Art of Darkness

chapter 61

THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW

"How did that happen?! She has bodyguards!" Lucian yelled at one of his men in frustration. All of his children are present in his warehouse as his wife, Sam, and Elijah were under lockdown in their mansion for safety.

"Boss, they were killed by a sniper," his men reported.

"Dad, it was planned," Natalia muttered. "They knew her whereabouts. The snipers are perfectly placed."

Natalia was pacing around as she thought of one person who could be behind this.

"Could it be—"

Even before she could finish her sentence, Lucian's laptop rang, as an unfamiliar video call request appeared.

"Answer it, dad," Cole said as Lucian stood in front of the computer while his kids hid by the side.

"Wait before you answer that dad, Niccolo you have your laptop with you, right? Connect it to the computer and trace the location before the call ends," Natalia said as Niccolo obliged immediately.

Taking his laptop, he connected a wire from one to the other breaking in some codes to successfully connect the other to his.

"Dad, answer." Natalia initiated.

Clicking the green button, the first thing that popped out was Avyanna, tied to a chair, unconscious.

"Avyanna!" Lucian shouted as a wicked laugh was heard from the other end.

["Look at your daughter, sleeping peacefully,"] the voice said before standing in front of the camera.

Natalia's fists clenched, just by seeing the person on the screen.

["Natalia,"] he called in a singing voice. ["I know you're there,"] he smirked. Natalia stormed in front of the laptop, banging her hands on the table.

"You son of a bitch. The moment I see you, you're dead and I'll fucking make sure of it!" she threatened.

["Oh I know. That's why you won't be seeing me personally."] He let out a sickening smile.

"What do you want from my daughter, Benjamin," Lucian stated coldly, glaring at the man. It was different, far from the cold persona shown during business meetings. It was like he was ready to kill at any moment.

["From her, I want nothing, but the other one—"]

"I would never sacrifice any of my daughters! You would have to kill me first!" Lucian yelled.

Benjamin laughed wickedly. ["Well, I'm going to dispose this one anyways."] he smirked. ["Natalia, princess. You know how I get rid of people."] he finished before turning the call off.

Natalia was silent, just staring at the blank screen. As everyone was arguing about what to do, her mind blocked everything on the outside, not being able to hear not understand what was happening.

"Dad, what time is it," she asked.

"Half past five."

She sighed deeply, slowly looking at them. "We have 13 hours to save Avyanna," she said. "We need to find her as early as possible. He'll torture her to death before killing her."

Natalia's voice was blank, emotionless, cold. There was no anger, no frustration. She sounded so calm and composed.

Everyone understood immediately. No words were needed for them to put the puzzles together. Despite the questions running in their heads, only one thing made everything clear.