❖Gabriel❖
I'm standing in the washing room of the warehouse. My shirt and pants are in the dryer and I'm washing the blood of my hands and arms.
After a couple of bullets were planted in his body, Easton finally broke. He told us everything we needed to know. The weak bastard couldn't handle the pain we gave him.
The dryer beeps, signalling me that the program is finished and that my clothes are dry. Ones my hands and arms are completely clean again, I get dressed and walk out of the room.
River and Nicolaas are already waiting for me, together with my father.
"What's he doing here?" I shoot.
"He saw your work Gabe. Wanted to stay for a while." River answers.
"Just don't stand in my way." I look at my father with a stern look, leaving no place to argue.
"Nicolaas I want you to contact our man. We need to have a meeting as soon as possible."
"I can get everyone here in a couple of hours."
"No, it's almost night. I need them fresh and awake so they understand what I'm telling them. Let them come early in the morning. That gives us enough time to make a plan before they are here."
"Will do." Nicolaas walks off towards his computer room to message the man, leaving River, my father and me behind in the hallway.
"River, get my brothers and Eliot to join us in the meeting room. I'll call Raphael, so he can join as well."
River nods and walls away.
Without saying something to my father, I make my way to the meeting room to set up the call with Raphael.
"Are you able to talk?" I ask as soon Raphael picks up his phone.
"Yeah, the girls both fell asleep on the couch. Everything okay over there? Do I need to come over?" The door behind me opens and the others walk in. "I'm putting you on speaker Raph, then everyone else can hear you too."
"What's going on?" Elliot asks.
"Take a seat and I'll explain."
I wait for them all to sit down at the table, my father still standing next to the door, as if he's observing what we're doing.
"We know where Samuel is. The asshole had been hiding in plain sight. He lives in a house on the edge of the woods. That is why we found Anna there. According to Easton, her father, Tom Ward, had told her about it, she must have tried to come to our warehouse when she escaped."
"Clever girl." Nicolaas says.
"She is. But that's beside the point. We know where the bastards are, now we need to plan to get them. That's why I called you all here. Tonight, we make the plan, tomorrow we tell our familia and after that, it'll be time to take our revenge. I hope you all had some coffee, because this will take a while.
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"Is that everything we need? do we have a plan to get rid of Bratsvo?" Elliot asks.
I look around the table, my man, my brothers, are looking back at me. They all have tired looks on their faces, but in their eyes, there is a spark of hope. Hope of us finally being free from the Bratstvo.
"Yes." I answer. "We have a plan, everything is figured out to take those bastards out."
"There is only one thing we're forgetting." River suddenly speaks up. "Who is going to stay at home with the girls? Who will protect our queen when we go out to kill Samuel?"
I nod. Slightly surprised at myself that I didn't think of that. "It has to be someone we know well enough to trust them. I will not have another Hunter fiasco."
"We can do it." The twins said. "You won't let us get involved in the fight anyways." Aro continues. "So what better to keep us out of your way, then to get us to do something useful." Joel says, earning a hit on his head from Aro.
"That is not the reason I offered to do it. I want to protect Anna."
"Guys." I interrupt the both of them, "it's a good idea. You two can stay with the girls. But I want a third person there. Just to be sure."
It stays quiet for a moment, as all of us are trying to think of a third person to stay at our home. Someone we trust, but also someone who wouldn't be missed in our plan.
Out of nowhere, my father suddenly speaks up. "I'll do it."
We turn around, looking at my father with surprise.
"I talked with the boys." He starts to explain, "and I saw the way you did your interrogation. I can see now why you do the things your way Gabriel. And I can see the respect you're getting. So, I want to help."
For a moment I'm in doubt about what to do, but I quickly retake myself and make a decision. "Fine. You can do it. But you will have to do as we say. You will be working under the twins, so what ever they say, you'll do. Understood?"
My father nods, a small glimpse of annoyance in his eye, but he doesn't protest, so I let it slip.
And with that, we have our plan ready.
❖Anna❖
I feel arms wrap around me, lifting me up. I'm about to open my eyes when I hear a very familiar voice talk to me.
"It's okay angel. It's just me. I'm bringing you to bed. Go back to sleep mio amore."
I wake up in a dark room. It's cold here and the ground feels moist. Within minutes, I recognise where I am.
I'm back in the cellar of Samuel's house.
But... How did I get here?
"Did you really think that it would be this easy to get away from us?" A voice speaks up from the darkness. I squint my eyes to try to see who it belongs to.
"I own you now girlie. I own every single piece of you. And you can only leave when I say you can." Samuel steps forwards, out of the darkness, and I automatically take a step back, crashing into someone's chest.
A spark of hope springs up when my mind thinks this person could be Gabriel. But all the hope disappears as soon as the person behind me starts to talk. "Hello my dear daughter."
My father is standing behind me, a big shining new scar on his face, and a knife, clearly visible in his hand.
I glance back at Samuel, only to see that he is also holding up a big, sharp, knife and I can feel my body trembling in fear.
"We're going to make you pay for that little stunt you pulled on us dear daughter." My father starts.
"I lost some of my man because of what you did, you little bitch. Let's have some fun with her shall we." Samuel finishes.
I try to run, but my feet feel like their glued to the ground.
I've got no where to go, I'm completely trapped. So, I do the only thing I can do.
I scream.
"Anna!"
My body shoots up, into a sitting position, and I collapse over an arm.
"Angel." Gabriel says to me, but my mind is still stuck in the dream.
"Get them away from me"
"Anna?"
"Gabriel please help me. They are here. I can't get out. Please Gabriel."
"Anna, angel, no one is here. It's just the two of us."
"No." I shake my head, my eyes closed tightly. "Get me out of here. Please."
"Angel, come back to me."
I can feel the hot tears rolling down my cheeks as the dream slowly lets go of me.
"Open your eyes angel." Gabriel whispers into my ear. "I've got you, you're completely safe. No one will hurt you."
I slowly open my eyes and see that I'm in our bedroom.
Gabriel has his arms tightly wrapped around me from my back, and is whispering sweet nothings in my ear.
I turn around to wrap my arms around him just as tightly, while burying my face into his chest.
"It was just a dream angel. You're safe here."
"It felt so real Gabriel. I really thought I was back there. And when I woke up, it still felt like I was there. Like my mind was stuck in that dream."
"It's okay angel. I've heard about that before. It happens when people went through something traumatic. It's a way of your mind trying to figure out what happened to it."
The tears still leak out of my eyes, leaving a big stain on Gabriel's shirt.
We stay seated like this, till my tears finally dry up and my breathing turns back to normal.
Gabriel slowly leans back, until we're in a laying position, with me still safely wrapped in his arms.
"We know where they are Anna. Tomorrow we'll share the plan me and the guys made with our men and then we'll get rid of those bastard's ones and for all. You won't have to be scared of them ever again." Gabriel tells me.
"I will keep you safe mio angelo. No one will ever dare to come close to you again. I promise you that no one will ever hurt you again."
"I love you Gabriel." I whisper to him as I feel that my eyes are slowly closing again.
"I love you too Anna."
Wrapped in each other's arms, we fall back asleep. This time, without any nightmares.