*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Atania's Knight - Raquel Festow* Part 1

Chapter 28 - The Missing

*Tommy Hunter POV*

Rebecca and Watson left about an hour ago now to God knows where after Rebecca and Natalia had their argument. Raquel had been speaking to her father in Atanian for that whole time and I had awkwardly been standing in the same room with Hodgson.
I wouldn't have guessed that this skinny, gaunt looking man was Raquel's father. He looked too depressed and distant. Raquel was bright like a rainbow and vibrant, full of life, so it made no sense to me. I did, however, notice he had similar features as her. The eyes and nose were the same.
"How you holding up, buddy?" Hodgson leaned over and whispered to me.
"Shitting myself, mate. That's her dad!" I hissed back, honestly.
"Nah! You'll be fine." Hodgson chuckled, pulling out his phone.
"Easy for you to say! You never met Watson's mum and dad, and probably never will." I said, cynically.
"Probably will if this video doesn't disappear soon. It's everywhere!" Hodgson said, showing me his phone. It was on a Facebook feed and almost every other share was the video of Rebecca playing the piano with quotes like "inspirational" and "soo jealous".
"You have Facebook?" I asked.
"This is my old account. I hacked back into it when we got back to the hotel on the first night to see what my friends were all up to. Nothing much has changed for them apart from most of them being in Retail or on benefits." He smirked and looked back down at his phone.
"Where do you think Watson would have taken Rebecca?" I asked.
"Most likely, she would have taken her to London. Rebecca loves discovering new places and the history, so that would have been the perfect place to take her. Probably gone to the wax museum or something." Hodgson shrugged.
"How long before this blows over you recon?" I whispered, looking at the kitchen door in case Natalia decided to make an appearance.
Hodgson thought for a moment. "I have never seen Natalia this angry with her, before. I would assume this is going to be a few days, rather than the usual few hours, to sort out." He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Depends on how long Natalia gives Rebecca the silent treatment for."
"Hunter?" Came Raquel's beautiful voice.
I started and looked down at her, not realising that she was standing right next to me.
"Come and meet my firez." She smiled sweetly and I nodded, looking over my shoulder at Hodgson as she took my hand, silently begging him for help. He just chuckled and gave me the thumbs up.
"Hunter, this is my firez, Fabian Festow." Raquel introduced me to her father.
I gave him, what I hoped looked like a genuine smile, but it felt a little stretched across my face. He looked up at me, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed.
"Hel- Relxa." I said, hoping to give him a good impression if I used the tiny amount of Atanian I had heard Raquel use the most often.
It seemed to work... A little too well. He launched to his feet, let out a roar and grabbed me into a tight hug. Too tight, I felt my chest being crushed and I couldn't breathe properly. I could hear Hodgson and another man laughing behind me.
"My biqirez saltazeeb!" He exclaimed in joy, pulling away and grinning widely at me. "You already feel like my za!"
"You-your what?" I stammered in shock.
The laughing behind me intensified and I glanced round to see Perkins was back and holding on to Hodgson's shoulder to stay standing, he was laughing so much.
"My za, my boy!" Fabian cried, proudly, patting me on the back and putting an arm around Raquel. "You're already like a son to me!"
"Oh, wow!" I rubbed the back of my neck, sheepishly, unsure how to take him calling me a son, or rather a za, already. "Er, thanks. Rac iai."
Fabian beamed with pride and squeezed his daughters shoulders. "Your naraz is going to love him!"
I chuckled awkwardly when there was shouting coming from the kitchen. I glanced nervously at Raquel and headed to the kitchen after Hodgson and Perkins.
Natalia was on the phone to Rebecca, and speaking very irratically and high pitched. She was pacing back and forth across the kitchen with her hands in her hair and looking stressed. Hodgson went upstairs to check on the other Atanians.
"I just know they're innocent! I know it! They would never do anything to hurt us!"
I looked at Raquel and she was looking extremely worried for Natalia. I put my arms around her, and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She gave me the tiniest smile back.
"I don't know. That's why I'm thinking the Bracelets were stolen from them. You need to make sure that Rhian- Rebecca? REBECCA?!"
When Rebecca unexpectedly put the phone down on Natalia while she was trying to get her point across, Natalia looked like she was going to murder someone. Her sapphire eyes were wide, her teeth bared as she dragged her breaths in and out, as if forcing her lungs to work and calm her down. Raquel started to panic.
"Natalia, pleize." She begged. "Don't go red, you must resist it. You've been pure for so long."
"She just never listens!" Natalia roared, picking up a glass and smashing it against the wall. "How could I have been so stupid?!"
Just then Hodgson came back downstairs after checking on Clara and Xavier. "What's she done now?" He asked, sounding exhausted.
"The usual. Putting the phone down on me when I'm telling her something she doesn't want to hear. She just makes me so mad!"
"But you love her." Hodgson replied calmly. "You're both not happy about the situation and you each have your own, seperate way of doing things. Just relax, Natalia."
"I want to go home!" Natalia wailed suddenly. "I hate it here!"
Raquel dashed to her and held her tightly.
"Kizaaxi, Natalia. Kizaaxi!" She cried, rocking her back and forth.
Her father took a solemn step forward. "Oh, no." He whispered.
"What? What's happened?" I asked confused. Hodgson came over to join me and Perkins. Green emerged from upstairs with Clara, Xavier, Dean and Hewitt.
"Her Aura. It's turned red." He whispered, his eyes turning glassy.
My two best friends and I stared at Natalia in shock. Natalia had always been happy and care free. What was turning red going to do to her?
Green, Dean and Hewitt looked on, all holding hands and looking upset at Natalia's reaction. Green walked up to Natalia and put a comforting arm over her shoulders.
"Nats, come upstairs, hun. Let's go and chill out for a little while." Green said, soothingly and Natalia nodded.
Raquel walked towards Green, pulling her to the side for a second.
"Please, make her laugh as much as you can, and focus on good memories, not sad ones." She advised, placing a hand on Green's shoulder.
"We will." Green smiled and turned to head upstairs after Natalia, Clara, and Hewitt.
I headed out to the small courtyard and lit up a cigarette. Taking a deep breath of smoke in, I turned to face the fire exit and saw Fabian standing there. I thought no one had followed me and he made me jump, violently.
"Jesus! You scared me then." I said, putting a hand on my chest to give dramatic effect.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to. So, how long have you known my biqirez?" He asked, sitting on the bin shed and smiling warmly at me.
I felt very uncomfortable around him, but thought I had to get used to it for now. "Erm, about three, four days now?" I replied.
Fabian nodded and looked thoughtful. "Pleize, look after her. She is Rebecca Donton's doppelgänger. This is a huge responsibility on her shoulders at such a young age!"
I nodded. "I understand. My best friend is her doppelgänger too. Joined FREE about ten years ago. I decided to join FREE to help Raquel look for you, but you seem to have found her first." I gave a nervous chuckle.
His face fell. "I am so worried for my saltazeeb. It is likely that she was either sent here or..." He trailed off and tears started falling from his eyes as he bowed his head.
"I'm sure she's here somewhere, rather than... the other place." I knew he meant Deathea. I remembered from when Rebecca told us her story. I couldn't comprehend how he was feeling. I had felt awful after Goodwin had died, but to have no idea where your partner is and if they were suffering or not, that constant worry, it made a knot in my stomach.
"Poor Natalia. It must be so difficult to be around a natural born warrior, let alone be her saltazeeb." Fabian said, quietly.
I nodded. "They clash a lot, but this is by far the worst I've seen or heard of."
"I know the Moreno's. They wouldn't have done this to us." Fabian looked into the kitchen at Raquel who was starting to help Dean clean.
I bent and stubbed out my cigarette. "Come on, lets help them out." I smiled at him and we both went back inside, me closing the fire exit behind me.