The Chameleon and The Beast - Anderson Family Series Book 3

Prologue

A/N: Hey everyone! This will be the third story on the Anderson Family Series, featuring Ollie, Claire's second eldest brother/cousin. I hope you will like this as well. Updates will not be regular, because of my work, so please bear with me, but I will try to update as much as I can.

There will be some mistakes, wrong spelling, grammar, just point it out to me, because as much as I do proofreading before I update, there are still some that I may miss.

Comments, may it be positive or negative are welcome, but please say it in a nice way.

Thank you to all of you who are patiently waiting for this. I just hope that I will meet your expectations and may answer some questions from the previous stories.

So without further ado, here is Ollie's story.

Happy reading! ;)
____________________________________________

He doesn't how many hours since he passed out or how many days he has been here, in this cold, damp and musty cell where they took him. It is always dark, he doesn't know the time, or if it is day or night. The only time where there is light is when they are coming to beat him and they always make sure for him not to see their faces.

He doesn't know how he looks right now, but he is sure he looks like hell. His left eye was shut from swelling, and his ribs might be broken because it hurts to breath. He has been hanging from the ceiling for God knows how long, and he is already feeling it in his arms, it is as if it will disconnect from the socket and his fingers are feeling numb.

They are not feeding him anything, not even a drop of water was given. His throat was already dry as it is, his voice is already hoarse everytime he tried to speak, and they wanted him to speak. To tell them anything that he knows, but he refused, he will not tell them anything, not even a word. So they did this to him.

It was just suppose to be a simple mission and not his first. Him to infiltrate the underground fighting arena, but sh*t happened and they found out about him and what he is after. He doesn't know how they have known, but the closest he can come up with is that there is a traitor - his gut feeling tells him so and he is rarely wrong. He was already close to knowing who is the boss of the syndicate whose main business is human trafficking, but here he is, chained, beaten and hungry.

He mentally shook his head when he felt he is drifting again, but sleep is much stronger than him that he cannot resist the pull. His body is screaming for a rest that he let himself be swallowed with the comfort, that can only be given by sleep. He just hopes that this sleep will not be permanent, like he always hopes everytime he fell asleep. He doesn't want to die in this place, not when his family doesn't know where he is. He seldom pray, but since coming here, he has been holding to Him, so he prayed for someone to come, someone to take him out of here. If somebody will know that he had been praying to be saved, they will laugh, him, who is ruthless in the arena, whom they called "The Beast", needs some saving. But that is the only thing that is keeping him alive and sane. It has been his constant prayer everytime he is awake in this place until sleep overtook his consciousness once more.

He didn't know how many hours has passed since, but he suddenly shook awake, with what, he doesn't know. He can only see darkness, but there is something new to it. A feeling of something is happening, or coming. The place has been eerily quiet since he woke up and it's making him antsy. Before, he can still hear some foot falls or a faint sound of people talking or shouting. But now, it is gone, the place is too quiet, like he was all alone.

He felt something shifted in the air, like he is not alone anymore. But he heard nothing, he can only feel it. The situation is like a hair-raising movie he once saw when he was younger. He hates to admit it, but he is afraid. Afraid of what it is that might be lurking in this place, that made it eerily quiet. It is spooky.

'Shit', he shouted mentally when he felt that something or someone is in front of him. He refused to move, even though he really cannot, because he felt very weak. A chain sounded and he felt himself being lowered to the ground. He tried to stand, but his legs cannot support him that he fell on a heap with a hoarse cry. He felt the cuff on his wrist being open and he was free, but he found it is difficult to move, his arms and legs are cramped from being in one position for so long.

He felt someone tried to pick him up but did so with difficulty. He didn't know if it is just his imagination, but the person helping him seems smaller than him, like a woman. His hunch was true when he suddenly heard a voice, a whisper, of a woman.

"Help me will you, caro. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for me to take you out of this hellhole."

With renewed strength from the promise of getting out, he gritted his teeth and willed himself to stand up and to walk with the help of his savior. Though with difficulty, the woman - a very sexy one, based on the feel of her body on his, managed to get him out of that place. He found out it was already nighttime. The woman deposited him at the passenger seat of an SUV, she also fasten his seatbelt. That's when he noticed her appearance, she is wearing a black overall which emphasized her sexy body and she is wearing a mask that only reveals her big, dark eyes, the shape is like that of a cat.

Trying all that he can, he managed to speak, or croak, depending on who might be listening. "What time?"

"Two in the morning." came the muffled response.

"What day?" he again managed to croak.

"It's been more than two weeks since you went missing."

He again tried to speak, but the woman suddenly spoke.

"Sleep, you are safe now." Like a whisper coming from an angel, the statement made him shut his eyes and sleep. Not minding who is this woman who saved him, he trusted her to bring him to safety.

He woke up in a hospital, with his whole family present. Alessa, their mother, must have been crying, for she is sporting red eyes and is frequently sniffing. His brothers all wear a look of relief and their father is teary-eyed.

He tried to move and get up but his effort was futile, making him grit his teeth.

"Lie back down Ollie, you're not yet fully healed." Ethan said, pushing his shoulder for him to lie down on the bed which he did so with so much annoyance.

Just then a doctor came and examined him and explained his health status. All is well according to him, only minor injury, and his ribs only suffered bruising. He can consider it a miracle since he only had minor injuries, but him being used to beating must have helped. It took him a week to recover, though not yet fully, but he can walk and move without assistance.

He almost didn't recognize himself the first time he saw himself in the mirror. His face is hollowed and sunken, and his body, though the muscles are still there, is smaller than before he was taken captive, he lost so much weight.

One of his superior in the agency talked to him when he was still admitted and told him to take a break for a while, since the syndicate already knew him by his face. A decision he readily accepted, not just for his sake but for his family as well.

"Sir," he called his superior and asked what has been bothering him since waking up.

"Who saved me?"

"Do not bother yourself with who, just know that that is her job." He felt irritated by the answer because he really wanted to know her, but kept his mouth shut for he understands that secrecy is very important in jobs like his'. He nods at his superior and kept his face relaxed but he cannot bring himself to be calm.

"Just focus on your recovery." his superior's parting words before he left him in his room.

Once alone, he thought deeply and decided to find her, his savior, and the syndicate's leader and most of all the traitor, but first he needed to recover and be strong once more.