Summoner: The Book of Dimension

90 Emma’s Whereabouts

A year passed in a blink of an eye.

Peter never thought the time would pass that quick recuperating from what happened since Josh’s wake. He always thought it was a disaster.

For a year, many things happened in Peter’s life. He managed to publish two more novels. During his writing process, he studied a lot of things. The magic books he acquired from making Dorothy a dreamlord and those shadow magic books he garnered from Victor.

Fortunately, no one had come to his front door and kidnap him again. It was an assurance that the Dark Abyss Regiment members all died. It was what he wanted since their being alive could be a threat to his own life.

“Is this all?” Peter asked as he looked at the grocery on the cart as he walked to the counter beside Dorothy. He looked at Dorothy to see that she had been smiling as she nodded.

“Yep. But why did you ask me to cook for you today?” Dorothy asked as she wondered, looking around the people in the mart doing their businesses.

Peter sighed and took his wallet from his pocket. “Remember what I told you about Josh’s wake?” he asked and looked at her face, waiting for any reaction.

She gasped and her eyes widened. “Wait, don’t tell me...?” she asked uncertainly but Peter only nodded. “Are you going back in that town?” she asked and held his arm to stop him from reaching the counter. “You said you guys nearly died there. Why are you going back?” she asked with concern visible on her face.

They were together for a year now. Dorothy still lived beside Peter’s house. She planned to stay there for a few months, but he stayed there for Peter. She did it because he was his boyfriend and because she owes him for becoming a dreamlord. Unlike Peter, Dorothy seemed to enjoy simple things while she was a dreamlord. She barely spied on people and she mostly spent her time to construct dreams as she wished.

They mostly saw each other in the dream space, but they didn’t spend much time together there than in real life. They still preferred spending time together in real life than the dream. They were cool about their business as a dreamlord.

Peter smiled and continued to push the cart toward the counter. Dorothy followed Peter and demanded a reply with her eyes. He smiled at her. “I need to find what happened to Josh, Dora. There are still unsolved mysteries in my head,” he said as he placed the items on the counter for the cashier to scan them.

Dora helped him. “What if something happens to you there?” she asked.

He smiled at her and tapped her cheek softly. “I promise, that won’t happen. I survived a lot of stuff. I won’t let myself get killed,” he reassured and Dora just smiled and nodded. He looked at the cashier lady who seemed to be enjoying the little drama that was in front of her. Peter gave her a raise of an eyebrow and the cashier lady just smiled apologetically.

Unlike before, Peter took quite a shorter time to arrive at the burnt town.

He arrived there around nine in the morning, the perfect time when the sun had wholly touched the surface of the town. No shadow monsters should appear there in that early morning, which promised him with safety.

When he arrived downtown, he saw his car there. It looked like it would still work but he already bought another one so he didn’t have to reuse that. Besides, he didn’t want to bring something of a big thing that could just remind him of what happened there.

With his new car, he drove to the mansion and saw a lot of abandoned cars there, just like his old one. He stepped out of his new car and looked around there, grimacing at the thought of entering the mansion. He didn’t want to enter the mansion and since he didn’t need to, he proceeded to just look around where the cars were.

He had something to find there.

And there, he found a gray automatic car that looked vintage than all of the other. He looked inside the car and it didn’t have anything he could use to locate her. Not even a business card or any ID.

He closed the door of the car and checked the trunk. Nothing. He sighed and brushed his hair with his hand. “Nothing’s here,” he murmured. Then his eyes paused at the plate number. He took out his phone and took a picture of it.

He then rushed to his car and on his way back home, he called someone and put it on a loudspeaker. At first, the person wasn’t picking up his calls, but after calling the person a few times, the person answered on his seventh call.

“Hey, Roland!” Peter greeted when the call was picked up. “It’s been a while, how have you been doing?” he asked as he drove past the town, leaving the burnt town behind. He swore he would never go back there ever again.

There was a chuckle on the other line, “Peter? Hey, dude,” the caller who’s named Roland answered. He was surprised that Peter called him for a long time. “I’m fine. How about you? I heard you’ve become a famous writer,” Roland asked. “Send me some of your books, I’ve been meaning to read them but I want those you signed,” he said.

Roland was Peter’s batchmate in college. Peter wasn’t that close to him, but he was a gaming buddy.

Peter laughed lightly as he swerved the stirring wheel. “Sure, sure. Is it the same address? Do you still live in your old house?” he asked.

“Yup, thanks in advance,” Roland said. “So, why did you suddenly call?”

“There’s actually something I want to ask. It’s a favor,” Peter started and waited for Roland to reply.

Roland hummed. “And what is it?” he asked. “If it’s about love life or finance, you’ve asked the wrong person,” he said in a joking manner. Peter laughed at the joke.

“No, I know you suck at that,” he said and chuckled. “Just kidding. Uhm, do you still work as a car registry clerk? There’s actually something I need to ask, there’s a license plate I wanna know the owner of,” he said.

Roland hummed. “I don’t work there anymore,” he said in an apologetic voice. Before Peter could even sigh, Roland said, “But there’s someone I know that could help.”

“Really? Can you make an appointment for me to meet that person?” Peter asked as he drove downtown to the next town.

“Yeah, sure. She’s actually here with me right now,” Roland said. Peter heard a few gibberish murmurs on the other line and few rattlings. “Peter, talk to him.”

“Ah, yes, of course,” Peter said.

“Hello?” a new voice registered on the other line.

Peter smiled as if the person was in front of him. “Hey, hi, I’m Peter. May I ask if you could help me know who’s the person registered in a license plate I have? I have the license plate and I want to know to whom or where the license plate was registered to?”

“Yep, you’ve asked the right person,” the woman answered in a bubbly way. “This is illegal, but since Roland knows you, I’ll do it,” she whispered. “Hold on,” she said and he heard footsteps on the other line.

“Yeah, sure, sure. Take your time,” Peter said and continued to drive. After a few minutes, he heard a few mouse clicks of a mouse.

“Can you dictate the plate number to me?” she asked.

“Wait a minute,” Peter parked on the side of the road to scroll through his gallery on his phone. “It’s 3AC471,” he said and rechecked if he read it right. “Yeah, it’s 3AC471,” he repeated.

The woman on the other line nodded. “Here it is,” she said. Peter continued driving and waited for her to tell what she found. “It’s registered under the name of Emma Bently,” she said and added, “And under a law firm called ‘Silver Eagle Law Firm Agency’, is this what you’re looking for?” she asked.

Peter nodded. Finally, he knew where she was. “Yeah, thank you so much. Please tell Roland I’ll contact him later. I’ll send you guys something as a token of gratitude. Will that be okay?”

“Sure thing, thanks,” she said and ended the call.

Peter grinned and continued driving.

Peter didn’t go back home. He told Dora that he would be back later that night or the next morning, and she was okay with it.

Based on the navigator, the law agency was just located in a neighboring city. He had never been in that city before nor even heard of it. He was glad that it could be found using the navigator, or else he didn’t know how else he would locate her.

The time had come. He had been waiting for this time to come. To know where Emma had been and interrogate her about her involvement with Josh’s death. Although he could find out that she was guilty, he needed to know why she was suddenly gone that day.

He stared at the exterior of the law firm. He clenched his fist. “Prepare yourself, Emma.”