Now and Forever

16. Broken connections

Happy Valentine's Day to each one of you out there. 

*****

Skyler was dead tired by the time he reached the square. The day had been nothing but a train wreck. He had forgotten to refill his substitute tablets and he had eaten nothing since the morning. Moreover, he was called in to attend a case briefing meeting with the senior officers and he was handed over a missing person case which wasn't even supposed to be dealt with by him in the first place. To add up he had to deal with some grueling paperwork that he had just gotten done with a few minutes ago. All he wanted to do right then was to throw himself on his bed and sleep but unfortunately, that luxury wasn't meant for him. He got a call from Nandini asking him to come to the square and he wasn't given the slightest hint as to why he was called.

Sighing he pushed the door of the VIP room open.

"Why did you call me im-" His voice died down his throat as soon as he stepped inside the room, for he smelled a familiar enthralling scent. He didn't need to turn to look at the person for him to know who the scent was coming from but he still turned around. "Niall!" his tone dropped as their eyes met and at that moment all he could think of was how good the person seated in front of him looked.

"Hi." Niall mumbled an awkward 'hi'.

"Hi." Skyler replied just as awkwardly.

"How.. how have you been?"

"Better than before." Despite his inner turmoil, he still managed to say it in a sarcastic tone. Tearing his gaze away from Niall, he took a seat beside Nandini for that seemed to be much of a better option than being seated next to his ex. Moreover, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Awkward." Nandini frowned, eyeing both the involved parties simultaneously. "Lighten up both of you."

"Get to the point. Why did you call me here?"

"Patience impatient one, patience." She said in a mocking tone. "You are not the only one that has been called. So, let the others arrive too."

"Others?" Skyler paused. "As in?"

"The other envoys." Niall's alluring voice reached his ears. He cut a glance at Niall before looking back at Nandini and asking, "Is it because of those hybrids?"

"Partially." She nodded. "But there's mor-"

"Blake Galleger was reported dead this morning." Niall interrupted.

"Dead?!" Skyler frowned as his gaze shifted towards Niall. The word 'dead' didn't settle well with him. "What do you mean by dead? We are almost immortal."

Niall's eyes held Skyler's for quite a while before he replied, "Almost... not completely. Blake's body is in a petrified state."

"Petrified?! What do you mean?"

 "His whole body has turned into stone and there's this-" Lightly patting his hands on his chest, he emphasized, "this huge hole in his chest area."

"There's never been a case like that." 

"I said the same thing." Nandini shrugged. "But Skyler, you do have an idea about what to do right?"

"Depends. I have to see the body first." Skyler ran a hand through his hair, musing over what Niall had said. Nothing made sense because he neither had seen a case like that nor had read slash heard about anything like that. "What- What about his eyes? Did you take any pictures for reference?"

"His eyes were totally black. You know exactly like those who had fallen into eternal slumber." Niall answered as he took out a crystal ball from his pocket. He gently pressed it and rolled the ball towards Skyler. Skyler caught the rolling ball and looked into it. An image of Blake's petrified body had immersed in the ball.