KEIFER'S POV — WHEN ABSENCE SCREAMS
Jay didn't show up.
At first, no one panicked.
Because Jay was late sometimes—rarely, but enough that it didn't set off alarms immediately. Teachers hadn't marked attendance yet. The hallway buzzed like usual.
Still, the seat beside mine stayed empty.
Cin leaned back in his chair. "She text anyone?"
Felix checked his phone. "Nothing."
Yuri frowned. "She never misses Mondays."
That should've been enough.
By second period, whispers started.
"Jay absent?" "Didn't she come in already?" "I saw her car outside, I think."
My chest tightened.
I pulled my phone out, typed fast.
Me: You alive?
Delivered.
No reply.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
I stood before the bell even rang.
Edrix looked up instantly. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yes," I said. "Track her."
We didn't argue. We never did when things felt wrong.
Edrix opened his laptop, fingers moving fast, jaw clenched. He'd tracked lost phones, stolen bikes, once even a missing person for a day.
"This'll take a sec," he muttered.
The room felt too loud. Too bright.
I watched the door like she might walk in late, annoyed, hair half loose, rolling her eyes like relax, I'm here.
She didn't.
Edrix stiffened.
"…That's weird."
"What," I said sharply.
"I'm getting interference. Like—" he frowned harder, typing again. "Like her signal's there but not there."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't," he agreed. "Unless—"
The screen glitched.
Lines warped. Code froze.
Then the entire system stuttered and went black.
Edrix swore under his breath. "That's not a glitch. That's intentional."
My phone vibrated.
Unknown Caller.
Once.
Then again.
My jaw locked.
I knew that number.
I hadn't seen it in years.
Ram.
My arch nemesis.
The one person who never did anything without wanting me to watch.
I stepped out into the hallway before answering.
The bell rang behind me.
I picked up.
The screen loaded slowly.
Too slowly.
Then—
Jay.
Unconscious.
Her head lolled to the side, hair tangled, uniform wrinkled. There was dried blood near her temple. A bruise already blooming dark against her skin.
She wasn't restrained—but she wasn't moving either.
My vision tunneled.
Ram's face slid into frame, smiling casually, like this was a friendly check-in.
"Miss me, Keifer?"
I couldn't hear my own breathing anymore.
"What did you do," I said.
Not a question.
He chuckled. "Relax. She's alive. For now."
The camera tilted back to her face.
She didn't stir.
Something inside my chest cracked—clean, sharp.
"You touch her," I said quietly, "and I will—"
"You will what?" he interrupted, amused. "You don't even know where we are."
I said nothing.
He leaned closer to the camera. "She was very easy to take. Predictable routine. Same parking spot. Same time."
My hands curled into fists.
"You always did like control," he continued. "So I thought—why not take something you'd actually feel?"
The screen flickered again.
Ram smiled wider. "Don't involve the cops. Don't play hero."
His eyes hardened.
"Because every wrong move… she wakes up in less pieces than she started with."
The call ended.
Just like that.
I stood there in the empty hallway, phone still pressed to my ear, heart hammering like it wanted out.
Edrix burst through the door seconds later. "Keifer—what happened?"
I lowered the phone slowly.
"They took Jay," I said.
My voice didn't shake.
But something in me was already burning to the ground.
"And Ram just declared war."
"They took Jay," I said again.
Edrix didn't ask who.
Cin didn't ask how.
Felix didn't joke.
That's how bad it was.
We locked the classroom door. Yuri pulled the blinds. Rory stood watch like instinct had already kicked in.
I placed my phone on the desk, hands flat beside it, forcing myself to stay still.
"Ram," I said. "He has her. Alive."
Cin's face drained of color. "Your Ram?"
"The only one that matters," I replied.
Edrix was already rebooting systems, fingers flying like his nerves were wired straight into the keyboard.
"He cut her signal clean. That means jammer, not dead zone. Mobile."
"Vehicle?" Felix asked.
"Yes," Edrix said immediately. "And not solo. He wants leverage, not speed."
Yuri leaned forward. "He showed you her. That's a message."
I nodded. "He wants me reckless."
Cin slammed his palm on the desk. "Then don't be."
I looked up.
Everyone was watching me—not scared, not doubtful.
Ready.
"Okay," I said. "We don't panic. We don't alert anyone who doesn't already know Ram's pattern."
Rory frowned. "What about authorities?"
"No," I said. "Not yet."
That earned silence.
"He warned against it," I continued. "And he doesn't bluff. If cops move before we know where she is, she pays first."
No one argued.
Edrix snapped his fingers. "I can backtrack the call route. He used a live stream, not a recording. There's latency."
"How long?" I asked.
"Minutes," he said. "If I push."
"Do it."
Cin was already pacing. "He said predictable routine. School parking lot. That means they didn't grab her on impulse."
"No," Yuri said. "They watched."
That sent something cold down my spine.
Felix spoke quietly. "Which means this isn't just about you, Keifer."
I swallowed.
"I know."
Edrix suddenly froze.
"I've got something."
We crowded around.
"Signal ghost," he explained. "He masked it, but he slipped. For half a second, her phone pinged off a private relay."
"Where," I demanded.
Edrix zoomed in.
An industrial stretch. Warehouses. Old freight routes. Edge of the city—where cameras thin and people mind their business.
Cin whistled low. "That's Ram's playground."
"Vehicles?" Rory asked.
Edrix nodded. "Two. One primary, one shadow. They're moving."
"How fast?"
"Not fast enough."
I straightened.
"Keys," I said.
Cin tossed his without hesitation. "You're driving."
Felix grabbed his jacket. "We splitting?"
"Yes," I replied. "Cin and I intercept. Yuri and Rory loop from the south. Edrix stays mobile—feeds us everything."
"And me?" Felix asked.
I met his eyes. "You stay with Edrix. If anything happens to our signal, you pull us out."
No one argued.
We moved.
---
The car roared to life.
Cin didn't talk. He didn't need to.
The city blurred past, traffic lights ignored, adrenaline making everything sharp and unreal.
"She was just going to school," Cin said suddenly. "Uniform. Breakfast. Normal."
"I know," I replied.
My grip tightened on the wheel.
Edrix's voice crackled through the call. "They've slowed. Warehouse cluster 7B. Older structure. No active businesses."
"Why stop?" Yuri asked through the line.
"Because," Edrix said grimly, "he wants control of the environment."
Ram liked stages.
"Keifer," Edrix added. "Jay's vitals—"
I cut him off. "Tell me."
"…Stable. She hasn't woken up."
Good.
I didn't know what I would do if she had.
Cin leaned forward. "Two minutes out."
I nodded.
"Everyone listen," I said. "We don't rush in blind. We confirm eyes on her first. If Ram sees us before we see her, we lose leverage."
A pause.
"Keifer," Rory said quietly. "If this goes bad—"
"It won't," I said.
Not because I was optimistic.
Because failure wasn't an option I was allowing myself.
Edrix's voice sharpened. "Visual confirmation on secondary vehicle."
"Where?" I asked.
"Inside the warehouse."
My chest tightened.
"Jay's phone just pinged again," he added. "Brief. Inside."
Cin looked at me. "She's there."
I slammed the brakes just short of the building, engine still running.
The warehouse loomed ahead—rusted, quiet, wrong.
Somewhere inside—
Jay was unconscious. Unaware. Alive.
For now.
I opened the car door.
"Positions," I said calmly.
But inside—
Something feral was already clawing its way to the surface.
And Ram had no idea what he'd just unleashed....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MERRY CHRISTMAS READERS🪄🪄💗💗
So I had some leisure time and this is the last chapter I'll be posting today stay tuned for tomorrow....
Love you all
~nsaw