The Planetarium

PART TEN

THE SEARCH PARTY BEGAN and eventually spread over the more remote lands around the area, gathering hoards of unfamiliar faces. Wrapped in parkas, armed with flashlights, a sea of people scouted around the wilderness into the night.

Paranoia seized me due to the sudden spike in attention. One frantic evening, I installed cameras in and around the cabin, just in case some wanderers stumbled across the lone property. There were a lot of privately owned cabins around, so it wasn't a suspicious investment.

Yet, I had the feeling of being watched.

It was like there was a fog of depression surrounding ever single person these day. A harrowing silence lingered in awkward moments, and every lame joke died in my throat, no matter how harmless.

Hannah wouldn't leave me alone. She kept following me; whether it was slipping away to my room, or grabbing a drink from the kitchen, she stared at me with hard eyes.

"I feel so sorry for Phil," my girlfriend said helplessly, staring at her empty mug. "God knows what he must be going through."

I had the strong urge to break up with her then. I don't know why, but I wanted to turn around and snap that it wasn't Phil who was suffering here. The inner torment was enough to break a man. But here I was, making lemon tea in the apartment kitchen like I didn't deserve to rot in a jail cell.

"Look."

A muscle jumped in my jaw. I turned around to see what she was directing my attention to. Hannah stared out into the living room, one delicate hand rested over her collarbones.

Ezra and Art were sitting together on the sofa quietly. Both spaced out into the distance, Ezra was dragging his hand over his friend's arm in a tired sort of way, their fingertips brushing every now and again. The familiar contact on skin touching skin seemed to alarm Hannah; she'd never considered their closeness could include any form of intimacy.

Juliet had been right.

Before I could comment on the scene in front of us, there was a rumble of noise. A door came crashing open an a wild Circe stomped through, ablaze with indignant fury.

"Well, I'm not going to sit here and do nothing in this boring shithole! You may be satisfied sitting around doing nothing, but half of Vancouver knows about the disappearance! If there's any chance, we should be a part of it!"

"Mom and Dad told me to take care of you," Icarus followed her in, hands on his hips. "You're too young."

Both Ezra and Art's faces remained as blank as a mask. They probably wouldn't have even blinked if a hoard of circus performers leaped in through the window.

"Don't you feel it's your responsibility to go out and join the search party?" She turned on her heel and glowered at me.

I was surprised by her passion.

"I think we should talk about this," Hannah said gently, giving me a meaningful stare. "Maybe Circe's right."

Hannah wasn't naive or delusional. She knew by this point, we would be searching for a body. But my stubborn seventeen-year-old sister seldom failed to get what she wanted. Besides, it could raise red flags if we didn't contribute to the cause. It was unfortunate timing that my brother and sister were around at such a tense time . They were obtrusive and irritating, lording around in that privileged manner, not concerned with respectful behavior. The worse thing was, people agreed with them, especially Circe - whom was acting as if the disappearance had seriously rattled her despite not knowing Juliet's name two weeks previous.