Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Elena and Helen returned home hours later when the sun had already set. It had gotten late, but they had had so much fun together that they ended up getting drinks at a bar as well. Once they entered the house, Edgar was the first to greet them. He hugged Helen and shared a brief kiss with her.

“Good evening,” he smiled. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Hello, Edgar. It took longer than expected.”

Elena smiled at them and excused herself, intending to head to Ryder’s room, but Edgar stopped her before she could go anywhere. He seemed confused, knitting his brows in a worried manner.

“Do you know where Ryder is?” he asked.

“Um… what? He isn’t back yet?”

“No. I thought he was with you,” Edgar sighed.  Having heard their conversation, Chump left the living room and joined them. He scrunched his face, running his hand through his wild red hair.

“So you don’t know anything either? We wanted to work on a new song tonight, and he’s never ditched me before. He didn’t even send a text. It’s not like him,” Chump explained. He fidgeted with his phone, shifting around a lot.

The vampire’s demeanor roused Elena’s nervousness. A bad feeling manifested in the pits of her stomach. Her intuition told her that something was off. “He said he wanted to stop by my flower shop. That should only take about half an hour or so, not the entire day,” she said, frowning as she pondered over it. “And his car is not in the garage?”

“No, he never returned,” Edgar said.

“We should look for him,” Chump suggested sternly. “Maybe something happened to him.”

Elena drew in a sharp breath, causing Edgar to shoot Chump a warning glance. “Don’t make any assumptions. For all we know, he could be busy with something,” he replied. “But I admit it’s weird…”

“Why don’t you check Elena’s shop to see whether he is still there?” Helen suggested.

“Good idea,” Chump nodded. He didn’t waste a second and left the house in a blur. Elena heard the engine of a motorcycle roaring as he sped away.

“In the meantime, we should sit down,” Helen decided and gently tugged Elena to the living room. The young witch was visibly distressed, and Chump’s words hadn’t helped at all. What if her soulmate was in danger? What if something happened to him? He meant so much to her—it would kill her if she lost him, too. After her parents’ deaths, he was the first and only person she confided in. Ryder was her sun.

“You’re nervous, Elena. Stay calm. We will find out what’s going on,” Helen said and made sure she sat down, wrapping her arm around her friend’s back.

“I will tell the others about the issue, and then we can figure something out together,” Edgar added.

He left the living room soundlessly. Elena didn’t hear his footsteps nor any other sound, but about two minutes later, he returned with the remaining clan members. Avocado, Snake, Dorian, Kelsey, Thorny, and Clitus joined them.

“What kind of mess did he get himself into this time?” Kelsey sighed.

“That’s the problem; we don’t know,” Helen answered. “We don’t have any clue where he could be and why he doesn’t pick up his phone. If Chump won’t locate him, we will be at a dead end. The last time anyone heard from Ryder was this morning, more than ten hours ago. He wouldn’t just leave without saying a word.”

“Someone else could be involved in his disappearance,” Thorny guessed.

“Now, who would be stupid enough to mess with our clan? They’re asking for trouble,” Clitus growled. Out of all the vampires in the room, he appeared to be the angriest. Elena knew that he and Ryder were close friends as well, so it was to be expected. He was worried.

“Do you think Aeri has something to do with it?” Thorny asked thoughtfully, remaining calm compared to Clitus. A tense silence followed his question, and Elena’s ears perked up. She had never heard that name before, yet everyone else was familiar with it. A splinter of jealousy wormed its way into her heart. Who was that woman? And what did she have to do with Ryder?

“I doubt it,” Kelsey replied and shook his head.

“She would have just shown up at our doorstep instead,” Snake agreed with him. “You know how persistent she is.”

“Who is Aeri?” Elena asked and received several alarmed looks. Nobody was keen on answering her, so the vampires awkwardly exchanged glances until Edgar took it upon himself to explain.

“An old acquaintance of Ryder and someone we haven’t seen in years,” the clan leader said. He was interrupted by the loud ringtone of his phone, and he picked up when he saw Chump’s name on the screen. Edgar put it on speaker so everyone could hear him.

“I found his car,” Chump panted. “It’s parked right across from the shop, but he is nowhere to be found. His scent is the strongest near the shop, so I assume he entered it and left afterward.”

“Can you follow his scent? Where did he go and why didn’t he take his car?” Edgar asked.

“I… I don’t know,” Chump growled. He was stressed out, his voice shaking. They heard rustling, the rushing of wind. “He must have run extremely fast. So fast, his scent doesn’t linger anywhere. It’s extremely hard to tell in which direction he went. There are too many other scents in the area that are much stronger.”

“So it’s a dead-end,” Edgar concluded. “Please come home, Chump. We need a new plan.”

“See you soon,” Chump uttered and hung up.

Elena was devastated. Why would Ryder leave her shop in such a hurry and not tell anyone where he went? What could have happened? She buried her face in her hands and exhaled shakily.

“I can’t take this.”

Helen frowned, exchanging a glance with her soulmate before she hugged her friend. “Don’t be scared, he wouldn’t want you to worry about him,” she whispered. “We will find him.”

“What if it’s too late?” Elena asked, and then her eyes widened in shock. A sudden realization made her freeze. “He hasn’t consumed any blood within the past few days. We don’t have much time.”