Cataclysm by Karice Bolton

another day of being apart.
    “Hey, where is Cyril?” I asked.
    “Good question.”
    Athen hollered for him, but only silence called back.
    “Huh,” my hand tracing the back of the couch. I noticed Athen’s fists tighten a little.
    “What? You don’t think he’s here?” I asked, rather shocked.
    “I didn’t hear the car, but let’s go check outside.” Quickly scanning the full garage, we darted outside. Following Athen’s direction, I went down to the beach, and he went up the property towards the road. We were both calling for Cyril and still nothingness was returned. Circling back to one another empty handed, we headed inside quickly to regroup.
    “You don’t think?” I asked, not needing to finish my sentence.
    “I don’t know. Call Arie. I’ll try to get her attention by channeling to her too.”
    Frantically dialing Arie’s number, I hoped she would pick up.
    “Hey! You on the ferry for the day’s adventures?” Arie’s voice rang through the phone.
    “No. I’m still at the house, and Cyril’s not here. I think he’s on his way to find you.” I tried keeping my voice as calm as possible.
    “Well,” Arie sighed, “Maybe, it’s not a case of us knowing when the time is right.”
    “He didn’t take any of the cars. We’re gonna leave now and see if we can catch up to him. Looks like the process is about to happen, ready or not. Is Noah coming over?” I asked, as we headed out the door.
    “Yeah, actually. He’s on his way over right now.”
    “Might be good timing. I’m not really sure how Cyril’s going to take this, if he’s figured something out.” The seatbelt was impossibly tough to fasten with one hand.
    Athen interrupted. “My guess is he’s doesn’t believe what he thinks he might have figured out. He probably thinks he’s lost his mind. Regardless, we’ll get there as fast as we can, with or without him. Fill Noah in on everything. I’m not sure how much strength we might need.”
    “Sure will. Thank goodness, Matilda’s already been outside. This might take awhile, whatever it is. It’s a good thing we’ve gotten used to not planning anything.”
    “No kidding.” Athen pulled onto the road headed to the ferry.
    “Gonna hang up now, sweetie.” I told Arie. “We’ll get this figured out.”
    Cyril was closed off. There was no tapping into him. He didn’t want to be found. Athen and I rode in silence as we did our best to try to scan the roadside for any evidence that he’d been this direction. The green leaves were still wet and shiny from the night’s rain, and nothing looked out of place. There were no footprints, or muddy tracks. He might have decided to scale the trees to get to wherever he was going.
    “Do you think he knows?” I asked Athen after minutes of silence.
    “I have no idea. He didn’t seem like it, but anything can change in an instant.”
    “You don’t think he went to Azazel, do you?” The thought started making me panic.
    “I don’t. I think he’s got a one-track mind. Exactly like I did with you. And like you did with me.”
    “At least, we know what we want,” I offered up. I reached over for Athen’s arm, as he turned the wheel towards the empty ferry line. Thankfully, we drove right on but still no sign of Cyril.
    My phone vibrated, and my hand fell from Athen’s arm.
    “It’s Arie. Hello,” I said.
    “I can sense him. He’s near,” she mumbled.
    “Is Noah there yet?” Athen asked.
    “Not yet,” she sighed.
    “Well, we’re stuck in the middle of the sound. We’ve got another 40 minutes until we’re there.” My emotions were all over the place. I knew the pain that Cyril endured, and I recognized the worry that filled Arie to the brim.
    “If, we’re lucky,” Athen huffed.
    I turned to him and scowled. He raised his hands and shrugged.
    “No, we’ll be there. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. We can always ditch the car and do what we do. I don’t think we need our strength for whatever is