A Castle Of Crystal

6. This is how I disappear

When I got home I was in a piss-poor mood to say the very least. Jude said he'd handle groceries in the morning while I filed a police report for a stolen wallet but I wasn't hopeful, instead I finally slammed my door and opted to head to sleep to try and forget about it. All I knew was that it was a girl who'd taken it and I didn't catch her face, just that she'd barely brushed my chest as she passed.

I had a pounding headache when I got up the next day and it grew even worse when I heard the rain outside. Jude was long gone for his morning shift and I knotted my tie as I walked down the hall, making myself breakfast and keeping tabs on the time as I packed the journal and notepad into my jacket. I hadn't even realized it but I reached out a third time and I'd just been about to grab the necklace when I paused, thinking twice about it and reeling my hand back in. I don't wear jewelry, if I showed up to work with a necklace on I'd get nothing but shit from Jules. The moment I got in the car I knew I had to be extra-careful, not that I even had anything on my driving record but today would be the day I'd get pulled over for the first time.

"You look like you had a rough night, everything alright?"

"It's been a long morning already and it is—" I flashed my phone to check the time as I walked up to Jules' desk, "—barely eight fifty-five."

"Ouch, this is just not your week is it?" She chuckled while I shook my head dejectedly. "Don't forget to finish Anderson's work for him before the weekend."

"Fuck, thank you," I sighed, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Probably get buried under paperwork, miss appointments, y'know the drill." She winked, flashing me a cheeky grin before I departed to the elevators.

I booked it to my desk and let myself settle down, trying to ease into the day without letting the lingering anxiety creep up on me. The rest of the task Mr. Anderson had given me was easy enough and just before lunch rolled around I managed to finish it and send it off to him, hopefully giving myself a stress-free Friday, at least from work. Jules was waiting for me downstairs and offered to buy lunch again, something I was grateful for since I realized without a wallet I not only didn't have my license, but my cash and cards were probably gone as well. I figured on the way home I'd call my bank and have them freeze everything just to be sure.

When we got back I did my best to keep up conversation with her but it was difficult with everything else going on. It was almost a relief to go back to my desk and take a few moments just to sit in silence before I pulled the journal out to flip through again. From everything I'd gathered there were a few things I could say with certainty: Ravyn and Asher were siblings, as was Freya and N, and the former pair were of royal descent. Alchemilla— either the name of the kingdom or the name of the world, that part I wasn't sure about— was a monarchy and Ravyn being the elder of the two siblings was next in line for the throne. Kristoff and I butted heads a lot and I seemed to favor spending time with N and Asher, but Ravyn in particular must've had something for me after I read one of the journal entries.

'March 24th: Ravyn says she's going to be Queen one day and I asked her if I could be a Knight if I stayed. She asked if I'd be King instead and I thought she was just playing around but Asher said that she had a big crush on me. I don't want to be a King, sounds like too much work and I think Kristoff likes Ravyn anyway. N got real quiet and I think she's mad at me but she won't talk to me.'

"Oh you dumb little man," I chuckled to myself, realizing what must've been going on in the group and shaking my head as I closed the book. Looks like nine-year-old Kane had better game than I did now, I thought to myself with a wry laugh and noticed everyone getting up to head out for the day before doing the same.