Esme's voice was rough with sleep as she answered the phone, barely lifting it to her ear. "Hello?" she muttered, still in the fog of exhaustion.
The response was immediate and frantic. "Esme! Cain's gone—he's missing!" Aron's voice was laced with panic, loud enough to startle her fully awake.
"What?" Esme bolted upright, the heaviness of sleep dissolving into sharp anxiety. She gripped the phone tighter, her heart pounding against her ribs.
"I've looked everywhere, Esme!" Aron's voice cracked. "Cain… he didn't come home, and no one's seen him. His dad is losing it. He doesn't know where he could be either—he's been crying for hours."
Esme's breath caught in her throat. Her mind was already racing, flashing through fragments of memories, trying to piece together any signs, any clue she might have missed about Cain's whereabouts. Without another thought, she jumped to her feet, grabbing her jacket and pushing through the door of her hostel room, all while holding the phone close.
