Forbidden By Them

20: Blood on my hands

The gunshot rung in my ears as I pulled the trigger.

I was holding in my emotions that were threatening to spill from my mouth and eyes. I couldn’t cry. No matter how bad this situation was. I would not show weakness when my father was here.

A gurgling sound was heard from the place I was aiming the gun.

My father fell to the floor with blood pouring out of his mouth. He rolled onto his back and his hand was pressed against his neck where I had shot him.

His mouth opened and closed as he was trying to speak but no words left his mouth. His eyes widened as his mouth closed for a final time. His hand dropped from his neck and landed on the floor with his blood covering it like red paint.

I had killed my own father.

I remembered the time he spoke to me like how a father should speak to his daughter. No hurtful words, no pain. Just happiness.

I will never see the love in his eyes as I was working for him and not against him. In the end I had betrayed him and I will never get over that feeling.

Realisation hit me like the same bullet that killed him. The tears started flowing from my eyes and down my cheeks. In the end, I still loved him.

I dropped the gun and it hit the floor with a thud.

Dax was there the second I dropped the gun. His arms were around me and he held me to his chest.

“I couldn’t do it,” I cried. “He was right, I am the devil’s daughter.”

“Isabella, you are nothing like him.” He held me tighter. “You saved the lesser evil which is me.”

I wanted to tell him he was nothing like my father but the words got stuck in my throat. I didn’t trust my voice right now.

Dax’s hands made their way to my neck and he lifted my chin to see my whole neck. He whispered some things in French as his fingertips ran over the worst part of my neck.

“Strangling me was the punishment I got from him,” I spoke quietly so I didn’t strain my voice. “It doesn’t hurt now.”

His eyes were dark as they moved around to look at the bruises. I stopped his hand from moving and held it in-between mine.

“I’m fine Dax, I’m alive.”

He accepted that as he dropped his other hand from my face.

“We need to get out of here, find Lance and Ella.”

“We can’t go out shooting everything that moves, we need to be careful.”

Dax nodded as he leaned down to pick up the handgun. “Lance and Ella were in cells near me. We will start there.”

“Let’s move then, before Felix comes here.”

I pulled away from him and waked over to the door. I pulled it open and walked out with Dax trailing close behind me.

We were careful as we walked around the halls. We hid in the shadows when a guard was near until they walked away.

After a while I decided to let Dax lead as he knew where his own cell was and we soon found ourselves there. Dax moved away from me and walked over to some doors. He kicked the first one open and Lance ran out.

“Frère, (Brother).” He gave Dax a hug and he patted Dax’s back.

His eyes met mine and he ran towards me and gave me a bear hug. “Chérie, (darling),”

“Hi Lance, you look rough.” I whispered.

“So do you,” he eyed my neck carefully before turning to Dax. “Ella is in the next cell.”

Dax walked towards it and kicked the door in as well. He aimed the gun inside and I heard a voice.

“Put down the gun Dax or your sister dies.” Felix’s voice screamed.

“Let her go,” Dax said calmly. “You don’t want me to kill you.”

“You will kill me anyway so I should take her down with me…” Felix was cut off as Ella elbowed him in his guts and jumped away from him.

Felix never got a chance to react as Dax pulled the trigger and shot him dead. He fell down like the bag of bones he was.

Ella ran to Dax and held him in a hug. Her arms wrapped around his stomach as she hugged him.

“C'est bon Ella, tu es en sécurité maintenant. (It's ok Ella, you're safe now.)” Dax said to her softly as his hand rubbed her shoulder.

We moved on and moved through the halls. I walked behind Dax where Lance had his arm around Ella as we moved.

I hoped we would find an exit soon. I didn’t want us to get caught.

We rounded a corner and stopped as a guard looked at us.

“Fransk smuts…!” he growled. He slowly aimed his gun but gunshots behind him stopped his movements. The man fell to the floor and Ames was aiming at him from behind.

“Vous êtes tous tellement chanceux que je suis arrivé à temps. (You are all so lucky I arrived in time.)” Ames smiled.

~

I was seated on the stairs of the mansion we were held hostage in by my now dead father and Felix. I was watching Dax who was with Lance and Ames. They were talking with another two men who I assumed were part of the Mexican mafia.

The pain on my neck was aching again. My father did have a hurtful grip on my neck when he was strangling me. There were other things he did in the last few days but I dared to say anything about the beatings I had.

I turned my face away and looked towards the Swedish guards who were being held prisoner by some guards.

I couldn’t believe it when Ames saved us. He had told Maya what had happened who sent many guards to help us out. For the first time, I was thankful for her.

I turned back to see Dax and the others. They were still talking away but Maya had appeared and was giving Dax a hug in front of me and the others.

I stopped myself from doing anything I would regret so I stayed sat there. I soon found myself standing up and running to someone walking towards me.

“Hey Bell,” Will hugged me back. “Miss me?”

“I hate you,”

Will chuckled as he held me to his chest. He let me hug him until I felt ready to let go but I wasn’t ready. Not yet. I was rather from ready to let go.

“What will happen next Will?” I asked him as I placed my chin on his shoulder to watch Dax and Maya. She was still hugging him. Her back was facing me. His eyes met mine and I quickly turned my head away.

“Whatever you want,” he replied. “The war has ended and we need to move on. Go our separate ways.”

“Yes we do,” I agreed.

For the first time in my life, I was excited for what will happen next.