EPISODE 8: ABDUCTION

Adelaine came from a wealthy family. She has everything. Aside from needs and wants, she receives too much love from the people that surround her.

She doesn't know anything about poverty, yet she has a very soft heart. She was friendly, and she has many circles of friends.

She doesn't feel anything but happiness, but she can tell what the person is feeling, whether sad or happy. She knows how to comfort people.

She almost resembles a perfect princess. A good and kind-hearted princess.

Until one day, not only the things she has were taken from her. Even the people she cherishes were taken and left her. She lost everything she had. And that includes herself.

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"Adelaine!" a loud voice woke Adelaine up.

She could feel herself lying on a soft bed and a comfortable blanket wrapped around her body.

Feeling too comfortable in her bed, she ignored the voice she heard and rolled to her right, groaning softly.

She wanted to continue sleeping, but the voice was too loud that it disturbs her.

"Adelaine!"

She forced open her eyes as she grunted and removed her blanket. As soon as she sat, she was suddenly fully awaked when her face was hit with a pillow.

"What's your problem!?"

"We're going to be late!"

Adelaine's eyes dropped when she heard Cassidy.

"This is why you shouldn't drink alcohol when it's not Friday yet!"

Adelaine loses her sanity as Cassidy continuously nags at her.

"Why would you do such--"

"What-- what are you saying? I was drunk?"

Cassidy sighed as she put her clothes on. With her heavy steps, she came closer to Adelaine.

"You should go to school if you want to know the huge scene you made yesterday."

"What?! You're telling me to attend school when I just made a scandal yesterday?! Are you--are you crazy?!"

Cassidy scoffs, rolling her eyes. She sat on Adelaine's bedside.

"Last night...I thought you were a different person. You talked to Travis in the hallway yesterday and made up. You guys decided to go on a date so that you can talk about life. I even tagged along because of that guy."

"Who?"

"Ugh. Calvin. Calvin Owen. He was flirting with me all the time. He even called our day yesterday a double date."

Adelaine tried to remember what happened last night, but what Cassidy's telling her right now doesn't feel genuine to her.

"You insisted on going to Travis' apartment. You said we should at just have fun there. And so we went there, with alcohol and chips. We're having too much fun until you doze off."

"You mean, I dozed off in Travis' room last night?! Again?!"

"Sadly, but it's true. Then Travis tucked you in his bed, and when he was about to leave you alone, he heard you mumbling something. And when he looked back at you, he saw your face with tears. It's like you're having a bad dream."

"What? He was thinking of leaving me alone?!"

"Yeah, but he sat on your bedside when he saw you crying. He actually tried to wake you up, but you grabbed his hand and laid it on your chest, holding onto it tightly. You were saying something."

"Did you hear what I said?"

"S--stay with...me. I think that's what you were saying last night. And so Travis stayed with you, but he told us to leave you two alone. He told us to go home since it's already late."

"You...you really left me in that room...alone with Travis?" Adelaine asked her, trying to think hard about last night.

"Yeah. But Travis sent you home around 3 am. He said you shouldn't sleep with him in one room. He also said that you might feel uncomfortable."

Cassidy tapped her back and stood up. She wore her I.D and grabbed her things. Looking at Adelaine whose confused and trying to process everything on her mind, she told her,

"I'll get going first. It's fine if you don't want to go to school, you should get some rest first." and walked towards the door.

"Uhh, Cass, I left my charger in our room. Can you bring it home later for me? I'll use your charger in the meantime."

"Sure, it's in my drawer. Take care." Cassidy said and left.

Adelaine was still sitting on the bed, confused about Cassidy's story. She talked to herself while trying to figure out everything that happened last night.

"So...from that dark room...to that memory that flashed in my mind...that was all a dream?"

"If I was too drunk last night, how did Travis manage to take me home? I'm not the type of a drunk person who lets her guard off and let anyone touch her body."

"If everything was a dream...then what actually happened yesterday? That dream seems more real than what Cassidy told me."

"Ugh. Whatever. I should call Travis for confirmation."

She searched for her phone and found it under the pillow. Excited to call Travis, she immediately pressed the power button, but the screen indicates that the phone's low battery.

She looked for Cassidy's charger. She opened Cass' drawer, but she couldn't find the charger. Instead, she saw another phone from Cassidy's drawer.

"What? She has two phones? Since when did she get herself a new one?"

She turned the phone on. And when she saw the wallpaper, she was shocked.

Usually, Cassidy would use images of handsome guys as her wallpaper. If not, it's usually some life and inspirational quotes. But what she saw was unexpected.

It was an anime character wearing a black mask with her hands full of blood.

Shocked by what she saw, she accidentally dropped the phone. With her eyes widened and her mouth shaped in a circle, she kept staring at the phone that's on the floor.

Suddenly, the phone made a sound.

She saw a message appeared on the screen.

New message

From: Carson

"How is she? Did you handle..."

Adelaine could see only half of the message. She found the message suspicious, so she immediately picked up the phone and tried to open it.

She slides up the screen, but it requires a password.

She didn't want to invade her friend's private life. She didn't want to tamper with her friend's things, so she didn't bother unlocking the phone.

Instead, she put it back in the drawer, and when she was about to close the drawer, the phone suddenly rang.

The ringing sound of the phone made her peeked at it, and she saw the name again.

Incoming Call

Carson

She was thinking of answering the call, but still, she didn't want to meddle in Cassidy's life. She then ignored it, but it rang again. She decided to answer the call to tell the caller that Cassidy isn't around, and she left her phone at their dormitory.

"Hel-"

"Why are you not responding to my messages? You're even ignoring my call."

When she heard the caller's voice, she thought that she heard it already. The voice was familiar to her, but she can't figure out who's voice is it.

"Hey, this isn't Cassidy. She isn't--"

She didn't finish talking when the caller immediately ended the call. Out of shock, she was again confused.

She pulled her eyebrows down, colliding as she stared at the phone. She then put it back in the drawer.

"Is my adult life starting already? Ugh, everything seems too confusing for me nowadays." She sighed and looked around their room.

The hankies full of blood and glass pieces were still in their room. Their laundry was scattered everywhere. There were crumpled papers on the floor. Adelaine was irritated with the mess and decided to clean up since she's already late for their class.

While cleaning their room, she found Cassidy's charger and plugged in her phone. She then continued cleaning.

As she was cleaning, she saw the pants she was wearing last night. She picked it up, and as she was folding it, she could see traces of teardrops on it. So she opened her pants wide and raised them. Not only the traces of teardrops had turbid her, but also the dirt and scratches on the knee part of her pants.

She was thinking, and she speculated that she could've gotten it when she fell on her knees in the hallway and cried because of those memories she had in her mind that made her feel dizzy.

Staring at those, she told herself.

"That doesn't feel like a dream. It felt real to me. And these...these marks are telling me that it wasn't a dream."

Biting her lips and looking down, she thought of something.

"Why would Cass lie to me?"

She has too many questions forming in her mind. She wants to hear Cassidy's explanation. She wants to look for answers. And so she rushed and finished cleaning their room and prepared herself to go to school. She decided to attend the remaining class she has after lunchtime.

While getting ready, she turned on her phone. As soon as it opened, she saw a notification of five missed calls.

5 Missed Calls

Travis Connor

She wanted to know why Travis called her many times. And so she called him as well.

The phone was ringing, but he wasn't answering. But when Adelaine called him for the third time, he picked up the phone.

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Right after Travis talked, Adelaine couldn't say a word. She was silent, bothered by his voice.

Earlier, she couldn't figure out who the voice sounded like. But right now, what she can't figure out is the reason why Travis' voice sounds the same as the person who called Cassidy's phone.

"Y--your voice sounds like--"

"Have you eaten? Should we eat breakfast together?"

"Hm? Ahh, aren't you at school?"

"No, I knew you'd skip class today. I'll pick you up in your dorm."

"O--okay. I'll hang up."

"What were you trying to say earlier?"

"Ah, nothing. I'll get ready."

She immediately ends the call and is still bothered by the voices she heard today. She thought Travis' voice sounded the same as the first caller. But for some reason, she didn't want to think of anything harmful. She didn't want to accuse her friend and Travis of something she's not even sure about.

But what bothers her the most was the message that was sent to Cassidy.

She's not even sure if that phone really belongs to Cassidy.

She couldn't reject Travis' offer earlier and just agreed to eat breakfast with him.

On the other hand, after talking to Adelaine on the phone, he went somewhere first before going to Adelaine's dorm.

He met someone and talked to that person. Their talk lasted for almost an hour.

What he knows, Adelaine won't attend the whole day today in school, so he didn't rush himself and talked sincerely to the person he was meeting.

Until they finished their talk, he immediately rode his motorcycle and wore his helmet. Before turning on the engine, he took his phone out of his pocket and tried to call Adelaine. But the signal there was not enough for him to make a call. Instead, he attempted to send her a message.

"Adi, I'm on my way. I dropped by somewhere. I have some things to sort. Wait for me."

The message could not be sent.

Even his message can't be sent. So he drove his motorcycle at its best speed to arrive at Adelaine's dorm within thirty minutes.

But his location right now was too far from his destination. He speeds up as if he's worrying about Adelaine. As if he's in a race with someone.

While Travis was driving to Adelaine, Adelaine was waiting inside her room, starting to get impatient.

She then heard a knock on the door and immediately opened it assuming that it was already Travis.

"Hey! What took you so long?!" she nagged right after opening the door. Her eyes that collided suddenly raised and made her forehead wrinkle.

She was about to ask the person in front of her when someone suddenly sprayed her face with a strong scent that made her feel dizzy.

She started getting weak, and the person in front grabbed her out of the room, strangled her, and covered her nose and mouth with a hanky.

There were no cameras in the corridor, so no one knew what's happening to Adelaine.

Their dormitory isn't a dorm with guards that roams around to ensure that everyone's good, and there was no CCTV to record everything that's going on inside the dorm.

The traffic caused Travis a delay. He arrived at the dorm after an hour.

While he was walking in the corridor through Adelaine's room, he could see a door opened. He rushed inside the room and looked for her. But not even a shadow of her can be seen.

He decided to look for her outside, but the paper attached to the door caught his attention.

There was something written on the paper. Travis went near the door to read the note, then he felt his chest tightened after reading it.

"We're getting her back. Stop playing around. Quit messing up her life!!"

He tried not to lose his sanity and think carefully of what he should do. He didn't bothered thinking of who might have left the note there.

He immediately grabbed his phone and tried to call Adelaine. As soon as he dialed her number, he heard the phone that he saw outside ringing. He picked it up and saw his name on the screen.

It was Adelaine's phone. He then picked up the bag and saw what's inside. He could see some cosmetics, a wallet, and I.D. He started feeling nervous when he saw the I.D with her name on it.

He then picked up the hanky from the ground. He didn't even think of sniffing it, but the scent was too strong. He knew that that scent was enough to make someone faint.

He was sure that Adelaine was abducted. So, he called the police.

"Hi, this is the police station. How can we help you?"

"Abducted...my girlfriend--she--someone was--"

"Hello, Sir. Please take a deep breath and calm down. Could you tell us what happened in detail?"

He then took a deep breath but couldn't stop his tears from falling down his cheeks. He can't even breathe well, with his chest feeling heavy.

"Please help me." his hands clenched into fists, with his chin trembling, he could feel his tears falling from his eyes as he pleaded.

"Yes, we will help you. But please help us understand what's the situation. What happened, Sir?"

He doesn't have the strength to believe what he was just about to say that he fell on his knees and cried intensely.

"Adelaine...she was abducted." his voice started to crack.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"I want to report her as a missing person. Please take action immediately."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we can only report someone missing if the person can't be seen anywhere for 24 hours. We have some rules to follow."

"What!? You want me to wait for 24 hours doing nothing when I am aware that something might happen to her anytime!?" he shouted after hearing the response of the cop.

"Could you please tell us your whereabouts instead? We'll do our best."

He immediately sent the address to the police. Within ten minutes, the police had arrived already.

He immediately told the cops about his speculations.

Guiding the police to Adelaine's room, he pointed out the things she left in front of the door to the cops. He also gave the hanky to them.

Even before he headed to the dorm, he was already aware that something might happen to Adelaine. But he didn't expect that it was this much.

Every time Adelaine gets in danger, he can't help but blame himself and go with his day full of guilt.

"We will investigate further, Sir. For now, please calm down and do not worry about anything. We will do our best--"

"I don't want to hear that. I want to know what you will do next. What are you going to do now?" Travis can't even hold back his anger and can't avoid letting it out to the cops.

"We still don't know, Sir. We can't track her since her phone was left here. If your speculation is true, we will look further to know where she might be hidden."

"Do you know anyone who holds a grudge against her? Or anyone who's not on good terms with her?"

He couldn't answer the police and was just rubbing his hand on his pants.

He couldn't answer the cops because there's no answer to their questions.

No one's holding a grudge against her. No one's on bad terms with her.

She was abducted because of Travis.

Someone who's holding a grudge against him. Someone who's not on good terms with him.

But how is he supposed to know who abducted her? When there are too many people that hate him?

He sat on the bedside, thinking hard. He was covered in sweat and kept on doing unnecessary moves.

The cops can't do anything but stare at him.

They thought that they're wasting their time and Adelaine might be in trouble, having a hard time right now. So they asked Travis again.

"Sir? Do you know anyone who holds a grudge against her? Your answer will help--"

"No one's holding a grudge against her. She's a good person. Everyone likes her." he immediately answered.

He wanted to save Adelaine as soon as possible, but he can't even tell the cops what he had in mind and what he wants to say.

He kept shaking his feet up and down, rubbing his chin, and scratching his head.

But then, Adelaine was more important to him. So he gathered all his strength as he wiped his sweat off and stood up.

"Someone who's holding a grudge against me was the one who took her.", he told the cops while clenching his jaw.

"Thank you for telling us. Do you know who exactly the person is?"

He went silent again. He desperately wants to answer their question, but he doesn't have an answer for that. He wants to see Adelaine immediately and embrace her tightly. But he's facing the cops without answers to give them.

He can't say a word. Until his mind went blank, his eyes were filled with tears.

With the looks of stupidity on his face, he felt like his world had crumbled.

Who wouldn't feel hopeless at times like this? Even the cops don't have any idea of what to do.

Nobody knows how important Adelaine is to him.

No words can tell.

No one can tell.

To Adelaine, they barely know each other.

But to him, he knows Adelaine well.

Because they met each other years ago.

To him, Adelaine's worth is more than the worth of his life.