Fanfare

Detection

When he opens the door, it squeals with disuse. The air is stale, a thin layer of dust coating every surface. He steps inside, closing the door gently behind himself. Hangs his jacket on the hook by the door. Walks over to the table and pulls up a chair. His wipes his finger along the table, dust sticking to his fingertip. He sighs.

He hasn't been home in at least a month, not since Trenna went missing. He hasn't been able to, with Kina in the state she's in. He's brought them food, taken care of her mother. Along with his own worry for Trenna, he feels worn out to his soul. His bones feel weak and old. But, right now, the thing that annoys him the most is the state of his home.

He gets out an old cloth and wipes down every surface, straightens his bed. Then he gets out some dried meat from an old but still functional container in his cupboard and chews on a strip as he sits down on the couch. He does some push-ups on the floor, several sit-ups, and jogs a few laps around his house before he finally feels like himself.

Sprawled on the ground inside, heated air flowing through the open window and circulating around the house in the flame-lit night, he allows himself a moment of worry.

This isn't like her. Trenna can be reckless and carefree. But she is also thoughtful and careful, extremely wary and clever. She thinks over what she says before she speaks, and almost every action she makes is based on her own welfare or the welfare of others. Either something very wrong has happened, or she's staying away for a very good reason. Kina says she knows her sister is alive, and he doesn't doubt her intuition; people in the city have been known to have premonitions, strange things happening to them or around them. Some are exceptional at their trade, others seem to know what you're thinking with their quick hands and sharp eyes. He knows of them, in the back of his mind, and is wary. He can tell who these people are. It's not in any conscious way that he can tell, but more of an itch behind his eyes, an odd feeling, like someone watching him. Kina's mother is one. So is she. And so is Trenna.

He feels unease stir in the pit of his stomach and stands. A second later, Kina bursts through the door, in the same panic she was in when Trenna went missing. "Mum," she says, her eyes wide and terror-filled. He grabs his jacket and follows her out of the house.