"Yeah! Well duh! I already know she's gone! I'm not blind! At least not anymore!" Jayden said, laughing at her own rather dark remark, Moby staying dead silent with a serious look on his sweating face.
"Okay, but for real, where did she go off to? She should really join us for a party at my place!" She added, calming herself down from her previous outburst.
"Jayden, Abby has been kidnapped!" Moby announced, yelling into Jayden's mind-link, making her snap out of her bubble of happy thoughts and realize the severity of her situation.
"....S-she's gone… B-but how… A-abby…" Jayden muttered, her expressions and attitude shifting a full 180 degrees as she felt her heart suddenly lurch deep down in her chest, sending shivers down her spine, her eyes becoming watery like the dam that had just been resealed was about to overflow once more.
Despite the fact that the Griffiths and the Reids were meant to be long time enemies, they managed to bridge that almost taboo bridge and become each other's first true friends. They only knew each other for a few months but those few months felt more like years, it had almost been like their life was on autopilot before they had turned into demons. Jayden saw Abby as her little sister sometimes and as her older sister in others, a source of true joy, and now, all of that was ripped away from her and all of those emotions began to sink in and ferment in her heart.
"Kidnapped!? Kidnapped by who!? The gang!? Where? Are these fuckers to blame!? My precious Abby… Where are you!" Jayden yelled, overwhelmed by her own emotions as the news was so sudden to her, a waterfall of tears running down her face as she tightly clenched her still accelerating heart that felt like it was about to leap out of her chest.
"Please explain what happened to me! I need to know! What's happening! Is this real?! Why the hell are we still even here! Let's get the fuck out and start looking! Where do we look!? What are they going to do to her?! Wh-" Jayden continued, delving deeper and deeper into her own madness before Moby once again planted both of his hands firmly on her shoulders, a serious, rock hard expression on his face.
"If you really want to know everything, stare deep into my eyes…" Moby said, trying to calm her down.
"No-no! Not that skill again! You promised me you wouldn't do it!" Jayden mumbled in a low, shaky voice.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"We are low on time! If you want to know what happened as fast as possible please just trust me! It won't be as big of a change as last time! I promise!"
The passion in Moby's voice rang into Jayden's ears and unsteady heart, making her feel somewhat comforted despite the fact that he was yelling at her. Moby had never in his life let her down, other than the last time he used this exact same skill on her which made her end up hating him for 30 minutes straight, an experience she did not want to repeat no matter what. Yet, that was only once, and right now, she was desperate to find answers and desperate to find Abby as soon as possible, meaning that she was willing to do anything.
"F-fine! I trust you! Just make it quick…" Jayden mumbled with a low nod, and a bright smile that completely contrasted the waterfall of tears still flowing from both of her eyes.
"This will only take a minute," Moby replied, returning her smile with one of his own, making her slightly calmer and more at ease despite everything that had just happened.
Nags raised an eyebrow, a mix of confusion and curiosity on his face while Jason just gazed with intent as he prepared for the unexpected as from their perspective, it only seemed like they were having a staring contest, but why a staring contest at a time like this? That was why they had a feeling that it must have been some sort of unknown demon skill that he had yet to show them.
After a minute straight of what looked like awkward staring, getting lost looking at each other's eyes, not a single word was spoken giving the situation an air of odd seriousness when suddenly, both of their eyes closed simultaneously, almost like they were in sync. Their bodies looked completely unconscious yet at the same time their bodies stayed sitting up straight, not dropping on the ground like dead bodies.
If Nags and Jason still had a vendetta to pursue or had been some sort of assassins, now would have been the perfect time to take them out as they were both in such a vulnerable state. Yet, they did not even attempt to lift a finger or even test the waters of Moby's absolute control to see if it was still in effect when he was in such a state because the answer was still most likely yes, and if he knew what they were attempting, they would no doubt greatly be punished so they would rather not take the risk as they both continued staring intently to see what was going to happen.
They had long accepted and come to terms with their fate and their new lives, seeing how Moby was treating every other demon in his household as literal family made them feel hopeful that it might also happen to them one day if they proved themselves enough, hope in a tunnel that was simply pitch black from before as they thought that they were only his tools to be thrown away once he had no use for them.
Not long after they both fell asleep, they reawoke once more, Jayden looking calmer yet more distressed at the same time. All of the information that Moby had extracted from Alex, everything that had happened to him, why those two seemingly random people were here and both demons, why Ray was being turned into a demon, who it was that kidnapped Abby, the memory of her own body lying almost dead on the ground and Abby's neck being tightly gripped by a devilish, black-eyed, black-haired witch.
That information flowed into her mind all at once as she knew that Moby had used his memory manipulation ability to implant all the information he knew into her mind.
Her calmness stemmed from the fact that she was now much more informed about the situation than before, but from that knowledge came the realization that Abby had been kidnapped in her attempt at trying to save her after their mind-link was somehow severed. Yet, she managed to suppress her guilt in order to have a clearer outlook on things, taking deep breaths to calm herself down, what had happened had already happened and there was nothing she could have done about it.
They were simply outmatched, no matter what they through, there was no way of victory, even Alex who was definitely much stronger than her was defeated with but a single slap, if anything, the opponent was way too cautious when fighting her, probably because they had not gauged her power, unlike Alex who she had been spectating the entire time.
The only guilt that still managed to linger despite all her efforts to suppress it was the guilt of neglecting her training for so many years, thinking that she was safe due to her family power, that she was untouchable, no one daring to lay a finger on her. That was because she was in the past, a very self-centred person that only cared for herself, she could not bother to care about others, as long as she was safe, nothing mattered. That power managed to save her from being kidnapped but proved to be completely useless in saving Abby.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at Moby who was still deep in thought before talking in a calm yet shaky voice as everything was slowly beginning to take place in her mind.
"Moby, since we can't go out and look for ourselves, and we don't have the first clue where to look since for all we know, they could already be on a faraway planet, we should probably contact the police. I would call my butler but that would not be possible since he is on vacation. And even if he weren't he is only one man, even with all his various talents, he would still be unlikely to find them. I would contact my family but you know how it is between the Reids and the Griffiths. I can 100% confirm to you now that even if I begged and pleaded, it would not be possible, if anything this gesture of peace might be looked upon as some sort of mockery and spark another war between our families… I would ask Alex- oh speaking of Alex I should probably go heal him so he could also join into the conversation,"
Moby nodding to her, Jayden stood up from her seat with another deep breath, yet before she could even turn around to face the bunk beds, an extremely familiar voice could be heard coming from that direction.
"No need, I am already awake… I've been listening in for quite a while but I never found a good opportunity to talk until now," Alex said, staring at the ceiling of the top bunk, his voice sounding more normal than Moby expected.
Hearing Alex's words about being conscious for a long time, Moby became extremely nervous and tense and many "what ifs" began playing in his mind before shaking them away as most likely untrue.
When Moby was seeing Alex's memories, he had contemplated changing them slightly to lower his guilt and ease his mind, but now, he was now glad that he trusted his guts as Alex seemed to have seemingly recovered from his earlier daze.
"I agree with Jayden's suggestion, maybe the police is our only option right now. I would have said we could wait until curfew when they would be reported for being out of the dorms but due to the lockdown that's no longer an option. Even though my family knows that I am friends with Abby, their hands are also tied, they can't get involved."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Either we call the police or we contact the Reid household to let them know what's going on, it might be a bad option since it might hurt her pride and since we know that her family hates her but they seemed to be more accepting of her ever since she scored first on the exam. Either way, even if they were trying to be genuinely good or not, if they found out that Abby was kidnapped, they would be forced into going out of their way to find her, maybe not because they liked her but in order to save face and not embarrass themselves in front of all the big families."
"The only problem is that no one here knows what the phone number to the Reid household is and it is obviously nowhere to be found online so that option is thrown out the window," Alex said with a heavy voice, sitting up straight to face the group.
"WAIT! I think I know their phone number!" Jayden blurted, her eyes going wide in excitement.
"What?! How? And why did you only JUST speak out about this!?" Alex asked, his eyes almost going just as wide as hers.
"Sorry! My butler gave it to me a really long time ago! I just forgot that I had the number saved from when me and Abby did a prank phone call on them when we were bored!" Jayden replied, her excitement growing even further.
Although both Alex and Jayden did not want to admit it, the Ried family was no doubt extremely powerful, compared to them, the gang would be like nothing more than ants. Once they find out what happened and get involved, even if it might lead to problems with her and her family, it was by far their best option, much better than the police who would be no doubt much slower and less trustworthy. That was the reason why Alex and Jayden's expressions had shifted so drastically, it was a bright light, a crimson fire with a burning passion that had illuminated their otherwise dark situation.
Yet, Moby, along with Jason and Nags, did not join in on their celebration and hopeful thinking, he felt like there was something wrong… He had already thought of such a thing and the only logical conclusion he could come up with was that there would be no way for the gang to be that ignorant. But, he did not want to ruin the mood so he decided to stay silent, hoping in his heart that his assumptions were wrong.
"Okay! I'm calling them right now! Don't worry Abby! Just hold on for a little bit longer!" Jayden spoke with a hopeful smile, calling them on her phone.
*Doot* *Doot* *Doot*
*Hello, you have reached the phone number of the esteemed Ried household, this is George Williams, the head butler, how may I help you today?* The voice of an old man rang throughout the room as Jayden had put the speakerphone on, his voice sounding close to the accent of country V, which was in the region where the united kingdoms stood over 100 years ago.
"Umm… Hello, this is Reily, I am one of Abby's closest friends… I got this number from her a while back... I just wanted to inform you guys that our school has gone into lockdown and Abby has yet to return back to her dorm… And no matter how many times I call her watch, she would not respond... I am really worried about her… I am really scared something happened to her…" Jayden said in a grave yet nervous tone, her voice changing almost completely, no one would ever be able to guess that it was her, Moby looking at her once again stunned at her impeccable acting, once again reminding him why she was turned into a doppelganger.
*Ho ho! It seems like the young miss truly has kind friends! She is extremely lucky to have friends like you! But worry not young lady, I can more than assure you that the young mistress is completely safe! In fact, if you could not tell by my voice, today is indeed a happy day. She had actually come to visit us for the first time in several years! She is currently in her sister's quarters catching up on all that they had missed and discussing how their lives have been since they had last met,*