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- Mia White -

"He won't fucking answer," Ben groaned when he heard Ace's voicemail.

We were back to our little camp area, and while Ben was trying to contact Ace, I was treating Austin's wounds. The entire time we walked back, Austin stayed silent with his eyes focused on the ground.

I couldn't stop the small smile creep on my face when I saw Jacob and Charles once we made it back from the basement though. I saw a slight shade of red on Jacob's cheeks when I asked what happened.

As I finished wrapping the bandage on Austin, I asked told Jacob to hand me a bottle of water and something for Austin to eat. Form the thin figure he had, Austin hasn't eaten in days. I tried to start a small conversation with him, but he still wouldn't talk.

Of course, I would never force him to talk to me, but I needed to know why he was there and what they did to him.

Did Mr Summer know that he was there?

Probably.

"No luck?" I asked Ben when I saw him sigh in frustration. He shook his head. but tried to call Ace again.

Levi was still gone as well. We tracked down his phone and tried to find him, but for some reason, he threw it away.Or at least I think he threw it away since the screen was cracked.

Jacob gave me the bottled water and a container filled with fruits and asked if I needed anything else. I looked at Austin as he stared at the contained of fruits, and when I shook my head, Jacob nodded and walked to Charles.

"Can I have that?" Austin asked, and I handed it to him. He opened it and began to eat.

"Austin?" He looked at me and stayed silent as if telling me to continue to talk. "Do you mind telling me why you were in that basement?"

He stopped eating as his body turned tense.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me now. But I need to know sooner or later," I told him, see that he wasn't ready to talk about it. He's been trapped there for who knows how long and suddenly a bunch of strangers come and resume him. But he doesn't have our full trust yet.

If I was in his position, I would either. You can never know who to trust in this world.

"No," he finally spoke. "It's okay. Someone has to know."

He handed me the container and fiddled with his fingers as he began to tell me his story.

"It happened about ten years ago when my dad killed my twin sister," he spoke quietly but was loud enough for me to hear. "The last thing I saw before being dragged away from him, was the sister's dead body and her blood staining the perfectly white carpet. He locked me up here for years, punishing me and telling me that it was my older sister, Mindy's fault that she died."

Annie.

But I never would have guessed Mindy had a younger brother. I can see why Austin looked so scared when he saw us. He thought we were going to do the same thing his father did to him.

What Mr Summer did to him.

"Mindy would do anything for me. She listened to father's rules so that he would no longer hurt me. She would come visit me, even if it meant punishment when she got caught. I heard father tell her to act as if there was nothing wrong, and that's was she did," Austin said sadly, a frown forming on his face.

"The house where you found me was a place only father and a few of his friends know about," he explained.

"The friends he's with now, work for the illegal company he has. I was still able to hear him and one of his workers talk after they beat me. Father sells drugs and gains most of his money than the small company he has. But recently, there's been a problem and his trades haven't been doing well. When he heard about Ace and his father, he planned on using Mindy to get close to Ace so he can find a way to take money from his father."

Austin continued to tell me how Mr Summer has never been caught. He's built up a very good impression upon himself, always looking innocent when someone questioned him. There is also no evidence that shows the illegal work he's done. Apparently, he's great at covering up any clues or information that could send him to prison.

But that's going to change. I'm going to make sure he goes to jail.

When Austin stopped talking, he asked to go inside one of the tents to rest. One of the guys offered to let him use their tent. As Austin went inside the tent, I talked with Charles and Jacob. I don't know if they know, but I'm pretty sure they're flirting with each other. I'm a pretty weird person because I find it cute when two people have no clue that they're flirting with each other.

Is that just me?

When I asked Ben if they could just track down Ace's phone, he told me that they have already tried, but apparently, the signal was closed off. Trying to call him was a bust, so Ben didn't try anymore. Before I could ask him a question, I saw his eyes widen as he walked passed me.

Turning around, I saw the person who disappeared after he kissed me.

"Levi! You're back!" Ben exclaimed. "Where the hell were you!? Thank God you're not dead."

Levi rolled his eyes and whispered something to Ben when he was close enough. All their other friends surrounded him, even Jacob, while I was left to watch. And even though Levi was surrounded by so many of his friends, his eyes still managed to land on me. And they stayed on me.

His eyes averted from mine to look and Ben and tell him something once more. Ben nodded, and soon enough, everyone scattered away. Levi walked towards me, and as he did, I can feel the awkward tension start to build up again.

He stood a few feet in front of me before giving me a small smile. "Hey."

"Hey," I smiled back.

There was a pause of silence before Levi asked if he could talk to me in private. I really wanted everything to go back to normal. I don't want there to be anything weird between us. We're friends.

He led me to a different area this time, but like before, it was still close to camp.

"So," he spoke, scratching the back of his head. "I kind of left it really awkward between us the last time I saw you."

"Yeah..."

He looked at me and sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry about... that. The truth is, I like you. But I knew that Ace does to. I mean, he makes it pretty obvious. You're stupid if you didn't realize it sooner or later," he chuckled, earning him a slap on the arm from me.

"Violent much?"

"Don't call me stupid."

Levi rolled his eyes before looking at me again. "Anyway, I knew that you'd never have feelings for me since I knew you like Ace. So, I tried to move on. I tried dating other girls, but I would always compare them to you..."

"Levi..."

He smiled. "It's okay. I've already accepted the fact that I won't be granted the chance to be with you. But I hope we can still be friends."

What surprised the both of us was when I stepped towards him, and hugged him. He stood still before I felt his arms wrap around me.

"I just want everything to go back to normal," I mumbled.

"Me too."

We stayed in this position for a while before Levi decided to break the silence once more. "So are we good?"

I chuckled. "Yeah. We're good."

When I pulled away from him, he smiled, but soon his expression turned serious. He told me that he found out where Ace was, saying he has a little help with one of the people who worked for Mr Summer. He took advantage of the cameras Ben hid and got the man to confess what he knew about his so-called boss.

"The wedding is happening earlier then expected," Levi stated. "Apparently Mindy's Birthday has already passed, and Mr Summer decided to have the wedding sooner than later."

I frowned. Levi said we'd have Ace back by now before the wedding. As if reading my thoughts, he smiled. "Don't worry, Mia. We'll get him back. Let's go back to the others though so we can plan everything out."

"We have a wedding to crash."

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😂