Genevieve's POV.
Mom tried to to teach me many things, but I was a kid. Surely everyone knows that children don't always remember what their parents teach them. But one thing I never forgot was that lesson my mom taught me everyday for the seven years she was alive next to me.
"Be kind, my child. People will not always treat you with the respect you deserve, but you always have to show them the proper lady you are." She always said that when I got mad at dad for yelling at me.
Those were the only times I forgot that lesson --always when my dad was involved. Mom always used to say that I was a rebel with a strong heart. I had a motive for everything I did. If I painted the walls a vibrant yellow that Sunday morning before going to church, It was surely because I did not agree to go with that crazy family next door. If I escaped from Zio's watch that afternoon my dad had "friends" over was without a doubt because they were bothering that sweet lady in the kitchen who made me tiny pizzas for dinner and I sure as hell went inside that kitchen to threaten them with a knife. At seven years old, I had a strong opinion for everything. My dad absolutely hated that I was a strong opinionated little bitch. My mom always had nicer words for me, of course, like angel. And she always reminded me to be respectful no matter what or how many grey hairs I made her sprout out.
I really tried to live up to that, but it became incredibly hard after she died.
Of course, as I grew older I twisted her words into Treat others how you would like to be treated. Even at seven years old, I understood that what was happening at that time was very wrong. So incredibly wrong, but I was a child. And I didn't understand many things until after mom died. Many of which she sugarcoated so much that she created this fairy tail around the world we lived in. I don't know if I would've been better prepared for what happened if she had been brutally honest about the people we surrounded ourselves with. I learned the truth about the world outside that fairy tail way too fast. The people were so twisted that my brain couldn't grasp what was real and what wasn't, and some things my brain decided to block because the shock was too much. But my nightmares where there to remind me every night.
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"Good night, sleep tight,
Don't let the bedbugs bite
Wake up bright--"
"What are you doin', Baby girl?"
The room was initially dark, but with the voice came the light. I like it dark better, I used to tell mommy that the demons came at night so I wanted my light on at all times. Now, I pray for the light to die so the demons won't come.
"I'm sleeping." I answer him. I don't know his name yet, but I'm not sure I want to know the name of the man who's always mean. He denies me sharpie when I'm not good enough. And I need it.
He gave me new clothes to wear once. The old ones were torn, unfortunately. The lady on the alley promised me a dress, but she never got the opportunity to give it to me. The mean man took her away. Maybe it was time for her to go home, she was dirty after all. Showers are always before 8 pm so you don't sleep with your hair wet, at least that's what mommy used to say. She probably wouldn't be happy with me right now, since I haven't taken a shower in a while, but she's not here anymore. She was taken away too.
"Oh no, no,no, Baby girl. You can't sleep just yet." The man comes closer and I don't move. You stay still when he's in the room.
"Are you going to give me sharpie?" I ask him, trying to make the puppy face I always used with mommy.
"Yes!Yes , I will but only if you're nice."
"I can be nice!"
"Yeah?" he sits on the bed and I make room for him.
"Yes!" I shout excitedly, moving my head up and down fast.
"You're so obedient, Baby girl. And I have a gift for you. See this," he shows me a gun like the one I used to take those men away. "I'll let you play with it If you do something for me."
"No." I pout.
"No? But you like to play with guns, Baby girl."
"I don't like the noise they make." I frown, covering my ears with my hands. Guns are too loud and they hurt my ears. Mommy never let me near any gun. I broke her rule once, but never again.
"What did I told you about disagreeing with me?" The man's face turns ugly as he tries to reach for my arm. I hide it behind my back but he pulls me closer.
"You're hurting me, please let go." I know he doesn't like me when I cry, but he makes it impossible not to. Now I understand mommy when she used to shout at daddy for being impossible. I try to take his fingers off my arm, but he's strong like daddy. I could never beat daddy in a wrestling match.
"Genevieve?"
"You're going to do what I say, do you understand?"
I nod quietly.
"Good, get up. We're going to play."
"Genevieve!"
"What are we playing?"
"We're playing in my room today, ok?"
"Are we building a fort?"
"Genevieve, get up!"
"No, not today. Today we're playing hide and seek, remember?"
"Ok." I couldn't say no. He won't give me sharpie if I say no. And I need sharpie. My body burns if I don't have it. "Will I get sharpie?"
"Yes, Yes you will."
"No!" my voice comes out broken and barely understandable. I push whoever is trying to grab me. "Don't fucking touch me!"
"Genevieve, what the fuck?"
"I won't. I won't." My eyes frantically look for the door. I need to get out. But the door is not where I remember it to be. "What!?" Where's the door? No! "Where is it!"
A hand gently falls on my right shoulder. "Breathe. It was just a dream."
My head snaps in that direction and I see honey. Pools of honey. I can see clearly. No.
"Genevieve. You're ok. Breathe."
There's light. The demons are coming. Turn off the light. Turn off the light.
"It's me. Alonso? Can you see me?"
"Turn off the lights!" a guttural scream leaves my body. I need darkness, the demons can't come.
"What is going on?" the sound of Gidea's voice breaks thought the room.
"She had a nightmare, I think."
"Go back to sleep Alonso. I'll calm her down."
"Is she ok?"
"Go back to sleep." Gidea says more forcefully.
"Turn off the light, please." I shut my eyes tightly. My head is pounding and I can't get a hold of my breathing. "Please, Gidea, just turn them off."
"They're off. Ok? You can open your eyes."
And I do. But I'm back again to square one.
"Was it the same one?" I hear the hesitance on Gidea's voice behind me.
"Yes."
-----
Third POV
"Do you have it?"
"I'm running the algorithm, but it's not easy searching the deep web when the only clues you give me are video, The Dagger and a man."
"What are you looking for?" Ruslan walks in the room with a plate filled with eggs and bacon. His eyes focus on Kasimir's laptop, and he frowns at the rapid pop up images appearing on his screen. "Why are you watching porn?"
Kostya sighs as he runs his hands over his face in frustration. "It's not porn, Ruslan. We're trying to find something on the girl."
"You mean...Genevieve?" Ruslan raises his eyebrows in confusion. He steps further into the room and closes the door behind him.
Kostya ignores the rapid beating of his heart at the mention of Genevieve. The reaction extremely out of the ordinary for him.
"The Dagger, yes. Whatever." he brushes him off.
"What are you doing investigating the daughter of the man who let us into his home inside his home?" Ruslan hisses, "Have you lost your fucking mind? Do it somewhere else!"
"I don't care if they find out." Kostya simply shrugs.
"They won't find out," Kasimir turns to look at both his brothers. "I'm better than the FBI," he says with a face so serious Kostya can't help but smile in amusement.
He then glares at Ruslan, "See. He's the shit." He mockingly points towards Kasimir.
"What are we looking for anyway?" Kasimir asks.
"Yeah, Kostya. What are we looking for?" Ruslan taunts him with a raise of his eyebrows and his fork.
"The Dagger skinning a man alive," he replies emotionless.
"You couldn't have told me that two days ago?" Kasimir throws his hands in the air, showing how displeased he is with Kostya. "Motherfucker."
Kostya looks at him strangely, "What in the hell is wrong with you. Where is all this attitude coming from?"
"Mazzerati, I'll bet." Ruslan mumbles between bites of food.
"You could have saved me hours, Kostya." Kasimir types quickly on his laptop, making the pop up images to disappear and a search bar take their place. "Bingo!"
Ruslan and Kostya all but sprint towards Kasimir when he points at his screen.
"Do you want it in an USB or sent to your email?"
"USB." Kostya tells Kasimir as he walks quickly out of the room.
"Where the hell is he going?" Ruslan asks himself out loud, watching as his brother disappears around the corner to who the hell knows.
"Hopefully somewhere far away. He's been pestering me for two days now."
Ruslan turns to look at Kasimir wide eyed, "Stop hanging out with Mazzerati."
----
Genevieve is in an awful mood that not even her father has thought about looking for her. Gidea informed him about what happened around 3 am that night and yes, he was worried at first but he knows Genevieve will come to him when she gets herself back together. Her daughter is not weak, not at all. She stumbles every once in a while, but she's never weak.
"Where's Alonso?" Arno asks his right hand man.
"Beating himself with an arrow on the backyard."
"He needs to accept that he's useless," Arno says softly, "Just like everybody else concerning Genevieve."
"You taught her that she doesn't need anybody else."
"I know," Arno sighs, "but sometimes I wish for her to just come to her dad for a shoulder to cry on."
Gidea stares in confusion at his best friend. He feels as if this conversation is more of a private matter than the business talks they tend to have. It's been a while since they had this type of conversation regarding Genevieve, but every time a nightmare shakes the Eagle's nest, this subject is brought around.
"She's built tough, Arno. You built her like that." Gidea tries to comfort his friend.
"I am aware of that,proud but painfully so."
"I don't mean that as a bad thing. If you didn't teach her the ropes of this life she wouldn't be here, she wouldn't be what she is today."
"I'm grateful for every person she has. You know she considers you and Amelia family right? Therefore I thank you for that. I might've trained her, but you built her to be a good woman. Not a killer, but a woman. The strongest one. Whereas I was her teacher more than her father, you were her family through everything."
"She doesn't see you only as her teacher, Arno. She loves you more than she'll ever realize. You saved her."
"Did I? I mean she's still battling every single night."
"She told me a few days ago that she slept more than five hours."
Arno's eyes widen in surprise,"That can't be true."
"Oh, it is. She was happy and lighthearted. She was glowing. She reminded me of her mom that day."
"When was this?" Arno asks with a smile.
"The day of the Christmas dinner." Gidea opted for that answer instead of telling him that it was the day they were ambushed by the Breeders. That would've killed the mood.
Arno's smile widens, "She does look a lot like her mother--"
"Except for those eyes," They both say at the same time.
Arno shakes his head, "The eyes of a killer."
-----
Alonso felt helpless. He can't help Genevieve with her nightmares and he can't do anything to prevent them. He's useless. So fucking useless.
He doesn't know much about her nightmares or why she has them. I mean, everyone has nightmares because of something right. They're caused by something... or someone. He remembers when he was a little kid and had really unpleasant dreams about his father. His father caused his nightmares. What caused Genevieve's?
He's training in the underground gym Genevieve uses when everyone else is asleep in hopes of stumbling into her. But no, Genevieve is nowhere to be found. He wouldn't be surprised if she's not even in the mansion. She's the expert when it comes to disappearing.
"Dear, have you seen Genevieve?" comes Amelia's sweet voice from the entrance of the gym.
Alonso grunts and turns back to kicking the punching bag, "No, Amelia. Haven't seen her since midnight."
"Ok, dear. If you see her please let me know."
"Sure thing."
The probability of Amelia seeing Genevieve before he did is bigger than the probability of him getting laid tonight. And that thought only worked to piss him off more.
----
Adriaan runs as fast as he can through the mansion trying to get to the Eagle's office before their opportunity to strike flies by. Their opportunity couldn't have come at a worst time. The Wolf is nowhere to be found and Genevieve apparently ran away. Seriously the rumors in this place are running high and their getting crazier as the day goes by.
The younger Stilte members should know when to keep their mouths shut before The Eagle decapitates them as the evening entertainment.
"Slow the fuck down, butterfly!"
"Shit!" Adriaan digs his heels on the ground before he crashes against Yakov who steps in front of his path down the stair case. Yakov grabs him right on time by the back of his t-shirt before Adriaan's about to trip and fall to his death.
"What's got you so...pumped?" Yakov questions Adriaan.
"Can you put me down, please?" Adriaan rolls his eyes at Yakov while hanging a few inches of the ground. "You need to act like a decent human, not like an ape."
"I was just trying to save ya."
"Yeah, after almost killing me." Adriaan pulls his t-shirt down and smooths it out, huffing along the way. "Anyway, sound the alarm. We're heading out."
"No. We can't. The Dagger is indisposed."
"What! The fuck she is. Every single one of Saffroni's suppliers is heading to the Pesaro right now. Find her!"
Adriaan continues his war path towards the Eagle's office without missing a step.
-----------------------
Arno Belay is a King with a powerful kingdom.
His castle might've been invaded by the puppets of his enemy, but his crown remains perfectly on his head. One hell of a crown he wears, adding beautiful jewels as his achievements become more powerful. But the one achievement he is the most proud of, is nowhere near him. His daughter is nowhere to be seen, and that is starting to worry him.
Hours away from bringing the Pesaro to the ground and Genevieve hasn't reported herself to the warehouse. That's incredibly rare of Genevieve. Arno's favorite handpicked killers are all ready to go with the exception of The Dagger.
"Alonso is out, says he knows where to find her."
Gidea joins Arno at the top of the metal stairs overlooking the whole expanse of the warehouse. At Gidea's news, Arno tightly grabs onto the metal rail, his knuckles turning white.
"You said it was the same nightmare?"
"Yes," Gidea hesitates at the sight of his distressed leader.
Arno grits his teeth, "Then how come she is nowhere--
The hurried footsteps from one of the low ranking Stilte grabs their attention, allowing Arno to catch his breath before he starts shouting profanities at his right hand man.
"Eagle," the young man stops trying to catch his breath,"The Dagger is already at the Pesaro."
Arno turns to his left with eyes fuming and a snarl on his face, "What?"
The Stilte gulps loudly, "The Dagger is already---"
"I heard you the first time! How is she there! For fucks sake, everybody move out! Get to the Pesaro!"
"Yes, Eagle." Arno nods stiffly, knowing that any other word coming from his mouth will be his death sentence.
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