Going back

Darius wandered through the empty room, the bed untouched like the day John had entered. John's once-familiar scent, a comforting blend of warmth and familiarity, had dissipated, leaving the room smelling of furniture and lingering dust.

Despite numerous returns, each visit emphasized the harsh reality of John's absence. The T-shirt Darius had lent him lay abandoned in the adjacent bathroom, devoid of any lingering scent, and the room echoed with a silent void.

Darius's bear, frustrated with the futility of the search within the enclosed space, guided him back to where they first encountered John. Yet even there, John's presence had entirely vanished.

Leaning against the closed bedroom door, Darius, eyes closed, grappled with the inherent struggles of his failure; to date, they hadn't located John. Although they knew he had escaped Lex’s men, neither Michael nor Fez had found any trace of him. The Alpha bear clutched at his shirt just above his heart, questioning how he could have been