Chapter Twenty

With one hand on each side of the barbell, Ethan slowly lowered it down towards him, the metal bar touched his chest lightly before going up again. He held it for a count of two, then reversed the motion. His jaw was clenched and tensed as the long, lean muscles on his arms bulged with the workout.

Ever since he was cast down to Earth, his supernatural strength began to gradually vanish as well as his heavenly-given power, and he'd become more human with the passing years; he'd have sworn that his hair was going grayer by the day if it weren't for the fact that he was immortal.

Such a storm of feelings, thoughts, and memories suddenly arose within him that he could not control himself. He went at it as if there was no tomorrow, sweat trickled down his forehead and his breath came out in wheezing bursts. Ethan would focus on training daily as to not take matters into his own hands.

While his expression intensified, moving the bar up and down more fiercely, suddenly came a tapping. As of someone gently rapping, pawing at the surface of the door.

"Come in." He answered, returning the barbell to its rightful place in the machine after a few minutes then turning his attention to the butler at the studio's doorway.

The butler's voice was a monotone as he informed him about dinner being on the table in ten minutes. "And, Master Ethan, Mr. Presccot called in earlier looking for the young master."

"Thank you for letting me know, Bertram. I'll give him a call later." he quickly spat, his eyes never leaving the man in black. As he did not move or say anything, Ethan continued, "I'm about finished here. Give me five and I'll be downstairs."

"Certainly." and, after a quick bow at him, he left the room.

Ethan quickly wrapped it up in the body-craft-type strength-built machine and walked down to the towel cabinet. Snatching a small-sized one, firstly, he whipped the sweat off his face and back of the neck, then flung it over his shoulder, and thus leaving the studio pronto.

He trotted up the stairs to the second floor of the house, eager to take a late-night shower after the intense training session he just had.

He headed to his chambers and hurried towards his bathroom, stripping off his sport's clothing midway. Flipping on the subwoofer, 'Feel it' from Michele Morrone started playing, growing accordingly to its crescendo. Henceforth, he climbed into a shower and pushed the sliding glass doors together.

As soon as he rotated the handle, the response was immediate, the metallic head that hung loosely just a few centimeters above his spread water onto his body, the sudden shock from the first cold wave, making his muscles tense. The water slowly ran down his body, washing off the sweat particles and soothing the ache that clawed at his limbs.

He closed his eyes and allowed the warmth to sink in before pouring a generous mound of shower gel into his hands and dragging it over every inch of his body, the action soothing his stiff muscles but also, his agitated mind.

His thoughts hastily wandered to the human girl that held his heart. The water-dipped down on his face as he tilted his head back and, at the moment, he could picture her hands slowly moving up his jawline, feeling the softness of her palms rubbing against his trimmed beard. The faint, sweet scent of the soap sinking into his skin, reminded him of her loony vanilla aroma, wrapped in lily flowers fragrance. The hot water vapor in the air mimicked her ragged breath to perfection, he could almost feel it against his neck, teasing him and leaving him on edge.

The steam from the shower grew thick and filled the air inside the container as his fingers moved up to his crinkly brown hair, dancing into the mess it was, ridding it of the knots and brushing back the curls falling onto his eyes, occasionally.

Frustration kept moving his hands to the point he was now hurting himself. Ethan closed his eyes shut, let out a loud groan, and vented against the walls of the stall, in the end finding the support needed on the shower tiles. "Goddammit." A person couldn't be in control of themselves all the time - right all the time.

A couple of minutes after that, he turned off the water and decided he was done with showering for the day. He reached out to the towel rack and snatched two of different sizes before stepping outside; the change in temperature sent a cold waft towards him but that seemed not to faze him. Promptly, he wrapped a larger one around his waist and used a smaller one to dry his hair. After wiping his face, he tossed the towel on the counter.

He stood there for a moment, watching his own reflection in the mirror; the glass was packed with smoke and water condensation, distorting the image. He never wanted this to happen, she would never be safe out there because of his love for her, and sure enough, that only made his anger flare. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down his nerves.

Then, a familiar melody echoed rhythmically in the next room; he immediately acknowledged that it was his phone's ringtone. At once, he exited the bathroom to go pick it up. The phone was ringing from its place in his jean's pocket. He walked down to the chair where he had left the clothes he wore for the day, right before he went jogging, and retrieved his mobile.

The incoming call number popped up as 'unknown' on the mobile's screen. He wondered who that might be but, considering the possibility of it being an emergency, he wasted no time in answering the call. "Hello?"

~ Is this Ethan? ~

A female voice he didn't recognize - and definitely not Angella's - it sounded low and distant yet, also tender and gentle, at the other end.

To which he replied pronto, "This is Ethan speaking."

Her sigh came as a mixture of contentment and relief. Ethan could almost see the woman smiling through the smartphone.

~Thank God it is the right number! I had to go through my old phone's library to get it! ~

"Who am I speaking with?" he asked bluntly, running fingers through the wet strands of his hair to straighten it.

~ Oh? Sorry-- I didn't introduce myself. Samanthera. I don't know if you remember me but I'm Angella's older sister. ~

Only when he heard the name did he realize who it was. It has been so long, why was she calling now? That fanned his curiosity further, nevertheless, he answered casually. "Oh, yes, I remember you. What's up?"

~ Sorry to call you up this late, I'm sure you're in a different timezone but, I needed to call someone for help and didn't know who else to turn to. ~

He was ignorant of what was leaving the woman riled up and making her resort to him, not that he minded but, it sure left him questioning. "I'm not following, Sam."

~ Something serious happened Ethan. ~

"You need to be more specific if you want me to help," and he waited patiently in silence for the next few minutes, thereby granting her the space to set her own thoughts in order. After a long, eerie pause her reply came echoing in his ear.

~ It's about Angella. ~

Her voice sounded so panicked and serious through the earbud that made Ethan's stomach turn into a knot. He tossed the chair around with one swing of a wrist and settled down briskly and fussily in the seat. "What happened? Is she hurt?!" The worst-case scenario; was the first and only thing that occurred to him.

~That's the thing, I don't know. ~

"What do you mean, you don't know?!" He didn't mean to yell at her, but knowing that she was unaware of Angella's welfare, nearly scared him to death. Then, more calmly, he asked. "Where is she?"

A defeating sigh filled the gap on the line, instantly making him worry.

~ She got into a fight with our father earlier this day. I don't know the exact motive, but she had fled when I got to our room. She used the old trick with the sheets. ~

"That's not like her..." Ethan felt his heart lurch and squeeze against his chest unmercifully; he felt sick to the stomach, ready to puke whatever he had eaten earlier. He couldn't help but ask himself what might have driven her to 'run away from home. 'How much reckless could you be, Els?', he muttered under his breath.

~ My point exactly! Has she tried to reach you? I'm certain you would be the first person she would go to. ~

"No... she hasn't." As his mouth robotically continued to answer Sam, his mind was already scanning the area, every street and alley... may the many years he was forced upon Earth, serve him now in this time of desperate need.

~ Goddammit. ~

Her curse was lost to his earring as he forgot he was still on the phone with the woman. Where could she have gone to? An Inn...? Then, asked, "Could she have taken any money with her? Book a Hostel room?"

The girl considered his reasoning for a moment but was quick to reply negatively.

~ No, I don't think so. And still, she left wearing her school uniform-- h-hey! This was definitely not premeditated! ~

The lad exhaled a heavy breath, acknowledgment of his most feared concern. 'She won't have a place to spend the night'. Prolonged exposure to extreme cold can lead to hypothermia, and that can be a result of not having a roof on top of one's head and sleeping on the streets. "Anything significant missing from your room?"

~ Just a few t-shirts and a pair of jeans are missing, aside from some personal items. Nothing of real importance. ~

"Have you tried a friend's house?" Ethan wanted to discard that and explore other options and yet, his gut told him that she'd not be in the right mind to contact no one.

~ We've moved recently so, I don't think she has ever had the time to make any friends. Besides, she doesn't know the city that well. ~

"I see," Ethan stared at the void, his mind obviously lost in deep thought. It was true that his arrival to the academy had been premature as well and that he hadn't spent enough time with her to recognize many friendly faces around her. Still, she would have to make some acquaintances, even if only one or two. And that gave him an idea; she could try talking to someone from her class, maybe she has contacted one of them! The only problem was the lack of contact info and the fact that they would be wasting precious time tracking them down when they could have been using it to actually find Angella. By far a long shot.

Sam's voice broke Ethan away from his trance, at last.

~ This girl always does the craziest things, ya hear me? Anyway, thank you, Ethan, for all your help. I'm sorry to bother you over a silly tantrum. I'm sure she'll turn up, I'll keep looking. ~

It was the longest second of his life until he realized he wasn't going to sit around and wait in his room for news of her. So, he did what he thought and volunteered to search for her. "She couldn't have gone far," he said, looking at his wristwatch. "Maybe she's just a few blocks from home." Still on the phone with Angella's sister, he nimbly skidded onto his jeans and boots then got up to snatch a plain white t-shirt from the wardrobe.

~ Wait-- what do you mean, you'll look? You're also in Paris?! ~

"Yes, long story short - Family vacations." Ethan lied since he did not want unnecessary questioning from her. "Now, are there any eye-witnesses? Have you talked to anyone?" and rushed the subject back to Angella's disappearance.

~ I'm on the streets as we speak. I have been showing her picture to whomever I cross paths with, but there aren't many people at this hour. ~

The poor woman; was doing her best to find her baby sister.

~ I'll keep showing her picture around. My father is going to be home at dawn, so we need to find her until then. The first one to find her calls the other, deal? If she hasn't still shown up in two hours, we'll re-group and go to the police. ~

"Sounds like a plan," Ethan agreed to her terms while he slipped his arms into the leather jacket's sleeves, "Don't worry, we'll find her. That's a promise." He reassured her; the man was the best at pacifying other people, not himself tho.

~ Thank you, I appreciate it. Really. ~

She sounded way more relieved at the other end.

"You're welcome." He said smiling, though she wasn't physically there to see it. "See you soon." He waited for her reply first and then hung up the call.

Afterward, he sprinted down the stairs to the first floor again, grabbed his house keys from the holder, and was ready to leave the house when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Young Master? Are you going out?" asked the butler, holding a tray of clean plates in his hands and heading towards the dining room.

"Yes."

"But dinner's served." He said, sounding surprised with the sudden change of plans.

"Keep it warm, we'll have visitors later." The door clashed against the support structure loudly. Hope soaring, he dashed across the front yard and ducked into the parking area. When he opened the garage door, his black Yamaha motorcycle was parked inside alongside a few other cars. Anxious to find her unscratched, he hopped onto his bike and left the garage, driving out into the streets like a true maniac.