by V. F. Mason
Damian
Pain.
Agonizing pain burning through my body woke me up, and my lungs immediately filled with the smoke surrounding me.
Fire.
Shaking my head from the fogginess, I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn't move. No matter what I did, they didn't respond. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the haze around me, I spotted a huge piece of wood pinning my legs. I sat up and tried with all my strength to push it away, but it was useless.
Blood slowly dripped from my forehead to my cheeks and lips. My callused hands were covered in blisters. How could this happen?
Sapphire.
My eyes searched for her as the fire spread more rapidly. I saw her silky black hair lying across the bench. She appeared unconscious. The orange flames surrounding us moved dangerously closer, heading toward her body.
No!
"Sapphire." Her name came out as a hushed whimper. No matter how hard I tried to clear my throat, I couldn't speak any louder. After the accident five years ago, talking with more volume was a luxury I couldn't afford. How I wished to shout just then to make the woman I loved open her eyes so we could run with our little one.
Then the terrified scream filled the air, and my body froze in fear.
"Daddy!" Kristina cried out somewhere from my right. "Daddy, help me! He wants to take me away." She started crying and kept on screaming my name. A man's laugh echoed in the warehouse, and the familiar sound of flesh being slapped created burning rage inside me. My hands fisted and once again, with a loud cry, I pushed the wood, but it didn't even budge.
He couldn't have her.
He wouldn't have her.
My little girl.
"See, boy? You can never win with me. Now your precious daughter will know what it's like to make me happy."
Kristina whimpered, and in a second, I heard the door shut loudly, trapping us inside.
My child.
S had my child.
No!
"I'm sorry, baby girl," I whispered. "Daddy is so sorry."
No matter what I did, she'd have those nightmares for the rest of her life.
And unfortunately, I was powerless to stop them.
My eyes started to close again when a figure in black appeared out of nowhere in front of me and kneeled near the wood that had me pinned. He grabbed it, and with all his might pushed, breathing heavily. "Okay, Damian. Listen, I'll push it up as much as I can, and you have to move your legs back quickly before it falls down again. This shit is too heavy." I didn't recognize his voice, yet somehow he sounded familiar to me. And how the fuck did he know my name? I couldn't ignore his help though and pointed at the far end where my woman lay.
"Help her first; the fire is spreading to her hair."
The stranger shook his head. "She's fine. If we don't move your legs now, you might lose them or the use of them. We need you to walk, even if slowly."
I didn't want to agree with what he was saying, because protection of my woman always came first, but if I wanted to get my daughter back, I needed my legs.
His hands grabbed the wood again, and he asked, "Ready?" I nodded. "On three. One, two, three." He lifted it with one loud cry, and with my hands, I pushed my lower body back, but my legs hurt like a fucking bitch. "Move faster, Damian." He spoke through gritted teeth, his voice indicating he would lose his grip soon. Gathering all my strength, with my family on my mind, I rolled over, dug my nails in, and crawled, pulling myself forward. I got my feet clear right before the beam collapsed on the floor with a loud boom, and unfortunately, it brought more problems. It created a domino reaction among the other wooden studs supporting the structure. They had been weakened by the fire, and one by one, they started to fall. "Try to sit up, man. I'll get her." He rushed toward Sapphire, allowing me to see the open door I hadn't noticed before. Through the smoke, I could see the second doorway he came from and it was closer to me. I watched as he picked up Sapphire and carefully stepped around the spreading fire.
I sat up and cried in pain, as my legs throbbed excruciatingly. My right leg was broken. "I can't walk. Get her out of here." The stranger probably worked for Connor, and if this rescue proved anything, it was that he was capable of handling S and his tricks. "I'll slow you down, and this shit could collapse any minute now." As it was, the ceiling already burned and it was harder to breathe with each second. "Fucking go!" I shouted, although my voice was more of a fucking whisper. Instead of listening to me, he put her in a standing position, pressed a certain place on her neck, and Sapphire sprang awake with a loud gasp and cough.
The man held her head between his hands. "Hey, Sapphire." She screamed and tried to get away from him, probably mistaking him for one of S's men. He shook her hard. "Listen to me. Damian is sitting there." He pointed at me, and she spun her head toward me and gasped again. "Walk toward the door and I'll help him out." She started toward me, but he stopped her. "If you want to help him, go to the fucking door." She hesitated for a second but then ran in the direction he showed her. He then came to me, kneeled, and helped to place my arm over his shoulder. We stood up, both breathing heavily.
The wood around and above us cracked, and several flaming timbers fell down, but the man was quick enough to shift us from danger. "Come on, just a little more, Damian." Why did he sound so familiar? His body was the same size as mine, not to mention his whole demeanor. Part of me felt already dead, imagining someone like myself saving us in my dreams.
Finally, we reached the door, but right before he went to step outside, a huge piece of wood fell, blocking the exit, making it impossible to get out. "Fuck," he cursed, and I shared the sentiment.
My head became dizzy, and my knees weakened, but right in time, he caught me. "Let me think how to fix this." With the last of my strength, my mind tried desperately to find some way we could escape in all the smoke, fire, and haze, but nothing came.
Then my eyes caught sight of the bright moon in the upper part of the dungeon, and I pointed to it. "Window. There's a window." The route was impossible for me to take because my legs wouldn't allow me to climb, but the man saved the woman I loved. He didn't deserve to die just because I had no chance. Right then, my mind went blank, and oblivion began to claim me, as my body sagged toward the floor. "Tell Sapphire I love her, and get Kristina back," I slurred, and closed my eyes, welcoming the relief of finally not feeling anything.
The last thing I heard before passing out was his annoyed and harsh words. "Tell her yourself, brother."
Sapphire
Everything in me screamed to go back and help Damian, but I had to think about our baby first. Staying there wouldn't have solved anything, and this way, even if something happened to us, Connor would know where to find her. The man would never allow S to ruin her as he ruined all of them. Despite the pain in my head and my burning lungs, I quickened my steps, as every minute was precious.
A few steps were all it took for me to run from the flaming dungeon right into Connor's waiting arms. I noticed lots of FBI cars along with an ambulance. He hugged me close and then raised my chin. "Where are the guys?" I opened my mouth to answer, but coughed rapidly, my throat sore and dry from all the smoke I'd inhaled. Connor cursed, and waved his hand to someone behind me. "Get a paramedic over here."
Shaking my head in denial, I croaked through the pain, "My baby. He has Kristina." Tears slid down my cheeks as fear crushed me again, like a big smothering wave. I could still hear her cries for help, even though I did nothing to save her. "Connor, save her." I coughed again and this time, blood came out, right in time for some woman to show up in front of my face.
"Ma'am, you need to sit down."
I pushed her hands away from me, all my attention on Connor. Why did he have regret in his eyes and make no move to help my baby? "Connor, Kristina!" I shouted, or at least tried, but it came out like a little squeak. He opened his mouth to reply, but in that second, Kristina plastered herself to my legs, and her body trembled. I blinked a few times to make sure she rea
lly was there before picking her up and hugging her fiercely as she sobbed against my neck. Automatically, I murmured to her as my hand rubbed her back. "Shh, sweetheart, it's all right." My baby was alive, safe, and with me. S didn't take her. Didn't harm her. My eyes traveled to Connor. "How?" I whispered, and he softened and patted her head gently.
"It's a long story."
I laughed through tears, but then the loud sound of bricks and wood falling snapped my attention to the building, which was rapidly being destroyed by the fire, and my heart sank. Damian!
I put Kristina down despite her protest. I was about to sprint the distance and come back with my man when strong hands grabbed me from behind. I tried to push them away, hit them. "Let go of me. He's in there!" God, my throat could barely stand me speaking; tiny little knives were chopping my skin inside into tiny little pieces.
"Sapphire."
"No." I swayed to the side, but Connor quickly steadied me as paramedics eased me down onto a makeshift gurney. They started to check me out, as I sat there numbly understanding that my protests were useless because no one was listening to them.
"Don't worry, honey, everything will be all right," a woman reassured me, and a flashback of the same words from paramedics five years ago played in my mind.
Once again, I was alone with my baby, as the man I loved was left behind because he saved us.
Could I survive this pain again?
Dominic
"Fuck, Damian," I muttered, as I placed him over my shoulder and moved toward the window, which seemed impossible considering orange flames were everywhere, and the building was barely holding together. We had only a small chance of surviving this shit, so I covered my nose with the neck of my shirt. I'd already inhaled more than I should; I had to be careful. Fainting would be a death sentence for both of us.
When we reached the window, I noticed rather shallow screws in it and no security bars, and I exhaled with relief. Luckily, the fire hadn't touched the area yet, so I put Damian down as my eyes searched for some way to break the window quickly. The silvery light reflected off a metal bar on the floor several steps away from us. I tried to grab it, but yanked my hand away with a curse. The thing was fucking hot and burned my skin. With no time to spare, I took off my shirt and quickly snatched the bar. With all my power, I smashed the metal into the window, but it didn't budge.
Blyat! Stronger than I initially thought, it probably had two layers of glass to protect it from extreme weather. I held my breath for as long as possible to prevent inhaling more smoke. I slammed the bar at the window again, and a small crack appeared. I banged and banged until finally the window shattered, letting in fresh air, which thankfully didn't cause a backdraft effect on the fire. I quickly shoved Damian up, thanking every lucky star in the sky for the height of the window that allowed me to do it. Then I raised myself all the way too, moving his body forward.
We fell onto soft grass with a thud right before the building collapsed into flames. Breathing heavily, I shifted to my back and gulped lots of fresh air as I fought dizziness. Damian remained unconscious, so I couldn't leave us vulnerable even though I heard sirens, which indicated Connor was here.
My body had other plans, as darkness overtook me, and the last thought on my mind was how I hadn't had the chance to properly woo my Rosa and have a heart-to-heart with my brother.
Dominic sobbed in the rear of a car as it hit a bumpy road and made them bounce on the seats, where their heads hit the ceiling. His body shivered and trembled, and Damian didn't know how to calm him down.
"You better fucking shut up, bastards. I have no patience for this shit," one of the mean men said, and fear ran down Damian's spine.
He looked around and noticed a black blanket on the floor, which smelled awful, but he placed it around himself and his twin for warmth. "Quiet, Dominic. We need to be quiet," he murmured, as his hand rubbed his knee.
"I'm sorry, Damian," Dominic whispered back. "I shouldn't have slid out." He burst into tears again, and the man exploded.
"Son of a bitch." The man raised his hand with a gun, slammed it down, but before he could deliver a blow to Dominic's head, Damian covered him with his own body and the man knocked him down onto the floor. Damian's cheek burned, and blood trickled from his lips, but he didn't react. "Stupid boy, standing up for your brother. Where we're taking you, you'll quickly learn your place." The man shared a nasty laugh with the driver and then turned his attention to the road again. Dominic finally stopped crying and gently touched Damian's cheek. Damian couldn't help his wince.
"I'm sorry," Dominic repeated, and one single tear slid down the bridge of his nose, but he remained in control this time.
"It's okay, Dom. Just do as they say," Damian whispered back. But he couldn't stop the terrifying emotions about what might await them there.
He knew one thing; their father always told them to protect each other, no matter what. Even though he was only older than Dom by five minutes, his little twin was his responsibility from then on.
So he hugged his brother close, ignored the pain, and prayed for a better outcome, begging in his head for someone to help them.
No one would help them for the next eight years.
Sapphire
"Could you please explain it to me again?" I asked dumbly, as my eyes moved from one gurney to another. "How come I see two of them?" Their sedative medication was very good, considering I was hallucinating.
After they sat me down, they sedated me and checked my pulse along with other routine stuff. Turned out, I didn't really have any serious injuries, so I just inhaled oxygen through the mask for a few minutes. Kristina fell asleep on my lap; however, later, she was held by Rosa, who was shaken up by everything that had happened. How the hell she ended up here was beyond me, but we had no time for explanations. The building collapsed minutes ago, and my heart sank, as I screamed the denial inside my head. I couldn't believe I had lost the man I loved twice.
Then some guy shouted they'd found two men on the ground and the paramedics, along with Connor, rushed over. It took me some time to get to my feet; my heart raced fiercely at the idea of seeing his dead body because it would have confirmed his death for sure. As long as you hadn't seen the body, you could believe, right? Soon, they arrived, and first, overwhelming relief almost knocked me back to my knees as I noticed both of them breathing, and then I stopped breathing from the picture they presented. Even though Connor explained it once, I must have heard him wrong, because his words made no sense to me whatsoever.
Connor sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Dominic and I had a plan, which included Kristina getting kidnapped. It would have allowed S to feel powerful and invincible, but most importantly, reckless. That gave us the perfect opening to capture him on the road." I nodded, even though the only thing I wanted was to choke him to death.
He knew all along that my baby would be in danger, and he still allowed it. Then another thought hit me. "Dominic?" I whispered, thankful for the hot honey tea, which soothed my throat, and I was able to have this insane conversation, which cleared the confusion in my head. My eyes focused on the man who reminded me so much of my love, yet he was incredibly different. All those tattoos over his body and various scars, which didn't exist on the body I knew so well. "He is alive? Did Damian know about any of this?"
As much as my heart begged me to kneel in front of him and be by his side on the way to hospital, I couldn't deal with any more lies from him. The idea that he could have known about something as crucial as his brother being alive and our daughter used as a decoy and not shared it with me… I wasn't sure I could forgive him that.
Connor shook his head and tried to grab my arm, but I stepped back. "He has no idea about any of it. He'll be furious. Come on, Sapphire. Someone had to be rational about this. Both of you would have objected to the plan." The anger that ran through me was impossible to control, so I pulled my arm back and punched him square in the nose then smiled with satisfaction as I heard a crack.
/>
"Fuck," he groaned, as blood spilled through his fingers. "You broke my nose? What's with you and Damian breaking my damn nose all the fucking time?"
"Maybe next time you'll think twice before using our baby in your freaking plan!" I screamed, not caring about the little audience we had. "One wrong move, one mole in the system, and he would have had her at his mercy." My hands clenched into fists. "So fuck you, Connor, and your plan." Turning my back to him, I climbed into the ambulance with Damian and Kristina, and we rode toward the nearest hospital, wherever it was. As I rested my head on the window, Kristina's heart beat against mine, and Damian's chest rose and fell peacefully. I closed my eyes and exhaled a heavy, relieved breath.
Over.
It was finally over.
But unlike all those years ago on the cliff, this time I was ready to cry with happiness.
Free.
At last.
Dominic
I sprang awake with a loud gasp as paralyzing pain smacked me down to rest on the bed. My nose filled with antiseptic smells as I noticed my left arm was strapped to an IV drip, and my hands hurt like fucking hell.
What the ever-loving fuck was going on?
My eyes adjusted to the bright light present in the room, allowing me to see where I was. I was in a private room in the hospital with one chair in the corner and a TV on the wall. It was a rather modest room if you asked me, but then again, when I did end up in hospitals, they usually had VIP rooms ready for me in advance.
What the fuck happened to me? The last thing I remembered was getting us out of the fire and passing out on the grass that had tickled my nose.
Ignoring the pain, this time, I pushed up and noticed my hands were covered in bandages. I furrowed my brows in confusion. I wasn't injured, so why would I even be in the room?
"You have second-degree burns on both of them. Some of it was painful to watch really. You'll have scars, man, not to mention the smoke you inhaled," Vitya said from the doorway, as he stood there with Michael, both of them holding coffee mugs in their hands and wearing grim expressions. "Maybe those will teach you to actually include your family in your business next time you have a death wish." His voice was grim and full of anger. S was an unpredictable killer and a sociopath, so endangering more people than necessarily was out of the question. We both knew he would get no comment from me, so I focused on the information he had given me first.