Temporary Alliance

Chapter 11 : Played

Hello hello!
It's been a while and I hope everyone is doing great. For those who have waited, this is an extra long chapter and hopefully it was worth the wait.
Without further ado...

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Hopeless. That's what I felt. For the first time since Alexander brought me into the investigation to find my parents, I just felt utterly hopeless. Every path we tried to follow to find them lead to a dead end.

Firstly, my parents were good at what they did because there were no tracks we could follow. Not even one. Another was that my father's file on his newest case was still blacked out after we asked for access. Most importantly, the location that we looked for was nothing but an utter disappointment.

While I was looking for it, I tried not to build up hope thinking I could find them, but I couldn't help it.

Hope wasn't just taken away. It was ripped out of my body and shattered.

"They're not here," I said steely, simply stating the fact to anyone who was still listening in on their earpiece, as my hand unconsciously touched the dog tag around my neck.

I looked around at the empty basement as the feeling of utter despair seeped into my veins and my brain began to slowly shut down. The pools of blood on the ground and the smears on the walls only crushed my soul further. There was no way for sure to know who these belonged to unless we did a DNA test but in the back of my mind, I knew clearly.

Alexander walked cautiously in front of me as if I was the wounded animal that he didn't want to accidentally scare off. He used his hand to gently tilt my face up so that he could take a better look at me.

While he stared into my icy blues, I stared into his dark grey eyes. His emotionless mask cracked and I saw a quick flash of remorse flash across them before completely disappearing and concern for me took over his features. He cupped my face with both hands and stepped closer, so close that we were chest to chest. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his strong chest.

Normally, I wouldn't let him be step this close to me, but today, nothing he did registered inside my head from the shock and failure of this break-in. All I felt was warmth inside this chilly basement through the fog of my brain.

No. There was no time for me to act like this. I had to quickly find another plan. They must be still alive.

I snapped out of my daze and pushed Alexander a solid arm's length away from me. My resolve returned full force.

"It's not over yet," I murmured quietly to myself, only loud enough for Alexander and me to hear.

Alexander opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but I turned away from him. Taking a silent deep breath in and exhaling to calm my emotions that were going haywire, I walked back upstairs, unable to take the sight of this place anymore.

As much as I wanted to think that I might have found the wrong place, I knew I didn't. My parents were here. Now, they're gone. However, I refuse to give up and believe that this was the end. If there is a way, I'll find it soon.

*

I checked out the rest of the modest cottage, looking for anything these people may have left behind.

"There's a device on the coffee table." An unknown voice spoke and I quickly went towards the coffee table.

When I arrived, I saw that Victor and Alexander were already there. The other special forces were walking around the area and inside the cottage, on lookout.