Chap 22: Taken

Triston escaped from the backdoor of the MA class and raced towards his house. The whole time he was sweating profusely, not because he was walking fast but rather because he was nervous about getting caught by his cousins. He breathed a sigh of relief when the familiar building of the Cliff Mansion came into view.

Triston waited a few seconds outside the gate and looked around to see if he would spot the twins, as he wanted to avoid them at all costs. There was no sign of them; even the lights in their rooms were off, so maybe they were still at the Academy.

Triston entered the gate and was heading toward his mansion when something struck him hard on the back of his head. He cried out in pain and turned around to see two masked men standing before him, holding a bat in their hands. Before Triston could react, one of the guys injected a needle into his neck, making him fall to the ground feeling dizzy. His vision became blurry, and he tried hard to stay awake but soon fell unconscious. The masked men hurriedly carried Triston and carelessly threw him into the backseat of a van, and drove off.

Meanwhile, at the Academy, James had gotten rid of the boys after warning them not to come there unnecessarily and disturb the students during training. Evelyn was relieved that Triston did not get caught, so after leaving the Academy, she called him to see whether he had reached home.

The men who kidnapped Triston could hear the sound of a phone ringing.

They looked at each other in confusion and then realized the sound was coming from Triston's pant pocket.

" F**k!!!" one of the masked men exclaimed. " How could we forget about the damn phone. Stop the car."

The driver stopped the car, and the masked man got down. He opened the car's back door and searched Triston's pant pockets to retrieve the phone.

" It's some girl," the man chuckled, looking at Evelyn's name. " Maybe his girlfriend." While he was checking the phone, he accidentally picked up the call.

" Break the phone and throw it away so they can't track us," the driver said.

The man threw away the phone and smashed it into pieces.

" Check if there are any other phones on him," the driver suggested.

The masked man searched Triston's pant and jacket pockets and found nothing else. " All clear. Let's go."

On the other hand, Evelyn was suddenly alert when she heard some stranger's voice on Triston's phone, but soon the call was disconnected. When she redialed, it was switched off. Someone had clearly talked about breaking the phone so that they wouldn't be tracked. Who were these guys? Why did they have Triston's phone? Was he in some trouble? Did the Cliff twins do something to him? But the twins had left the Academy just a few minutes earlier, and even if it was them, why would they break Triston's phone? Evelyn had almost reached her home, and she had a feeling Triston was in deep trouble. Suddenly she remembered the smartwatch she had gifted Triston. When she checked her watch, she could track Triston's location, which was moving out of the city. Now Evelyn was convinced Triston was surely in trouble, and she had to help him. Her house was empty and dark as her roommate Ava was at the hospital for the night shift. She thought of asking Josh for help and dialed his number, but there was no response. Even his Dad, James, was not responding. Feeling frustrated, Evelyn rechecked Triston's location, and he was already quite far.

" I have to leave now, else Triston might get hurt," Evelyn muttered, stopping a cab passing by.

The kidnappers drove fast and reached a location on the outskirts of the city. Triston was still unconscious, so it was easy for them to carry him inside the building. Though the house looked worn down and abandoned from the outside, the interior was immaculate and modern. Three other men were eagerly waiting for them to arrive.

" Did he give you any trouble?" one of the men asked.

" Not at all. It was easier than robbing the supermarket. We were worried for no reason."

" What about the other twin?"

" We found this guy alone, so we took the opportunity and nabbed him," the masked man replied and carried Triston to a room entirely made up of glass and placed him on the chair in the middle. His hands and feet were then bound to the chair using a rope. The masked man then took off his mask and faced his partners. " He wouldn't be awake for a few more minutes. So...what now?"

" Should we call his Dad for ransom?" the driver suggested removing his mask.

One of the men at the house looked carefully at the unconscious Triston and said in confusion, " This guy seems different." He then took out his phone and checked something, and his expression turned from confusion to horror. " Who the f**k did you kidnap?"

" What do you mean?" the driver asked, looking perplexed.

" It's the wrong guy. Look at the photo." He showed them the Cliff twin's photo on his mobile and said, " You were supposed to kidnap one of the twins. Who the hell is this guy?"

The driver and the other guy with him glanced at the photo and then back at Triston and tensed up in worry. " Sh*t. How the f**k did this happen?"

" But we found him at the mansion."

" Whoever he is, he is not Malcolm Cliff's son. That greedy bastard won't give us a penny if it's not his son," one of the men screamed.

" How could you make such a big mistake? We have been observing the Cliff twins for two days. Don't you know how they look?"

" I-It w-was dark, this guy's height is similar to the twins, and above all, he was entering the mansion, so we thought..."

" There's no point in arguing now. Think about what to do?"

All five guys were nervous and didn't know what to do. They were small-time crooks who had kidnapped someone for the first time. They knew about Malcolm Cliff, the supposed tycoon in the Hotel Business, who doted on his twin sons, so they planned to kidnap one of his sons for ransom.

Suddenly one of them had an idea. " This kid is still unconscious and hasn't seen our faces. So we can just throw him on the streets. That way, we wouldn't be caught."

" You are right," Another one said. " Untie him soon before he wakes up."

The kidnappers rushed toward Triston, but unfortunately, he had already started to wake up. They suddenly paused while Triston slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. The room felt unfamiliar, and he also realized he could not move his hands and legs. He then noticed the men in front of him and asked fearfully, " W-Who a-are you?" Why am I t-tied up?"

The kidnappers looked at each other and gulped, but they knew they had to act strong as they were the supposed kidnappers.

" We have kidnapped you," one of them said demandingly.

" W-What? W-Why?" The first thing that came to Triston's mind was that he must have been kidnapped by either his uncle or his cousins. But why would they do that? Was this another one of their sick punishments?

" First of all, tell us who you are."

"Huh?" Triston asked in confusion. These guys had kidnapped him and didn't even know who he was.

" What's your name, boy?"

" T-Triston..."

" What were you doing at the Cliff mansion?"

" T-That's my house..."

" You stay at the Cliff mansion?"

"Y-Yes."

" How many kids does Malcolm have?" one of the kidnappers asked his partner.

" Only two. I have checked properly."

" Then who is this boy?"

" Maybe he is the working staff? Or the maid's son?"

When Triston heard Malcolm's name, he knew something was not right.

" Why do you stay at the Cliff mansion?" the kidnapper asked, glaring at Triston. " How are you related to Malcolm Cliff?"

Triston wasn't sure whether he should tell the kidnappers about his real identity, so he decided to keep quiet.

The kidnapper was angry at Triston's lack of response and punched him in the face. " When we ask you something, you reply. "

Triston's head moved to the side by the impact of the punch. His lips were bleeding, and his jaw felt like it had broken.

" So, do you know Malcolm Cliff?"

Triston stared at the kidnapper with fear but still didn't reply. The kidnapper moved forward to punch Triston again when he hurriedly stuttered, " Y-Yes."

" How do you know him?"

" H-He is..."

"He's what?"

Triston was thinking of telling a lie, but he was out of ideas due to his nervousness. Suddenly he received another punch at the same spot and felt like he had been hit by a truck. The guy who punched him was a huge guy who looked like he was some sort of a bodybuilder, and he didn't go easy on his punches. Even his friends were the same, enormous and bulky, exactly like him.

" I won't repeat it again. For the last time, how the f**k are you related to Malcolm Cliff?"

Triston's ears rang, and he couldn't hear the kidnapper's words.

The kidnappers were literally frustrated now. Nothing was going according to their plan, and above all, this kid wasn't responding to them. Feeling agitated, another man harshly kicked Triston on his leg, and his chair didn't fall off only because it was bolted to the floor.

" P-Please... S-Stop..." Triston begged and cried for the kidnappers to stop, but he could feel the kicks and punches from all directions.

" This guy is such a crybaby," one guy mocked.

" Do you want to run to Mommy?"

" P-Please..I-I didn't do anything..." Triston begged again.

" You ruined our plans," one of them screamed, punching Triston again. " We wanted to kidnap Malcom's son but instead got you. Why were you even there?"

" What do we do with this weak guy now? It seems he would pee his pants in fear."

Suddenly all the kidnappers were alert as they heard a smashing sound from behind.