Damian stood in the backyard, the cool night air biting at his skin, his wrists still raw from the ropes. The stranger had disappeared into the darkness moments ago, leaving him alone with the distant thump of music from Selene's house and the faint smell of something chemical lingering in the air. His head still throbbed from whatever they had used to knock him out. His mind raced with one thought: Zayn. Where was Zayn? Was he okay? Had Selene done something worse to him?
He took a shaky step forward, trying to orient himself, when footsteps crunched on the grass behind him. The hooded stranger had returned.
He was dragging an unconscious Zayn by the arm, Zayn's body limp, head lolling, bruises on his face darker in the moonlight, he had clearly been a fight, probably after Damian got knocked out. The stranger dropped Zayn gently at Damian's feet, like he was handling something fragile.
