Beautiful Lies

Chapter Two: The Loss

I'm back. Another chapter, please enjoy. I figure its a "We officially survived about a year of quarantine" present. Have a lovely time reading and enjoy!-😈

Roman fidgeted nervously, waiting for Janus to come home. Janus wasn't normally late. He was always punctual. As a general rule, Janus despised lateness.

Tonight was Roman's night to cook and get food, but he came home from work exhausted and drained. He tried to force himself to do it, but Janus stopped him.

"Don't worry darling, I'll take care of it, you must be exhausted," Janus said lovingly, giving Roman a kiss before leaving the apartment. The sun had been high in the sky, casting shadows and long rays of sun in the small apartment they shared.

Now the sun was setting and Janus still wasn't home. And Roman knew, this was far too long, far far too long, for just a regular errand. Something was very wrong. He needed help. Roman pulled out the old phone, dialing his friend Virgil's number. The first time, it rang and went to voicemail. The second time, it went straight to voicemail.

When Virgil didn't pick up, probably because he was working late, Roman called his brother in an act of true desperation. The two never really got along and when the other called, it was normally a prank call or something deadly serious.

"Remus?" Roman heard a clatter and a cat yelp, cars honking and people swearing, all as he waited for his brother's response. "Remus?!"

"One second!" Remus shouted. He grumbled when he heard Roman's voice. "Oh, it's you. Look, I really don't want to talk about your love life-"

"This is serious Remus!" If there wasn't something terribly wrong, Roman would have fired back some witty insult. Not half beg him for something. Remus stopped his joking attitude and transformed into the soldier of the uprising.

"What's happening? What's wrong?"

"It's Janus. He's gone missing," Roman said frantically. "He was-was- helping me and then and then and then he went to buy groceries and now-" Roman burst into tears, the stress getting to him. Remus tried to calm him down.

"Hey, chill Ro, it's going to be fine. We just need to figure things out. Start slow." Roman took a deep breath, gasping. He could do this. Janus was fine, he was fine, safe and perfect. Everything was going to be alright. If he believed it enough, it would be.

"He went grocery shopping and now he's missing. I need your help," Roman begged desperately. "You're his second in command aren't you? What do you think could have happened?" Remus thought for a second. Then the words process. He cursed under his breath.

"SHIT! Why did he leave the house? I told him they were upping security!" Roman fiddled with his fingers, Remus screeching through the phone.

"He wanted to help me," He mumbled. Remus groaned on the other end of the phone.

"How could he be such a fucking idiot? He probably got arrested" He tried to tone it down for his brother, but he was too annoyed with his moronic best friend. "You should have stopped him from going Roman!" Remus accused. Roman turned red, annoyed.

"He didn't tell me they upped security! I wouldn't have let him go if I knew!" He snapped. Then, Roman paused, smiling softly. "He must have not wanted to worry me." Remus groaned.

"Why must he be so in love with you?" Roman blushed.

"That's not the point! The point is we need to find him! He's the leader of the uprising." Roman could practically see Remus raising an eyebrow via phone. He blushed more. "Fine, and because he's my boyfriend and I love him."

Remus laughed slightly.

"Okay, now that we cleared that little bit up, your apartment in five minutes and we'll start the search for your lover boy."

Within moments, Remus arrived. He surveyed the apartment, bored and borderline disgusted by its appearance. "This place is a dump." Roman snorted.

"Like you live any better. Don't you live in a trash can?" Remus looked at him, offended.

"I live better than you." Roman grumbled glaring at his brother. Then he saw Janus's hat, lying on the dining table, alone and forlorn. Roman teasingly stole the gloves before he left. Now, they were sitting alone in the dying rays of the sunset, a pale blue, washing the room in color. It almost was hidden by the shadows the light cast. Roman picked the gloves up, clutching them to his chest. He had to find Janus.

"Ready to start a snake hunt?" Remus joked, looking at Roman wryly. Roman's corner of the mouth turned upward. He cleared his throat, gently placing down the gloves.

"Yeah Re. Come on, we have a man to find."

With that, the two brothers left the apartment, the hat left once more on the table. And they disappeared into the village crowd, the shadows casting into a dark that couldn't help but blend them in. As darkness grew, a large shadow fell over the village, blocking both the sinking sun and the rising moon. The manor, casting the village into a darkness. A single shard of light fell onto the abandoned gloves on the table, and the world turned pitch black.