Their Hidden Treasure

Chapter 5

I cleared my throat, smiled, and approached my brother and sister.

“Hi, Sophie,” I said softly as I got down on one knee next to my brother. “My name is Elijah and I am your big brother. How was your trip? Are you hungry, sweetie?”

She didn’t respond. She didn’t move.

My heart raced and I glanced at Alexander. He looked like he was going to throw up.

“I know this must be a bit weird for you,” I continued, keeping my voice as soft as I possibly could. “We have a lot to explain and we will tell you everything you want to know.”

Still no response. There wasn’t even any indication that she heard what I said.

“All you need to know for now is that we love you very much and we are so happy to have you here with us,” I heard Lucas say, his voice trembling slightly.

I turned around to look at him. He approached us and placed a hand on Sophia's shoulder. I saw her tense up a little bit, but she still didn’t move or say anything. She was still looking down and I couldn't see her beautiful eyes.

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Lucas’ POV

I felt her tense up under my touch, but I couldn't move my hand away. I wished that I could do more. I wished that I could pull her into my arms and tell her how fucking much I missed her all these years.

I could feel her collarbone under my palm and my stomach twisted.

Why was she so skinny? Why could I feel her bones under my palm?

I bent down and moved her hair from her face. She was so pretty. She really looked like the perfect mix between my father and her mother.

“Hi, cutie,” I said, trying to stop my voice from trembling. “My name is Lucas and I am going to be your best friend. Can you please look up at me?”

She didn’t respond. It didn’t even look like she heard me.

Did she have trouble hearing? James and Lizzie would have told us about it. I looked at her ear and I didn’t see a hearing aid.

Something was terribly wrong.

I looked up at my brothers and I could see that they were both angry and terrified. Damien looked like he was about to kill someone. Will was in shock. I’d never seen him freeze like that.

I looked back at my cutie and tried to get her to talk to me again.

“Are you hungry, Soph?” I asked as I caressed her cheek gently. “Elijah will make you pancakes. I had some this morning. They were great.”

Still nothing.

I was going to lose it if she didn’t talk to us soon.

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Sophia's POV

I wasn’t aware that they would try so hard to push me to make a mistake.

James and Elizabeth told me that they were cruel, but I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect them to act so nice. It was obviously a trap. I knew better than to look at them. I knew better than to speak. I knew better than to move.

This was just like with James and Elizabeth. I wasn’t allowed to move or do anything unless they ordered me to.

I learned the rules when I was a little girl. If I broke them, the punishment would be severe. James would whip me or Elizabeth would burn me. These men were so much bigger than James and Elizabeth. There were more of them. Their punishments would surely be so much worse.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to let them punish me. Maybe I would die and all of this would end in the best possible way for me.

I was a coward, though. I wasn’t going to break the rules because I was afraid.

I wasn’t afraid of dying. I was afraid of pain. My brothers wouldn't make my death painless. They wanted me to suffer. They wanted to punish me.

I was afraid of the pain. I didn’t want to be in pain again.

I didn’t move until I got a direct order from one of them.

“Look up, Sophia,” someone said and I listened.

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Damien’s POV

I didn’t need my medical degree to see that something was very fucking wrong with the girl standing in front of me.

Just by looking at her, I could tell that she was malnourished. I could tell that she was too short for her age, and unless the child in front of me wasn’t my sister, something was very fucking wrong.

And someone had so much explaining to do.

I was getting tired of watching my brother, Alexander, and Elijah trying to get her to speak or look up.

I saw enough cases of abuse on my job and I knew that she wasn’t going to do anything they told her to.

I remembered one little boy from the emergency room who only did what he was told to do. It was one of the worst cases of abuse I had ever seen, and if my sister was anything like that boy, someone wouldn’t live to see the next day.

I was afraid to speak and tell her what to do because I was so fucking afraid that she would listen to me. What would it mean if she listened to me?

I had only one way of finding out, didn’t I?

“Look up, Sophia,” I said, praying to every deity out there that she wouldn’t listen.

I thought that I would die when she looked up at me. I had to use every ounce of strength in my body not to destroy everything around me.

“Lucas and Elijah will take you to your room,” I told her, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “You will follow them.”

“Damie...,” Lucas spoke, but I interrupted him.

“Now, Lucas,” I said.

I never moved my eyes away from my sister. She didn’t look away from me either and I knew exactly why. I never told her to.

Elijah reached out and took her hand in his. She didn’t protest or tried to stop him. They started walking away and she followed behind them.

“Take every man at your disposal,” Alexander spoke coldly as soon as we couldn't see them anymore. “Bring James and Elizabeth to us.”

“Now,” Will added.

Someone was about to die.