bewitchinghaze | [Circle of Sirens] Missing

To say it had been a long day would be an understatement. Val has been hard at work in the back rooms of Avant Garden preparing spelled plants by the dozen all day. By the time she closes up for the day and finishes tidying, it's well past eight in the evening. Stretching out the kinks in her back, she gives a soft sigh as she hauls her phone out of her pocket and sends her sister a quick text:

[txt] Long ass day, unnie. Sales low again. On the way home now though. Chinese for dinner? xo

Finally satisfied that everything's in order, Val steps out and locks up. Turning around, she tuts at the fog that seems to have rolled into town despite the chill. Its thick as pea soup but she's never really needed her sight to make her way home anyway, not with the mixture of her sister's magic and her plants calling to her. But... Something seems odd. A soft melody slowly winds its way through the air and into her ears and something about it makes her want to hear more. To get closer.

Val steps into the fog, which, by all means, should be cold and clammy but somehow feels warm and soothing, and blinks in mild surprise as it seems to part to reveal a beautiful garden. Its absolutely gorgeous, full of plants she could never dream of working with and...

"Val! Over here!"

She turns her head as Grant's voice beckons her and she spots him, sitting on the porch of her cottage, waving her over. She bounds over happily and feels his arms wrap around her and his lips press against her own. "Welcome home," he murmurs with a grin that momentarily stuns her. "Riley's inside making dinner. She said to remind you to wash up before you go in."

It feels like her heart's going to burst, she's so happy right now. This is everything she could ever want and she's more than content to live like this forever. But then it starts to fade. Slowly, at first, she gets glimpses of a cave and her head feels... fuzzy, to say the least. Then the vision disintegrates faster and its all she can do not to yell at it to stay. Then it's gone and she's standing in a cave, blinking around at the walls as her mind wraps around her loss.

"Fuck."

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"That's okay. And I wasn't complaining, I just wish there would be a happier reason. Christmases, or we- or other happy things."

She frowns at herself, because why the hell would she have weddings on her mind. Is she really turning into every spinster cliché made ever?

"The Middletons know I'm here. I told Grant what you told me, and called James to get through to the police office by two different routes. Checked if Lara is okay and she -"

Louise bites her lip. "Also has someone missing. Let's get that hot chocolate near us first."

Riley tilts her head when Lou quickly switches gears, because she could have sworn the woman was going to say "weddings." But she's too distracted to be her usual observant self, so she quickly forgets it.

"Thank you, Lou. Whatever we can do to push the police on this." Leading Lou into the kitchen, she gestures for their friend to take a seat at the table, situated pretty close to the stove given their small kitchen. She busies herself with pouring the warm milk into two mugs. "Another one? It's not Lara, right?" she asks, turning to look at Lou with worry.

"Oh God, no. I love you and I love your sister, but do you think I would be here if Lara would be missing? She's my sister and I would be digging through the entirety of Siren Cove to make sure that she returns and the one that did it to her, ends up in Lady Justitia's arms."

That could be viewed as a little rude. "Not that I wouldn't do the same for Val or any of the other people I love. Lara just makes me forget about myself and my necessary sanity." She waits until Riley's done pouring hot liquid.
"It's Les Parker that's gone."

She has to smile at that. "I'm pretty sure the whole town would get out their pitchforks if anything happened to Lara. I'm glad she's safe though."

That news hits Riley and almost knocks the wind out of her. She rests her hands on the kitchen counter to steady herself. What the hell is going on...

"Les?" She turns to look at Lou and sees the sincerity in her eyes. Biting her lip, she turns back to add the chocolate into the mugs. "Do they know where he was?"

It so incredibly hurts to see people like this and - in a fleeting second - Louise is glad that she's on this side of the story. Because she isn't sure who would be shocked about her disappearance.

It's a horrible thought, and she forces it out of her mind. "I didn't hear anything about that yet, Corrine is on it, and her father, and probably everyone else in her contacts list right now, because you know how she is when it comes to alerting and activating crowds."

She gets up from her chair and walks over to Riley for another hug. "These two are going to end up together and form a fearsome Pickle Plant Power team, don't you worry. We just have to find them before they take over the world."

Riley accepts the hug gratefully before she passes Lou a cup of her amazing hot chocolate. The thought brings a smile to her face and she chuckles. "You're right. Val's experimenting with every pickle flavour and Les is in absolute heaven."

Sipping from her own cup, she turns and leans against the kitchen counter. "I probably shouldn't try another searching spell for another few hours, but I'd like to do one for Les. Without Val, my magic isn't as strong. Maybe I'll try to rest and try again? Does that sound alright?" She looks to Lou, more for someone else's permission to say it's OK for Riley to rest, because her own guilt will keep her awake.

"They probably appreciate that we're not finding them right away", she plays along. "Les wants at least five more pickle flavors out of her before she's allowed to go home. Maybe he's been possessed by pickles."

It's a thin line, talking about possession, both for herself as for witches. "You didn't rest at all ever since discovering her gone? Riley."

Louise steers her out of the kitchen, into the living room. "If you think you'll sleep too long on the bed, take the couch. But no-one's going to prosper in any way from a sleep-deprived Jung. Understand me?"

Riley let's herself be lead into the living room and drops down on the couch, suddenly feeling very heavy. She has to smile at Lou's fussing though, because she sounds just like Riley when she mother hens Val.

"Okay okay, I understand. I don't think I can really say no to an Abasi anyway," she says with a teasing tone. "Just...maybe a nap."

"Don't get cheeky with me." She takes the chance to ignore the entire situation for a second with both hands. "There's just one Abasi you have to say yes to right now, think about where you'd be if you have the six of us to answer to."

Louise takes a pillow from the nearest chair and puts it under Riley's head. "Thirty minutes? I'll wake you, don't you worry."

She laughs at that, happy to have something else distract her head for the moment. "That's true. I'm very grateful the whole clan isn't here." Riley nods at Lou's suggestion. "Thirty minutes, nothing longer, okay?" She closes her eyes for just a second and suddenly Riley falls into a deep sleep, the worry and exhaustion of the day finally catching up to her.

"No longer", she repeats her promise, pushing a stray lock out of the younger woman's face.

If Louise is honest, she could do with some family support now. Someone she can be the smallest with.

After 31 minutes she gently wakes Riley. "Time's passed, sweetheart."

[Circle of Sirens] Missing

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