The Realm

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It's a fool's errand to seek what does not wish to be found.

Aiden

Aiden had passed out on his keyboard and the indents from the keys were firmly pressed into his cheek when he went to answer his door. He had looked through so many websites on faery rings that all of the information was now floating around unattached to each other in his brain. Dancing in a faery ring was said to be dancing with the faeries, but he hadn't seen any faeries. How could he? They weren't real. At least he hadn't thought they were real until he read more lore about them.

They were said to be mischievous and cruel, and Astrid could very well be trapped with them somewhere. Nothing had made sense until he'd read a story on a forum dated back a few years. A man had gone missing in the same manner as Astrid. His companion had tied a rope around himself and ventured into the ring. Once inside he was able to find his friend and follow their rope back to safety.

The story was ridiculous. But was it true?

"Yes?" Aiden said as he opened the door to find a man and a woman in uniform on the other side.

"Mr. Walsh?" the female officer asked.

"Did you find her?"

"We would like you to come with us down to the station," she continued, ignoring his question.

"Astrid, did you find Astrid?" he asked and he moved to get his jacket and the officers' stance changed, their hands moving to their guns.

"I just need to grab my wallet and jacket," he said suddenly on edge himself.

The male cop nodded but kept his hand tensed near his gun.

"Where is she? Is she okay?"

"That is what we are hoping you'll tell us."

The ride to the station was tense, Aiden did not like being in the back seat of the police car. It made him feel like a criminal and the way the two officers had been keeping an eye on him, they thought so too.

Once inside the police station, they led Aiden back to a private room, the one he'd been in less than twenty four hours ago although it suddenly felt very different. Detective Nakajima was already waiting for him in the room. She was in a crisp dark grey suit with her jet black hair tied severely back in a bun at the nape of her neck. She looked older than she had last night but that could be due to the stern expression on her face. The female cop left but the male stayed standing by the door.

She waited for him to be seated across from her before she spoke.

"Mr. Walsh, we have received more reports on Astrid Bradley. It appears that she did not show up for work this morning. There was no answer at her home but the landlord let us in and we discovered her purse. Do you know where Ms. Bradley would have gone without her purse?"

"Astrid never brings her purse to the pub, she just sticks her cards in her pocket, or uh, her bra if she doesn't have one."

The detective's eyebrow rose just slightly. "So you were at the pub with her yesterday?"

"Yes, I was with her, you know this. I told you last night, she disappeared in the forest."

"So the last time you saw Ms. Bradley was in the forest?"

"Did anyone else see you two there?"

"No," Aiden answered. They were asking all the wrong questions. "Yes! I mean, no one saw us, but I took a picture of us right before it happened."

Aiden could feel the cop watch him carefully as he reached and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He entered in his code and pulled up his photos. The one with them kissing popped up and he sort of flinched at that, not wanting to share anymore.

"Let me see, Mr. Walsh," she said and she extended her hand over the table.

He placed the phone in her palm. She raised it up and looked at the picture and then over to him.

"I thought you told me last night she was not your girlfriend."

"She's not, it was just a joke. Our friends tease us all the time about being together."

As she went to hand him back the phone, her thumbed swiped to the next picture and there was a stark difference in it. Astrid had pulled away and was making a face, she looked disgusted. Aiden knew that she was just being dramatic, teasing him after the kiss, but the photo did not hold any of that context. It looked as though she wasn't happy she'd been kissed.

"This doesn't seem like a joke to her. It looks like she wasn't happy with the kiss at all. What happened to Astrid, Aiden?"

"I told you, she went into a faery ring and disappeared."

"Things will go a lot smoother for you, Mr. Walsh, if you tell us everything."

"We are wasting time, we need to find her," Aiden said, his frustration slipping through.

"I agree, so let's start at the beginning so we can find Astrid."

Aiden sighed and began his story again.