- Javier De Leo -
"Come on, come at me again!" I basically shouted, wiping the blood from my busted lip with my right thumb. I was full of adrenaline even though my body looked bruised and battered from the outside.
This was all just a game for me, whereas for him, it was life or death against the three of us: Emiliano, me, and Carlos. The eldest cousins, or better known as, The Deadly Terminators.
We are the best of the best and nothing can beat us, not even this guy that was beating me up, but I didn't care. He wasn't doing any damage, and as bad as it may sound, I liked the feeling of the pain. For some reason, I had always craved it, whether it be punching a bag till I bled out or racing a car down the backstreets.
For me, it was all about the thrill and adrenaline that ran through my bones and blood. I knew I wasn't the only one here that craved the same things. We had been brought up this way; it was the way of the Spanish Mafia.
"Come on little boy, fight us" Emiliano smirked. This was the side I saw all the time of Emiliano, but now, I saw more of a caring side to him. He cared more about Elizabeth and now Liam, Benjamin, Savanah, and Nicolas.
I hadn't seemed him for the past 3 weeks as he was preoccupied with them. But now, this was the Emiliano I was used to seeing. The other one had scared me a little, as I knew that he could kill whoever got in his way and not get caught. He never faced consequences. I mean neither did I so I wasn't one to say much either.
Carlos was a different story. He seemed to avoid trouble, unlike his younger brothers, but he still seemed to involve himself when it was needed. Like, for example, if Alvaro got into a fight at school, he always pulled him out and set everything straight again. Like nothing ever happened.
"I don't like the way you are treating me!" the prisoner who I had no name of, shouted at the three of us. He worked for R&C, and his little visit to Spain had made us get closer to the Garcia's.
They were going to pay for what they had done to our families, especially the Rodriguez's. None of us ever asked for anything that they gave us. They had to pay for what they started, whether some lives may be lost on the way.
I kneeled beside my brothers body, holding tightly onto him. I knew he was gone, but I just needed him to hold me. Hold me for one last time before my own body would be dragged away from his.
"I don't like the way you have treated our families!" I shouted right back, stepping close to the prisoner. I didn't care if he was intimidated or not, he needed to know how we felt. "You ruined our lives, and for what? Just to mock at us and laugh? We won't ever give you a reaction" and I stormed out of the room.
I couldn't stand there for any longer. There was just something about him that made me feel hurt or wounded for some reason. It was like he had struck a nerve deep within me and I don't know why.
I had given him, given them, exactly what they wanted. A reaction that would cause me to crumble. I didn't want to be like this. I wanted to be just like a normal person. I didn't want to torture people who hurt my family, hurt me. "Javier" a voice brought me out of my thoughts.
I hadn't noticed that I was no longer standing rather sitting down with my knees to my chest as my back rested against the cold stone wall. It all happened so fast. "Come on" I was then lifted up, but a sob surpassed my lips.
"It hurts" I sobbed, gesturing towards my knee, ribs, and heart. Old injuries that always plagued my sleep and everything I did in a day. "I've got you" I hadn't noticed that Emiliano was the one carrying me.
He was my best friend, and I was his. We would forever be partners in crime, no matter what. I owed him my life and probably more. "Has this been a constant thing?" he questioned, lowering my body down on the medical bed. I just nodded, the pain intensifying.
"I don't understand. He was back to full health. His ribs weren't broken, and his lower leg was back to full movement" I overheard the doctor start, but he was far from the truth.
-Flashback-
"Emi, go. There is nothing you can do for me" I tried to push my friend away, but he continued to press down on my bleeding wounds. I had been shot in my lower right leg and I had been kicked until I couldn't breathe. They had attempted to carve out my heart, but they didn't get a chance.
"No, this is all my fault, and you deserve to live, not me" Emi sobbed, as he clutched my leg, trying to stop the bleeding. "It's no ones fault, but you have to let me go" I sobbed out. I couldn't feel anything anymore. I didn't want to live if I couldn't feel my own leg.
"We will get you help, I promise" Emi then let go of my leg ripping his shirt to wrap around my leg, but it was no use. I would rather bleed out then get help. "Just leave me" I muttered. I felt my body get picked up, but other than that. I couldn't feel a single thing.
"No, I can't do that to you, to me" he then rushed me towards someone, and before I knew it, I was laid down on some sort of bed. If I lived, I was going to yell at Emi for saving me.
I was just a 21-year-old who was making a 19-year-old boy look after me. I didn't need this. I had risked my life for Emi, and he was trying to save me. It was pointless. I shouldn't have lasted this long.
---
"So, your back to full health now, huh?" my coach questioned. It had been 6 months since the accident that Emi and I were involved in.
We were just having fun racing one another when the R&C assassins came out to shoot us. They ran their vehicles into ours, pulling me out, shooting my leg as a warning, before they used their boot clad feet to ruin my ribs. They thought I was dead, so they marked me with a cross over my heart, as if telling someone that they had carved my heart out.
Emi had hidden in his car, acting to be dead, but he came to save me. I didn't want to be saved but I guess it just gave me a new perspective on life.
"Yeah" I responded. I had had physical, and mental, therapy. I had been cleared to go back to sports, but I didn't feel quiet ready. My coach needed me though, for the final game. So, I did what was asked of me.
"On you go then" my coach then nudged me onto the court. This was a bad idea. A real bad idea.
---
"JAVIER!" a voice shouted, as I clutched onto my lower leg. I wasn't back to full health, I wasn't taking the pills, I wasn't in a good place. "I knew it. You weren't ready" I heard my coach mutter.
Before I knew it, I was rolled onto my back, as I was lifted onto a stretcher. My sports career was coming to an end just because I was involved in an accident.
I was enjoying the moment, and because I was involved in a business, I was a target. Not as much as my younger sister was, but still. I was supposed to take over.
I wasn't supposed to play sports, I was supposed to be a killing machine. "And I had a feeling I wasn't ready" I muttered, covering my eyes. I just wanted a normal life.
-End of Flashback-
"I think you just need to rest up. He has beaten you up quiet bad. There is nothing else I can do for you now" the doctor muttered, looking at my ribs. There was nothing else that could be done for me.
"Thanks" I muttered, sitting up. The world around me looked like a mess, but I still stood up on my shaking legs, walking out of the room. "What did he say?" Emi grabbed my shoulders as soon as he saw me come out of the room.
"There is nothing more that he can do for me, other than that I rest up" I muttered, gently removing his hands from my shoulders. I walked down the hallway and towards the stairs.
I was done for. There was nothing more that they could do to fix me. To fix what the Russians and Chinese had done to me that night, 6 years ago.
---
- Nicolas Rodriguez -
"Pass" I shouted, running down the football field that was now in our backyard. I was having the time of my life. No aching body, no missions, no slaps, no harsh parents banging on your door so that they could record you.
Just family and love.
"Me!" a little voice screeched, as I turned to my baby sister, who had her arms open for me to pass it to her. I ran towards her, handing her the ball as she ran as fast as her little legs would take her. I could see Ben catching up to her, so I ran.
I ran and picked her up by the waist, running her down to the side-line. All I could hear was her giggles, as her curly brown hair flew into her eyes.
This was the life we were supposed to have. "BOYS! Lizzie! Come inside!" I heard my mother shout, as I turned to look at the sky, only to see it getting a little darker. A storm was brewing.
"Coming" I heard a chorus of shouts as I placed Lizzie on the ground. She turned and hugged my waist as I started to walk towards the back entrance. She wouldn't let go, making me struggle to walk inside, but the smile never left my face.
As I entered the back door, I saw Savanah sitting with her new best friends, Luciana, and Carmen, as they made some cookies. "OI!" I heard Carmen snap at her older brother, Al, whom I was getting closer to.
He had taken a unbaked cookie, which I decided to do the same, which earned a slap and Savanah's brows to furrow in a glare. It was too cute, so I kissed her eyebrows.
"Dinner time, everyone!" and that was how we ended the day.
Together like we always should have been. Not in pain, not in fear, just love and warmth. Together.
---
sorry for the long wait and such a bad chapter. Hopefully Javier's POV makes sense.