109 Missing (4)

Being nude and kidnapped was not a good combination. Iris swiftly covered herself with the bag that had been over her head, but it was no clothing. If anyone came in…

Fear blossomed in her heart, and she looked for anything to cover herself. There was no way to tell what criminals would do to a girl that had somehow entered their warehouse, but she most certainly did not want to tempt them unnecessarily. People said that god helps those who help themselves, so she was going to do just that.

Quietly, she sneaked to the outer edges of the room while keeping herself low, below the height of the cages. It was possible that there were cameras around, and she didn't want to give the guards a show.

The wall she reached was empty, blocked by a long table with even more cages, but to the left, she saw a pathway leading to the exit door. Next to it hung an old work coat.

Iris didn't run to it straightaway, though. For a moment, she listened if anyone was around, then slowly started to move closer. With every step, her fear that someone would open the door grew, but she couldn't not go there. She couldn't stay naked if she wanted to have any chance of survival.

By the time she reached the door, she was shaking all over. With claw-like fingers, she grabbed the coat and dashed back as fast as she could, hiding behind a stack of cages. Her heart hammered against her ribcage as she dropped the sack and put on the coat.

It was dirty and smelled of something disgusting, but she didn't care one bit. The only thing that mattered to her was that it covered her body. Only when she was dressed could she evaluate her situation and think of what to do next.

The coat looked funny on her, but it was something. She would no longer attract every weirdo to pounce on her; at least it would be every other weirdo now.

'It doesn't matter, I can't get anything better here. Time to think of a way out.'

Although she told that to herself, the idea of just marching out into a criminal base chilled her to the bone. For a moment, she didn't even move, fear keeping her frozen in place. What kind of place had she entered?

She was just a normal college student who couldn't face off against street thugs, let alone some fight-hardened criminals. How could she then end up captured and locked up by them?

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't want any of this. Why did horrible things keep happening and happening to her? Was trying to have a simple, happy life too much? First her parents died, then her best friend had to leave the country, then she turned into a fox out of nowhere, and once she got used to that, she was kidnapped to be sent who knows where.

A soft whine broke through her misery, and she remembered that she wasn't alone here. Swiftly, she ran back to Queen and gave her hand for the dog to sniff. The elegant beauty looked a little worse for the wear, but her pride wasn't broken. She instantly recognized the smell and scoffed at Iris, moving her head away.

This familiar action gave strength to Iris. She wasn't in this alone. Before throwing the gauntlet away and giving up, she had to ensure that this beautiful creature made it safely back home. For everything Kyro had done for Iris, she needed to repay him at least with that.

She walked to the other side of the cage, but before she could check out the lock, a sack with something in it caught her eye. With a bad feeling about it, she opened it to see a black furry form lying motionless inside.

"Lucy!" she called out in a muffled voice, taking the cat out in a hurry.

It couldn't be dead. No way. This cat was of hero material, so he couldn't just die like that. No way!

When she touched his heart, she felt a slow beat, and a breath she didn't notice she was holding whooshed out of her. Lucy wasn't dead. He was still alive, just asleep. After a quick sniff, she was certain it was the same drug she'd been given before she fell unconscious.

'I probably inhaled a smaller dose,' she decided while clutching the cat to her chest. Yet as she looked at its limp form, she couldn't help feeling grim. 'I swear I'll get you home, no matter what,' she promised him in her mind.

While holding him tightly, she crouched down before Queen's cage. To her surprise, it didn't have any complicated lock for which she would need a key, just a simple pin she could remove and open the door. She brought the pin halfway out before changing her mind and letting it fall back in.

If Queen got out of the cage, she would certainly try to escape the room, and Iris didn't want a racket on her hands. This would be a surefire way to bring the kidnappers in, and she had to way to fight them off. Like most people, she hadn't randomly decided to take taekwondo or self-defence classes, which meant her fighting capabilities were level zero.

"Wait a moment, Queen. Let me check our situation first," she softly told the white dog and stood up. On her way back to the door, she made a sharper turn, hitting her right hip, and pain laced down her leg.

An instinctive yelp threatened to escape, but she managed to cover her mouth just on time. 'Barely,' she thought while massaging her leg. There was a nasty yellow-blue bruise on her hip, and it hurt like hell when touched with any amount of force.

After a moment, she decided it was enough procrastination and tiptoed to the door. There was no sound outside, so she carefully tried to push the handle down.

Her eyes lit up when she noticed that the door wasn't locked. For a moment, she debated opening it a crack to check what was outside, but then decided against it. Someone might notice her peeking out, so it was better to just open once and make a run for it while no one was expecting it.

Quickly, she made her way back to Queen and opened her cage. "Be a good girl, follow me," she told the large dog, but this time, Queen did not heed her words. The moment she was out, she dashed past the tables, rattling the iron cages on them, and hit the door with a momentum.

The door flew open, and Queen ran out like she was in a race. Her speed was so fast, Iris didn't even manage to react before the dog was out and away.

When Iris reached the door, she could no longer see the white shadow anywhere, but there were shouts somewhere nearby. She hid in the shadow, waiting for the people calling to one another about chasing after the dog to pass, then ventured out herself.

The warehouse seemed to be in the middle of some street, with others just like it all around, but Iris didn't waste time investigating them. Following Queen's lead, she dashed out of and into the industrial street. There were a number of workers here, who gave Iris very disturbing looks, but she did her best to ignore them and just run as fast as she could.

If she got far enough fast enough, maybe the people who had caught her would not be able to find her. From her experience based on movies, her flight was bound to end up in disaster, but she couldn't just wait to be rescued. If her twenty-three years of life had taught her anything, it was that each person had to save themselves. No one would ever save a stranger for no good reason.

'I'll bring you home, trust me,' she promised Lucifer, who was lying limp in her hands.