A/n: TRIGGER WARNING! There are some abuse/violence type issues mentioned in this chapter. I'll put another warning right before it happens too!
Travis awoke early in the morning. Not that he'd slept well; he never really slept. Not anymore. Knowing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now, he got up and went downstairs. After making himself a coffee, he sat on the couch and looked out the window at the ocean.
It really was beautiful at this time of day, during sunrise. As he watched, he wondered what Katelyn would think of it. She loved to watch the sunrise.
They used to watch it together while they were here on Starlight. He would go and get himself coffee and a cup of tea for her, and they'd sit on the balcony of their house and watch the sunrise. It was his favorite way to start the day; with her.
He missed her. Of course he missed her. He just wanted her back, and he grew more anxious the longer they had to wait.
He didn't realize what time it was until Eric came downstairs and started making breakfast.
"How long have you been up?" he asked. Travis just shrugged. "Couldn't sleep?" He said.
"Yeah..." Travis replied. Eric nodded.
"Me either."
Not long later, Sylvana came downstairs, followed by Garroth and Lucinda. Aphmau didn't show up until everyone had already started eating breakfast. She never was much of a morning person. As they ate, they kept up a small conversation. It was mostly about how good the food was and what everyone was doing that day.
"Travis and I were going to go back to Stella's house today. Hopefully someone else answers the door and we're able to talk to her," Lucinda said, "We were wondering if any of you wanted to come?" Eric and Sylvana shook their heads. Aphmau and Garroth, however, nodded.
"I'll come," Garroth said, "I owe it to Katelyn."
"I'll come too," Aphmau added, "It'll be good to get out of the house for a while."
"We would love to go," Sylvana started.
"But I don't know if I can handle it..." Eric finished for her, "I'm sorry. I want to see my Sugar Pea as much as anyone, but I can't..." He almost broke down crying and Sylvana comforted him.
"That's okay," Lucinda said, "We'll bring her back, don't worry." Eric nodded.
After breakfast, everyone met at the front of the house and the four friends set out to try and find Katelyn and Stella.
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Katelyn opened her eyes to whole new surroundings. She was confused for a moment, before she remembered what had happened; they'd been moved. She sat up and looked around.
She was lying in a small, single person bed at the corner of her cell. There was a small toilet in the other corner, but that was all. Her cell was smaller than the last one, and sat in the corner of the room. The floor was a regular wood along with the wall behind and next to her. However, there was a small circular window on one wall. She looked outside to see nothing but blue. They were underwater, and that was the ocean, right outside her cell. She looked around the rest of the room.
The layout was similar to the cells in Elizabeth's basement. To the right of her cell were two large doors leading somewhere. Across from her was a cell identical to her own, with Stella asleep on the bed. At least she knew they'd both been taken to the same place. To her left was a storage area like before. However, it was set up so that everything was on one side of the other of the room, making a sort of hallway leading to a large staircase. She had no idea where that led either.
It didn't take long for her seasickness to kick in, telling her they were most likely on a boat, which she had figured being that they were underwater. Now that she thought about it, she could feel the swaying of the waves around her. Unable to take the nausea much longer, she called out.
"Hello?! If anyone's around, I could really use a bucket!" She yelled. For a moment, no one answered. She was ready to just give up and let herself throw up, but then someone came into the room.
It was a man with sandy blonde hair down to his shoulders and green eyes. He wore shorts and a blue T-shirt with the word 'Boi' written on it. In his hand was a bucket! Katelyn needed that bucket, badly.
"Yeah, yeah, here's your damn bucket." He said, opening the door and tossing it to her, "Elizabeth said you were a seasick one." Katelyn would have tried to escape, but her nauseous state prevented that. The man slammed the cell door shut and locked it.
Hearing the slam, Stella bolted up in her bed. She looked disoriented for a second before realizing what was going on. When she saw the man, her expression changed to one of horror and she scooted towards the wall at the back of her cell.
"Ah, Stella, you're up," the man said, "Great. I've heard from your mother that you've been quite the troublemaker recently." Stella said nothing. "Now, no daughter of mine can do something like that and get away with it," he continued, "Let me show you what happens when you misbehave like that, since you seem to have forgotten." As he threw open the cell door, Katelyn realized he must be Lei, Stella's birth father.
She also realized he was about to hurt her, and she was powerless to stop him. (Trigger warning here! If you are triggered by things like abuse and violence or just don't want to read about violence, please skip the next part! I'll tell you when it's okay to read again so just look for the bold)
Lei grabbed Stella by her hair and dragged her out of the cell. Katelyn tried to protest but threw up again. Stella said nothing. He dragged her up the stairs into a large room she could only assume was the dining hall and threw her against the wall. She cried out in pain. There were around thirty tour guides watching.
That's when he took out a knife.
"Let it be known that this is what happens to those that disobey me or Elizabeth!" He shouted. Then he grabbed her right arm and began cutting it. He carved a skull shape into her shoulder, not enough to cause serious bleeding or injury, but enough to leave a scar. To leave a reminder.
After that he just dragged her back down and into the cell be her hair, causing her scalp to bleed. With that, he left. Her blood was everywhere. It was all over her head, her back, and her shoulder, as well as the floor of her cell.
(It's okay to read again!) Katelyn couldn't understand how a person could do this to someone else. Much less their own daughter. How could Lei hurt Stella like that? She knew they needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Next time, I kill you!" Lei called from upstairs. Katelyn shivered. She couldn't let herself and Stella stay here any longer.
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Travis, Aphmau, Lucinda, and Garroth had finally arrived at Stella's house. They felt ready; ready to find Stella and Katelyn and ready to get their friend back.
But when Travis went to knock on the door, it was already partially open. That seemed strange and unsafe, especially considering at least three people lived there.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" He called into the house. No one answered. He turned back to his friends, who just shrugged.
Carefully pushing the door open, he stepped inside. Ordinarily, this wasn't something he would do. But when it came to Katelyn, he would do whatever it took. Plus, the door was open. The others followed him inside. The place looked deserted, not a soul in sight.
"What now?" Garroth asked.
"Now, I guess we look around," Travis said, "Lucinda, Garroth, you can check upstairs for Stella. Aphmau and I will try to find the basement and look for Katelyn." Everyone nodded and did as they were told.
"Where do you think everyone went?" Aphmau asked.
"No idea," Travis replied. He looked around the living room. It looked perfect...Too perfect...As if no one actually used it and it was really just around for decoration. There was a TV in the corner, with a couch and coffee table facing it. A bookshelf was in the other corner of the room, up against the staircase.
Past the living room was a small kitchen. However it actually looked like it had been used. To the left of the kitchen was a table and chairs. There was a giant window and sliding glass doors that led to a small patio. The patio took you straight down to the beach.
Travis walked back into the living room. For some reason, this didn't sit well with him. None of it did. There was just something off about this house. About this family...
That was when he saw it. The small coaster on the coffee table. It had a picture of a puppy on it, but there was something off about the puppy's nose. Moving closer, he lightly touched it. It felt...Almost like a button? He pressed it.
Suddenly, a piece of floor next to the bookshelf opened up, revealing the stairs to the basement.
A/n: I am sooooo sorry this chapter is late! I forgot to post yesterday!