The Disappearing Act
After ten minutes, Richard’s phone buzzed with a call. It was Adeline. A small chuckle escaped him, but he let it ring out, thinking it was just her being dramatic. But when he glanced down at the phone again, the screen was blank. The next call never came. Odd.
Frustration began to rise. He called her back—again, and again—but each time, it went straight to voicemail. A faint unease began to stir within him. “She’s just sulking,” he told himself, trying to quell the growing discomfort.
The thought of her wandering off into the night didn’t sit right with him, but he dismissed it. “She’ll be fine,” Richard muttered. “She’ll be back by the time I get there.”
But when he turned around and headed back to the gas station, something was wrong. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, the mist hanging low on the road.