It’s eerily silent as I jog up the steps onto the front porch and knock on the heavy door. As expected, no one answers. Guess I’ll just walk in then.
Pushing the door open, I carefully creep inside and am met with darkness. “Jason? I know you’re the one who sent out that text.”
The floor creaks under my feet. I light the path with my phone’s torch. It seems inhabited but there is some furniture such as a couchand a shelf. I peer down the stairs leading to a basement and swallow the lump in my throat. This is exactly how it goes in thriller and horror movies but that’s beside the point.
If Aoi is here, I have to find him and get him out.
A musky scent mixed with citrus and jasmine lingers in the air, tickling my nostrils and I recognize its owner. But something doesn’t seem right. There is another heavy fragrance in the air, one I can’t decipher, but it sends chills down my spine.
The sound of wood cracking behind me jolts me out of my thoughts a second too late when dull golden hair flashes in front of my vision and my ears begin to ring.
I reach for the trickling liquid dampening my scalp and sink to my knees.
Blood.
“Where…is Aoi?” I ask, dots dancing in my vision and pain exploding in my skull.
His muffled voice echoes when he says, “You don’t need to worry about him anymore. He clearly lost all interest in you but I’m sure you already figured that out on your own. He’s mine. Always has been.”
No. It can’t be.
***
I groan as my eyes flutter open harshly, and fight the bright yellow light blinding me. The putrid stench of mold and rusty metal forces me to cough.
“I see you’re awake.”
With immense difficulty, I look up and see that bastard, Jason, sitting on a chair in a black outfit and black gloves.
“Where is he?”
He rolls his eyes and stands up. “You should worry about yourself. He will be there long after you’re gone.”
“What?” I cough and wince as my scalp aches. “You abducted me, you son of a bitch.”
“Don’t blame me for your stupidity,” he snarls, fisting my hair and tipping my head back. “Your heart makes you weak. Maybe I’ll rip it out and gift it to Aoi tied with a pretty ribbon.”
I spit on his shirt. “You’re fucking sick.”
Bawling my fist, I attempt to punch him but soon realize he chained me to the wall. He laughs darkly and pulls out a handkerchief before wiping his shirt and throwing the tissue on the floor next to me.
“You must feel stupid now,” he says and grabs a crowbar. “Your brother won’t find you here. I made sure of it.”
No, that’s impossible. Bellami said he has a tracker on me, but I don’t know where exactly. It must be in my phone.
Fuck, did Jason take my phone? I’d be more surprised if he hadn’t.
“You son of a-”
Pain explodes in my jaw as his foot collides with it, and I taste blood on my tongue. “Your lack of manners is still as aggravating as it used to be. Some things never change. French people.” I glare at him when he lifts the crowbar and tips my chin up with the head. “I destroyed your phone before we got here. We wouldn’t want our fun to be spoiled by unwanted guests.”
“Where is Aoi?” I demand and he rewards me with another kick, this time to my ribs.
“Who gave you permission to speak?” Jason sighs boredly and sits down on the chair, observing me with cruel disdain. “He’s here. Waiting in a room for me.”
“You fucking kidnapped him, didn’t you?” I grunt against the restraints and spit out the blood pooling in my mouth. “Youdid that! He never left that letter!”
A dark rumble of mocking laughter erupts from him, and he crosses one leg over the other. “You must not know him well enough if you think that. He planned everything out. Even I was surprised, but the second I saw that he was headed out of the city alone, I knew something was odd.”
