The moment Eleonora finished speaking, she took a deep breath, her hand reaching to her chest. William had spent all that time on pacing back and forth, while Trevor had stood still, only tapping his foot. Nothing seemed to fit in their puzzle. They had to find the solution as fast as possible, because no one knew if Austin was in trouble.
'What do you think?' Eleonora asked, addressing the question more to the blond than to Trevor.
William stopped to sigh. 'Honestly, I don't know. It shouldn't have happened. It wasn't part of our plan.' He buried his face in his hands.
'Can't you use your vampire instincts to track him or something?' Trevor proposed.
Suddenly, the blond spread his fingers, causing his eyes to emerge from behind them. 'Right. I haven't thought about that.'
'See? Sometimes I'm the brain too.' He smiled.
William closed his eyes when his arms returned beside his thighs. The sound of water let his muscles relax. 'He's not here. Just the three of us.' Once his vision came back, tension did too.
Trevor took on a focussed expression. 'Hmm, maybe we could use you like some kind of radar?'
'That's brilliant,' Eleonora exclaimed, her palms coming together.
That way, they headed for the forest, soon marching between the trees. Fallen leaves rustled with each step they took. Eleonora wore beige trousers and a matching blouse instead of a dress, thus being able to keep the pace with the rest. A cotton bag hung over her shoulder.
As expected, William was on the lead. With his focussed expression, he looked like he had just come up with the most innovative idea the world had ever seen and needed to write it down immediately.
After a while of walking, the blond stopped and raised his chin high. 'I think I feel something.'
'What is it?' Eleonora asked.
'I'm not sure. It feels like three different heartbeats,' he said.
Trevor frowned. 'You sure they aren't ours?'
William was staring deep into the forest. 'I'm pretty sure. Besides, mine's too slow to match theirs. It must be three humans.' His focus went back to them. 'Well, Austin's heartbeat is like a human's before he undergoes lycanthropy.'
'So what are we waiting for?' the witch asked before rushing forwards.
However, William had no intention of following her for now. 'You have developed a soft spot for him, haven't you?'
Eleonora paused and turned around. 'Maybe a little bit.' She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, but the stares didn't stop. 'I don't know, okay? He feels different.' She shrugged.
'Please, tell me that you don't have a thing for werewolves,' the blond said.
'Ugh.' She grimaced. 'No. No such thing. I promise.'
The vampire smiled. 'That's fine. I was just curious, you know.'
'Let's find out whose heartbeats are those, shall we?' Trevor proposed after making sure their conversation had ended.
The other two nodded, and they let William take the lead.
—
It turned out that the forest wasn't as vast as they had initially assumed. Soon the leaf base under their feet changed into a concrete one. A multi-story building that reminded them of an abandoned manufacture came into their view. Deep cracks could be seen on its red brick walls and its large windows were mostly broken or chipped. Also, various greenery had begun reclaiming its place here, only strengthening the impression of the building's dilapidation.
It resembled Westwoods' residence in so many ways. Trevor just hoped there wouldn't be any brutal fight happening this time.
When they finished watching the building, they made their way to the front door, which was at least seven foot high.
William's hand landed on the door handle. 'Are we sure we want to go inside?'
'We don't really have another choice,' the brunet noted.
Eleonora nodded. 'I agree. We can't give up now.'
'What if it's a trap?' the vampire asked, his hand coming back beside his thigh.
'It would also mean that Austin's in danger,' she said.
'Most likely yes. But we can't risk everything by going there. It's reckless.' He shot each of them a glare.
Trevor crossed his arms, turning to the blond. 'Somehow it wasn't an issue rescuing me.'
Looking insulted, William frowned in reaction. 'Because rescuing you was my intention long before you were even kidnapped and transported into the warehouse. You two want to do it without any previous preparations.' His voice was firm and strong.
'Can we focus on helping Austin, please? Someone will hear us if you keep arguing,' she said. However, being the voice of reason in their group wasn't working for her.
'I don't know. Ask William,' the brunet said, frustration in his tone. Then he looked away as if he wished to disappear from there.
William's eyebrows went up at once. 'And now you're playing the victim?'
'You know what? I don't care.' Trevor shrugged. 'Are we going in or not?' He glanced between them.
Within the following seconds he got two answers of the opposite meanings. William's was negative, while Eleonora's positive.
'Now what?' the brunet asked.
William knew that silence wasn't an option. Even though he didn't want to, he had to accompany them so that they wouldn't go in without him. 'I'm leading.'
A few signs of relief appeared on their faces. Soon the blond opened the door and waved them in. They found themselves in a large space, its size surpassing that of a high school gym you'd see in a TV series. However, there weren't any stands. Every piece of metal was covered with thick rust. They all looked around, familiarizing with the place.
Then a loud splash echoed through the room, the sound bouncing off the walls. Having heard that, they jumped back, getting closer to each other. Trevor had almost reached for William's hand—his soft palms would be found against his—but eventually given it up.
Once they realised that the dripping water had made that sound and it would often repeat, they were ready to progress into the building as there was nothing left to check. The only internal door that stood ajar led to a staircase, dozens of stairs going up, beyond their view.
'Do you feel anything?' Trevor asked, looking up.
William nodded. 'Uh-huh. They're up there.'
That said, they started climbing up the stairs, their hands grasping the railing for fear that something would collapse. Each of them was right behind the other: William was first, Trevor second, and Eleonora last. She was squeezing the handle of her bag because of anxiety. The inside was too quiet; there were no other sounds except for theirs.
After a while, William stopped on the mezzanine floor. There was a single door whose white paint was coming off. It was closed, but given the condition of the doorknob, not locked.
'Should we check what's in?' Trevor asked
William seemed like he hadn't heard the brunet's question. He approached the door, then immediately pressed his ear against its scratched surface. Soon a frown appeared on his face. 'They should be there,' he whispered, 'but I can't hear them.'
'Just their heartbeats?' Trevor asked, also in a whisper now.
'And their breaths,' he corrected.
Their brows were furrowed, as it was so odd that they hadn't crossed paths with anyone yet. William made his way to Eleonora, leaned over to her, and murmured something in her ear that Trevor couldn't hear.
While coming back, the blond asked, 'Are you ready to go in?'
Trevor nodded, and William twisted the doorknob, causing unpleasant creaks. The two of them went inside an average size room that could have served as an office once. There was a window frame lacking its glass; it brightened the inside a lot.
However, what they hadn't realised before was that the shape of the room was like an L. It meant that they hadn't expected to find more space when they turned around. To their surprise, there was a large cage, inside which a person was lying, leaning against the bars. Their face was absent as if they were sleeping.
Soon two other silhouettes caught their eyes. One wasn't anything new, while the other belonged to a man who was skinny and quite tall, resulting in him resembling a pole. He wore a black cloak with a hood, under which his face was hidden. Only his mad eyes were visible in the shadow.
Both William and Trevor couldn't believe that Austin was standing next to that man, looking like it was the right place for him. What was he doing? Why wasn't he trying to escape, to reunite with his friends?
Nonetheless, the man's voice interrupted their thought process. He stepped forwards. 'Finally you're here.' A grin appeared on his face; it was showing his yellow teeth.
'Who are you?' Trevor asked, moving closer to William.
'Oh. There's no need to introduce myself.' He chuckled. 'I'm the one who marks your end.' His grin widened as he reached to his chest, acting like he had just told the funniest joke ever.
The two of them were far from laughing, though. In fact, their eyes were wide in fear. Trevor felt as cold sweat was dribbling down his torso. Although frightened, he still didn't want to take William's hand.
'Why are you with him?' William asked Austin.
The hooded man answered instead of him. 'Austin here has betrayed you, hasn't he? He had a GPS tracker, so it wasn't that hard to follow you. Oh, don't be mad. He did it out of love for his dad.' His open hand pointed at the cage. 'He just wants to release him. What son wouldn't? And as it happens, I'm the owner of the key to that cage.'
'How could you?' Trevor spat, his voice cracking.
'You know I had no choice,' Austin said, looking at his feet.
'Shh.' He put his index finger on his mouth. 'The fun part is about to begin.' The grin returned to his face.
The stranger reached into his cloak, causing William to step in front of the brunet so that his body would shield his. He took out a remote with a huge, bright red button in the middle of it, then he slightly shook it.
However, the smile vanished from his face when he looked around. 'Wait. Where's the other one?' His eyes widened in shock. 'No, no, no! It wasn't meant to be like this. You were supposed to bring the three of them! Three, not two!'
'Where is she?' Austin asked as he approached the man, who was jerking in anger.
'She stayed at the lake,' William lied and shrugged. His face hadn't moved a bit.
Yet what had moved was their bodies. They had taken a few steps to the door without being noticed, while the stranger was busy clenching his fist and squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. Trevor didn't like that William was in front of him, but it wasn't the best moment to change anything about it.
At last, the man ran a hand over his face, then sighed. 'We have to begin without her then. She's not a loss. She wasn't the key part of it anyway.'
As he raised his hand and shook the remote again, everyone's attention went back to it.
'I'm sorry to inform you that you're not going anywhere,' he said, not a bit of pity in his voice. 'Of course you can try, but I wouldn't recommend it. The building is packed with explosives that are activated by this button.'
'You're insane,' Trevor snapped, the blond holding him back.
'Oh, I would never doubt that.' He chuckled. 'What was the reason I took this job in the first place, huh?'
Nobody answered his question. Right now a different kind of answers was needed, thus William stepped forwards instead. He knew that the stranger hadn't been lying to them. It was obvious from his body language.
'What do you want from us?' he asked.
'Nothing you will provide me willingly, I'm afraid,' the man said. 'I want both of you dead. Can you make it happen for me?' He tilted his head, his eyes flushing.
The signs of realization appeared on their faces. There was no more lying to themselves as the unspoken truth had been told. They both wanted to escape from there and wake up the next day thinking that it was only a nightmare. But it was their reality, no matter how awful it was.
'We won't let you,' William said. His voice was steady, though something about his movement indicated otherwise.
'Hmm, we'll have to find out then,' the stranger said, grinning.
After that he reached into his cloak, and within seconds a gun came into everyone's view. Based on its length and build, it was an old rifle. It had a silver finish around the trigger, making it sparkle in the sun. Except for the man, it seemed that no one had expected it.
The rifle soon aimed at the blond, who thought that it was how his life would end for a second. However, he realised that he wouldn't let himself die that way, not after what he had confessed to Trevor.
When the bullet was coming at him, William rushed towards it instead of running away. He quickly gained enough momentum to push it out of his way. At that point, the bullet would have pierced through his arm if it weren't for his long sleeve. He was seeing everything in slow-motion for the first time since the fight with Jackson, and it felt like he could move mountains.
It couldn't have taken William longer than a few seconds to cling to the stranger. Grasping his arm, the blond wrenched the remote out of his hand at once, and it hit the ground with its back. Otherwise, the man would have been able to press the button. He seemed like a person who had no scruples, who would sacrifice everything in order to kill the vampire.
'Eleonora now!' William shouted over his shoulder.
The door flew open and Eleonora rushed from behind it. There was something round in her hand. After she released it, it rolled to the middle of the room, gas coming out of it. Soon the entire space was filled with grey smoke that was blocking most of the sunlight.
Trevor couldn't believe his eyes. It seemed like it all had happened in the blink of an eye, and they were actually winning now. He couldn't keep watching any longer, though. He had to help them, so he proceeded forwards, driving smoke out of his way. The cloud made him cough a few times, and it didn't smell so good.
When the brunet caught a glimpse of William, he also saw a sharp blade swinging his way. His first reaction was to draw back, but it meant that the blond was in danger. After all, he had helped him once and he would do it again. He looked around for a weapon, yet there wasn't one. However, what he spotted on the floor was the remote.
The stranger couldn't get it back since he would immediately blow up the whole place. Trevor knelt down to get it, but someone's foot pushed it away. He groaned in disapproval, and crawled to where he thought he'd find the remote.
Luckily, Trevor found it there and picked it up at once. Meanwhile, smoke began to thin out slowly as there was more sunlight. He stood up before dusting down, using his free hand. At that moment, he was listening to loud yells in the background, most likely belonging to Eleonora. She must have been furious because of Austin's betrayal.
Soon two fighting silhouettes emerged from the cloud of smoke; the stranger must have also lost his rifle earlier as his only weapon was, in fact, a dagger. To the brunet's relief, William didn't have any visible bruises, meaning that he wasn't at a disadvantage. However, it didn't apply to the man, who was panting and whose moves had lost most of its previous vigour.
When smoke had cleared out completely, William punched the stranger on his cheek, causing him to falter and let go of the dagger, which then dropped on the floor. After that he fell on the wall and immediately slid down it. His hood lifted itself, revealing the man's bony face. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin looked like a white canvas.
The stranger seemed so vulnerable at that moment. Someone could even pity him for a second, but his malicious nature would soon make that person regret it. Austin was no longer their concern, either. With help of paralyzing powder, Eleonora had managed to tie him. They had defeated them, and everyone was safe now. However, the grin on the man's face began to concern them.
William knelt in front of the man and grabbed him by his cloak. 'What's so funny?'
'You don't have the guts to finish me. You're weak.' He spat on the blond's face.
With an angry expression, William raised his hand to his cheek and cleaned it. 'We can always change that if you want to.' His hands clenched into fists.
Eleonora grabbed the vampire's shoulder and pulled him backwards. 'William, we can't.'
'He deserves it,' said the blond, pointing at the stranger.
'I do,' the man agreed, nodding. 'But you also need me. I know that your feelings towards Austin haven't changed. He hasn't betrayed you without a reason, has he? You'd like to release his father, and only I can make that happen.' He smiled, his hands coming together.
William sighed, hiding his face under his hand. They had to release the prisoner of the cage eventually, but that person was also responsible for the blond's first kidnap in his life, and the hard feelings hadn't left him yet. There was a lot to talk about.
Everyone was silent, while William was eyeing the stranger. His face was frowned.
'He's right. We need him,' he said at last. After that he looked back at the man. 'But it doesn't mean you're getting easy treatment. You're our prisoner at most.'
'I take it as an honour.' He tried bowing, but the beating he had got didn't let him.
Eleonora approached the blond and whispered in his ear, 'What now?'
'Do you have anything to, um, put them to sleep?' he asked the witch.
With a delicate smile, she reached into her bag, digging her hand through the inside. Then she took out a tiny bottle; there was slimy, shiny, and purple fluid inside of it. Soon she also pulled out a silver spoon.
'What are you going to do?' Trevor asked, leaning out from behind the two of them.
'Put them to sleep.' She shrugged.
They both slept like rocks afterwards. It wasn't hard to transport them to the van, and neither was tying them up. Eleonora didn't want to do this to Austin, but he deserved it. Love couldn't fully explain selling his friends to their enemy, who had almost killed them once before. William found the bandages on the stranger's chest. They must have covered the shot wound that the blond had made.
The stranger was the witch hunter that Austin had warned them about.