The Search I

The air was thick when we gathered together in the parking lot. God, how much I fucking hated these fuckers. I hated to be with them, to be in this situation and most of all that we weren't able to go on. I was sick and tired of following orders like a fucking princess and waiting and waiting and fucking waiting.

Where was my sister?

Where was my fucking Mia?

I should've never left Mia's side. I should've listened to my gut feeling I had since I was with Mia on grandpa Jonathans island. 

I knew when I left the hotel room that leaving her behind wasn't a good idea. But why the fuck did Mia put herself into this situation? Why did she leave the room, why did she lie to Brandon and the guards? What the fuck happened that she felt like she had to put herself into this situation?

My gut feeling was never wrong.

And something was telling me that this night wouldn't go as we hoped for. As I hoped for.

Fuck, when did it ever?

When my cousins went to do researches on the bar where Annika had lost her phone, they came back with the information, that a little purple dressed girl was trying to escape when men pulled her back into the car and threw her phone out. That must've been how the Italian guy, Eli had demolished, had found the phone. Creighton had collected the street camera footages and they had watched with Jeremy how Annika was dragged back into the car. 

Luckily their license plate was visible.

Which is why that fucker Killian, his psycho cousin Nikolai, Eli and I got now together into one car to follow Mia's route and Jeremy, his bodyguard Ilya and Creighton were following Annikas path. It was hard to sit amongst people you wanted to suffocate.

But no matter how much hate I had for them, I needed these damn bastards to find my Mia and my little sister. 

I was sitting next to Eli, who was driving when I saw through the rearview mirror two vans following us.

"Those are Jeremy's men", Eli clarified, his eyes never leaving the road.

"My men", Nikolai corrected, voice low and deep.

"What fucking difference does it make? Both unable to protect.", I snarled, looking now at the fucker of my brothers boyfriend.

That asshole dared to smirk at me, his eyes gleaming.

"The difference is, they kill you on my command!"

I opened my mouth to say something but Eli cut me off with a sharp look. I wouldn't give a fuck about him and his fucking look when I reminded myself that I needed to do this -with them- to find my little mouse.

Mia.

Fucking Mia. 

My cold heart warmed up just at the thought of her. Her big doe eyes that would look at me and tell me the deepest, most beautiful stories without uttering a single word. 

I didn't touch her for barely 24hours now but it felt like I was missing her for centuries. I missed her fucking ribbons and her black choker around her throat that I wanted to replace with my hand. Her heavy boots that were such a stark contrast to her petite frame and small features.

I missed how she would box in my stomach whenever I annoyed her and how excitement burst in her  bright eyes when I counterattacked and pulled her beneath me.

Eli drove into a dark corner, under a broken street light to hide the car. Everyone got out, the vans behind us emptying themselves with big men that spread out to position themselves. The four of us gathered together and Nikolai pulled out his phone, pointing at the red dot that we were following. 

By a quick glance around us this wasn't the best neighborhood. A dog was barking somewhere in the shadows and cats were jumping on trash cans to watch us. 

We were right across a motel which looked anything but knew. Barely any lights were on, when Killian nodded towards the black mercedes with the license plate that we were following. Ilya and his men had followed them for a while and figured that the cars where changing their plates in order to be not followed.

Apparently none of the cars really left the city but just acted like as if they did only to exchange the plates and cars in case someone was following them.

Well they sure didn't know that they were dealing with the Russian mafia.

Nikolai looked around, making sure his men were in position before he lead the way and rushed to the car like a shadow.

He might be a maniac who loved chaos, noise and attention but when it came to the people he cared he was able to stay quiet.

For a moment.

Because when broke into the car and didn't find any clues - or Mia - he angrily shut the car doors with a loud thud that made some birds fly away.

"Shut it, you bloody bastard.", I hissed.

"You don't tell me what to do, King", he just hissed but didn't bother to look at me. His eyes moved up the building in front of us and watched the only room with the lights on. 

No the lights weren't on before.

The turned it on just now and there was a silhouette watching us. Clearly standing in front of the window.

Neither of us moved when we watched him.

"One, two, three - two, four, eight, sixteen", Eli mumbled, his head nodding accordingly, while he counted the floor and the doors position. 

It was silent. 

The dogs stopped barking and even the cats that were roaming the trash can stopped as if they were waiting for a catastrophe to happen.

And suddenly, as if the silhouette was electrified pulled back into life, he moved quickly, turning into the room and rushing hastily across the room.

We saw two other silhouettes, also men hurrying and the shadows of guns were visible. 

And then we witnessed how one of the shadows passed the window with a woman, struggling against their chest.

Mia

Nikolai and I sprinted the moment we saw her, Killian and Eli close by. We heard men shouting outside but I couldn't care less what was happening behind me.

I needed to reach Mia before it was too late. 

"ELI!", I yelled.

He ran next to me, passing me to lead the way. 

"Thirds floor, door sixteen from the right", he panted with a low voice, taking two stairs at once.

Pang

"MIA"

My heart was beating so hard I was sure I would tripple over and fall because of a heart attack.

No. No. No. No. Please NO!

I'm pretty sure we arrived at the door in mere seconds but I reached the entry as if I was running through the desert with no end for years. 

Nikolai kicked the door and immediately gunshots went off, one bullet hitting that fuckers shoulder. 

I pulled him back by his shirt and thanked inwardly Jeremy for forcing him to wear one. Because otherwise it would've been hard to grab this motherfucker.

"Fuck!", he cursed, looking down at his shoulder.

"Lotus flower is going to kill me when he finds out I got shot"

I allowed myself to roll my eyes before I was pulled back to reality by more gunshots echoing around us.

I watched Killian, who was standing next to Eli, pull a gun from behind his back and I asked myself when the hell he had grabbed one, let alone brought with him.

No matter how much I detested him and his psychotic character I never deemed him as someone who would choose a gun to protect himself. Yet, here he was, cocking the gun with such an ease as if he was doing nothing else.

His lifeless eyes met mine when I nodded once and unbuckled my belt in order to whip it towards the entrance. Instantly the shooting started and Killian used the opportunity to duck down and aim from the bottom corner of the door. 

And my the groans and lessening gun shots you could tell that he didn't miss.

Not even one.

I wouldn't ever admit it loudly but I was impressed.

He stood up with ease and just threw the gun away as if it was a dirt. 

We followed him inside.

It was a fucking bloodbath. Four men were displayed on the floor and by a closer look my eyes widened as I saw that Killian hit them all perfectly through their forehead.

"Who taught you that?", Nikolai whistled, also impressed by his cousins apparently secret abilities.

"Uncle Kyle" Killian said dryly. 

"My father? How-"

"Mia!" I interrupted them when I saw legs looking from behind the bed.

Please no. Please don't let it be-

My steps halted when I approached the body that was lying on the floor. My throat contradicted and I lost all my abilities to speak, watching the motionless body on the floor.

No.

No.

No.

No.

I heard the faint footsteps behind me that rushed around the bed. Faint because I think I was hearing a loud  peeping sound in my ear that was getting louder and louder. 

"What the-"

Eli stopped breathing for a moment and crouched down to brush the hair off of the fragile girls face. Her silver hair. Her freckles came into view, her pale skin and full rosy lips.

Cecily.

This was Cecily and not Mia.

Where the fuck was my Mia?

Eli put two fingers against Cecily's pulls on her throat and exhaled slowly when he was assured that she was still alive. I looked down at her. Her black dress was ripped on the side and one of her straps ripped. She didn't have shoes on and had several blue and purple spots on her body. Similar to Ariella.

I swallowed to wetten my dry throat.

Similar to Ariella.

Were these fuckers doing it to .. all of the girls? Jeremy had showed me the footage he had found and what had happened to Ariella. We were still contemplating to tell Remington but the truth of what had happened was still heavy in the air.

Because not only did they hurt Ariella, who I've viewed as nothing less than a sister but they also revealed what they were capable of. 

We lost Mia. They obviously played us so would they do the same to her? Would those fuckers touch-

I groaned loudly, tugging at my hair when I kicked against the bed. That startled Cecily out of knock-out and she hissed in pain before she even could open her eyes.

"Cecily", Eli said with an almost soft voice. 

He lifted her head slowly and she whined in agony, reaching for her head.

They obviously hit her on the back of her head when she tried to escape.

"J-Jeremy?", she croaked, eyes slowly fluttering open. "No Cec', it's me. Eli" Her eyes focused slowly on my cousin and she blinked a few times before she suddenly bursted into tears. 

"E-Eli. Oh god" She looked around frantically, her eyes squeezing at the pain in her head but she couldn't stop looking around. 

"Oh god, oh god you guys came. W-we knew you would!", she sobbed as she crashed against Eli, crying and sobbing miserably. "Cec', tell me. What happened?", Eli tried, carefully lifting her up and putting her on the bed.

I peeled of the sheets from it to wrap it around her trembling shoulders.

"I-I don't know. W-We were partying and s-suddenly we were attacked. I-I don't remember how and when it just h-happened. I saw someone dragging Ava and I wanted to follow them but then-"

"What the hell?", the voice from the door caught us all off-guard. A bald headed man was standing at the entry with a sandwich and a beer, looking around. His eyes widened seeing the men on the floor when he focused on us.

He hesitated only for three seconds before he threw his food away and grabbed for his gun. 

But we only hesitated for one when I pulled Cecily into my arms and covered her from any attack, Eli lifted the bed to shield us and Kill slid a piece of broken glass towards Nikolai who snatched the piece and threw it right at the attackers throat. 

That fuckers managed to still shoot before he dropped over, Cecily screamed in my arms. 

-

When we arrived at the hotel, I felt numb.

I tried to ask Cecily more questions but she was just crying and not able to speak whatsoever. I carried her into the suite, when Remington opened the door, eyes widening upon seeing his childhood friend. 

Nikolai disappeared into Brandons room whilst I carried Cecily to Ariella's room who was standing by the window and started instantly sobbing when she saw the silver-haired girl in my arms. "Cecily!", she almost yelled, Cecily lifting her head and blinking in surprise when she heard the familiar voice.

"A-ari?"

Ariella crashed into her, nothing hiccuping and crying so miserably that it tugged on my my dark, black soul. What happened to them? What did those men do to them? 

And most importantly, fucking why?

The loud, penetrating high note that was still in my ear was making me insane. Furious. Where was Mia and why the fuck did they kidnap her.

Remington was right, these men knew who they were. Who we are. And they purposefully were kidnapping these girls. And by the way how we found Cecily the were clearly playing a game.

"Cecily?", Eli now asked, making her look up from Ariella's hug.

"Did you see Mia?"

I was grateful that Eli was asking about her though I knew that he was dying to find Ava. Especially after he found the cut hair of her in Ariella's palm he was barely reachable anymore. 

Eli was merely functioning, saving his deathly rage for the person who did this to her.

Cecily shook her head no and though it wasn't her fault, I wanted to fucking throttle her. 

I turned to leave the room when her quivering voice reached my ear.

"G-Glyndon"

I turned instantly and saw from the corner of my eye how Killian's disinterested and lifeless eyes filled with light and purpose. He stepped forward.

"Where?"

Cecily's shoulders started trembling when she shook her head, crying into her hands. Killian reached forward and grabbed her shoulders harshly, shaking her. "Where, Cecily?", he sounded deathly. Instantly Eli and Remington grabbed him and pulled him back from the crying girl. Good that he was doing it because I couldn't move nor speak. If I did, I knew it would be lethal. I don't want to hurt Cecily but the more she cried the more I was losing my patience. 

And Killian surprisingly he let them pull him away. He didn't even budge when they peeled off his fingers. His arms falling limply next to his body. 

My uncle always said that the best fighters were those who played smarter not harder. Those who chose their battles wisely and didn't try to win each and every time. Killian could easily start a fight - it's not that he didn't before - but after a couple days he finally heard the first sign of Glyndon being alive. He wasn't going to risk that information and chance by fighting his allies. No matter how much he hated them.

"T-They ch-changed the cars", Cecily sobbed. If I wasn't concentrating so hard I would've probably missed it. It was especially hard with the loud high note in my ear. 

"Changed cars?", Eli asked now, sitting next to her on the bed. Ariella brushed her hair back, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting manner though her own cheeks were wet from all the tears. 

"I-I was looked I-in a d-dark room", she sobbed. Cecily stopped speaking and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She swallowed. "I-i was in a dark room", she tried again, lifting her head, controlling her sobs as good as she could. "I don't know for h-how long. And then t-they came and grabbed me and c-covered my eyes and mouth and p-put me in the luggage room of a car"

All of as were fixated on her, trying to follow every word she spoke. Searching for any clues that might help us find the others. 

"Do you remember how they looked? Or where you were"

She shook her head first and then looked first at Eli and then at me. "They were British men. I heard them talk. And they knew who I was and were talking about some exchange with the King girl." 

King Girl. Glyndon. Who the fuck were these people?

I looked over to Killian and couldn't help the shiver running down my body. He was losing it. We all were but Kill, was about to lose the last piece of his dark soul he had for my sister. With every passing moment where we couldn't find them, his eyes became more hollow. And I couldn't deny how much he cared for my little princess. That fucking bastard loved her - no - was obsessed and addicted to her, just like she deserved someone to be that of her. As long as Kill loved her, Glyndon would never be lonely in this world. And it tasted fucking bitter to admit that. Even if it was in my head.

"Anything else, Cec'?" Remington now asked, sitting down next to Ariella. He pulled her into his own chest, wiping her tears while he was listening to his childhood friend. 

"Where the fuck are you, motherfuckers? Eli?!", Jeremy's voice echoed from outside the room. He sounded angry. Cecily's eyes widened and she instantly jumped to her bare feet and ... pressed herself against the wall?

"D-don't let him see me like this", she trembled, tears streaming down her red cheeks. I exchanged looks with Eli before went out of the room. 

Jeremy was carrying an injured Creighton into the room, one arm of my cousins arm dropped around Jeremy's neck and the other around Ilya's. Eli halted in his step seeing his brother like that and rushed the next second instantly to Creighton and hugged his midsection, pulling his brother against himself and putting him to onto the next bed.

Eli hovered over him, his eyes scanning his brothers body, his jaw ticking, his left eye twitching. 

Fuck.

I knew from my father that the only thing my uncle Aiden couldn't control was the ticking of his left eye when he was fucking furious. And I had witnessed it myself. Uncle Aiden was the best when it came to poker faces but he couldn't control it all the time when it came to the twitching of his left eye which mostly happened when it came to aunt Elsa.

His son inherited that tick. But different than his father it didn't twitch when he was angry or furious when it came to the people he loved. No, it was when he was protective and worried about Creighton. When we were children and some kids mocked Creighton I had witnessed the twitching of his eye whenever he saw Creighton hurt or crying. 

He didn't yell, scream or insult the others. He waited. He waited patiently until he was able to hurt them in a way that might seem cruel for a little 9 year old. I remember how aunt Elsa had spoken to my mother and suggested to find a child psychologist after Eli had lit up a children's castle with children on it just because they didn't allow Creighton to get on the castle and play with them.

Eli's face was frozen and harsh. Creighton was panting heavily and holding his side, barely keeping his eyes open. 

"What happened?", I asked, stepping forward to make sure myself that my baby Cousin didn't have any fatal injuries.

"We were attacked"

"Creighton was", Eli commented. His voice ruthless when he was still staring down at his brother. "You weren't."

"When we arrived at the destination we were separated. They put an audio recording of Annika screaming into one of the rooms in the motel so we all spread up and searched for it as it came from everywhere. There were men in every room but me and my men have weapons but Creighton didn't. He rushed inside and a bastard attacked him with a knife."

Jeremy looked at me for a moment before he looked back at Eli. "He got attacked but the fucker disappeared  and drove off with a car before we arrived. He doesn't have any deep wounds"

In that moment some of Jeremy's men rushed inside, saying something in Russian to which Jeremy nodded.

"They tracked the car with the man that attacked Crei-"

"Find him" Eli lifted his head slowly, looking at Jeremy with so much wrath and so much lethality that he reminded me of grandpa Jonathan when Nana Aurora was once held at gunpoint by a drunken guy. I don't remember what happened to the man but I clearly remember grandpa Jonathans face. I remember because it was engraved into the deepest part of my brain.

He wasn't approachable nor communicative even after some days had passed. He was a fucking tornado, ready to destroy anyone who tried to come between him and his wife and he only calmed down after he found the guy and ... did god knows what because like I said, I didn't know what happened to the man.

Jeremy's men stopped, waiting for him to speak but Eli came directly towards them, stepping in front of Ilya who was standing to Jeremy's right.

"Find him"

"We don't listen to-"

"FIND HIM", Eli's voice rang through the whole suite, echoing in the hall. He stopped closer to Ilya and fixed him with his eyes. "And none of you bloody bastards will touch him. I'm going to dissect him and burn him alive for touching my brother"

Jeremy opened his mouth to say something when a faint sob stopped him. He heard her. And though Cecily didn't want him to see her that way I imagined how I would feel with Mia waiting in the other room without me knowing. She could've been covered in dirt and been demolished in the worst way and I still would've rushed to her in a heartbeat.

I didn't want to empathize with anyone because fuck all of them but some deeper shit was going on and we needed to find every one we could before .. before it was to late.

Mia

I closed my eyes in agony.

Where are you little mouse?

Jeremy rushed to the room and I followed him, only because I hope that she would tell him more about what happened. We needed every clue we could get. 

He stopped at the door and from behind I saw his whole body tense for a moment before his shoulders slumped down as if he was released. 

"L-Lisichka", this was the first time I heard Jeremy not with a collected or controlled voice.

Cecily was in an embryo position when we stepped inside, weeping into Ariella's lap while Remington was standing by the window. Upon hearing Jeremy's voice Cecily's silver hair popped up and her face scrunched instantly into a miserably one the moment she saw him.

"J-Jeremy"

"Fuck."

He rushed towards her and gathered her in his arms, kissing her face and breathing her in like he was starving all this time. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck" He mumbled between the kisses, engulfing Cecily against his chest like he wanted to assure himself that she was really here. He leaned his head back, his adams-apple bobbing when he swayed her in his arms back and forth.

He looked like he was thanking the god, universe or whoever the fuck up there had fun with fucking our lives. 

"J-Jeremy..I-I'm so dirty I-"

"Fuck, Lisichka. You are here. You are alive" Jeremy assured her, wiping her tears that never stopped. 

"T-They-" She sobbed. Jeremy stopped swaying his head snapping back to Ariella instantly, his fear visible on his face. 

"They what, Cecily?" He sounded murderous. Jeremy's eyes locked with mine and I looked over to Remington for a split second and back to him, barely shaking my head once so he wouldn't say something stupid. Killian stepped into the room again, like a ghost. He was aware that Cecily would tell more now so he didn't want to miss any clue about Glyndon.

"T-They treated me like an animal", Cecily cried. "W-We were driving for hours and I-I had to to pee and-" Her sobbing was slowly imprinting itself in my brain. When she was crying so miserably was Glyndon too? Mia? Where they being treated this disgustingly?

I never thought I'd become a killer this early in my life.

"I-p-peed myself and w-when the car stopped the b-beat me up and s-said I was disgusting" something in Jeremy's eyes burned. Was it revenge? Or simple murderous intentions? No it was more sinister, more fucked up. 

"T-Then they c-changed cars and- I-I heard Glyndon. I-I know I heard her."

"When?", Killian stepped closer. 

"I-I don't know. I couldn't see anything. T-they c-changed cars and I-I heard her c-cry."

"Did they say anything?"

Cecily shook her head, crying into Jeremy's chest who kept rubbing her back and kissing her hair. 

"Cecily? Do you remember anything from your surrounding? Any particular noises? Anything-?"

"Killian!", Jeremy interrupted him, his eyes now dark when he cut Killian a hateful look. The latter clamped his lips and just stepped out of the room. I felt two pair of eyes on me when I realized it was Remington who was watching me closely. Fuck. Was I obvious a minute ago when I gave Jeremy a sign to shut up?

I left the room and the suite all together.

"Landon"

I closed my eyes in frustration. 

"Landon, wait"

"What is it, Rem?"

"You know something" Remington caught up to me and stood in front of me. I looked at him carefully and saw uncle Ronan's nose and most of his features and aunt Teals dark eyes. I always thought that Remington had uncle Ronan's carefree externals but aunt Teals mysterious soul. And the only time he revealed that was when he was worried for Ariella. Just like now.

"You know something, Landon!", he repeated with emphasis. 

I sighed. "Remi-"

"Tell me!"

He stared at me for a long while before I nodded. "It's better when you see it.." I nodded towards our suite. 

"Go to Nikolai, he has the footage"

-

The next morning I woke up with a startle, back pain making itself instantly noticeable as I had slept on the couch. I looked around and saw Eli sleeping next to Creighton's head in a seated position, with his arms crossed over his chest.

A shattering sound make me sit up and I realize that that was what woke me up. I rushed into he bathroom and saw Remington with a bloodied fist, leaning over the sink and panting heavily. I went inside the bathroom and closed it behind me to not wake anyone up.

"Rem-"

"I fucked up"

Yesterday night, Nikolai had shown him the footage and I didn't see him afterwards as I didn't return to the suite myself until early in the morning. Funnily, I was with Killian the whole night. I had found him at a lonely like, staring into the distance when I joined him. 

He didn't even spare me a glance but I knew that he was aware of my presence. We stood there for hours, just starring into the water hoping that we might find some clues to find our girlfriends. My sister. His cousin. 

I also didn't want to go back because of all the fucked up thinks that happened over the nightly hunt. Creighton's miserable state and Cecily's sobs that never died down. And also Remington's pain that I couldn't witness.

I didn't want to witness.

But here I was, watching my childhood friend trembling, looking like he was about to throw up. 

"I couldn't protect her", he muttered. "And now.. I will be punished for the rest of my life by watching her being devoured by her demons"

"Did you tell her?" I leaned against the door, arms and legs crossing over.

"I couldn't"

"So she is fine?" His head snapped towards me, his dark eyes cutting me. "She is having nightmares, you motherfucker. She might not remember it but her body does"

I purse my lips.

"It makes sense. I thought she was having a nightmare of the happenings but she is telling them to stop. She-" He choked on his words, his head hanging between his shoulder in despair.

I stared at him with a blank expression. There was nothing he could do about it yet I couldn't find the words to tell him. He was right. He couldn't protect her. Fucking hell, none of us could and we would be reminded of that for the rest of our lives. 

A loud banging sound against the door behind me made me straighten up. 

"Come out"

Fucking Nikolai.

I stepped outside, ready to tell that fucker to not command me around when he shoved his phone in my face.

Pictures.

Those were pictures of Mia with a tissue in her mouth and tears running down her face, smearing her mascara. Someone was holding her head and making her looking into the camera.

I grabbed the phone and swiped. Two photos of my Mia crying and being tied up,

Crying

Tied up

The picture in front of my eyes became blurry and the fucking peeping noise in my ear became louder and louder, until I thought it would explode. 

I felt blood in my mouth until I realized that I was biting my bottom lip so hard that I cut myself.

Mia

Mia

Mia

I didn't notice the vibrating in my hands before Nikolai snatched the phone off my hands. I barely heard him before a sobbing reached my ear.

Just like how it happened with Jeremy, I knew my little mouse's voice, no matter in what situation.

My eyes focused on Nikolai, the ringing in my ear permanent.

"You fu-"

He started to cuss but I took the phone and put it on my ear. Calmer than I expected. Filled with more destruction that I feared.

I heard her sobbing, crying and a man laughing. 

I took a deep breath and exhaled long before I opened my mouth. My voice sounded like the blade of a sword. "If there is even the hint of a tiny scratch on her body, I'm going to carve your eyes out and feed them to the dogs- No. Scratch that" 

My jaw ticked and my hand clenched into a fists when I looked at everyone in the room. "I'm going to eat them myself, raw, you motherfucker, because I'm not above tasting your blood for hurting what's mine", I promised darkly. 

A low chuckled followed and then I voice, clearly processed into sounding robotic, spoke.

"I see, it's a generational curse"