Page 97 of Play Room Actor

“That’s just the way it is.” I tapped on it and showed him the screen. “If you’d read the notifications, you’d know.”

“Who reads those?”

I snickered and opened the app on my phone. I didn’t use it much, so it wasn’t surprising that I had several notifications. Before doing anything, I searched for Nico and followed him. “There, now you have your first follower.”

“Cool,” he said, grinning. “Glad it’s you.”

I was scrolling through posts when one from Kilian popped up. It was hard to tell what it was—just light in various shades of blue.

“Is that ice?” Nico asked when he glanced at my phone.

“Could be,” I replied.

“Looks like glacier colors.”

“Hm …”

“Who posted this?”

“Kilian.”

“Is he on vacation?”

“Didn’t sound like it at the theater today,” I said, clicking on his profile.

It wasn’t the only picture he’d posted. There were at least fifteen new photos, all posted within the last three days. None of them were clear, and there was no text to explain them. They were all just different lighting moods in various combinations. The only thing they had in common was the vibrant colors.

I checked the chats, hoping maybe he’d sent me a message on Instagram, but there was just one from a certain ya.da.beck, someone I didn’t even follow.

Probably spam, I thought, but tapped on it anyway.

“Hi Dominic, it’s Yaël. I wanted to ask if you’ve heard from my brother. Please call me back. We’re worried. - Yaël”

And underneath, her phone number.

“Oh no,” I said. “This can’t be good.”

“What?” Nico asked, still busy taking a photo of his feet.

“Kilian’s sister is messaging me on Instagram because she can’t find him.”

“Really?” Nico furrowed his brow. “Since when?”

I stood up and dialed her number, walking into the kitchen to get something to drink.

“Hello?” I immediately recognized Yaël’s voice on the other end.

“Hi, it’s Dominic.”

“Oh thank God you’re calling!” she exclaimed.

“What’s going on?”

“I was hoping he was with you,” she said. “But then I heard from Theo that you were at rehearsal today and … Kilian is missing.”

“Missing?” I asked, dumbfounded. “I just saw his pictures on Instagram.”

“Yeah … uh … no, that’s not …” Yaël cleared her throat, and for a moment, it was quiet on the line. “He was at my place on Saturday morning, and he was already completely off.”