Ephemeral Reverie #1 - The Silence Between

Chapter Sixteen - Back To My Roots

Reiem never set up the voicemail on his cellphone. While Charlie would normally just message him, her hands shook far too much. Just tapping on his profile and hitting call was almost too much. She tried for a fifth time when the train exited one of the many mountain tunnels and she finally got some service. When it rang indefinitely, she scowled at the candid shot of him that served as his contact picture. It was so late, and he always seemed to be up, so why wasn't he answering now when she needed him most? Instead, she called Ignis, knowing the insomniac artist was the next best thing. He answered, voice full of worry.

"Hey. Everything alright?"

"Um...Ignis, no. It's not. Do you, uh...do you know where Reiem is?"

"He should be at his house. Like everyone usually is at two in the morning?" He paused a moment before asking, "What's going on?"

She bit her lip before answering, fighting back a fresh wave of tears. They hadn't stopped since she got the call around eleven.

"I've been trying to call him. I need to tell him something, and it's too important to text," she explained, raising her voice a little to be heard over the din of the train car. It only grew louder when it began to move down the mountain. "And I didn't have time to stop by on my way out."

"Out? Did you...leave?"

"Yeah. I'm on the train." She looked around the cabin of the car. "I have to go to my stepmom. She's sick. She had a stroke from overworking. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. A week, maybe two, or... I just don't know. Just...please tell Reiem as soon as you see him."

Ignis was silent on the other end, to the point Charlie thought he might've hung up or something. Then, he let out a breath. "Charlie, I...I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Ig. Mom's always been stubborn. Where do you think I get it from?" She forced a laugh.

"Yeah, no kidding." His voice was so low now, it was hard to hear over the noise around her. "He's gonna be worried. Hell, everyone will be. But I'll tell him."

Swallowing hard against the lump in her throat, Charlie thanked him and hung up. She tried to relax as she settled deeper into her seat and tried to not have a stroke of her own with the amount of worry that washed over her.

‡ † ‡

The ride was just over two hours, directly northwest. The train car smelled like cologne, body odor, and all sorts of other things she didn't want to think about, but thankfully with it being so late it was mostly quiet. The silence went well with her brooding look out the window. And the closer she got to her destination, the bigger the knot in her stomach grew.

At first, Charlie ignored her phone, choosing to try and keep herself calm. She'd already gotten a promise that Reiem would be informed, so she didn't need to focus on that anymore. But just fifteen minutes away from the small countryside station, she absently checked her phone for any messages. And boy, did she have them. There was a small barrage of texts from Griff, some from Ignis, and a slew of missed calls from Reiem. The voicemail he'd left had Charlie sinking further into herself.

Ignis: I couldn't reach him but I told Griff.

Ignis: We both went to his place. He was almost dead on his feet, like sick or something, but he's beyond worried.

Ignis: Where does your mom live? None of us know.