26. Chyler
Chyler
Atlas and I tried to get here as soon as possible but were held up by prior obligations when Derek sent his texts. The moment I saw Derek’s fucking face, I lost all sense of self-control. I was fuming, pissed off, furious, every vicious emotion under the sun. You name it, I was feeling it.
I didn’t give him a chance to speak, not a single word, before I balled my fist as tightly as I could and cracked him hard across the jaw with it. The force and impact were so intense that his head snapped to the side, and my knuckles split, pain shooting up my arm, but I didn’t let it show.
“Where the fuck is she, Derek?” I shouted with all the venom I had in me.
My mind was racing a thousand miles a minute, I was hyperventilating, unable to control my breathing, and my chest was rising and falling with every exaggerated breath.
I clenched my jaw, my face buzzing with the adrenaline flowing freely through my veins.
Strong hands gripped my biceps from behind, and I flinched at the touch.
“Breathe, Chy,” Atlas murmured into my hair as his forehead rested at the back of my head. “We’ll find her. It’s going to be alright.” He attempted to calm me down, but I was far from it. Alexis was in serious shit, and it was all Derek’s fucking fault.
Atlas had no more information besides what Derek had told him over text, but that didn’t matter to me. What mattered was getting Alexis back and alive.
Derek stood there, his eyes narrowed as he rubbed the side of his jaw. I hope it bruised. Alexis was strong, but who knows what Anathema had planned for her. She had been missing for over twenty-four hours without a single trace.
How could he lose her?
I struggled in Atlas’s grasp, begging for another shot at Derek. If I could, I would tear him apart limb from limb, and I just might if we don’t find Alexis safe and in one piece. My heart was squeezing tightly in my chest with the thought of her being seriously injured, or worse—dead.
“You did this, Derek. You just had to get involved with Alexis, and look where that landed her.” I seethed through my teeth. All I saw was red with how infuriated I had become, and the longer I stood there, the hotter I burned.
“I wouldn’t put all the blame on Derek, Chy.
What about you? She wouldn't have accepted their recruitment ploy if you had been here instead of playing house with Atlas in Duluth all these months.” Madison cut in coolly, and I was ready to rip her head off.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re all happy for your ‘happily ever after,’ but it’s time for you to snap back into reality with us.
The world didn’t get better just because you found happiness.
” She added, and I snapped like a fucking twig.
“Seriously, Mads? Are you trying to place the blame on me now? And where the fuck were you when Lex was getting lured into Anathema like a child to a fucking ice cream truck? Huh? Enlighten me, will you?” I shouted, pulling myself away from Atlas and stepping into her.
If she was looking for a fight tonight, she would get one. I don’t care how long it’s been.
“I think we all played a role in this, and it’s up to all of us to find her and get her back before it’s too—”
“Shut the fuck up, Eli.” Madison and I echoed, both turning to face him and screaming like the banshees we became when one of us was threatened or in danger.
He held up his hands and began backing away from the group.
I glimpsed at Derek over my shoulder, who had started to pace, flexing his hands in and out of fists while Atlas attempted to reason with him.
I couldn't hear their conversation over Eli and Madison, but I knew we were getting nowhere and wasting precious time fighting over something we couldn’t reverse.
I took a deep breath before returning to face Madison .
“We need a plan and to act fast. We’ve already wasted too much time here.” My voice cracked as I slowly came down from my surge of emotions.
I swallowed the lump of bile that had built in my throat as I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort and pressed my lips together in a tight line.
“I think the first place we need to start is with Eli and what he knows.” Madison shot a pointed glare at him, and he froze.
“M—me? Why me?” Eli stuttered. He was always intimidated by us.
No matter how fond he was of Alexis, he feared us for the big sisters we were to her.
She was the youngest of the three of us, and we had watched over her like hawks until now.
Leaving her behind without warning of what we were protecting her from was our biggest mistake and regret to this day.
I never intended to leave Alexis and Madison all those months ago.
The choice wasn’t mine to disappear, but, in truth, I didn't have to stay away from them as long as I did.
I could have fought for them, but instead, I let my desire for Atlas cloud my better judgment, and the promise of a perfect ending blinded me to the fact that they were still here and needed me.
“You, because you’re withholding information and also because we all know that you were the reason she went through with it in the first place,” I added, turning around to face him, placing my hands on my hips.
Derek and Atlas remained quiet, watching Eli closely in case he decided to bolt .
“What did you tell her, Eli?” Madison questioned, stepping up beside me and crossing her arms over her chest. It was in his best interest not to fuck with or lie to either one of us right now. We were out for blood.
“I told her the truth: who they were and what they did. I tried to scare her off, but you know Alexis. She doesn’t back down from a challenge, no matter how fucked up it could be.
” He scoffed, throwing his arms out wide.
“Honestly, I could have told her they were cannibals, and she still would have accepted their offer.”
With a deep growl in frustration, I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers and sighed. How did we get here?
“If you want my opinion—” Eli started.
“I don’t.” I interrupted to shut him up.
“—Derek was the one fucking her; he had more responsibility than I did. Dude, how the fuck did you not know she was involved with them? Is your dick that blind? Aren’t you supposed to be some big-shot CIA Agent?” Eli finished.
Derek and Atlas turned their attention from their side conversation to Eli, and he smirked.
“Seeing as my dick doesn’t have eyes, I would say so.
But Lex never gave me the impression she was working for them.
Never brought up Anathema or left evidence of her involvement out in plain sight.
” Derek’s response was cold, but I could tell that underneath his calm facade, he was reeling over her being missing and in danger.
His hands slid into his front pockets, and as his eyes met mine, I saw everything his face didn’t show. Derek was in love with Alexis. He cared for her. No matter how much I wanted to hate him, I didn’t doubt his intentions for a second.
“I know where their hideout is located,” Derek added with a sigh, pulling his phone from his pocket and unlocking the screen. Atlas looked down at the screen and raised a brow.
“How do you know where they are?” I asked, stepping towards them as Derek began typing on his phone.
“A couple of weeks ago, Dean and I were investigating the headrace system under the Twin City A-Mill, and we came across a passage that was marked with their symbol.”
“Why were you investigating the headrace system in the first place?” Madison walked over and aggressively took Derek’s phone from him.
He blew out a strained breath and ran a hand through his hair.
“Conrad put us both on an assignment to look into Anathema and see what they were up to. Rumors were circulating that they were planning some ‘big’ event and had recently established themselves in Minneapolis.”
“Do you think Lex is part of this master plan they have in the works?” I asked, peering over Madison’s shoulder to see what she was looking at.
“We never got that far.” Derek gestured to Eli. “He was the information resource that we brought in to assist with the case, but he couldn’t deliver on his end of the bargain.”
“Fuck you, Derek. I gave you the entire layout blueprints. You’re the one who had to barge into my apartment and beat the shit out of me for no goddamn reason,” Eli hissed .
“And I’d do it all over again if I could; you put your hands on Lex when she wasn’t yours to touch. She was mine. I should have ended you right then and there, but she protected your sorry ass.” Derek growled, his words laced with malice for all the things he wanted to do to Eli at that moment.
“And who’s protecting her now? Sure as fuck isn’t you.” Eli snapped aggressively.
“Enough with the pissing contest. We get it. You two can figure your shit out when Alexis is back home and safe. Until then, suck it up, both of you.” Atlas cut in, stepping between the two of them. “We need to work together if we are going to get her out of this alive.”
Eli piped up, and all of our attention gravitated to Atlas, who now stood in the center of our group.
"We know where she is, we know how to get to her, but what we can't do is run in there like a bunch of emotionally charged parents.
" He started. "We need to have a plan and weigh all of our options for the best possible outcome.
Derek and I have been discussing these details, and I believe we have a solid idea of what we should do… "
Atlas's voice faded to a muffle as my mind raced with all the horrible things that could have happened to her while we just stood here and bickered. This whole night was getting out of hand, and we were running out of time.
We argued for a good hour past Derek getting the coordinates to the hideout. I didn’t want to delay our search further, but Derek and Atlas suggested it would be wise to go in under the cover of the night.
Pulling up to the Twin City A-Mill, Madison and I climbed out of Derek's truck, shoving Eli out of the way, and headed to the main doors together. It took everything in me not to open the door and push him out of the truck on the highway.
Madison equipped herself with a gun and a knife, and I had brought two knives secured to both of my thighs.
I never had a solid aim, and while I could use one when necessary, I was always better with hand-to-hand skills.
It was honestly refreshing to be back here with her; Alexis was the only person missing in this long overdue reunion.
Dean pulled up shortly after on his electric green Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R, and Madison stiffened beside me when he reached us.
“Something wrong, Mads?” I asked with concern, elbowing her arm lightly to grab her attention.
Her eyes were fixed on Dean, and her breaths had quickened. I knew she didn’t want anyone else involved in this and that adding Dean was just another liability, but she was quite obviously freaking out over him being here, which made little to no sense to me. Unless…
“No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just nervous for Lex, that’s all.” She clipped, dismissing me and moving to let Dean pass by us .
Curious, I raised a brow, making a mental note to ask her about this later, firmly believing that something was up with her and Dean. We had more significant priorities. Alexis.
Dean, Derek, and Eli led the way, with Madison, Atlas, and I following closely behind them. This place gave me the creeps. The further we walked into the darkness of the abandoned building, the more the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.
“Are you sure she’s down here?” Madison asked, her hand gripping mine so tightly that I felt my fingertips tingle from lack of blood circulation.
“If she isn’t, then we have a much bigger problem.
This is their central hideout. If they’ve moved her elsewhere, we have zero leads as to where that could be.
” I could hear the pain in Derek’s voice at the thought of Alexis not being down here.
He was hoping to find her in this hideout; he needed to—we all did.
Atlas’s hand rested on my shoulder, and I turned my head, my eyes meeting his.
He knew what Derek was going through, as well as I did.
I was pissed off at him for losing her in the first place, but deep down, I knew that he loved her and would do anything to get her back.
Whatever it took, he was going to fight to save Alexis.
Atlas gently squeezed my shoulder, pulling me from my thought spiral, and leaned in to kiss the side of my head.
“Quit beating yourself up over this, sweet thing. It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have predicted this.” He was right, but I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to Alexis, and I wasn’t there to stop it .
Dean glanced down at his phone before looking over his shoulder at us.
“Not far up ahead. From here on out, we need to be as quiet as possible. If they find us before we can get the upper hand on them, we will lose our chance of getting to Alexis.” He whispered.
“If she is even down here,” Eli added before Madison sprinted forward and punched him in the back of the head. “Ow! You dumb bi—”
“I’d watch that mouth of yours, Eli, before Mads decides not to let you leave these tunnels… she isn’t particularly fond of you.” I cut in.
“Is she fond of anyone?” Eli spoke, a tone dripping with sarcasm, and I caught a brief glimpse of Madison and Dean eying each other in an all too familiar manner.
Ohh… she was not? I couldn’t help but let my mind wander—anything to distract me from why we were here in the first place. Was Madison sleeping with Dean?
Dean and Derek stopped before an archway after rounding what felt like the twentieth corner. Next to it was a stack of boards that looked like they had been recently removed from their original placement.
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that this is the entrance we’ve been looking for?” I quipped, reaching up and tracing a symbol of a rabbit with the letter A that was carved into the sandstone. My eyes trailed down the wall and into the darkness beyond.
“How much further down is their hideout?” Madison asked, coming up beside me .
“Shouldn’t be too far. We haven’t gotten past the barricade until now, and since it’s been removed. I’d say they are expecting someone... possibly us.” Dean grimaced as he inspected the planks of wood on the ground and the archway.
If he was right, we needed to prepare ourselves for the worst. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I took Madison’s hand, squeezing it lightly, and we stared into each other’s eyes.
She nodded, and we both understood what was required of us at that moment; it was just like the night we first met Alexis. Taking a deep breath, we let our dark sides take over. There was no room left for questioning.
Time to get our sister back.