Inceptive

by M. D. Melai

  I was moving as fast as I could. Everything was cleared and I was starting to slide the wall away, when it got stuck and I started coughing.

  No! No! No! No!

  “Someone’s here,” a man’s voice yelled out.

  Not again. They’re not taking me this time!

  I pushed with all my might and the panel slammed opened, revealing another wall that looked just like the small piece I had just slid opened. Then instantly, the keypad and screen flipped over to reveal itself.

  They were at my bedroom door—I could hear as they were jiggling the lock.

  Placing my finger on the screen, I quickly typed in my code, and then I heard the click as the door unlocked and popped open.

  The sound of my door crashing in made me jump, and I knocked my head on the shelf above me. I had seconds before they would come barreling through the bathroom door.

  You can do this!

  I scrambled into the smallest of all the safe spots about the time the bathroom door flew open. I shut the first panel, and then hit the button, closing and locking the wall to my safe spot. There would be no leaving this spot until Emilio came to get me.

  “She isn’t in here,” a voice called out.

  “But she has to be,” another said. “Why else would both doors have been locked? Search the house…every spot. We need both of them alive.”

  Both of us?

  Whoever was in my room, I could hear them rustling around for a few more minutes, until finally it was silent. It was then that I finally released the breath I had been holding.

  The space was small and hard to maneuver around in, especially in the dark. The safety bag was cutting into my back, so I pulled it in front of me and onto my lap. I unzipped it and started feeling around, until I found my flashlight.

  Bad idea.

  When I flipped on the light, the entire space came into view. I was never a really claustrophobic person, but for some reason seeing the small space I was in instantly set my heart racing even more. There was just enough room for me to sit crossed legged and straight up. Trying to direct my thoughts away from the size of the space, I looked into the bag to see what all was in there. It was stocked with the same supplies as the others: a few water bottles, a couple of power bars, a set of batteries, and a wireless cellphone charger pack.

  My cellphone! Lorenzo!

  I started patting myself down feverishly. Nothing—I didn’t grab it. What if Lorenzo came home and they were still here?

  Panic set in as I thought about the men in my house killing him. Because they would—it hadn’t stopped them before.

  The safe wasn’t soundproof, and the alarm in the house was so loud that it vibrated the space I was in. So when the sound of the alarm went away, it caught my attention. I didn’t have a watch, so the amount of time that had passed eluded me.

  “Lily!” Lorenzo’s voice shouted. “Liliana! Liliana, are you in here?” His voice was muffled, so I knew he wasn’t upstairs. I was never more happy to hear his voice in my entire life.

  “Lorenzo!” I started screaming and beating on the walls. “Lorenzo! I’m up here! Lorenzo!”

  “Lily!” I heard him say again, before the pounding of his shoes grew closer. It didn’t take him long to enter the bathroom. “She’s here. Yes, her bathroom, just like you said. Okay, see you soon. Lily?” he asked much quieter this time.

  “Yes,” I said. I heard him tap on the wall. “I'm in the safe spot.”

  “Shit, Lily, I’m so damn sorry! Are you okay in there? I was only gone thirty minutes! I should have never left you,” he said, remorse flooding his voice.

  “It wasn’t your fault. And believe me when I say that the two of us couldn’t fit into this tiny space even if we tried,” I half laughed before I felt the pressure of the walls.

  For a second, it felt like they were closing in on me. But then I thought about how Lorenzo was safe, and that was all that mattered. I was so terrified that he was going to come home and they were still going to be here. I couldn’t lose him too. For a brief moment, my emotions consumed me, and I started to cry.

  “Are you crying?” he asked. “Don’t cry, Lily.”

  “I… was so scared, Lorenzo. I thought you were going to come home and—” I couldn’t even finish it.

  “I’m fine. The house, on the other hand, looks like a hurricane destroyed it.”

  “Is Emilio on his way?” I asked.

  “Yes, he is.”

  As we sat and waited for Emilio to get back home to let me out, I told Lorenzo everything that had happened, and slowly, the adrenaline wore off. My head was pounding and my hand was starting to swell from when I slammed the panel open. I told Lorenzo I was glad he was gone and that it was only me. I knew he would have protected me with his life, and that was not an option right now. I already owed him for saving my life when I met Heinrich back in September.

  From the moment Emilio arrived home until the time the safe doors popped open was seconds.

  “Lily,” he breathed out the moment he saw my face. Emilio was the only one who could open all the safe spots. Only his and my fingerprints and codes could unlock the doors. He had set it up like that for my safety, which, at the time, was a good thing, but after today, I was going to talk to him about setting them up with a few more trusted people.

  “Emilio,” I said as tears started falling down my face as he helped me out. He immediately pulled me into his arms and held me tight before he pulled me away slightly and kissed my forehead.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “They didn’t touch you did they? What happened to your head? I’ll kill them.”

  His questioned went unanswered, because as soon as I saw Lorenzo, I pulled away from Emilio and flung myself into his arms, sobbing into his neck as I held him tight.

  “It’s okay, Lily. I’m safe. You’re safe. We’re all good,” he whispered into my ear. It only made me cry harder.

  Old memories had surfaced, and I couldn’t help it. I knew then that I couldn’t continue to live like this. Whatever Adela’s plan was, it need to go into effect as soon as possible. No matter what it took, we had to end this.

  Chapter 22

  A knock came at the door about the time that I had set all the snacks and drinks out. It had been a while since I had seen Nikolas and Faith together. This would be a reunion that they wouldn’t see coming. But we needed their help if we were going to come out victorious. They were the only ones that were still on the inside. Since Elle and Lucas were put on Viktor’s list, we knew they couldn’t help with what Viktor was planning.

  I answered the door and ushered them both into the living room. I offered them a drink and they helped themselves to the snacks I had put out. Lucas, Emilio, Dante, and Violet came into the living room after we took our seats. Emilio made sure to ask them if they had been followed, and they assured us that they had not.

  After my escape from James the night I met Faith at the coffee shop, we were all on high alert and made sure to check our surroundings. Nikolas and Faith had to be on special alert since they had to leave and return to their father’s property. They couldn’t be caught doing anything except exactly what Viktor instructed. Honestly, I was surprised that Viktor didn’t have someone with them all the time. But for all I knew, he had—it was a risk we were all willing to take.

  “So, Lily told us that you all have a plan to take the money that’s in the trust fund,” Nikolas said, breaking the tension.

  “We do,” Dante replied. “It’s tricky, though, which is why we need both of you. Unfortunately, the bank that holds the fund is on Heinrich territory, so we need to know everything in order for this plan to be successful.”

  “Sure. Anything you want to know, we’ll tell you,” Faith assured us.

  Dante nodded, happy with that answer. Then he turned his head to look at me, and I knew it was time.

  “Technically, it wasn’t our plan. We had help from the outside,” I started, and they both gave me a quizzical look.

&
nbsp; I held up my finger for them to give me a moment as I stood up and made my way into my office. Benito and Adela had both been in there waiting for me to come get them.

  When I cracked opened the door, Benito and Adela weren’t even looking at each other, and were on opposite sides of the room—Benito at Violet’s desk, and Adela at mine. Their heads snapped in my direction as soon as they heard the door open. Adela was the first to stand up, and Benito followed as I told them that Nikolas and Faith were here and it was time.

  Adela looked in Benito’s direction and gave him a tight smile. He knew that she needed some support over the next few minutes until she could get a feel for how Nikolas and Faith were feeling. They could either react just like Benito had, or the opposite. None of us knew what to expect.

  I turned and headed back to the living room and took a seat on the couch next to Faith. She and Nikolas still had confused looks on their faces.

  “What you’re about to see is one-hundred percent real. Trust me when I say that it threw all of us for a loop, and we went to extensive measures to make sure it was…well, real,” I explained

  “Okay…,” Nikolas said, confused.

  From my view, I could see the door to my office open completely and Benito and Adela walked out. Nikolas and Faith both followed my eyes, and saw her as she entered the living room. Faith’s hand immediately flew up to her mouth as she gasped, and Nikolas just sat there shaking his head, probably making sure his mind wasn’t playing a cruel joke on him.

  They both simultaneously looked at me, and I nodded my head, confirming their thoughts. Just like me, Nikolas and Faith were both young when Adela had ‘died’—Faith was six, and Nikolas was four. From our previous conversations, they didn’t remember her, only by the pictures that had found of her.

  Adela’s eyes started to tear up as she looked at her siblings. Faith stood and made her way to Adela and embraced her in a hug. Nikolas stood up but didn’t move. After Faith let go, she turned around and looked at Nikolas.

  “It’s really her,” Faith said as she walked over to Nikolas, trying to knock him out of his shock. Faith recovered a lot quicker than he did.

  “I just don’t understand,” Nikolas said. “How can she be alive? I thought Lucas’s parents killed her.”

  “It’s a long story,” Lucas said. “And they didn’t kill her—obviously.”

  Over the next hour, Adela retold the story to Nikolas and Faith. They had several questions throughout the whole conversation. The questions were similar to the ones that Benito and I had: Why did she feel like she had to take off? Why would she fake her own death instead of staying and fighting? Did she not trust the Dapprimas enough to protect her?

  Once everything was explained and every question was answered, Nickolas was more reluctant than Faith to accept Adela’s apology. Maybe it was because Faith still had memories and was happy to see her again. Nikolas said that he had no memories of her. He said he understood why Adela did what she did, but he was still standoffish to the sister he didn’t know.

  Adela apologized profusely, but just like Benito, Nikolas seemed less forgiving.

  “Let’s just move on to the problem at hand,” Nikolas finally said, wanting to get as far away from the current conversation. “What do you need to know about our father’s territory? And what’s your master plan?”

  Adela began to explain exactly what her plan was. This was the first time that all of us were hearing it. She began by saying that we needed to find a way onto their property without being noticed. As soon as we did that, then we would head straight to the bank and find her reliable trustee that helped her transfer the fund to my name in the first place, given he was still alive. Adela had already set up a separate bank account that we could transfer the money to. She and my mother had gone out a few days ago and set it up under my name, which had come as a surprise to me.

  As soon as the money was transferred, the trustee would sign all the paperwork and give us a copy and destroy any evidence that we would have ever been there. The hard part was after that. We didn’t know how well of a tab Viktor kept on the account, so we would need to get back to safety as fast as we could.

  The only thing left that we needed to do was decide what the best route would be to get in and out without being spotted.

  “We need to know if there are any shortcuts we can use to our advantage,” Emilio said as he pulled out a map and set it on the dining room table. “We have the bank marked here, but, as you can see, it’s in the middle of your father’s territory.”

  “Most of his men are usually around the houses and businesses,” Faith said as she looked up and motioned for a pen. Dante leaned back toward the bar and grabbed one from the pen cup before giving it to Faith. She quickly marked each spot where her father made sure there were always men. “They are usually in those areas, but some days maybe different from others. It just depends on what is going on.”

  “So the best way would be right here,” Lucas said as he pointed to a vulnerable part on the map. “I know that his headquarters are close, but it would be the least suspected spot.”

  “It seems risky, though,” Benito said. “And we need an entrance that will be easy to maneuver in and out of as quickly as possible.”

  Everyone stopped and looked at the map as we contemplated the best route to go. There wasn’t one that stuck out, so our best bet would be to go with our gut instinct. Unfortunately, everyone’s intuition wasn’t on the same page.

  “The subway…,” Adela said after a few minutes. “Would he have the entrances to the subway monitored?”

  “Possibly,” Faith said. “But more than likely not—it’s not on the top of our father’s priority list at the moment.”

  “So, we’ll need to be disguised?” Violet asked.

  “I think any way we go in, we’ll need to be disguised,” Emilio said. “Also, no more than four people. We don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves.”

  “Who’s going?” Nikolas asked.

  “Lily, obviously,” Adela said. “Me, Benito, and one of the guys.”

  “I don’t think it would be wise for you to go,” Benito said, directing his statement at Adela.

  “I’m not sending my daughter in there alone,” she retorted. “I’ve been hiding for twenty years, plus I’d be a nice distraction if needed.”

  “I’ll go too,” Lucas spoke up, volunteering to be the fourth.

  “No, I’ll go,” Emilio said, staring down Lucas.

  “And I said that I would go,” Lucas said, through gritted teeth. “I can take care of her just fine, and I know the property better than you.”

  “And I am your boss, and I said I’m going!” Emilio’s voice rose with each word.

  “Nikolas will be our fourth,” Benito commanded, scolding both Emilio and Lucas at the same time. “We need a trusted Heinrich with us, so we will be less noticeable. If they see that we are with Nikolas, then their eyes won’t be drawn to us.”

  “If Nik is going, then I am too,” Faith spoke up. “I’ll take Adela’s place.”

  “I told you,” Adela retorted, “I’m going!”

  We all looked around the room as the tension started to rise. Redness started to flood Benito’s cheeks as the anger began to consume him. I contemplated what the best thing to do was. Then I said the first thing that popped into my mind.

  “No,” I said, breaking the silence. “As soon as we take the money, if Viktor finds out, then he will retaliate. And if that happens, we need an element of surprise, and that will be you. Just wait for the opportune moment to make your appearance, which isn’t right now.”

  Adela’s eyes looked defeated as soon as she realized that I was right. I glanced in everyone’s direction and each of them gave me a nod.

  “Okay, then. It’ll be Nikolas, Faith, Lily, and me,” Benito said.

  Both Emilio and Lucas started to protest what Benito had decided. Benito quickly held up his hand to silence them both.

  “Th
at is final,” he demanded. “Prepare yourselves, we leave tomorrow at noon.”

  ***

  The sun was slowly starting to rise to its peak in the sky as the clock approached noon. Nerves shot throughout my body, and I wondered what I had got myself in to. This wasn’t the first time that I had been courageous enough to enter into danger, nor would it be the last.

  Emilio had cameras set up in the car we would be taking to the city. That was as far as they could go with us visually. But the good news was that we would enter the subway right next to my family’s headquarters and that would also be our path to get back.

  This was one of the most risky endeavors that we could have ever put ourselves in. While my meeting with Viktor was dangerous, it didn’t amount to entering his territory. Over on his side, we would have no one to protect us— it was just the four of us. And only one of them could I fully trust with my life.

  “Be safe,” Violet said as she squeezed my hand.

  “I’ll take care of her.” I heard Nikolas assure Lucas as they hugged each other. It almost slipped my mind that they had always been best friends. Seeing them like that made me smile, and it was also nice to know the journey that they had together. They went from being on the Heinrich side together to breaking apart and coming back together on the Dapprima side.

  “We’re ready,” Benito said as he made his way back from getting the car ready.

  Lucas hugged me first, and told me to be safe. Emilio was next.

  “Lorenzo and Paolo have trained you well,” he started out seriously. “Don’t forget—if anything happens, let your body guide you.”

  Already worried.

  “I know.” I smiled, trying to reassure him.

  “Shoot for the chest, no matter what.”

  “I know.”

  “And—,” he began again.

  “Emilio, I will be fine,” I said seriously. I couldn’t show him I was nervous. I couldn’t show any of them.