Chapter 72: #SEVENTY-TWO

ELIJAH’S POV

The sun was setting so quickly that I kept checking the windows because I couldn’t understand how the day had disappeared. It felt like only a few hours had passed since Nicholas disappeared, but the sky was already turning dark, and we still had no idea where he was.

Adrian, Cassian and Roman were spread around the room with their laptops open, going through whatever information they could find while I paced behind them, barely able to stand still.

Every few minutes, I would stop beside one of them and ask whether they had found anything, and even when they told me they were still searching, I would move to another person and ask the same thing.

I knew I was making it difficult for them to concentrate, but I couldn’t sit down and wait while Nicholas was missing. The thought of him being somewhere alone, especially after everything that had happened at the school, kept making my chest tighten.

"Have you found anything?" I asked Adrian again, leaning over his shoulder to look at his screen. "Don’t tell me you’re still searching without finding anything because I don’t know how much longer we can keep doing this. We’ve already checked the school, his usual places and Jayden’s house. If Jayden really took him, there has to be something connecting him to Nicholas’s disappearance. A camera caught him somewhere, someone saw him leave, his phone connected to something, anything. We can’t have absolutely nothing."

Adrian finally looked up at me, looking just as frustrated. "I’m checking the CCTV from the store again. The problem is that the camera doesn’t give us a clear view of the person who bought the medication. I’ve checked the recording from the entrance and the road outside, and I’ve checked the time before and after the transaction. Whoever it was made sure his face wasn’t visible."

"I already went to the store," I reminded him. "The owner told me the same thing when I spoke to him, but he remembered that someone had bought a large quantity of the suppressants and inhibitors. If we know who made that purchase, maybe we can connect it to Nicholas."

Cassian closed his laptop and stood. "Then let’s go back."

I looked at him.

"I’ll come with you," he added. "You already spoke to the storekeeper once. Maybe he remembers something else if we question him again."

I nodded immediately because I didn’t want to waste another minute. We left the house and drove back to the store, and when we arrived, the owner was already preparing to close. He recognized me immediately and looked concerned when he saw us returning.

"I told you everything I knew earlier," he said before I could even speak. "I honestly don’t know who bought the medication."

"I know," I replied, stepping closer to the counter. "We’re not accusing you of hiding anything. Nicholas is still missing, and we’ve discovered that the medication he received may be connected to what happened to him. You told me someone bought a large quantity shortly before he came in. I need you to check the records again."

The man’s expression changed. "He’s still missing?"

"Yes," Cassian answered. "That’s why we’re asking you to help us. Even the smallest detail could be important now."

The storekeeper sighed and went into the back room before returning with the sales records. He placed them on the counter and started looking through them while Cassian and I waited.

"There," he said eventually, pointing toward one of the receipts. "This is the purchase I was talking about. The person bought a lot more than usual."

I immediately leaned forward. "What’s the name?"

The storekeeper moved the receipt closer. There was only an initial.

J.

I looked at Cassian. "Jayden."

Cassian picked up the receipt and examined it carefully. "It could be someone else."

"I know it could," I replied, "but we’ve already found out that Jayden’s phone is switched off, he’s not at home and Nicholas disappeared after taking medication that someone had bought in large quantities. I’m not saying this proves anything, but we’re not ignoring it either."

Cassian nodded. "Agreed."

We asked the storekeeper several more questions, but he couldn’t give us anything else. He didn’t remember the person’s face, there was no useful vehicle information and the cameras hadn’t captured anything clear enough to identify him. Still, we had something we hadn’t had before.

A name initial.

And Jayden was the obvious person connected to it.

We drove straight to his house again but nobody answered the door.

I knocked several times, waited and then knocked again, but there was no response. Cassian tried calling Jayden while I stood outside, but his phone remained switched off.

"He’s not here," I said. "Then where is he?"

Cassian looked around the street. "We need to start checking the cameras along the roads."

We spent the next few hours doing exactly that. We went through recordings from different points around the area, checking the routes leading toward Jayden’s house and the roads connecting to the school. We kept looking for anything that might place him somewhere at the right time, but every recording seemed to lead nowhere. Either the footage was too unclear, Jayden wasn’t visible or the camera simply didn’t cover the section of road we needed.

At one point, I couldn’t take it anymore.

"How can there be nothing?" I asked, turning toward Cassian. "His phone is off, he’s not at home, his initial is on a receipt for medication Nicholas needed and Nicholas disappears on the same day. There has to be something. We can’t keep checking cameras until morning and still have nothing."

Cassian looked at me calmly. "Then we’ll keep checking until we find something."

I shook my head and looked away, and we continued searching.

The last CCTV location we checked was near a game centre not far from Jayden’s house. We were reviewing the recordings when someone nearby suddenly looked toward us after hearing Jayden’s name. "Are you guys looking for Jayden?"

I turned immediately. "Yes. You know him?"

The student nodded. "He’s in one of the school groups I’m in. Why?"

I walked toward him. "We’re trying to reach him. Do you have his phone number?"

He looked uncertain for a moment, but I explained that it was important and that Nicholas was missing. That seemed to convince him. He pulled out his phone, opened one of the school groups and searched through the members until he found Jayden’s contact.

"There," he said, showing me the number.

I copied it immediately and I called.

The number was switched off, so I tried again.

The same thing happened.

I stared at my phone for several seconds before lowering it.

Cassian came closer. "Nothing?"

I sighed. "Switched off, and it’s already late."

He looked toward the sky. I hadn’t realized how dark it had become until then. We’d been searching for hours, and despite everything we’d done, Nicholas was still missing.

"We should go home," Cassian said. "We’ll continue there with Adrian and Roman. More people searching means more chances of finding something."

I nodded, even though I didn’t want to leave.

The entire drive home, I couldn’t stop thinking about Nicholas.

I kept remembering the last time I’d seen him. I remembered how angry he had been, how he’d walked away from me and how I’d allowed him to go because I thought giving him space was better than forcing him to talk to me. Now I couldn’t stop wondering whether I should have followed him. Maybe if I had stayed with him, he wouldn’t have disappeared. Maybe if I’d taken his concerns more seriously, I would have noticed something before it happened.

By the time we reached home, I couldn’t keep those thoughts to myself anymore.

"I should have been there," I said, my voice breaking.

Cassian turned toward me. "Elijah."

"I should have stayed with him." I croaked. "I knew something was wrong."

Cassian looked exasperated. "You knew he was having problems. You didn’t know someone was going to take him."

I wiped my face, but tears were already falling. "I should have protected him."

Cassian stepped closer and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Listen to me. You can’t blame yourself for something you couldn’t predict. Nicholas is still alive, and we’re going to find him. We don’t have proof that anything has happened to him beyond the fact that he’s missing, so don’t torture yourself with possibilities."

I nodded, but the tears wouldn’t stop. "I just want him back."

Cassian pulled me into a brief embrace.

"We’ll find him," he said firmly. "Tomorrow, we’ll start again, and we won’t stop until we do."