Tapping her steel fingers on her table, she held her phone to her ear and patiently waited for the other end to pick up.
"Hello, Lyra." A deep voice said through the phone.
The girl leaned forward in her seat, feeling her muscles tighten. "Hi, Mr. Saddler. Have you and your team made any progress on the case yet?"
"Unfortunately not. The team is investigating the lodge at this moment. It's highly plausible that a burglar broke into the house, but we are still keeping open minds about other possibilities. We did, however, come across an interesting discovery. Quite tragic."
She drew in a sharp breath. "What is it?"
A sigh on the other side. "Two bodies have been found at the bottom of the lake four yards away from the lodge. Both females, both had gashes to the side of their head. Purple lips and swollen throats. It looks as if their attackers drowned them before throwing them into the lake."
Alarmed, she remembered the texts that Ace had sent her. "Two bodies? ...The text message I received from my missing friend said that she couldn't protect her friends."
"If you can send me those messages, then it would help in determining who these people were. Are you absolutely sure that your friend is missing?"
"She has to be." She said, feeling a tear in her chest. "Those messages she sent me felt.. off. On top of that, she would never block me. We've been close friends for a very long time. I suspect those five guys she went on the trip with have something to do with her disappearance."
"Do you know anything about the people she was with?"
Lyra pursed her lips. "No. Ace just said that she was taking a trip to Snowfall Valley for a week with some new friends. She invited me to come on the trip."
"I see. We will call you after we thoroughly finish our investigation. This will take a while. The falling snow is covering up tracks our culprit may have taken to leave this place."
"I understand." She said, running her fingers through her hair. "...Please locate Ace."
"We are trying our best, Lyra. Please be patient with us."
~
Ace's eyes snapped open. She sat up, putting a hand on her chest and breathing heavily. The vision of her monstrous persona flashed in her mind.
Another nightmare.
The words that monster said to her rang in her head like a tolling bell, loud and clear, over and over again. Her head pulsated and throbbed. Wiping the sweat that had gathered on her brow with her sleeve, she shut her eyes.
"You're worthless. Helpless. You can't even help yourself. Isn't this the epitome of weakness?"
Am I really that weak..? Shaking her head slightly, she glanced at the cuff that bound her to the bed. No. I'm not weak.
Pulling the blanket off of her legs, she took a good look at her feet. The soles of her feet had a few bandages plastered over what she assumed was where she had gotten bad splinters from that tree. Moving her foot toward her slowly, the girl brushed her fingers across the bandages.
She was pleasantly surprised to feel that it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.
I might even be able to walk again.
Applying pressure onto her soles, she flinched when the pain amplified.
She tilted her head, furrowing her brow. It's not too bad.
Glancing up at the clock, she frowned.
3:43 pm
Letting out a sigh, the images of seeing Allian getting beaten replayed in her mind. The sheer force that Ryoma could pack in a kick terrified her. The way Allian limped out of the room... She was surprised that he could even move after that.
She shuddered. How could someone like Ryoma lose his control?
She placed her fingers on her forehead, rubbing her temples.
Ryoma doesn't seem to be the type to easily engage in violence.
Wiping the sleep from her eyes, it felt as though a heavy weight had suddenly been put on her shoulders to bear. It was a crushing feeling.
From what it looks like.. I was the one who drove Ryoma to take such actions. ..Why? What do I mean to him..?
Glancing to the side, she barely realized that a meal had been put there. A promising plate of rice with beef on the side.
She shifted in her bed, lying down on her side. Surprisingly, she didn't feel any sort of hunger. Maybe I just lost my appetite after seeing Ryoma. But.. I haven't been willing to eat the moment I woke up in this place.
It didn't help that there wasn't anything to do to pass the time. All that she could afford to do was take a nap- but even that she was afraid to do. It would seem that whenever she slipped into the dream world, nightmares would come back to haunt her.
She brushed her fingers absentmindedly along the pillows, feeling the silk of the pillowcases beneath her fingertips.
When her fingers felt a small hard bump through one of the casings, she perked up, pulling the small pillow closer to her.
Could it be..?
A flare of hope pooled in her body as she dove her hand into the casing, her fingers coming in contact with a familiar piece of metal.
Pulling it out of the case, she grinned as her eyes fell open a single safety pin. She must have not taken everything out of the case yesterday. Surely, they would confiscate anything they thought would help her release herself from her shackles.
A soft knock on the door startled her. Shoving the pin back in, she put the pillow back down. "Come in." She said, leaning against the headboard.
The door opened, revealing a boy with a hoodie pulled over his head.
She said, tilting her head at him. "Hi, Evan."
He didn't reply as he walked over to her, his body posture seemed defeated. When he was standing beside her bed, he looked down, avoiding her eyes. "Ace.. are you still mad at me..?"
Frowning the girl shook her head slightly. Of course, I am. You kidnapped me.. And drove two needles in my neck. "No.." She said, feeling the need to not upset him. "..Are you okay, Evan?"
He perked up at her words, relief engulfing him. Before he knew what he was doing, he climbed onto the bed and brought her into a hug. "I'm so glad." He said, his voice wavering.
Surprised, the girl hesitantly brought her arms around him, returning his hug for a few seconds before letting go.
Evan reluctantly released her, a happy look on his face. Glancing to the side, he frowned when he saw the untouched food still sitting on the nightstand. He looked back at her quickly, a distraught expression on his face. "Ace, why haven't you eaten yet?"
She stole a glance at the food. "I'm not very hungry." She replied.
"Why?" He questioned, his voice sounding nearly demanding. "Have you lost your appetite? You need to eat."
When she didn't reply, he took the plate of food, bringing it closer to her. When he took a spoonful of the rice and held it to her, she shook her head. "I'm not hungry."
He narrowed his eyes and spoke, his voice sounded commanding. "Why don't you have an appetite? Did they do something to you? Did they hurt you? Tell me."
She shook her head rapidly. "No, no. ..They didn't do anything. I'm not sure why I'm not hungry."
His grey eyes seemed to darken. "You're lying. Why are you lying to me?"
Ace flinched, trying her best to cover it up. "I.. I'm not-"
The boy suddenly put the plate back on the nightstand, his facial expressions contorting in anger. He grasped her by the shoulders. "Why are you lying to me?!"
She yelped as he pushed her down onto the bed, his face hovering over hers by a few inches. "Tell me!"
"Evan!" She cried out, yanking her wrist against the cuffs. "They didn't do anything! I.. I just saw them get into a fight, that's all."
The small boy gradually released her shoulders, his eyes remaining narrowed. "Who?" He slowly backed away from her, allowing her the adequate space to sit back up.
She glanced away. "Allian and Ryoma." Failing to hide a shudder, she bit the inside of her lip.
Evan let out an audible breath, suddenly taking her hold of her bound wrist and holding it close to him for inspection.
Ace winced as her attempts at retracting her wrist failed. His grip was as hard as iron. Shit.. My wrist isn't bandaged.
"Who did this to you?" He questioned, his eyes trailing the cuts on her wrist underneath the cuffs.
She looked away. "I was just pulling against my cuffs too much, that's all. I did that to myself."
At the doorway, she noticed a figure swiftly moving away. Raising an eyebrow, she was surprised that Evan hadn't closed the door like everyone else did.
Evan glanced at her, his eyes hard as steel. "Are you telling the truth?"
Looking back at him, she nodded. "Yeah." That's half of the truth.
He kept his gaze on her for an extra few seconds as if he were debating on believing her. Finally releasing her wrist, he sighed. "Tell me if someone's hurting you. I'll take care of it."
The sound of his voice disturbed her, chilled her to her bones. It was cold with a heavy wave of truth. Evan wasn't the type of person to break his promises.
"Okay.." She said quietly.
The boy reached over to the nightstand, picking up the plate of food once more. "You need to eat." He said, taking the spoonful of rice and holding it an inch apart from her lips. "I'll feed you if you refuse to eat it yourself."
Cringing, the girl reluctantly took the spoon from him. "I'll eat, okay?"
Nodding, the boy watched her intently as she brought the food to her lips, indulging in it.
When he didn't budge, she rose an eyebrow in curiosity. "Are you going to watch me eat?"
Crossing his arms, he nodded.
"But-!"
"I need to see you eat at least half of it." He said stubbornly.
"I can look after myself." She frowned.
"I know, but at the moment, I don't trust you enough to." He replied.
Sighing, Ace didn't bother to try and change his mind. She scooped spoonful after spoonful in her mouth, doing her best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of fullness in her stomach.
After a few minutes, she gestured at the half-empty plate of food and frowned. "Is this enough?"
Evan nodded, taking the plate from her. "Are you sure you don't want anymore?"
"Yeah." She said, giving him a small smile. "I'm full."
Getting off of the bed, the boy perked up slightly and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a pair of earbuds and a small device. Handing it to her, he turned away from her.
Looking at the earbuds and the small black device with a small screen on it, she frowned. "What's this for?"
He seemed to stiffen up. "I-It's.. for.. If you get bored.. and want to listen to some music.."
The girl looked up to him, a smile breaking out on her face. "Thank you so much, Evan. This means a lot."
He refused to look back at her, feeling embarrassment flow through him. A light redness had dusted his cheeks. "Y-you're welcome.."
And with that, he ran out of the room, disappearing from her sight.
Looking at where she had last seen him, Ace glanced back down at the two objects he had given her. Thanks, Evan..
~
Pulling out an index card, the male smiled as his pen moved along the paper.
This will be interesting.