James
I wake up and head downstairs like every morning. I notice two hot chocolate mugs on the counter and figured Roman probably made them and didn't clean up like usual. I cleaned up after him and then start work on my laptop.
Henry comes down shortly after starting breakfast. Daisy hasn't come down yet. An hour later she still isn't down which is weird. Then Roman and Noah come down arguing like normal about each other's intelligence. Still no Daisy.
"Roman clean up after yourself for fucks sake." I grunt as I leave my chair and head to Daisy's room. Maybe she's sick.
I knock three times. No answer.
I slowly creep into her dark room and head to her bed. But I don't see her. All I see are blankets thrown around and her phone on her bedside table.
I go to her bathroom and the light is off and the door is open. She's not here.
I instantly start panicking.
"DAISY!" I shout even though there is no point.
I leave the room and run to the art room hoping she's in there.
Nope. It's empty.
I run down to the sun room. Nothing.
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
No.
I run to the kitchen in a panic. The boys look up from their current argument. I'm panting, my breaths are laboured and my eyes are wide and full of fear.
"Daisy's gone."
"What do you mean she's gone." Henry asked slowly walking towards me.
"She's gone! I looked in her room nothing, bathroom nothing, sun room nothing, art room nothing! She is gone." I rant terrified.
Not my girl.
"FUCK!" Noah shouts as the four of us scatter around the house calling her name.
I'm in a panic so I call the second person who can calm me down.
"Hey pretty boy."
"Daisy's gone Dante she is nowhere in the house. Oh god shes gone." I sob.
"Hey, hey darling we will find her alright I'm on my way right now. We will look for her."
"Hurry." I whisper as I hang up continuing my search. The front door opens five minutes later Dante runs in and pulls me into a hug.
"Everything will be alright. She's probably hiding."
"What if she's not Dante, what if they have her." I sob.
"Then we will deal with that when it comes to it." He hugs me.
"JAMES!" Roman shouts from upstairs. Noah and Henry appear and we all wait for Roman to come around. "Xander's gone too."
"Do you think they took him too?" I panic even more. My two youngest siblings.
"Maybe shes with Xander?" Dante suggests. I look at him and immediately dial his number.
It rings.
And rings.
And rings.
Then his voicemail.
"DAMN IT!" I yell into the phone. I call him again.
Nothing.
"Noah get all of our men out there looking, Henry up security, and Roman track Xander. I will keep calling his phone until he picks up. GO!" They all nod and run off to do their jobs.
Dante puts his hand on my shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze before walking off to make phone calls.
I call him again. No answer.
I pace around the room. Where are they?
I call him once more and after 3 rings he finally picks up.
"Morning."
-
Xander
Damn my neck hurts. I try to sit up but a weight is lying on my chest. I look down and see Daisy.
Oh right.
The McDonalds, the lake, the panic attack. We are still in the car and she is still sleeping. She's probably exhausted. I grab my phone and look to see a million missed calls and texts from James and the others.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Just as I was about to call back his name pops up on my phone. I take a deep breath before accepting.
"Morning," I grumble. Jeez I need water. I look around and spot some but I can't move because of the sleeping princess.
"MORNING?! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN XANDER! HOW FUCKING IRRESPONSIBLE OF YOU!" He shouts into the phone making me flinch and pull the phone away from my ear.
"God James, why are you so pissed." I mutter. Not realizing my mistake.
"PISSED?! WHY AM I PISSED? WELL I'LL TELL YOU FUCKING WHY. YOU'RE OUT AT GOD KNOWS WHERE AND YOUR SISTER IS FUCKING MISSING. THE RUSSIANS PROBABLY HAV-" I cut him off.
"Daisy's with me." I mention calmly.
"...What?"
"She's with me James, she's in my arms safe and sound sleeping. Jeez, you almost woke her up with all that screaming."
"Let me see her." He orders ignoring my comment. I change the call to FaceTime and he answers.
"Good god man you look like a mess." I tell him.
"Shut the fuck up."
"Here she is." I say as I flip the camera towards her sleeping figure. He lets out a loud breath of relief.
"Get home right now." He orders me.
"Mhm." He hangs up. I probably shouldn't have pissed Papa bear off.
I shake Daisy awake. She whines the sunlight being too bright for her sleepy eyes. "Come on Daisy it's morning and James lost his shit when he saw we weren't there."
She nods and moves to the front seat. The ride is quiet but as we approach the house I speak up.
"Daisy, James isn't too happy just let me explain okay?" I honestly don't know how he will react. He could get mad at me, or both of us.
We hop out of the car and as soon as we get to the front door it is slammed open by a disapproving Henry.
"Go to the living room." He tells us avoiding eye contact. Even with Daisy. I see tears filling her eyes. I give her hand a squeeze.
We enter the room and all our brothers plus Dante sit there. They all look moderately pissed. James though he is another level of angry.
Well shit.
"Sit." He orders both of us.
We sit and wait for his outburst. Three, two, one-
"HOW COULD YOU BOTH BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WE SEARCHED ALL OVER THE HOUSE FOR YOU TWO. WE SENT THE GUARDS OUT IN SEARCH OF YOU!" He yells enraged. I see Daisy flinch as she has tears in her eyes.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I should be in trouble not her.
"AFTER ALL THAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW HOW DO YOU TWO HAVE THE AUDACITY TO JUST UP AND LEAVE AND NOT ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONE! I DONT ASK FOR MUCH BUT FOR GODSAKE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ASK BEFORE GOING OUT RULE. HUH? DID YOU JUST FORGET ABOUT IT?" He yells, now directing his rage towards Daisy.
She's now uncontrollably crying and shaking.
"James stop yelling at her." I try to tell him.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP XANDER! YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT FUCKING WAS AND YOU LEFT ANYWAYS!"
I hear Daisy's labored breaths. Shit. I turn to her and then look to the others in panic. "Daisy go to your room." I softly tell her. She nods and bolts upstairs.
I stand up and get right in James face. "Nice job you just yelled at the one fucking person who matters most."
He snaps out of his rage and looks at the stairs Daisy went up. He goes to move around me but I block his path.
"Leave her alone. She already had a rough night. Don't need to make things worse," I spit at him. "What happened to never raising your voice infront of her? Huh? Nice going man."
"Xander stop." Henry starts.
"NO! You have a problem with last night you blame me, the driver, the one in charge. Don't blame Daisy for just needing some space from this fucking house."
"What happened last night?" Noah asks.
"She had a panic attack, really bad I almost called 911. She's not doing well mentally. We were thinking she was healing but she's not. She was already on the fucking edge last night and this morning, and to top it all of you lost your shit infront of her."
They all look pained. I walk away and head to my room. I'm too worked up to comfort Daisy at the moment.
"You're grounded. No driving." James booming voice stops me in my tracks.
"I don't give a Shit."
I quickly walk away and head for the shower. I need to clear my mind.
—
Daisy
James yelled. He's so mad at me. He won't hurt me.
He can't.
Right?
I pace around my room trying to keep my shaking and crying down to a minimum but I can't.
I made him mad. He's mad because of me.
I've never seen him so angry before and it terrifies me.
I go to lie down on my bed and try and calm down.
It doesn't work.
I messed up I should've never left the house. I broke a rule. He was so angry that I broke a rule. What will happen when he comes to give me my punishment.
I cry until I can't cry anymore. I then hear three knocks on my door. I don't make an effort to move. Fear replaces my sadness as he is finally here to punish me.
I hear footsteps reach my bed and sit down. I flinch at that. I am so scared at the moment.
"Daisy." James whispers softly and almost regretfully. "I am so sorry, I was so scared that you were gone again that I took my anger out on you. Even though it wasn't your fault."
All rationality has left my brain.
He's just saying that so I could trust him again, but he will still hurt me.
It's like my brain has shut off that this is James. Not Mark or Margaret. James would never hurt me, but he looked a lot like Margaret while screaming at me.
I cry and cover my head waiting for the impact. I hear him draw in a sharp breath at my actions.
"Daisy... I am not going to hurt you... I'm not mad anymore." He sounds like he's on the verge of crying.
"What's my punishment?" I sob. I just want to get to the point.
"No... no punishment Daisy I won't hurt you." He says in a shaky voice.
"I broke a rule please just get it over with." I hysterically cry. I can't take this.
"Daisy look at me." He whispers. When I don't he puts his fingers under my chin. I flinch at that but he continues holding my chin up. I look at him and see he has tears falling from his eyes. Why though? "I would never ever hurt you Daisy. I won't ever give you a punishment. And I will never yell at you the way I did again. You didn't deserve my wrath, it was not your fault. I promise you with my whole heart that it will never happen again... plus I am big brother James who gives you hugs all day long." He chuckles at the end.
The rationality is back in my head now. Why did I think James was them? Why did I think he would hurt me?
I hold out my pinky. "Promise?" He interlocks our pinky's.
"Promise." He mumbles. I look at his teary eyes and wipe them away.
"Don't cry." I tell him.
"I couldn't help it I scared my baby." He hangs his head low. I crawl over to his lap and give him a big hug.
"Still, don't cry." He nods and hugs me tight. So tight that I barely get enough oxygen but I don't care.
"What happened last night Daisy?" He asks me after awhile.
I sigh. "I had a bad nightmare, I threw up and I wanted to get out of my room so I went downstairs to look at the snow. I started thinking and then I had an anxiety attack. Xander helped me. We had hot chocolate and watched a movie but I got hungry so he took me out to have chicken nuggets and then we ate at the lake. It was pretty. We ate in the backseat and then I cuddled him and we both fell asleep. I didn't mean to make you guys upset." I ramble.
"It's alright I'm not upset anymore. What were you thinking of baby?" He asks while stroking my hair and planting kisses on my forehead.
"Uhm..." my lip starts to wobble. "I feel like I'll never escape them. I mean I can't sleep, I can't get yelled at, I can't look at myself, I-"
"What do you mean you can't look at yourself?"
"The scars James. The constant reminder that I was abused that I was tortured. I can't leave that stupid basement." I cry.
"Oh baby. Look at your body and remind yourself that you are beautiful and strong. I know it's hard but you have to try. I am so proud of how far you've come, I love you."
"Love you too James."
"I know that didn't help but just know you can talk to me about it anytime."
I nod and drift off onto his shoulder.
-
Here's today's chapter. I might post another one in a couple minutes.
I hope you liked this chapter and thanks for all the votes!
💕