"Angelia? What is going on?"

I frowned in confusion, meeting her cold stare. My eyes trailed down at her black pantsuit and her black suede boots. Her inky black hair was slicked back. That seemed like an unusual look on her.

My confusion quickly dissipated or rather increased when a replica of the same person entered. The real Angelia eyed me nervously and glanced back at the duplicate. I was sure that I was not seeing double because it was easy to differentiate between the two. The duplicate wore all black while Angelia was still wearing her white dress from earlier.

Angelia's duplicate rolled her eyes at her and fixed her glare on the man and woman behind me.

"Sei sordo? Ti avevo detto di legarla. Adesso!" she snapped at them.

The old man bowed his head and scurried out, with the woman following his trail, probably in search of the materials needed.

The look-alike turned back to Angelia, whispering something in a harsh tone. She gave me a side glance and smirked at me. What was the deal with her?

She pushed Angelia sideways, making her stumble some steps away, and left without any more words. Oof, I felt the love.

Silence filled the room again. My hard gaze fell on Angelia, who was staring at the floor, resigned. She had the guts to remain quiet after whatever happened today. I felt a burning rage threatening to erupt inside of me. Most especially, at myself, for falling in this pit of deception.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know this would happen," she finally said, releasing a frustrated sigh.

"You did all this on purpose, right?" I let out a dry laugh and focused on her, "Meeting me, talking to me, befriending me. In the end, you're double-faced like everyone else." I shook my head in disappointment.

"I'll explain," she said, taking a deep breath.

"Oh, you better. First of all, tell me who is that bitch?"

"Violetta. My twin."

"Both of you are quite similar. Of course, I don't mean your appearance but your character instead," I sneered.

"Let me explain before you assume," Angelia interrupted sharply, clenching her fists in annoyance.

"Seeing my current situation, my assumption is definitely right, irrespective of the excuses you'll try throwing at me. If anything happens to me, I'll hold you responsible for it," I retorted.

"Do you know who my family is?" Angelia asked seriously.

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Who else but a bunch of bit-"

"Verdino. Verdino is my surname."

I froze, gaping as the name rolled out of her mouth, echoing in the empty room and my blank mind. A stillness reigned about as I processed what she said.

"As I was saying, a bunch of bitches," I completed, staring at her, in what must have seemed, a judgemental way.

"You're partly right in thinking so. Violetta is the biggest one among us too," Angelia shrugged. I opened my mouth to bring up yet another remark when she stopped me with her palm.

"Let me explain everything first. I only have time until someone returns."

"Oh, of course. But I have all the time. After all, it seems I'll be here for a while or forever, thanks to someone," I muttered. Angelia ignored me and started talking, pressing both her hands together as she leaned against the wall.

"First of all, it seems that I have to rectify many of your assumptions. I am a Verdino, but I was never a part of any criminal activities linked with the family."

Should I tell her that kidnapping was very much illegal and criminal activity?

"And I admit, I did approach you because of Violetta. But that's only because I was threatened by her. She must have made you her target for a while when she made Alessio bring you to Italy-"

"Wait, what?" I gasped at the revelation.

"Yes, she told me that it was Alessio-"

"No, no, you mean Alessio is not the 'Boss'?"

Angelia glanced at the door and back at me, gesturing at me to lower my voice. "Look, this is usually kept a secret but since I'm already telling you everything-"

"Which seems to send me the message that I won't get out alive," I gulped.

"No! Look, I don't know what her plans are. I didn't even know that she was going to kidnap you. She only told me to keep an eye on you, suspecting that you knew something. But now I feel she wants to use you as bait."

I clutched my head in frustration. "Why do you listen to her if you are not part of all this shambles?"

"If you compare us, Violetta has a whole organisation and contacts from different fields behind her. I have no one. The last time I refused to comply with her demands, she got me into a scandal about supposedly stealing someone else's painting and sent rumours circulating around that most of my works were imitations. I had great trouble trying to get out of that and even had to take a break. My career is all I have and she can destroy it with a finger snap."

"So you can't do anything else but exchange your career's safety with someone's life. I will be kept here for days, months or years but you will resume your normal life tomorrow. Have you no conscience at all?"

She pursed her lips, looking around as her eyes got teary. She let out an irritated groan and came forward, crouching down and grabbed my hands.

"Look, I am really sorry. I had warmed up to you already and I did not know Violetta was going to make such a move. All she demanded me to do was to relay any suspicious detail and I told her that you knew nothing and was even going to return back to London. But she's crazy and unpredictable!"

"Okay, I don't have anything else to say," I mumbled, with no power left in me to argue back.

Angelia's hands tightened around mine. She released my hands, standing up just in time as two men entered the room. One of them wordlessly walked over, pulling both of my hands forward, and the other one tightened a rope around my wrists. I glared at those men. Why tie me when I was already caged?

"I'm sure the IOF will be able to help you-"

I cut her off as my legs were also being tied. "They must be already aware that I disappeared and I am sure they will search for me. But how do you know they'll find me on time? As you said, your sister is unpredictable and you are not even aware of her plans. Maybe this is the last time you are seeing me, alive at least."

Angelia remained silent. The two men stood up and said something to her, probably saying that it was time to go. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Just leave. Go on with your normal life, continue living in constant fear for your career and baiting other victims into your deceptive trap," I shrugged, looking nonchalantly, though I felt nothing as such on the inside.

"I'll do my best to help you, in any way that I can. I do not want such a burden on my shoulders."

"Will you, now?" I chuckled dryly.

"I promise."

"If you want to help me, in the slightest way, then pass a message to the IOF telling them I have the watch."

She looked confused but nodded.

I didn't look at her as she turned around, leaving. I waited for the door to my freedom close, leaving me in complete darkness and hopelessness. I leaned against the wall, my head facing the grey ceiling. I brought my knees up, putting my tied wrists around them. The silence grew deeper and I could hear the steady rhythm of my heartbeats.

Tears filled my eyes, threatening to overflow. I let out a shaky breath and lifted my head up, trying to contain them. It must have been the cold wind of the night. I looked up and saw that they closed the small window as well, blocking even the slightest night breeze or light from reaching to me.

At least I was able to put the watch out. I hoped that whatever was spoken here was able to reach outside. At this point, I doubted if it was even important anymore or would serve any use.  

What would they do to me? Transport me to another place or country even? Just hold me hostage here? Drug me yet again? Beat me? Or the worst...kill me and send me to waste disposal like all the others?

Even outside the door, there was no movement. No one must have been guarding this room considering that there was no chance of me being able to escape.

My eyes felt heavy and my body felt exhausted. They tied my hands and legs a bit too tight; I felt the blood flow slowing down. I closed my eyes for a while. The empty room cooled off quickly and the wall sent a chilly sensation down my back, my light shirt doing nothing to keep off the cold.

I opened my eyes again after a few hours as I felt heavy footsteps resounding across the room, from outside. I thought someone was going to enter but they passed by hurriedly. After a few seconds, I heard someone else passing by, their footsteps suggesting that they were running. Someone else was returning from the opposite direction.

Some people speaking in a hushed, agitated tone reached my attentive ears. I wanted to stand up but the rope around my ankles stopped me. Instead, I rolled over to the door. My ears glued to the door, waiting to know what the distress was about.

I did not get to hear even a word as my body rolled out of the room when someone opened the door. My startled eyes met that of a young guy, who did not seem surprised. Instead, he reached for a cloth in his pocket and approached my face.

"Wait! W-what is going on? Stop!" I tried kicking around but my tied feet only made me look like a dying fish flopping out of the water. The young guy covered my eyes and voices were thrown around as I heard more stomping around. My voice was muffled by a cloth forced into my mouth.

I snapped my head side to side, confused. If it wasn't for the thing blocking my mouth, I would have screamed when I felt myself thrown on a sturdy shoulder, hitting my stomach along the way.

After a few seconds, I found myself thrown in what seemed to be yet another van. They are transporting me to another place, as I feared. I felt the van rumbling to life and some men were talking. It was frustrating to be held hostage in a foreign land. Some words in their speech made me froze; I was sure they said 'IOF', a few times. Were they panicking because of the IOF? Did the GPS Tracker work?

I wished I could be happy. But the moving van told me otherwise.

☆☆☆

*Castiel's perspective*

"Her phone keeps ringing but she is not picking up."

"Call again," I said, throwing my suit jacket on the sofa and glared at Raphael.

"Don't look at me like that. I've done nothing wrong," he muttered as he called Haelyn for the hundredth time again.

"It's useless calling again and- Hello? Who is this? What do you mean? Okay, I'll send you the address."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "A woman picked up the phone and said she'll bring it to us. She didn't say anything more."

A groan left my mouth before I could stop it. I clenched and unclenched my fists to stop the headache. Returning to an empty apartment nowadays always indicated trouble. I grabbed my suit jacket again.

"Should I inform the others?" Raphael's worried voice only increased the tension. I turned to him and was about to speak when the doorbell rang.

"Must be one of them," Raphael muttered, walking to the door and opening it. I frowned at the appearance of the stranger I tailed yesterday. What was he doing at my door? I went to Raphael's side and spoke, "Is there something you need?"

The man kept his face composed but I saw a hint of a surprised look. "Haelyn didn't tell you anything?" he asked, cocking his head.

Raphael and I exchanged looks. He signified a threat. And if he talked to Haelyn, something dangerous must have occurred, especially if Haelyn did not get to tell us about it.

"Come in," I said, restraining my emotions and keeping a stoic look. I turned to Raphael. "Call Claudius and Lucio."

I led the man to my living room, analysing him closely. He looked quite familiar, other than being a face I saw around.

"Get to the point. Do you have any idea where Haelyn is?"

He looked confused at the abrupt question. "You mean she has not returned yet? I talked to her a few hours ago."

"Where has she- Wait, just say what you have come here for first," I snapped.

He started talking, Claudius and Lucio joined us in the middle of his explanation. He went over the details about what he did and I was surprised that he was revealing all this, in front of people who could arrest him anytime.

"And as I was telling Haelyn that I am willing to reveal everything to you guys, she got a message and left. She said she was meeting up with a friend," he finished.

"There is a woman that Miss Haelyn met a few times," Claudius inserted.

Another ring of the doorbell echoed. Raphael, who was already standing, walked to the door, opening it. I heard an anxious female voice saying something. Before I could get up, a young woman entered the room. I recognised Haelyn's phone in her hand.

"Look, you need to-"

She stopped in her sentence, gaping at the man who looked as startled as herself.

"Angie!"

"Luca! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same to you!"

"That's the woman that Haelyn used to meet," Claudius quipped in, amidst the confusion.

"Do you have something to do with her disappearance?" I asked, my voice coming out like a snarl, directed to her.

The woman gulped at the stares she was receiving and I saw clear guilt on her face. She turned to the man, Luca, in an agitated manner.

"I'm sorry, really sorry. Violetta took her!"

This time, Luca stood up, looking shocked and angry.

"Guys, I'm not understanding anything and you're going too fast. Can someone explain?" Raphael muttered, staring at us with wide, confused eyes.

"Violetta is the one who is behind Haelyn's disappearance," Luca said, sighing.

"And who is she?" Raphael asked again.

"Our sister," both Luca and the woman echoed.

☆☆☆

A/N:
Translation below:

"Sei sordo? Ti avevo detto di legarla. Adesso!"  =  "Are you deaf? I told you to tie her up. Now!"