Stronger than he looks

When Sabrina got back to the rooftop restaurant bar, the three men were no where in sight. The table was empty and has been cleared. She looked around the whole place. Where did they go? She can't have missed them. Unless they took another elevator down while she was going back up. Why would they leave without waiting for her, she wondered. She took out her phone to check if Kavan sent her a message. He did not.

That's odd. She walked around the restaurant again, hoping maybe they had shifted to another table but she couldn't find them at all. She stopped a server and asked if she had seen the men at the corner table. The young server, who looks like a college student moonlighting at the bar, told her that the men had left.

"The two younger men looked really drunk and the elderly one accompanied them to the lift," she said.

She thanked the server and went back to the elevator. How could Kavan and Ace suddenly become drunk in the few minutes she accompanied Dr Kaito down to the ground floor? Kavan and Ace were perfectly fine earlier. That seems even stranger now.

She jabbed at the elevator button again. She need to get down to the ground floor in hopes of catching them. They can't have left too long ago since she was only away for a few minutes. Once the elevator arrived, she entered it and jabbed the G button, hoping that Kavan and his annoying friend, Ace, are fine. She doesn't know what Uncle Darian did but it didn't sound good. To think Dr Kaito had just warned her of him.

Once at the ground floor, she hurried to the hotel lobby. There were no signs of the three men. How could they have left so fast? She called Kavan's phone. It rang and rang and then it went to voicemail. She is now frantic with worry.

What did Uncle Darian do to Kavan? Did he drug him and take him back to the Chokshi house? That is highly probable. Should she go to the Chokshi family house to search for Kavan? But his family, especially his parents, surely wouldn't harm him. After all, he is still their son and they depend on him to get their hands on the family fortune. As she stood there undecided on what to do, her phone rang and she almost dropped it. It was an unknown number.

"Hello? Kavan?" she answered, hoping it was him using Ace's phone.

"Sabrina! Oh, phew, I was worried Kavan was not coherent enough to give me the right number," it was Uncle Darian. That insidious evil plotter.

"Where is Kavan? Where did you take him? What do you mean coherent enough??" she asked.

"Oh don't worry Sabrina. They boys are drunk. A bit too much to drink, if you ask me, so I am now driving Ace back and I will drop Kavan off at your hotel after that," he said.

She inhaled deeply to calm herself. She must not antagonise him. She must pretend that she didn't know that he has something up his sleeves.

"Why don't you drop off Kavan first? I will take him up to our room myself," she said.

"Oh don't worry about it Sabrina. I will send him back in a while, can you take a taxi back on your own?" he asked.

"Oh sure, I will wait for you to drop him off at the hotel lobby then," she said a bit curtly. Then she hang up. Curse that Uncle Darian. Why can't Kavan have a regular dysfunctional mortal family of divorced parents and sullen spoilt siblings? Nooo…she has to get a human match with a dramatic arrogant rich family and an evil uncle to complete the whole set.

She took a taxi back to their hotel and waited at the lobby area, pacing impatiently. It was another hour before Uncle Darian drove up with Kavan unconscious in the back of the car.

She went over to open the door. What did his uncle do? How the heck did he drug his own nephew till he was out cold? What will he accomplish from this? She tried to wake Kavan up by shaking him and calling to him but he was fully unconscious.

"I tried that girl, it didn't work," Uncle Darian said. He shuts off the car engine and came to stand next to her. "Here, let me carry him," he said. Sabrina moved to let him do it. Uncle Darian turned around, bent and asked her to help place Kavan's arms on his shoulders. "I'm gonna give him a piggy back ride, just like when he was a small kid," Uncle Darian said, chuckling. He easily lifted Kavan on his back without even bending over and walked inside easily. He handed the car keys to the valet.

Sabrina was impressed with his strength. She did not expect the middle-aged man to have the strength to carry Kavan on his back. This only tells her two important things, the man works out and he is stronger than he looks.

"So, which floor? I'll take him to your room for you," Uncle Darian said. The middle-aged man may be carrying a full grown man on his back but he was not even panting. She told him the level they are in and followed them into the elevator. She could have easily carried Kavan too but it would be too suspicious. No mortal her size will be able to carry their own boyfriend who is taller and muscular.

Once at their level, she led the way to their luxurious suite and used her key card to open it. Uncle Darian was impressed with the room.

"Wow. Kavan really splurged for you," he said. Which somehow sounded strange to her. Don't rich people always stay in luxurious suites whenever they travel? Or maybe Kavan's family is too much of a miser to splurge on expensive hotel suites. She led him to the bedroom where he gently placed Kavan on the king bed.

He straightened and then turned to arrange Kavan properly on the bed, taking off his shoes for him and tucking him under the covers. If she didn't know better, she would have been touched that Kavan has such a caring uncle. But she knew, Uncle Darian must have given Kavan something to knock him out cold. She will have to find out the reason for the uncle to do that.

She went outside to the sitting area to wait for Uncle Darian to finish pretending to fuss over Kavan and come out. She must do something to find out his motives and what he really wanted from Kavan and her. She contemplated using her powers but thought better of it. This would not be a good time to attract the elders and have them descend on her like a bunch of angry bees.

Uncle Darian came out of the bedroom, saw her sitting on the sofa and went to sit on the armchair across from her.

"Phew, my nephew sure can't hold his drink," he said conversationally.

"Hmmm…I guess," she said.

"Well, I guess I better get going then," he said. He stood up. She stood up too. It looks like he is leaving without doing anything. Maybe he did not really have any ill intent, she thought. She watch him walk to the door and followed behind him. He opened the door and then turned to smile at her.

"Well, good night Sabrina," he said.

"Good night and thank you," she responded politely. Suddenly, his hand shot out and clasped over her mouth. He was holding a white cloth over her mouth and nose. She could smell the strong fumes of chloroform on it. Her head is now buzzing from the chloroform.