boxer ⋆ luke hemmings ✔️

33. Punch.

When Hagley- the buff, tattooed guy of fifty-seven years that dedicated his entire life to guarding the front entrance of the R- dragged a terrified Chase Berkley up to the boxer's ring ropes, Luke didn't know what to think.

First off, he wasn't so sure what the kid was doing there in the first place. He was convinced he was lost, or something. Chase didn't look like the type of person to entertain himself with the simple walls of an illegal institute at all, confusing everyone beyond belief.

So Luke just raised an eyebrow at him, more sceptic than anything else. He was so out of breath from running (and being partly dragged) from his car to the arena that he found it too difficult to even think of a simple excuse- much less say it.

"Spit it out, kid," Luke narrowed his eyes. He wasn't patient and he assumed Chase knew that.

It wasn't until the younger boy spluttered the first few letters of Sophie's name that the blond found himself fumbling out of the ring in a heartbeat. That was all it took, and Luke was honestly a little pissed at himself that he hadn't been able to draw his own conclusion the very second his eyes landed on Chase.

Ashley followed after them, asking zero questions whatsoever as she ran a hand through her silver hair. She slid into the backseat, buckling her belt without giving Chase a chance to get a word in edgewise; she was coming, whether they liked it or not.

The young boy wasn't so sure whether he was all that comfortable with her tagging along. It was bad enough sitting in such an enclosed space with the one man who could ring every drop of blood from his neck- nevertheless having to accompany his equally as scary companion.

Regardless, he drove them straight to Sophie's house, ignoring the stark look of disapproval from the guard in charge of the gate as he did so. It was apparently no secret around the neighbourhood that Luke had been coming around more often lately, and the fact that he was a close friend of Calum's was the only thing stopping the small community from filing a formal complaint.

Snobs. Chase thought, harbouring on a slight scoff. It was the truth, yes, but it was also what he'd been brought up with. In a way, he was used to it.

None of them knew what to expect once they finally reached the Hood residence. Not even Luke, who had been itching to burst through her bedroom door like some knight-in-sagging-sweatpants the very second Chase tried to explain to him what the hell was going on, ready to sweep the little princess off her feet. He was even ready to break a knuckle or two by colliding it with Rick Morane's pathetic, little face- only to have his eyebrows furrow at the sight of an empty driveway.

No cars littered the front of the house, for Joy and her husband were at work. The two older siblings were probably in the city somewhere, not wanting to be cooped up at home. That would explain their empty parking spaces.

Yet none of that was what set Luke off the most- no, what truly made his stomach twist and his heart race was he fact that not even Morane's car was parked at the gate.

He was gone. And a small part of Luke dreaded the confirmation of what had most likely happened, of what he'd been dreading from day one because he knew it would happen eventually; Rick had taken Sophie with him.

"Is this..." Luke narrowed his eyes, jaw clenching. He was so at a loss for words that the anger came before the reason did, "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Chase's own heart fell to the pit of his stomach as he eyed the empty-looking building, "W-What-"

"There's nobody fucking home," Luke snapped, instantaneously reaching over to yank the boy by the collar. Ashley gasped in the backseat, not expecting the sudden jolt at all, "If you're fucking in on whatever that piece of shit's planning, kid, I swear-"