⊳⊱ ♕ ⊰⊲

Warren was much more unpleasant than Quinn. The man's dealership was full of scrap and junk that somehow managed to drive; the place reeked of damp and rust, and just like the information broker, he tried to squeeze Elijah for more.

But the demon convinced him into loaning him a vehicle that didn't look like it had been in several accidents—and off the books, of course. Warren evidently valued his life more than his precious black muscle car.

Jake drove out of Dawnward and towards East Coast. Once they left the city, Nefastus' landscape was actually quite beautiful. Fields of grass and flowers spread for miles, meeting towering mountains on the horizon. The sky was much clearer, too, and when Elijah gazed at the clouds, he could see the faint silhouette of the skyfish swimming above.

"I smell rain," Jake said as he turned onto a forest highway.

Elijah stopped watching the sky and stared ahead. "Don't tell me you want to get out and bathe in it," he muttered.

Jake scoffed amusedly. "I'm a muto pardus, dude. I avoid water like poison."

"I can tell."

"You don't stink, Jake," Zoe mumbled from the back seat. "Don't listen to him."

"Nah, I kinda do, ain't gonna lie," Jake laughed.

They fell silent, driving down the empty country roads. Elijah turned his attention to the world outside his window; he watched an arieto graze in the woods, and as the storm clouds grew larger, thunder rumbled in the distance.

Jake glanced at Elijah when he drove onto a highway. "So...what's the story behind Lyca Corp. taking you?"

Zoe sighed quietly.

Elijah didn't answer. He didn't want to have to think about any of it.

"Did they like...just turn up at your house or...."

The demon closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, trying his best to keep his mind focused on what was outside.

"It's just Zoe said that she heard you saying how they take kids, but then the Doctor Harris guy said that all their subjects were given to Lyca Corp. willingly, and—"

Elijah sharply turned his head and glared at him. "I'm only going to tell you to stop once," he growled as dismay began enthralling his heart. The memories tried oozing into his mind, but he did his best to fight them.

"Sorry," Jake said.

The demon glowered at the road ahead. But no matter what he set his eyes on—no matter what he tried to distract himself with—all he could think about was the morning his father gave him up.

Elijah clenched his fists and jaw; he remembered begging...crying, and desperately asking his father for a reason. But that man let those detainers take him like he was some sort of stray dog that he couldn't take care of. And still to this day, Elijah didn't understand why his father didn't want him.

"Maybe we should put some music on," Zoe suggested.

Jake switched it on, and as he continued following the highway, the only one who spoke was the man on the radio.

To Elijah's relief, Jake kept his mouth shut for the next hour and a half. They drove through a small town as the rain finally started pouring, and flashes of lightning lit up the grey sky.

However, when they followed a country road away from the town, the car suddenly jolted, and Jake panicked as he tried to steady the vehicle.

"Did we just hit something?!" Zoe exclaimed, holding onto the door beside her in sheer terror.

Elijah looked in the side-view mirror, but he couldn't see anything in the road.

"I don't see anything," Zoe said as she stared out the back window.

"It must have just been a rock or pothole," Jake mumbled, driving straight.

Zoe said, "I didn't see any rocks or pot—"

The car suddenly sputtered and groaned.

"Uh...is it supposed to be making that sound?" the girl questioned.

"What the hell?" Jake complained, hitting the steering wheel as the car came to a slow halt.

Elijah sighed deeply and dragged his hand over his face. "Are you fucking serious?" he growled to himself. Then, he angrily pushed the door open and got out of the car. He looked back the way they'd driven, and although the road was wet, he could see the long, thick streak of petrol along the tarmac.

Jake stayed in the car and called, "What is it?"

Ignoring him, Elijah crouched onto his hands and knees and looked under the car.

Zoe rolled down the window and peered down at Elijah. "What's wrong?"

"The fuel line's burst," Elijah muttered, climbing to his feet. He wiped the gravel from his hands on his coat and then got back in the car.

"Maybe it's that shady dealer's fault," the girl suggested. "It looked like everything in his garage was either falling apart or a road accident waiting to happen. I'm not surprised his precious car would be any different."

Elijah drowned out Zoe and Jake while they talked shit about Warren's dealership and pondered. He just wanted to get to Flinnwick, but now he had to deal with yet another hindrance. The car wasn't going to fix itself, and he wasn't going to leave his only means of non-attention-drawing transportation here while he hunted for a mechanic who would accept his last two coronam. So, he was going to have to push the damn thing back to the town they just passed.

"I think we should sue him," Zoe said firmly.

"We're not suing a guy I threatened into loaning me a car," Elijah snarled. "Get out. We're pushing it back to that town."

"Jake, help him," Zoe said as Elijah got out again.

"What?" Jake scoffed. "Are you kidding? It's raining!"

"Please?" she insisted.

Elijah didn't have time for this shit. "I'll just do it my fucking self," he snarled, slamming the door shut.

"Help him!" Zoe scolded.

"You help!" Jake replied.

With an irritated huff, Elijah stormed to the back of the car, placed his hands on the trunk, and started pushing. It might be no effort at all thanks to his strength, but knowing he was now dealing with two lazy idiots as well as inexperienced, brainless ones made him feel a whole lot madder.

He could see and hear them arguing inside. Zoe scolded and pushed Jake, trying to get him to leave the car, but he continuously refused. The dog started barking, too, and it was at times like these that Elijah wished he could mute his senses at the flip of a switch.

As the rain poured, he pushed the car towards the town, and once he reached the entrance, he guided the vehicle into a parking space outside a trio of boarded-up, closed-down stores. Jake and Zoe had stopped arguing, and while Jake sat with a scowl on his face, Zoe had her arms crossed and glared out the window.

Elijah didn't want to have to listen to them while he found someone to fix the car, so as he passed the windows, he said, "Stay here."

He navigated the streets, returning every scowl and glare he got from the few people he saw. When he located a mechanic, he headed over to the small garage and stepped inside.

The bell above the door rang, and a woman appeared behind the counter. "Can I help you?" she asked him.

Elijah nodded as he rested his left arm on the counter. "What's it going to take to fix a broken fuel line?"

As she cleaned the grease from her hands with a rag, the woman frowned. "What kind of vehicle are we talking about?"

"Muscle car."

"Let me get Bob. He handles the prices," she said and then turned around and disappeared out back, closing the door behind her.

Elijah waited and glanced around the place. There was a water cooler by the door, but the water looked like it had been scooped from a swamp. The walls were stained yellow, the floor was covered in dirty boot prints, and beneath the smell of gasoline and grease, there was something earthy.

The door opened, and a bald old man waddled out. "Good afternoon," he called cheerily. "Ness said you've got a busted fuel line."

"How much is it going to cost to fix and how long?" Elijah asked.

"Well, depending on the amount of damage, we're looking at between one and three coronam. As for time...maybe a few hours. The car outside? We're gonna need to bring it in so I can lift it up."

Elijah sighed and said, "Fine, I'll go get it."

He left the mechanics and headed back to where he left the car. But when he turned the corner, he set his eyes on Jake, who was running towards him through the rain like a man on fire.

"E-Elijah!" the guy called, panicking. He skidded to a halt in front of the demon and grabbed his arm. "It's Zoe!"

With an irritated snarl, Elijah yanked his arm from Jake's grip—

"S-she wanted a snack, s-so we went to the store, and these-these guys, they just...they—"

"They what?" Elijah questioned.

"They just took her!"

Elijah's heart started racing. "They?"

"S-some dudes, man—"

"What did they look like?!" Elijah demanded impatiently.

"I-I dunno, like...hoods and masks, and Zoe couldn't do anything!"

"And you just ran away?" the demon exclaimed.

"There were too many of them! I came to get you so—"

"Which way did they go?" Elijah snarled, shoving past him. Hoods and masks didn't sound like detainers, but the fact that Zoe couldn't do anything against them had him concerned. He couldn't let anyone get away with a girl that knew as much about him as she did.

Jake hastily led the way to a small convenience store and looked around frantically when he stopped by a pay phone. "I-I was right here, and she was just heading inside," he explained. "They just took her, man!"

Elijah looked around for any sign of the people Jake described, but there wasn't anyone other than a few people shopping inside. So, he tried to locate Zoe's aura, but he couldn't find that, either. There was no indication of which way they went, no scent, nothing.

"Did you see where they took her?" Elijah asked him.

"I-I—"

"Calm the fuck down and think!" he snapped, shoving Jake.

The guy shook his head and frowned. "Uh...when I ran, I saw them dragging her around back."

Elijah rushed around the back of the store. There were tire marks in the mud and a flurry of footprints, which indicated there was a struggle. The tire marks spread onto the road but disappeared after a few inches. They led right on the road which forked yards up, with the left disappearing into the forest, the right wrapping around the town, and the one dead-ahead leading to the mountains in the far distance. There was no way to tell which direction the vehicle went.

He growled in frustration and dragged his hands over his face. Then, as anger quickly enthralled him, he turned to face Jake and snatched his collar. "Why couldn't you just stay in the fucking car like I told you?!"

"I-I'm sorry, she just wanted—"

"Whenever I ask either of you to do one simple fucking thing it's like I'm talking to a goddamn fucking wall!"

Jake quivered anxiously. "I'm sorry. I...I tried to get her to stay."

Elijah realized that he was scaring him—he could see the look of terror in his brown eyes—and despite his fury, he didn't want either Jake or Zoe to be afraid of him. So, he let go of him, grunted in aggravation, and turned to face the fork at the end of the road.

"W-what if we ask the owner for security footage?" Jake suggested.

Elijah glanced at him and then spotted the camera on the back of the building.

"M-maybe we can see who took her?"

The demon nodded and quickly made his way back around to the front of the store. He went inside and barged past the people in line. "I need to see your security footage," he demanded, ignoring the protesting customers.

"Uh...sorry, sir," the cashier drawled. "I can't let just anyone—"

He didn't have time for this. Elijah pulled out one of his pistols and aimed it at the guy. "Show me the fucking footage or that wall behind you is getting decorated with your tiny brain."

The man immediately held his hands up, the customers abandoned their carts and raced out the door, and Jake squealed nervously.

"Y-yeah, sure man. It's...it's this way," the cashier said, pointing at the door behind him.

"Go," Elijah instructed, and as the cashier led the way, he and Jake followed him into the back office. "Don't let him leave," he then said, handing Jake his gun.

With an unsure nod, Jake pointed the pistol at the panicking cashier, who stood with his back against the wall beside the computer Elijah leaned in front of.

Elijah quickly scrolled through the last ten minutes, and when he saw four hooded, masked guys dragging Zoe around the back of the store and towards a black van, he scowled angrily. He watched them inject her with something after managing to restrain her, and the girl fell unconscious in seconds. Then, they tossed her and her barking dog into the back of their van and drove off, turning left into the woods.

"H-hey, wait," the cashier spoke up. "Those are the guys."

The demon stood up straight and glared at him. "What guys?"

"Y-yeah!" Jake blurted, jerking the pistol.

With a terrified flinch, the cashier held his hands up again.

"What guys?!" Elijah repeated impatiently.

"The c-catchers," the man whimpered.

"Catchers?" Jake questioned.

The man nodded. "Th-they take uh...p-people like you," he said, glancing at Jake and then back to Elijah. "Uh...like demons."

"Why?" Elijah demanded.

"W-we don't know. They just turned up here a few years ago, and since then, all the demons and lycans who lived here have disappeared. They always take the forest road and drive up into the mountains to some fancy lab the government installed before this town started falling apart," he explained shakily.

A cold chill ran down Elijah's spine. Demons and lycans: that could only mean those people worked for Lyca Corp.; why else would they only take demons and lycans? And the mention of a lab made him feel anxious. Could it be them?

He had to be sure. "What about other Caeleste?"

"N-no, only demons and lycans."

"Shit," Jake breathed. "Could this be like what happened in Dawnward? Wait...was Zoe taken by detainers?!"

Elijah snatched his pistol from him and waved it at the cashier. "I'm taking your car. Which is it?"

"Come on, man. I don't have insur—"

"Give me your fucking keys," Elijah snarled, pressing his pistol muzzle against the man's head.

The cashier pulled his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Elijah. Then, Elijah smacked the side of the man's head with his gun, knocking him out.

"Y-you know, those customers have probably already called the cops. Hitting him won't save us any time," Jake said as he followed Elijah out of the back room and towards the exit.

"He'd call about his car, so knocking him out gives us more time to get away in it." He stepped outside and clicked the key fob, and the trashy-looking blue car parked by a tree responded with a beep. "We need to go and grab my shit first."

"W-what are those guys gonna do to Zoe?" Jake asked worriedly as Elijah unlocked the car and ushered him into the driver's seat.

Elijah got in beside him. "It sounds like a long drive up the mountains, so we'll catch up to them and stop them before they get anywhere near that lab," he said, tucking his pistol back into its holster. "Fucking go!"

Jake started the car and put his foot down, heading to where their car was parked. "Are they gonna experiment on her?!"

"I just said we're going to get her before they get to the lab," Elijah snarled. "Pull over."

As he was told, Jake pulled over.

Elijah got out and hurried across the road to the black muscle car. He pulled the trunk open, grabbed his duffel bag, and then got back in with Jake. "Go. Turn into the forest," he instructed as he put his bag on the back seat.

Jake nodded and started driving; the moment he got onto the forest road, he sped up, going thirty over the limit already. At least Elijah didn't have to tell him to step on it.

Then, Elijah leaned back and tried to compose himself. His heart was racing, and his angst refused to settle. If the people who took Zoe managed to get her to a lab, it was going to be impossible to get her out without an army. And the second they started questioning her, everything Elijah had worked so hard for would be for nothing. They'd find out that he was after Ronan, and they'd move Haru again—they'd make sure he could never find him.

He clenched his fist and glared at the trees as Jake drove onto the forest road. But what if they didn't make it in time? What if Lyca Corp. got a hold of Zoe?

⊳⊱ ♕ ⊰⊲

✧ Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! ✧

♛ What was your favourite part? ♛

✟ Do you think Elijah and Jake will reach Zoe in time? ✟

✙ What do you think will happen if they don't make it? ✙

❖ Got any questions? ❖

◈ Let me know! ◈