How could this have happened? Norris clenched his fists in frustration. He knew Sayla had a penchant for vanishing from time to time when she got distracted with her exploration but that was always only for a few minutes. The only exception had been when they got separated because of that thief. He sat down on the stairs of a bar, flinging his head into his hands. It was a situation that made no sense no matter how he looked at it. Truly, how could this have happened?
Five hoursearlier
"Norris! Wake up already!"
Norris rolled off his bed, falling onto the ground with a thud.
"We're finally reached your hometown after weeks of travelling and all you've done is sleep!"
"So what?" Norris mumbled, standing up and opening the door. Sayla was already dressed and carrying a bag of supplies.
"You said you'd show me around! What happened to that amazing food you talked about before? Aren't you sick of being stuck in the inn?"
"No, I'm fine." Norris answered easily. "Don't forget why I've been staying in my room all this time...the exhaustion of travelling with you has completely killed my mood to do anything."
"That's harsh!" Sayla exclaimed, not looking very hurt. "I already apologized, can't you just let it go? The world is such a beautiful place, so what if the journey is a little rough? The destination is what matters!"
"I think it's supposed to be the other way around." Norris scoffed. "And what do you mean by a 'little' rough? We kept missing our modes of transportation thanks to you and had to keep hitchhiking the whole way there. Was getting lost in the forest all a part of your plan too? It was only luck that saved us from dying there! If those kids hadn't found my message and told their parents, we would never have gotten here!" Norris was out of breath by the end, inhaling rapidly to try and compensate for his sudden burst of emotion. He didn't really blame her but thinking about those memories made him wince.
"Haha that's true." Sayla said, sheepishly, unable to refute. "That's why we should rewrite the bad memories with good ones! Let's go out now!"
"Now?" Norris was aghast. He had just woken up and was in so state to be strolling around town.
"I'll wait in the lobby for you for ten minutes. If you need more time, you can take it but I'll be heading for the marketplace by then, okay?" With that declaration, she rushed downstairs, leaving the half-awake Norris to quickly get ready.
///
"20 minutes." Norris looked at his watch as he wandered around the streets. He didn't think he had ever felt as much adrenaline as he did in those 20 minutes. It wasn't because he was worried about her but rather because she only paid him for the time he spent accompanying her. Or at least that's what he told himself.
"Where in the world is she?" He had gone to the marketplace but it was closed for the day. Asking everyone if they had seen her proved useless too. With so many tourists around, she was no longer easy to pick out from a crowd. In fact, Norris had bumped into at least three people wearing similar clothes to her and almost called out to them. Since leaving the inn, it had been 3 hours and there was still no sight of her. It didn't make any sense to him. He left the inn only 10 minutes after her so why was it so hard to find her?
"Norris, is that you?" A familiar voice shouted from across the street. He turned his face, eyes widening as he saw who called him.
"Grandma!" The kindly old woman was smiling widely from behind the counter of a paper shop. He quickly ran over to her. "I didn't know you were still here."
She wasn't his biological grandmother but a woman who had basically taken the title upon herself. He received a letter from her a few years prior telling him that she had gotten engaged and was moving to a more connected location.
"I just had to! This place has been my home for over 50 years. It's impossible not to miss it." His grandmother paused, a devious look suddenly appearing in her eyes, "What about you? I hear from my friends that you've been going around asking about a girl. Did you finally get a girlfriend?"
"Huh? No." He quickly defended, "I work as a tour guide now. She's just my client."
His grandmother didn't look convinced but she dropped it, knowing he was no fun to tease anyway. She offered to ask around more and handed him some charms for good luck. He thanked her, promising to visit again before heading back out to look for her.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she's just busy enjoying the sights!" He heard her yell as he walked away from the shop. He was sure she was right. Surely Sayla wasn't unlucky enough to get caught up in any more incidents.
Back to the present
Five hours. There was still no sign of her anywhere. As it got darker, his concerns only grew. There were many brothels in the area and shady gangs that liked to take advantage of gullible people. What if one of them had dragged Sayla and was holding her hostage? He had looked around some of the brothels but there was no way he could get any information out of the people there.
The only other place he could imagine her to be would be in some of the theatres the town had set up to hold magic shows. Most of these shows were held in bungalows with a few organizers and 50 audience members. He had tried searching there too but the house they used to hold magic shows had burnt down a week ago and the other shows were only going to begin at night.
No matter how he thought about it, he still couldn't understand where she would go. He had exhausted all his options. As he sat on the stairs of the bar, he found himself wondering if he should just go in and drink his problems away. Norris never had any alcoholic tendencies but he was at his wits end. A part of him also wondered if she was actually completely fine and just gallivanting somewhere which made all the stress he took upon himself meaningless. The other part told him that she might be on the path to heaven and if he wasted more time then she'd already be there.
"Seriously what was up with that girl?"
"I know right? People like her are the reason tourists get bad rep!"
The conversation caught his attention. A couple was walking down the stairs- both of them were walking unsteadily but appeared mostly sober.
"She kept talking about how the magic is a lie or something."
"Yeah how would she know? Why did she even come here to begin with?"
"I think it's because of that guy she was with. He looked kind of scary."
"It's her fault if she chooses to associate with such people. But...I did get a bad feeling when they left."
"Me too...something weird about this place."
"Excuse me." Norris stood up blocking their path with an outstretched hand. "Can you please tell me about that woman?"
"Huh? It's none of your business?!" The guy said fuming, looking like he was ready to fight.
"That's right. What do you think you're doing stopping us?!" The girl continued, still swaying a bit as she walked.
"It's important." Norris said, hoping it would convince them. Upon seeing that neither looked moved by his desperation, he took a deep breath and said it- "That woman is my girlfriend. I've been searching for her all day."
It seemed that what he said caught their attention because both of them instantly went from being angry at the obstruction to looking sympathetic and even remorseful.
"Ah really." The guy said, starting to slur a bit. "Sorry man but she's cheating on you. We all saw her with another guy."
Norris tried his best to look pained. "I had a feeling...I need to face that guy. I can't move on unless I see him for myself."
The girl nodded understandingly. "I don't know if they're still there but the two of them went into the back a while ago."
"Thanks." Norris ran up the stairs, no longer interested in playing the role for the two of them. The couple watched as he ran into the bar and then turned to look at each other.
"Poor guy. I hope he gets closure."
"Yeah. I can't imagine what he's feeling right now."