Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Ava

"Wakey wakey." The bag was ripped off my head, my head pounding and my body aching. My eyes took a while to focus as a result of the darkroom I was being kept in. Just as my eyes adjusted, my head whipped to the side resulting in whiplash. It stunned me for a moment. It took me a while to get my bearing and figure out where I was and when I saw the men surrounding me, it felt like my heart halted.

My throat felt tight and my body ached where I was hot before. I squeezed my eyes together and tried to remain as calm as possible to figure out what the hell was going on.

First, it was obvious that I was kidnapped- for what reason, I didn't know. Second, I was tied to a chair with my hands behind me, my legs were also tied to the legs of the chair. Third-

"Now that the princess is finally awake, we can finally have a party." One of the men that I could only describe as slimy and foul smelly leaned close to my face. His breath was repulsive and almost caused me to retch when he got close to my face.

Talking wouldn't help. I knew that much in a situation like this, the best thing to do would be to just go along with what they wanted until I could figure out an escape.

Peeking through my hair, I let my eyes wander to figure out where I was. When I didn't see my things, I knew that they must have left them where they had grabbed me and that must have included the locator. The distress I felt grew by the minute. I tried to do something good for myself, to start over and now these pig-headed, slimy arse wipes had to go and put a pause on those plans.

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

"You want me to beg for my life, is that it?" I sneered and clenched my hands into fists. If I couldn't fight back, at least I could talk them to death, even if it didn't work.

The guy's shoulder bounced in silent laughter and I felt the urge to hit him. He looked at the others and then back at me quickly before kneeling in front of me. It looked like he was inspecting how tight the rope was. I held still, not to provoke him when I felt his fingers brush against the side of my leg.

"If you cooperate, I can help you get out of this without getting hurt." He whispered unexpectantly, only enough for us to hear. "I know you don't trust me and after we have done but I won't hurt you." He looked up at me and I saw the sincerity in his eyes.

maybe he was someone I could trust, maybe not but there was only one way to find out.

Zorn

Something was wrong. something terrible.

When we got to the precise location Ava would have been, she was nowhere to be seen. The area was unnaturally quiet, leaving us with an ominous feeling. Deep in my gut, I knew something was wrong.

"Zorn, over here!" Derek crouched down near some rubble and began to move some of the rocks and dirt. When he stood up holding Ava's rucksack, my heart picked up. "This was deliberately put here."

Looking around, I soon found the locator. It was broken but still operable, which meant that this must have been where she was last.

"Do you think..." Derek asked cautiously. His expression turned concerned while we continued to look around for any clue as to where she could have gone.

"It's not infected." I confirmed and knelt down near some footprints in the dirt."They wouldn't be that smart to hide her things." I examined the dirt thoroughly and knew what must have happened. "Humans. Probably four, maybe five. They're big so they must be males. There was definitely a struggle, she fought back..." I continued to examine the footprints. "They head off in this direction." I pointed towards the outskirts of the ancient city. Many of the humans that refused the help of the colonies lived further out there, hidden away from view and living like savages. If she was over there, that meant she definitely was in danger. Women especially.

We needed a strategy.

"Arent you glad I bought the weapons?" Derek uttered and cracked his knuckles, getting himself ready for a fight if necessary. If we had to fight, They would all die in order for her to be safe and until she was safe, I wasn't going to rest.