A Beat In Time

chapter three

"2051."

Xavier had seen a lot of weird things in his life, but the case of vanishing gunslinger took the cake. Walking onto the ship, which was nearly an hour ago, was like walking onto a crime scene. There was a tightness in the air, and it would constrict everyone's lungs every single time that they watched the surveillance footage from the ship.

"This doesn't just happen, people don't just disappear, " Xavier huffed.

Killian was the one to challenge his statement. "Well, am I going insane? Or does he not just freaking poof out of existence after that bright light?"

"Can we not say 'out of existence' like he's dead— I'd prefer to not think about that," Ethan said. Visibly shaken up by the whole experience.

"He probably is..."

"Marisol, don't say that!" Ethan exclaimed, talking so quickly that all his words joined together.

Xavier tried to ignore the squawking of his teammates behind him as he rewatched the footage. He was a man of medicine and science, he spent four years of his life studying it. Xavier wasn't going to dismiss his beliefs just because of one paranormal experience, even if his closest friend was the victim of it.

He replayed the video over and over. Each time Paola, Killian, Ethan, and Ezekiel entered. Each time there was a glitch in the video and a brilliant light surrounded Ezekiel. Each time the light faded out and Ezekiel was gone.

"You figure out what's going on?" Marisol asked, appearing beside Xavier.

Xavier sighed, "I'm afraid not." He admitted, looking back at the holographic styled screen.

"Well whatever it was, it took Ezekiel." Killian chimed in.

Ethan's head whirled to face him, his eyes wide.

"It... took Ezekiel?" He repeated, as if he were checking to see if he heard Killian correctly.

"No." Xavier spoke before anymore bickering could start, his voice low and even. "Ezekiel is missing— You all said you felt some queasiness, and when it was all over, Ezekiel was gone... He could of just left."

"He wouldn't of just left, you know that Xavier." Ethan defends, his face incredulous. Shocked that Xavier would even suggest something like that.

Marisol nodded, "Ethan's right. Plus there's no physical way he could of gotten off the ship in that split second of light."

There was a silence. Unnerving and cold. Xavier tried to wrap his mind around a whole situation. Part of him wished he would of been there when the four initially boarded the ship, maybe then he'd have an idea— but he knew even then he would still be just as confused. The longer he thought about it more and more dreadful he felt.

"Is there anywhere else he could be?" Ethan asked. "Like, maybe the kitchen? He can get pretty snack-y sometimes, when he's extra tired."

"He would of shown up on the kitchens feed, or the ships energy scans." Killian said followed by a quick sigh.

Xavier looked over his shoulder, before fully turning around to face Killian. "The energy scans? You guys never told me what happened with those, just to check the surveillance videos."

"Oh, yeah—"

"—Skip the, 'I forgot', and tell me what happened." Xavier deadpanned, before he added a quick. "Please."

Killian nodded, "There was a small spike in the energy levels of the ship before the flash, and after that they went back to normal.

"That, and—" Paola interrupted, and Xavier looked over at the woman. "More importantly, the area of the energy spike looks to be localized at Ezekiel's position."