The speakers blare with their music, "I've been here! I've made mistakes, but I'm gonna be the one to watch the world burn!"

The music and bass hault and is replaced with the cheering crowd. "This wouldn't be possible without all of you!" Jessica shouts,

"Have a good afternoon!" Riley cheers,

A large smile breaks across his face, who knew she had a good voice. The crowd is a thunder of voices releasing their battlecry of approval and enjoyment. It seems to ripple across the sky.

No way he's gonna talk to Nicole today. It's probably best anyway, he has no idea what's going on, best not to rush whatever this is. Well, the concert is over, time to see Noctus. He hurries to his car, sends a text to Noctus and narrowly misses the flooding rush of people. He drives to her apartment, he climbs out. He's surprised he didn't crash, something is happening and driving is the last thing he's thinking about. Someone killed his father for a reason, Mya, Nicole, whatever, she supposedly died. What is happening?

He walks up two flights of stairs, staring at his feet. He tries to push out the anxiety, he's going to see Noctus. His heart pounds with joy and anxiousness, he just wants to see her. After all, she is the first person he's trusted since Raegan and he hasn't seen her since.

He raises his hand and knocks on the mahogany door. It creaks as it opens a little, Asher's joy is replaced immediately, his heart pounds with suspense and fear. Asher slowly opens the door, he checks the hall to his left. The bathroom and bedroom doors open, he backs away from the doors and into the living room.

His heart drops, the room has been turned over and looks like it's exploded. Stuffing from the sofas, broken lamps, broken glass. He shakes awfully as he creeps into the kitchen and sees a similar scene. He looks around, looking for any signs. He doesn't stop, he knows her, he knows she's fine, it's Noctus, but someone's after her.

He hurries into the bedroom and looks around the ransacked room, he opens a drawer in her dresser, specifically the bottom one. He takes out the pants and puts his hand flat on the bottom. The dresser beeps and the wooden pannel slides back. A folded piece of paper and a phone, he takes it quickly and unfolds it.

'Asher, take the phone, I'll be in touch with you. I need to figure out what's happening. I'm 'taking a vacation'. I've made arrangements for the company for now. W6.'

W6, meaning watch your 6 or watch your back. She's gone into hiding. whoever killed Asher's father is likely hunting him and obviously is hunting Noctus. But, why haven't they made the effort to attack Asher? They thought Noctus was always too big a threat maybe?

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His heart beats faster and faster, Noctus just...left? Whatever this is, it's serious, perhaps Noctus is wanting to use him as bait to catch whoever did this. He thinks for a moment, but whoever did this, they were looking for something, not necessarily for Noctus. Otherwise they would have just left, not turned her place into such an apocalyptic scene. Noctus must have known what they were looking for, it must be pretty damn important.

Asher grabs the bedsheet and wipes the drawer, removing his fingerprints. He gets to his feet, feels the new phone in his pocket and hurries out of the apartment building. He hurries away and to the school, he climbs out and walks to his dorm. Asher walks in and sits on his bed. He takes his new phone out and looks at the contacts.

'9'

He decides to wait for her to call first. He breathes in slowly in attempt to calm his nerves. He's not so much worried as he is just overwhelmed. He tries to focus on anything else, anything.

The world around him is silent, it's voiceless noise speaks like the crack of thunder. The dark of the room battles to overthrow the light coming from the tall lamp in the corner by the couch.

So many questions pound his heart and brain. The suspense is killing him, he feels like the whole world knows what's happening, except him. The phone vibrates.

'Are you there?- Noctus'

The sigh of relief is like a stone falling off his back, nevertheless, several other stones crush his shoulders.

'What happened?!'

'Someone is looking for me and for something I have. I only trust telling you in person.'

Asher's expression of desparate hope turns to desparate anger and fear. That's not Noctus. The style is wrong. Where is Noctus? What did they do to her? No, whoever this is, they are smart, they found the phone, which makes any call secured, let alone texts. Noctus wouldn't say she only trusts telling him in person. Whoever this is, it concerns Noctus enough to make her hide instead of immediately going to Asher.

'Okay, when? Where?'

Asher pulls his other phone and types in his name. He clicks on several links, just as he thought, all pictures of him are nonexistent, same for Noctus. Whoever it is, they don't know who he is. If they tried to get a vantage point on this apartment through a window, they'd be disappointed...which means they might be coming for him now! He tucks the phones away and is about to bolt but stops. Noctus taught you better, the phone vibrated the second after he picked it up. The person knows he's here...how? Thermal tech is the only thing he keeps coming back to. They are watching him likely with thermal tech. He needs a crowd. They might kidnap him, kill him, or just want to know his identity.

Vrrrt!

'Hangshire Theater, tomorrow at 5.'

'You sold yourself out when you mentioned trust.'

He walks into the hall and pulls a firealarm on the wall and startes down the stares. The alarm blares and within a minute and a half people poor out into the hall and he mixes with everyone else who has entered the stairwell. They pile outside and stare at the building, Asher's tempted, but he tries not to look around in the hopes of spotting his enemy.

After a few seconds, a man storms off, around Asher's height and build, jeez, if that isn't lucky. Asher waits for him to disappear, he waits a few more minutes and takes his chance to follow a few others away from the crowd and "vanishes" from the scene.