Chapter 14: Sofia
I stared at Eli’s TV, barely believing what I was seeing.
Passport photos of my twins flashed before the screen.
“Those are the suspects.” Eli pointed to the screen as CCTV footage showed two tall men dressed in long black cloaks, wearing gloves and black hats, entering the apartment foyer.
Derek stood up and swore as the two men entered the elevator after Rose and presumably her friend Kristal. “But how did any of this happen? How the hell did they get to Hawaii?”
“Oh, God,” I said. “You know how much they were complaining about going to Scotland. They must have figured out a way to get to Hawaii instead.”
Derek slammed his fists down against the table. “And who are they?” He looked like he wanted to climb into the TV and rip the two men to shreds there and then. It was impossible to tell who they were. For all we knew, they could have been regular humans looking to prey on two innocent girls.
“There’s footage of the two of them entering,” Eli said, his hands shaking as he held the remote, “followed by two more a few minutes later—see?—but there’s no footage of them ever exiting. That’s what’s got the police so confused. They have no idea how they could have gotten all four of those teens out of there without being caught on camera. The last footage they have is the four men entering the apartment. After that, nothing.”
“We need to get out of here,” I said, standing up. “We have to find them.”
Derek and I stormed out of Eli’s penthouse and raced through the woods to the Sanctuary. Derek ripped the heavy wooden door from its hinges with his bare hands as we raced through the corridors to their bedroom.
“Ibrahim! Corrine!” we shouted as we burst in.
The married couple sat up in bed, looking at both of us groggily and rubbing their eyes.
“Sofia?” Corrine mumbled. “Derek? What is this?”
“The twins,” I shrieked. “They’ve been kidnapped.”
That woke her up faster than a bucket of ice water.
“We need you to take us to Honolulu, Hawaii this instant.”
She and Ibrahim stumbled out of bed, wrapping robes around their bare forms. Corrine gripped my shoulders, shaking me. “What? What are you saying? Hawaii?”
“There’s no time for explanation now.”
Corrine swore, clasping a hand to her mouth. “This is all my fault.”
“What?” Derek gripped Corrine’s shoulders. “What are you saying?”
“For the twins’ birthday, Rose asked me to change the dates on her and Ben’s passports. She promised that it was just to allow them to—”
“Derek, there’s no time for talk,” I urged. “Take us there. Now! Hurry!”
Ibrahim and Corrine held onto us and a few seconds later, we had vanished from The Shade in a whirl of colors.