Chapter 12 Hunt
Kael stared at the terrified handmaiden as the words slowly sunk into his head.
“What do you mean by gone?” He asked again, making sure that he didn’t hear it by mistake.
As she shifted her weight, the girl looked down at her feet, wringing her fingers nervously, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.
“S—she has managed to get away,” she muttered slowly, confirming the bad news.
“You let her escape?!” Kael snapped as the blood in his body rushed through his head, tipping his temper to the edge.
The woman flinched in response to his thunderous voice. It reverberated throughout the vast mansion.
He was seething mad.
“I didn’t mean it! I only went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Then, then, when I came back, she was gone!” She began to ramble on, her words almost incoherent from talking so fast as her tears began to fall in rapid succession, one after the other. He could sense her fear of him, yet he did not pay attention to it.
“You...Imbecile! If something happens to her, I will kill you!” He roared, losing his temper. Kael pushed the woman to the side, seemingly unconcerned about whether or not he hurt her.
Dashing upstairs to her room, checking every corner where she could hide. She is a petite woman. She could fit anywhere.
He doesn’t know why, but something twisted in his chest at the thought of losing his prized кукла (kukla). By all means, he could purchase another one, but Lilia is quite different. She made his heart of stone feel something.
He just couldn’t let her go that easily.
He slammed the door shut, cursing aloud and rattling the hinges that had been installed on the frame. With his long strides, he came into the corner, almost bumping into Val, though Kael didn’t falter with his steps and walked past him.
His right-hand man looked at him in bemusement and fell right beside him, matching his long strides as they walked down the hallway.
“What happened?” He inquired upon seeing the urgency on his face, but not understanding what he meant.
“Search the entire estate! My кукла (kukla) had escaped!” He barked, ruffling his hair with his hands.
“Lilia?” Questioned Val unsurely.
“Is there anyone else I mean?” He gritted, glaring at him.
“No, I mean, how?” Val only shook his head vigorously as they took the left corner, leading downstairs.
Kael saw the handmaid he shoved aside earlier, still crying at the bottom of the stairs.
“Some idiot left her door open.” Kael threw the woman a hard stare, then shifted his attention to Val, firing some orders, “Alert the others! Now!”
Val didn’t waste any time and took out his phone, calling everyone’s attention.
His men began to disperse, everyone looking for the girl. However, it fueled Kael’s anger when the handmaid kept on crying.
Knowing that she was the reason for this disarray, the corner of his vision darkened. Without a word, he advanced towards her and yanked her by the arms, letting out a surprised yelp from her.
“You...” He growled, “Weeping won’t take her back. Don’t make me regret not killing you.”
“I’m sorry,” She gasped, her lips quivering with fear.
“Don’t ever let me see your face again, or else I will wipe it off myself.”
With that, he roughly let go of her and faced Val, who was now staring at the handmaid with pity in his eyes.
“Ready the chopper. She might not have escaped that far yet.”
Val only nodded and followed Kael outside the mansion.
The sky above them darkened with heavy clouds. A bolt of lightning flashed and was followed by a reverberating thunder. Kael cursed loudly and deployed all of his men to search the entire area.
Lilia is a small woman. She couldn’t have wandered that far, especially being in this wide-stretching lawn. They all went in their separate directions, spreading throughout the vicinity. He even dispatched five helicopters to search for her from the air in order to provide swift and extensive coverage. Kael personally piloted one of them.
They also released the hounds to track her down, using the scent of her old dress to aid them in their search.
Yet, after long hours of searching, all of them came up to Kael empty-handed. Even Val had almost given up already. Yet Kael will stop at nothing until he finds her.
The wind was blowing, and it was getting stronger, making it difficult for them to maneuver through the atmosphere. Kael gave the order for the team to land and continue their search and operation throughout the territory. He then noticed, just as he was about to turn around, that there was one place that had remained unspoiled, and that was the vast forest located in his backyard.
Taking the chopper back on land, Kael immediately called all his men and ordered them to comb the forest.
“Are you sure about this?” Val went to his side, raising his voice so Kael could hear him, shielding his face against the pelting rain and the ferocious whipping of wind coming from the chopper’s blade.
The rain started pouring down by the time Kael went down on the ground. The storm is already slowing them down. Kael, on the other hand, appears to be unfazed by the torrential downpour and will not be deterred by anything.
“We have searched everywhere in here. That forest is the only place that remained untouched,” He yelled back to Val, taking the gun from his holster and tilting his head to the side, directing his men to commence the search operation towards the dense vegetation.
“Don’t you think she will be stupid enough to cross that place?” Val inquired, skepticism plainly visible about the possibility that Lilia had indeed gone to that place.
“No one has ever been stupider than those who are desperate.” He grimly replied, cocking his gun and walking past him.
“As you command.” He heard Val mumble behind him and went silent.
Kael’s eyes were zeroing in on the large towering trees. Now that it's getting dark, the temperature has plummeted significantly. He hopes that she has found a safe place wherever she is and will stay there, waiting until the storm is over. But, he’s afraid that Val is right about her being so stupid to escape in the first place.
Well, it was his mistake too. She must have been terrified at what happened last night. Kael is partly to be blamed for her disappearance but couldn’t admit that to himself.
The heavy rain finally came to an end as darkness chased away the last rays of sunlight. As they made their way deeper into the heart of these dense woods, the ground became saturated with mud puddles, squelching every step they took. Nocturnal animals began to emerge from their hiding places, insects began to sing in unison, and some people appeared to be curious as light beams emanated from their flashlights.
Kael had already lost track of how long they had been inside the forest; they were all drenched, yet none had ever stopped coming to the area.
That is until one of his men came running towards him. Mud splashing to the side of his boots.
“Master, we found her.” He said as he came to a halt in front of him. A rifle was slung across his chest, and he held it as if it were the essential thing in his life.
Kael didn’t waste time talking and let his man lead him to where Lilia was.
They discovered her lying on the ground at the bottom of a large arching root, covered in mud and soaked to the bone.
“She’s unconscious—wait, something moves behind her.” One of his men said and was about to approach her. However, he halted on his mid-step when he noticed something, then immediately jumped back, yelling when the thing emerged.
“Snake!”
Crawling from behind her, an arm's-size, highly venomous snake slithered from her ankle. Its head was coiled into a spring-like position, as if it were extremely threatened by the presence of the others. Kael raised his arm, holding a gun, aiming at the snake’s head, waiting for the opportunity to pop out its head so he could shoot it without compromising Lilia’s safety.
A cold bead of sweat dipped from the side of his head as he focused on the reptile.
Just then, the snake raised its head and was about to strike. He pulled the trigger. A loud gunshot rang through the night. Even though the bullet was quick, it wasn't fast enough, as the pair of fangs sank to Lilia's ankle before Kael struck it in the head.