. I'll have my team begin a search around every corner of the country, and I'll get someone to operate her socials. News of the disappearance of a famous icon like Winter Corsaire won't sit well with the masses, we'll keep it under wraps," Thompson assured

Naomi forced a smile. "Thanks, that'll be helpful," she replied and ended the transmission.

Richard, sensing the sudden change in conduct of his elder sister, became concerned. "I can sense a great deal of panic and perturbation coming from you. What's wrong?" he asked with a genuine worried expression.

Naomi shuddered and looked into his eyes. "It's Winter, she's missing."