Page 38 of Sadistic Obsession (Rise of Phoenyxx #1)

T rikk

I can’t sit still, so I get up and walk in circles around our living room. I'm at the apartment. Ghost is with me; Purge is in his lair hacking or some shit. Razor and Frost are at the gym.

“How are we going to get Bambi out, man?” I scrub my hands through my dark brown hair again, making it stick up everywhere.

“We’ll figure it out. Malishka WILL be home with us soon.”

“C’mon, bro, be realistic. We all know people disappear after being taken to medical. They could be doing anything to her and Synn!”

“Trikk, we have all five of us, plus Doc Harris, to help. I'm not stopping until she’s back in my arms.”

“And mine! I love her, bro! I can’t help it! I just...”

Ghost reaches over, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. “I love her too. I understand. She is different with us, from the others.”

“I think she loves us too, Ghost. I swear I heard her say it the other night.”

“Same. When I was watching over her after she was given those pills, she said something similar to me.”

“And she called me her second boyfriend!”

“That she did, brother.”

“I’ve got to get a grip. This stealth shit isn’t my forte. That's all Frost and Purge.”

“I get it. The key is going to be getting into that hidden place. There has to be another entrance. The one we found doesn’t seem like a main entrance.”

“True, true,” I mutter. “I’m going to cook something, you hungry?”

“I can eat, sure. Whatever you make is fine.”

“Cool.” I head to the kitchen, grabbing ingredients for pancakes. My Bambi loves pancakes...

Purge

I stare at the screen, not sure what I’m seeing. I've looked over the property schematics again, and there’s nothing in there showing tunnels, doors—nothing.

I've hacked into town records, looking for property permits. This place was built in the 1960s. Which can’t be right. I can only find information starting in the 1970s. Even the schematics are dated 1973.

Even weirder is the name of the original owner. It's a fake fucking name. Tom Jones... Really? That person doesn’t exist. After the initial build, there are NO records of past owners, either.

I keep running code, attempting to get into the government records regarding property. As I wait for a hit, I steeple my fingers, thinking how suspicious all of this is. Great lengths have been gone to in order to keep things hush-hush.

A ping alerts me that something has been found.

I scan the page, frowning when I see a single word that stands out—red.

What the fuck? Red what? Trying to dig deeper, I keep hitting walls.

Everything is marked confidential and classified.

Usually, that wouldn’t be an issue for me.

I can literally get into anything. The security being used is something I’ve never come across before.

“Fuck,” I mutter, rubbing my tired eyes. All of a sudden, an idea comes to me. I click into the search bar, typing in “tunnels” and “Pine Barrens”. My eyes widen when I get a hit. It seems that tunnels from the Prohibition Era ran through these vast woods .

Saving everything to my hard drive, I close it all down. Time to go talk to the guys, see if they’ve got anything. And the shrink too.

Hunter

I'm hoping the fear in my voice doesn’t become apparent as I wait for my contact in ZYGOS to pick up the phone.

ZYGOS is Greek, loosely translated as the scales—or balance.

This mercenary group is intent on balancing the scales of justice for those who are innocent and seeking punishment for those who are evil.

It's comprised of ex-military, ex-hitmen, ex-government agents, and ex-gang members.

The common theme between them is that they were once very bad people who did bad things.

The work they do now is to atone for their wrongdoings.

They reached out to me with this job opportunity. My background in the Marines, as well as other things I’ve done, got their attention. They have top hackers, who are constantly scouring for possible recruits.

Though they have yet to offer me a position in their organization, I have a feeling they will if this job goes well. Which leads me to the fear blazing through me with everything that continues to be brought to light.

The line picks up, no one speaking first, as usual. “I have stumbled across some disturbing information. It's of utmost importance.”

“Go on,” the male voice replies.

“Two of the students I’m keeping an eye on, Synn and Phoenyxx, were taken to an inpatient unit that I’ve never seen or heard of before.

They have both harmed themselves. I only became aware when they were dragged into the medical building.

I followed discreetly and was shocked to find a hidden door and stairs.

The other five students were also present.

There is a double set of steel doors at the top, with a call box. ”

I pause to take a breath. “A nurse and orderlies answered, refusing the boys’ entrance. I made myself known to the boys, then tried to get in myself. I was also denied. The one called Ghost admitted he had a secret room, which he brought us to.”

“This is...unexpected. Is there more?”

“Yes.” I continue, “There are two hidden doors inside the art hallway. A set of stairs is in the center, which goes up into the ceiling. We continued to search the area, finding a hidden hatch in the floor. Inside, is all dirt walls and floors. A large floor safe with a biometric lock takes up the space. We did hear voices, specifically someone saying a patient eleven needed something.”

“Great work. Are the students still being held?”

“Yes. I can't figure out how to get them out.”

“We’ll check into this on our end. Keep trying to get them out, that’s priority. Finding more hidden doors and tunnels is also important.”

“I plan to. I'll call as soon as there are any updates.”

The other end of the line goes dead, and I put my phone down. We're all going to have to keep searching the grounds. I won’t stand for Pretty Girl to be gone a second longer.

Phoenyxx

I wake suddenly, whimpers leaving my throat. The memories of being saved by hoodie boy were so real. I could so clearly see him...then he was gone. Just disappeared. I need to know who he is. I wonder...

“Phoenyxx? You good?” Synn’s voice grits out from next to me, interrupting my thoughts. I feel his body warmth, telling me we’re still in the same bed.

“Yeah, just a dream.” I pause, deciding fuck it, I’m going to ask him some burning questions. “Why did you hurt me?”

“What? Listen, Pazessca, I'm not a good man. Hurting people is what I do. What we all do.”

“Not an answer, Synn. You almost...broke me...with the forced...Shit...” I can’t even fucking say the word. Rape.

“You are MINE, Pazessca. I will do whatever I want to you.”

My body jerks as if he hit me. “The...FUCK? What the hell is wrong with you? No one owns me! Especially YOU!”

He turns my face towards his, holding eye contact. “Just accept it. You belong to me,” he whispers, almost reverently. He leans in, making a whisper of a kiss across my lips. My eyes widen, and my body shakes. Why do I want to kiss him back?

I force myself to move away, as close to the edge of the bed as possible. “I can’t do this with you HERE. I have to trust you to have my back right now...But how can I?”

“I will not let anyone else harm you. That I can promise you. Only me. Which I won’t, while we’re here. Truce, remember?” His lips quirk up a bit.

“Motherfucker,” I mutter. I move to sit up to go back to my bed, but he pulls me back down, curving into my body.

“You’re not going anywhere right now. Just rest.” He rubs soothing circles on my back, which do help. But...what do I think? I've got to clear my head to figure out how to escape from here. Hunter and Valley won't let me be missing for long. I don’t want them put in harm’s way.