Ranen had been half-asleep when the girl was brought in.

Kendra had locked him in the cellar of some sort of secret base. It was very dark, and slightly damp, with several beds not unlike those in a hospital. He lay on one of them, tired out from trying to break down the door or find an exit. She had taken his phone as well, so he had no way of contacting Luona.

Kendra… That time he had been ordered to shoot her…because of what? She was only a Class B ability user, right? What was it…illusions? That would make a lot of sense…

There were sounds of a struggle, then the door opened and someone else was dumped inside. Ranen opened his eyes and tried to see but the door was closed almost as suddenly as it was opened. He expected for the person to cry out and pound on the door, but there was no such thing. Instead she slumped against the bed near the door, as if extremely tired.

Ranen took a closer look in what little light there was. It was a girl, a young woman, maybe a student, with light brown hair. She pulled the hood of her gray sweatshirt up and buried her face in her knees. Ranen wondered what Kendra could possibly want with her.

As he sat up, the bed creaked beneath him. The girl looked up, her eyes widening.

“Who are you?”

Ranen did not wish to speak, even though he did not have his gun, so he pulled out his notepad and pencil and wrote his name on it, then passed it to her.

She looked closely at it, her eyes not fully used to the light yet. “Will they hear us if we talk, Mr. Ranen?” she whispered.

Ranen shrugged, then wrote: Whatever you wish. I just don’t quite feel like talking right now.

The girl nodded. “Well, they put us in the same room… I’m Brycen, by the way. Did - did they kidnap you too?”

It was embarrassing to admit, but as Ranen thought about it, yes, he was kidnapped. So he nodded, and sighed, wishing that he was outside on a job.

“Do you know what they want with us?”

Ranen had a small idea of what they wanted with him, but with this girl? He had no clue. So he shrugged and wrote: Do you know?

Brycen furrowed her brow. “I mean, this isn’t the first time they’ve harassed me… Before this a woman came to ask me to do something. I’m not sure what, but I think it may or may not have to do with my ability. After all, I’m a nobody, just a college kid.”

Nobody, eh? Wasn’t that how he thought of himself back in high school? He had been a nobody, but he had become a somebody.

Brycen pulled her sweatshirt closer to herself. “How long have you been here?”

Ranen thought for a moment, then held up one finger. The concept of time had been warped ever since he had been thrown down here, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the scented smoke upstairs or because of the darkness. As far as he knew, no meals had been brought to him yet. So maybe less than one day. Or more than one?

“One day?” Brycen asked. “Have you tried the door?”

Ranen shook his head, indicating that it was locked. If she tried, maybe Kendra or someone else would come down here. Could they overpower them? If it was Kendra, maybe. But someone else…

You should sleep, Ranen wrote. To pass the time.

“I guess…” Brycen sighed, climbing onto a neighboring bed. “It’s probably warmer up here…maybe there’s a blanket or something. Ugh, I’m going to miss so many classes…”

Ranen wanted to say that classes were the least of her concerns right now. But that would just be excessive talk, so he lay back down again, staring at the ceiling, trying not to think about how dirty the mattress was. Maybe it was better that the lights were off.

“Mr. Ranen, are you an ability user?” Brycen asked.

Why was she asking this now? But Ranen wrote down Yes anyway.

“What’s your ability?”

It’s a secret.

Brycen gave a small laugh, and rolled over. “I wonder if there are any bugs down here…”

Bugs? What did she want with bugs? But Ranen didn’t want to ask. So instead he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

People would probably notice that the girl was missing. Then maybe they’d send people to come and rescue her. And then maybe he’d be able to get out.

He wasn’t on a mission right now, and he wasn’t due for check-in till Monday… He had gotten kidnapped on Saturday, which meant…

Luona probably didn’t know where he had gone. He had told him to stake out the city. And he probably expected that he’d be doing that right now. It wouldn’t occur to him that he was gone, since he knew that Ranen didn’t like calls. And Luona usually didn’t text, either. So…

This was so frustrating. There was nothing he could do but lie there and wait. He was powerless. And he hated being so. When his ex had left he had also felt helpless, that he wasn’t good enough, and that he couldn’t do anything in that moment to change for the better, to stop her from leaving. And here was the same.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Ranen. I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Brycen’s voice was soft from the other bed, like she was almost asleep.

Worry? Who said he was worrying? He turned to look at her, but it was too dark for that. Worrying…

But she was right. He had to believe that they were going to be fine. After all, he wasn’t one of the city’s best sharpshooters for nothing, right?

In the meantime, he could plot an escape. Even if it didn’t work, he would still be doing something.