Kronos (Book One)

Revelation

Oct 27th, 1pm

Buzz!

Buzz!

Buzzzzzzz! Misha holds her finger on the intercom button. "Come on, come on, come on!"

She tries to settle her heart while waiting on Greg to answer. Hikari's prior text makes her mind race on her friend's condition.

"Hello?" The weary voice of Greg answers.

"I wanted to check on my good friend. May I come up?"

After buzzing her in, she gets to his door and knocks.

"Just a minute."

The sounds of cleaning echo inside the apartment before he opens the door. She can't ignore the deep dark circles under his eyes. His usually white t-shirt has stains here and there.

"Hey, Greg," she embraces him tightly.

"Who are you and what did you do to Misha?"

She gently nudges him in the ribs.

"That's better," a broken laugh escapes his lips.

"Hey! I can be nice when I want to be," she pouts to lift the mood.

"Come on inside," he rubs his eyes. "Just take your shoes off at the door. There are some slippers you can put on."

After Misha puts on the slippers, she sits on his blue couch. He comes back with a glass of water and hands it to her.

"I will be right back. I didn't expect company so I need to clean."

She gently grabs him by the wrist. "It's okay. Sit with me."

He reluctantly sits down on the opposite end. He rubs his eyes to stay awake.

"Have you been eating, Greg?"

"Not as well as before. Junk food and all that."

"I brought some snacks over from Penelope's place. Here," she unwraps small meat pies for him to enjoy.

His eyes widen from a single bite. "Really good. Do you want some?"

"I already ate."

"Thanks. Tell Penny I said thank you."

"I will let her know."

She lets Greg eat his fill before broaching the subject. "You haven't been talking to any of us over the past few days. What have you been up to?"

He tells her the information Hikari and him have been sending back and forth. "...I don't know what to make of it, but I need to keep looking for him."

"She told me a little about that. She thinks it's a kidnapping or something like that?"

"I don't believe in the supernatural, but I don't know what to believe anymore. The police wouldn't believe us even if we had the evidence. All I know is my best friend is missing and I let him and Penelope down."

She clutches his hand. "Why do you say that?"

He grips his knees. "Ever since Taki told me about what happened to his family, I promised him that I would protect him and his family until the day I die. Now, I failed him. I can't rest until I make it up to them," his voice breaks down.

Misha squeezes his shoulder. "We will find him. I know it. You need to rest though. We need you at 100% to find him."

"It doesn't feel right! My friend needs me and I'm sitting here helpless. I'm going to run out of vacation days. I can't see myself at work without him. He always sends me his dad jokes every morning and I would rate them out of 10. I wake up each morning expecting his text and it's not there," a rush of tears flood down his face.