I speak sarcasm fluently

As she heard him go on, she shook her head, a lump forming in the back of her throat. “Don’t you dare say that.” Her entire mood of hope shifted, a serious expression pulling over her. “You cannot think like that.”

He swallowed and nodded slowly, trying to keep it together. “Maybe...” But he knew he hadn’t been half as overprotective as in the beginning, it simply didn’t make sense. “Yes, five months. But she wouldn’t even wear normal clothes until a week ago! She still doesn’t get the technology and all the loud sounds scare her! She wouldn’t just run off...” 

“I..I have to go. Continue to look for her. I can’t just stand here. I’ll call you when I find something.”

Once she saw him get angry again, more upset than ever, she backed away from him, knowing what was to follow; the outburst of rage seemed to consume him and she only put a hand on his tense shoulder after he punched through the wall. “Nick…violence isn’t going to solve anything! I know you’re upset. You have every right to be, but we won’t stop at anything to find her.” Unfortunately, the sinking feeling came back, wondering if they’d find her at all, dead or alive.

“We both know that whatever it is, it isn’t good! However we’re gonna find her it isn’t going to be good!” he cries out. “We have to find her but we don’t even know where to start looking!” 

“Annie, this is bad! This is so bad! We can’t fail her again! She hasn’t even been alive for a year and we screw up again! I screw up again!”

“What if she is...what if she...” He couldn’t finish his sentence. It knocked the breath right out of him. 

“She wouldn’t have run away because of that.” She shook her head, unless she had run away. And, if that was the case, then maybe that’s why she hadn’t called or texted either of them. “Be a good influence for him, please.”

Looking to her phone, she licked her lips unresponsively before adding, “He doesn’t know anything. It just wouldn’t make sense for Kyle to take her. Or any of the wolves. They wouldn’t want to start a war. Not now. Not with tensions already so high.”

“I’ve never been the one to look to for good influence.” he warned her. 

“I don’t know...She never mentioned it to me. But the again she’s a sweet thing. She might not ever mention it to spare our feelings. That’s why her running away seems really unlikely indeed.” he sighed. “I don’t think Olivia knows where she is either, she would have called by now.” he concluded. 

The silence that followed was painful. If there was no logical explanation for a voluntarily absence, what was the alternative?

“This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening again!” Frustrated he released his fist to the wall, having no other outlet in this moment to deal with his emotions. If the Kingsman brothers had anything to do with this he wasn’t sure what he would do. 

He looked at Antonia. They both knew it was a sentimental notion he didn’t often agree with. Yet she was always patient and forgiving enough to try to get through to him anyway. Nicholas check his phone after sending the message. “He hasn’t seen her. Say he thinks she doesn’t like him all that much. That she felt replaced..”

He looked at Antonia. “You think she ran away? That she is upset about Noah and Olivia?” he asked her. “I like him too.” he concluded. “He’s a good kid.”

“Anything from Kevin?”

Still, once his arms around her, she lulled in them for a moment. Everything was overwhelmingly emotional, and she couldn’t control the floodgate of tears. Even with their separation, it all came back to how they responded to each other. Even in the midst of all the darkness, she knew she needed him for comfort. Pulling her head back up was harder for her than she imagined, but hearing his words pick up was enough, and she nodded slowly. “I’ll call her and see if she knows anything. And…yeah. We just need to know if they have any idea as to where she is.” She responded, though a terrible gut feeling hit her once she started thinking about the Kingsmans and if they had anything to do with this. “You think Kyle would…kidnap Victoria just to get back at you? Everything you did was months ago, almost half a year ago.” She sighed again before adding, “I’ll see if Kevin knows anything.”

The fact that everything seemed to repeat itself was like a horrible nightmare. The overwhelming emotions, like only a vampire could feel them, were perssing against his soul. He ached for relieve already, ached to turn it all off but he knew he couldn’t. There was still hope. The had to be an explanation. And Annie was here, he had to keep it together for her. He held her tight. “I don’t know. I don’t know how far anyone would go to get back at me. Hate roots deep. I just don’t know...” he answered. “But we’ll find out. We’ll bring her back safe and sound. She will be alright. All of us will be alright.” he stated. “I’ll text Noah, see if he has seen her.” he went on.