"What do you mean they didn't leave?" Jamilla's voice was shaky, her nose stuffed from her excess tears.

I took my bottom lip in between my teeth, harshly biting the pink flesh. I threw both my hands into the air, brushing through my hair and blowing out a deep breath of air in an attempt to alleviate some of my stress, "I've been tracking her phone and it hasn't moved at all since Saturday," I explained.

"Th-then-" she didn't finish her sentence, her eyes conveying all of her emotions and uncertainties. Her tears stained her dark, ebony skin, making the streaks on her face a slightly lighter shade of brown.

I glanced at Lucas, fear burning in my eyes. I gave an urgent nod, indicating that we needed to leave.

He glanced around at all of our friends that were still seated, more than confused about the situation, but most likely piecing things together.

Lucas nodded his head back, jumping off of the bench, "I'll call Carter." He pulled his phone up to his ear as he leaped into a fast jog, running through the crowds of people.

"If I go home, does that mean I'll find Charlotte?" she asked with saddened eyes.

"I think she's at your house, yes. But that means that my dad is too..."

She let out a breath, her body trembling at the overwhelming thoughts. She rubbed her red eyes with the palm of her hands, "What should I do? I can't just sit here and do nothing. I can't leave her alone when I know where she is! I have to go home! I have to help her!" Her words came out panicked and fast.

"We called the cops, so they'll be at your house as soon as they can. I'll go too," I reassured her as Lucas' car pulled up to the closest curb. "We'll go now, but if you go too, no matter what, don't try and look for her. My dad is a lot more dangerous than you think." I looked her in the eyes as I spoke, trying my best to get my point across, not wanting another innocent person to get caught up in this mess.

I gave her one last glance before I jogged up to Lucas' car, yanking the door open and throwing my body into the seat. The second the door was closed Lucas was speeding out of the bustling lot.

"Carter and his unit were investigating a separate case and they won't be able to come back for another couple hours," Lucas breathed out, his eyes unblinking and his focus unwavering from the road as he drove over the speed limit.

"What!?" I shouted, "But this is a life or death situation! He might actually kill her!"

"I know..."

"Fuck!" I shouted, bringing my fist down on the dashboard in front of me. My eyebrows were tightly knit and my hands couldn't stop clenching and unclenching.

"He told me that he'd send some patrol cars in the area to search the house," Lucas explained, making a sharp left turn that had me slamming into the side of the door.

I leaned back against the seat, taking in the view in front of me. Lucas swerved in and out of lanes, avoided cars left and right. I closed my eyes, shutting them as tightly as I could and banging my head against the headrest.

Honestly, I had no clue what to expect. Option A, my dad killed Charlotte and buried her in the backyard just like he did to Ace. Option B, he's holding her captive in a secret room or basement of some kind. Option C, he did in fact find her phone and then proceeded to leave it somewhere in the house. None of these had good outcomes, because the likelihood that he hurt Charlotte was extremely high.

At first, I questioned if he would really injure her or not, after all, the reason he beat the shit out of me was because he blamed me for my mom's death. But then again, my brother was innocent and he was still starved, neglected, and eventually killed. Who's to say he won't do the same to Charlotte.

The tapping of my foot drowned out the deafening noise from Lucas' engine. My body swayed from side to side, jolting forward and backward. My boyfriend drove with hopes of not seeing any cop cars, but the drive to Dramth was not particularly short.

The ride allowed me to think about what I would do and how I would handle the situation. But my mind was a muddled mess and no matter how hard I tried to come up with some sort of plan, I simply couldn't. There were too many possibilities and too many uncertainties.

When we finally arrived at Charlotte's house, Lucas parked his car behind the three police vehicles stationed in front of it.

I got out of the car with no hesitancy, squinting my eyes due to the harsh rays of the sun beating down on us. Heat radiated off of the black hoods of the surrounding cop cars, sweat visibly dripping from the officers' necks.

Lucas and I approached one of the numerous cops in front of the house. He was dressed in a standard navy blue, nearly black uniform. There was a large walkie-talkie connected to the bottom of his collar in the front with his gold badge placed to the left of it. There were two cargo pockets on his chest with patches on each short sleeve. The top was neatly tucked into loose slacks the same color of his shirt, all held up with a thick belt that held a police standard gun, bullets, and taser.

"Did you find anything?" I asked, my eyes wide and filled with seriousness.

"Are you Kai Yoon?" He eyes me up and down, glancing at my face skeptically.

"Yeah."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Detective Carter told me that you might come, but he gave me strict instructions telling me that you are not to enter that house," he said sternly.

"Did you already search it?" Lucas asked him.

"We did, but we weren't able to find anything at all. They simply aren't here," he shook his head in disappointment.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath, looking away from the officer.

"Then," Lucas started, "Since they aren't here, it's fine if we take a look, right?" Lucas urged, using his puppy dog eyes to plead with the cop.

The cop let out a loud sigh, his hands resting on the edge of his belt with his elbows sticking out. He looked around, stealing glances at the other officers stationed around the house. He noticed that no one was paying attention, "Fine. Go have a look, it's not like they're inside anyway."

"Did you find a random phone lying around by any chance?" I quickly asked him.

"Hmm? No, we didn't."

"Thank you, officer," Lucas offered him a tight-lipped smile before turning away, heading toward the already open front door. I followed closely behind, nearly pressed up against his back and practically pushing Lucas into the house.

We both paused in the doorway, taking in our surroundings. We stood on the shiny, rich light brown of the hardwood floors, a separator wall just feet in front of us. To the left was the kitchen and the right was the living room.

I looked at him and without saying anything I made my way into the kitchen, looking around without knowing what exactly I was looking for.

Lucas went into the living room as I stood in the middle of the kitchen. I looked to my sides, my legs unmoving before I sighed and walked to the doorway, entering the hallway connected to the living room. Lucas met my eyes from in front of their large flat-screen TV and just shrugged his shoulders.

We went from bedroom to bedroom, but nothing showed up.

"No phone, no basement of any sort, there isn't even an attic in this damn house!" I yelled in frustration.

"Check your phone again, are you sure that it's here?"

"It is, I swear it is," I huffed as I pulled up Charlotte's location once again. I zoomed in on the map and looked up at Lucas. My brows were furrowed and I glanced around the hallway in every direction. I looked back at Lucas and then at my phone once again with a confused expression on my face. I stepped into another room and then back next to Lucas, "What the actual fuck?"

"What?" Lucas asked as I stared daggers at my phone.

It's here, it's literally right here," I stated, utterly dumbfounded. "Like literally right here. Not just in this house but where we're standing."

"That doesn't make sense, there isn't a basement."

"I know, that's why I'm confused."

"Maybe you should ask Jamilla if she has a floor plan for the house. Y'know, like a blueprint of the infrastructure or something."

"Yeah. Yeah, thanks a good idea, I'll do that," I nodded my head as I pulled up the email from Joon, copy and pasting Jamilla's number and calling it.

My phone beeped twice before she picked up, "Hello? This is Jamilla Ababio speaking," her words came out hoarse due to her earlier crying.

"It's Kai."

"O-Oh... Did you find them?" She sniffled with a shaky voice

"No..." I trailed off. "But I need to know if you have something with the blueprint or layout of your house."

"Why would you need that?"

"I don't have enough time to explain, do you have it or not?" I asked more harshly than I intended, feeling more rushed as time passed.

"Y-yes, there is one," Jamilla stuttered. "If you go into the office room, at the desk there will be a backpack near the chair. Inside the backpack is Sangtae's laptop. The password is 63409, there is a file titled home project and there should be a blueprint on it, I believe," the words flew out of her mouth.

I shoved the door to each room open until I landed in the office. I glanced around the room until I spotted the bag she mentioned and stomped over to it, "Thank you," I hung up the phone.

I hastily threw the backpack onto the swivel chair and unzipped it, pulling a somewhat old black laptop out. I typed in the password, hunched over the desk with Lucas looming over me.

I double-clicked on the beige folder icon and numerous files popped up, each titled by a number starting from 001 to 234.

"Shit," Lucas muttered as I began to open each individual file, immediately closing it once it became obvious it wasn't what we were looking for,

"Kitchen remodel, master bedroom remodel, replaced floors, new roof, added walls, fixed pipes, newly installed shower, luxury bath, outlet additions," I rambled on and on, it was an endless loop.

"There!" Lucas spoke, pointing at the second page of the file I was about to close.

I glanced at him and then scrolled down, "Here it is," I whispered.

It was confusing to take in, the 2D model was something only people who study or understand architecture can understand.

Lucas' eyes narrowed and I huffed out a sigh, "We'll just have to keep looking."

156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, nothing, nothing, nothing again, not this one, not the next, and not the one after that.

By now, I had moved the bag off the chair and placed myself in it, the screen was angled downward so Lucas, who was sitting criss-cross applesauce on the ground could also see.

"Fuck, Lucas!" I exclaimed, bending down at the waist and slapping his thigh to get his attention.

He jumped from his sitting position and leaned in close, taking in the detailed blueprint.

The blue image had white lines, bringing life to a hollow, 3D outline of the house we were in.

"No basement or attic. No rooms closed off..." My tone was bitter, my voice laced with disappointment. "Just as we suspected..."

Lucas clenched his jaw, slamming the computer shut, "No. That doesn't make sense. Her phone is here, there has to be something."

"I need some air," my mouth was wired shut, just as Lucas'. The muscles in my face and jaw flexed in anger as I rushed through the house, making my way to the closest exit which happened to be the backdoor.

I pulled the sliding glass door open, taking in a deep breath and willing myself to not have a panic attack as I stood just outside of the house. My eyes were closed as I steadied my breathing, waiting for my heart rate to decelerate.

The second I opened my eyes, my breath got caught in my throat, my heart stopping in place. My eyes were unblinking and unmoving as I stared. My mouth was slightly parted and my body was frozen in place.

"Kai, where did you- oof!" Lucas walked into my back. He placed his hands on my shoulder and asked, "I was looking for you, why'd you rush out? What's wrong? Why are you just standing here-" his words cut off as he traced my gaze, now looking at the same thing as me.

"Is that..." He trailed off.

"Yeah," I croaked out. "It's the same, exactly the same..."

There was no difference. Nothing. It was completely identical... An exact replica of the shed he buried my brother under. The aged grey shed had rust lining the cracks. Just like the one at my old house, it was placed in a corner, two different sides pressed against the dry wood of the fence separating their yard from the neighbors' yards.

"Do-" I had to pause for a second, trying to swallow the small amount of saliva in my now dry mouth. "Do you think he buried her under there too?" My voice was small and desperate.

Lucas sucked in a breath, his voice coming out airy and uncertain, "I don't know."

He brushed past me and took my hand in his, pulling me along with his as he slowly made his way across the vibrant grass. My focus didn't waver and my eyes burned. Lucas' grasp on my shaking hand tightened. He looked back at me and gave me a reassuring smile before hesitantly gliding the rickety door to the right.

"It's empty," Lucas deadpanned.

"What!?" I yelled, rushing into the small room with a grey, concrete floor. The inside was covered in cobwebs, completely ridden with insects. Cockroaches scurried away from the light and flies escaped through the opening.

"That doesn't make sense though, there's no sign of something being buried from the outside, the grass has no marks of disturbance," Lucas logically explained.

I stepped forward, walking further into the shed. There was suddenly a small grinding sound from below. I looked at my feet and my eyes trailed the numerous, long cracks that flowed throughout the entire concrete bottom of the shed.

I stepped back onto the same spot as before and there was another soft grinding noise.

I looked to Lucas who also seemed to have heard it, "Do you think..." He stared at the spot my feet stood on.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I slowly bent down, putting myself in a squatting position. I craned my head upward to see that Lucas had the same expression on his face as I did. I took a deep breath and then traced my fingers along the broken lines, dipping my fingers inside. I pushed it, trying to pull it up at the same time, but there was no movement.

I couldn't tell if it was nothing and I was crazy, or if it was simply too heavy to move with just my fingertips.

"Lucas, can you give me a hand," I grunted, still trying to move it.

He immediately sat down next to me, balancing on the balls of his feet. His fingers brushed mine as he got his hands into a good position.

"Okay," I huffed. "On three."

Lucas nodded, "On three."

"One, two, three-" We both let out harsh grunts that gradually turned into shouts as we strained our hands.

Then it happened, the edge of a large slab in between the cracks popped up. I peeked at Lucas, him doing the same to me.

"Fuck!" He diverted his attention back to the concrete, shuffling his hand under the piece. Veins bulged from my hands and arms as I put in my full strength trying to push the piece up.

"Ughhh!" I screamed as the slab now stood over our heads.

"Just a little more," Lucas spit out, his teeth clenched.

"Fuck!" We threw it down, the large piece slamming into the flimsy metal back of the shed, denting it while its weight ripped through the wall, the concrete falling into the fence.

"Is it just me, or is that a fucking trap door?" Lucas muttered, stunned at the square lump of dirt that was clearly separated from the surrounding debris.

"It is," I huffed, catching my breath.

I quickly bent down, my knees making a cracking noise in the process. I grabbed the bottom of the chunk from the edge and threw it backward, the door swinging up with the grime on top not moving an inch. It revealed one last layer, but this time it was a steel platform with a hefty handle jutting out.

Steep, metal steps led down into a dark abyss. There was no way to know how far down they went, and it would be impossible to know what lay at the bottom.