With the success of making Tommy happy again they slept together after reading the story. The next morning arrived and the two friends went to the kitchen for some breakfast they helped out Mary too prepare the table and call out the other kids to eat.
Everything went well just like how they both wanted the afternoon came both Tommy and Lucien are reading TBATE volume two which almost makes then sleep again telling themselves that this book is not good but the characters are pretty addicting. While trying to resist the urge of sleeping a name was called.
"LUCIEN COME HERE. waking both boys up they both rushed to Mary thinking something might have gone wrong. "Mary what's wrong are you okay?" Both standing there worried until she had tears of joy in her eyes then she hugged Lucien tightly like she was losing her own child.
"Oh Lucien i never wanted this day to come but it has."
"What is wrong Mary?" with worried eyes.
Then she revealed the pain, after fourteen years of raising Lucien since he was abandoned at a hospital he was finally getting adopted.
Lucien's eyes burst wide after the new information. He wanted to confirm but looking at Mary it was actually the truth. He was happy with this but then remembered Tommy so he looked at him and he saw him with a sad expression not wanting Lucien to leave.
Even though he didn't want to leave but he couldn't miss this opportunity like that. So he accepted and ran to his room to start packing because according to Mary they are a good family with the same interest like him reading and cleaning.
He focused on the suitcase sitting at the foot of his bed. For the first time , he had hope so he grabbed clothes and began hurriedly stuffing them into the case. Shirts , pants , shoes anything he could fit in there. His mind was racing through the possibilities: the new family, the new home, the life that was about to unfold. A family. His family.
He had never truly known what that felt like, but now it was within reach.
His hands shook with excitement as he packed faster. He was trying not to think
too much. He did not wish to ruin this by overthinking it. He was leaving. He was going to be happy. For the first time, he was going to belong somewhere.
Suddenly, his excitement was halted by a strange shifting sensation in the room.
Lucien's hand was suspended, still holding onto the hem of a shirt.
What was that? He looked around the room, his heart skipping a beat. The air was thicker, as though something in the room had shifted. His eyes darted around the room. The walls rippled, only for a moment, as if the entire room was warping out of existence.
Then, before he could react, it did.
A glowing ring of light began to take shape before him, throbbing with a nauseous greenish hue, its edges crackling with energy.
His breath caught in his throat. He'd heard of summoning circles old magic, outlawed magic but this? This was something he'd only ever read about in stories. And yet, here it was, opening right in front of him.
What the hell?" Lucien said, stepping back, his heart racing. He felt like he was staring at the impossible. There was no way. Could there?
Before he could register anything, the light intensified, and the circle seemed to pull at the very fabric of reality. Lucien could feel the energy humming in the air, drawing at him. He tried to move, to run, but his feet were rooted to the spot.
In an instant, the air about him churned like a cyclone, more and more rapidly. He was unable to breathe. All about him began to melt into a haze. The walls, the bed, the apparel—all were indistinct, swallowed up in the light.
Then, with a violent tug that seemed to rend his very soul, he vanished.
Mary stood in the doorway, her heart swelling with pride as she watched Lucien pack.
She had not seen him this excited in years. The boy who had come to her doorstep broken, unsure, now seemed to be on the cusp of a new beginning in his life.
She smiled to herself, a bitter sadness tugging at her heart.
She had always known that this day would come—the day when she would have to let him go. But it was for the best. A new family, a better life.
She reached the door and knocked gently, just to check on him one last time before he left. The door creaked open.
But when she entered, the room was empty.
There was no sign of Lucien.
Her breath caught in her throat. The bed was made, the suitcase on the floor, clothes tossed in haphazardly. His shoes were by the door, his belongings strewn around, but there was no Lucien. No sign of him anywhere.
A chill crept down her spine. She stepped further into the room, her gaze raking over every square inch, but it was empty.
"Lucien?" she called, her voice shaking. Silence.
She called again, louder this time, straining to catch the sound of his soft footfall or the pitch of his contented chatter.
Nothing.
Confused and frantic, Mary rushed to the window, hoping against hope to see him outside. But the yard was quiet and still as always.
What in the world was going on?
The summoning circle, now vanished without a trace, was the only hint as to what had occurred.
A single lead as to where Lucien had been taken.
Her head reeled, but she couldn't decipher sense from nonsense. She glanced down at the suitcase, half-packed and abandoned. She reached out a hand and felt the soft fabric of one of the shirts Lucien had been packing. The fabric was still warm, as if he'd touched it only seconds earlier.
And then the reality hit her
He was gone.