Julie

I’m not sure exactly how many days I’ve been here, but it’s been a while.

For days, they had me in a room only coming in a few times a day. Sometimes to uncuff me from the bed to go to the bathroom or to eat. Everything I did was supervised by an armed guard. The first few days, I had to fight my anger, but my mouth had a mind of its own. It kept taunting and talking back, and I was answered with hands and fists. Once my eye was swollen shut, I apparently learned my lesson. I was scared shitless, to say the least. I was waiting for the moment to be killed, or worse… tortured and/or violated. It never came.

Then… one day I was let out the room to be taken into a larger one. There were more men, more guns. I was then placed in a wooden chair and restrained my arms and legs to the chair with tape. They openly discussed getting Sofia which was an insult to me on its own. But there was more than that. I was sure they were going to kill me. Which meant, they intended to kill her too. At least in the end.

But they won't.

Because Gio is too smart.

She’s well protected.

And they won't ever fucking get her.

I believed that, and it made me feel good about everything. I mean, if I could save her by sacrificing myself I would. Granted, we weren’t always best friends, she was an innocent as was i. but she had more to offer. I was already taken, I didn’t stand a chance… but she… she fucking did.

And then, they called Gio. Hearing him ask for me tore me apart. God, I fucking missed him, and I wished I could go back in time and demand that he slept with me every night. Made love to me every night. Held me every night…Told him I loved him.

EVERY.

FUCKING.

NIGHT.

I wanted to cry. I wanted him, I needed him. Hearing him… my entire body reacted. It reached for him. I listened as they taunted him and all I needed was to be in his arms.

I closed my eyes tight.

I need him.

I want him.

I opened my eyes, and my heartbeats began to increase. I was getting angry. That was my man. My fucking mate.

He. Is. Mine.

That thought kept swirling, and I felt the anxiety begin to build.

NO!

Fuck, I wanted to cry. I just needed him. I was teetering on the edge, and I was barely hanging on. Surprisingly, I haven’t had to fight the attacks since I’ve been here until I heard him. And then he did it.

The phone was thrust into my face, and a gun pointed at my head. “Gio?”

“Baby”

One voice. One word and I felt the world start to fucking shatter. It was all in broken parts like shards of glass. I felt stage one almost instantly. I craved him too fucking bad. But I needed to control myself and focus on the issue at hand. The plan for Sofia.

I started to tell him, and the phone was taken, and I felt the pain across my face. I didn’t register my reaction if I had one, but I wasn’t able to let him know. The worry hit me tenfold. To lose us both would kill him, and I wouldn’t let them. I looked at the fucker on the phone. I focused on that cut from his lip to almost chin. My heartbeat began to slow, and I took a deep breath. I kept breathing but realized I’ve already graduated. I’ve reached level one.

Then… she was here.

Here!

Fucking Sofia, crying and sobbing with tears and snot all over her face.

She was blindfolded and had no idea what was happening, and she was afraid. “Sofia, it’s me… Julie. I’m here.”

She paused. “Julie?”

“Yes”

“But you’re supposed to be hiding.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “No, I was kidnapped. As are you now.” I whispered softly hoping to ease the blow.

She cried harder. “Jul… Julie.” She shook her head as if to try to remove her blindfold. “what is happening?” she cried out.

I looked at her helpless. And when I opened my mouth to answer her, I was cut off by the guy who appeared to be in charge.

He snatched the blindfold off of her roughly, and she cried out. I felt myself bare my teeth, but it was unconscious. That made the douche chuckle. “Angry are you?” he asked. I intentionally avoided looking at Sofia.

“More like bored,” I said.

He laughed harder. “You won't be bored for long…” he said, and he called Gio again.

I heard his devastation to know that not only had they gotten to me but they got his baby sister. I spared a glance at her who was tied up much in the same as me. I heard him make a plan to have Gio give himself up to him for us.

God.

No.

NO!

They will just kill us all.

When he disconnected, he had a sick thrill and came to me. He ran his finger from my temple to my lips. “As you heard, I have three hours with you.”

I cleared my throat to release the flem there from dehydration and spit it in his face. “Fuck you.”

He grinned. “No.” he laughed and wiped his face. “I’m not only going to fuck you, but I’m going to make you pay for that.”

His hands wrapped around my neck and then once again my insides did that funny thing I hate. I tamped it down… I needed to be here for Sofia, and I was afraid of the dark. I kept telling myself that as I calmed back down. But I knew it already progressed.

“Do whatever to me you fucker. You will never have me. I belong to Gio.”

He released me and laughed. “Is that right?”

I nodded. “You’re damn straight.”

He nodded in acceptance, and I became weary. “Then I need to alter my plans.”

I frowned. “meaning.”

He smiled, and there was nothing inviting. “I’m going to have his sister instead. In front of you.”

I watched as he walked away from me and to Sofia. He cut her restraints, and they used guns to put her on the floor. I listened… as he talked.

And then he stopped. He called Gio again to tell him he had Sofia. That he was going to violate her in every sense of the word. I heard my mans anger, regret, helplessness. And then the final bomb was dropped.

They killed Taylor.

My sister.

My blood.

Holy fuck, me.

They deserved whatever was coming.

 Huh.

“Why not take me?” I asked.

My blood was pumping through my veins at maximum speed.

“You’re volunteering?” a sleazy has been asked.

I nodded. “Me first.”

They took Sofia, and they want to harm her.

They fucked with my mother fucking man.

These motherfuckers… KILLED MY SISTER!

Yes. I’ve got retribution in my heart, and I’ve accelerated to full on blackness. I gave him a cocky smile. “Please, mister… me first!” I pleaded.

Inside I was grinning because by god, I was going to do what I do… I’m usually afraid of the dark, I feel like I’m constantly fighting it, but I couldn’t stop it this time if I wanted to. I felt overwhelmed with anger and hate. My palms began to sweat because they wanted to move so bad.

The man shrugged. “I knew you wanted me.” He motioned for one of his men to get me out of the chair. He moved in, and the feel of his hands on me had me practically breathing fire. As I stood and looked at the sick fuck who was undoing his pants, all I could think ‘this was really happening.’

 

*****

Giovanni

Two and a half hours later and the room was tense. Everyone was pissed for their own reasons. Pops was fuming that they’d taken his baby girl, and he was siding with Angelou. I didn’t give a fuck my decision was made. Julie and Sofia were in this shit because of me, and if it was them or me, it would always be me.

“Look, we have enough time to come  up with a plan,” Angelou argued.

I sighed. I was tired of talking about this. “No. I ’m going. That’s it.” I said simply.

He growled and opened his mouth to argue when my phone rang. Everyone froze, and I looked down. Unknown again.

I immediately answered. “Yea.”

“Gio?” Julie’s soft voice came through the phone.

My heart began pounding against my chest as a whoosh of air left me. “Baby? What happened? What’s going on? Where’s Sof? Is she alright? Are you alright?” I rushed out all the questions that I’d been thinking.

Everyone in the room closed in around me and tried to listen in, so I put the phone on speaker. “I’m fine, Sofia’s F …” she paused, and I felt my blood turn to ice.

“Julie, baby you gotta talk to me. What’s happened to my sister?” I asked.

“Oh, no it’s not what you think.” She sounded… off. “She’s fine.” Another pause. “Physically. She’s just a little rattled.”

I frowned. “Where are you?” I asked. I was confused. “What the fuck is going on?” I urged.

She cleared her throat. “Oh, I – I… umm yea, ok. So yea.” Silence. “Right!” I heard her snap her fingers. “I called because I had a question.”

I was getting aggravated. “Julie!”

“Oh, right. So we uh, baby can you give us a ride?” She got out.

I frowned and looked around the room noting everyone's confused expressions probably mirroring my own. “Ok baby, we’re coming,” I said as we all started to move as one. “Tell me where you are.”

“Uhhhhh…” I could hear movement in the background. “I’m not sure.”

I frowned. “Are you outside? Inside?” I asked.

“We’re inside.”

“Ok, get outside and find out where you are so we can get there.” I was almost to the car. “Can I talk to Sofia?” I needed to hear her to reassure me.

“Oh. Um…. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

“Oh. She’s just scared and stuff. She’ll be fine, but I don’t think she can talk right now if she wanted to.”

“Shit. Fuck. Ok, you two find out where you are.”

“Ok.” She said and then she fucking hung up.

Angelou had the car ready to go, and all heads swung to me as the beep sounded from the phone disconnecting. Pops looked over at me and frowned. “Son, what the fuck is going on?” he asked.

I felt helpless. “I have no idea. All I know is that Julie isn’t acting right. She's really fucking weird, and I’m not sure what to think. Let’s just fucking drive and try to figure it out.”

Angelou nodded and hit the streets.

I was pulling at my hair and ready to do something drastic. It was twenty minutes later, and just radio. Fucking. Silence. We had no destination and shit to go off on. Honestly, I don’t know what we were expecting to figure out driving but it was all we could do, and I needed to do something. I’m sure that was the general consensus in the car.

Pops phone rang. “Son.” He answered. Considering both Dante and I were in the car too, he could only be talking to Michael. When he’d found out what was going on, he hopped on a fucking plane to get to us. I figured that was him saying he was in the City and to see what he could do to help.

“Where are you?” he said.

My father let out a breath. “We’re on the way.” He hung up and turned to Angelou. Head to my house. Michael is there.” He turned to meet my eyes. “And so are the girls.”

Now, I was officially lost. I didn’t like not knowing what was going on and it seems that shit is doing nothing but becoming more twisted. “The fuck?”

He gave me a knowing look that said, ‘what the fuck, indeed.’

When we got to the house, I found my sister curled into my mother's arms. My father sped past me and scooped her up into his arms. As much as I wanted reassurance of her safety, I knew my father needed a minute. Deciding to give him some time, I sought out Julie who I found with her sister.

Julie was holding onto her sister's hand, her head bent down. I watched as her sister lay beside her, eyes closed, and cheeks wet with tears. Fuck, I needed to see her face.

“Julie.” It was a pained whisper.

Her head snapped up immediately, and her eyes instantly found mine. In seconds, she was up, then running and jumping into my arms. She squeezed me and held on tight like she was afraid I might let her go. Never a-fucking-gain. I petted her head and felt her tremble against me. I sighed. “Fucking hell, baby.”

She groaned. It sounded more painful than anything… my poor girl. I went to put her down, but she clung to me. I held her for a few more minutes before I forced her to her feet. I looked into her eyes, and all I could see was torture. That shit tore me the fuck apart, what did they do to her?

“What happened?” I asked.

Her eyes went wide, and she looked around like she was afraid a ghost would appear at any moment. I frowned. “Julie? How’d you get away? They just let you go?” I asked.

She worried her bottom lip and shook her head no. I was losing my shit here. “So what happened?” I pushed. “You gotta fucking tell me something, I’m a second away from going crazy.”

She looked around the room her sister was in and sighed. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and she gave me a sad smile. “Ok.” She finally whispered. “But, let me have time with Taylor. I thought she was dead.” I opened my mouth to argue, and she shook her head stopping me. “I promise. I’ll tell you everything… but I need this. I never thought – “ she choked on a sob and held a hand to her chest. Fuck, my girl was hurting. I knew I had to be reasonable, just like I was still itching to hold my own sister and I had faith the whole time she was alright. I could only imagine how she was feeling so I nodded.

“Ok, baby. You stay with Taylor but you’re coming home with me, and you’re going to tell me everything.” She nodded. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, hesitated and thought better of it. She walked back to the room and before entering she turned back to me and the look she gave me scared the fuck out of me.

I found everyone in the kitchen. My mom had disappeared somewhere, and all the men were hovering over my sister. As soon as I walked into the room, her eyes met mine, and she broke down in tears. Shit.

I ran over to her and pulled her into my arms. I ran my hands through her hair and rubbed her back until she calmed down. When the sobbing stopped, and she only had a few tears running from her eyes she spoke in a broken hiccupped voice. “I – I – I… Gio.” She shook her head. “I’m so – so – so... I’m so sorry!”

I frowned confused. “Baby girl, it’s not your fault. It’s mine. I’m the one that’s sorry Sof. So fucking sorry.”

She shook her head. “But you don’t know what I did!” she screeched.

Fuck, these girls were going to be the death of me. If someone didn’t start talking soon, I was going to lose it. They both got kidnapped, but they’re both acting like they're the guilty ones. “Ok, calm down Sof.”

She began blubbering again, and Michael grabbed her to console her this time. I walked over to pops and talked to him in a whisper. “Did she say what happened?” I asked.

He shook his head. “She mostly cried. We wanted to wait for you to ask any questions.” He paused. “Did Julie?” I asked.

I shook my head frustrated. “No. She was doing the whole guilt trip too though. I don’t fucking get this shit. But, I had to leave her alone. She was trying to deal with the whole death and rebirth of Taylor.” My dad nodded in understanding.

“Let’s get some answers then son.”

Shit, this was going to suck. I’ve no idea what the hell transpired, but both of the girls seemed worse for wear. I steeled my nerves and had to mentally prepare myself for whatever it was I was going to hear from the both of them. I didn’t see any physical scars, but the worst scars ran deeper. I motioned to Michael to take this to the living room over Sofia’s shoulder. He gave me a small nod in acknowledgment and took her out. I filled a glass of ice cold water and gave myself a minute before following behind.

 

*****

Sofia

I was feeling so many things at the moment I didn’t know which was right so I tried to block off all emotion. I knew I would have to talk about everything and although I wasn’t ready, it was needed.

“Princess, we need to know what happened to you.” My father prompted softly.

I sighed. “Ok. I’ll tell you, but I have to start at the beginning.” I looked back over to Giovanni and gave him a pleading look. “You have to forgive me,” I begged him.

He gave me a confused look and opened his mouth as if to argue with me, and I grew frustrated. “Shut up Gio! You’ve no idea what I did. It was my fault they got me.” I took a deep breath and began.

“It started a few weeks ago. I was on my way home from school, and this guy approached me. He was nice and cute and said all the right things. On a whim, I’d given him my number even though I was sort of nervous. From there, we would cross paths once in a blue moon, but we mainly texted and spoke on the phone a few times. He was sweet. And nice. He was very different from the guys that normally try to talk to me. He told me he was a freshman in college and after the first week…” I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like we were talking all the time. I couldn’t wait to have to switch classes to see what he’d sent me. He called me beautiful, and said things about how I was smart and nice… and god everything a girl wants to hear. It was nice. I wasn’t being treated like a child. This cute, mature guy seemed really into me. I mean, he never ignored me, and I believed that he was always thinking about me the way he’d always write me even when he knew I couldn’t respond.”

I reached for the water that Gio made for me and took a sip. “I knew we weren’t supposed to leave the house, but I didn’t know. You all had just told us Julie was laying low because she was in trouble. I didn’t know that Gio had enemies and that they’d taken her. God, I feel so stupid…” I felt the tears reforming threatening to spill. “we were texting each other. He was being his usual charming self, and I was acting like a schoolgirl with her first major crush.” I shrugged. “He asked me on a date, and I told him I wouldn’t be able to make it.” I put my head down knowing I wouldn’t be able to face anyone in the room when I admitted what finally pushed me to go out. “He told me that he’d been thinking about what it would be like to kiss me and I just became extremely excited. I figured, if I snuck out for only a few minutes to see him I would be back before anyone even knew it. I didn’t see any harm. I had him meet me next door, and I got into the car to him. I thought it would be likely that I would get caught and be in major trouble if we stayed by the house. I thought we’d just go to the corner.” I sighed. “He drove down two blocks to the market parking lot where we could pull over. He suggested that we get in the backseat to be more comfortable. I was so excited that I wasn’t paying attention. When he finally joined me, I didn’t realize until it was too late that he didn’t intend to kiss me. Instead, he covered my face with a cloth and the next thing I knew I was out.” I shrugged. “I don’t know how long I was passed out, but when I woke up, I was back in that warehouse or whatever it was. Julie was there… and those guys and their guns.”

I looked up to my brother. “I’m so lucky Julie was there. You have no idea… I know I wouldn’t have survived otherwise. They weren’t hiding what they intended to do to me… to us.” I explained.

Gio crossed his arms and stared at me confused. He scratched the back of his head. “Baby girl, that’s where I’m confused. We don’t know what happened and how you both ended up back here… seemingly unharmed.”

My body instantly began to tremble as visions of the rest of the day played out in my mind. I felt a hand on my shoulder and a slight shake. I looked up to realize that Michael was touching me and talking to me and I hadn’t heard him. I closed my eyes and shook my head to clear it. “Holy shit, she’s freaking out.”

Gio began pacing and pulling his hair. He bent over and roared out “FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

My father went over to him. “Son, you have to calm down.”

Gio spun around to face dad. “Calm down? How the fuck do you expect me to calm down. Did you just see the same shit that I did? She tapped the fuck out of reality in fear of whatever the fuck happened, and it was all because of me.” Gio argued pounding a fist against his chest.

“Stop,” I muttered. When no one seemed to hear me, I repeated myself louder. “Stop!”

Everyone turned their attention back to me. I needed to get this out, and they needed to know what I had to say. “Let me finish. I’m ok.” I reassured them.

Slowly everyone calmed down and crowded back around me. I cleared my throat. “They waited until I was awake to blindfold me and take me somewhere. They sat me in a chair, and I was so, so scared. Then Julie started speaking to me. When they’d taken off the blindfold, I saw a bunch of men in the room. I have no idea where Carlos had gone…” I groaned. “Then they called you, and the guy with the scar started to taunt Julie. She didn’t give in though, and she fought him back. Then, he said he was going to rape me and make her watch…” I gulped. I believed that he would’ve in every inch of my body. “So Julie asked him to take her instead.” I looked at Gio and watched as he froze in place and the blood drained from his face.

“Please tell me…” he couldn’t even finish the statement. He looked horrified.

I shook my head. “They didn’t. One of the guys untied her, and the man with the scar started to get his pants off then everything was a blur. It’s like Julie transformed into another person. They were careless not paying much attention to her, seeing that she wasn’t a threat. The guy who untied her just had his gun hanging loosely from his hand and she just snatched it. She hit him, and he stumbled back, and she just started shooting. All hell broke loose because no one knew what to do. They were stunned and late to react, by the time it seemed that people realized what was happening she’d already taken out more than half of them.”

I felt myself begin to tremble as I thought of all the blood. The smell in the air. The dead bodies. The fear that they were going to eventually take Julie down. “The man with the scar, she’d shot him a few times and made sure he was down but wasn’t able to attack. She’d left him for last. She talked to him, telling him all the ways he went wrong as she slowly tortured him. Breaking bones after bones. Right before she was done, she’d said something about him killing her sister…” I looked up questioningly, but no one responded to my unspoken question. “Then, she crushed his head with her foot.”

I let out a deep breath. “She untied me, and I just sat there shaking and afraid.” I shrugged. “At first, she seemed lost. She was taking in the scene and was standing like she was waiting for more. Eventually, she noticed me, and she changed instantly back to her normal self. She looked horrified, and I think she thought I was afraid of her. I was just scared. I wanted to just get out of there.” I frowned confused. “It was weird though because she seemed sad and almost regretful then as she examined what she did… and maybe even a little sick?” I shrugged. “After a few, she seemed to be itching to get out of there and got that guys phone and called you. She was acting weird, but I think it was mostly because she didn’t want anyone to know what she’d done. I don’t think she was happy at all that she did it.” I finished.

Everyone had varying looks of shock on their faces. I bet that wasn’t the story they’d been expecting.