The Silence That Surrounds: Screams of the Damned

Narrator’s POV

Time passed by in a slow, lifeless blur.

Three days’ time to be precise and nothing’s improved from one moment to the next. It was depressing and ongoing, like a clock that has ceased moving, one where you know it’s dead but still pray that the nightmare you’re living will end and you can wake up. All you need is for the spring to start again but unfortunately, Niall and Liam did not get that relief.

Niall was sitting quietly with Perrie, her eyes off in a distant haze of ever flowing thoughts. The blonde Irish boy envied her, but continued the delicate procedure of brushing the young woman’s hair.

“Is it weird that I miss Zayn’s incessant bitching? Like, I’d give my right nut to hear him complain about something again.” Niall hummed out his thought, his own eyes focusing somewhere else.

Perrie only pulled her own beautiful orbs to him, the response as silent as ever and that’s what got Niall. The silence – the way nothing sounded or moved. Dr. Sadistic started severing their spinal cords, paralyzing them – so they were stuck in one spot, forever a living corpse.

Pain registered the look Perrie was giving him and his hand found her cheek, his knuckles smoothing over her pale skin in an attempt to calm her.

“I’m sorry, I’ll finish here and leave you to your thoughts – no need for me to keep yammering away when there isn’t a place for it, right?” Niall sighed, brushing the knots from the girl’s long tangled hair, smiling slightly when she blinked, giving him sort of a silent answer to his rhetorical question. Deep down, he could see her longing to be free – and with a body no longer her own, a brain active mind in a vegetable body, he hoped – prayed really, that when Zayn came back he would show Perrie the mercy she deserved. He would be a coward to face Zayn’s wrath, but the blonde Irish lad had thought about ending her life on more than one occasion.

“Lass? I – I want to know if you want it to end? This I mean, if – “Niall saw her eyes blinking rabidly and a silent hiss like air leave her mouth. With almost a plea, it was clear her answer.

Niall nodded in understanding and calmed her again with his gentle touch. Looking at the rough scar tissue where her arms had been cut and the poles replaced – Niall was sure he’d beg someone for death too. It was a lot more merciful than this place of hell.

Before he could elaborate, Niall heard footsteps coming down the hall, the sharp claps belonging to no one other than Lucilius Styles.

When he spotted Niall, his long face instantly lifted, he approached and stopped by the shorter man’s side.

“Puppy! What are we doing here? Who’s your friend, because she’s quite the doll.” Lucilius smirked, earning a deep frown from Niall.

“I come here before I go help Dr. S with bodies, he has me on crematorium disposal. Speaking of, what time is it?” Niall gulped, fearing he spent too much time with Perrie.

Lucilius smiled and draped his arm around Niall’s shoulders in almost a friendly manner – though, as they say, don’t trust a snake in human clothing.

“Puppy? We’re not going to help Dr. Snivel pants tonight. WE are going to go and get my dear nephew from the Cage. I swear, my brother has his panties so wound up that when he takes his pants off they act as a propeller and wind right up his arse.”

Niall’s mouth fell open.

“I – I can’t miss crematorium duty, Damien and Dr. Sadistic – they scare the piss out of me.” Niall stuttered, remembering the cruel trick with the human meat. When he woke up he had spent half the night sick and throwing everything up.

Lucilius let his smile widen.

“Really? You’re scared of them? What makes them so scary?” Lucilius asked in mock interest, throwing his arm off Niall and began to walk down the hall. “Unsecond thought, I don’t care,” He concluded, whistling, beckoning over his shoulder. “Come doggie! We need to go get Waffles if there is anything to be done about my nephew. I miss him terribly and Damien is being unreasonable.”

Niall stood there frozen. He had two options – get killed by Dr. S and Damien for not doing his job and disposing of corpses or piss off Lucilius.

“I – Waffles?” Niall stuttered.

Lucilius stopped, turning around with an annoyed glare.

“Liam, I believe he is right in middle of procedure, but oh well. Dr. Prissy pants will have to stop being a lazy git and do his own torture. We got a crusade, lads. We got a mission; so let us venture forward into the sunset of the unknown with heads held high!” Lucilius exclaimed, his hand going up in a victorious notion.

Niall thought Lucilius needed to cut down on the caffeine – and the psychedelic mushrooms, because only he could make sense of something so fucked up.

“B-but – “Niall tried again, seeing Lucilius turn back to march toward him – he, however, met him half way and followed obediently toward surgery, keeping his head down and briefly wanting to Flash it as fast as possible into the nearest closet – then again, his life revolved around waking in time to help Liam prepare and feed some of the dolls, clean and wipe up the walls from certain activities, take a small twenty-minute break before trying to keep out of the evil Masters line of vision.

“I need a new hiding place.” Niall muttered, looking up when the heavy doors banged against the wall and caused a loud bang that disturbed the air around them.

Liam paused, the saw at the limb of a relatively young child; Liam’s expression pained and grim.

“WAFFLES!” Lucilius smiled with his arms out in a mock hug, causing Sadistic to speak up.

“Lucilius? Please explain to me why you’ve chosen to pop by and disturb my fragile surgery? Surely you could not amuse yourself somewhere not so delicate?” Sadistic suggested calmly, forcing a fake smile as plastic as Barbie’s tits.

“I’m here for Waffles, m’fraid you’ll have to do your own surgeries and body dumps today at the local crematorium. The reason is quite simple, the lads and myself have a crusade and will not be disturbed. TO FREEDOM!” He once again said triumphantly in a loud exclamation, holding his one dominant finger up in a way that left very little to be argued with. “Waffles! Come!” He shook his beautiful blonde hair out of his face, turning away from the surgery room.

Liam stood there dumbfounded, Niall clearing his throat softly.

“If it makes you feel any better Li; he calls me puppy.” The blonde whispered, smiling uneasily, hearing their respective names being called.

“Waffles?” He raised an eye brow, but tossed his saw down and exited the room when Lucilius tried to threaten them with certain death.

As they neared the front of the door, Lucilius in tow; Damien stopped to block their path.

“DAM-DAM! Give us another hug!” Lucilius smiled wide, his eyes so wild.

“Fuck your fairy-cone right up the yang. What are you doing with MY boys? They have chores to do and you have a cone to go shove up your arse.” Damien crossed his arms across his chest – which Lucilius simply trapped his old brother’s hands to him in a bone crushing hug, keeping the move effective.

“Dam-Dam, Luc-Luc missed you so much! Don’t be like that, let’s kiss and make up.” He said, not waiting for his brother to start struggling and planting a big sloppy kiss to Damien’s cheek and cackling madly after, grabbing Liam and Niall’s hand, dragging them to the outside world and closing the door; blocking out Damien’s murderous promise to kill him in the most brutal ways possible the next time they saw each other.

“Fresh air.” Niall breathed, enjoying the intake of breath with closed eyes.

“Oh, puppy sweetie. You have not seen or experienced anything yet. Come, we’re blowing this war zone. No more PTSD, boys, Damien will just have to suffer not having his servant gents around. I have a temporary cabin up the road. You’re safe with ‘Uncle Lucilius’.” He chuckled, using Sadistic’s words against him.

“Are we really bringing Harry and the rest home? What about Sophia?” Niall asked in a hurry, making Lucilius cock his eye brow.

“She your girlfriend or something, puppy?” Chuckling when he boy shook his head.

“No – not girlfriend, but she’s part of our gang when Damien deciding killing her wasn’t worth the bullet, bad thing is she’s also been kidnapped by Elliott Dawson.” Niall swallowed, looking toward Liam.

Liam shrugged, he didn’t really know what the hell was happening either or what to say.

“Alright, a girl that is part of an all gent’s gang – I’m feeling it. Problem though, my lads, I’m not much into the whole Robin Hood Rescues Maid Marion scenario. If she is at the Cage, wonderful. We’ll pick her up and catch a dinner date and rejoice. If she is not – which, judging by the long faces – “Lucilius noted on both men, trailing off with a gesture of his hand towards them, letting Niall speak again.

“Harry and her were kidnapped together, sir. She ended up being trapped at Dawson’s house and he sent Harry away to the cage – by the way, how did you know where the playhouse was and how did you know Harry was at the Cage?” Niall wondered, his hands coming to meet across his chest rather suspiciously.

Lucilius got a huge smile then, throwing his arms around the boys and leading them towards his car.

“Food, right? Starving, yeah? Very well, pick a restaurant and order as much as you gentlemen would like. I can’t have my volunteers – “Lucilius was cut off when Liam let out a small laugh.

“I believe that word is a little light on the scales, sir. More like kidnapped; not that I’m complaining mind you. My fear is when we have to come back to the playhouse because then, Damien will kick our arses until they are black and blue.” Liam informed Lucilius, reaching out to open the car door in front of him.

Lucilius slapped his hand away and opened it for them.

“Stop being so negative, Waffles. Ye have little faith in my brother’s self-control. He gets pushed so far and he lashes out. Stems from when he was a lad I’m afraid.” Lucilius smiled, allowing the two boys to get into the car before shutting the door and going to the driver’s side.

Once he was in and situated, the conversation picked up again.

“You see, dad had his hands in a small part of street business. Now, we didn’t know at the time that Damien was on his way to a life of inner circles, murder, rape – kidnapping, doll making…you get the picture. Anyhow, father had a temper on him. He would often beat us unconscious and his apple of eye was Damien. So, every night he came home from a long day’s work at the factory and small black market side operation, he was piss assed drunk.” Lucilius smirked, remembering the memory almost numbly, his attention on the road.

“Anyhow, gentlemen – Damien was the middle child – good God, right? No wonder he’s such a stiff boarded cock, right? No. Actually, dear old dad had this really funny habit cornering mum against the table and when you’re young and hear your mum screaming no, you go to see and dad explains as she’s laying naked against it with his cock inside her – I was like seven at the time, I’ll never forget. ‘No worries, son. The slag was better for it, got what she wanted. Saying no is only a game they play. When a miss says no, they really mean yes.” Lucilius snorted, looking at the rearview mirror to see the two lads glancing back uncomfortably, unsure what to say.

“Don’t worry, lads, no pressure. Anyways, I remember the lesson even still today. My mum was reaching her silly frail hand towards me, begging me to get help…to get Damien. God, he was not much older than I. Guess you lads know how we all got here?” He laughed this time, turning into a random restaurant – temporarily halting the story. “Were here, come, you two must be starving.”

Liam threw the door open and didn’t wait to be told twice, Niall followed closely by him.

When they walked inside, they all grabbed a nearby table, the other ones around them complete unoccupied.

The minute Lucilius sat down, Liam followed suit and folded his arms across his chest.

“Okay; Harry and the rest, what are we doing to get them out of the Cage?” Liam got right down to it, Niall grumbling about slow service.

“Inner help from the galactic ship, Waffles. In other words, we storm the fucking place – “Lucilius turned to Niall when his hand started smacking off the table loudly.

“HEY! Someone’s out here and we would like to eat sometime this century!” Niall yelled, earning an unbelievable glance from Liam.

“Really, Ni? Scream a little louder, I don’t think the other side of Russia bloody heard ya.” He hissed at his partner’s lack of professionalism.

“Sod off, Waffles.” Niall counteracted, making Liam blink.

“The bloody hell is with you two and calling me Waffles?” Liam muttered, glancing back at Lucilius, who was grinning with big eyes.

“You remind me of waffles, so, Waffles is your pet name – Niall’s is puppy, because he has such a cute – “Lucilius cringed when the blonde’s fist came down on the table.

“FOOD, STARVING, NOW!” Niall bellowed, watching a waiter stumble from the back looking half scared to death.

“Great Christ in bloody Heaven! I’m here! Stop screaming!” The young waiter pleaded, approaching the table with caution. “What do you all want to start out to drink?”

Niall growled and stood up.

Liam shot up and grabbed him, dragging him back down to his chair.

“Mate? Don’t bother with the menus, cook an order of everything. Money, no objection. Now go, shoo!” Liam ordered, making the young waiter look at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“Sir, you realize we have over eighty dishes on the menu – “The waiter, Adam, judging by his name tag offered them cautiously, but held his hands up in surrender when Niall began to stand again.

“If you know where we’ve been, who we were with, what we have seen, what we have had to do for the last month, your arse wouldn’t be standing there making idle useless chatter and would bloody be in the kitchen giving the cook our orders!” Niall all but yelled.

Adam nodded, turning to hightail it back into the kitchen, but Lucilius clears his throat calmly.

“Bring a tea for me, if you will, lad.” He smiles pleasantly.

Adam nods with wide eyes.

“Y-yes sir, alright – coming right up.” He doesn’t look back.

Lucilius stretches, getting back on topic.

“Honestly? Let me just spell it out for you two gentlemen. We raid in and attack the Cage. We kill the fighters; we leave the ones specified alive. I have about a plan for Jinx Kaiser – he” Lucilius was interrupted by Liam.

“Damien will shit himself! He’ll think Harry himself – “He stopped seeing the bright eyed reflection of Lucilius and just shook his head. “Why do you want to unleash the demon that is Damien Crow? What has he done to you exactly? Not that I’M defending him, but – “He earned a chuckle at his rambling.

“My reasoning is my own, lad. Don’t worry your waffled head about it.” Lucilius dismissed, reaching over to ruff up Liam’s hair.

Niall looked around the setting of the place. The interior was a deep wood, sort of like a Bar-B-Que hut, the ceiling a normal color of white with around thirty tables placed in general places. The carpet an off gray.

“Damien will be charged for every fighter you execute and then he will chop your balls off and sell them for the price of eternal life.” Liam warned, his hand going to his temple to rub off a starting headache.

“Three days’ duration, lad. We have that much time to assemble a team, all you have to do is track and make sure we all get back home safe.” Lucilius assured, seeing the waiter come back with his tea.

Liam turned to Niall who was eyeing the waiter with a predatory sort of stare, his normal bright blues were almost as dark as Sophia’s.

The waiter got about four steps from the table, noticing the way the men’s eyes fell on him, so he stopped and eyed Niall, both staring one another down with a look of challenge.

Slow and cautious, the waiter stretched over and slid the tea to Lucilius, not breaking eye contact from Niall.

Niall started to stand up but Liam’s hand shot out and halted his friend’s actions.

“Niall, mate, if you keep intimidating the waiter he’s going to ask us to leave. Apologize so we can get our food and leave.” Liam chastised softly, knowing Niall’s crazed actions were from starvation.

Adam waved his hand.

“No need. I’ll go inform the cook, appetizers should be ready in a few minutes.” Adam forced a smile, knowing these guys were dangerous. It wasn’t just the demeanor in which they carried themselves that had Adam concerned – though, the older gentleman was the most intimidating of all. He wasn’t sure why, but his cold and emotionless expression made Adam think of a murderer. Someone that would kill without so much as a thought if things didn’t go according to plan.

“Thank you. I apologize, lad. It’s been a crazy month for us and Niall – “Liam prattled, but Adam was already turning away to get their orders as fast as possible.

“Friendly bloke.” Niall muttered, tracing his fingers over the dark brown lines against the lighter tan table.

“He doesn’t want to bear witness to the wolves’ struggles, puppy. We are the wolves and he is the sheep. Everyone has their own agendas in life and he chooses to bound away, hopping ignorantly to slaughter. Eventually they die – eventually, they all die.” Lucilius nodded, picking up his tea and taking a sip – grimacing at the taste.

“I just want to eat, damn their fucking agendas. They can kiss my arse.” Niall muttered.

Liam reached over to rub Niall’s shoulder, making the lad look up towards him.

“Hey, we’re alright now; at least for a few days. Just let it go, okay? You need to be levelheaded for when Harry gets back or he’s going to lock you in your room again.” Liam warned, making Niall sober.

“I still don’t think that was fair, but when it comes to Sophia – he seems to be a bit touch and go.” Niall noted, piquing Lucilius’s interest.

“So my little dark prince does have a fancy in this bird, does he? From the sounds of it, you made him sound as if his interest was merely dull. He sees this lass as something, but you don’t know what?” Lucilius asked, his eyes going to his cup and sighing in discontent.

“Harry was asserting his dominance and Niall was still touchy from talking about losing his parents. So, long story short, Harry had Zayn lock him in his room for the night while Sophia got in trouble. Just the way things are at the cabin sometimes.” Liam sighs, watching Niall’s face fall long again.

“Yeah, come to find out m’parents are alive and Harry ‘faked’ their death. If I didn’t have this bloody tracker, I’d go visit them.” Niall admitted, his fingers suddenly becoming fascinating.

“I’d advise against that, lad. Not unless you want them to sudden resurrect back from the dead to be met with another permanent end. Leave peace as is, puppy.” Lucilius warned, downing his tea and slamming the ceramic casing on the table with a loud thump.

“I know. I’m in too far to ever go back to any sort of normal life,” Niall nodded, glancing at Liam. “Would you, though? Go back to life before the gang?”

Liam shrugged.

“I dunno, Ni. I’ve been in this for a long time, it would be weird to leave Harry, Louis, Zayn – you. I don’t think I could ever imagine leaving now, unless Harry hands me a sock and says ‘I set you free.’” Liam chuckled, trying to make light of the situation by making a very bad Harry Potter joke.

Niall cracked a smile and Lucilius let out a laugh.

“Somehow, I don’t see Harry or Damien doing that, mate. They’re more Draco and Lucius Malfoy-esque in that aspect and were all just bloody Dobby’s.” Niall said, his head snapping at the sound of footsteps.

Adam was walking towards them with a large round tray of plates.

Niall was out of his chair before anyone could blink, running towards Adam and ripping the tray from his hands, returning to the table with it.

“Keep it coming, lad. I mean it, every item.” Niall warned, taking a plate and throwing one at Liam before grabbing two for him, setting the tray on a nearby table so they would have room.

Niall noticed Liam’s dish was a platter of fried cheese and an onion blossom.

He reached over and stole a few pedals from the onion and shoved it into his mouth.

Liam didn’t mind and just ate his sparingly. It did no good to become sick.

Lucilius watched the two young men, their demeanors relaxed and unguarded.

It was a shame his next actions would completely ruin that.

“We’ll box up what you two don’t eat, that way there will be plenty for later. I bet you’re dying for some sleep, yeah? I can’t imagine going through all that.” Lucilius tsked, his eyes reflecting sympathy for the two.

“Food, sleep – all were missing is a tropical vacation to Bali and then we’ll be set right.” Liam snorted, though he seemed appreciative to have a break from the playhouse; especially having to perform such brutalities against the innocent children that came through.

Lucilius chuckled.

“Consider it done.” He agreed, holding his hand out to Liam.

Liam shook it good naturedly with a small smile, he was actually changing his mind about Lucilius not being such a bad bloke after all.

More food arrived, twenty plates extra to be exact before Adam told them that there was a limit in the what they could order for one table. Which was based purely on the amount of people. The cook evidently thought it absurd to cook over eighty plates for just three blokes – money be damned. He wasn’t earning anything extra off it. After all, he was merely the cook.

Niall looked at the plates and shrugged. There wasn’t a shortage and the things being cooked were full, not just an item or two. So he continued to stuff himself silly.

Liam eventually fell into his own thoughts and Lucilius clicked his tongue absently as the time went on.

Finally, Adam came back.

“Do you gents want your cheque and the rest of the food bagged?” Adam asked politely, seeing that ten of the dishes had been eaten, leaving the other half to be finished later.

“There’s a good lad. See to that, yeah? We need to be heading back.” Lucilius responded to his question with a vague smile.

Adam nodded and saw to the boxing of their food and the check.

He worked quick, thinking it somewhat weird that the three men were the only customers to come in in the past two hours – though he probably should have checked the door to see that the closed sign had been switched.

See, Lucilius had a problem and treating Harry’s two wayward gang wasn’t an honest intention to take note of. No, his thirst certainly wasn’t for the tea or the smell of fat cooking on cooktop. Nope, his intention was strictly for blood.

Minutes passed and the boy finally came out with two large bags and a trailing slip of paper behind him.

“Alright, this is everythi – “His words were cut silent when Lucilius stood, taking his gun; which was also equipped with a silencer at the end of the muzzle to ensure that the shots were muffled.

Niall and Liam also stood, shock clearly on their faces.

“Lucilius?” Niall questioned, but was ignored.

“Puppy? Be a good lad and help free the gent’s hands, hm?” Lucilius requested, which really wasn’t a request at all – more like an order.

Niall stepped forward hastily, his blue eyes now unsure and a bit apologetic as he followed instructions.

“Lucilius? What’s going on, mate?” Liam tried, but was also ignored. Instead, Lucilius reached into his pocket and took out a zip tie.

“Waffles? Would you be so kind as to secure our lovely server’s hands behind him?” He asked, though the tone left little room for refusal.

Liam did hesitate, but he really wasn’t in any position.

So he took the tie from Lucilius and cleared his throat softly, approaching Adam.

Lucilius took that moment to walk towards the kitchen, a flash of light reflecting off the wood, indicating a shot had been fired.

He didn’t even pause, walking back out to hear the satisfying pull of the hard plastic chaffing to the waiter’s skin.

“Good, Waffles. Now, I’m gonna tie up loose ends around here and we’ll get heading back. Help puppy take the stuff to the car and wait for me there, hm?” Lucilius suggested, which didn’t need to be repeated twice.

“What are you going to do to him?” Niall asked with concern.

With satisfaction Lucilius watched Liam hurriedly grab Niall’s wrist protective and lead him out.

Once he was sure his two boys were out of earshot, he approached the fearful waiter, kneeling down on the floor where Liam left him.

“You recognized me, didn’t you?” Lucilius asked, his hand coming to gently massage his thumb over the waiter’s cheek, expecting him to answer.

Adam swallowed with fear, staring into the emotionless and unwavering eyes of Seth Lucilius Styles. It was true, he, like Damien were well known throughout London and whose names were whispered throughout the small towns of England itself, extending far beyond to other boarders.

Sadly, Adam knew something was amiss. But his fatal mistake was the pause before answering.

“No, sir. Not at first.” Adam swallowed, making Lucilius cock his eyebrow.

“Oh? What pray tell was it that gave me away?”

“I don’t know who you are! When I meant at first, I assumed someone important.” Adam gulped, trying to predict the man’s next move.

As anticipated, Lucilius laughed.

“My boy, you have to be living under a rock not to know who Damien and Harry Styles are,” Lucilius shook his head, forcing the gun underneath the young man’s jaw. “Now, tell the truth, what made you figure it out?”

“I didn’t! You three were shady. I was trying to get you in and out as quick as possible, please! You have to believe me. I don’t know who you are!” Adam pleaded, his hands tightening against the plastic tie that forced them together.

“Lucilius Styles, brother of Damien Styles, uncle of Harry Styles. Now, do you deny having knowledge about them?” Lucilius pressed, his finger tightening on the trigger.

“No! I do know who they are, but what does that matter? You didn’t do anything; why would I say anything?” Adam pleaded the question, whimpering when Lucilius’s free hand wrapped itself in his hair and pulled.

“Call me paranoid, but I don’t quite believe you’re telling the truth.”

Adam closed his eyes and whispered a prayer, his body shaking from the indent the tip of the gun was making.

Lucilius cocked his head to the side like a puppy hearing a dog whistle for the first time.

“Perhaps I may have been too brash, after all – a man who prays, what has he left to lose?” Lucilius pondered, a smile pulling at his lips.

“Tell me, lad, do you know where the term speak no evil, hear no evil, and see no evil comes from? It is biblical – if you answer it correctly, I turn and walk away.” Lucilius gave the ultimatum, taking the gun away from his head and put one arm across his crouched knee, calmly glancing out to the other side of the restaurant.

“T-that it’s supposed to be a phrase meant to be spared. It’s derived from three wise monkeys, if we don’t see, speak or hear evil; w-we ourselves are absolved of sin.” Adam swallowed, only knowing it because of his mum constantly getting on him about following his daily routine of prayer and forgiveness, it was something he was taught when he was younger and despite it being awhile, he remembered the discussion with his mum like it were yesterday.

Judging by the pleased look to cross the madman’s face, he seemed pleasantly pleased at Adam’s answer.

“True, but what happens if evil speaks? What happens if it shows you something so amazing that you give into the temptation? What if you willing spoke evil, heard it’s calling and saw the most in depths of depravity that was humanly possible? Would you listen to its shout? Would you give into its temptation to live?” Lucilius’s eyes lit up, the gun now traveling to the back of the bloke’s head. “Or ignore it all and die?”

Adam was a blubbering mess, but he knew he didn’t want to die.

“I don’t want to die, please! What do you want?” Adam pleaded, tears falling down his cheeks.

Lucilius didn’t chose that restaurant by chance; nothing ever happened by chance. With Damien being so loose, it was up to Lucilius to be one jump ahead.

“I know you have a past with drugs, but the thing that interested me was your hacking skills. I heard you are not permitted to own a computer because of the damage that was done to a certain political website when you were ten? Despite that, you still have one and you are still active.” Lucilius hummed, standing up and dragging the boy up with him.

Adam seemed beside himself, following the older man’s lead.

“Evil comes in all forms, son. Yours happens to be something that we need right now. So, I ask again; do you want to be resolved of all sin and die where you stand or are you willing to come over to the dark side? I need someone like you onboard. At least for a short time.” Lucilius began walking them toward the door without a response. If he would not help him, he’d just see to the boy’s death sooner rather than later.

Adam pulled away with wide eyes.

“I don’t want to die.” He told the older man with fear.

Lucilius tightened his grip on the waiter’s arm with a cruel smirk.

“Alright, then come along. We have much to do and little time to do it in. While my men sleep, your fingers are going to be taking in most of the hard work. Three days’ time, lad; that’s all you have. I’ll explain more in the car,” Lucilius paused, putting his gun away and taking out a lighter, flicking it open. “Bit first, I need to cover our tracks.”

With that, he flicked the lighter on the carpet, the flame easily taking to the flooring and spreading upward to the wooden table above.

“It’ll look like I shot the cook.” Adam murmured, realizing that with him missing and the further undoubted damage that will occur to the structure, once they see the body of his coworker, a search will be underway for him.

“See? You’re a smart lad. Come on, time to get some real work done.” Lucilius tutted, leading him out to the car and into the passenger side on the left. To say Niall and Liam were a little bit surprised was an understatement.

“I hate to seem slow, but what purpose does the waiter serve exactly?” Niall asked, watching Lucilius climb in the right side of the driver’s seat.

“Puppy? There’s something you should know about me, never question my motives on why I do what I do. However, because you and Waffles are on a need to know basis at the moment, he’s not just a waiter and I’m not just your run of the mill villain, so listen closely – he’s going to help free Harry. The cage runs on electrical, which is programmed into the main circuit in the control room. He can also track any device, active or otherwise from its last location. So, I apologize my motives weren’t exactly pure in finding you food. I just needed the extra help and I so happened to find Adam here. So, long story short, you two sunshine’s are going to rest and catch up on some well needed sleep and Beautiful here is going to find your boss – and the other two.”

Liam and Niall listened, gazing at Adam through the mirror, his head down to his lap.

“What did you threaten him with? He looks absolutely terrified.” Liam wondered, looking at Niall.

Lucilius didn’t reply, he simply smiled and began to back away from the restaurant, smoke quickly filling the inside.

*

Elliott laid in bed, his eyes casted upward in an almost dreamlike state, Eli on his right side playing idly with his fingers.

“I told you they were dangerous.” Eli hummed, her eyes tracing a pattern over the flesh of her father’s hand to keep herself occupied.

Her father sustained a broken nose and bruises that would take weeks to lighten. The worst part was, being bested by a girl – who was still in a comatose state.

“You did, sweetheart. Indeed, you did,” Elliott agreed, wrapping his fingers around Eli’s hand and catching her eye. “So, what do you suggest? Blade’s dead, Lily is no longer speaking to me, Sophia is in a weird coma and Andros – he’s not effected by his punishment. So when nothing works, what do you do? It’s been three days now and we’ve not made any progress.” Elliott sighed, moving his hand gently to preen back Elis hair.

“Daddy? You knew about mum and Andros, right? When they would sneak off and come back hours later, you knew about that didn’t you?” Eli asked, a deep frown on her face.

Elliott remembered the walks his wife would insist Andros take with her, but nothing was ever out of the ordinary when they came back.

“Andros and her would take walks around the old compound, you went with them a few times.” Elliott recalled, flinching at the pain in his face.

“Daddy? They did more than just walk, I know because of recent shit that you are not inclined to believe – “Elliott cut Eli off almost immediately.

“You’re right, I’m not. My wife loved her family. She loved you and she grew to love me as the years went on.” Elliott insisted, his eyes softening. “She had a soft spot for Andros and Aiden Deprave, but her heart was true.”

The way he spoke about his wife was almost painful. Elliott was a monster, but the heart in his chest only beat for his wife. He missed her very much and he would not have Eli speaking ill of his wife or her mother.

“She loved us, Eli. Do not rub her name through the mud. She’s already in the grave, there would be no sense in stirring up ghosts.” Elliott muttered, his eyes casting to the door when Ajax came in.

Without a word, the young man approached Eli and handed her a manila envelope, a frown etched deep on his face.

“The blood tests you asked for, for Andros and Lily. Just to let you know, Lily wasn’t all that cooperative, I had to remove Deprave’s collar so he could calm her. I hope you don’t mind that I left it off, he’s the only one who has been able to soothe the little lass these past few days.” Ajax explained, his mind still stuck on the unconscious girl.

“What of Ms. Stone?” Elliott asked, grabbing the envelope from Eli, ripping it open. “And why would you have them tes – “His words fell out his throat, stilling at the words printed on the paper in shock.

“Mom never truly loved us, daddy. You had to have known – at least a small sliver of doubt. You don’t have blonde hair like Deprave, his green eyes and her hazel greens are almost identical – her lips, the structure of her face and his. He’s feminine and she has some of his features. She has mum’s cheekbones and nose. Her eyes and hair, you know it’s true – “Eli trailed off, playing nervously with her hands. “You kidnapped mum and killed her family in front of her when she escaped. Andros was kidnapped years later, both their hearts were yearning for something and they had found it in one another. I saw them having sex the one night, it wasn’t too long after that you and her did it too, but I think it was to hide the pregnancy.” Eli frowned, grabbing the tests from Elliott’s shaking hand.

“Andros is ninety-nine point nine percent. Their genetic structure is almost ideal between child and parent, Eli had this test done three days ago, sir. It’s one of the most accurate tests that you can have done. We also did a swab test, as you can see – same result. So Lily is technically not y –“

Elliott put his hand in the air and squeezed his hand into a fist to signal for them to stop talking.

“I will still provide Lily with love and raise her as my own. The past is the past and cannot be changed. My wife had always had problems adjusting. You see, it wasn’t Lily who killed her during child birth; yes, she did contribute to it, but before she was to give birth –my wife had taken an overdose of sleeping and cold medicine. We got Lily out in time, but we could not save my wife. I did have suspicions –but they were unimportant at the time, all things considered.” Elliott sighed, placing the results in the envelope.

“Daddy? We need to unload Sophia and Andros. They have become too unpredictable and the Cage would be equipped to deal with them. As for Lily, cruelty is sometimes the strongest way to show that you love someone. I’m not telling you what to do, but – make a call to Kaiser, have Lily stay in the cells WITH Sophia and Andros, make it clear she is to stay with an adult at all times and then give it three or four days before coming to get her. She’ll be so happy to see you and she will have learned that someplace else compared to here is far better,” Eli took a breath and let it out before continuing.

“This is heaven, she’ll not hate you anymore and the best part is, Andros will know the truth and once he’s shipped out, when you come to get Lily, he will have the pain in knowing what it feels like to have something stolen away. Like you did with mum. It hurt you, I saw doubt in your eyes, no matter how hard you deny it. Show him the same pain. It will hurt to know that she would join him at the Cage, but even more so when you come to take her away again – hell, in fact, have his brother executed in front of him after.”

Elliott saw the wheels spinning through the younger girl’s head and reached over to give his daughter a gentle kiss, Ajax standing in the corner observing the whole thing with a disgusted look.

“Ajax? Where is Andros now?” Elliott asked, making his way off the bed slowly.

Ajax hesitated, but pointed down the hall.

“My room, sir. He and Lily have been watching over Sophia for a few days.” Ajax replied, clearing his throat unsure.

“Alright, well, I want you to tie his hands behind him, put his collar back on and make sure he’s sitting down in a comfortable chair, hell, have him attached to it for a little bit to think on the good news that I am about to tell him. Since I don’t know what his mouth is capable of, put his muzzle back on too and lock it.” Elliott ordered, stopping at the edge of the mattress.

Ajax dropped his head and went to leave the room to follow orders.

Eli felt a proudness in her father, something she had not felt in such a long time.

“You’re back, daddy.” She murmured fondly, reaching up to kiss her father’s cheek, the darks of her eyes dancing with excitement.

“I am only trying to do right by you, darling. I want to make you proud.” He responded softly, kissing her back.

“When Lily comes back, she’s going to need someone to follow in footstep with. Let me teach her, you know I can beat the kindness out of her. She needs to learn that this world is cruel, she needs to learn that there are no friends among enemies and, I think I could grow to love her like my own sister if I could show her what being in this family entails. Give me a month, when she gets back – one month. I know you want to retain her innocence, but it’s better that she realizes there are no prince and princesses. There is no such thing as fairy tales. I can bleed what you didn’t have the heart to out of her, daddy. You just have to give me a chance and trust me. I was going to kill her, but this is even better. One month and you will have the two most perfect daughters that you could ever wish for, I promise.”

She spoke sincerely to her father, grabbing his arm to beg him, just as he done the other times. It was no secret that her plan was to get Andros and Sophia out of the way, that’s why she manipulated her father to treating them like animals. Now that everything was being set forth – she could focus on her sister and her father, knowing she would have the inner circle’s report by the end of the month…and steal it right from under her father’s nose.

Elliott thought carefully, his eyes glancing fondly at his loving daughter before nodding slowly.

“Alright, one month. Make the call to Kaiser, tell him that Sophia, Andros and Lily will be ready in three days and to arrange pickup. Explain about Lily, tell him he’s to put her in the cell with Andros and Sophia and that I will be around to get in in exactly a week. Tell him it’s…a scared straight program and that Aiden Deprave will die at the end of the week, his brother will take his place in the ring and Sophia, let her visit with Harry. I’m sure the love birds miss each other.” Elliott chuckled, slowly standing and shuffling towards the door towards Ajax’s room, intent on giving Andros the good news personally. After all, it’s not every day you find out that you have a child with another man’s wife.

Notes