People started surrounding and aiming their guns at us. We were completely outnumbered.
"This round of hide-and-seek is sadly over, but the next round is starting...right now!"
We heard a fit of hysterical laughter before she announced.
"Are you rea...
My mind was turning like crazy, trying to think of every possibility. Cain just slipped out from under our noses and it's my fault. I let my guard down and someone goes missing.
Just great, huh?
When we arrived, I got off with the others and in a quick pace, walked along the concrete path and into the mansion.
"Tanner, head back to the quarters. The rest, start finding clues on Cain Howards' location," I threw down the order and they said a simple 'yes, miss' before dispersing. I felt a gentle tug on my hand and looked at my boyfriend.
"Let me help, alright?" he said quietly like he's scared I would reject. My eyes softened and turned to face him completely. I held his hand and ran the pad of my thumb gingerly across the tattoos on his left wrist.
"Okay."
***
"Kris," I called, opening his bedroom door. His voice came out from his closet, "In here, Krystal."
I led Zach into the closet and Kris' holopad was in the center. He didn't have the weapons room like how I had one so his AI just stayed here.
"I feel like it's starting to add up," Kris said, tapping on various cameras around the amusement park. I peeked over his arm, "What is?"
"Two months ago, Zachary gave me a clue on who's orchestrating this," he then looked behind me, "She has dirty-ish blonde hair with some highlights, right?"
Zach nodded and Kris looked at me, "They forgot to disable a camera and I caught a head of blonde hair. I have a feeling it's the same girl."
Then it hit me, "Tatiana? Tracey's sister?"
He nodded, "But I don't think Trace knows what Tatiana's doing because even though she doesn't seem like she cares, it's a very serious offense to go against a leader. She would've told Tatiana to stop or told me."
I looked down at the screen and stared closely at the paused frame on the blonde. She was careless to not cover her hair, but there are thousands of blondes. How do we know it's actually her? But there's no reason it's not.
Zach's phone went off and he took one look at the screen before taking in a sharp breath. Kris and I snapped our heads to him and asked simultaneously. "What?"
Zach's hand trembled slightly as he handed his phone to us. Kris and I glanced at each other before looking at the screen.
Even we almost dropped the phone.
It was a video of Cain tied up in a chair with blood dripping from his temples. He looked like he was in very bad shape. I hesitantly pressed the play button, slightly fearing what I would witness.
>>PLAY>>
"There, it's rolling. Say hi, Cain!" a familiar female voice said and Cain exhaustedly lifted his head up. His face was completely black and blue with red tinting various spots.
"Now, Cain. You have a few minutes to say something to your beloved mistress, use it wisely."
Before he could say something, a baseball bat went straight towards his stomach. He puked out the contents onto the floor and panted.
"Cain, we don't have much time before you die," the woman's voice had a hint of impatience waiting for him. He regained his breath a little before speaking very softly.
"Miss...please...help me..."
He took sharp breaths before continuing, "I'm...scared, miss...please come and...help me..."
Then he was knocked out by a burly guy. The camera then turned towards the all too familiar, Tatiana Smith.
"Well, Krystallia? You heard it, little ol' waiter boy needs your help. It's a game of hide and seek, and you're the seeker. Come find him before it's too late, and remember, your enemies are closer than you think."
She let out a crazed fit of laughter before finishing off her sentence, "Are you ready? Ready or not, here you come!"
[PAUSE]
//END//
My hand left the phone as I took a step back. He's already beaten up till his face is barely recognizable, and it hasn't been forty-five minutes.
"What have I done..." the question rolled off my tongue in dread. If I hadn't gotten together with Zach or overlooked Tatiana's threats, no one would've gotten hurt.
Kris must've noticed because within a second, his arms were tightly around me as if he was afraid I would disappear. I hesitantly hugged back and buried my face in his chest.
"Krystal, it's not your fault," he softly said in my ear. I so badly wanted to cry, to let go. Everything was too much to handle.
Their deaths, Kris' split, wounds of many gang members, the threat on Mark, now Cain...
Oh, god.
People around me will be hurt, and here I was being such a sarcastic little bitch, not taking anything seriously. I'm the worst. I thought those girls were just all bark and no bite, but of course, I underestimated one of them.
How Tatiana managed this without any of us knowing will be beyond my knowledge, but I know she used the backdoor to it.
"Krystal, look at me," Kris pleaded and I hesitantly lifted my face from his shirt to look at him. His eye twitched as he said, "It's not your fault. Don't think it is because it's not."
Landon was trying his hardest to make me feel like I didn't do anything wrong, but he knew the truth, we all knew.
If I didn't overlook the threats, we wouldn't be in this situation right now.
Thank you for choosing to read RON. Follow me (@lephantomsoh) on Instagram to get sneak peeks and random snippets of things.
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