Flight Of Fate

Chapter Seven - Revelations

Thranduil stood gawking.

One second, the only being who had filled his heart and mind over the last solid year stood within feet of him, then vanished into thin air.

He blinked, and snapped back to reality. "Kira!"

Silence was his only reply.

He moved, charging across the office floor and out of the doorway. People moved around the hallway and as he looked further along towards the waiting area, they drifted across his line of vision. But Kira was nowhere to be seen.

"Elise! Where did Kira go?" he demanded, grabbing his secretary's arm as she passed.

"Who?" A frown of confusion arched down over her brown eyes.

"The woman you just brought into my office," he snapped impatiently. "Where did she go?!"

"Ms Wells? I thought she was with you," she exclaimed.

"If she was, I would not be questioning her whereabouts," he grunted. "Find her. Find her now!"

He released her arm and hurried over to the main entrance area of the building. His head spun as he turned in a circle, desperate for a glimpse of her. But he saw nothing. His eyes scanned the flow of people moving around him, but she wasn't one of them. His heart fell.

Following his instinct, he hurried across the foyer to the main doors, bursting through them and out onto the crowded street. Rain fell from the heavens, soaking him within seconds.

"Kira!" he shouted. "Kira!"

Several pairs of eyes turned his way as people swept past, but none of them were her deep blue ones.

His head whipped from side to side as he tried to locate her. Nothing. He picked a direction and headed to his right, crossed the busy intersection and stopped as he gazed around. Still nothing.

With his heartbeat pounding, he went back the way and shouldered past groups of pedestrians. His feet pounded into puddles on the sidewalk and splashed rainwater on his trousers, but he ignored it. Finding her was more important. Fate had sent her back to him, and he wasn't going to lose her again.

"Kira!" he bellowed, coming to a stop. His shoulders sagged as no-one answered, no-one appeared out of the crowd to respond. He felt like roaring his frustration at the heavy grey clouds overhead, but that would achieve nothing. It wouldn't tell him where she'd gone, and it wouldn't make her materialise in front of him.

He carried on, peering into streaked, wet windows of stores as he hunted. He scoured the sea of faces for her familiar one. He shouted and shouted her name. His heart was crushed further each time he shouted and received no answer.

Standing in the midst of a never-ending stream of passers-by in the pouring rain, he'd never felt so alone in his life. She'd been so close – in the same room, breathing the same air, her eyes on his. But she'd disappeared quicker than she'd arrived, and the bustle and activity around him seemed to melt away into a blur as he stood. Rain trickled down his perfect cheekbones and clung to his dark eyelashes, but he didn't even notice. All he could think about was Kira.

And how once again, she was gone.

*****

Elise glanced up at her boss in concern as she handed the requested paperwork over. "All her details should be there," she told him.

He took the application form and strode into his office. The door slammed closed at his back and he stalked to his chair, throwing himself down heavily on it. The paperwork drifted down onto the desk and he rested his chin on one hand as he scanned the first page.