Alexio was momentarily stunned on the spot, looking at the empty bed with nothing but the chains that originally bound Xeraphine's hands and feet. The girl was nowhere, and every corner he had explored through the screen displayed images from the surveillance cameras he had installed in every corner of the building. Even the outside.
He wasn't sure if it could have recorded Xeraphine's movements and her direction, but that was the case. Either the device was faulty, or the girl was too 'slippery' to escape easily without anyone noticing. Another possibility wasn't out of the realm of speculation: the experiments he had conducted on Xeraphine had been successful, so she had the ability to manipulate.
Alexio's hands were clenched tightly, regretting why he had been so careless in letting Xeraphine go without ever thinking about the girl's abilities.
He made Xeraphine into a strong figure through various stages of experimentation and his artificial serum liquid, but he himself also underestimated by thinking that the girl wouldn't be able to use strength, unless she had met her wolf.
That should have been the case—he knew it, but looking at the condition of the room now, it seemed Alexio would have to swallow his assumption. This was no ordinary thing—Xeraphine was no ordinary girl but the alpha's only descendant, naturally possessing abilities even without the upgrade experiments he had done to her.
Not only was he panicking at the moment, his father had also rushed to summon the guards and gave orders to find Xeraphine safe and sound without a single fingernail wound.
"The outside world is still unsafe. She must return immediately," he said when he saw his son just standing there. "Hey, Lex. Don't just stand there. Do something."
Alexio was silent at first, but instead of mourning Xeraphine's departure, he was recalling whether he had equipped the device on the girl's body with a tracking device. Not wanting to waste any time, he quickly rushed to the screen, and in that instant, his fingers moved nimbly over the keyboard keys. It wouldn't have been difficult to find the girl had she not realized the device was attached to her body.
A smile spread across his face as he found a red dot on a map that appeared on the holographic screen in front of him. Immediately he got up and rushed towards Xeraphine's whereabouts.
He had to bring the girl back immediately, then continue the paused stage of the experiment. To be sure, all their efforts were with the aim of keeping Xeraphine away from the dangers lurking out there, not the other way around.
***
A pair of footsteps continued to move quickly, aimlessly. At times, she staggered, almost losing her balance. She didn't know how long it had been since she had stepped on the ground, feeling the wet dew on the grass, the sharp pebbles stabbing, the cold wet ground from the raindrops and the petrichor that emitted a fragrance, bringing back all the memories—she really forgot what they were like. How long had she been asleep, that the person she remembered last time was just a brave little orphan girl who suddenly had such a tall body.
Now, she felt alive, though many things were still questions in her mind. What had happened to her? Why was she in a strange place that she didn't recognize?
Xeraphine's amber irises wandered wildly around, taking in the atmosphere and layout of the buildings that were still the same, but felt odd to her. The building that was once destroyed and ravaged by the rogue's attack, had stood again with a strange design that was far different from the last time she remembered. The streets she saw this time weren't just at the bottom, like a normal paved road, but were multilevel, coupled with the elevated lanes that were right overhead.
There was no vehicle noise, no smoke and pollution, no jungle like when she was last in that place.
She seemed to have lost her way, in who knows what dimension.
"Xeraphine, stay put." A voice sounded, but she couldn't find where it came from. She recognized the owner of the voice, but she was now like a confused fool who couldn't find the human who was talking to her. Maybe the man was somewhere far away, but where? "I'll follow you there. Please, don't go anywhere."
The more intense the voice she heard, the more panicked she became and made her think of finding a place to hide.
"Xeraphine, I'm warning you—shit!"
It was useless. No matter how hard the threat was given to her, it wouldn't make her obey. Xeraphine was even more convinced that she was in danger. Alexio and Frans—her father's only confidants—she was sure were not really people she knew. She didn't know what had happened to them. Xeraphine could sniff out bad things from both of them.
"Xera, wait! Damn it!"
Xeraphine was already swinging fast, moving away from the original location. She didn't care about her legs that were getting heavier from fatigue and pain. All she wanted now was to find a safe place. During her escape, she occasionally looked back. Some vehicles with strange shapes seemed to be following. Or rather, they were trying to catch up with her.
Xeraphine's footsteps grew faster. Hitting something and falling with a thud on the road, she winced in pain for a moment, then got back up and continued running. After running for a long time, she arrived at a location, looking beautiful, as if it had never been touched. She stepped further in and found some scrub land. The deeper she went, the fresher it seemed as if she had found the atmosphere of her old home.
Her eyes looked teary. After walking a long way and running away from a strange area that made her feel unsafe, she found a place for her to take shelter. If necessary, she would stay there forever.
"Mommy, Daddy, I'm home," she said softly with teary eyes and was about to lie down on the empty ground, but she didn't do so when the sound of clattering steps could be heard approaching her.
Xeraphine got up, turned around, and found several strangely dressed men heading towards her.
From behind the men's backs, a young man in a white coat appeared and extended a hand to her. "Go home, Xeraphine. I'll tell you everything you've missed this past time. I promise."