I'd arrived back at Robert's house two days ago, since then the house had been oddly quiet. Nobody met my glaze, they walked passed with their heads down. Dean was nowhere to be seen, my father had said Dean had urgent business to attend to, yet when I spoke to Will he avoided the question, asking why I cared so much.
Jake appeared tenser than normal, and his relationship with Robert for once seemed to be going well. With Dean away the pair exchanged many private conversations in Robert's office. Don't get me wrong, seeing them working together was great, I just wish I didn't have to feel like an outsider. Before it had felt like Jake and I were outsiders together. Now I had nobody.
Dean not being here made it harder to keep the negative thoughts in check. Had he known Robert needed to send him away before I left? Maybe he'd asked to go away, making up some urgent business to simply avoid me.
Victoria's absence hadn't gone unnoticed either. I'd asked Jake about her, he'd become flushed, much like Will he began asking me questions about my questions.
Nobody would give me straight forward answers.
No doubt Will would have informed everyone of our return. Conor definitely seemed to be enjoying the new dynamics. He strolled around the place with a spring in his step. Never missing a chance to make vague comments, as if he knew something I didn't. Maybe he did, everyone else seemed to.
I'd never felt more isolated. Had all the plans I'd dreamed up at the Cotton's gone to shit?
On the third day back I went in search of Will, my aim was simple. Demand him to tell me where Dean was or at least give me a number I could contact him on. If Dean was going to avoid me, I'd make it as difficult as possible.
By the time I'd reached the bottom of the stairs I'd rehearsed the words I'd say to him about fifty times, trying to make myself sound strong but not rude. At the end of the day, I liked Will. I didn't want to ruin the tiny friendship we'd built over a guy ghosting me.
As my foot left the last step, the bang of a door hitting a wall with force rocketed around the entrance hall. I stopped still, in three days, that was the loudest noise I'd heard.
What followed made my blood run cold. Conor and another guy dragged a man wearing only shorts towards Robert's office. They struggled from the muscle of the man weighing him down.
Covering his body were bruises, each seemed to be a different colour telling how long he'd been down there. Some appeared dark purple to the point of black, whilst old ones had begun to turn a gross greeny yellow colour.
Amongst the bruises were smears of blood, that could have been from the hundreds of small cuts. My eyes burned from the sight of the man, yet I remained silent, scared at the sight in front of me. Time stood still as no detail escaped my view.
The man looked dead, his knees nearly touched the floor from his heaviness. The arms Conor and the other man held were limp. When I noticed the raw bloody mess of his fingers, sick fought at the back of my throat to be released, as I realised the man's fingernails had been removed.
His head hung low, hiding his face from me, then suddenly I knew who it was. My feet moved without me knowing it.
"Dean?" It came out as a question but I already knew the answer. Conor turned not expecting to see me there. "What are you doing?" I demanded, not taking my eyes off the man I loved.
At the sound of my voice, Dean weakly lifted his head. His face twisted in pain from the action causing my heart to ache.
The agony in his grey depth was like a punch to the stomach, the strong man I'd come to love and respect had been stripped of everything but his underwear and dragged through the house beaten and bloody.
I stood in front of them when either of them stopped.
"Out of the way." Conor growled.
With a half swollen eye, Dean watched the interaction with great effort.
"I said, what are you doing!" Not thinking I grabbed Connors arm, pulling at it with all my might trying to release Dean. I didn't do anything. Conor's hand was clamped far too tightly around Dean, to the point I nearly cried out as I saw Dean's skin turn white from the increased pressure.
Out of nowhere I felt the impact of something like a brick wall hit my face. The next second I met the cold marble floor, instantly my jaw ached and my head spun. Flipping onto my back I held onto my bruised face, crying out in pain.
I heard groans in the distance, as Dean attempted to fight back. His weakened state made it almost impossible. The crack of Conor's fist landing a sickening punch on Dean's face, brought me out of my daze.
"Didn't like that did you?" Still laying on the floor, too shocked to move, I watched as the two men continued to drag Dean's body into Robert's office.
On shaky arms, I lifted myself off the floor. At first I crawled, each breath coming out harder than the next. Until my legs grew stronger and I could stand.
As quietly as I could manage I stepped into the library, half keeping a look out for anyone coming. Searching the books, I found the one Jake had previously told me about. Praying he hadn't been talking crap, I pulled the book out. To his credit, right behind the book sat a vent. Pulling up a chair, I leaned against the bookcase to get a better view.
The vent only allowed me to make out a few people, my father being one, he stood in front of his desk, ankles crossed as he glared down at Dean who would fall to the floor if Conor and the other man weren't holding him up.
A few other men I'd seen once or twice stood against the wall, but apart from that I'd never seen the rest before. Apart from one. Diego, his skinny frame examined the scene in front of him. A smirk displaced happily across his face when they landed on Dean.
"Considering you know all the tools and techniques we... well you, use to make people talk. And knowing that only pain awaits and eventually way down the line death. I thought you would have just given it up." Robert neared Dean who to this point had dangled from the two men. Gradually, Dean lifted his face, staring Robert directly in the eyes. Such a small movement of defiance, ignited Robert. Bringing back his hand, Robert used his signature backhand to slap Dean across the face.
Dean coughed letting tiny droplets of blood splatter onto the carpet. I wanted to move, to help in some way but I didn't know how. I've never been in this situation before, and it all moved so fast, like someone had pressed the speed forward button.
"I wanted to break you, I really did. But it doesn't matter too much. I already know what you've done." Robert roughly grabbed Dean's face as he spoke, then flung it away as he moved to embrace himself on the desk. "How could you? I thought of you like a son."
"Like a son." Dean's sweet voice was hoarse from dehydration. He let out a chuckle, one that racked through his whole body. "Do you want to fuck your son?"
Robert didn't have to hit Dean this time, Conor beat him to it. The blow landed Dean on his back, coughing into the air.
Why wasn't anyone helping him? Not even Diego, or the men Dean had spent hours each day training, they all stood there.
"I was going to do it myself, but I thought that would be too kind. Why would I bloody my suit, when I could hand you over to someone much worse and make an ally at the same time."
Diego approached Dean, lazily taking his time, building the pressure in the room. My hopes that Diego would help him were quickly squashed as he pressed his polished shoes into Dean's throat. The choke that escaped my voice at the sight caused Diego to look confusingly at Dean. Robert looked around the room, eyeing up the man, clearly believing the sound had come from one of them.
"He's pretty messed up." Diego's confident tone rang through the room, his gaze fixed on Dean whilst his foot remained in place.
Just as Dean began to lose the fight, Diego released him. Flopping back, Dean's lungs visibly filled with air.
"The Great Dean, bleeding. Most wouldn't believe it's possible." Somehow his sickly complexion had subsided, he appeared strong as Diego circled Dean. His chest puffed out and there was an arrogance in his walk.
"Do we have a deal? I give you Dean, and we become allies. The Russians will kill me for this, he's their golden boy." Robert for the first time looked panicked. His fear for Dimitri's family on displace for all to see.
"Do you know why I want him?" Diego aimed his full attention to Robert, his eyes sharp, tone deadly.
"Doesn't bother me, but I suspect it has something to do with the death of your whole family."
For the first time since seeing Dean, my body pulled itself out of its shocked state. The mention of Diego's family flooded my mind with Jay's research.
Robert hadn't killed Diego's family, Dean had? That made no sense. Why would Dean have helped Diego if he'd murder his family? Had he somehow grown conscious.
"He likes to rape little boys. Men!" Just like that, the few of Robert's men I did realise had guns pointed to their heads.
I had no idea who was on who's said at this point, and honestly I didn't care. My only thought was wishing Dean would be okay.
A struggling Dean, unsteadily pulling himself onto his knees. Diego held out a hand, to which Dean tiredly brushed away.
"I got this." Dean's breathless voice filled the room, all eyes on their pair of men. A deep frown settled on both mine and Robert's face as we watched the interaction.
"You sure?" Diego teased. Dean didn't have to say anything the look he gave him said it all, fuck off. It would have been quite ironic, Diego having to help Dean up considering the size difference between the two.
"What are you doing?" Robert finally asked once Dean had gotten to his feet. Like the rest of the men with guns to their heads I suspected Robert had thought this a cruel joke.
Dean rose to his full height, despite the beating his body had taken, standing up straight Dean instantly heeded power again.
"Kill them." Only after the multiple gun shots did I register the words which had come out of Dean's mouth. By that point it was already too late, blood sept into Robert's wooden floor boards, coating them.
A scream involuntary tore from my body as the men dropped the dead body's effortlessly to the ground.
There was no way Dean could see me through such a small vent, yet that didn't mean I could feel the chill as his eyes landed on it. They held no warmth or comfort, just an ice to numb me further.
"Get her."