The Pretty Psycho (St. Vasili’s Academy #2)

3. Adrian

3

ADRIAN

Three days.

Seventy-two hours.

Four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes.

That's how long Vega had been missing.

There were moments in my life when I thought my heart would break apart, but nothing compared to the moment when the roof of her dorm collapsed. I’d spent the last three days replaying all the words we had exchanged, all the little moments, all the stupid shit I did because I refused to admit that someone like her could mean this much to me.

It took me finding her in the forest, beaten and barely conscious, to realize I didn't want to live without her. It took me seeing Yolanda and learning that Vega never came out to realize I wanted her more than I've ever wanted anything.

My friends were mainly avoiding me and I understood why. If you have ever watched those documentaries where they captured wild animals just to transfer them to a safer place, then you could understand why they wanted to be as far away from me as possible. Unless they needed to talk to me or update me, their presence was scarce, and that's how I liked it.

I felt like a wild animal, caged, unable to do anything but wait and fucking wait, and I was so tired of sitting in my cozy little cabin, going over the mistakes I’d made. I wanted to be out there, searching for her, tearing this place apart, but after going through every single second of security footage and after tearing through the underground tunnels not once but twice, it was obvious to everyone around me—Vega wasn't here.

To make matters worse, we had no idea how she could have disappeared. Yolanda said that she wanted to leave, but after calming down, Yolanda left her in her room just one hour before the fire started, and none of the cameras caught her leaving the premises. There was nothing left of their dorm to try and search for clues.

Her room had completely burned down and we had no idea if she left of her own volition or if she was taken. Any other time I wouldn’t have been this concerned, but her previous injuries hadn’t healed yet, and my gut told me that the fire was no accident.

And so did the fire marshal that arrived early in the morning yesterday, after doing some preliminary checks.

So where the fuck was she?

We didn't have enough time together and I regretted trying to push her away instead of embracing her with my entire being, seeing that she was the one thing that could calm down the beast trying to claw its way out of my chest. Instead of labeling her as an enemy, I should've told her the truth. I should've told her that I knew who she was. I should’ve told her that her brother was looking for her for years.

I should've held her tighter, loved her more while I had the chance.

Now, I might never even see her again, and the fissures opening all over my heart only widened further every single time that thought passed through my mind. Because I knew without a doubt that I didn't want to live in a world where she didn't exist.

Worst of all, I didn't want to live in a world where she wasn't mine.

Whether she liked it or not, this dark heart of mine belonged to her, and I would spend the rest of my life proving why she should stay. Why she should choose me, even with all my fuckups.

"Adrian." Dante's voice pulled me back from my reverie and staring at a spot on the wall opposite the bed where I last held her. "Can we talk?"

I could hear his footsteps as he slowly entered the cabin, and I understood why he walked so carefully. The day after the fire, Jax and Dante came into the cabin, looking for me, and I lost it.

I didn't want any of them in this sacred space I’d created for us. I didn't want them tarnishing the traces of her or erasing the pieces where our souls intertwined, damaging the past I held on to.

I looked up just as he walked closer to the bed, his eyes betraying the emotions everyone else felt—they were worried about me. They were worried about Vega as well, and I was pretty sure that Jax was somewhere with Yolanda, comforting her in one way or another.

She broke down when the roof collapsed, screaming like a banshee until Jax lifted her up and took her far away from the crime scene. I only stood there, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do anything but watch as my future incinerated, stealing from me the one good thing I had in my life.

"What's up?" I asked first, hating how raspy my voice sounded. Jax and Dante had handled almost everything over the last three days, and I could never put into words how thankful I was to have them in my life.

Because I was a mess.

I was a complete and utter mess without her, and I knew what they were all thinking even without speaking it out loud—I wouldn't survive losing her. Not now, not ever. I needed her to ground me, to keep me going. I needed her smiles, her attitude, her need to fight me even when we both knew there were no winners in this game we were playing.

Both of us were losing, but what a perfect way to lose if it meant finding your person.

And she was my person. There was no one else in this entire godforsaken world that could understand me better than she could. I fought it for far too long, and now I was paying the ultimate price.

"I have news, and I need you to stay calm before you rush out of here and kill yourself in the process." I straightened up as Dante spoke calmly, as if he were approaching a wild animal. "It's not bad news. It also might be nothing, but?—"

"Tell me," I gritted out, ready to jump out of my skin. I wanted to listen to him, to stay put, but if it was anything to do with Vega we both knew I wouldn't be able to stay calm.

"First things first," he murmured, looking around while the lines around his eyes deepened, seeing the destruction in the rest of the cabin. "Arseniy should be here tomorrow morning." The lead weight only increased inside my chest, because I knew my best friend would want to know why all of this had happened, and I had no concrete answer.

It pissed me off more than I could even voice out, because I was usually the one with the plan. I was the coolheaded one, the one that led them all, the one that knew what the next ten steps taken should be even before anyone else started thinking. But all of my planning, all of my coolheadedness, flew out of the window where Vega was concerned.

Arseniy would be pissed, but he would need to deal with it, because I wasn't letting her go, even if she was his sister. I understood him and why he wanted her safe, but none of them knew her. He had no idea what kind of person she was, and I did. I understood her better than she maybe understood herself.

And I needed her to survive whatever had happened because I wouldn't survive without her.

"And what's the other thing?"

Dante shuffled his weight from one foot to the other, crossing his arms over his chest. "I really need you to be calm, Adrian. We won't be able to do anything if you're not remaining calm."

"Tell me!" I roared, tired of people telling me to stay calm.

I couldn't fucking be calm. Not now. Not when I had no idea if she was alive or dead. Not when I had no idea if I would ever get a chance to look at her, to touch her, to tell her how sorry I was.

I’d spent half of my life living with regrets, unable to change the past because the people I've hurt were no longer among the living. Or even if they were, they were no longer in the right mind to listen to what I had to say. I needed her to be fucking okay, because I had to tell her everything.

"Okay, okay," he murmured, lifting his hands up. "Our scouts found another entrance."

Hope.

It was such a silly little notion, such a stupid fucking thing, but it kept me going all these days, especially now.

"Where?"

"Down by the lake. There's an entrance not too far from that vacant shoreline and we want to go and check it out. It might be nothing, but… Where are you going? Adrian?" I couldn't just sit and wait for him to finish.

"I'm getting ready. What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?"

"Uh—"

"You can tell me everything else on the way. I assume the team has already been assembled?" I looked at him pointedly as I went ahead and picked up my jacket. "Right?"

"Y-Yeah, the team is waiting at the main building. Andries doesn't know?—"

"Good."

"Adrian, he might be?—"

"No," I cut him off. "Andries is a bastard that needs to go, and the sooner that happens, the better it will be. This whole fucking mess wouldn't have happened if he didn't have his head so far up my father's ass. Had he actually tried to find the person responsible for all those murders, we wouldn't be standing here, debating whether or not the team is ready to go and save the girl I fucking love!" My chest rose and fell as Dante looked at me with wide eyes.

It took me a second to realize what just spilled past my lips, and while Dante wasn't exactly the first person I wanted to tell those words to, I didn't care. Not right now.

They all knew I cared for Vega, but none of them knew that I’d finally figured out what this feeling in my chest was.

I never really knew love. Not from my family, not from any of my past girlfriends or hookups, but I knew I loved her. I knew I would burn down the world for the girl with mismatched eyes and a soul that complemented my own. Somewhere along the way she managed to calm down the demons clawing at my insides, and I would spend the rest of my life trying to give her the same.

I just had to get her back first.

"Come on." I pushed him toward the front door, ignoring that shocked look on his face. "You can tell me all about the plan on the way. We don't have time to waste."

"Uh," he stammered, walking in front of me and turning back every now and then. "Yeah. No time to waste."

The cold November wind hit us from all sides as we walked, with Dante leading us toward the main building and me following, going over the plan and the list of people who were coming with us. They knew better than to exclude me from this, and while we all knew that I was in no shape to lead the mission, I had to be there.

Because if anyone was going to find Vega, it was going to be me.

Lake Valenheim shone underneath the moonlight, mesmerizing all of us with its beauty, yet I couldn't focus on it or the fact that it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, not with the mission ahead of us.

Ten operatives gathered in the circle, including Jax, Dante, and me, as my friends went over the plan and confirmed who would enter the cave. They found out a couple of hours ago that there was a hidden entrance through the caves, potentially leading all the way to the Academy. We'd failed to find it while searching the tunnels because the area heading to the entry was blocked, due to a collapse.

I couldn't help but think that the collapse wasn't something Mother Nature had intended, but something someone orchestrated on the night of the fire. Whoever took Vega, and I was getting more and more sure that she was taken, knew what they were doing.

All those murders at the Academy showed us that this wasn’t the first rodeo for the psycho behind all those horrors. On top of that, it would seem that they definitely knew their way around the Academy—there was no other explanation for all of it.

But as Dante went on and on about the possible dangers awaiting inside the cave, my eyes were focused on the hidden entrance, right behind some overgrown bushes, not too far from the main trail leading around the lake. If you had no idea what you were looking for, you would miss the small opening; it was barely big enough for one person to slip through. But I knew now, and if Vega was here with the monster that took her, I had no idea what I would do.

"Adrian," Jax called my name, pulling my attention back to him and Dante, who were looking at me with concerned looks on their faces. "We gotta talk."

"Then talk."

Jax took a step back as if my words had a physical impact on him, but I didn't have time to baby any of them. He looked at Dante, whose eyes never strayed from me, and shook his head as if he couldn't believe me. If he was going to waste my time just standing here and staring at each other?—

"I need you to be prepared for the possibility that Vega left by herself and that maybe she was?—"

"Don't even finish that sentence," I bit out, taking a step closer to them. "She might be a lot of things, but she isn't a traitor."

"Adrian—"

"No," I cut off Dante. "She was taken. I know it. I am absolutely certain of that fact."

"But just in?—"

"Stop it, Jax," I hissed. "There's nothing you can say right now that could stop me from going inside and checking if she is here."

"And what if she isn't?" Jax asked, his eyes filled with the anger he'd been feeling. "What if she isn't inside, Adrian, huh? What if you were wrong and she actually ran away, setting that fire so she could escape you? How much longer can we search for her until we all go insane?"

"Stop it."

"No, please. I liked her too, but I want to know when this madness will stop. What are you going to do when you realize what you feel for that girl may not be the same as what she feels for you?" Each word stabbed through me, mostly because a part of me knew he could be right.

"Then I will chase her to the ends of the earth until I make her mine," I deadpanned, turning around and heading toward the group that was already walking toward the entrance, leaving both of them behind with shocked expressions on their faces.

There were things I would never do, but letting Vega leave, letting her walk out of my life—again—was not on that list. I let her walk out once, giving her time to come to terms with what happened between us and what she’d uncovered, but I wasn't letting her go a second time. That much I could promise.

The air felt still as we approached the entrance to the cave, and before Dante and Jax could stop me, I slipped by the operatives that came with us and slid inside, ignoring the harsh, whispered tones in their voices and the warnings issued by the rest of the group.

I had to find her, no matter what.

The steep entrance to the cave allowed gravity to pull me into the belly of the cavity, making me lose my balance as I slid down the slippery floor, only to land on my hands and knees at the very bottom. I turned around to see the light barely entering through the opening, but I knew there was no way every single one of us would be able to come through.

"It's steep," I murmured through the earpiece, ignoring the loud voices coming through the line. The sound of water flickered through my ears and as the rest of the team slowly came through the entrance, I followed the water. My heart jumped in my chest as I navigated through the narrow tunnels until they started getting wider and wider, and the sound of the water started getting louder.

My gun was drawn, pointed toward the front, while I held a flashlight in my left hand, brightening the path in front of me. I couldn't see if there were tracks on the ground, not when it was this dark, but I'd be a fool not to investigate this cave fully.

"Please be here," I murmured to myself. "Please."

My steps faltered as I slowly came to something akin to a platform, overlooking the water trickling inside the cave from the lake. My eyes latched on to the bare walls and the emptiness of the space, forcing myself to stop until the rest of them came, because no one was here.

My Vega wasn't here, and I tried not to let that realization crush me under the endless hope I still held on to.

I turned around to wait for the others when the sound of a soft whimper echoed through the cave, coming from my left. I swiveled fast, pointing my gun to the left side of the cave, where a tall stone stood, and I noticed for the first time that there was a tiny passage just behind.

I moved before I could think about my actions, pushing through the narrow passage, only to come into a smaller chamber, separate from the main cave.

"Oh God." I thought my heart broke when the roof of her dorm collapsed, but nothing could've prepared me for the sight of a half-naked Vega, lying in a pool of her own blood, chained to the wall like a fucking animal. "No, no, no, no."

I rushed toward her, dropping down on my knees the moment I reached her. "Vega." I shook her, pushing her hair from her face.

A deep cut marred her cheek, and as my flashlight fell down to the ground, I could see the state her clothes were in—or lack thereof.

"Who fucking did this to you!" I roared, my pain nothing compared to the cuts and bruises all over her body. My hands shook as I lifted her up, seeing the deep cuts where the chains holding her hostage had cut into her skin. Her eyes fluttered open as I held her in my lap, unable to move, to do anything.

"A-Adrian," she rasped, her lips breaking with fresh blood pooling on them. Her eyes filled with tears and for the first time since I met her, she broke in my arms. Sobs racked through her body, shaking both of us as she erupted wail after wail of despair.

"It's okay, Bambi," I choked out. "I'm here now. I'm here. You're going to be okay. You're gonna be okay."

I pushed my jacket off of my shoulders, wrapping her in it.

"Jax! Dante!" I shouted, knowing I needed their help. I didn't want them to see her like this, but I had no choice.

The sound of their feet as they came through the passage made me cover her with my body. "Holy shit," came from Jax as they saw the scene in front of them, their flashlights illuminating the space around us.

"Dante, we need to break her free. Now!" I barked when neither of them moved, both too shocked to react. "She's in bad shape."

Vega's dainty fingers wrapped around my wrists and as I looked down, I saw the fear in those brilliant eyes, begging me, pleading with me.

"They're not gonna hurt you, baby. They're going to help. It's Jax and Dante."

"C-Cold," she shivered. "I'm so cold."

"Hurry the fuck up!" I thundered, and before long, Dante slid to the other side of Vega, pulling out the kit he always carried around for locks. Logically, I knew it didn't take long, but it felt as if an eternity had passed since he started unlocking the chains.

As they fell down to the ground with a clang, I wrapped her tighter in my jacket, lifting her up within seconds.

"We need an ambulance," I said as I started walking with her in my arms.

Vega's body was too cold, too fucking frail, and I refused to think about all the things she went through while she was locked in here. Who the fuck would do something like this? Why?

But there would be time for all the questions. I didn't like the way her head lolled when I lifted her up, or the gash on top of her hand and the way she didn't cling to me. She could barely look at me.

Did they even give her anything to eat?

There was dried blood on top of her thighs and my heart broke for the hundredth time, but I didn't want to think about that. Someone attacked her and they would pay with their life for trying to destroy her. For trying to destroy us.

I maneuvered us through the narrow passage, almost running toward the tunnel I came out of, all the way to the entrance I slid down, where the rest of our operatives waited. My mind ran with possible options to get her out of here without the rest of the team touching her, because we would need help. There was no way I’d be able to carry her out, considering the steep exit. Jax and Dante were right behind me, talking over their walkie-talkies with someone at the Academy, but I couldn’t focus on them and their words.

I couldn't care less about anything else that was happening. I just needed to get her out of here. I needed her to be all right.

"Hold on, baby. Just hold on for me."

"Tired," she stammered. "So tired."

"You're gonna be fine, Bambi. You have to be fine."

"I'm sorry, Adrian," she mumbled, and as I looked down at her I saw her looking at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

Her eyes fluttered closed. "For being a coward and running from you." Her head lolled back, her body going limp.

"Vega," I shook her. "Vega!"

"Adrian, we need to go. Ambulance is on the way."

"She's unconscious." I could feel the panic seeping through my words. "Why the fuck is she unconscious!" The sound of a siren echoed through the cave, and before Jax or Dante could say anything else, I started running up, pushing through the last reserves of energy I had, and straight out.

She had to be okay.

She had to be fucking okay.

But as I ran toward the ambulance with her in my arms, I knew nothing would ever be okay again.

Not after this.