Bewildered, Taiga could only watch as Miguel peacefully conversed with the stranger that had been harassing her recently. What baffled her even more was that Jason was standing right next to her - she felt as though he would attack her at any moment.
She realized that her brothers never knew what Jason looked like, only what he did but she didn't know how to warn Miguel.
She was terrified.
"And who's this?" The stranger called Cole asked her brother but sending her a spine chilling gaze.
"Sorry, I forgot you haven't met. Cole, this is my little sister Taiga. Taiga, this is Cole." He introduced them, not seeing the shaken state she was in.
"Pleased to meet ya', poppet." He grinned at her making her want to vomit in his face.
When she didn't reply, Miguel spoke up.
"Sorry, she's a bit shy at first." He explained shortly before turning to his sister. "Cole used to go to school with Leo and me, so he's a friend of the family."
That made her face pale considerably. How could they take a liking to this man? Maybe she was being too quick to judge, but he had been stalking her slightly and he worked for Jason.
"Who's this?" Miguel parroted what Cole had previously asked, looking at Jason.
"This is Jack, we came 'ere to get a sugar break from working at the garage." He grinned ominously.
From the outside, it probably looked like a normal, friendly reunion however, from Taiga's perspective it was her idea of hell. Her ex-tormentor was right in front of her and her brother seemed to have no idea.
Jack. That name made her laugh - it was obvious to her that he was lying about his name but for some reason, Miguel was blinded. A mix of anger at her brother's ignorance and the terror of seeing Jason and Cole started to make her feel queasy.
"Miguel." She caught her brother's attention. "I don't feel very well..." she trailed off, not wanting to particularly specify why.
He turned to look at her with a worried gaze before turning towards Cole and Jason.
"Sorry, we need to get home now - the children will be wanting dinner." He joked lightly whilst Taiga was eagerly standing to leave.
"That's fine. I'll see ya' again sometime, man." Cole casually said.
As they Miguel walked around the two demons to leave, Jason grabbed Taiga's wrist in a bruising grasp as she followed behind her brother. Menacingly, he leaned in to whisper in her ear, bringing back forbidden memories she truly despised thinking of.
Ones that she could never erase no matter how much she needed to.
"Tell then who I am and I will murder your precious brothers with my bare hands. You of all people know what I'm capable of, pet." He threatened her, an evil glint in his eyes copying Cole's.
"Taiga?" Miguel called to her when he noticed she wasn't behind him.
"We were just sayin' goodbye." Cole excused, clearly amused at her horrified expression.
Letting her arm go, Taiga ran to catch up with her brother, clearly shaken by the unexpected meeting and unfortunate recognition. She desperately wanted to tell Miguel to steer away from the two creatures like they were plagued, but the fright in her bones told her that Jason would definitely act on his threat should she utter a word.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Miguel asked concerned.
Under an hour ago, they had a conversation almost identical to the one she knew he'd start and she realized that keeping secrets was truly a dizzying curse.
"I'm fine." She lied, smiling at him. "Just tired."
"You haven't taken an iron tablet yet, have you? When we get home, take one and then go to bed - leave the cooking to me." He offered making her nod in acceptance knowing that should she talk, she'd probably let the cat out of the bag.
The drive back was silent. Miguel assumed she was just feeling unwell but if he knew the true reason, silence would be a thing of the past, no matter how gentle his nature was. Knowing this, Taiga kept her gaze fixed on the passing scenery of the city lights, impatient to get home and hide in her room.
As they returned, Miguel (as promised) gave her an iron tablet and a glass of water before promptly sending her up to her bedroom, much to her relief. Entering, she collapsed on her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, hoping miraculously it would solve her problems.
What was she to do? The situation was getting out of hand - she was trying to recover, but having Jason and Cole breathing down her neck made her all kinds of anxious. She was truly terrified he'd take her back to that place and do those things again.
Anything but that.
Instead of being chained like usual, she was simply locked in the dark basement, trapped with her thoughts and tears.
Why didn't her mother love her? What did she do to deserve such abuse? Who would even hear her cries?
The unlocking of the door told of her tormentor's presence. A slit of light spilled in, allowing her to see the angered and irritated expression on her face, the bad day he probably experienced showing itself which wasn't good for her.
Angry punishments were worse than his sick satisfactions.
Desperately, she tried to hide in the corner or the room, curling herself into a defensive ball as to not get seen. Although it would make things worse, she wanted to do anything to get far away from his furry as possible.
"Pet, you can't hide from me. You've only dug yourself into a deeper grave." His voice echoed off the walls as he stood right in front of her pitiful state.
Growling, he yanked her by the hair and towards the other end of the room, eager to shackle her like an animal. He saw her as more of a commodity than a human, enjoying the money he'd earn whenever he felt generous enough to share the young child in front of him with another one of his twisted friends.
His mood was sour - a mishap at work caused him to be suspended and the best way to vent his anger, for him, was on her.
"For that misbehaviour, you're getting it ten times worse tonight, you little brat." The venom in his tone was unmistakeable as he began to beat her blue and purple.
"P-please. No more." She begged, pleading for mercy.
"As much as I usually love to hear you beg, I'm not in the mood for that crap tonight." He huffed out, sending a swift kick into her broken body.
The torture continued.
As she was just about to pass out, he stopped. Although Jason was a disgusting excuse of a human being, one couldn't deny that he could be 'smart'. He stopped his rampage knowing that if he went too far, he'd have to deal with the nuisance of a dead body.
He enjoyed his plaything too much to kill it.
Tears began to slowly build up in her eyes when she recalled how she had been treated - she would never go back there again.
As much as she despised Jason, she loved her brothers more and their safety was her main priority. She wanted to scream and cry at Miguel about what Cole and 'Jack' were really like, but it was obvious that he'd be slightly sceptical about believing her.
Although they were siblings, they had only really been together for two years as a child and around half a year just recently. Whereas Cole was a family friend from Miguel and Leo's school, so they would've known each other for at least 10 years or so.
She was extremely disadvantaged.
But what was she supposed to do? Maybe instead of telling Miguel, she could tell someone else who might believe her. With that idea in mind, she thought through who she would tell without letting anyone else know because if they did, Jason would find out and he'd hurt them.
Leo? He would take her seriously but he was friends with Cole so it would be difficult. Rafael? Like Diego, he had a temper so they might get angry should she broach the topic.
Pablo seemed like the best option - he was calm and empathetic and she hoped that he wasn't as close to Cole as Miguel was or else it would go very badly.
She wandered down towards his bedroom before knocking timidly on his door before hearing a faint 'come in'. As she entered, she took sight of him at his desk, studying arduously.
"Hey, cariño. What's up?" He smiled at her, his glasses slightly enlarging his chocolate eyes.
Taiga sat down on a spare chair in the corner of the room, anxious to tell her brother but knew that once she did, she'd feel extremely relieved. She hoped.
"Pablo, what do you think about Cole?" She decided to not beat around the bush and dive straight into the dreaded topic.
His eyes looked surprised for a moment until they started to shine with a sense of fondness. That wasn't a good sign.
"He's a good guy. He's always helped me out when I needed it and we've known him for years. Why do you ask?"
She felt intimidated by the way he clearly cared for Cole but it was a 'now or never' situation.
"I-I don't think he's a good person." She rushed out, instantly regretting saying anything as she saw her brother's disbelief and confusion.
"Taiga, how do you even know him? You've never met before." He held suspicion in his tone, making a nervous feeling grow in her stomach.
"I saw him today with Miguel. And he was with Jason." She curtly explained.
A silent pause settled in the room as he took in what his sister was saying.
"Are you sure it was the right person? I know Cole and I know that he wouldn't associate himself with someone like your stepfather." Pablo said.
"So, you don't believe me?" Taiga's voice was small and quiet, hoping that she wouldn't show her heartbreak and rage.
"No, I'm not saying that. Just... maybe you saw someone else?"
"Okay. Fine. I've got something to do, I have to go." She said, feeling a wall coming up between her and her brother before she sped out of his room and slamming his door shut.
As she turned to get back to her bedroom, she smacked right into someone's chest making her let out a small 'oof'. Luckily, she was steadied by a strong arm gripping her shoulder.
Diego.
She noticed a perplexed look on his face but before she could ponder it any further, she muttered a thanks and finally returned to her room.
Knowing that Pablo didn't believe her made her want to scream in frustration - if he told Cole about what she had said then they were screwed. She could only hope he would keep it to herself.
But what about Diego? The door had been left open, so he could've easily heard everything she had said. Now she had two people that could risk their own safety and she no longer had any idea of what to do.
It had all gone horribly wrong.
Suddenly, a crinkle of paper was heard. She didn't realize how she hadn't noticed it before but every time she sat down, a jostle could be heard in her back pocket. Reaching out, she pulled the paper out of her jeans to be met with a sinister note.
'The alley where we first met at 12am.
Come alone or I'll kill your precious brothers.
See you there, poppet.'
The ominous words unnerved her and it didn't take a genius to know who it was from and that he probably managed to give it to her when they had met in the ice cream parlour.
Anxiety flared up in her as she dreaded what would happen but she had to protect her brothers, even if they didn't believe anything she said. Going alone, however, would also have consequences that were equally as bad but there could be no hesitancy.
She had to go.
"Taiga?" A voice interrupted the ending of her internal argument. Rafael.
"Yeah?" She replied, wondering why he was calling her down.
"Aren't you coming down for dinner?" He asked her as his voice neared her room, signalling he was coming upstairs.
Her predictions were correct as he appeared in her doorway, casually leaning against the frame.
"I'm not that hungry. I think I'm going to catch an early night." She said as smoothly as possible.
"You need to eat, hermanita, I don't want you to be in any pain." He said sincerely, clearly distressed for her health and telling her that Miguel had told the family about the news from the doctors.
That was just another thing she had to worry about: dealing with her brothers possibly treating her like a nut case. She knew that they'd be testing her as cautiously as they did when they found out about Jason which made her wonder - Pablo knew how she had been affected, so why didn't he believe her?
It angered her that he believed that she'd mistaken it or made it up. An absurd idea that made her feel rather disappointed in his lack of trust and belief in her.
"I had ice cream earlier. I just don't feel well but I promise, Raf, I'll eat tomorrow." She assured him, not wanting him to think that anything was wrong.
"Okay." His voice was quiet, very different from his usual bright and joke-filled tone.
He approached her before pulling her into a hug and giving her an affectionate kiss on her head.
"Sleep well, hermanita." He gave her a sweet smile before leaving, but not before saying one last thing. "My beautiful face should let you sleep peacefully." He sang out as he skipped away.
"More like nightmares..." Taiga muttered before getting ready to go to sleep for a few hours in order to be prepared to go out.
It wasn't long until her power nap was over and she was rudely awoken by her dreaded alarm, telling her it was time to meet Cole. Hurriedly, she got dressed into something warmer before venturing out into the hallway.
Everyone's lights seemed to be off, so she assumed they had already gone to bed - lucky. She could escape without drawing too much attention to herself.
As she crept down the stairs and to the first floor, she slipped on her shoes before pulling the front door open, praying that it wouldn't make a noise. Thankfully, it didn't and so she began to walk off into the dark and dangerous nighttime to meet her tormentor.
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-Chisaki
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