THE VOID

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪-𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕣

                          {The next morning}

Alice: "Explain to me again, why Hero can't take you to work?" ((She asks concerned))

Josephine: "He's got food poisoning, really bad" ((she lies)) "You don't mind right?"

Alice: "Of course I don't" ((her tone is very weak, she's not buying Josephine's story)) "What did he eat?"

Josephine: ((freezes for a second)) "Egg Fried Rice" ((she quickly says)) "He was up all night, vomiting" ((she adds))

Alice: "Okay, so let me get this straight" ((she lightly taps the steering wheel)) "Hero ate some bad Chinese food last night, which gave him food poisoning. So bad, he was throwing up all night?" ((She asks shrugging a little)) "That's wild"

Josephine: "What do you mean wild?" ((She asks confused))

Alice: "I've never heard of food poisoning symptoms, showing so quickly" ((she stops the car at the light))

Josephine: "He must have a fast digestive system" ((she offers with an awkward smile))

Alice: "That's an understatement" ((she continues driving)) "Usain Bolt fast" ((she smirks a little))

Josephine: "Right" ((she feels her story unravelling)) "We're so stupid!" ((She adds laughing))

Alice: "And why's that?" ((She questions, detecting Jo's laugh to be fake))

Josephine: "It was obviously something he ate earlier in the day or even late the night before" ((she's trying to cover her tracks))

Alice: ((considers calling her friend out)) "Oh god, you're so right!" ((She plays dumb instead))

((The rest of the drive goes more smoothly, Josephine checking her phone every few minutes for an update from Hero. She's looked over his message a hundred times trying to find some hidden clue as to what is going on. She's called and messaged him a bunch, but nothing. She's been on whatsapp to see when he was last online but it's around the time he left the text message. All she knows is that he left with Alex around 1 last night. Her body is flooded with panic, what if he's hurt or in trouble. She considered skipping work, but it's not that easy in her field. She should only be on set until about midday, and she figures she'll hear something any minute))

Alice: "Here we are" ((she says smiling, as Josephine climbs out the car))

Josephine: "Thanks so much Alice, I'll see you later" ((she closes the door smiling))

Alice: "You know I'm always here for you right?" ((She asks trying to be subtle))

Josephine: ((nods before stepping away from the car and watches as Alice drives off)) "I know" ((she whispers taking her phone back out of her pocket))

[no new messages]

((She opens her texts with Hero, rereading his one again))

𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢, 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚏 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢?...𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝!
𝙾𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢.