novelraw Chapter 67 : abduction
Chapter 67 : abduction
Cassian’s mother stayed with the kids while Cassian’s father excused himself to grab snacks and souvenirs from the gift shop, weaving through the throng of excited visitors.
"I’ll be right back," he promised, patting Lucien’s head warmly. "Don’t move from this spot."
Lucien nodded quickly, already mesmerized by the bright lights and massive glass tanks teeming with shadowy sea life.
A few minutes later, Ivy tugged on her grandmother’s sleeve, her little face scrunching up in discomfort.
"Grandma... I need to use the bathroom," she whined softly.
Cassian’s mother hesitated, glancing around the crowded aquarium. It was busy—loud with chatter, bright with flashing exhibits, and full of people moving in every direction like a swirling current.
She looked down at Lucien, her heart tugging with maternal worry.
"Sweetheart, sit right here, okay?" she said gently, guiding him toward a bench near the wall. "Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back in two minutes, promise."
Lucien swung his legs as he sat down, sneakers tapping the floor.
"I won’t move," he promised confidently, puffing out his chest.
Ivy crossed her arms stubbornly. "If you move, you’re dumb."
Lucien frowned, sticking out his tongue. "I’m not dumb."
Cassian’s mother sighed, though a small smile tugged at her lips despite the sibling squabble.
"Both of you behave now," she warned firmly, then took Ivy’s hand and walked quickly toward the restroom hallway, her steps echoing faintly.
Lucien sat there obediently, watching the crowds pass by endlessly. Families laughed heartily, children squealed with delight, cameras flashed like distant lightning. He leaned forward eagerly, pressing his small palms against the cool bench as he stared at a nearby tank full of colorful fish darting like living jewels.
Then a shadow fell over him, blocking the light.
Lucien looked up curiously.
A man stood in front of him, dressed in dark clothing, an aquarium staff badge clipped neatly to his chest. His smile was polite—too polite, almost rehearsed.
"Hey there, buddy," the man said warmly, crouching a bit. "You here with your family?"
Lucien nodded shyly. "Yeah. My grandma’s here."
The man’s eyes flicked around sharply, scanning the area like he was checking for threats.
"Well, you picked a great day to visit," he said smoothly. "Did you see the whale exhibit yet? It’s the highlight."
Lucien’s eyes widened instantly with wonder.
"There’s a whale?"
The man chuckled, like Lucien had said something adorable and innocent.
"A huge one," he said enticingly. "Bigger than anything you’ve ever seen, I bet."
Lucien’s mouth fell open in awe.
"I wanna see!"
The man leaned down slightly, lowering his voice like he was sharing a thrilling secret.
"It’s not open for everyone right now," he said conspiratorially. "But I’m one of the guides. I can show you a special viewing spot. It’s really close, just steps away."
Lucien hesitated, his brows furrowing in doubt.
"My grandma said not to move."
The man’s smile didn’t falter. Instead, he nodded approvingly, as if praising a good student.
"That’s smart of her," he said reassuringly. "But don’t worry. It’s right around the corner. You’ll be back before she even notices you’re gone."
Lucien glanced toward the restroom hallway, biting his lip.
His grandma wasn’t back yet.
His heart pounded hard, excitement battling with a flicker of uncertainty.
"A real whale?" he whispered again, eyes sparkling.
The man nodded eagerly. "A real one. Come on. I’ll show you quick."
Lucien slid off the bench, still unsure but tempted.
"Okay... but only quick."
"That’s my boy," the man said smoothly, his tone coaxing.
Lucien followed him, his small footsteps quick and pattering as the man led him through a hallway lined with aquarium posters and dim lighting. The crowd noise faded behind them, swallowed by the corridor’s echoing silence.
The air grew quieter, almost muffled.
Cooler, carrying a faint chill.
Lucien looked around, suddenly uneasy, rubbing his arms.
"This is far," he said softly, voice wavering.
The man glanced back over his shoulder. "Just a little more, buddy."
They turned another corner into deeper shadows.
Now there were no people in sight.
No families bustling about.
No laughter echoing.
Only the distant hum of machines and the faint sound of water moving behind thick glass walls.
Lucien slowed, his excitement fading fast into worry.
"Where’s the whale?" he asked, his voice smaller now, laced with doubt.
The man stopped abruptly.
Then he turned around slowly.
And the warmth in his face disappeared completely, replaced by something hard.
Lucien’s stomach twisted into knots.
"Hey—" Lucien began, taking a step back instinctively.
The man grabbed him roughly by the arm.
Lucien froze, shock hitting him so hard he couldn’t even scream right away, his mind reeling.
"H-Hey!"
The grip tightened viciously.
It hurt badly, like a vice.
Lucien’s eyes widened in terror as he tried to pull away desperately.
"What are you doing?" he cried out, voice cracking.
The man leaned down close, voice sharp and cold as ice.
"Be quiet, kid."
Lucien’s fear exploded into full panic.
"Grandma!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
But the hallway swallowed his voice whole, muffling it uselessly.
The man pulled him away forcefully, moving quickly and efficiently, like he’d done this before without fail.
Lucien kicked and fought wildly, tears filling his eyes as the world around him blurred into a nightmare.
And in the busy aquarium outside, amid the chaos of families, no one noticed that a little boy had disappeared.
***
The man didn’t take Lucien back toward the main exhibits.
Instead, he guided him through a narrow corridor, past a metal door marked STAFF ONLY, and out through a service exit that opened into the parking structure behind the aquarium, gray concrete stretching endlessly.
The cheerful sounds of families faded behind thick concrete walls.
Lucien’s heart pounded violently in his chest.
"Where are we going?" he whispered, trying to sound brave even though his throat felt tight with fear.
The man didn’t answer, ignoring him completely.
He hurried him toward a dark sedan parked near the far corner, the back door already unlocked and waiting.
Lucien struggled again desperately. "I want my grandma—"
The man shoved him inside roughly.
The door slammed shut with a final thud.
And within seconds, the car pulled away, disappearing into the heavy traffic.
***
Back inside the aquarium, Cassian’s mother returned from the restroom holding Ivy’s hand tightly.
She was still smiling faintly, amused by something silly Ivy had said in the stall.
But the smile faded the moment her eyes landed on the bench.
It was empty, abandoned.
She stopped walking dead in her tracks.
Her gaze darted left frantically.
Right.
Behind the nearby pillar, hoping.
"Lucien?" she called lightly at first, assuming he’d wandered a few steps away to peek at fish.
No answer came.
Her voice sharpened with rising alarm. "Lucien?"
Ivy looked around, confused and wide-eyed. "He was right there, Grandma."
Cassian’s mother’s heartbeat began to race like a drum. She moved quickly around the area, scanning every face, peering behind display stands and tanks.
"Lucien!" she called louder now, desperation creeping in.
People turned to stare curiously.
But not one of them held her grandson’s hand.
A cold wave of fear climbed up her spine, icy and unrelenting.
Just then, Cassian’s father returned from the gift shop carrying a bag of snacks, plastic crinkling.
He froze the moment he saw his wife’s expression, pale and stricken.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"He’s not here," she said, her voice trembling uncontrollably. "I left him for two minutes. Two minutes, that’s all."
Cassian’s father’s grip tightened around the bag until it crumpled.
"What do you mean not here?" he pressed, dread building.
They split up instantly, checking corners, asking strangers urgently, searching every hallway in a frenzy.
Nothing.
Lucien was nowhere to be found.
Cassian’s mother’s breathing grew uneven, ragged.
"I told him to sit," she whispered brokenly. "I told him not to move..."
Her husband grabbed her shoulders gently but firmly, steadying her.
"Listen to me," he said through gritted teeth. "Panicking won’t help. We’ll find him, I swear."
But even as he said it, his own hands were shaking visibly.
He pulled out his phone and dialed his security chief immediately.
"Lock down the exits," he ordered, voice turning cold and commanding. "Nobody leaves until we review CCTV. My grandson is missing."
Within minutes, private security arrived swiftly. Aquarium management was notified in a panic. Cameras were accessed hurriedly.
They rewound the footage.
And there it was, clear as day.
Lucien sitting obediently on the bench.
The man approaching casually.
The badge gleaming falsely.
Lucien following him trustingly.
Cassian’s mother covered her mouth, horror spreading across her face like a shadow.
"No..." she whispered hoarsely.
The footage switched to another angle.
The service exit swinging open.
The car waiting ominously.
Lucien being taken away helplessly.
Cassian’s father’s jaw clenched so hard it looked like it might crack under the pressure.
"Find that car," he growled into his phone fiercely. "I want a route, a license plate, every camera from here to the highway. Now."
Fifteen minutes later, they had nothing solid.
The plate was fake, a dead end.
The car unregistered, untraceable.
No clear trail anywhere.
That was when he made the call he never wanted to make.
***
Cassian was in the middle of a high-level board meeting when his phone vibrated insistently.
He ignored it once, focused on charts.
Then again, irritation flickering.
On the third vibration, he glanced down—and saw his father’s name flashing.
Something in his chest tightened instantly, a bad feeling.
He stood without excusing himself abruptly and answered.
"Dad?"
The silence on the other end was enough to make his blood run cold, heavy.
"Lucien is missing."
The world seemed to tilt violently.
"What?" Cassian’s voice came out dangerously quiet, edged.
"He was taken," his father said grimly. "We have CCTV footage. A man posing as staff."
For a split second, Cassian couldn’t breathe, air stuck.
His son had been taken, stolen.
His hand tightened around the phone until his knuckles turned white with strain.
"I’m coming," he said flatly.
He didn’t look at the board members staring.
He didn’t explain a word.
He didn’t care about protocols.
He walked out like the meeting no longer existed in his world.
The moment he stepped into the hallway, something in him shifted—cold, sharp, lethal, a predator awakening.
He called his head of security without pause.
"Mobilize everyone," he ordered crisply. "Track every camera within a five-kilometer radius of the aquarium. I want that car found. Now."
His voice stayed calm, eerily so.
Unnaturally calm, masking fury.
The kind of calm that didn’t belong to a man who’d just been told his child was gone.
He rushed into his car, two guards following immediately like shadows.
On the way, he dialed Mira, tires screeching.
She answered on the first ring, voice light.
"Cassian?"
There was something in his silence that made her heart stop dead.
"Lucien has been taken."
The words didn’t feel real, surreal.
"What?" she breathed, already standing shakily. "What do you mean taken?"
"Someone lured him away at the aquarium. We have footage. I’m heading there now."
Mira’s legs almost gave out beneath her.
She gripped the edge of the table to steady herself, knuckles pale.
"No... no..." she whispered in denial. "I just talked to your mom. He was just there, fine."
"I know," Cassian said, voice tightening like a wire. "Go to the aquarium. Take Ivy and my mother home. Don’t let her see your panic. I’ll handle the rest."
"I’m his mother," Mira said, voice breaking raw. "Don’t tell me not to panic."
There was silence, thick.
Then, softer, resolute—
"I’ll bring him back, Mira. I promise."
The line went dead abruptly.
***
Mira reached the aquarium shortly after, traffic a blur.
Cassian’s mother looked shattered, blaming herself over and over in whispers.
Mira hugged her tightly despite the storm ripping through her chest viciously.
"This is not your fault," she said firmly, even though her hands were trembling. "Whoever did this planned it meticulously."
Ivy clung to Mira’s side, frightened and confused, small fingers twisting fabric.
"Where’s Lucien?" she asked quietly, eyes big.
Mira forced herself to kneel and cup her daughter’s face gently.
"He’ll come home soon," she whispered fiercely. "Papa will bring him back safe."
She prayed she wasn’t lying to her baby.
She took Ivy and her mother-in-law home as Cassian instructed, though every step away from the aquarium felt unbearable—like she was leaving part of her soul behind forever.
***
Cassian arrived at the aquarium like a man walking into war, stride purposeful.
Security surrounded him tightly.
Police were coordinating with his private team efficiently.
His father approached, eyes dark with shared fury.
Before they could exchange more than a few words—
Cassian’s phone rang sharply.
Unknown number.
He answered instantly, no hesitation.
"Who is this?"
A familiar voice responded.
It was cold, calculated.
It was controlled, precise.
"You sound stressed, Cassian."
Cassian’s entire body went rigid, muscles coiling.
Mira’s father—it clicked.
"Where is my son?" Cassian asked, voice turning lethal, a blade.
A soft chuckle came through the line, mocking.
"He’s safe. For now."
Cassian’s eyes darkened to black.
"If you touched him—"
"I didn’t touch him," the man interrupted smoothly. "I simply borrowed him. Consider it a lesson in family loyalty."
"A lesson?" Cassian’s voice dropped lower, venomous. "You kidnapped a child, you bastard."
"You married my daughter," Mira’s father snapped, his calm cracking finally. "You turned her against her blood. You made her choose you over her family."
"She chose me because I respect her choices," Cassian shot back coldly. "Something you clearly never learned how to do."
Heavy breathing filled the line, ragged.
"You think you won?" Mira’s father said bitterly. "You think you can humiliate me and walk away unscathed?"
Cassian stepped aside, away from the noise, his expression turning deadly serious.
"You made one mistake," he said slowly, each word deliberate and weighted. "You involved my son in this."
Silence hung heavy.
Then Cassian continued, voice steady—controlled rage burning underneath like fire.
"You have a problem with me? Face me like a man. You have anger toward your daughter? Speak to her directly. But you do not drag a child into your pride war."
"You don’t get to lecture me—"
"I’m not lecturing you," Cassian cut in sharply. "I’m promising you this."
His jaw tightened visibly.
"If Lucien sheds even one tear because of you, I will dismantle everything you built—piece by piece. Not out of revenge. Out of principle."
The threat wasn’t shouted wildly.
It didn’t need to be.
It was absolute, unyielding.
"And when this ends," Cassian added evenly, "you will beg for the mercy you refused to show your own daughter."
On the other end, Mira’s father fell silent completely.
For the first time, he sounded unsure, voice faltering..
Cassian lowered the phone slightly.
"You have one chance to fix this," he said quietly, final. "Tell me where he is."
And this time, he wasn’t asking—he was demanding.