"You know where my brother is??" Inna impulsively stepped forward after hearing what the average-looking man had to say about Cassian. Before she could get any closer to the unknown man who had interrupted their conversation unpromptedly, Orson had stopped her from moving nearer by blocking her path as he came to stand in front of her.
"First of all, you’re not allowed to come in here since everyone else is restricted from stepping into this building." Orson uttered strictly to the man, his eyes stern. "This house is placed under tight security and your mistrustful actions could lead you into becoming one of the suspects. Who are you??"
"The name is Geoffrey." He quickly introduced with his head bowed. "I am not here to hurt anyone, nor do I have any evil intentions against either of you, but I do have information that could lead you to the young man you’re desperately trying to find."
Geoffrey understood their suspicions and he didn’t blame them for it, neither could he even if he wanted to. He had shown up out of the blue which was enough to make them raise their alarm, but he was only here to repay the gratitude the young lad had shown him by sparing his life, and to the extent of giving him the money and another chance to escape from those night creatures?
He won’t be able to leave peacefully with himself knowing he sat back and did nothing to help the man who saved him.
"I know where he is." He determinedly looked up to meet Orson’s skeptical gaze. The tone of his voice remained genuine, and he sounded like he knew exactly what he was talking about.
"How do you..."
"W_wait... did...did you say Geoffrey?" Inna hesitantly questioned the bald-headed man who nodded in response to her word. "Yes, Milady."
"By Geoffrey, I mean the bladesmith my brother went to visit in the lower East quarters? Are you a bladesmith??" She asked, hope gleaming in her eyes, and Geoffrey nodded once again.
"Yes, it is me."
A relieved sigh could be heard flowing across the living room, and Madeline took the lead to stand before Geoffrey who lowered his head in her presence. When he bowed to her, she was thrown off guard by his act, but nevertheless, she asked him the question that had been rampaging through her mind and heart.
"Did Cassian show up at your place last night?" Madeline questioned immediately, her worries displaying clearly on her facial features, and the bald man nodded.
"He did, he came asking about the blade and was curious to know who I made them for."
"Well...where is he?" Orson pushed on, already getting impatient and the man’s expression turned somber. "He was taken away by the same people he came to ask about. I am only alive today because of him, so I thought of freeing myself from this burden and telling you exactly where he is."
"Where is he??"
"Back in the lower East quarters, you’ll have to come with me, and we need to hurry lest he dies if we don’t make it on time."
"Let’s go." Everyone left the house after that. Orson quickly excused himself after speaking with one of his mates who was also investigating the house before leaving.
~~~~
Back in the underground hole where Cassian had been buried, the young lad abruptly coughed when dust particles assaulted his nostril, automatically waking him up from his oblivion and back to face reality that achingly awaited him.
Cassian’s eyes snapped open when his insides felt like it had been lit on fire, his temperature had shot up and there was nothing visible for his eyes to see except the darkness that enshrouded his vision.
He realized his eyes were still blindfolded by the clothes those hunters had used to conceal his eyes earlier. And just like before, everything that happened to him before it got to this situation surfaced clearly through his brain.
"Where is this place?" His voice came out in a harsh whisper as he tried to sense what environment he was in this time around. The place he was in previously was super cold, but now he felt so hot that he craved for some air.
He could feel trails of sweat running down his face, neck and every other part of his body.
The first thing he noticed was the feeling of earth since his back was resting on the earthly ground, followed by the lack of air. His breathing felt incredibly painful since there was very little oxygen in this place, and the terrible part of it was how uncomfortable he felt with his hands chained to his back.
’Why can’t I breathe??’ When he tried to push himself up into a sitting position, his forehead came in contact with the wood, and he was forced to lie down back when the unexpected contact had inflicted him more pain.
’urgh! Is that wood?!’ He alarmingly exclaimed in his mind. He might not be able to see, but he still had other senses that could help him detect where he was.
Tactfully, he shifted a bit to the left and came to the quick conception that he was somewhere dense on the ground.
The smell of earth, the lack of air, the tightness and how unbearably hot it was in here.
Did they bury him??
"Shit!" He cursed after coming to the conclusion that they just buried him.
With his hands chained, how is he going to get the hell out of this place?? It’s already unbearable that he can’t breathe in such a dense environment, and his eyes are blindfolded too.
Was he blind already??
Gathering whatever strength was left in his system, he tried to kick the wood open since his legs were the only thing that wasn’t chained. So far he’s got enough information from the villain himself, but how is going to get back at them if he’s stuck here???
"Get me out of here you bunch of parasites!" He continued to kick at the wood to see if it would break open, but the wood remained solid and unmoving. He was currently drained to the bones and after ten minutes of trying to break free from this tightness, Cassian finally gave up as he tried to catch his breath.
"Can’t..... breathe." He could feel his chest grow tight.
He was unable to get air into his lungs and that made his breathing quicken. This was one of the most torturing experiences he had to face since he became a secret detective. He’s been into countless trouble, but none was like this where he had to be buried and granted the inability to breathe.
His mind had gone blurry and he didn’t have the energy to move. The injuries on his body and the bite marks he saw earlier were only adding pepper to his situation.
"Argh!" At this point, Cassian didn’t mind dying to escape from this still torture. Was this what it felt like to be buried alive?? Why isn’t he dying??
’I don’t think I can hold myself for much longer.’ He inwardly grimaced since there was no escaping this.
Where the heck is Lily??