CHAPTER 6

Lilia gaped at him for a few seconds, analyzing the factions of that boy that she had a few steps away. His pale complexion was lined, and while his gaze was intense, he conveyed worry and restlessness. His eyes were on her, not in a stealthy way, but analyzing her carefully.

Zigor had a small smile on his lips, but it didn't reach his eyes. You could tell that something was worrying him, and it was more than obvious what it was.

— Hi — she replied, remembering she could speak. She suddenly felt pinned to the ground, her mind stuck in shock not really knowing how to proceed. Running away definitely seemed a good option, but certainly nothing sane or appropriate. Before Lilia had time to say anything, he nodded his head and took a few steps toward her. For a moment Lilia thought he was going to touch her, and that possibility puzzled her, so she took a few steps away, but that didn't stop him. Zigor kept moving until he ripped the flyer off the tree and replaced it with a new one.

— She's my sister, Lilia. — he told her again, but he didn't seem to say it to her in particular, only to repeat what he had already said before, but this time his voice sounded nostalgic. — She used to come to this square, now I come to hand out these flyers in case someone knows something. Although there has been no luck ... — The sentence died in the air, along with the emotion.

Lilia glared at him, desperate to find something to say, something that didn't sound disturbing, annoying, or means, like telling him that she was there to meet his sister and talk about the emails she received from her.

— I'm sorry,— she finally says. Her own voice resounded unknown to her.

— Did you know her? — He asked again and she knew he was expecting that answer a lot.

— No.— She denied with confidence, realizing that he was asking more than she could give him right now. She wasn't ready to share what she knew, not without knowing first in what position that left her. — I'm passing by and I just found out yesterday. — She continued saying, feeling the lies coming more and more easily from her lips.

-Everyone knew her here- he said, taking a few more steps and moving through the trees. Lilia felt almost forced to keep up with him. - They are all very worried and upset, but nobody does anything. Even the police. He snapped, anger contained in his voice. Lilia understood that it could be horrible for him and his family, but in Zigor's voice there was much more than anger at the lack of answers, he seemed almost furious.

— But they are investigating. — He had stopped to change a torn flyer of a tree for another, and he gave her a sharp look. — I heard they are doing it. — she felt the need to add more to that sentences.

— So they say — he returned with a hint of annoyance.

They walked silently through the next two trees until he stopped abruptly and Lilia did the same, a few steps away.

— Are you from the police? Or from the research sector? — he asked, suddenly sounding nervous, and once again demanding an answer. She could appreciate his eyes carefully now. They were not only green, but they had some brown hues.

— No,— she hastened to reply, shaking her head and raising her hands in a negative gesture. — I'm just passing through. — I assert with emphasis. He seemed satisfied with her response as he resumed her walk.

— They believe that I'm interfering in the investigation with this — he made a movement with his hands to give sustenance to his words by moving the amount of flyers that he still had in his hands. He stopped by facing Lilia — or going to the forest to search, asking people questions, but they are still so quiet… you know? it's like if they were waiting for the answer. As if they expected Lilia to walk back, or that… — He swallowed with a certain pain that was even noticeable to her. — That she is not coming back, that there is nothing to do. But she's my sister, I can't just give up and let it be, wait or stop looking. There must be answers, there must be, you get it?

— Yes, - she replied after a few seconds, and she could tell that it was the first time she was genuinely sincere with him. -I know what it is to not have answers or that they are not enough. - She claimed, unable to avoid thinking about Ian. For a moment, her ex-boyfriend's smile appeared in her memories, melting into a gray mist.

— I'm not going to stop looking for her. — He added, in case it hadn't already been clear. — I do this every day, and I go to the forest we used to go to, I go to the place where they saw her last time with her friends ...

— With her friends? — Lilia interrupted, unable to stop herself.

— Yes, they met at an ice cream parlor near here, and then Lilia went home. She said goodbye to her friends, but she never came back. — explained without giving much attention to her question.

Lilia nodded silently, but somewhat confused. In the emails she had told her that she was going to meet the mystery boy, she had not mentioned her friends, she had not written about going for ice cream with friends. It was just about the older boy she was going to date for the first time. That made no sense with what he had told her. Maybe Zigor wasn't aware, or maybe she didn't know as much as she believed ...

— I'm going to have lunch, do you want to join me? — she heard him ask, and she was nodding her head before she knew it.

In fact, it seemed like a good opportunity to try to find answers, to understand if she was aware of things that he did not, or if the emails had simply stopped coming a long time ago before her disappearance. Now her dates seemed confusing and fuzzy.

They walked through the square. They entered for two blocks of the city until they came across an open-door restaurant whose name, Mariscos, left little to the imagination.

—It's one of the best places in Michellan,— Zigor recommended as he chose a table for the two of them.

Lilia sat in front of Zigor so that she could see and analyze his features. He was incredibly similar to his sister, and somehow the way he speaks also reminded her of the emails she had received from her. Regarding the image that she now had of the girl, she could tell that they even looked alike. I couldn't tell what color her hair was in the search photo, but I could swear it was as blonde as Zigor's. She wasn't sure about his eye color, but the same intense and strong look that he had, it's seemed his sister has it too

According to what Lilia herself had told her, Zigor was studying in a neighboring city. Lilian wondered what had happened to his classes. Maybe he had stopped everything to search for his sister, it made sense considering how concerned he was.

Lilia lifted the menu card to see that basically all of the dishes had fish. She winced at that revelation, she couldn't tell that she was exactly a fan of seafood.

— All good? — The boy asked, surely noticing her discomfort.

Lilia winced before looking up.

— Is there anything that doesn't have fish on it? — she asked, glancing around her, to discover with dismay that the other tables that were in the place occupied, people were enjoying their dishes with fish.

—You are in a coastal city,— answer the aftermentioned, but his gestures had relaxed a bit, and it even seemed that an amused smile appeared on his lips. - But if you want to avoid it, I recommend this ... - Zigor approached and pointed out a menu that was almost in the middle of the list. He had an odd name that Lilia wasn't going to bother interpreting, but it wasn't exactly that threw her off, but the small rush of emotion she felt when the boy's hand brushed hers in almost nanoseconds.

She was going crazy. That only reason could explain why it took her two months to lose the love of her life and now her body reacted like that. Perhaps she was sentimental and in need of affection, of contact. Since Ian had walked out of her life, she hadn't stopped, dared, or even felt the need to think of someone, or look at others when she walked down the street, and now, without warning, without introduction, and suddenly, before the slightest, insignificant touch, her skin prickled and her body twisted into place.

—Perfect,— she murmured to no one in particular but he seemed to identify it as an acceptance of her recommendation. Fortunately, she hadn't realized the confusing moment her tablemate was going through.

— I'll make the orders, just wait a few seconds.

He got up from the table and went to the bar, where, after exchanging a few words with those who were there, he placed the order. When he returned his gaze was dark again, lost.

— They always ask me for news, and I never have any,— he confessed dejectedly.

— They are all very moved. — She told him, looking around her, just realizing the sights on them.

She realized then that if she was the dead boyfriend's girl, Zigor was the missing girl's brother, and he really didn't know that he was worse. She, at the very least, had her closure. She knew what had happened, she had someone to blame, she had someone to blame, even though she often blamed herself; Zigor, on the other hand, lacked answers, her questions, which she supposed, more and more accumulated, they were not answered over time, and the days, a continuous reminder that her sister was missing, it was also that the more days passed, the less chance had to find her.

— police. Don't you have any clues? — Lilia questioned, suddenly needing to know more to be able to find out where she was herself.

— They say they have something, but they can't reveal it. I think they lied — she asserted playing with the napkin that she had in front of her. — The first days they asked questions and walked everywhere, now ... nothing.

— There are no suspects? — she asked again, wishing she didn't sound stuck or too interested.

He denied with his head. — Lilia went out with her friends, they didn't know anything. No one saw anything. We are few here, but nobody saw anything. It is incredible. — she added with anger.

— Do you think it's someone from here? — Lilia asked just as a waiter approached with her orders, the boy, a brunette in his thirties, gave her an angry look, which left no doubt about that.

Lilia opened her mouth to say something, she didn't mean to offend anyone, and everyone seemed to know what they were talking about just by looking at them, but Zigor shook his head, encouraging him to keep his thoughts to himself.

— I didn't ... I meant to say that. I just ... — she says once the boy left, this time using a much lower tone, and getting a little closer to Zigor on the table.

— Don't worry, those were his reactions when the investigation began. Nobody is guilty, but neither is nobody innocent, but where is my sister? — He questioned, with his eyes fixed on her.

Lilia nodded. But things were not clear to her. It was a small city, Zigor was right, and there was a missing person. That made them all suspicious, and she was the stranger who came in to disturb the order. If she decided to open her mouth and say what little she knew, the emails she had, could be dangerous, at least without knowing who they accused.

He had to find out more, investigate to find out that he was missing. Maybe the mystery boy Lilia was talking about in the emails was nobody, maybe the boy was innocent and was just as worried about finding her as her brother. Maybe they had never seen each other and Lilia had made that up, there was the remote possibility that it even existed.

— Lilia… — she opened her mouth. She knew she had to ask, she knew it was essential to find out, but she wasn't sure how to do it without sounding indelicate. — Your sister, she was dating someone, or she was talking to someone ... Maybe she knows something, or she can help you in the search. I tried to sound disinterested as she stirred the rice soup, without fish, that was before her.

— She didn't. She dated anyone. Lilia had always been very open about it, she introduced us to the only boyfriend she had and told us when they broke up. And she didn't talk to anyone either, she would have told me if she was like that. — He revealed, giving her a sincere look. A smile appeared on her lips before continuing. — We were very close, and it was far away, but we always called each other and made plans.

Lilia nodded, and for a moment she remembered her sister. Mel could be going crazy now with no answers, not knowing what had become of her. But, unlike this missing girl, Lilia did leave a note advising her that she had left. It might not be much, but she hoped it would be enough. She was counting on that, in a few days, if she had the courage to unlock her cell phone, she would send them a message.

— By the way — Zigor interrupted her thoughts, and the young woman raised her face to meet those green eyes on her. — What is your name?