Chapter 30

Selene:

It'd been three days since Jace was unseen and unheard of. Everyday I dropped more and more into my pit of depression, and there seemed to no rope pulling me up.

I didnt remember the last meal I had or the last nap. I couldnt recall any words I'd shared with anyone because all I could see was Jace saying 'I love you' and disappearing. I missed him but I was scared what the truth held. Dad was determined to figure out where Jace went. Mom was worried that something happened to him. Allan was convinced that Jace ran off for some duty calls and Sean couldnt hash out the idea that he was with his mom.

I hadn't contacted Jace's mother but I kept Cobie at my place. She was only fifteen and required the care we could all provide. She sat by me everyday, crying and those were the only few hours I wouldn't blink a single tear.

It was midnight to the third day and I counted a third finger on my hand, crouched by my bedroom door in one of his blue shirts and a my sleeping shorts. I felt so petty. I was down one beer and forbidding myself from more...

If he didnt die when I left him...

I threw the empty beer bottle across the room with a silent scream huffing in my chest. I was mad, disheveled, broken and destroyed. I didnt know whether he wished me this pain or was in one surge of it himself. All I knew was that our lives could never be normal.

"Enie!" Mom gasped, blasting my door open.

"What?" I yelled at her with rage drenched in tears spewing out of mouth. I felt instant guilt at being so horrible to her.

"Enie..." she breathed, dropping her hands and trying to walk into my room.

"No, its bottle..." my voice drained as I reached her.

"What is it baby?" She cupped my face and I cried with pain rising in my chest. It felt like there was a bubble I'd stored all the pain in and now it finally popped. My head dropped to her shoulder and she caressed my back.

"Where is he mom? What happened?" I weeped. She squeezed me into her and I broke.

***

His fingers gingerly glided on my belly, touch every knot and untying every twisted bone. I felt like a woman undone but perfected to a  soul of the Sun. He gasped as the water rushed though between us and we danced in passion with each other.

Small kisses he planted against my skin felt like a garden of moans in my ears. His hair felt so smooth in my palms and body like silk charging mine to ecstasy like hell. We sat on the floor of the tub, my legs around his body and he looked up at me through his bright brown orbs. The water's path to his face was blocked by my head and I dipped to catch another breathing kiss.

"Where are you?" He muttered in my ear.

I jumped up in my bed, breathing hard and looking around in pain.

Empty room.

Again.

"Selene!" The door barged open and a panting Allan emerged. His body was trembling and he stood with wide arms.

"Dude! Knock. Morning. Me. Clothes!" I spoke with stops and he had his eyes scrunched.

"What?" He froze and I waved him off.

"Jace. I think we found him." He declared and jumped off the bed, leaping onto him with a big hug. He twirled me around and was about to put me on the ground.

"No! Futon!" I pointed at the purple futon and he helped me stand on it. His mouth turned round at the shards of green brittle on the carpet.

"I was mad." I cleared my sweaty palms and he nodded.

"Get ready." He ordered and walked out of the room. I jumped over the bed and ran my hands down under it to put put my bathroom slippers. Flipping them on, I ran to wash my face and wear the first thing I could find. It was a large black hoodie and of course, yoga pants.

"We tracked him to at a storage facility in the city." Dad spoke as he and Carlisle sat in the car, driving us out to where our destination was.

What was he doing there?

In about thirty minutes we were there and I was staring at my dad and Carlisle trying to get the person to let us in. They didnt have a warrant and it seemed as though the guy at the counter was giving them a hard time about it. I recognized that facility. Jace had a space in there for his office work.

I pulled out my phone and dialled Jace's office. Of course it was Candice who picked up.

"Mount Caponie Storage Facilty, Mr. Anderson's storage space number and code." I ordered.

"As I recall, I was your boss and you havent shown up here in days-"

"Mr. Anderson has me travelling, ma'am." I bit my teeth, being kind to her. She literally held a key to something important, "He said I could trust you to help me for him."

"Oh, he did?" She seemed so flattered. I felt like strangling her.

"Yes, ma'am." My nostrils flared.

"Alright, well its licker number  32B and 1908 is the passcode." She answered and I smirked.

Idiot.

Wait... my birthdate was the code... I felt tears brimming but realized it wasnt the time to feel emotional. I ran into the office and felt calm at the heated office. I tapped on Carlisle and Dad's shoulder like I didnt know them and the person moved to me. He was tanned and had a red hairdo. I cringed. Probably because I was mad.

"Hi, Mr. Anderson's locker. I work for Candice Baldwin." I lied and he checked his computer.

"Locker?" He questioned. I realized it was a security question.

"32B." I answered and he nodded.

"Alright. You can go ahead." He pointed at the corridor behind us and quickly made my way.

The elevators were a basic silver frame and I jumped in, tapping the third floor button consistently.

"Come on. Come on. Come on." I kept murmuring. My heart was racing and I couldnt wait any longer to see him. I knew he was there. I just didnt know why.

When the third floor opened, there were two corridors going in opposite direction, I checked on one side to see a brown rollup door with the number 30A etched on it. Thanking my luck, I ran ahead and sighed when 32B came into view. I gulped quietly and went for the keypad on the wall beside the door. I was scared whether Candice had gotten the right number but it was definitely in need of a shot.

When I pressed the first number, my head heated up. Second number, it got hot all around me. Third number, I could barely breathe. I reached for the taser gun, tucked in the waist band of my pants as I pressed the last button and then enter. The keypad beeped green and the door started sliding up. I held my breath and stood in a defense position with my gun at the ready.

Many old memories flashed back and I was trying my best not to succumb to that fear.

"Never leave me again." Jace had said after I woke up in the hospital after the school accident.

"I won't." I repeated, raising my gun in the darkened storage space. I walked to the sides and looked for light button and smiled when I found one switch. Just when I was about to turn it on, I thought about boobytraps. It was always important to check for those. I pulled out my phone and turned the flashlight one.

Surveying the room with it, my eyes widened as a shoe peaking out from behind one of the red metal shelves. I turned the light to where I'd last felt the switch and and looked around it for any strings connecting.

But somebody could be watching. My brain revealed and I turned the light off in a sigh. Here goes nothing.

I took small steps. One foot after the other. The mantra ran in my head. I couldnt mess up. Sweat trickled down my neck and forehead and I was holding my breath. In that moment, I really wished I could hear his voice. When I couldnt find a way further in the dark, I turned on the flashlight in my phone again. The shoe that seemed to be attached to a foot seemed closer. I gulped quietly and looked on the floor, taking smaller steps so as to not trip or anything.

This isnt saw.

Yeah, but you're not sure of it. My brain fought in itself.

Finally, I was near the foot and when I swerved to find the body, my heart broke. It was him. Quiet and tethered to a pole of the shelf. His head was bowed and I saw blood on his shirt.

"No. No." I cried, bending down. I raised his face with my hands and he was drowned in some distance.

"Jace, Jace. Look at me." I touched the dry blood drain from his temple. The would was dry as well and he was dirty. He looked so exhausted. Who took him? Was he even fed? His body? His clothes? He was in the same clothes as the day of our marriage and he stunk.

I pulled a Bobby pin out of my hair and went behind him, playing with the cuffs. After many tries in the dark, it finally clicked and I made his arms come to his front. The chain that had his body hooked to the pole had a simple lock to it. I unlocked it as well and let body fold on me. It felt too easy to get him but something still didnt feel right.

"How am I going to get you out?" I breathed. Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket and it was a message from Dad.

Dad:

Two men just checked in to see their locker. 32A.

"Shit." I muttered, pulling Jace by his arms to the corner end of the locker. I tucked us behind the last shelf and turned off my phone. Something told me that those people werent there to see locker 32A.

Voices echoed out in corridor and I held my breath with my palm on my face. This was all feeling so damn familiar. What the hell?

The voices turned loud suddenly and I realized them to be in the same locker as us.

"There was a light in here." A gruff voice spoke and I felt panic.

Pulling out my phone, I turned off the vibration and lowered the screen brightness. I typed an S.O.S to dad and tucked the phone in Jace's pants. His head was next to my chest and he was barely breathing. We were sitting with our knees to our chest and his head was bowed into me.

When the steps started moving in the room, I knew what needed to be done. I settled Jace to a side and steadied my gun. This time, I wasnt going to be scared.

I moved out of the shelf and heard the footsteps in the blind sight. We'd gotten this training. Hunting them in the dark.

Count the steps. Steady on the beats.

I shut my eyes and counted the beats and then the volume grew louder to my ears, causing me to whip open my taser. I shot a man right in the chest. He writhed in the shock and fell on the floor. I laughed and whooped, jumping around. I was so proud of myself. Recoiling the gun, I ran towards the steps that headed me. I made sure that the open door lights were fitting in to show me so much as a pair of legs. Just when I caught a glimpse, I ran towards used the gun as a knuckle ring. I heard a grunt when I fell over the other side.

A man came into view of the light from outside and he had a scar running on his face. My stomach dropped. It was the scariest feeling to have been encountered by something so familiar to your past. He ran to me but before he could tackle me, a shot rang in the room and he fell to the floor in screams.

"You alright?" I heard my dad whimper. Carlisle turned on the white tube lights running across the room. I noticed eight red shelves tucked with files and hard disks.

"Jace." I finally murmured before racing to my husband messed in the corner of the room.