100 reasons to love our lives

No trace left

Nico

Boredom. Boredom, homophobia and restlessness.

Every once in a while, a policeperson entered the room. They opened their file only to find it empty, even though they were adamant to have put them in there. Then, they either went rampage on me; showing off their deeply internalized homophobia, or they excused themselves and tried to find their file, or, and that happened very rarely, they just proceeded asking their questions politely until the mist confused them so much they didn't even know what my name was.

I looked at the clock. 72 hours were the highest limit I could held captive here; and 70½ hours were already over. My guts churned; couldn't it go faster?! Celine had been with my dear Will in a very vulnerable moment, and if she got her pink-colored claws into his shaken mind... I didn't even want to know what he had to go through. Please, stay strong, I begged silently.

The door opened again, and another elder in a police suit entranced the room. "At first instance, I apologize for Mrs Miller", he said. "She has got quite projecting since her nephew became gay."
I just shrugged; ignoring the became for my own mental health. "If I would throw a fit, I would invalidate the authorities", I meant and he smiled a little. "Look, I know we brought you here for a reason", the officer now said. "Something about a credit card?"

As I shrugged again, he sighed deeply. "But there are no files at all. Not even the ones who started the investigation."
His brown eyes stared into mine. "That's very suspicious, isn't it?"
"You can check your cameras", I said, staring back without blinking. "I was here the whole time."
He sighed deeply. "And, besides, the files are secured anyway", he told me. "We might come back to you when that mystery is resolved, but for now, you can go."

"Sorry for the problems", I apologized and he waved his hands in dismissal. "You can do nothing against lousy office work", he said, giving me my jacket. "Your belongings."
"Thank you", I said.
"I'll bring you out."

My fingers were itching; racing to my phone as soon as I was outside of the building. No messages from Will, a few from Kathleen, Dean or Yasmine, telling me what we did in our courses. One missed call from a foreign number; which I chose to not respond. I didn't want to get tricked by scammers.
Then, a new message popped up: from Simon.

LOOK UP FROM YOUR PHONE ;)

He stood right under a little tree, waving at me with an enthusiasm that lifted my mood - until I remembered the guilt in his face.
Therefore, I kept my speed and tried to sound cold as I greeted him: "Hello, Simon."
He waved again; then typed on his phone.

GOOD TO SEE YOU UNHARMED

"The mist can be quite helpful", I said, watching his reaction. He didn't seem surprised at all; even though he raised an eyebrow as I broke the Lotos Casino Card in four pieces. "It's not worth the vulnerability", I explained and he nodded.

A LITTLE LATE, BUT VALID

I laughed a little, but fought down that little slip up fastly. "You seemed strangely not surprised", I noted instead. Simon tightened next to me; but he didn't say anything.
We walked next to each other to a subway in silence. He was definitely guilty. My roommate did something behind my back.

But somehow, I couldn't feel threatened. What I knew from Simon - his relationship with monsters, his magical voice, his knowledge about the mythological world -, stood in direct contrast to his actions, his helpfulness, his genuine courtesy, the fact that he accepted my friendship just like that.