The moment I woke up I felt something was wrong. It was nothing major like things missing or being injured, just something felt off. I slowly got up and took a look at myself in the mirror.
My hair was a mess after waking up and my face looked tired as I had spent the previous day working in the restaurant where Kai and I got a new job at. The job wasn't entirely difficult or anything, I had already adjusted to the new routine after just 2 weeks and the place wasn't bad like the old restaurant I previously worked at.
The owner of this restaurant,Ethan, was a tall man with short dark green hair, and grey eyes. He had multiple tattoos on his toned arms and unexpectedly, instead of being like a brute or hotheaded guy like his appearance, he was well-natured and an upbeat man. The only scary thing about him is his presence which was quite domineering.
The first time we had met him, we were regretting it because the man had thought we were there to cause a ruckus but when he found out we were looking for a job and already had some experience in the field, his personality did a whole 180 and he became more open.
After a few days of working alongside Ethan, we got the job and even a temporary room until we could find a new place to stay. The man had already helped us so much and it would be wrong to just take everything for granted so we did our best.
We were quite efficient in the work and moved in a rhythm. The first time it happened, Ethan was amazed by our coordination and didn't interrupt us. Only after the day was finished did he compliment us on our speed. After the compliment, the other employees seemed to slowly accept us too and since the owner was a simple man who helped around from time to time, the environment inside the restaurant grew more and more pleasant and the one who was the most happy was Kai Atticus. He even became quite chatty and engaged in any and every conversations. I didn't know he could be like that! I guess I'm a boring person to be around huh? Whatever.
But the same couldn't be said about me. Don't get me wrong, I do like the environment and how close the people there are, but I still feel a bit out of place. It feels like I have been dropped in a jar of golden honey, the sweetness was overwhelming and quite frankly, very weird.
Weirdness aside, the perks of working for Ethan was that the restaurant wasn't too far, just downstairs. The restaurant was a part of the building. The ground floor was the restaurant while the upper 2 floors were out for rent and since we didn't have a home, he let us stay there.
So after washing up and getting ready, I headed downstairs to get back to work. My routine usually goes like this:
Clean up the place before other employees come, flip the 'Open!' sign on the front door, and get ready to make whatever the customer wants, during lunch break eat whatever was leftover and reclean the place (because 'the great man with the most experience in the field and the one who is letting us crash upstairs and with the most toned arms in the whole hub!' said Clean Place Clean mind!), then rinse and repeat till the work hour is over. After that, clean the place back up (the other employees do that), check the pantry, lock the gates, count the money, update the 'Restaurant's Ultimate Finance Book', turn the lights off, again check the locks and get ready to go to bed (after checking the locks).
So the whole day was going as it should but the weird feeling like something was still missing was starting to make me uncomfortable.
During lunch break one of the employees, Arna, came and sat next to me. She leaned forward and picked up a sandwich from the plate, "So, when is that cute guy coming huh?" Her golden curls bounced as she bit the sandwich and shook her head, savoring the flavor.
"Who? " I asked, continuing to eat my sandwich.
After quickly finishing the bite in her mouth, she looked at me and leaned closer, " Ah, you know, the guy who had gorgeous silver hair and those pretty azure eyes~" she almost cooed as her eyes shone with a weird glint in them.
But I don't remember anyone like that. Confused, I thought of every person I had met today but couldn't come up with anyone like that. "Who are you talking about? I don't recall meeting anyone like that."
Arna waved her hand and let out an exasperated sigh, "Pah! Stop acting so dumb! You talked to him every single day ever since you met him!"
I looked at her trying to find out if she was playing some dumb plan on me or if she was actually serious. After a few minutes of staring into each other's eye and wordleslly telling each other to 'stop playing dumb'. Kai popped up from behind the counter and looked at me before asking the same damn question, "Where is the guy who had gorgeous silver hair and pretty azur—" But before Kai could finish his question I shoved a sandwich in his mouth.
"Shut up." I said through gritted teeth and in a mocking voice continued, " And I don't know any guy with gorgeous silver hair and pretty azure eyes". I cleaned my hands with a napkin and picked up the sandwich I was eating.
Arna and Kai looked at each for a moment before bursting into laughter, " Oh shut up! You talked to him every single day ever since you brought him here." Kai remarked while trying to gulp down the last bits of sandwich in his mouth so he wouldn't choke.
Today was honestly, a very bad day but not a shitty day, not yet atleast. A guy came in the morning and asked for a shit ton of food for a party, not that anything was bad there it's just later he came back and cancelled the order. Ethan was obviously pissed off as the man just wasted our time and resources so both them had a very heated argument but the man left after paying a hefty amount. I don't know the whole detail because I was trying to not have a whole breakdown but either way we wasted a ton of time today and now these two idiots were playing a stupid prank on me and I'm having none of it.
So I just stood up and left, not bothering to finish my leftover sandwiches.
Just then Ethan walked in after hearing their loud manic laughter from the two. "What's up guys? Where is Noah?" he sat down and picked up the leftover sandwiches. "Also where is the guy who had gorgeous silver hair and pretty azure eyes? Did he not come today? He loved my Massaman Curr— " the laughter suddenly got louder which startled him as he tried to understand why they were laughing so hard.
Outside the restaurant, I could still hear their stupid laugh so I just stood there and glared at the door so hard that it could somehow make both of them shut up. When the laughter didn't get quiet, I turned around and walked in a random direction to try and get away from the restaurant, grumbling the entire way till I crossed the street and went to a nearby park. I sat down on a nearby bench and stared up at the sky. The clouds were moving slowly just like the day had been, the sunrays going through and around the clouds gave it a serene look. The sky looked pretty, so pretty that it almost looked fake.
Hearing a rustling sound I looked sideways and spotted four people wearing spotless white robes standing there and staring at him. One man suddenly stepped forward but another man caught his arm and shook his head. Feeling weirded out I stood up and walked away. However he couldn't go before as someone grabbed my forearm and pulled me back. I stumbled and hit my back on the man and glared at the person.
"Let.Go." I said as I tried to yank my forearm free from the tight grasp the man had.
" I just want to know if you remember a guy who has gorgeous silver hair and pretty azure eyes." said the tall man with grey hair and orange eyes, as he looked down at him. His eyes looked crazy as if he had learned the cold harsh truth of the world.
He's crazy. "Let go first if you want answers from me." I said with a scowl on his face. I could tell whoever they were looking for is someone important and I, for some reason, can't remember him. I would've brushed it off if I hadn't been questioned about the same thing multiple times but now I think something is wrong with his memories ,'Why don't i remember this guy?!'
Another man suddenly stepped forward and yanked my arm free as I stumbled back and glared at both of them. "Stop it. I know it's your fault and you want to help but forcing him won't solve it. You need him don't you?" said the man who still held that orange eyed rude bastards hand. The man turned and looked at me before lowering his head slightly, "My deepest apologies, my friend here means no harm. We just want you to help us."
The way he said the last part sounded more like a threat instead of a plea. But I was too annoyed to give a shit about it. I instead moved forward and punched the bastard, who had hurt me, in the face. The other men seemed shocked as well as the bastard.
I looked him in the eyes and in the most menacing tone he could muster said," Piss off asshole. I am NOT telling you anything." Before anyone could say anything else, I turned around and bolted out of there while the others just stood there, stunned.
By the time I got back to the restaurant, I was sweating bullets. I was panting heavily as I went in and sat at a random table. The other employees looked concerned but seeing the my state, no one approached.
Only when Ethan walked in did the employees someone speak to tell about Noah.
Ethan rushed to my table and looked at me up and down. "What happened kid? Whats wrong? Who hurt you?" His worry was written on his face like an open book as he carefully picked my arms up to look around and spotted the red bruise starting to be formed on my forearm. His gaze hardened as he told me to come upstairs. I was already spent after running so fast so I complied, even though I didn't want to walk anymore. But the atmosphere here was too stifling and the quiet room, away from everyone's eyes sounded great.
Upstairs, Ethan sat me down and applied some sort of healing cream on my forearm. After a few minutes of silence during the wrap-up, Ethan finally asked again, "What happened kid?" he said as he looked over my arms for any other bruises.
I scoffed and looked away, "Stop it. I'm not a kid." I mumbled as he tried to yank his hand away from Ethan. It just some random people picking a fight with me. Although it didn't sound completely random as the men were talking about something that Kai, Arna and Ethan had asked. It was the same question.
" You are. 21 is young. And now stop being stubborn and just say the name." said Ethan with a stern voice.
Logically speaking, hiding it wouldn't have helped, what if the men came back? What if they brought more people? That could put the lives here at risk. But it was MY problem. No need to drag them into it. But... After weighing the options I gave in.
"When I went outside during the lunch break, they came up to me in the park and demanded answers from me. They asked about someone with 'gorgeous silver hair and pretty azure eyes' but before I could answer them some guy grabbed me and tried to, I don't know, answer him? Either way, they were a bunch of creeps. They were wearing white robes and looked off. So I just punched the guy who had grasped my arm and ran off." I looked at Ethan and in a quiet voice said," Sorry about that, I kinda ran in without thinking, he might've followed me. I don't know.. I didn't see..."
Ethan stared at me for a moment as he absorbed all the information. He let out a sigh and petted my head," Don't worry kid. I'll deal with them. Don't worry too much about them, just make sure you are going out with someone. Now, what do you mean you don't know that guy? You were talking to him every single day, you introduced him to us. You really don't remember?"
I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes. ''No, I don't know who that guy is." I groaned as i pressed the palm of my hand on my eyes and rolled over, " I don't remember. I don't know what the fuck is happening anymore. I thought Arna and Kai were playing a stupid prank. Why can't I remember?!"
Ethan laid down next to me and stayed there for a while in silence. " What do you remember from the past week?" I turned around to face him. " Just going to work, eating and sleeping. Nothing else." He hummed and got up. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. Keep your doors and windows locked and if anyone seems suspicious come to me."
I already told him I'm not a kid, so why is he treating me like one?! I know I'm one of the weaker species and have no special powers or anything and barely know anything about this place, but I can take care of myself! I know how to fight, I got first place in Taekwondo Inter-State Competition in my country. Whatever, since he looks so worried I'll follow his advice, but only this time.
After what happened, Ethan told me to not go to work for today so I just killed some time in my room and ate dinner there.
***
" Bang!"
The sudden loud sound woke me up as I got up and looked around. Near my window, a man was standing who took something out from his clothes and everything got blurry. I suddenly felt tired and my mind became sluggish. Before I could think of doing anything I fell back on the bed and the light went out. Belatedly I realized, I was drugged.
The next time I woke up, I was on a bed. Not my bed, this one smelled like fresh detergent and I haven't cleaned my bedsheets for a while.
I opened my eyes and saw a light burning through my eyes, i quickly rolled sideways and spotted the bastard guy sitting and staring at me.
" Ahem ahem. I'm sorry we had to meet this way. You have quite the strong people on your side." He rubbed his stomach as he stood up and walked over to me. "Tell me now, do you remember that guy?"
I'm pretty sure he's talking about the guy with white and blue eyes. " Why do you want to know?" I don't need to tell him shit. He drugged me and brought me here. Not to mention, I don't even know how I was drugged?! I didn't meet with anyone after my talk with Ethan, I was just in my room. Was it something in my food? That's not possible either, I eat the leftovers for dinner. No one could've possibly tampered with it, if that did happen then the customers would've been drugged too, plus I went straight to bed after the dinner, then wasn't I knocked out in my sleep? That only leaves answer, he did something when we broke into my room. But what?
" Don't let your mind wander. You still haven't answered my question. Don't think I'll let you leave without some answers."
Forget about that, what should I do now?! Does Ethan know I'm kidnapped? Where am I?? I need to inform Ethan! And how long have I been gone?!
The door to the room opened and some more men walked in, they were the same people I had met at the park.
" Did he answer yet?"
" No. But he will. I'll make sure of it."
" We don't have time, every second here is being wasted here. Let's just go on with the procedure."
" Alright."
"...?" What? What procedure? Are they human trafficers? Will they cut me up and sell my body parts? Or are they crazy people who experiment on other species?? What is even happening right now?!
Whatever it was, I can't let that happen, I needed to stop it, somehow. But by the time I came to that conclusion, the other men had already surrounded the bed and their hands were starting to glow white as they chanted something. It sounded like each person was saying something different.
" Hey! What the fuck are you doing?! Let me go!" I said, as I tried to get up but chains suddenly popped out of nowhere and bound me to the bed. I could feel my heart racing as the world started to blur and their voices became distant. It felt like I was drowning except there wasn't any water and I was just floating aimlessly.
-------- 𝐸𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 --------
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