My blood froze when I read it. It wasn't Seto, but an automated message that was sent to notify me that his device had been destroyed. I froze with shock as scenarios of how that could happen rushed through my head. Could it have been an accident? Perhaps I'll receive another from his computer saying it was nothing, that he dropped it in water or something or—no, this is Seto, not Mokuba. And considering everything that had happened here lately, the worst could be a possibility.
I heard Mokuba's scream echo from down the hallway.
"Mokuba!" I called, unsheathing my gun and sprinting in his direction. My heart pounded as I turned every corner, my instincts raging at me for not turning them carefully like I had been drilled to do, but I had no time. I had to get to Mokuba.
Past one corridor, I came face-to-face with another armed man, but he wasn't one of Kaiba Corp's guards. Just as he flinched to reach for his gun, I shot him in the leg. He cried out in pain as he fell. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, holding him up against the wall as I asked,
"Who do you work for?!" He didn't reply. I pressed the barrel to his head. "Answer me!"
"I'm not authorized to—" he choked. "To give you that information."
"Really, now?" I asked as I retrieved a company phone from his front pocket. "Sheesh, you're a wimp," I laughed, dropping him back onto the ground as I pocketed the device. "Some men he hired."
Just as I turned the next corner, I slammed into a black blur and felt a sharp impact on my head. The next thing I knew, I felt the cold smooth surface of the tile floor on my heated face. A stream of liquid trickled down my forehead. As the world faded into blurs and echoes, I could make out but one voice—an agonizing cry, desperately pleading.
"Alice! Alice!"
"Mokuba..." I groaned, battling my wound to stay awake, but I found myself completely powerless to do anything as he was taken from me.
************