Chapter 13 - The Empty Room
I screamed Chloe's name at the top of my lungs, my voice tearing through the terrifying silence of the apartment.
I grabbed the heavy iron fire poker and sprinted down the hallway right behind Jax.
Jax kicked the bedroom door violently off its hinges, sweeping the room with the barrel of his tactical pistol.
The heavy window overlooking the metal fire escape was wide open, the cold city wind furiously blowing the curtains into the room.
Chloe was nowhere to be seen.
Her bed was completely empty, the blankets tossed onto the floor in a frantic, desperate struggle.
"Chloe!" I shrieked, dropping to my knees and looking under the heavy oak bed frame.
Jax rushed to the open window, leaning out into the rainy night to scan the dark alleyway below.
"He couldn't have gotten far, I was monitoring the perimeter sensors until five minutes ago," Jax cursed, slamming his fist against the windowsill.
I stood up, my vision blurring with panicked tears, feeling the world violently collapsing around me.
Suddenly, a strange, unfamiliar ringing sound echoed from the small walk-in closet in the corner of the room.
Jax signaled for me to stay back, keeping his weapon raised as he slowly reached for the closet doorknob.
He ripped the door open, but there was no monster hiding in the dark shadows.
Sitting perfectly center on the top shelf of the closet was a cheap, disposable burner phone, lighting up with an incoming call.
I pushed past Jax and grabbed the phone, my hands shaking so badly I could barely press the green accept button.
"If you hurt one single hair on her head, I will hunt you down and kill you myself," I screamed into the receiver.
A low, raspy chuckle echoed through the phone speaker, a sound so much like Mark's that it made my blood run cold.
"She is entirely safe for now, Elena," David's chilling voice whispered directly into my ear.
"Mark told me you were fiercely protective, but he failed to mention how incredibly predictable you are."
He explained that he had purposely let the camera catch his face to draw us all into the bedroom.
"Check the front door, you stupid woman," David taunted before the line went completely dead.
Jax ran back down the hallway, rushing toward the main living room.
I followed him, my heart stopping when I saw the heavy front door standing wide open, leading out into the dark apartment hallway.
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Chloe had not been taken out the window.
She had been silently dragged straight out the front door while we were busy kicking down her bedroom door.
