We ran downstairs to find a lot of mess as if someone had broken into the house. But it was very weird since it looked like someone had broken out of the house. Funny, I went to check on Emily, and she was not in her room. I looked around to see if anyone saw what happened. I found a maid in the corner of the dining room; she looked really scared.
"Hey, Christine, help her," I said, and we both ran towards her. We calmed her down and asked her what happened. She was really scared but replied,
"I saw someone—no, something, like a black smoke. It suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room, and it went into Emily's room. She was fast asleep, and it kidnapped her. It took her. It took her with him," she cried. I was terrified, my legs were shaking, and I couldn't think of anything except protecting Emily. I asked the scared maid which way it went, and she said she hadn't seen that since she went to safety. I quickly ran outside the house barefoot to find Emily. It was getting darker, and I could hear Christine telling me to come back, but I didn't listen to her. I kept calling out Emily's name in the middle of the forest, barefoot and cold. I tried my best to find her, yet I failed. I failed again to protect the only person that protected me. I did not give up. I kept searching for her, yelling her name. It was dark by the time I realized that I was in the middle of the forest. Adrenaline wore out. I started to feel everything—my barefoot hurting badly. I was cold since I was in only a bathrobe and shorts. I sat under what looked like an oak tree after I couldn't walk anymore. I sat there and cried.
"I am such a bad friend. I should have protected her. She always stood by my side," I kept saying these words and cried. After a while, it was a lot colder. That's when I got out of Emily's thoughts and looked at myself. In the middle of nowhere, barefooted, barely clothed, and hurt. I wouldn't survive a night in the jungle since I am not able to transform either. I cried again, this time for myself instead of Emily. I felt sorry for myself. I was so careless. I forgot that I was hurt too. Then it clicked. What about Ryan? He would be out of his mind when he realized that his mate was not at home. I decided to find my way back. After what seemed like an hour, I gave up. I sat under the oak tree again. I looked up. The sky looks like it would rain any minute. Just as I thought that rain started pouring, drenching me in water. At least something good is happening. I loved the rain, and right now the rain was comforting. I felt okay in the rain. Since it was raining, no one would walk around. I am like a mere human when unable to transform, so I can get hurt pretty badly if I am hunted by a wild animal. I sat there in the rain. It felt peaceful. For some reason, Emily didn't cross my mind.
"Ivy! Ivy!" I heard my name being yelled in the distance. I woke up. It was not raining anymore. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that nothing happened to me since I dozed off in the middle of the jungle. As I woke up to my name, I went in that direction. My head was spinning, and I couldn't make out who was calling me. I felt the voice getting louder and louder each time. After what felt like an eternity, I could make out it was Ryan's voice, desperately searching for me. It started raining again, and now I could see Ryan. My throat was sore from calling out to Emily before, so I couldn't yell out to Ryan. I ran to him and hugged him. I started sobbing.
"Ryan, I couldn't save her. I couldn't save her," I cried. Ryan patted my back and comforted me.
"It was not your fault. It's fine. I am going to have my men look for her tomorrow, okay?" he said, and I nodded at him. He suddenly picked me up.
"Why are you barefoot, Ivy?" he said and started walking. I was blushing at this, but that's when it clicked. Ryan never calls me Ivy; he calls me Savage, and I didn't even tell him my name. Maybe my brother has, but he still never called me by my name.
"Ryan, where were you?" I asked.
"I went out for work, remember?" he said. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and slowly I moved his t-shirt. There was no scratch. I recalled Emily scratching Ryan on the neck.
"Ryan, stop. I think I am very capable of walking on my own."
"No, you are not. You are barefoot, Ivy," he replied. I noticed something about his eyes. They were not red; they were blue. I got down from his arms.
"Who are you? Tell me at once," I demanded, and he just smiled.
"So, you are a little feisty, huh? Funny, you reminded me of someone a few years ago. She was feisty like you, but I killed her parents later," I frowned. This guy's voice was oddly familiar. How could I not notice Ryan doesn't speak like that?
"I asked you, who are you?"
"What are you gonna do if I don't say?"
"Nothing much, just claw your heart out," I replied. I still couldn't transform, but I can very much kill someone.
"How? You can't transform, since you buried your past self," he replied.
"I may—wait, what did you just say?"
"I said, you can't claw my heart out since you can't transform," he didn't add the other sentence, though I heard him very clearly. How does he know about it?
"How do you know I can't transform?" I asked.
"Darling, I am omnipotent. I know everything," he emphasized the last word.
"Oh really? I don't believe you," I said, and punched him hard in the stomach and ran in the other direction. He did look like he was getting his original form. I ran as quickly as I could until I bumped into something hard, but not a tree. I looked up; it was Ryan. I wasn't sure if he was Ryan or another shapeshifter, so I backed up.
"Oh my God, you are drenched, Savage. Here, have my jacket. What's wrong? Why are you running?" Okay, this one is Ryan for sure. I took his hand and kept running.
"Don't ask questions and just run with me," I said and pulled him with me. For a while, we just kept running, and we reached the house. I ran inside with him, and Christine and the other maids ran toward us.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" Christine said and handed me a towel.
"Do you need anything, like tea or something?" asked Carol.
"Chamomile tea would be fine," I said and went to my room. Nothing was odd, just as I left this place. I quickly changed; I noticed my feet. They were bruised badly and bleeding too, yet I don't feel much pain. I went downstairs; Ryan was sitting in the living room.
"Hey, so can you tell me why we were running before?" he asked, obliviously worried.
"Yeah," I said and sat down on the opposite sofa.
"Oh my God, your feet, are you okay?" he asked as soon as he saw my feet.
"Yeah, I am fine," I replied, to which he denied. He went to bring the first aid box; the maids said they could do it, but he insisted on doing it himself. I gasped when he kneeled before me, took my feet, and put it on his knee, and then started to bandage it. I was in awe absolutely, but I didn't trust fully because of what happened in the jungle.
"So basically, I found you before. He was taking me in the other direction when I noticed he was not you, but someone else. He called himself omnipotent and was quite determined to kidnap me," I said, and Ryan's eyes darkened for a split second.
As Ryan delicately tended to my injured feet, a foreboding silence settled over the room, interrupted only by the soft patter of rain against the windows. Suddenly, a sharp, urgent knock shattered the tranquility, echoing through the house like a warning bell.
We exchanged a puzzled glance before Ryan cautiously made his way to the door, his movements hesitant yet determined. With a steady hand, he reached for the doorknob, the creak of the hinges breaking the silence like an ominous omen.
As the door swung open, revealing the dark expanse of the night beyond, a figure stood shrouded in the shadows, its features obscured by the cloak of darkness. A chill ran down my spine as I felt the weight of its gaze fixed upon me, cold and calculating.
"Who are you?" Ryan's voice rang out, firm and unwavering, though I could sense the tremor of apprehension beneath his facade. But the figure remained silent, its presence a looming mystery that hung heavy in the air.
Before we could grasp the gravity of the situation, a bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating the figure in a brief, electrifying flash. In that fleeting moment, I caught a glimpse of its eyes—gleaming orbs that seemed to pierce through the darkness, filled with an unfathomable hunger.
And as the thunder rumbled ominously overhead, I couldn't shake the feeling that our encounter with this mysterious stranger was only the beginning of a much darker journey that lay ahead.