Hands Stained Red

Twenty Nine ~ Rya

When Kaden and I head back into the cabin, theres already a commotion. "We leave for ten minutes..." I mutter quietly and I hear Kaden chuckle which makes me smile.

"Let go of me!" I hear Artie yell, his low voice bouncing off the walls, "I swear to fuck Viktor if you put so much as one hand on me again, I'll break it. You're not my fucking boss anymore either so you dont get to tell me what to do."

He's speaking Russian so Kaden looks confused and also a little shocked by the anger in Arties voice.

Its surprising for me too. In my 18 years of life, I've never seen Artie like this. Fuck, I've never even heard him raise his voice.

I push my way towards the shouting to see Dad trying to pull Mum out of Artie's way but she pushes him off. Artie's whole body looks tense, "Bella. I will hit you. I'm not afraid to hit a woman."

"And I'll hit you back, bitch," Mum hisses at him, "We're trying to help you, you dipshit."

"What's going on?" I snap at them.

Dad walks over to me and leaves Bella and Artie to their bickering. "Everyone's heading out of here except Artie. Him, we have to keep watch on."

"That doesnt explain shit," I say, all calm that I felt outside with Kaden is gone now. I just want to be able to have an hour where everything is normal.

Dad's jaw ticks as he struggles not to snap at me, "I'm going to tell you something that you're not going to like but you have to promise to keep calm until everyone leaves."

I close my eyes to stop myself from screaming. Why am I always the last to hear about things?

"Ok," I say softly, "I'm calm."

"Rafa's back."

My blood runs cold as I stare at him, sear thing his face for any signs that this is a horrible joke. "No," I say quickly, "I watched that prick die."

"Well, that prick just told the police who Switch really is and handed him over," Dad says, "and Kira is also missing again."

He grabs my arm tightly because he knows I'm about to rush off but I need to think about this rationally.

"Who's Rafa?" Kaden asks, "What do you mean he's back?"

Oh how I wish I didnt know the answer to either of those questions. "Rafa is my cousin. One of the ones that tried to murder me and anyone close to me."

"Oh," Kaden says softly, "I thought he was dead."

"He is," I say quickly, "I saw the bullet in his head."

Dad's hand slides down my arm to hold my hand, "That was a crazy day. Its fully possible that we missed some things."

"Fuck's sake," I mutter. The past few weeks have been a never ending shit show and it doesnt look like it's going to end any time soon.

Theres so many questions rattling about in my head. Why take Kira? Why now? How the fuck is Rafa still alive?

I shrug off Dad and run my hand through my hair, "Ok, well we're in the middle of nowhere so Rafa cant have gotten far. Switch is in the hospital not the jail so it should be easier to get him out of there," I think out loud and a sort of plan forms in my head, "Right, I want everyone out of here except close family and keep Nikita here too. I want to talk to her about it."

Kaden looks around, "I'll go find Mylo. Maybe he's seen something."

I let him go because I know he's still worrying about Mylo. I hope I was doing the right thing in holding Kaden back from going after his dad and Mylo. I just didnt want him to get hurt.

"Rya," Dad says softly, "What should we do about Quinn? Do you want him to go?"

I bite my lip as I think. "No. He's still a target so I want him here where we can keep him safe." I look around at the dispersing crowd. Mum seems to have managed to calm Artie down. "Get everyone into the dining room. I'll be down soon."

I walk away and head for the bar, hoping to catch Liam before he leaves. When I get there though, he's not alone.

"Quinn. Come on man, shes going to be ok. Its not like last time," Liam says as he sits next to my ex boyfriend who is sitting with his head in his hands.

I almost dont want to go over. I dont want to see that look of disappointment in Quinn's eyes again. But I need to talk to him.

"I'll get her back," I say softly, "I got her back last time, and I'll get her back again."

He doesnt even look at me and I fight the urge to burst into tears. I turn to Liam, "You should go home. Maybe shut up the bar for a bit. Rafa has a habit of going for the people I care about and he's shown that this time will be no different."

Liam goes to walk away and then hesitates beside me. I think he's going to say something but instead he kisses my forehead and walks off.

"I'm going to send my mum to pick up your grandfather. You can go with them and my parents will keep you both safe," I take a second before continuing, "although, if you're willing to stay. I need your help."

He still doesn't answer or look up and it breaks my heart, "I understand if you dont want to help me. But my uncle is about to go to jail with a lot of people who would be happy to see him dead and I need you to get him back."

"Ok." I hear him say quietly. He lifts his head and I see his red rimmed eyes and wet cheeks. "You know, I had dreams of seeing you like this. Well, without the sling and bullet wound."

"I hate this dress," I say quietly.

He smirks a little bit, "What do you need me to do?"