Chapter 3

"You did not have to come with us, Reito" Aunty Lian smiled thoughtfully as she held a basket filled with various items

"Master's orders" Reito answered solemnly

"Ah… I have noticed that you are quite attached to the master" Aunty Lian happily hummed, not minding the two quite butlers

Reito momentarily closed his eyes but snapped them open when he heard Aunty Lian drop the basket upon the sight of their wooden hideout broken

"Master!" Reito shouted as he ran inside the broken house with Rael behind him

When they went inside, Everything was either broken or torn apart

Both of them rushed to their master's study room and slammed the door open

Uncle Steve was laying on the ground with a wound on his stomach

"Uncle Steve!!" Rael rushed towards the old butler and tried to stop his bleeding stomach as Reito looked around the messed up room for any signs of the master

"R-… Rael…" The old butler tried his hardest to speak as Rael looked at him with tears

"Don't talk, Uncle!!" Rael frantically shouted as Reito came over to their side to try and calm the young butler down

"T- the master…." Uncle Steve said between shallow breaths

"I told you to stop talking!" Rael cut him off as he started tearing up

"R- Rael… They got the master…."

"Who…?"

******

A Horse cart was moving fast while passing by the forest

"Move faster!!" A man shouted as he looked at his companion

"I'm trying!!" The other shouted loud

Hoshi was trying hard to untie the ropes around his hands

They tied his legs, arms and torso with ropes as his mouth was shut with tape

'Come on… Come on' Hoshi thought as he continued to try and untie them

Hoshi looked around but couldn't do anything due to being tied tightly

He gazed at the unfamiliar surroundings

'Where are they taking me…?" Hoshi wanted to cry tears of frustration but at the same time, did not want them to have the satisfaction of scaring him

He looked around again as the cart came to a stop

One of the men got down and aggressively pulled Hoshi by the arms and started carrying him on his shoulder like a sack

Hoshi started struggling but couldn't do much due to being tied up

They soon came to a dimly lit room as he was thrown on the ground

'Shit that hurt!' Hoshi thought as he closed his eyes but opened them after he was done recovering from the pain

Hoshi suddenly froze when he heard a chuckle as he realized that he was alone with someone else

"Mmph" Hoshi tried talking but it came out as a muffle

"Don't even try to untie yourself" A voice spoke as Hoshi glanced towards that direction, only to be met with an empty sofa

"I am finally content that I have successfully caught you, Hoshi Nakeya…" The unknown male spoke as he chuckled at the end while saying his name

Hoshi stopped struggling as he tried to find the male

He wanted to ask him, why he knew his name but he couldn't due to the tape around his mouth

"I have been after you for the past months… But my stupid underlings could not catch a simple young man" The male said as he grabbed at the tape around Hoshi's mouth and pulled it

The man smiled in satisfaction when he heard Hoshi scream due to the pain

Hoshi tried to regulate his breathing and started to glance around again

"Who are you!?" Hoshi shouted as the male behind him started laughing

"Oh, the joy in hearing your fear filled voice…." The male said as Hoshi gritted his teeth

"How do you know my name!?" Hoshi questioned but got nothing but silence

"I SAID-" Hoshi stopped when his vision suddenly turned dark

"Huh!?" Hoshi hurriedly looked around… in hopes of seeing anything other then darkness but luck was not on his side today

"Have a good sleep, Nakeya" The man said before Hoshi heard the sounds of a door being slammed shut

*******

It has been a few hours since Hoshi got kidnapped

Reito was pacing back and forth due to frustration as Aunty Lian looked at him nervously

The old butler was unconscious on the bed beside the chair that Aunty Lian was sitting on

Rael entered the room with a stern expression but lifted a brow as he looked at Reito with a questioning look

Aunty Lian stayed quite but hummed in confusion when she saw Tris enter the room

"Calm down" Rael spoke as he looked at the frustrated man

"How can I?" Reito looked at him with a stern gaze but then noticed Tris

"What is he doing here?"

Master is close with him so I thought it would be appropriate to inform him" Rael spoke as Tris gave them a small smile

"Did any of you think of a plan?" Tris looked around at the three but all he saw were furrowed brows and stern gazes

"I'll take it as a no" Tris mumbled

"Have any of you found clues though?" Tris was once again answered with silence

"…" They sure are useless in these type of situations…

Tris cleared his throat and looked around the room before noticing the unconscious old butler on the bed

"What happened to Uncle Steve?"

"Got attacked" Rael softly answered

Tris frowned and was about to ask more but the sound of glass breaking caught their attention

"What was that?" Aunty Lian said as she stood up from the chair as the other three stared intensely at the door, ready to attack if any danger was behind the door

"We should check it out" Tris was about to go but Rael caught his wrist

"Are you stupid!?" Rael harshly tugged on Tris's wrist but Tris looked at him with a small smile

"I'll be fine" Tris softly spoke

Rael pursed his lips and unwillingly let Tris go

"Thank you" Tris whispered before running out

Rael looked back but noticed that Reito was not there

"Where's Reito!?" He asked Aunty Lian but his eyes widened when she pointed at the door

Rael sighed harshly and told Aunty Lian to stay with the old butler before running out of the room

Rael slowed down his pace when he saw both Reito and Tris squatting down and looking at the ground

"What did you find?" Rael asked as he stood beside Tris

"This" Tris said as he pointed to a ribbon

"A ribbon…?" Rael asked confused

"Yes" Tris answered as he got up and passed the ribbon to him

Rael took the ribbon and glanced at Reito who suddenly became quite

Rael looked at the ribbon and saw nothing but white silk

He raised a brow at others but Tris took the ribbon back and pointed at a certain area

Rael squinted his eyes, trying to see what Tris was trying to show him

Rael's eyes widened when he saw the initials RS

"We thought that you might know what this means"

Rael looked at him with a stern expression

"I don't know…"

*******

In a dark dungeon, candles were lit so guards can see properly in the night

The dungeon had various prisoners who were suffering with little to no food or water

Two guards were standing at the entrance of the dungeon as they heard the screams of the innocent prisoners

One of the guards yawned while the other guard looked at him with a stern gaze

"Man, it's quite exciting to hear the screams of those rats" The guard said as the other simply ignored him and stood quietly

'I don't think they are exciting… they are giving me goosebumps'

Inside the dungeon, Hoshi was screaming as the guards whipped him

The other prisoners looked at Hoshi's cell with guilt as they themselves have experienced this torture

"Poor kid" A women with blonde hair said sadly as she weakly held her sleeping child

"Truly… he seemed like such a nice young man" another woman gently spoke as she closed her eyes, wanting to block out the screaming

"Shut up!" A guard shouted as he whipped Hoshi one more time before stopping and looking at him with disgust

"Chain him up" The guard commanded as he walked outside of the cell

Two guards came inside the cell and dragged Hoshi until his aching back harshly hit the wall

The guards chained him up and left the cell

Hoshi looked at their retreating backs through his tangled backs and gritted his teeth

Hoshi tried pulling at the chains but his back ached painfully whenever he moved

"Fuckin dogs!" Hoshi spat as he tried to even his breathing

"Are you alright, darling?" Hoshi lifted his head slowly and looked at the cell in front of him

He saw an elderly woman smile at him softly and Hoshi couldn't help but smile back at her

"Are you alright" The woman repeated worriedly

"I am… thank you for asking" Hoshi assured her before gritting his teeth as pain shot up his back

Hoshi pursed his dry lips; he was dehydrated and hungry… He grew up as a pampered kid so he never experienced any of this, even after his parents passed away, Uncle Steve would still pamper him like a spoiled kid

Hoshi sighed before he closed his eyes, wanting even a bit of rest

******

In the dimly lit room, Reito was sitting on a chair, zoning out

He pursed his lips as he racked his brain for answers

His gaze landed on the ribbon that was inside a box on the table

Reito glared at the item and gritted his teeth, His hand clenched into a fist, ready to punch anything near to him

But before he could to anything, The old butler laying on the bed started moving

Reito's gaze quickly shifted to the old butler, He stood up and walked towards him

Reito looked at him as he saw the old man slowly opening his eyes

"Are you feeling better…" Reito asked the old man as he looked at the old man who lifted his hand with great difficulty, motioning Reito to come closer

Reito furrowed his brows but crouched down so the old man could whisper what he wanted to say

"Reito…. Hoshi… Did you find Hoshi…." The old man whispered

"No, we did not… but we found a strange ribbon with the initials RS on them"

"Do you know what that means…?" The old butler looked like he was struggling to stay conscious

Reito started shaking his head indicating that he did not know

"I can… tell you…" The old butler's breathing started slowing down

Reito waited patiently for the old butler's words

"RS stands for-----"