LRAB Chapter 379: All road leads to hell
Chapter 379: All road leads to hell
Mimic closed the door to Damien's room, she leaned against it, her mind racing with conflicting emotions. The weight of her new task pressed down on her, a mixture of duty and dread churning in her stomach. Finding Elena - the thought alone made her skin crawl with jealousy and resentment. But for Damien, she would do anything. Even this.
She pushed herself away from the door, her form shifting restlessly as she paced the hallway. How to begin? Elena had vanished years ago. If she was still alive, she'd have gone to ground, hidden herself away from both Damien and the Shelly's - her family.
Mimic paused, a thought occurring to her. Perhaps that was the key. Elena wouldn't hide from everyone. There had to be someone she trusted, someone who might know where she'd gone.
With renewed purpose, Mimic strode towards the mansion's library. It was time to uncover any connections that might lead her to the elusive Shelly .
Hours passed as Mimic pored over old records, family histories, and Damien's extensive notes on the Shelly clan. Her eyes burned from the strain, but she pushed on, driven by a mixture of devotion to Damien and a desperate need to prove herself.
As dawn broke, casting long shadows across the library, Mimic sat back with a groan of frustration. She'd found nothing concrete, just vague hints and dead ends.
Days went by as Mimic pored over old records in Damien's vast library, searching for any clue that might lead her to Elena. The task seemed insurmountable at times, but her devotion to Damien drove her forward.
On the third day of her search, as she was about to give up hope, Mimic stumbled upon a dusty old ledger. It contained cryptic notes about various Shelly family hideouts and safe houses. One entry caught her eye:
"E.S. - Grand Manor in the North. Owned by the great Shelly . Approach with caution."
Mimic's heart raced. Could this be the lead she'd been searching for? She quickly jotted down the scant details and hurried to Damien's chambers.
She found him seated by the window, staring out at the setting sun. His condition had worsened in the days since he'd given her this task, and the sight of him so frail sent a pang through her heart.
"My lord," she said softly, approaching him. "I may have found something. A potential location for Elena."
"There has to be something we're missing," he growled in frustration, pacing the small room where Reggie and Randal were poring over ancient texts.
Reggie looked up, his face haggard from lack of sleep. "We've been through everything, Blake. Without more information about the oath Rose took with Damien, we're flying blind."
Blake slammed his fist against the wall, leaving a sizeable dent. "Damn it! If only we could find Damien. He has to know how to break this curse."
Randal shook his head. "We've tried the ritual, every ritual we know. Damien's hidden himself well. Wherever he is, he doesn't want to be found. Ancroft is totally out of the picture, he knows we know there so I doubt he would be hiding there. His people haven't heard from him in over two years, If anything, I'd say he's playing this being dead too well,"
Blake's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Then what do we do? We can't just give up on Rose."
A tense silence fell over the room, broken only by the distant sound of Rose's chains rattling in the basement below.
Suddenly, Reggie sat up straight, his eyes wide. "Wait a minute. What if we're approaching this from the wrong angle? Instead of trying to find Damien, what if we try to find someone who might know where he is?"
Blake turned to him, a spark of hope in his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Reggie stood, excitement building in his voice. "Elena. She was always in cahoots with Damien right?. If anyone knows his secrets, his hideouts, it would be her."
Blake's eyes narrowed. "Elena disappeared years ago, after our last confrontation at the Island. We've not seen or heard from her since."
Randal nodded thoughtfully. "True, but she's still a Shelly . She might be in hiding, but there could be traces of her we could track. It's worth a shot, isn't it?"
Blake considered this for a moment, then nodded decisively. "You're right. It's the best lead we've had in months. Reggie, Randal, see if you can dig up any information on her last known whereabouts."
As his friends set to work with renewed energy, Blake turned to look out the window, his thoughts racing. Finding Elena could be the key to saving Rose, to finally ending this nightmare.