Emmaline and Victor both looked at me in shock and froze in place, not knowing what to do, waiting for me to say something.

I was absolutely pissed, angry, and furious at her.

"Victor, tell the team that they can go home, then we're heading to my house."

"What did she say?" Emmaline eyed me carefully.

"She left something at my house." I gritted my teeth and walked straight to the driver's seat.

I checked my phone for the GPS of all my cars and found out that they were still all parked in my garage. It means either Vita yanked out the tracker from one of the cars and drove off, or she got one herself. Thoughts of how to find her consumed my mind and before I knew it, everyone was all set and I headed straight for my house, driving like the devil was nipping at my heels.

*

Emmaline and Victor were barely out of the car when I sprinted upstairs to my room. I saw my mother on the way, but didn't bother to stop and greet her.

Just like Vita told me, a folder was sitting neatly on the center of our bed waiting for me. As I took out the contents, the USB and her phone were there along with a few pieces of paper. On top of the papers, she had stuck a note.

Red,

Some things couldn't be said over the phone. I'm buying you time because I couldn't get into the USB. It was harder than I expected. Figure out what's in it. I also changed my parents' emergency contact to you. If I succeeded, you'll be receiving a call very soon.

And for our little bet, I think you won.

Stay safe,

Vita

The few pieces of paper were information on Efren Carter and their organization. There wasn't much, but it was a start. Like Vita told me, as I clicked the power button of her phone, it immediately opened to the home screen.

"I've never seen you run that fast in the house." There was amusement in my mother's voice, but I didn't have the heart to reply.

Instead, I turned around to look at her. As soon as she saw the expression I couldn't conceal, the amusement disappeared from her features.

"What's wrong, Alex?" She walked a little closer to me.

"Vita's gone," I steeled my voice and answered.

My mother narrowed her eyes at me in confusion. "What do you mean she's gone?"

I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. "She offered herself to the enemy in exchange for her parents."

"What?!" My mother yelled and she quickly stopped her advancement towards me.

"I really should have known that she was going to pull this kind of stunt." I raked my fingers through my hair in frustration.

*

My mother, Victor, Emmaline and I were all in my living room, trying to understand what Vita had just done. I briefly explained that Vita had shot Efren Carter's younger brother, Cody Carter not long ago.

"She knew? Why didn't she tell us?" Emmaline looked really upset and on the verge of tears.

I couldn't listen to anyone as I picked up Vita's phone and searched through her contacts, calling the one person I knew could give me answers.

He picked up on the second ring. "Simmons?"

"No, this is Alexander Blades," I answer back after I put it on speaker, taking into consideration that everyone probably needed to hear Wolf's answers.

"I remember. What can I do for you, Agent Blades?"

"I need you to tell me exactly what happened after Vita shot Cody Carter."

The other side of the phone was quiet for a moment. "How much did she tell you?"

"Up till the point where the confrontation began and she was knocked out."

There was no answer.

"Wolf?" I called out through gritted teeth, my heart pounding faster as precious time ticked by.

"She was knocked out by one of Efren Carter's men, our target's brother. They took Cody and Cadence's body along with Vita. We chased the best we could, but at one point we lost them. We knew they must have been around the area, so we stayed to search for Vita. Two days had passed and we had bits and pieces of information, but not enough to pinpoint where she was taken." He sounded pissed at himself and regretful as he kept talking.

"The morning of the third day, we only had a few places left and she wasn't at any of them. We were on our way back to our temporary base when I decided I was going to make a quick detour to check one more place. On the way, I saw a figure limping towards the car. I slammed my brakes when I realized the female wasn't going move to the side. That's when I realized who she was." He paused. "Her clothes were barely on her body and she was half awake, but that wasn't what shocked me. What terrified me was the amount of blood on her, she looked like she was soaked in it. Whether it was hers or not, we couldn't tell. Half of us immediately rushed her to the hospital while the other half followed her blood to the place she was kept. Apparently, it looked like it was a bloodbath. There was no one alive in the compound."

I stood frozen, listening to every single word. "And Vita?"

"She was on and off conscious for a week, and stayed in the hospital for almost three weeks. She wouldn't talk to any of us of what happened and we rotated with the nurses to keep an eye on her because she..." he trailed off.

I squeezed my eyes shut as dread seized my heart. "She was on suicide watch. Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes." That word hung heavy in the air. Emmaline was already silently crying with Victor sitting stiff next to her and my mother had tears welling up in her eyes, but not letting them fall.

"But we soon came to realize that she was just staring off into space thinking and wasn't going take her own life. She still smiled at each one of us when we came to visit her, putting up a strong mask. Other than the first initial week, she refused to take pain medications. From her injuries, we could only guess the surface of what she went through the past two days. She looked like she was whipped and beaten from the bruises, broken ribs and fractured arm. And her back, someone probably carved out the crisscrosses with a knife. The amount of stitches she got was uncountable and the doctors really didn't think she was going to make it. That was just physical. No one knows what kind of psychological toll it took on her. She made me promise not to contact her parents or you, saying that she was fine."

I clenched my hands into fists, unable to believe that Vita went through so much by herself, keeping the incident buried deep inside her so that she could put up an act of normality.

"She did tell us one thing though, it was through Efren's orders that she was beaten half alive, and she was only able to escape when he temporarily stepped out of town to a meeting."

Victor began cursing under his breath as he stood up to pace the room.

"What's going on?" Wolf asked through the phone.

I debated whether to tell him or not, but decided with the former since Vita trusted him and he already knew so much. "Efren Carter took Vita's parents, and she offered herself to him in exchange for her parents without us knowing."

"Stop her. I don't care if you have to lock her in some basement, don't let her do it. Efren doesn't want her alive, Blades, he's really going to kill her this time."

Unable to open my mouth to answer, I remained silent and he must have realized something was off.

"She's already gone, isn't she?"

"Thank you for your help, that was all the information I needed," I answered instead.

"Is there anything I can do?" There was genuine concern and willingness to help in his voice.

"One more question."

"Sure."

"Did you ever find Cadence's body?"

"No, but it was a solid hit through her chest."

"I see."

"Simmons is a like sister to me. Let me know if you need anything."

"I will, thanks." I closed off the call and couldn't help but sigh.

Silence filled the room as the call ended.

"Vita bought us some time. Let's use it." My mother stood up with an impassive expression on her face, all the traces of tears gone. "Figure out what's in the USB and find every information there is on Efren and Cody Carter."

There was a fierce protective expression on my mother's face.

"Who's... Cadence?"

I looked over at Emmaline as she cautiously asked the question. I simply shook my head. "It's nothing. Emmaline and mom, if you guys can take care of the USB, Victor and I will figure out where Vita is. We'll bring her home." I eyed everyone in this room carefully and everyone agreed. "We still need keep this as quiet as possible. The less people know, the better. Absolutely no one else can know that we have the USB."

The sudden sound of my phone ringing, made us all flinch with surprise. I eyed the caller ID and froze.

"Hello, may I speak to Alexander Blades?" A soft female voice rang through the connection.

"Speaking," I answered back.

"You were listed as the emergency contact of Luke and Sophie Simmons, correct."

"Yes."

"They were rushed into emergency not to long ago-"

I didn't wait for her to finish. "Which hospital."

"St. Marie Hospital."

"I'll be there soon."

"Great, we'll be expecting you."

As soon as I hung up, everyone regarded me with wide eyes as they inferred a conclusion from what they heard on my end.

"W-what..." Emmaline stuttered and trailed off with her mouth slightly open.

"Vita's parents are in the hospital right now," I informed them slowly as I couldn't believe it myself, but quickly snapped out of my state of shock. "Head home, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

With that, we all rushed out. Victor and Emmaline headed back to Headquarters in the van we came in and my mother and I, we headed straight to the hospital.

Relief washed over me as I understood that Vita had succeeded and her parents were safe in the hospital, but the terror of what might happen to Vita constricted my lungs and seized my heart tightly in its grasp. 

The only thought that hasn't stopped running in the back of my mind was that I had to find her soon because I couldn't bare to lose her. She always had some kind of presence in my life one way or another, and I won't let her disappear forever from my life now.

The thought that I may never see her again perturbed me and it made me realize that I didn't want to live without her.

****

Another week, another chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Don't forget to vote, comment and share if you liked it.

(>.<) Anyone still remember the little bet between Alexander and Vita? Alexander or Vita, who's going to end up losing?

InvincibleBunny