After what seemed like an absurd amount of time, Ela walked out of the room with a bright smile on her face before Ruby limped out, her hair a mess and all over the place. Gulping at the sight, Damien made his way over to Ela’s side before speaking. Alright, so should we figure out what we should do now? The people who lived here could not have just vanished on their own…”

He paused, waiting to see if anyone would speak after a few minutes of waiting, Damien continued. “With that in mind, I think it's the same to say that someone knew that you would not be here.” Damien pointed at Ruby, “Since they knew you would not be here, then that means that they had some type of goal as to what that is I'm not sure.”

Hearing his thoughts, Ruby let out a long sigh, “I have no idea why anyone would plot against me and my group. As far as I am aware, we have never offended anyone or done anything that would make someone kidnap an entire town of people. Ruby explained despairingly.

“Hmm… Well, maybe they are not after you or your people, Ruby. I am sure you are aware of “the organization” and what they do, no? Being one of their “subjects,” they have shown that they are not willing to simply let me escape.”

Damien had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but something was just not sitting right with him. Why let Ruby go free? She was a close friend of Ela’s, and no doubt the organization had been keeping track of his movements, and if that were the case, they would have seen Ela with him at all times. So, if they did their research on Ela, I imagine they would be able to figure out that Ruby was a close friend of hers which would make sense why the town got targeted.

Putting his hand on his face, Damien started to tap his cheek while in thought. ‘Wait…’ Damien quickly glanced at Ruby, who was looking at him, seemingly waiting for him to finish his words.

“Ruby.” Damien said aloud, “What’s up?” She asked in response.

As he was about to continue speaking, he bent down and started to hold his head while grunting out loud. “Ah- fuck, sorry, my head started to hurt all of a sudden.” jumping up, Ela ran over to his side and bent down next to him before speaking worriedly, “Ruby can you go and get some water or something?”

“Sure.” she quickly responded before leaving the room in a rush.

Once she was gone Damien stopped pretending surprising Ela, “I thought something was wrong… What is going on? She asked with a puzzled look.

“Sorry for making you worry, but I don't think the person we are talking to is Ruby Ela…” Hearing his words, Ela frowned but prompted him to continue before saying anything, “Think about it: we show up, and she is here by herself, and instead of looking worried or anything, she immediately attacked thinking you were “Someone else” and on top of this do you think that if it is the organization that kidnapped everyone that they would let someone like Ruby go? No, I don’t think so. No doubt they have had their eyes on us since my escape and with that in mind they should be able to figure out who you are and who your friends are.”

Understanding what Damien was saying, Ela adopted a serious expression, “Okay, I understand what you mean, but let me test it, alright? There are things that only I and the real Ruby would know. So I will just ask her a few questions, and if she is unable to answer or gets them wrong, then we will restrain her got it?”

Nodding his head, Damien sat down again and put his head in his hands. A few minutes later, Ruby walked through the door with a cup of water and set it down. “Here,” she said before speaking to Ela.

“What’s wrong with him?”

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“Nothing, his head sometimes hurts because while the organization got rid of his memoirs for Damien they eventually came back and I think that is what is causing it,” Ela explained before looking at Ruby with an unreadable look.

“Hey, do you remember when we first met what you said to me when I told you about Damien?” hearing Ela’s question, a surprised expression appeared on Ruby’s face, “Ela I don’t think now's the time to reminisce right? Should we not try and think of a plan to figure out where everyone went?”

Ela softly laughed in response, “Oh come on, we have to wait till Damien’s head starts to feel better anyway, so in the meantime, I don't think it hurts to talk about the past. Speaking of which, do you still have that bracelet I gave you?”

Ruby’s face shifted a bit, and a bead of sweat dripped down her face, “No, the bracelet you gave me was lost in a fight with a monster, unfortunately…I was going to tell you but I did not want you to be upset little El…” Ruby explained appearing nervous.

“Hm.” Walking towards Ruby, Ela placed her hand on her shoulder and said, “It’s fine, but you know I never gave you a bracelet, Ruby.” Ela said, close to the woman's ear before quickly throwing her to the ground.

Before the woman could react, Damien also jumped up and grabbed the woman’s hands and tied them behind her back before sitting her up.

An almost dead expression was now on “Ruby’s” face, “What gave me away?” she asked, staring at the two people looking at her. “A lot of things did not make sense, like why were you here? Why did you immediately attack Ela and why did you appear unworried when we first spoke.”

“HAHAHA, that’s what gave me away seriously? I can understand the part about me not appearing worried but me being here. How is that weird? The woman asked with a sneer. “It’s weird because the organization should surely know that me and Ela travel together and with that in mind, they would do research on Ela and figure out if she had any friends or any weak points to use to get to me through her,” Damien explained while scrutinizing the woman.

“Now, who are you, and where is everyone?” turning her head at Damien after hearing his question, the woman laughed out loud once more, “A piece of advice boy, run while you can.”

After saying those cryptic words, the woman stopped speaking and just stared at the ceiling, refusing to answer any of their questions. Deciding not to waste any more time, Damien knocked the woman out.

As Damien was about to turn to Ela, they both recoiled in surprise as the woman, after being knocked out, changed her appearance to someone they both knew. “Damien that- that’s,” Before she could continue speaking, Damien fell on one knee and started holding his head.

Crouching down next to him, Ela put her hand on his back, “Damien, what’s wrong?” but unfortunately, Damien could not hear her or hear anything in general as he was sucked into image after image appearing in his mind.

“Emma, what do you want to do with your life?” “I love you too” “Mom, Dad” One image was about Emma the next was about Ela or his parents everything just flooded in and after what seemed like a lifetime Damien’s senses started to return slowly.

The first thing Damien heard after his hearing returned was Ela crying worriedly next to him, turning his head he flashed a weak smile. “Still a crybaby huh heart?” Damien said calling Ela by her last name.

Hearing the way he addressed her Ela froze before speaking with a stutter, “y-y-you… your memoirs? Did-did they return? She asked almost in a whisper.

Instead of answering her question, Damien leaned forward and gave her a light peck on the lips. “Does that answer your question heart?” he asked with a bright smile staring at Ela who was now frozen in place with a massive blush creeping up her neck.

After a while, Ela finally snapped out of her shock at what had just happened a massive smile spread across her lips. “Welcome back,” she said with tears streaming down her eyes.

“Good to be back, now, how about we deal with the situation we are currently in?” Damien said before indicating at Emma, who was still unconscious.

Blushing at Damien’s words, Ela weakly nodded her head before turning to the woman prompting Damien to wake her up.

PAP! Damien slapped the unconscious Emma awake.

“OW”