Nevertheless, when he typed ‘Cassidy Williams’ into the search engine, Adrian had little hope for good news. The name was painfully common and without stronger parameters to work with, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Instead of agonizing over what he didn’t find, Adrian celebrated what he did. He compiled all of the hopefully new information into a document for his dad and Alpha Joel to go over. Adrian hoped that this would narrow down their search and if this information proved to be outdated, then if anything, it would at least provide some history to the assailants.
That was his plan until sh*t hit the fan.
***
Adrian didn’t expect to be kidnapped in broad daylight. Not when he was in the school’s parking lot with a ton of other kids filtering around. Many of whom were excited about the start of winter break.
At first, he thought that he’d be fine, that he could take whichever sick f*ck decided to abduct him, but then he saw an unconscious Aria was in the van in the third row of seats.
This was not ideal whatsoever. Not only were there three abductors in the van, but one of them happened to be holding a knife to Aria’s throat.
He thought if he made a scene, or attract some attention, then it would be game over for her. Begrudgingly, he complied with his soon-to-be captors, where one moment he was in the parking lot, and next he was on the cold pavement.
Groggy, bound, and confused, his voice slurred curse words throughout the ordeal. Adrian had no concept of time, but after maybe thirty minutes, his mind felt a little less hazy and his eyesight was gradually coming back.
The sight that greeted him was not welcomed at all.
Aria was on the opposite end of the room, tied to a beam, and still unconscious, but that wasn’t all. There was also a small trace of dried blood on her cheek, and he hoped to the Moon Goddess that it wasn’t her own, otherwise, he might not be responsible for whatever hell he’d bring up.
He continued to scan the room to make out the vaguest of details. Although it was dark, he could see that they weren’t alone. A stranger was in the opposite corner of them, and after a few minutes of trying to see recognizable facial features, two emotions collided at once—relief and terror.
Mira.
She looked like she was dragged through hell. Her hair that used to be so long was now cut up to her neck, and was disheveled and dirty. Her skin sported bruises which ranged from small to disgustingly big. Adrian had to strain his ears to even hear her shallow breathing. The only reassuring thing was that her clothes didn’t seem ripped or destroyed, but he couldn’t rule out the fact that the clothes she was wearing weren’t her own.
Whatever relief that filled his veins was cut short as he heard footsteps came down the wooden staircase. Adrian thought he had two choices: act brash and allow his temper to take over, or pretend that he was still asleep.
Understanding that there were two other unconscious people in the room and that acting brash wouldn’t help the situation, he played it safe and went with the latter. As he closed his eyes to make it look believable while he did his best to steady his breathing, Adrian listened.
“No,” Mira’s voice croaked and Adrian wasn’t even aware she was awake until now. “Don’t touch her!”
“Shut it, dog.”
Adrian could hear Mira growl at the female voice, only to hear a violent response after. Adrian was struggling to keep his eyes closed from the scene, but when he heard Mira’s whimpers of agony, he couldn’t.
The woman was older, much older, and she looked like she wouldn’t be the type to hurt a fly, but the image of Mira’s crumpled form on the ground ruined that image.
This must be her . . .
Damascus.
The woman scoffed and went into a different corner of the room. Adrian didn’t even notice a fourth stranger that was with them and that was because the fourth stranger looked like someone straight out of his nightmares.
They were emaciated beyond recognition; to the point where he thought the fourth stranger was just a shadow playing tricks on him.
If Adrian was scared earlier, he was now horrified.
The older woman took the stranger’s hair into her hands and asked ever so patronizingly to it. “She can’t mean that much to you, could she?”
It was like a movie he couldn’t take his eyes off of and his panic only increased when he saw the woman pull out something.
“No stop . . . Please stop . . . Don’t . . .” Mira begged, her voice broken and desperate.
The woman looked back at Mira with distaste. “Understand, Mira, that I’m trying to fix her. I’m doing what needs to be done for the good of humanity.”
His stomach was doing somersaults.
“Please don’t . . .” Mira sobbed. “She’ll die.”
“You’ll thank me one day, the day you’re no longer a monster,” the woman said as if she were doing God’s work. She then proceeded to kneel to the stranger and Adrian watched as the stranger reacted violently. He wasn’t sure what the woman was doing, but experimentation was up there on the list of possibilities. He watched as the stranger’s body convulsed and vocal chords that didn’t seem to work properly were being put to the test as he listened to their agony.
Stop! For the love of God, stop it!
Adrian never knew how badly he wanted to throw up until the stranger had. The smell was putrid and sour,
