* * *
"Fine, I'll go with you!" Fyre replied, uttering as much courage as he could get. He's well aware that it would be dangerous since Lucien is very unpredictable but if he managed to escape that time, then he will also escape this time. Also, Lucien might hurt him but unless he gets what he wants, he wouldn't kill him. So before that happens, he will escape. That he promised. He had no plans of becoming a psychopath's plaything.
[Really? That's great. I'm glad you're still easy to talk to. I'll be waiting for you here. I'll text you my location,] Lucien happily replied before they finally ended the call, leaving Fyre all dazed, not sure if what he'd been doing is right or wrong. Right now, he just wanted all this to end without anyone hurting.
Quickly tapping on his phone to send a text message, Fyre nervously chewed on his lips when he finished before sending it to a certain person that he knew would go crazy if he suddenly went missing. He knew that even if he sent a message, that man would still go crazy, but it was much better to at least send a message than nothing.
Just a few minutes after he sent the text message, another one popped out on his screen. However, knowing that it didn't come from the person he texted just now, Fyre's expression quickly shifted, opening the message containing a certain location where he needed to go. Without giving it another thought, Fyre immediately left and from there no one had expected that things would take a huge turn from now on.
* * *
Stepping out of the podium, obviously, the first thing Tian Zi did was to find Fyre noticing that his lover had not come to meet him as he expected. Unfortunately, as he came to get him thinking that he was in their private room still resting, he frowned at the door seeing that his lover was not there at all. It was very unusual for Fyre to leave knowing that he was still on the stage and being interviewed so without thinking much, the first thought that came to him was to call the Omega to which he soon found out that his lover had actually texted him.
A smile reached Tian Zi's lips as he opened the text but it soon faded when he read the message. His expression turned sulky before he quickly turned around hoping that if he looked around, he'd find his beloved before he'd snatch him away from whatever it is that he needed to do for leaving him like that. Since they should also be careful due to the media knowing their relationship already. The Omega could get attacked if he's too lax. On cue, Julie Walker arrived in panic mode before she slightly felt relieved to see Tian Zi back from the interview.
"Oh, thank goodness you're done. Do you know where Fyre is? He suddenly disappeared after asking me to get him a bottle of water. I tried calling him but his phone number can't be reached," Julie informed and by that, Tian Zi became confused. He instantly dialed Fyre's number as well and was surprised to find out that it was indeed out of reach.
'What does he mean not to worry and that he'll be back as soon as he can?' Tian Zi thought, repeating a part of what he had read from his lover's message.
"I don't know where he is," Tian Zi simply replied which quickly surprised Julie since she knew the Omega wouldn't go anywhere without telling the Alpha.
"Then, where is he?" Julie mumbled confusedly. Today's an important event so it is highly unlikely for Fyre to suddenly leave, especially since—again—Tian Zi is still here. He'd at least tell him where he is. Giving up on her thoughts, Julie looked at Tian Zi only to see the Alpha having the same confused expression as her.
"Are you sure he didn't send you at least one message?" Julie asked in concern.
"He did but it did not say where he was going. He just said not to worry and that he'd be back as soon as he could," Tian Zi replied but all of a sudden, a thought came that quickly alerted him. Hoping that that wasn't the case at all, without saying anything, Tian Zi immediately tapped on his phone and tracked down Fyre's cell phone number, and in just a few seconds, the location says that Fyre was just in the building instantly making him feel a bit relieved. However, for some reason, he didn't feel fully at ease at all. With that kind of message, there must have been something that he had yet to figure out because first of all, why would Fyre send him a message like that as if he was going somewhere far for a long time?
"I've tracked down his number and it says he's here," Tian Zi mentioned, showing Julie the location. And ignoring the fact that the Alpha easily located his lover just by his phone number, the Beta frowned at the location. She had been working at the company for many years so she knew the whole blueprint of the building like the back of her hand so as soon as she saw the red blinking dot, she was kinda confused.
"He's at the parking lot at the back... but that's used for employees and visitors so I don't know why he's there," Julie replied, thinking why Fyre was there when their car was parked at the front. The back parking lot is reserved for visitors and workers of the building and although some actors parked there as well sometimes—usually if the front parking lot is full—but most actors and actresses still parked at the front where the security was much more exclusive and tighter for their own safety.
At the same time, hearing Julie's reply, Tian Zi was bewildered as well. Something inside him did not feel good especially after reading the Omega's message.
[There's something I must take care of that I should have a long time ago. Please don't worry about me and I promise I will be back as soon as I can. I love you, Zi.]
For some reason, the message that he read echoed in Tian Zi's mind, and without having a second thought he ran towards where the blinking dot on his phone was. Julie followed him as well, noticing that there must have been something wrong. And just like she had denoted, she gasped in shock to see Fyre's cell phone on the ground. The screen was broken as if it had been thrown away but thankfully it was still working since there was an unfamiliar logo flashing on it.
Tian Zi picked up the device and tapped on a few things on the screen before it finally opened on a normal home screen for every phone owner. Meanwhile, certain that there was something wrong, Tian Zi's heart began to beat vigorously in both anxiety and worry.
'Something he must have taken care of a long time ago?' Tian Zi thought and there was only one thing that he could think of as to why the Omega had said this. Also, now that he had thought about it, earlier in the interview, Fyre was shaking as if he had seen a monster from the crowd. Back then he thought that maybe the Omega was just not used to being pressured like earlier since that had been the case a few years back but thinking about it now deeply, Fyre's reaction was a bit odd. He should be fine with an interview like that since he'd been doing quite well with his acting career.
"I don't know what's happening but that looks bad. Since your relationship with each other had just been clarified until today, many fans developed a grudge towards him thinking that he was actually Apollo's lover and currently seducing Duke. It's possible that some obsessed fans abducted him and maybe hurt Fyre," Julie said in worry. Both Fyre and Tian Zi may not care about it but both Apollo and Duke have a really huge fan base especially Duke so when they learned about the love triangle scandal between Fyre and the two actors, many of them got mad and planned to boycott Moonlight. This is also the reason why she and the rest of the individuals involved agreed to have Tian Zi and Fyre reveal their relationship to the public in order to also appease them.
"We need to report this to the authorities," Julie added since that was the only thing she could imagine that had happened. Meanwhile, thinking more logically about their situation he squeezed his lover's phone in his hand before he faced the Beta.
"I'm not saying that you're wrong but I'd like to watch the CCTV camera footage first from the dressing room up to here. I know Fyre and he's not someone who would just go ahead and meet someone just like that and even to the point of being abducted by some crazy fans. He messaged me that he would come back and I believe that, I just want to have some clue as to what is happening," Tian Zi said with a serious expression. More or less, he already had a suspicion making his heart unable to calm down but before he finds any proof at a time like this, he must also remain calm and gather the facts to avoid making wrong conclusions.
"I understand. I'll lead us to the technical room." Julie nodded and understood. Of course, she has no proof, and getting into the camera footage is a great way of finding one. Unfortunately, for some reason, even though there was a huge press conference happening at the building, the security personnel were actually in a state of panic because their security system suddenly started acting up, and had not been able to make the cameras work since the event had started and even corrupted their whole date for the last 6 months.
"What is the meaning of this? Who's in charge? You're supposed to make sure that employees of this company, especially our artists, would feel secure in this building. What if something bad had happened and we need those videos for review, which is what we actually came here for, and now you're telling us that you can't help?" Julie scolded. Since she's a pretty known figure in the company due to her handling one of the most popular artists for the past consecutive five years and also helping train a few well-known individuals in the industry, the security personnel wasn't able to say anything except to apologize.
"We have an artist missing and we need the footage," Julie added again. At the same time, Tian Zi thought. Even if he helped fix the program it'll be useless since the camera did not record anything starting from when the conference started.
"Leave it. Let's go to the other building's records. I saw one of their cameras facing toward the parking lot. Let's go check that one," Tian Zi suggested. He didn't want to waste any more time. This was too much a coincidence after all. Security was tightened for the conference, he and Fyre made sure of that but all of a sudden the cameras malfunctioned and corrupted the data they already had. Clearly, that was intentional. No malfunction similar to this would happen without external interventions.
"We'll know if he's taken against his will or not through that footage," Tian Zi conveyed, 'And confirm whether who had taken him,' he added as his eyes began to dark. He did not want to think about it but it was truly unavoidable. Fyre mentioned something he should have taken care of a long time ago. Just from that, he didn't have to be a genius to relate this to the man Fyre called Lucien.
'Wherever you are right now. Just please be safe, Fyre,' Tian Zi thought again. Of course, it could be just him and Julie overreacting but in any case his gut was right, hell shall break loose.
* * *
To be Continued...