Louis stared at Ellen with wide eyes, his mouth slightly gaping. "You know where Juno is? Ellen, how could you possibly… how?"
"I…" Ellen paused, looking away from him. "Just let me tell you where I think she might be."
Louis opened his mouth then closed, his expression calming as he exhaled through his nose. "Where is she, Ellen?"
Ellen took in a quivering breath. "It's… it's a large piece of land mass called Carnal Island. It's a prison that traffics both carnivores and herbivores, and it is heavily guarded. If Bill and Legosi are saying that Juno's been kidnapped, then that's where she would've been taken."
Louis would've mentioned the Hyper Drug business as a second option, but then he remembered that it'd suddenly disappeared after having financial problems with one of the black market's gangs.
"From… from what I know, very, very few mammals know about that island. It's not marked on the world map, and not even the police force or any of the Beastars have any knowledge of its existence. Apparently, it's where the black market gets its supply of herbivore meat and sex slave. But not just the black market… that island is known to supply on a global scale, especially in sex slaves." She turned her attention to him, her expression empty of emotion, as if she were desperately trying to suppress them.
Louis asked. "If the island is apart of some global network, then who runs it?" Perhaps there was a chance it was someone he knew from the black market. Perhaps he could buy Juno back and avoid any bloodshed.
Ellen's expression turned grave at that question, and she folded her arms beneath her small breast. She walked over to the small bench beside the gardening shed and sat down, her gray eyes locked onto the floor, silent.
Louis walked over to her, his hardened face turning into one of worry. "Ellen?"
Silence.
"Akio," she finally answered, and looked to him. "Akio is the boss of the island—or was."
Louis's blood turned to ice in his veins and his eyes widened in shock. "A-Akio!? Are you sure!?"
She nodded.
Louis sat beside Ellen on the bench, staring out to everything and nothing. "I see," was all he said, still in shock.
Ellen said, "do you believe me?"
"I do. I know you wouldn't lie about this, especially if it involves Juno. It's just… hard to believe."
"I understand..."
Louis asked, "do you know where the island is?"
Ellen shook her head. "No, I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
Another silence, the whisperers of the wind being the only sound between them.
"Ellen." Louis said, after a long, long moment. "How do you know so much about the island, if not even the Beastars are aware of it?"
Slowly, Ellen gazed out to the gray, gloomy skies, her long, black mane flowing softly in the passing wind. She blinked rapidly, her eyes becoming glossy with tears and her lips curling into a quivering frown. "… I was kept there as a child," she gasped out, lowering her chin as a tear streamed down her cheek. "I was expected to be sold to a carnivore and eaten—or used as a child sex slave."
Louis's eyes widened as the realization dawned on him. She was… she was livestock, too. Louis lowered his head, his mouth a straight line. He glanced at her and he was able to see the loneliness in her gray eyes. The same loneliness he felt as a kid, when he wasn't allowed to talk about his traumas to anyone. And he was forced to keep it all inside. He didn't want Ellen to experience that same pain—not anymore. Louis said, "Ellen, I was livesto—"
Suddenly, his phone began to ring and he immediately pulled it from his pocket. He looked at the screen and his chest tightened when he saw it was from Bill.
Why was Bill calling him?
Did Legosi find Juno? Did he save her?
Louis held in his breath swiped left on his phone, answering the call. He put it on speaker.
"Bill, what happened?" He asked, the words barely even a sound.
The silence that ensued after his question was only mere seconds long, yet it felt as if an eternity had already passed when Bill's voice sounded. Louis, I just got off the phone with Legosi He said he caught the animal that kidnapped Juno. He sent me his location along with some photos of the animal.
Louis's phone ding with a text.
I just sent you the photos. Is that him, Louis?
His fingers trembling, Louis immediately opened his text and looked through the images.
Ellen gasped, her hand clamped over her mouth.
The memory of Juno being strangled by the black wolf flashed across his vision.
The photo had been taken with a flash, vividly revealing every detail.
The black wolf lay slumped against a white wall, his muzzle covered in blood—most likely Legosi's doing. Good.
Louis's muzzle curled in anger as he stared at the photo of the black wolf's bloody, beaten body. "Yeah." He said, lowly, a fire blazing within him. "Yeah, that's him."
Okay, then. Ten minutes... meet me at the school's front entrance, Louis. We'll leave, then.