After the Darkness

The Rules of the House: Ghost Part 2

Raven POV

тигр just continued to look at Nathan, not signing as she moved to the kitchen island.  To only to open a drawer to set on the counter a pad of paper and a pen. She wrote a note then left the room altogether. Corey went to read the note. My sunshine's face dropped as he read the note. Something was wrong in a major way.  "I want to have you all in my life but if you keep asking questions. You are risking my safety and for the others care about. Please don't ask anymore. I can't let you break me down more. I can't lose you all because of the secrets I have to keep." Nathan's face was frozen between anger and confusion. Who was she protecting? What does she do that requires this level of security? I was trying to figure out the answers to the questions as I felt a hand on my back. I jumped pulling out my gun only to point it at Stella. Just as quickly, she takes my gun and aims at me while pinning me to the kitchen counter. She always knows how to get my attention. All I wanted to do at the moment was to trap her in my arms and kiss her like crazy. I heard Axel grunt that meant don't do that and you need to let her answer some questions. I had no intention of letting her just yet. "No questions right now. What can we do to help?" Axel spoke after seeing her face. She cried recently and was looking like a kick kitten on the side of the road. Stella signed back to Axel and move to sit down at the bench in the dining room. By the time that lunch was down and the table was set, I was ordered to get Stella to the table. Walking over to her, I noticed that she had fallen asleep on the bench. Marc walked over to join me. Looking at me, he picked her up and paused at the doorframe as he spoke to the room. "Stella passed out so I'm taking her to her bed. Also, I'm going to check on her injuries" Dr. Green nodded at that as they went out of the room. North set aside her bowl of alfredo in the kitchen. 

Marc POV

Putting Stella in her bed was not a task I wanted to do after what just happened. She just left us with a whole lot of questions but no answers. I was worried for her sake along with my brothers and mine. How in the world did this beautiful girl get to the point that she is now? What has happened to this girl that we don't know about? With those thoughts, I went downstairs to join the others. The looks that the others had made the meal a quiet meal. After eating, we all sat to talk about what just happened. "So where does that note leave us now?" I asked once the silence became awkward. Mr. Blackbourne spoke up when no one else did. "Well, it's clear that she is protecting others along with herself. From what, I have no idea and I think it will be an unwise decision to pursue it right now. Maybe try later when they trust us more. The answers that go to that I do believe that don't go with this mission." Nods rippled through the room as we went upstairs to join our mysterious girl. She was still as Nathan and North joined her on her bed. We were all still awake as she slept. As time passed, we talked about random topics but never about her until Kota asked us "What did Corey mean when he said that you all love her?" My brothers and I froze at that question. Axel recovered first but responding with "We all want to date and love her but we are still in the friend zone with her. She is not always around when we work with the Phantom team. She does a lot of secretive work. This was the closest we have gotten to get any answers in all of the time that we have known her." Kota softly asked, "I know my family is willing to share her but is your team willing to share her with us too?" I answered him with "Of course we are. We are particularly a family already. I think that she is ready for it too. How are going to get her on board?" Sean spoke up this time. "By showing her that we are not going away any time soon during and after this mission. She means too much to us to let her go without fighting for a chance. That she is worth all the trouble even she fights against it." With that, we all went to sleep in the same room as the girl we all want to love, for some again and for others the first time.

Corey POV

When the sunlight was starting to be too bright to stay asleep, I noticed Stella moving about. What is she up to now? I must have made some noise because she turned to look at me. What's wrong? She signed to me as I move to join her by the window bench. "Nothing right now except you" I gently said to not wake the others as they slept nearby. Her face showed her confusion as I went to explain. "You are so kind and loving to your family but anyone who is not family only sees the cold harden emotionless part of you. Why do you hide this part of you when people only want to help you out?" Understanding flashed in her eyes as she signed back The world I know is unforgiving and harsh. All I have known is pain and more pain. People made sure to hurt me, no matter the gender, they even dragged in children too. Everyone in my eyes is a possible Edmin spy just waiting to spill the beans to Edmin. Edmin took great delight in making sure that no secret was a secret until it was broken and abused. They told us all of our past and how we were viewed in their eyes the majority of the time. We had no voice to fight it, so we adopted our public and private versions of ourselves so we could minimize the pain that we would receive from them. I was shocked at the amount of information she shared with me. I was shocked at how they had to live their lives, that want beyond just regular abuse to make them shut down to the point that they were not being human anymore. I wanted to pin Edmin's ass down but I didn't have the heart to take that away from Stella and the others. They needed it to start healing to be able to stop looking over their shoulders and heal so they can live. "Doll, I'm going to wake the others and then we will go eat some breakfast as a family. That includes you" as I walked out knowing that Brandon will most likely have to pull her down to eat with us.  Stella has a bad habit of avoiding to eat with a group as we discovered after about a year since the first meeting here.

Brandon POV

My brother's eyes were tight with anger and sadness when I woke up along with the others. What did you learn? I asked with my eyes. His reply shook me to my core Nothing good at all. Also, you need to drag Stella down to breakfast. Nodding my head at him, I stood up, I looked around to spot Stella in the window bench. Quickly putting away what I used last night to sleep, I walked over to Indian, sighing loudly as I sat down as she turned to smirk at me. Yawning but stately clearly "Time for breakfast and coffee. Come on, time to move." Amused eyes met mine as I groaned knowing that this is going to require a cup of strong coffee before I could get her to move. Marc was standing nearby with a cup of coffee, he handed it to me as I formulated a plan that could work today. With an empty cup quickly gone, I put together a plan. Once I had a plan, I put it into action. Moving forward to grab her hands before moving my hands to find her waist. I hoisted her onto my shoulder as moved downstairs following a laughing Marc. I felt her gently try to get me to put her down as I walked into the dining room. Axel looked up and silently laughed at Indian. "Put her down between Owen and me" he ordered. I listened and placed her on Axel's right. Sean along with his brothers was wide-eyed during the whole exchange. Raven, of course, had to speak up. "Really you had made him grab you but not me?" Kota went ahead in the correcting what he was saying, "You made him pick you up, Raven."  Shrugging a shoulder while saying "Same" make me only focus on me once more with Corey's message. What did he found out that we couldn't in all the time we have known and talked to her? Once all of us had finished eating, I picked Stella back up and headed upstairs with Axel and Mr. Blackbourne. Once she settled on my lap, I gently asked her "What happened this morning between Corey and you?" She moved her head from looking at three of us closest to her before burying her head into my neck. This was something bad just like Corey told me this morning. What it was, was enough to make the strong brave girl into a scared, shy girl. Her life was nothing normal, we knew that but to cause this reaction. It wasn't good at all. Sharing a look with Axel where we both are in unknown waters.

Key

Russian

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