Where did you go? (A Stitched Together story)

Chapter 1: Hidden in shadows

BEFORE READING!! This book has have spoilers for my prior book Stitched Together I heavily advise you read on from Chapter 22 till the end of that book to get a better grasp on the characters within this book. Thank you and Enjoy this chapter and the book!

The explosion rang through the quiet London streets as the blazing inferno of Traitors Gate Hotel grew with each passing second as the fire became ever present, the blaze lightened the dimly lit street and allowed the grey eyes of Dominic Swan to see a small female figure sprinting away from him. Filled with a newfound burst of energy he sprinted away from the burning hotel and chased after the shadow.

Swan looked back briefly as the fires erupted onto the surrounding buildings and street, through the thick smoke and flames he could see the pig-tailed silhouette of a small girl sword in hand as she stood off against an unearthly monster as it approached her with a snarl.

Fighting back the urge to stop his pursuit and help the young teenager he turned away from the ensuing battle and continued his chase of the shadow that threatened to dissappear from his view. In the distance the aging detective could hear and see the blue flashing lights of sirens as they neared the battle scarred street.

As he ran, Dominic's thoughts raced through his mind as each of his feet lept infront of the other, thousands of tiny messages repeated over and over in his head about what decisions he was making, memories of the past kicked in and his eyes became blurred but he kept up the chase and even though his breath became ragged and his legs were tempted to give out he carried on as a single question became prominent in his mind.

'How the hell did this happen?'

~~

Several minutes before

"Where's Winters?" Swan asked the large group of outcast students and hotel staff that stood freezing within the unlit alley, the man stuffed his hands within his long coat as he waited for an answer from the young teenagers.

"I saw her in the hotel before we left, she wasn't leaving." A small boy piped up that Dominic recognised to be a younger student by the name of Eugene, Swan had learnt the majority of the foreign Nevermores students names including Bianca, Ajax, Yoko, the now deceased Xavier Thorpe and the ones who got the detective roped into this, Wednesday and (Y/N).

"Bugger, right all of you get to the river and stay there I'll come back once I've got this sorted. You're in charge." The older man huffed to himself as he scratched at his dark brown beard before pointing at the gorgon boy Ajax who stared on in shock.

The detective turned away sprinted back out of the streets and back to the hotel where Ashley Winters was last seen.

"I know who you are. You're not anyone named Ashley Winters, Morgan Maxwell is who you really are." He whispered underneath his breath as he approached the hotel, tremors shook the ground around him as he entered the large building, he payed to attention to the mini earthquake or the shadows figures he avoided.

Through the scarcely lit lobby of the grand Hotel, Dominic turned on his phones flashlight to lead the way, his shoes clacked against the tiled floor as he cautiously creeped around the hotel in search of the faux reporter.

"Morgan! Come out!" The long curly haired man shouted through the hundreds of halls that echoed back to him. Silence followed his pleas as he checked each dormant and empty room before he stopped and waited, his breath halted as he listened out.

Twung!

In the distance a noise ricocheted through the halls from beyond the ground floor up to where Dominic stood still, he kept paused as his mind dotted through the scenarios but quick to not waste time he hastily launched himself down the flights of stairs trying to keep as silent as possible but ultimately failing as his weight barrelled down the staircases.