The Lost And Forgotten Memories

      Terrence ends up nobody knows where and is now trying to understand what to do. The tracks that he is following lead to other sides, as if Edward did not also know where to go. Getting through the thick thicket and unpleasant dirt and feeling that some flies get into his mouth, MacClife, Sr., starts to lose hope of finding his brother and actually getting out of here.       “Damn, where did this little hooligan go?” Terrence thinks gloomily. “I’m starting to doubt that I’ll find him and get out of here. If nothing changes, I’ve gotta contact the girls and ask them to help us… Though, I’m not sure if there is cellular communication here.”       Some time later, Terrence barely gets out of the dirty backwoods and comes to the small glade, where there is nothing but a couple of stumps and many high trees. It makes the man happy because he feels a strong tiredness and wants to have some rest. MacClife, Sr., comes to one of the stumps and sits on it, fixing his matted, tousled hair and wiping off the blood everywhere he can with a little heavy breath.       “Oh, I can’t wait to find Edward, Peter, and Cassidy as soon as possible and get out of here…” Terrence whispers tiredly. “Contact the police and let them know where that sick bastard is hiding.”       Terrence raises his head and exhales slowly.       “How much I wanna come back to Raquelle, who is worried about me… And Natalia and Helene aren’t quiet, either… Oh… Damn, I’m so sorry that they can’t help us… It’d be great if they found out about the lads and me. Just like Raquelle helped Edward, Natalia, and me when we were at Uncle Michael’s home. Or may Father call Mr. Johnson…”       Terrence shakes his head with sadness in his eyes.       “Oh, counting on them in this situation is stupid… We can’t even explain where we are… I don’t know these places. Even Edward, who examined literally the whole city, doesn’t know where to go. So, it means we’re in trouble!”       Terrence sits on the stump for a few seconds, not paying attention to the pain in his body and feeling how the wind is blowing up his face with many scars and abrasions and ripped clothes. But when he relaxes a little with closed eyes and thinks of something, he suddenly hears the furious and loud voice of Eugene from nowhere:       “WHAT THE FUCK?”       Terrence shakes slightly, gets up sharply, turns on, and sees Eugene, who looks much more horrible and wider, as if he has taken one more great dose of drugs.       “MACCLIFE?” Eugene resents loudly.       “I am looking for you, bastard,” Terrence says in a low voice confidently, hiding his fear of Eugene so hard, and comes to him with his head proudly raised.       “IT CAN’T BE THE TRUTH! I LOCKED YOU IN THE HOUSE!”       “But you missed one thing.” Terrence scoffs quietly. “You could set up lattice before burning the house down. Didn’t you think we wouldn’t find them and think of breaking the glass?”       “THEY ALL ARE POWERLESS! NONE OF THEM WILL BREAK THE WINDOW IF THERE IS THE ONE! I BEAT THEM STRONGLY! THEY ALL ARE LOCKED!”       “As you see, I still have the strength.”       “You will not save them, MacClife,” Eugene says rudely. “NEVER!”       “Yeah, why are you so sure?” Terrence comes much closer to Eugene, making a hole in his forehead with his cold look. “I am sure that the lads might run through the window. We aren’t as stupid as you think.”       “They don’t have the strength.”       “Your assumption.”       “Ha, don’t be so confident, idiot,” Eugene smirks with evil. “I’m sure that those three will die BEFORE the fire. Your brother is obviously lying dead. The blond fights well, but he gave up, as well. And Perkins will not help you because he does not remember his pals. Even if he gets out, he will run away immediately.”       “We did not make him go with us. I do not know why. But Peter and I went because we wanted to help Edward. Not to let you do anything to my brother.”       “There is nobody to help. Your brother is dead, and your pals will not get out of there. I guess they are crying bitterly, while nobody sees it. They don’t want to die and leave their cuties, who will be mine soon.”       “You will never get closer to them! Never!”       “I will do it. When I deal with you and your gang and burn the house to the fucking ground, I will be able to have fun. I will have the baby Cassidy, the gorgeous blondie Natalia, the sexy Raquelle, and those two cuties, who your pals are dating.”       “Do not dare, asshole!” Terrence hisses through his teeth, threatening Eugene with a finger and looking at him with a cold look. “Neither to burn the house nor to get closer to the girls! Do not dare!”       “It’s too late to resent and wave your wings when everything is done.”       “Nothing is done!”       “Don’t you still believe that the three are defeated? Don’t you believe that the puppy, MacClife is dead? Ha! Even if he is alive, he will not reach the hospital! A couple of more hits or one great dose of drugs before he immediately dies.”       “Edward is not dead, I know it. He is too stubborn to give up and die so easily.”       “Even this type of person has limited time,” Eugene says confidently. “That puppy will not run away from danger forever. Even cats do not live forever. Someday they lose their nine lives.”       “I believe he will do it,” Terrence raises his head up, shaking at the thought that he would have to see the dead Edward. “I believe in that guy.”       “Yes, I know it’s hard to accept your close person’s death,” Eugene says without emotions, looking at Terrence with dead eyes. “But that’s the truth. Your brother is dead.”       “No, not dead.”       “Moreover, remember how that puppy wanted to kill you, become as powerful as his beloved uncle, and betray his family. Huh, MacClife? Are you really grieving for your brother’s death?”       “Edward will never do it. He’s got many shortcomings, but he is not the same nasty bastard as Uncle Michael. If that old bastard hadn’t scared him and used the hesitancy of my brother, he wouldn’t have even thought about something like that.”       “You are right about hesitancy. MacClife is just pretending to be a hero. But he is actually cowardly and worthless. As weak as a girl. The puppy is pretending that he is sassy and tries to save everyone heroically. So, nobody knows he needs a mommy’s skirt or his brother’s back.”       “You cannot judge him, bastard,” Terrence throws coldly. “I know my brother much better than you. I know what he thinks about.”       “Maybe, you do. But you don’t want to confess that he is weak and cowardly. Though, I don’t know why. Why you protect that worthless kid, who was born just because your mother and father didn’t know how to protect themselves and refused to get an abortion.”       “I will never say that. Because Edward is not what that old bastard Michael and his whole gang thought he was. That guy is braver and stronger than everyone thinks. When the case is about his close people, he will do anything.”       “This is not the courage and the power of mood, MacClife. This is cowardice. The real cowardice.”       “Think what you want. Those, who love Edward, give a fuck about the opinion of someone like you, Uncle, Eric, and all your pathetic pals.”       “Listen, would you agree to take revenge on him for almost killing you and kill him?” Eugene puts his hands on his hips. “Huh, man? Are you weak enough to take a pistol and shoot that bastard down? Or get a knife into his heart?”       “How do you, scumbag, dare to ask me about it?” Terrence hisses through his teeth, tightly clenching his hands into fists with a heavy breath. “ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?”       “Quiet, quiet, MacClife, quiet! Don’t scream like a patient in a mental hospital.”       “It’s easy for YOU to kill someone because you don’t have shame. You don’t even have to be drugged! And even if I’m dying, I will not do that to my younger brother or someone else.”       “So, are you as cowardly as he?”       “Cowardice and shame are different things. If you don’t want to do something, it doesn’t mean you’re scared. It means you’re afraid of regretting it someday.”       “Love is a stupid thing,” Eugene laughs with evil. “The stupidest feeling that is the reason why people go crazy and let themselves become weak. This feeling brings nothing good and makes people suffer.”       “Ha, did a girl reject you when you were a boy?” Terrence smirks evilly. “Is that why you still hate all girls and ruin their lives? You thought a little and decided that you could take a girl by force if you really wanted to fuck someone.”       “You’re right. I want sex. And when I want it, I do it.”       “But nobody wants to do it to you! Natalia or Cassidy never wanted such a smelly and ugly orangutan to be next to them.”       “I do not care about what they like! The most important thing is that I LIKE it!”       “In this case, you will never find the one to love you. Anyone would be afraid to be with you!”       “I don’t need their love!” Eugene says rudely. “As well as children! I can’t stand them! And I need girls for one thing – for good sex and a long caress of nude bodies.”       “That’s fine when a girl knows what she’s doing.”       “Don’t tell me how to live. I didn't ask for your kind of smart pieces of advice.”       “I didn’t try! Why would I teach some old gorilla when I could educate a young monkey?”       “No matter if you want it or not, those sexy cuties will be mine when I deal with you, the puppy, and those two freaks.”       “Don’t dare… DON’T DARE!” Terrence comes to Eugene sharply and grabs him by the collar with both hands. “I SHALL SKIN YOU ALIVE IF YOU COME TO MY FIANCÉE! AND DON’T DARE TO COME TO THE OTHER GIRLS!”       “The dead don’t talk and can’t tell me what to do.”       “I am warning you, Wainwright: if one hair drops from one girl, we will turn you to dust,” Terrence threatens in a low, rude voice. “YOU GOT IT, ASSHOLE? OR DO I EXPLAIN IT AGAIN?”       “Stop threatening me, hysterical idiot!” Eugene shouts irritably, pushes Terrence away rudely, and threatens him with a finger. “I know you are as hysterical as your daddy, but I do advise you to keep your long tongue in your mouth and keep your hand to yourself. Or you, jackass, will regret it.”       “I’m not afraid of your threats, bastard!”       “And I’m not afraid of yours! I’m not afraid of any threats and will destroy those, who stand in my way. Destroy you and your fucking gang!”       “We will not give up on you so easily,” Terrence says confidently and coldly.       “You will not defeat me!”       “I am ready to fight with you alone! I am ready to do anything not to let you do something to my brother, wife, friends, and their girls.”       “Get ready to lose again, MacClife,” Eugene smiles slyly. “I shall destroy you!”       “Sure?”       Terrence waits for two or three seconds and gives Eugene a strong enough hit on the jaw with a fist. That’s why the criminal falls to the ground like a stone. Then Wainwright gets up sharply with an irritated growl and tries to answer MacClife, Sr., with the same hit. But the brunet avoids it easily, strikes his opponent down, gives him two more slaps in the face, and furiously hits his head against the ground several times with a special pleasure. But at some moment, Eugene hits Terrence in the stomach with a leg and throws him away at some distance. While the black-haired man doubles over, Wainwright gets up shortly, runs to him, starts to drag him by the hair on the ground, and hits his face with a fist. But later, MacClife, Sr., hits the criminal, who is standing behind on the collarbone, and gives him a couple of more hits in the face.       At some moment, they get up sharply at a different time and fight with their hands, giving hits with their plats, elbows, or fists and protecting their vulnerabilities. Later, they use not only their hands, but also their legs to hit each other in different parts of the body and the face, and Eugene even tries to hit Terrence with his head. But MacClife, Sr., defends himself well, gives strong enough hits, avoids the attack skillfully, runs on other sides quickly, and has a good reaction to almost all of Eugene’s attacks, knowing that his life and the lives of his brother and friends and the girls depend on his actions.       But fighting Eugene is not an easy thing. It’s like he has become much more cruel, not feeling any regret or sympathy like a robot, and is obsessed with just one thought – to get Terrence and his gang out of his way. Every single hit that he gets from his opponent makes the criminal much more engaged. And even if it seems that the situation is hopeless after Terrence strikes him down and squeezes his throat with both hands tightly, Eugene is not going to give up so easily. He barely reaches a thick stick, takes it, and sharply hits the black-haired man on the head. That’s why he, wincing strongly in acute pain, falls to the ground. Wainwright creeps to MacClife, Sr., shortly and starts to beat his face with a special pleasure. The man takes two slaps and then tries to protect himself from the following ones, closing his face with both hands, giving his opponent strong hits, trying to hit him on the nose with his forehead, and throwing him off himself.       Meanwhile, Edward runs to this place, following the sounds that he heard a few miles away from himself, seeing Eugene and Terrence from afar. He was hoping that his brother would leave until the very end. But when he sees him fighting with Wainwright, MacClife, Jr., opens his eyes widely with a feeling of a fast heartbeat and the fear that it’s not going to lead to anything good.       “Fuck, Terrence!” Edward gets horrified, grabbing his hair. “Why didn’t you the fuck leave? I did ask you!”       Edward gives a start immediately to meddle in what’s happening. By this moment, Terrence gets up and fights with Eugene with both hands for a few seconds, trying to push him back and giving him a few slaps in the face. But Wainwright rudely pushes MacClife, Sr., off himself at some moment and hits him in the face with a fist so strongly that he cannot keep his balance and falls to the ground sharply. Eugene uses it, raising himself above Terrence, pinning his face to the dirty ground, and twisting his arms behind his back.       “You will be the first one of your wonderful four to start to die slowly from torture,” Eugene hisses furiously with a heavy breath. “Say farewell to your life, scumbag!”       Eugene sharply rolls Terrence onto the back and hits him on his underbelly with an elbow, making the man wince strongly and double over with a heartbreaking shout. Then the criminal starts to squeeze his opponent’s throat tightly with both hands. Because of a lack of air, Terrence starts to panic and unsuccessfully tries to get out of the trap, being terribly afraid that he is living the last minutes of his life. While Eugene smiles slyly, looking at his victim with widely open eyes and seeing how he is trying to set him free, but starts to give up slowly at the thought that everything is worthless.       But at some moment, Eugene gets a strong hit on the head with a heavy stick and gets thrown aside with a strong headache. As it turns out, this is Edward looking at his biggest enemy with his head proudly raised. While Wainwright moans from pain, MacClife, Jr., furiously gives him a couple of hits on the back of the head with the same stick. Terrence starts to cough quietly and breathe in the air greedily because he lacked it so badly for literally an eternity, exhaling with relief when he glances at his brother, who gets angry after what he saw.       “Edward…” Terrence pronounces quietly and smiles slightly. “Bro… You’re alive…”       Terrence lies on the ground powerlessly and closes his eyes, trying to catch a breath and find the strength to help Edward. While the guy starts to fight with Wainwright, who gets literally green when seeing him in front of himself.       “YOU?” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs with widely open eyes.       “So, you thought you got rid of me?” Edward smirks evilly and shakes his head sharply. “Ha! You did not!”       “HOW DID YOU RUN AWAY? YOU WERE ABOUT TO DIE!”       “I would run away from the middle of hell to deal with you. BASTARD!” Edward strongly hits Eugene’s forearm with the stick, as he shouts loudly. “YOU WILL NOT BRING ME DOWN, ASSHOLE!”       “YOU, TOUGH MOTHERFUCKER!” Eugene starts to scream. “YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE EARLIER THAN I WANTED TO BURN THE HOUSE DOWN!”       “If you wanted to kill us, you could plan everything better. Remember that I could easily get out of where you locked me.”       Eugene gets up sharply and tries to attack Edward with his fists, but the guy throws the stick aside, avoids the hit brilliantly, and hits him on his groin with a knee.       “SCUMBAG, I WISH YOU DIED!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “FUCKING LITTLE PUPPY! I HATE YOU! I WISH AN AIRPLANE CRUSHED YOU!”       “That’s mutual!” Edward says confidently and smashes his fist against Eugene’s temple. “IT IS!”       “Fuck, I should have beaten you to death. AND MADE SURE YOU REALLY DIED!”       “No, I am not going to die! There are the people, for whom I want and will live!”       “YOU ALL WILL DIE ANYWAY!” Eugene roars at the top of his lungs and tries to give Edward a hit in the yawl, which he avoids successfully. “THOSE TWO FREAKS DID NOT RUN AWAY! SO, THEY WILL DIE! THEY WILL NOT RUN AWAY FROM THE HOUSE!”       “Nothing threatens them while you are under my control. And I will not let you go! YOU, ASSHOLE, WILL BE EATING THE GROUND I AM WALKING AT!”       Edward hits Eugene in the nose with his fist, as he roars loudly. When the criminal falls to the ground, the guy steps on his chest with a foot, shifts his weight on it, bends to his opponent, grabs him by the collar rudely, and looks at him with bloodshot eyes.       “And nobody…” Edward pronounces in a low voice. “Hear me… Nobody dares to hurt my brother. Hurt him. And, especially, TRY TO KILL HIM! YOU GOT IT, MOTHERFUCKER?”       “So, puppy, are you afraid to lose your protector?” Eugene smirks evilly. “Nobody but him could help you? Mommy and Daddy are not always near! And your bro always follows you like a tail.”       “You don’t better make me furious, motherfucker. If you dare to hurt Terrence again, I shall break your neck. WITH MY OWN HANDS! I WILL LET NOBODY TOUCH HIM WITH A FINGER! NOBODY DARES TO ATTEMPT HIM!”       “Stop playing a hero, shabby puppy! Nobody will the fuck appreciate it!”       “I GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR OPINION!” Edward screams at the top of his lungs and hits Eugene in the yawl as strongly as possible. “If my brother dies because of you, I swear you will be a corpse. I SHALL GIVE IT TO FOOD FOR DOGS! AS YOU WANTED TO DO IT TO MY FIANCÉE!”       Eugene sits up sharply with a loud, irritated growl and gets up, while Edward runs aside like a cat, as if he guesses his actions. Wainwright grabs the stick, confidently goes to MacClife, Jr., and tries to hit him. But the guy successfully grabs it with both hands and goes on his opponent with a heavy breath, looking much more confident than before this time. But at some moment, Eugene manages to take the stick by force and push Edward off himself. The next second, Wainwright tries to hit MacClife, Jr., on the head, but the guy avoids this and stumbles on his foot. Edward feels that he might fall down, but avoids it unusually, standing on his arms up, striking the stick out of the criminal’s hands, doing a successful back walkover, and looking at his biggest enemy with a contemptuous look and his head proudly raised up.       “Nice attempt, puppy,” Eugene smirks evilly. “Maybe, you can get into any hole as well as a mouse, being so flexible. But it will not help you. YOU WILL DIE ANYWAY!”       Eugene runs to Edward and tries to slap him in the face as strongly as possible. But the guy avoids it, falling to his knees sharply and getting up like something light. The next second, Terrence attacks Wainwright from behind, twisting his arms behind his back sharply and turning them out, while the criminal winces strongly and screams in pain. Edward hits his opponent in the groin with a knee and does not refuse a chance to slap him in the face strongly.       “It’s like you’re getting pleasure when someone beats you,” Edward sneers evilly. “Bastards like you love giving people pain and feeling it themselves.”       “And some special scumbags do love watching innocent girls suffer,” Terrence adds confidently. “For such sick scumbags, killing and mocking weak people is super easy. They love getting pain and giving it to others.”       “But you, two scumbags, are so right!” Eugene roars irritably. “You have nobody the fuck knows how many sins, but you pretend to be heroes, who literally save the whole fucking world!”       “We’d do anything to deal with a scumbag like you,” Edward replies rudely, squeezing Eugene’s yawl strongly and setting his cold, contemptuous look on his wild eyes. “So, nobody suffers because of you.”       “Don’t even dare to think of our girls,” Terrence adds coldly and pulls Eugene strongly by the hair on the back of his head. “You got it, asshole?”       “Try to defeat me,” Eugene sneers evilly. “You can do nothing. Because I am STRONGER THAN ALL OF YOU!”       Eugene sharply gets out of Terrence’s grip and strikes him and Edward down. That’s why they both fall to the ground. However, the men get up quickly, and MacClife, Jr., takes a stick and uses it for protection, wrapping it in his hands skillfully. It makes Wainwright sneer evilly and try to attack both of the MacClife brothers standing together. The guy easily avoids any attacks from the opponent and defends his older brother, literally forgetting that he felt terrible some time ago. At some moment, Eugene runs to Edward furiously to hit him as strongly as possible and strike him down. But the guy pushes him off sharply, hits him on his forearm with the stick, and gives him a strong hit on his underbelly. While MacClife, Jr., looks at Terrence, Wainwright gets up, runs quickly to his biggest enemy, and uses force to get the stick and hit him on the head.       Then Terrence comes to help, giving Eugene a hit in the jaw with a fist. That’s why the man lets the stick go. MacClife, Sr., takes it sharply and takes on the responsibility to protect his younger brother and fight off attacks. A little later, Eugene tightly grabs the object of self-defense with both hands and tries to take it. But Terrence is holding this thing too tightly and trying to push the opponent away. And Edward pushes Eugene aside and strikes him down easily. Wainwright does not lie for a too long time, gets up sharply, and attacks the two brothers. But after looking at each other and nodding confidently, they grab the stick together with both hands and push the criminal off themselves. Being literally red from anger, Wainwright grabs the stick furiously and pushes the brothers as strongly as possible, so that they fall to the ground, letting go of the stick, with which they were protecting themselves. Then, Wainwright runs to one of the stumps, on which a small black bag is lying, and quickly finds what he is going to use right now.       “So, guys, we have warmed up, and that’s enough,” Eugene smiles evilly. “You will no longer wave your wings.”       Meanwhile, Edward and Terrence shake their heads and get up quickly, taking each other’s hands tightly. When they want to ask something, Eugene comes to them with widely open eyes, laughing loudly and crazily and holding a small needle syringe with an unknown liquid.       “Now you are going to taste my magical thing,” Eugene says funnily. “Thanks to this, you will give a fuck about each other and your pals. You will die… DIE! I SHALL KILL YOU, BASTARD! KILL!”       Eugene starts laughing wildly with his mouth widely open, showing his rotten teeth. Breathing heavily, Terrence and Edward look at each other with horror in their eyes and, taking each other’s hands tightly, start to go back quickly, while the criminal goes on them, making them feel fear with his non-stop laughter and making their hearts beat much faster.       

***

      Meanwhile, Daniel and Peter have been trying to find Edward and Terrence for some time. But at some moment, they get lost in the backwoods and do not know whether they can get out of here. The young men are getting through the thicket and smudging their shoes with dirt, getting tired of such an exhausting way to nowhere. Sometimes sticks of trees may get into their faces and lead them astray, and the hateful web makes their way harder. And it’s not very nice to be here in gloomy weather when the evening is getting closer.       “Damn, I think we got lost,” Peter exhales sharply. “We’ve already been here!”       “Seems like Terrence and Edward couldn’t orient here, either,” Daniel assumes thoughtfully. “We follow their tracks, but they lead on one or another side. As if they were walking somewhere but came back here to go to another side.”       “And what do we all do if we get lost and can’t get out of here or at least find each other?”       “I don’t know… But it scares me, honestly.”       “Me too…”       “Oh, damn…” Daniel moans quietly and runs his hands over his tousled and matted hair. “That bastard found the place where it’s almost impossible to go!”       “Yeah…” Peter pronounces tiredly. “The motherfucker knew where the police couldn’t find him.”       “It’s okay, it’s gonna be over soon. And that bastard will go where he belongs to.”       “The most important thing is that Wainwright doesn’t get out of here. Otherwise, everybody will meet failure again.”       “Again? Have they tried to catch him?”       “Yup, the anonymous called the police two or three days ago and told them the approximate location of Wainwright. So, the police went there along with Mr. Johnson. But it was false information because nobody was found.”       “And where could he be, judging that call?”       “Dunno,” Peter shrugs. “Edward and Terrence told me about it, and Mr. Johnson told them.”       “I’m surprised that nobody announced Wainwright’s escape from prison immediately. The police must’ve done that! Fuck, that bastard was hiding somewhere for one month, but they just decided to announce that.”       “We’re all resentful. And Mr. Johnson is embarrassed. He said he had a vacation at that time and didn’t control his cases. He went to work earlier when the reportage about Wainwright’s escape was translated on TV.”       “My gosh…” Daniel thinks for a few seconds, while he and Peter keep going nobody knows where. “So, as the police haven’t gotten that man caught, Edward probably decided to take a matter into his own hands.”       “Do you think it’s one of the reasons why he wants to stay here and fight with Wainwright so badly?” Peter frowns slightly.       “He is a fighter for justice, Peter. MacClife did want his father’s money to belong to the one, to whom it belonged, not Michael. Not only does his wish to take revenge for Natalia and her sufferings impact his goal, but he also dreams of bringing everything back to the right place.”       “I can’t disagree. But that’s bad we didn’t wash his brains and let him know that he’d doom himself to death by fighting with Wainwright alone.”       “Yeah, even Terrence, who has a great influence on him, didn’t change his mind.”       “Edward is a pain in the ass, who loves looking for trouble. But on the contrary, I completely understand him. People like Wainwright must be in jail or better get rid of their demons.”       “Huh, he is himself like the most horrible demon!” Daniel throws gloomily. “The demon that can’t be killed with a stick! Nothing brings him down! It’s some kind of black magic!”       “Yeah… It’s hard to defeat that jackass.”       “It’s okay, we will defeat him. That motherfucker will not run away.”       After taking some distance, Peter and Daniel stop and look around for some time, trying to understand where to go. The blond also takes his mobile phone and tries to make a call or just open the map to find out where they are.       “Hey, where do we go?” Daniel throws his hands up. “Where do we find the MacClifes and that bastard Wainwright?”       “I dunno…” Peter blunts, checking something on his phone. “Damn, I can’t make a call and use the Internet. No signal here!”       “My phone is actually discharged… I tried to use it on the way, but the battery died.”       “Fuck! I can’t even open the maps! I can’t find out where we are or how we’d get out of here!”       “Oh…” Daniel exhales tiredly. “That’s insanity…”       “Right…” Peter puts his phone in his pocket, starts to run his hand through his hair, and looks around. “I never thought I’d get into something like this.”       “As if I wanted it!” Daniel blunts. “I wanna get rid of all of this shit, find the lads and my sister, and get out of here to the fuck. And wash off this dirt…”       “Hey…” Peter turns on Daniel after he looks aside for some time. “Where did that man take Cassidy? She wasn’t at the house when I was examining all the rooms!”       “Yeah, I didn’t find her, too…” Daniel nods. “I think that maniac took her with him…”       “No tracks of that bastard. As well as the two of the MacClifes.”       “If that motherfucker stands in my way, I shall kick his ass. And if Cassidy suffers because of him, I shall bury him. Alive!”       “Damn, the tracks brought us nobody the fuck knows where!” Peter looks around again, breathing a little heavily. “No sounds, no voices, no shouts! Nothing!”       “Will we get out of here? Or will we die from hunger and coldness?”       “I dunno…”       Peter shakes his head and looks down, while Daniel looks around gloomily. Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, and then the men suddenly hear someone’s very, very quiet whisper.       “Hey, guys…” someone pronounces quietly. “Guys!”       Daniel and Peter stop sharply and look at each other questioningly.       “You heard?” Peter frowns slightly.       “Yeah…” Daniel nods. “I think…”       With these words, Daniel slowly turns on the source of the voice and sees something rustling in the thicket that he sees in front of himself.       “Hey, something’s there,” Daniel exclaims, pointing at the thicket. “In the thicket! Over there!”       Peter and Daniel rush to the thicket and barely get through it, stepping on dirt again and smudging their shoes much more. Then, the men see Cassidy sitting on the ground, crying quietly, and being tied to the tree. The white, madly scared girl looks much worse than before, her eyes full of pity and pain got much puffier from tears, and her old, shabby clothes are ripped in some places.       “Cassidy?!” Peter gets horrified and gets down on his knees in front of Cassidy. “What are you doing here?”       “I-it’s all W-wainwright…” Cassidy replies in a shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “Wainwright…”       “Did he tie your hands?” Daniel asks with horror in his eyes, as he gets down on his knees.       “Yup…”       “I will try to untie them,” Peter says quietly and tries to do something to the ropes, with which Cassidy’s hands are tied up to the tree tightly.       “Why did he tie you up?” Daniel wonders.       “He doesn’t want me to run away,” Cassidy sniffs. “But I have no strength to get up… After he injected something into me.”       “Drugs?”       “I don’t know… But I think I’m about to faint… I’m even barely sitting… I feel so bad…”       “Hold on, Cassidy,” Daniel says softly, caressing Cassidy’s shoulder. “We will help you and bring you to the hospital. That stinker will no longer get closer to you.”       “I’m scared…” Cassidy pronounces in a strongly shaking voice, looking at Daniel with pity in her eyes. “I’m afraid of Wainwright… He wants to force me to have sex… He says he wants me… He wants to undress, feel up and kiss… But that’s disgusting! I don’t want it! I don’t! I try to resist but can’t do it. He gives me drugs or a sedative. I can’t move and run away… I can’t! I’m weak!”       “Don’t be afraid, girl, don’t be, it’s gonna be okay. Nobody will give you drugs anymore.”       “He’ll kill me… But I don’t wanna die…” Cassidy sniffs quietly. “I’m only nineteen… I don’t want… I want to be cured! I want to start my life over again! Live like normal people. I no longer want to be Wainwright’s toy! I don’t!”       “Quiet, Cassidy, don’t cry,” Daniel calms down softly, holding Cassidy by the shoulders. “It’s gonna be okay. The guys and I won’t leave you.”       “I’m scared… Horrified…”       “Just hold on. Please…”       “Wainwright won’t let you go,” Cassidy barely says with pity in her eyes. “He wants to kill all of you! Eugene’s obsessed with this thought and wants to do his best to destroy you.”       “He won't do this,” Daniel replies confidently. “Wainwright must not naively think that we’ll let him become his victims so easily.”       “Don’t mess up with him, no.”       “We will make that stinker pay for everything he’s done to you and the other people.”       “He’s too dangerous… You won’t get rid of him… That man is sick! Wainwright is impossible to defeat. Especially, if he's drugged.”       “We will do it. We’ve got enough strength.”       “That man wants to kill my brother. Wainwright threatened him and wanted to get him out of his way, so I stayed alone. So, I didn’t have a protector. So, I stayed all alone and counted on nobody.”       “Don’t worry, Cassidy, your brother is gonna be okay.”       “He’s the only one I have… I don’t wanna lose him… He’s the only one to be able to save me. My brother is the only one to be able to drive me to a clinic.”       Daniel swallows up nervously, as he is caressing Cassidy's shoulders, and then he moves his eyes to Peter, who cannot untie the girl’s hands.       “Damn, I can’t untie these ropes!” Peter exhales sharply. “They’re tied too tightly.”       “Very tightly…” Cassidy pronounces quietly. “My hands have become dumb…”       “That bastard did nobody the hell knows what… And I dunno how to untangle it all.”       “Wait!” Daniel exclaims. “I have an idea!”       Daniel puts his hand in the inside pocket of his jacket, takes Eugene's jackknife, and opens it with one movement, making Cassidy get much whiter and start to shake from fear.       “N-n-no, p-p-please…” Cassidy pronounces in a shaking voice, looking at Daniel with tears in her widely open eyes. “Please… Move off…”       “Quiet, Cassidy, it’s okay,” Daniel calms down softly. “Nobody’s gonna kill you…”       “No…”       “I will just carefully cut these ropes. And you don’t move, so I don’t wound you.”       While Cassidy shakes strongly with tears in her eyes, Daniel carefully cuts the ropes with the jackknife. He does it for a few seconds, and the young brunette, quietly sniffing, starts to warm up her hands, which she does not even feel.       “Oh, thank you so much…” Cassidy thanks quietly.       “You see, nothing terrible happened,” Daniel pronounces with a slight smile, closes the jackknife, and puts it in his pocket.       “Oh, damn… I barely feel my hands…”       “Listen, Cassidy…” Peter pronounces quietly and puts his hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. “We’ve gotta find Edward and Terrence. They both are supposed to be next to Wainwright. Do you know where that man went?”       “No, I don’t know…” Cassidy shakes her head.       “You saw one of the lads?”       “Those tall folks with black hair?”       “Yes.”       “I didn’t see them… But Wainwright said he locked all of you in that house and wanted to burn it down.”       “They ran away. And they one hundred percent went to find Wainwright. So, we wanna know where that stinker is.”       “I swear, guys, I don’t know,” Cassidy pronounces in a little shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “When Wainwright dealt with all the four, he took me, brought here, tied me to the tree, and injected something.”       “You were in a room?”       “Yup… He locked me in one of the rooms at that house…”       “I see…”       “Wait…” Cassidy sniffs and looks at Daniel and Peter by one with tears in her eyes. “But how did you run away? Wainwright made it impossible!”       “There is nothing impossible, Cassidy,” Peter replies confidently. “Wainwright failed it and didn’t know many moments.”       “You said those guys ran away, too?”       “We all ran away. They jumped in a window, and Daniel and I broke the doors. Then we were coming here and followed their tracks for a long time but couldn’t find them or Wainwright.”       “They might really be here?”       “Really!”       “But… But I heard nothing… No voices…”       “You’re sure?”       “Yeah… And it’s actually very hard to come here… Nobody can hear you here because this place is abandoned and is far away from the center of the city.”       “We know.”       “Please, guys, go away,” Cassidy begs in a shaking voice. “Don’t put yourself in danger.”       “We will not leave without you and the men,” Daniel says confidently.       “Please, don’t mess up with him. Wainwright took one more dose of drugs. He takes them like a cake! And he becomes a crazy, unbreakable monster after he does that. He’s ready to destroy anyone in his way!”       “Don’t worry, Cassidy, we’ll deal with him,” Peter promises. “There are four of us, but he’s alone. To deal with all of us, he needs to find someone to help. And he doesn’t have a chance to do it.”       “No, he’s gonna fight like a whole army alone!”       “We aren’t afraid of him.”       “Leave, I beg you!” Cassidy begs in despair a little louder. “I don’t want any one of you to suffer because of me.”       “Nobody will suffer, I promise. We will find the lads, run away from Wainwright, take you with us, and go to the hospital.”       “I’m scared…”       “Don’t be, Cassidy, we won’t leave you,” Daniel promises softly. “While you’re with us, nothing will happen to you.”       “Why is that all so unfair? Why?” Cassidy sniffs quietly. “I was such an idiot when I got in touch with all of that! If I’d been smarter, everything would’ve been better!”       “No, don’t say that.” Daniel puts his hands on Cassidy’s shoulders. “You’re guilty of nothing.”       “I was so happy when I saw my brother alive and unharmed… He thought he’d save me… But…” Cassidy sniffs again. “But no! He won’t do it!”       “Cassidy…”       “Why, Daniel?” Cassidy looks at Daniel with pity in her puffy eyes and shakes her head. “Don’t you really recognize me? It’s me, Cassidy, your sister! You’re pretending that you don’t know me, but I recognized you immediately. And I realized that you were my brother. The lost and found one…”       “Of course, I do,” Daniel pronounces with a slight smile and takes Cassidy’s hands. “And I can’t believe my eyes.”       “I was sure that was you. Even if it’s been many years since we met the last time, I recognized you anyway.”       “Now I also know that you’re my sister.” Daniel grabs Cassidy’s face softly with both hands and makes her look into his eyes. “My little sissy. Who I considered dead all those years.”       “But I didn’t die. I am alive! Here I am! In front of you!”       “I know, sweetie, I know.”       “I felt so hurt when you said you didn’t know me,” Cassidy confesses in a shaking voice. “Even when Wainwright let you know I was your sister, you kept saying I was nobody to you. But I didn’t have the courage to say it openly. I was afraid to look stupid… Kind of… Confused… So, I just noticed you were similar to my brother.”       “I didn’t really know you. I didn’t remember you.”       “But why?”       “It’s a long story, Cassidy. I don’t wanna tell you everything, but I can say it’s Wainwright’s work. He really wanted to defeat me, so you stayed alone. He told me you were alive.”       “Excuse me, but I don’t get it…”       “I got amnesia because of what that man did. I forgot a bigger part of my life and those I had ever spoken to. I couldn’t remember my friends, my family… Nobody.”       “My gosh…” Cassidy opens her eyes widely.       “Don’t worry about me. I’m alright now, and I remember everything. So, I can confidently say I know you. But I must confess that you seemed very familiar to me. I understood I had seen you before, but I didn’t know why. Though, I saw you and you were still alike. Like in childhood.”       “You really remembered nothing?” Cassidy asks hesitantly.       “Nothing… And I sometimes doubted my name.”       “It’s true, Cassidy,” Peter confirms, caressing Cassidy’s shoulder softly. “Daniel really had memory loss that Wainwright provoked. I mean, he didn’t do it. The event that happened to him did.”       “Hit by the car?”       “You know it?”       “Wainwright told. He said he pushed Daniel on the road, and he got hit by the car. But there was no mention of the memory loss.”       “He couldn’t know it.” Daniel assumes confidently. “So, he didn’t say anything.”       “I dunno what to say…” Cassidy pronounces with tears in her eyes. “That’s horrible! Wainwright almost killed my brother!”       “No, no, Cassidy, please, don’t cry.” Daniel wipes tears off Cassidy’s face with a slight smile. “It’s okay now. Here I am! Safe and sound.”       “Take me out…” Cassidy begs in a shaking voice with pity in her eyes. “Please, bro, don’t leave me here… I don’t wanna stay with that sick man… Please… I can only count on you.”       “You won’t stay here, I promise,” Daniel promises confidently. “I will leave only with you and the lads. Together.”       “Really? You won’t leave me?”       “I won’t do it, sis, never.”       “Oh, gosh, Daniel…” Cassidy shakes her head with pity in her wet eyes. “I missed you so much. I felt so lonely… Without my parents… Without my brother…”       “I missed you, too. And I thought of you often. I missed my little sissy, without who I felt very lonely.”       “Brother…”       Cassidy looks at Daniel with wet eyes and finds the strength to smile, forgetting about her weakness in happiness. And two seconds later, they take each other in a strong but tender hug. The man smiles much wider after he hugs his sister for the first time in many years. He feels nice feelings while pressing the young girl to himself and caressing her head tenderly. And she sobs quietly and buries her face in his shoulder, having her arms wrapped around his neck. At some moment, Perkins kisses Cassidy on the temple and rubs his cheek against it, and smiles much wider when she caresses his head. While Peter watches what’s happening with a slight smile, being happy that the brother and sister met and hugged each other after many years of separation.       “I’m sorry, Daniel…” Cassidy begs with despair and pity in her wet eyes. “Sorry… I didn’t want you to suffer because of me.”       “It’s okay, Cass, don’t apologize,” Daniel replies softly, caressing Cassidy’s head. “You’re guilty of nothing.”       “I was such an idiot… I couldn’t accept our parents’ death… Though, you and I were supposed to be together.”       “Don’t do it, sis. There’s only my fault. I didn’t watch you enough. I promised our dying mother that I’d take care of you, but I couldn’t keep my promise. I couldn’t bear the responsibility.”       “I shouldn’t have left home… I shouldn’t have… Even if I felt too bad, I should’ve stayed with you. I should’ve stopped taking drugs. I had a chance! I had!”       “It was super hard for me, too. Not only because of our parents’ deaths, but also because I had to accept the fact that our careless life ended.”       “Forgive me, bro, please…” Cassidy apologizes with a strongly shaking voice. “I promise I will not run. Do anything you’ll say. Just don’t leave me. Don’t give me to Wainwright. Please, Danny… For Mother and Father… Save me…”       “Quiet, quiet, sweetie, don’t cry,” Daniel says softly, caresses Cassidy’s head, and kisses her on the top of her head. “I shall take you away from here and no longer let that bastard mock you. He’ll pay for mocking you for so many years.”       “I beg you, Daniel, be careful. He may try to kill you again.”       “It’s gonna be okay, Cassidy. Trust me.”       “Don’t let that scoundrel take the only thing that I have?”       “We’ll always be together now. Always.”       Cassidy cries on Daniel’s shoulder for a few seconds before they and Peter hear a wild bass shout that belongs to Eugene:       “BASTARDS!”       Daniel steps back from Cassidy sharply and looks around.       “NOW YOU TWO WILL NOT RUN!” Eugene roars loudly with a wide laugh. “YOU WILL DIE! AND YOU, PUPPY, WILL BE FIRST!”       Two or three seconds later, they hear one more loud voice that definitely belongs to Terrence:       “Don’t dare to get closer to him, asshole! I SHALL STRANGLE YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS! NOBODY DARES TO HURT MY BROTHER!”       A few seconds later, a loud roar from Edward rings:       “Get off him now, bastard! GET BACK, I SAID! DON’T DARE TO HURT MY CLOSE PEOPLE! OR I SHALL GET THIS THING INTO YOUR PENIS!”       “It’s Edward and Terrence!” Peter exclaims.       “They’re not far,” Daniel adds. “Together.”       “And they’re with Wainwright!” Cassidy opens her eyes widely and closes her mouth with both hands. “Oh, no! They’re gonna be dead! That man has a backpack with syringes and some shit!”       “A whole backpack?” Peter wonders.       “Yup! He’s got many things: from the strongest drugs to some sedatives and psychotropic substances.”       “Calm down, Cassidy, it’s gonna be okay,” Daniel promises confidently. “Wainwright will do nothing to them.”       “Stay here, but I will go to find the MacClifes,” Peter says confidently. “When we get off that bastard, I’ll bring them here.”       Daniel and Cassidy do not have time to react to Peter getting up sharply and running where he hears the sounds quickly.       “Go with him, Daniel,” Cassidy begs. “Help him!”       “You will stay here?” Daniel gets horrified.       “Yes, I have no strength to get up.”       “Damn, you’re getting worse. You must go to the hospital.”       “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be waiting for you all here.”       “No, Cassidy, I can’t leave you. I must watch you.”       “Please, Dan, help the guys. Follow the blond… Peter or what’s his name… Please, follow him.”       “But, Cassidy…”       “Please, Daniel, go! The guys need your help! They can’t do it without you.”       Daniel hesitates for a few seconds, not wishing to leave Cassidy here but also not finding the courage to leave the men. But in the end, he gives up under his sister’s look full of pity and decides to follow Peter with a heavy heart.       “Okay, I’ll go,” Daniel says hesitantly.       “Do what you need,” Cassidy replies softly. “You can do it.”       “We’ll do our best to take you away as soon as possible,” Daniel promises confidently, caressing Cassidy’s head. “Please, sissy, hold on.”       “I promise, bro, promise.” Cassidy softly puts her hand on Daniel’s cheek and smiles slightly. “Go. The men need you.”       “It’s gonna be okay, trust me,” Daniel hugs Cassidy tenderly, kisses her on the top of the head, and steps back. “I’ll be back soon.”       Daniel gets up slowly, glances aside, and goes after Peter, who has already run far away. Cassidy watches her brother with wet eyes and silently begs that this nightmare is over as soon as possible, not knowing if she can hold on before the men come back and take her out.       

***

      Meanwhile, Terrence and Edward are trying not to get caught in Eugene’s trap and get drugged with something in the needle syringe in the criminal's hands. The MacClife brothers are breathing heavily and walking around in circles with widely open eyes, while Wainwright is going on them with a wild laugh and a wish to kill them as soon as possible.       “So, who wants to be the first one to taste this magical thing?” Eugene asks with a wide laugh. “You, shabby puppy? Or you, the image of your crazy daddy?”       “Do you really think we will let you drug us with that shit at our wish?” Terrence laughs evilly.       “You have no choice!” Eugene laughs wildly with his head proudly raised. “Yeah, you were fighting until the end with the hope of destroying me… But you lost. Proudly, I must say. You did not quail and decided to show all your power. And you also brought your pals. But as we see, you may not wait for their help. And you two did not deal with Eugene Wainwright himself.”       “No, bastard, we haven’t lost yet,” Edward says rudely and confidently. “While we can stand and fight, we have a chance to win.”       “And something tells me if we make a lot of effort, we can deal with you,” Terrence notices coldly. “Seeing that you are barely standing on your feet…”       “Ha, you saw yourself?” Eugene asks with an evil grin. “I only had to give you a few hits to decorate your faces! You are both all in blood and with bruises!”       “I have had them for literally half of my life!”       “But it did not make you a real man. I think there are those, who could be beaten and humiliated as much as you want, but they do not get stronger. They do not get immunity for those things.”       “We do know that you give a fuck about what people think of you,” Terrence replies coldly. “And you even love getting hits.”       “Yeah, I do give a fuck about whether I’m loved!” Eugene says confidently. “You can insult me as much as you want, but it changes nothing. I will not cry like a girl. Like your brother, who might easily die if I kept beating him.”       “Don’t worry, Wainwright, I still have enough strength to fight with you,” Edward says with his head proudly raised. “And I will not calm down until I deal with the one, who has given so many problems to everybody.”       “Oh, yeah, so much that you’re ready to move a mountain!” Eugene sneers contemptuously.       “A wish to protect my fiancée from a bastard like you not to let you harm my close people gives me strength every time I lose it.”       “Do you really think your wish could magically give you energy?”       “That’s what I’m living for. For what I would sacrifice anything.”       “Yeah, MacClife…” Eugene exhales slowly. “It seems like you still believe in tales… Believe that everything ends well.”       “I also get strength from a wish to save my close people,” Terrence says confidently.       “Alright… Another idiot…”       “Listen, Wainwright, why do you actually live in this world?” Edward asks in a low voice. “I don’t get it! What could you give people? You can only dance attendance upon stinkers like my uncle and take it out on poor girls because of your sick fantasies or childhood trauma!”       “I would ask you the same. Why are you living? You have become the curse of the MacClife family! After your birth, your parents’ relationship got much worse, and they broke up.”       “Better close your mouth and don’t dare to say these things about Edward,” Terrence demands rudely. “If Father heard it, he would strangle you with his own hands!”       “But that’s the truth, MacClife. You were a wanted and planned child. But this kid was born just because your father didn’t think of using condoms. So, your mother got him overwhelmed by the piece of news about an unexpected pregnancy.”       “You do not have to do with that, bastard!” Edward throws aggressively. “That’s OUR family business! You do NOT have to do with it! You better make sure you do not become a father. I don’t want any girl to get pregnant by a bastard, who must not make children and bring someone into this world.”       “Do not worry, baby, I need girls to please me, not to make them give birth to little parasites.”       “No, Wainwright, not for that. To make them feel pain. To humiliate them and scare them. So, they’re afraid to start a new relationship because of thinking that someone will force them again. Because of assholes like you, millions of girls in the world go to doctors and psychologists for ages not to panic at the sight of a naked man and his erect penis. And two or three times more girls say nothing about it.”       “Yeah, I love to give people pain and watch them suffer,” Eugene says with a sly smile. “And it’s funny to watch them try to ask for help so hard, set free, and scream at the top of their lungs. Well, the thing I like about girls is the fact that they scream loudly and break free at first, but then they accept it and start only to moan quietly and roll their eyes. And relax… M-m-m…”       “You are a sick scoundrel,” Terrence pronounces with contempt in his eyes. “You must be cured. For a very long time by FORCE.”       “I am not sick. Wanting sex is fine, and I can always stop taking drugs. I have lived for a long enough time without them several times. When servicing Michael, I couldn’t always get some powder. So, if I want, I can stop taking cocaine.”       “Did someone hurt you when you were a child so much that you hate people?” Edward asks coldly. “A certain girl hurt your dignity, and you decided that all women must suffer. When you see a girl or a woman, you shake. You get angry and wish to hurt her.”       “Puppy, have you ever been told about a hormone like testosterone? A male hormone that is responsible for sexual attraction. So, real men have a high one, and they never get problems with getting cuties attracted.”       “No, Wainwright, in your case, the problem is not hormones but brains. Something got stuck in your head, and you attack young girls like a hungry wolf. Though, they aren’t guilty of your problems. That you didn’t learn to accept refusals and thought you could take a girl by force.”       “Listen, MacClife, don’t you think you speak too much?” Eugene sneers evilly. “Of course, it’s not a secret that you have a very long tongue, but I think it’s now as long as Rapunzel’s hair.”       “Is it hurtful to remember how you were humiliated?” Edward smiles slyly. “Hurt you?”       “Stop pretending to be sassy. Just because you got a tattoo does not mean it made you a man immediately.”       “Even a grave can’t fix you!”       “Don’t worry, I will bury a grave for you soon. You will be the first one, into whom I will inject with a dose of drugs or a sedative. And knowing that you’re a tough snake, I shall give you such a big dose that I have never taken. So, you, kid, die and stop standing in my way.”       “We will see it, bastard.”       “After becoming a drug addict, nobody will need you: your blonde gal, your beloved mommy and daddy, your brother, and your pals. And you will piss everyone off and dream only about the dose… Cocaine…”       “Do you think so?” Edward sneers evilly. “Okay! But catch me first. I shall give up on you only when I die.”       “I don’t care! ABSOLUTELY!”       Eugene sharply rushes to Edward to inject what’s inside the syringe into him. Although the man runs aside immediately, Terrence covers him with his body determinedly and pushes Wainwright off himself rudely.       “Don’t dare to hurt him, scoundrel,” Terrence says in a low, rude voice, threatening Eugene with a finger. “Don’t dare to come to him with this shit in your hands.”       “Don’t worry, your time will also come,” Eugene promises confidently. “I have enough drugs for everybody. And if I need more, I shall go to robe someone, sell something, and get lots of money. Thanks to which I can buy good-quality cocaine.”       “Inject yourself to death! To do us a favor!”       “Ah, MacClife…” Eugene shakes his head. “It’s so hilarious to watch you trying to be a hero and protecting this piece of shit. He could only be good if his corpse became food for animals.”       “You want to make me furious?” Terrence clenches his hands into fists tightly. “YOU ARE THE FUCK AIMING IT?”       “Stop trying to be a hero for your brother and fiancée. And everyone. Nobody will forget about your mental issues.”       “YOU have mental issues!” Edward throws rudely. “SERIOUS! YOU, JACKASS, MUST GET THERAPY!”       “Stop making me sure that you are holy and fluffy.”       “All our close people know who Terrence is and what this man could do for those he loves. And we give a fuck about your opinion. You can say any bad things about us.”       “Oh, I give a fuck about who you protect and for whom you’re fighting… I only need one thing – to kill you two and your pals and find your cuties, so they join my beloved Cassidy.”       “SHE IS NOT YOURS, ASSHOLE!” Terrence screams.       “Mine, MacClife, mine. As well as your sexy cuties that I cannot wait to fuck.”       “SHUT UP!” Edward and Terrence shout.       “Listen, why am I still dealing with you?” Eugene sneers evilly. “Why do I try to prove something to you? I should’ve made the dream of Mr. MacClife come true. Who, by the way, had feelings for your mother a long time ago.”       “What are you saying, bastard?” Edward resents.       “Yes, yes, I see you heard it for the first time. So, know that your beloved mommy could’ve been married to the honorable Mr. MacClife, not his fucking brother, who ruined his whole life.”       Being shocked, Edward and Terrence look at each other with rounded eyes.       “It cannot be true,” Terrence says confidently. “You are lying!”       “Uncle loved nobody but him and money,” Edward adds rudely.       “Oh, no, fucking pieces of shit,” Eugene replies confidently, looking at Terrence and Edward coldly. “This is the truth that only some people from the circle of Mr. MacClife knew. Your beloved Uncle Michael never said it to you, your crazy daddy, or even your too emotional mommy.”       While Eugene says it with a sly smile, Peter and Daniel run to the place where he is now with Edward and Terrence. The men quickly managed to orient themselves thanks to the sounds. They get closer to the high ground, from which they see what’s happening very well.       “Oh, shit, Wainwright has a syringe!” Peter gets horrified with widely open eyes. “With some shit!”       “If he injects that into Terrence or Edward, they’ll die,” Daniel assumes.       “Fuck! I thought he’d barely creep! But that asshole is still alive! That’s why they say shit can’t drown!”       While Daniel and Peter watch what’s happening, hearing what the talk is about, Eugene starts walking around Edward and Terrence, who do not let him stay behind them.       “Stop dreaming up a lie!” Edward demands rudely. “You went crazy from drugs!”       “I’m telling the truth, puppy,” Eugene says coldly. “Somehow a long time ago, Mr. MacClife invited me and my mate Eric, whom you know well, to drink a cup of tea. If you lost your memory, that’s the one, who killed Nicolas, the pal of your daddy. So… As Mr. MacClife trusted us at one hundred percent, he told Brown and me that he liked your mommy, Rebecca Jonas, when he was young. And when Jamie introduced her to his parents and his brother, Michael liked her immediately.”       Eugene laughs contemptuously, still walking around in circles in front of Edward and Terrence breathing a little heavily and looking at him with evil in their eyes.       “He tried to charm her a couple of times, but Rebecca let Michael know that she loved your father and rejected his attention. So, it hurt Mr. MacClife’s dignity. His love turned into hatred for your mother and made his hatred for your daddy, who deprived him of everything, much stronger. It was always unpleasant for him to remember how that woman, who he could have showered with money, brilliants, and expensive fur coats rejected his love.”       Meanwhile, Daniel and Peter shake their heads and round their eyes.       “Wow, I didn’t know Michael liked Mrs. MacClife,” Peter frowns slightly. “If that man doesn’t think up, it’s one more reason why Edward and Terrence’s uncle wanted to kill Mr. MacClife and his sons.”       “Huh, he’s dreaming up!” Daniel assumes confidently. “Because of drugs, his brain left behind the boards of the Earth a long time ago.”       “I’d personally believe it.”       “And I don’t believe drug addicts.”       “So, do you believe it now?” Eugene smiles slyly. “Did you know another reason why Michael hated Jamie? The case is not only that the younger brother got all the best, but also the fact that one literally stole the woman from another.”       “Nobody stole anything!” Edward says rudely.       “Mother would’ve never loved such a nasty man like Uncle,” Terrence says confidently.       “She would’ve loved him if she hadn’t met your father, who stole everything from the poor Mr. MacClife,” Eugene replies rudely.       “Ha, he is poor! That old bastard is guilty of everything! He made himself think everyone hates him and went crazy from jealousy of Father. Who did NOTHING bad to him.”       “He did! He was born in this world!”       “So, should Mother have chosen that sick bastard?” Edward wonders.       “She would’ve had everything. Rebecca wouldn’t have to count every single cent and live in poverty.”       “She would’ve lived with Father she loved for a bigger part of her life even in poverty,” Terrence says confidently. “Even in the most terrible condition!”       “She needed true love and care, not a full bag of money and brilliants,” Edward adds. “Which belonged to Father. EVERY FUCKING CENT!”       “Your father has earned no cent,” Eugene says. “He went to the company when everything was done. His daddy worked well and prepared a good place for his beloved sonny.”       “Father wouldn’t have reached that success without long and hard work! He worked a lot, so the company started to give him money. Uncle Michael does not have to do with the firm. That old bastard lied to everybody insolently and got it dishonestly.”       “Yes, yes… And you decided to become a hero and bring money to your daddy. First, you cannot sit around and want problems, even if your ass has many bruises. And second, you cannot stand when a criminal is not in prison, and one owns something that belongs to another.”       “And I do not regret it!” Edward says confidently.       “And you almost became a betrayer to everybody! A nasty bastard, who needed only his family’s money. Your parents felt sorry that they had such a bad sonny, your brother wanted to forget about his connection with you, and your blondie was ready to leave you.”       “Yeah? Didn’t you forget that it was your fault, asshole? Because of you, I could have lost her!”       “That’s bad she confessed everything to you. It would be great if you thought she was a nasty whore until the end of your day. Though… To some extent, she is really the one because she had had enough men before she met you. Not a virgin. But for the beauty of that dolly, you could close your eyes to how many times she has been fucked.”       “You better keep your mouth closed before I break your fucking balls,” Edward hisses through his teeth, clenching his hands into fists tightly. “I will never forget everything you wanted to do to her. How you and Michael framed her! How you and Eric put her to sleep and felt her up insolently! How you almost took her with you when we met! How I was looking for her everywhere, while you, jackass, put your dirty hands into her underwear again. I FORGOT THE FUCK NOTHING!”       “The idea of a betrayal belonged to your uncle, but I just gave him the photos that my friend took,” Eugene smiles innocently. “And don’t worry about the blonde. She will pay me her debts.”       “DON’T TOUCH HER WITH A FINGER!”       “So, are you going to call your pals and start to record a video of you mocking the poor girl?” Terrence asks rudely. “And then post it on the Internet and get that girl ashamed for the WHOLE FUCKING WORLD!”       “Maybe,” Eugene pronounces with a sly smile. “Maybe, I will really record a video of her. Not only her. But also her friends. I’m sure that men will like the porno featuring such sexual cuties. And they want them to suck them.”       “Don’t make me furious, Wainwright, DO NOT DO!” Edward roars. “DON’T EVEN DARE TO SAY THESE THINGS WITH MY PRETENSE! Somehow, you almost ruined her life when you threatened to post those photos on the Internet. But this time, I SHALL NOT LET YOU DO IT.”       “Quiet, quiet, baby, quiet. Don’t become like your sick brother. Otherwise, you will be sitting in a straitjacket and screaming at the top of your lungs until you are put to fucking sleep.”       “You are sick, Wainwright, SICK!” Terrence resents. “How much blood you sucked from those poor girls! And how many girls you’ve buried!”       “Don’t worry, MacClife, the gorgeous fiancées of your brother, and you will accompany my beloved baby Cassidy. The girlfriends of those two freaks will also join our fun. I shall make them do everything I want, and none of them will mind it.”       Eugene laughs wildly with a widely open mouth, and Daniel gets literally green from anger and tightly clenches his hands into fists with a quiet growl.       “I wish a heavy stone fell over you, bastard!” Daniel hisses through his teeth. “And crushed you to the fuck!”       “Don’t dare to look at Helene, otherwise, I shall get your dick into your ass,” Peter threatens in a low voice. “Kill you, bastard…”       “Fuck, how could these bastards live in this world? If I could, I’d castrate all motherfuckers like Wainwright, so they don’t poison women’s lives or drug them with drugs.”       “You will not even dare to look at Natalia!” Edward says with a heavy breath. “I will not be responsible for myself if something happens to her because of you! And I give a fuck about what will happen to me. I will tear you apart if I see or know that you come to her at least once.”       “Expect the same from me if you dare to hurt Raquelle,” Terrence throws rudely. “We will have a lynching of you! And we will never regret it! We will do anything to know that no snake will dare to hurt our girls.”       “WHAT?” Eugene shouts. “WHAT DO YOU SAY?”       “You will die!” Edward and Terrence exclaim.       “HUH! YOU WANT TO DIE? DO YOU?”       “Clean your ears, idiot!” Edward sneers evilly.       “SO, ALRIGHT THEN! IF YOU WANT TO DIE, IT WILL HAPPEN. AND YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE!”       Eugene checks the syringe by pressing it one time with a wild laugh and comes to Edward and Terrence with a crazy look confidently but slowly, while they go back with widely open eyes, not stopping looking at the opponent.       “We’ve gotta take this shit away from him,” Edward whispers. “Attacking him is dangerous now.”       “But how?” Terrence wonders. “He doesn’t move his eyes off. If we get closer, this bastard will inject this shit into us!”       “Anyway, don’t let him get closer to you. I will choose a moment and take the syringe out of his hand.”       “You better keep yourself far from this bastard. And I will take this thing from him.”       “It’s gonna be okay, don’t worry. We’ll overcome it.”       Meanwhile, Eugene runs to them with a loud shout and wants to attack them. But they sharply jump on the other sides, grab him by the collar, and throw him on a tree. That’s why he hits his head and lets the syringe go. But Wainwright takes it quickly, throws MacClife, Jr., on one of the stones, and tries to get the needle into his neck. But the guy tightly grabs the hand with the syringe with both hands and holds it above his chest until his older brother strikes the criminal down. While MacClife, Sr., pines the opponent’s face to the ground and pulls his hair out strongly, his younger brother runs to the hateful enemy and tries to take the syringe by force. But Eugene holds it too tightly and pulls it on himself. And a few moments later, the criminal throws Terrence aside with a hit on his chest, strikes Edward down by smashing his fist against his temple, and gets up.       Wainwright tries to get the syringe into MacClife, Jr., but the guy grabs his hand in time, twists it sharply, making him scream at the top of his lungs, and strikes him down without problems. Then Edward takes Terrence’s hand to help him get up, and the two jump back the next second because Eugene does not stop trying to kill them. A little later, the eldest MacClife brother tries to slap Wainwright in the face, but the criminal sharply grabs his arm, brings it around his back, and twists it painfully. He wants to get the needle into the back of MacClife, Sr.’s neck, but Edward pushes the opponent off with a leg on his chest and hits the opponent on the chin with a fist. Breathing heavily, Eugene tries to get his hand out furiously, but the guy holds it too tightly and squeezes it painfully.       “Fuck, we’ve gotta do something!” Daniel exclaims. “Or that bastard will inject that shit into one of them. They can barely resist him.”       “Terrence and Edward should take the syringe away,” Peter says thoughtfully. “The guys can strike him down only if Wainwright doesn’t have the syringe. They’re risking a lot by attacking him, while he is holding it.”       “But he reacts immediately and doesn’t let them do anything! These two can only protect themselves and each other!”       “So, he must get knocked out. This is the only way to play time and get out of here.”       “Yeah, and how are gonna do it?” Daniel wonders a little louder. “Nothing can kill that boar! He is kind of an unbreakable wall! He’d probably send us four to the hospital or make us disabled easier than we’d knock him out.”       “He is barely standing, Daniel! If we take the syringe and hit him on the head as strongly as possible, he should pass out. At least, he won't be able to fight for some time.”       “Okay, how do we take the syringe away?” Daniel puts his hands on his hips. “Your suggestions?”       “I dunno… But I don’t wanna show myself immediately… May he think that only the MacClife got out of the house.”       “So, should we just stay here and watch that bastard beating the MacClifes?” Daniel scoffs quietly. “Yay, Rose! The plan is genius!”       “No…” Peter looks around quickly and notices many small rocks. “Listen, I’ve got an idea! What if we try to distract Wainwright? Start to throw rocks?”       “Well, if you want it, let’s throw this big one on his head,” Daniel replies gloomily with both arms crossed over his chest, pointing at the big stone next to him. “We wouldn’t have to distract him, ‘cause he’d knock out shortly!”       “Nice suggestion… But I think we’ve gotta do something for his attention not to be focused only on the MacClifes.”       “Okay, I won’t argue.”       “I will try to throw one and see what’s gonna happen.”       Peter takes one of many rocks from the ground, throws it in the air several times, and gets ready to throw it. Meanwhile, Edward grabs Eugene’s hand tightly not to let him get the needle into the shoulder of Terrence, who turned his back on him after the strong slap in the face and grabbed his cheek. MacClife, Jr., starts a hand-in-hand fight with him determinedly, showing a brilliant reaction and avoiding attacks from the opponent in time. But a few seconds later, Eugene brings Edward’s arms around his back, twists them, and doubles him over. He tries to get the needle into his neck, raising his hand with the syringe. But when the needle is a few centimeters from the neck of the younger of the MacClife brothers, everybody can hear a certain sound after someone throws a rock, which falls on the ground next to Eugene. The criminal immediately lets his opponent go and looks around with widely open eyes.       “WHAT THE FUCK?” Eugene screams. “WHO IS HERE? WHO WANTS TO KILL ME?”       Eugene looks around again and runs aside a few meters further, while Edward and Terrence being a little discouraged look at each other and shrug, as they keep watching Wainwright with a heavy breath.       “COME, EVERYONE, I AM READY TO FIGHT WITH ALL OF YOU!” Eugene demands loudly. “SHOW YOURSELF, COWARDS! SHOW UP! I WILL PROVE THAT YOU DO NOT BETTER GET IN TOUCH WITH ME!”       “Hey, it really works!” Daniel exclaims, hiding behind a bust alongside Peter. “Wainwright thinks someone wants to kill him again and stares at some bust.”       “Oh, oh, oh, oh, what a bad bust…” Peter scoffs ironically, shaking his head. “It’s threatening that stinker… What does it need from him, huh? Would it come alive and try to kill him?”       “Ha, let’s see who’s gonna kill him now.”       Daniel takes a small rock with a sly smile, waits for a moment, points it, and throws it at Eugene as strongly as possible, getting into the back of his head. He shakes sharply with a loud shout, grabs his head, and turns aside quickly.       “AY!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “WHO IS THE FUCK HERE? FIGHT WITH ME! FEEL MY POWER! I SHALL SHOW YOU WHERE YOU BELONG! STOP BEING COWARDS!”       Although Terrence and Edward understand nothing and stand in the same place, the two chuckle quietly, watching Eugene go crazy and blame every single bust and leaf for “attacking” him.       “You’re gonna get kicked, motherfucker,” Daniel smirks evilly. “This whole wood will become your enemy.”       “If only the MacClifes understood that they have a chance,” Peter replies. “They’re standing like two stumps and blinking their eyes surprisingly.”       “So, we will have much more fun.”       A few seconds later, Peter and Daniel throw two more rocks at the same time, and they fall down next to Eugene.       “NO, STOP IT!” Eugene jumps like a boiling kettle. “SHOW YOURSELF NOW! STOP HIDING! THE ONE TO LOSE WILL BE GETTING HIGH FROM MY MAGICAL POWDER! YOU WILL GIVE A FUCK ABOUT EVERYTHING!”       “Huh, we will see it, son of a bitch,” Peter sneers evilly.       “Come on, you, two boneheads…” Daniel pronounces quietly. “You’ve got a chance, but you’re standing and looking at that sick man like a picture in a museum!”       Edward and Terrence just realize that they have a great chance to attack Eugene. They look at each other confidently, nod, and wait for a good moment. While Wainwright threatens everything he sees with the needle, looking forward with his wide eyes, the MacClife brothers come to him from behind slowly and quietly. Daniel and Peter notice it and keep distracting the criminal, throwing rocks on the other sides and getting into him sometimes. And when they get very close to the opponent, Edward sharply uses a chokehold, turns him to the side, and strikes the screaming man down slowly.       “NO, STOP!” Eugene bellows hysterically. “PLEASE! SHOW MERCY! STOP!”       Terrence grabbing Eugene’s hand tightly tries to take the syringe, get what’s inside out of it, and throw it as far as possible. But the man holds it very tightly and does not want to give it categorically.       “NO, I SHALL NOT GIVE, NEVER!” Eugene keeps screaming. “I WILL BE PROTECTING MYSELF! YOU ALL WILL BECOME OBEDIENT AFTER THIS THING! YOU ALL WILL BE AT MY MERCY! I SHALL DESTROY YOU! DESTROY!”       “No, bastard, YOU will be at our mercy,” Edward replies in a low, scaring voice.       “And you will finally pay for what you’ve done,” Terrence adds coldly.       “DO NOT WAIT, BASTARDS!” Eugene roars furiously. “EUGENE WAINWRIGHT NEVER GIVES UP! ESPECIALLY TO SOME BASTARDS LIKE YOU TWO AND THOSE TWO FREAKS THAT WILL DIE VERY SOON!”       “You catch us first!” Edward sneers evilly.       “I will. I WILL DO IT! YOU ALL WILL WHINE FROM PAIN!”       Eugene strongly smashes his fist against Edward’s arm, making him let him go after feeling the pain immediately. The criminal strikes MacClife, Jr., down easily and tries to get the needle into his heart. But the guy, clenching his teeth, grabs Wainwright’s hands and holds them above himself for a few seconds. Now Terrence uses a chokehold on the opponent, who gets a hit on his underbelly with a leg and a couple of slaps in the face from MacClife, Jr., At first, Peter and Daniel throw rocks next to Eugene or somewhere else, but now they decide to reach the opponent himself, his face, or any other part of his body, hoping that it would help Edward and Terrence do just something.       A little later, Eugene manages to strike Terrence and Edward down again. He gets up sharply and, laughing widely and loudly, comes to the brothers, who start to creep back after they see him getting ready to get the needle into one of them. But then, Peter strongly throws one more rock at Wainwright and gets into the syringe, which immediately gets out of his hand and gets thrown aside.       “Come on!” Peter opens his mouth.       “WHAT THE FUCK…” Eugene shouts and shakes sharply after the rock thrown at him by Daniel gets into the back of his head. “STOP THE FUCK!”       Terrence and Edward get up sharply, and the latter runs to Eugene and kicks him in the jaw with a fist as strongly as possible. While he turns on aside, MacClife, Jr., manages to get him down on his knees before he falls on the ground himself. Terrence strikes Wainwright down with a hit on the solar plexus and starts to fight with him cruelly hand in hand. Edward creeps to the thrown syringe, gets the liquid out of it, and throws it as far as possible. Then he gives attention to the heavy stick, which Terrence and he used to protect themselves against Wainwright. MacClife, Jr., glances at his brother, gets up shortly, runs to the stick, and takes it.       Eugene manages to get Terrence off himself and slap him strongly in the face. He would probably keep beating the man furiously, but when he punches the man’s face with a hand with a wish to break his neck, Edward rushes to him and hits the opponent on the back of his head as strongly as he can. Wainwright shakes sharply, falls to the ground like a stone with rolled eyes up, and hits his temple against it. After this, he stops moving or trying to stand up. Silence settles in the air, which may be broken by a heavy, uneven breath of Terrence still lying on the ground and looking around with dumbfounded eyes and Edward holding the stick with both hands tightly and keeping his legs shoulder-width apart. Daniel and Peter relax a little and stop throwing rocks, seeing that Eugene is lying unconscious, and exhale with great relief silently.       “I think we did it,” Peter says a little hesitantly. “Edward has knocked him out…”       “That was powerful,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “MacClife is crazy in this case.”       “We’ve gotta find a way down.”       “I saw a way that could lead us there.”       “Don’t tell me we’ll really have to take a big circle and run two more miles.”       “We will, Rose, we will. Let’s go!”       Daniel and Peter turn around and go somewhere quickly. Well, the exhausted Edward and Terrence keep breathing heavily, feeling a strong pain all over their bodies and understanding that the fast heartbeat literally echoes in their heads. At some moment, MacClife, Sr., looks at his brother with dumbfounded eyes, while the guy looks at him with the same look, being tense with the thought that he will have to fight with Eugene again. A few seconds later, Terrence finds the strength to get up slowly, hesitantly comes to Edward and Eugene lying unconscious on the ground, and looks at him scarily.       “Erm…” Terrence pronounces hesitantly after a long pause. “He is… Alive?”       Edward looks at Eugene for two seconds, holding the stick with both hands and keeping his legs shoulder-width apart, before he says with a heavy breath:       “He’s breathing… But he passed out…”       “What if he’s pretending? What if he’s wanting for a moment to attack us?”       “Oh…” Edward comes to Eugene very carefully and pushes him with the stick quietly, noticing the body of the opponent is soft, and his eyes are closed tight. “His eyes are closed… The body is soft…”       “Sure?”       “Let’s hope.”       Terrence exhales sharply and glances at Edward breathing heavily and Eugene, who is really lying unconscious. It makes the man calm down and relax a little, understanding how much every muscle of his is tense. Edward goes aside, throws the stick, and stands for two seconds. Then he closes his eyes, raises his head up, exhaling slowly and swallowing up nervously, and looks up to the gray sky with tired eyes. A little later, Terrence turns on his brother, watches him for two seconds, and comes to him.       “How are you?” Terrence asks quietly, squeezing Edward’s shoulder slightly. “Fine?”       “More or less,” Edwards nods.       “You look bad.”       “You don’t look better.”       “I’m fine. Just got a little tired.”       “Not surprised.”       Edward steps aside, puts his hands on his hips, still breathing heavily enough, puts them on his knees, and doubles over. Now, when the power of adrenaline is not so strong, weakness lets him know about it, and he starts to realize that everything hurts, and he would have to get seriously ready for another fight.       “Hey, are you really okay?” Terrence expresses anxiety, coming to Edward and looking at him better.       “Yes, yes, it’s okay,” Edward nods. “I just got a little tired…”       Edward glances at one of the stumps placed not far from him and decides to sit down. But due to his weakness, his legs get weak sharply, and he wants to fall to the ground. But he falls down on his knees because Terrence takes him under his arm shortly.       “Hey, hey, Edward, Edward, c’mon?” Terrence jabs with widely open eyes.       “It’s okay, my legs just got weak from weakness,” Edward replies quietly. “I misjudged my strength…”       “Quiet, bro, quiet. Sit down…”       Terrence helps Edward get up and slowly brings him to one of the stumps, on which the guy sits, still breathing heavily, doubling over, and running his hands through his hair.       “Hey, you feel too bad?” Terrence expresses anxiety, keeping a hand on Edward’s shoulder or slapping it slightly and bending to his brother.       “No, no, it’s okay,” Edward replies quietly.       “You must go to the hospital. That bastard was beating you too strongly. You hardly got only bruises.”       “Don’t worry, Terrence. I just need to have some rest. Give me two minutes.”       Edward pinches the bridge of his nose and tries to catch a breath, feeling a strong weakness, Terrence shakes his head, watching his brother anxiously and thinking that the current picture is explainable enough.       “What you wanted!” Terrence exclaims. “Did you think that meeting this man wouldn’t have consequences?”       “I understood what I was gonna do and knew I could suffer,” Edward replies quietly.       “And you wanted to fight him alone. That bastard would’ve brought you to another world. You must be grateful to Peter and me for going with you and helping you fight with Wainwright.”       “Oh, brother, here we go again…” Edward runs his hands over his face with a quiet moan. “It’s okay! I’m alive and healthy! I just got a little exhausted!”       “You are alive just because you were not alone. Otherwise, you would’ve died! Wainwright could’ve done anything to you during your first meeting with him after his escape from prison.”       “But he didn’t do it! Otherwise, I would’ve died, and Natalia would’ve experienced what is happening to Cassidy.”       “Because you were madly lucky! But your luck will not be infinite! Early or late, that asshole will get what he wants, kill you, and bury you in wood.”       “He will not! I will not let!”       “Why did you the fuck go here and start all of this?” Terrence wonders. “Why? It’s okay you wanted to find out where he was hiding. But you also wanted to get into his house! We could’ve just gotten out of here and told the police his current location, and they would’ve done everything!”       “I should’ve done that!”       “What? You wanted to get your face beaten? You’re the fuck sick of living a quiet life and decided to look for trouble?”       “But we found Cassidy,” Edward replies quietly. “What if we hadn’t found her? That bastard would’ve kept mocking her and giving her that shit?”       “Do not get off the subject, Edward!” Terrence says coldly. “Now the talk is not about that girl but about you. About my brainless brother, who does love playing on people’s nerves!”       “Fuck, don’t start hysteria…” Edward closes his face with both hands. “I’ve got no strength to argue…”       “Obviously! You hear only yourself, and do not think of others!”       “I don’t think?” Edward wonders loudly.       “I have tried to get into your head that was madness A HUNDRED times! A HUNDRED! But you didn’t listen to Peter and me and did what you wanted! So, you got your face beaten strongly!”       “But I wasn’t killed!”       “It could’ve been otherwise!”       “Damn, Terrence, what do you want from me? Why do you annoy me with your lectures?”       “Wash your brains! Teach you what you haven’t been the fuck able to understand for twenty-seven years!”       “What would it change? Everything is done!”       “Why did the fuck you go here?” Terrence wonders loudly. “Why, the fuck? Haven’t you played a hero enough yet? Do you want to do much more stupid and crazy things? Are you sick of living? You cannot stay in the same fucking place!”       “That was my decision! Nobody made you come here!”       “As well as you! No smart person would go into the trap of a monster at their wish! And you still try to find out what’s gonna happen if you get your fingers in a socket.”       “If I have to, I can kill that bastard! So, the life of my fiancée is quiet, and she sleeps quietly!”       “Yeah, is that okay Natalia may be worried because of your wild wish to have a lynching of this man?” Terrence breaks into a cry. “Raquelle is probably worried, as well! They both are restless!”       “I’m doing all of this for their safety! So, that sick bastard doesn’t reach them!”       “No, Edward, not for that, but for a wish to get into trouble again and again and play Superman. Father was right when he said that your passion for trouble crossed all the lines.”       “I could not leave without kicking that motherfucker for everything he had done!”       “Fuck, how stupid and irresponsible you are,” Terrence says gloomily and knocks at his temple with a finger. “Where are your fucking brains? You are an adult man, but you are acting like a child that must be kept in close view!”       “Ar-r-r, you decided to give me lectures?” Edward growls irritably. “I do feel bad, but you decided to wash my brains!”       “And I will do it! Until you grow up! And stop making everybody nervous!”       “What’s your matter? It’s my life! I am responsible for that! I’m no longer a little boy and can be responsible for myself and my actions! Work on your fucking life! Why do you annoy me? I DIDN’T ASK YOU TO READ ME LECTURES!”       “I have to watch you! When nobody slows you down, you’re running with closed eyes. And seeing what’s happening now, I’m sorry about not being much harsher and taking you away by force.”       “I wouldn’t have gone here if I had known I wouldn’t have been to deal with Wainwright,” Edward replies coldly.       “You wouldn’t have dealt with him anyway, Edward, get it!” Terrence exclaims loudly. “You’re alive just because you had help. If Peter and I hadn’t been with you, you would’ve died or been drugged with a great dose of drugs a long time ago!”       “I am not helpless and can stand for myself.”       “Stop thinking you’re powerful. You’ve got no chance! No chance! Because Wainwright is a drug addict, who sniffs some bullshit.”       “I don’t care if he’s drugged or not! I shall find a way to deal with him! Alone or with someone’s help!”       “You’re insane, Edward!” Terrence resents. “Just sick! Think about Natalia and our parents! Or do you give a fuck about everyone? Is a wish to beat someone’s face and hit your balls more important?”       “I always think of my close people when I do something!”       “If you did, you’d turn on your brains and wouldn’t pretend to be a hero! You didn’t think of anything when you decided to get into the house. We all got caught by Wainwright and locked in the place, which that bastard wanted to burn down.”       “So, am I an egoist that thinks only of himself?”       “Yes! If you forgot that there were people, who you put in danger! Who could’ve died because of your tricks!”       “I didn’t the fuck ask you to go with me!” Edward stands up sharply from the stump and turns on the mad Terrence. “Why did you go if you knew that this bastard could kill you? I’ve asked you to get out of here and not to meddle in this case a million times! If you’d left, you’d been sitting at home with Raquelle and hadn’t made her worried.”       “I do care about what’s happening to you,” Terrence throws coldly. “While you give a fuck about everyone, I DO NOT! I CAN THINK OF OTHER PEOPLE!”       “You know what? Since you came with me, don’t complain! That was your decision, and I didn’t make you go with me!”       “I did it because I don’t want to know about your death! Especially because of that bastard, Wainwright! Because I find myself responsible for you! Because I care and worry about you! And I don’t want to stand in front of a grave with your name on it.”       “I’m not a baby, and I can take care of me.”       “Look at yourself, idiot! A little bit before you don’t need a hospital! You will ask for trouble, brother! You will go to a morgue if you don’t turn your brains on!”       “I give a fuck!” Edward exclaims loudly. “I’ve been beaten so many times in my whole life that I don’t care about bruises!”       “Who made you so crazy? Who? Are you still trying to prove something to someone? Sometimes I think those stinkers like Wainwright or Brown are right that you show off too much and just do some senseless things.”       “As if you would be calm if you were instead of me! You would fret and fume just to deal with the one to hurt your close person. If something happened to Raquelle, you’d listen to nobody and do what you want.”       “What am I doing now?” Terrence asks irritably. “WHAT? WALKING THE FUCK? No! I am saving your ass! Making sure that you don’t do much more stupid things and lie on the ground half dead and on high.”       “I repeat, I would’ve done it alone! It is too hard for me because it’s a double responsibility: dealing with Wainwright and protecting you and Rose. And you are making me nervous!”       “It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t wanted to get into the house of that bastard. It’s okay you followed, but why did you get into that? You got the problems and involved the blond and me in them! AS IF WE NEEDED IT?”       “Stop, Terrence, STOP!” Edward breaks into a cry, grabbing his hair. “Just because you’re my older brother doesn’t mean you have a right to tell me what to do! I am on edge! Because I don’t know how the heck protect those, who don’t have to do with Wainwright! How not to let the one, whom I also care and worry about, suffer! Who I will NEVER be indifferent to!”       “Now you only think of yourself! About how to get rid of a lack of revenge and blood! You are dependent on a wish to get problems, just like Wainwright is dependent on drugs and young girls.”       “I gave you a chance to leave and leave it all to me, but you did not use it! I gave you a chance not to be beaten and not to get these bruises and scars! A chance to be next to Raquelle and spend time with her! BUT YOU DIDN’T USE IT!”       “You should have GOTTEN OUT OF HERE TO THE FUCK! GOTTEN OUT, HEAR ME!”       “I regret only one thing: not making you and Peter leave by force. I should’ve actually fought with you to hell, so you wanted to get out.”       “I SHOULD HAVE taken you out by force! Everything would’ve been OKAY if I had shown much harshness.”       “Stop watching me like a child! I AM NOT A CHILD! HEAR ME! NOT A CHILD!”       “It’s okay, brother, I shall tell Mother and Father what you did, and they will wash your brains, too. Especially, Father. He will beat you with a belt, so that your ass HURTS for the whole week.”       “Sorry, Terrence, but you’re starting to irritate me,” Edward exhales sharply.       “No, you are starting to irritate me, little rag. I am mad that you’re so stupid and don’t do what you’re told!”       “Alright, get out of here. Come on, shake up, and get out! I will do this on my own!”       “You WILL NOT stay here alone! I WILL NOT LET YOU! Either we leave together, or we both stay here!”       “Ar-r-r, talking to you is impossible!” Edward growls irritably and steps back from Terrence sharply. “IMPOSSIBLE! TOLERATING EVERYTHING YOU DO REQUIRES A GREAT PATIENCE!”       Edward crossing his arms over his chest steps aside with a quiet, short step.       “Where are you going?” Terrence resents. “Where are you the fuck going, I am asking? STOP! STOP, I SAID!”       “Go to the fuck, asshole!” Edward throws rudely.       “Oh, no! You will go nowhere!” Terrence quickly catches Edward leaving, takes him under his arm, and turns him sharply on himself. “No step aside without me!”       “Get off!” Edward demands and gets his arm sharply out of Terrence’s grip.       “I swear, if you don’t calm down, I shall grab the stick and hit you on the head as well as you hit Wainwright.”       “I said go to the fuck! I don’t want to talk to you!”       “Edward!”       “FUCK, LEAVE ME ALONE!”       Edward tries to run far away again, but Terrence catches him quickly and has to fight with him hand in hand for a few seconds.       “Move your hands off me!” Edward demands loudly. “Get off! LEAVE ME! DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU! GET OFF ME! GET OFF!”       “Stop, I said!” Terrence exclaims. “Stop! Edward! You hear what I say! Stop the fuck! Stop! STOP! Wake up!”       “DON’T TOUCH ME!”       “Ar-r-r-r… Calm down! FUCK, I SAID, CALM DOWN!”       Terrence gives Edward a strong slap in the face against his wish, making the guy grab his cheek immediately and feel like he got splashed with water. MacClife, Sr., watches his brother for two seconds with a little heavy breath and pronounces in a low voice:       “Sorry, I had no choice…”       A tense silence settles in the air for a few seconds. Being much quieter now, Edward slowly turns his back on Terrence and thinks about something with his arms crossed over his chest. At some moment, his brother exhales slowly before he says something quietly:       “Okay, sorry… Maybe, I crossed the line.” Terrence shakes his head. “But I do really care about you, Edward. And I don’t want to know you died or are about to die someday. I decided to go with you because I wanted to help and protect you. If you’d been alone, Wainwright would’ve dealt with you for a few seconds. I understood I could suffer. I felt something bad would happen. But I couldn’t let you go to this hell alone. When we saw him, and you followed him, I started to panic. At the thought that I would never see you again.”       Terrence falls into silence for two seconds to swallow up nervously.       “You’re my younger brother. That I love. I must help and protect you. If we do something risky, we must be together. If I didn’t care about you, I wouldn’t have gone with you. I would’ve let you deal with all of that shit alone. But I do care. And I will never be indifferent to you. My best friend.”       Edward says nothing for a few seconds, swallows up nervously, and says quietly in a low voice:       “I’m sorry for what happened.” Edward lowers his arms, turns on Terrence slowly, and looks at him hesitantly. “Let’s think I really looked for trouble and believed that I could deal with Wainwright alone. Sometimes I really lack adrenaline. I can’t sit in the same place… I… I’d waste away if I didn’t do something that would shake me up. Not what I had to feel now. But… I tolerated this pain. I did it for my close people. That’s what made me hold on. I’ve always fought for my close people ‘till the end. And I will be fighting.”       “But it wasn’t worth it,” Terrence replies quietly. “You could just follow Wainwright and tell the police about him. Not get into his house.”       “I just wanted to beat the face of that bastard again.” Edward glances aside. “A wish to take revenge for what that man could’ve done to Natalia and what he has done was way stronger than any fear. When I look at him, I see the photos of Rochester being naked and trying to get off that motherfucker.”       “I get it, but it could’ve led to a catastrophe.”       “I tried to make you and Rose run.”       “It was stupid to think that we’d leave you alone with that sick scumbag.”       “I thought, but I hoped for the best.” Edward looks at Terrence hesitantly. “But don’t think I’m not grateful to you for the help. Vice versa, I am. Madly. Really. Thank you so much for coming with me. You had a right to leave, but you stayed, even knowing that you could be in danger.”       “I will never leave if danger is threatening you.”       “I know. If you had the same situation, I would do the same. Because I don’t want to lose my brother. And I know I must support and help him.”       “Glad to hear it.” Terrence comes to Edward with a slight smile and grips his shoulders slightly. “And thank you for protecting me. I wouldn’t have dealt with that stinker alone.”       “That was my duty.”       “I guess you proved that there’s no limit to your bravery when the case is about your close people.”       “Oh, yay, a brave, irresponsible boy without brains,” Edward laughs shyly.       “You are,” Terrence rolls his eyes for a second and smiles slyly. “You’re really a sick and very weird donkey that irritates me by just doing nothing.”       “Oh, yeah, come on! Every time you start talking about your irreplaceability, I wanna grab something heavy and throw it at your gorgeous head.”       “And I love you, little rag,” Terrence ruffles Edward’s disheveled hair with a slight smile.       “Hey, don’t ruffle my hair,” Edward chuckles kindly, strokes down his hair, and fixes the fringe on his forehead.       “C’mon, have you ever had good hair? You’re always like a scarecrow!”       “And you’ve overplayed a daddy!”       Edward and Terrence laugh quietly and take each other in a tight, amicable hug with slight smiles on their faces, sharing a slight clap on the back or the head.       “You know, I was really scared when Wainwright hinted that you were about to die,” Terrence confesses. “But when I saw you came here, I felt like a mountain fell off my shoulders.”       “And I was terribly scared when I saw you fighting with Wainwright,” Edward replies. “I was scared that this asshole would kill you.”       Terrence and Edward step away with a slight smile, and the latter claps his brother on the cheek. They say nothing for a few seconds, and then MacClife, Sr., puts his hand on his forehead with a tired moan and says thoughtfully:       “Okay… We’ve gotta get out of here…”       “Yeah, and find Peter…” Edward exhales sharply. “To do this, we’ve gotta come back to the house.”       “And Daniel, too… If he’s still here.”       “Yeah, it’d be great to bring that helpless boy home,” Edward chuckles kindly. “He got lost and doesn’t know how to find a way.”       “I guess he’s sitting somewhere and crying… He’s afraid not to see his Blanca.”       “Right!”       “But how do we get out of here?” Terrence looks around quickly. “When I was coming here, I went back to the same place a thousand times. I almost got lost…”       “Me too… I came here thanks to the voices of Wainwright and yours.”       “The phone doesn’t work here. I tried to check the location where we are, but there’s no signal.”       “Sorry. Using phones would make it easier.”       Edward and Terrence do not notice how Eugene comes to himself slowly with a strong headache. He looks at the brothers with evil in his half-closed eyes. The criminal tries to get up sharply, but he immediately feels dizzy and falls to the ground. He needs a few seconds just to sit up and get ready to get up. And at some moment, he lets Edward and Terrence about himself, threatening them with a finger and screaming at the top of his lungs:        “BASTARDS!”       Edward and Terrence turn on Eugene sharply and open their eyes widely, tensing all their muscles.       “ASSHOLES!” Eugene keeps roaring, getting up slowly with a bitten bullet. “YOU WILL GET OFF ME! I WILL DESTROY YOU! AND YOU, PUPPY, WILL BE FIRST!”       When Eugene overcoming the pain wants to attack Edward and Terrence, Daniel and Peter come here suddenly.       “Hey!” Daniel gives a voice loudly. “Are you going far, bastard?”       When Daniel comes to Eugene, he gives him two strong hits in the jaw from different sides.       “This is for my sister, asshole!” Daniel shouts. “DON’T DARE TO GET CLOSER TO HER, FUCKING PEDOPHILE! OR YOUR DICK WILL BE SEPARATED FROM YOU!”       Daniel wants to hit Eugene again, but the criminal grabs his hand tightly, raises it slightly, and tries to twist another. But Perkins does not get confused, hits him between the legs, sets his hands free, and slaps him in the face strongly. Wainwright barely realizing who he is fighting with and having not very much energy like before tries to answer with the same hit, but Daniel quickly turns aside. And the next second, Peter hits Eugene on the head as strongly as he can with the heavy stick that he is holding. It’s enough for Wainwright to fall to the ground like a stone and pass out again. The friends set their contemptuous look on the unconscious Eugene with their heads proudly up, look at each other, and give a five. Everything happens so fast that Edward and Terrence understand nothing and stare at the criminal lying on the ground with their mouths open. At some moment, they look at each other questioningly and come to Perkins and Rose, who go toward them.       “Peter?” Edward pronounces surprisingly. “How did you end up here?”       “Heard your voices not far from here,” Peter replies and throws the stick aside. “Oh! I got sick of looking for you, to be honest.”       “Where have you been?” Terrence wonders. “We thought you were locked in the house!”       “Yes, he locked me in a room with drugs. But I got out, examined the house, found none of you, and went outside.”       “Hey, Rose, weren’t you the one to throw the rocks?” Edward frowns slightly.       “I was,” Peter smiles slyly.       “We were,” Daniel fixes.       “So, did you strike the syringe out of Wainwright’s hand so well?” Terrence addresses Peter.       “Sorta,” Peter shrugs. “But I swear it happened accidentally. I got shocked when the rock got into the syringe.”       “But that was awesome,” Edward notices with a slight smile.       “Yes, buddy, you really helped us,” Terrence says, putting a hand on his forehead. “We were trying to take that fucking syringe away, but he never let us do it and was too fast.”       “Yeah, great boar…” Peter agrees and glances at the unconscious Eugene. “But he’s been knocked out.”       “Thanks, blond, many thanks,” Edward thanks amicably. “It really helped us.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, after which Edward and Terrence move their suspicious looks to Daniel looking at Eugene lying unconscious with contempt.       “Hey, stop, I don’t understand…” Edward frowns slightly, putting his hands on his hips. “What is Perkins doing here? Why hasn’t he gotten out of here?”       “Indeed!” Terrence exclaims and crosses his arms over his chest. “Why is the fuck this man still here?”       “Don’t even hope I will leave,” Daniel replies confidently. “It will not happen!”       “So, man, did you like to play a hero so much?” Terrence sneers evilly. “Or are you just afraid to get lost and waiting for us to take your hand and bring you home?”       “He is afraid not to see his beloved and imitable Blanca anymore,” Edward laughs quietly.       “I’m not going to let that bastard mock my sister,” Daniel says confidently. “That asshole will pay for what he has done to her.”       “Wow…” Terrence frowns slightly.       “If my memory doesn’t betray me, you said you didn’t have a sister,” Edward crosses his arms over his chest.       “No, I do,” Daniel pronounces quietly. “Cassidy is really my younger sister.”       “Oh, I guess Perkins peed his pants and is ready to say any bullshit,” Terrence sneers evilly. “He was so scared of the knife, which Uncle Eugene put against his throat, that he is still overwhelmed.”       “That’s true! She is my sister that I did not see for many years.”       “Oh, great!” Edward claps his hands. “Why didn’t you tell us about her before? Or did I miss or forget something?”       “All those years, I thought Cassidy was dead. Many years ago, my sister left home after our parents died. The police were looking for her for a long time, but they didn’t do it. They pronounced her a missing person. So, I made myself accept the fact that my sister was dead. But as it turned out, Cassidy is alive. All this time, she was wandering on the streets and got caught by Wainwright.”       “M-m-m, great story,” Terrence says with both arms crossed over his chest, rolling his eyes up.       “Yeah, I briefly believed it,” Edward laughs quietly. “Sometimes a fear can make a person dream up freaking breathtaking stories that any naive person would believe.”       “I’m not lying to you, guys!” Daniel exclaims. “I swear, that’s the truth!”       “Listen, Perkins, did you hit your head again? You have memory issues and also lost the rest of your brains!”       “It seems like you are deeply shocked if you haven’t snapped and threatened to kill us over the last few seconds,” Terrence adds with irony.       “Listen, guys…” Daniel tries to take a word.       “I never thought amnesia would do such interesting things to a person,” Edward says confidently. “There was one person, who eventually became different.”       “No more amnesia. It’s gone now.”       “So, Perkins, you decided to accept the new you?” Terrence laughs quietly. “Maybe, you also change your name? What do we call you? Demetrio? Juan? Or Sergio?”       “I’m serious. The memory has been back to me.”       Edward and Terrence frowning slightly look at each other.       “What?” Edward wonders.       “No more amnesia, guys,” Daniel replies confidently, cracking a smile. “I know everything. What happened to me, who threatened me, and everything…”       “Oh, yeah!” Terrence sneers evilly. “We did believe you!”       “That’s true, Terrence. I remember everything!”       “Jesus, what miracles!” Edward exclaims with both hands up. “Finally, you’ve learned who is who! You didn’t confuse me and my brother for the first time. I was Terrence for you.”       “It’s clear that Blanca made you remember that I am not Edward,” Terrence says confidently.       “Okay, okay, it won’t happen again!” Daniel jabs. “Now everything is clear to me, and I can tell you what happened to me.”       “Huh, and what happened to you?” Edward asks with both arms crossed over his chest, as he smiles evilly.       “I got hit by the car. Because of Wainwright. He pushed me on the road after he threatened to kill me.”       “Wainwright?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “The next day after our latest hangout, when Helene took Sammy with her, I went to one place. I walked there for some time, and then Wainwright showed up from nowhere.”       “M-m-m, the beginning of the story is breathtaking.”       “I’m telling the truth! That was Wainwright! Dirty, smelly, and ugly! At first, that bastard threatened to kill all of us to find our girls. And then he told me about Cassidy. About how she was buying drugs from him for her money and later allegedly let him fuck her, so he forgot about her debt.”       “We can believe you for just one reason – Wainwright mentioned it,” Terrence crosses his arms over his chest with rolled eyes. “As he said, Cassidy really bought drugs from him and agreed to pay the debt at her alleged wish.”       “I’m sure that it happened against her wish,” Daniel replies confidently. “That bastard made Cassidy do that. Maybe, he didn’t actually ask my sister and just let her know it when he decided to take her to bed for the first time.”       “Okay, let’s assume that you really met him,” Edward frowns slightly. “So, it turns out that Wainwright ran away much earlier before Natalia and I met him?”       “It happened.”       “So, did you know about his escape earlier than us?”       “If I hadn’t lost my memory, I would’ve told you, the guys, and the girls everything on the same day. I was gonna do that when I saw him, but… I didn’t do it.”       “So, Mr. Johnson told us the truth: Wainwright ran away from prison more than one month ago…”       “It wasn’t his first attempt, as that bastard said. Wainwright tried to run many times, but he always got caught. But the last time, he planned everything and was sure it would be okay.”       “As we assumed.”       “Yeah, but how did Cassidy meet this bastard?” Terrence wonders.       “He didn’t say it,” Daniel shakes his head. “I only know that Cassidy was buying this shit from Wainwright. And he took it from the other man, paid him money, and gave drugs to her. When Cassidy wasn’t able to pay, Wainwright gave his money and believed my sister’s promise to pay her debt. And then he decided to mock the poor girl. That was so young.”       “So, do you think Cassidy was taking that shit at her wish?” Edward frowns strongly. “I don’t believe it! Knowing that she wants to live a normal life.”       “It’s true, Edward. My sister took drugs for the first time after Father’s death. Our mother was alive. But after her death, Cassidy started to take much stronger drugs. For example, cocaine… It was too late to change something. She became dependent.”       “Didn’t your mother try to make her stop taking this shit?” Terrence wonders.       “Mother and I could do nothing because Cassidy was a very hard and stubborn child. Teenager… And you know that just one joint leads to drug dependence. If you taste it once, you can’t stop. My sister was destroying herself before my eyes.”       “Why should we believe you?” Edward asks coldly. “What if you make up all of this and keep going crazy? We’ve got no reason to believe you!”       “I don’t lie, guys, I swear!” Daniel replies confidently. “I’m telling you what actually happened. Explain why Wainwright threatened my sister and me.”       “As far as I remember, Wainwright said about the debt that you should pay,” Terrence recalls thoughtfully.       “Even if I give all of my money to that bastard and borrow it from everybody I can, it won’t help Cassidy,” Daniel replies with sadness in his eyes. “Wainwright is obsessed with my sister and isn’t gonna let her go. Moreover, Cassidy is a little girl, and that bastard does love that type. Young and beautiful.”       “Okay, what about Uncle?” Edward frowns slightly. “Did that old bastard know about Cassidy and help that bastard hide her?”       “Wainwright said he was hiding her from Michael. And when your uncle, Wainwright, and the others got arrested, Cassidy ran away. But that motherfucker knew where to find her and found my sister easily after his escape. And he’s holding her near himself.”       “I guess that’s the truth…” Terrence assumes thoughtfully. “I can’t remember Uncle mentioning her. But he knew that Wainwright was obsessed with young girls.”       “Damn, that’s so good I decided to go here. Something told me that I could find something that was important to me next to Wainwright. Something that I lost.”       “Hey, could Uncle know about Wainwright’s passion for drugs?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “I don’t know, I can’t say it,” Daniel shrugs. “Maybe, Michael paid for his therapy one or two times, but it didn’t work. He didn’t end it, or he succumbed to the temptation when he saw his drugged pals.”       “Did he threaten you to deprive Cassidy of any protection and support?” Edward specifies.       “Yup, he needed full control over my younger sister. So, nobody wanted to save her. And he knew about me well. Wainwright said he memorized me during the trial, when we all went there to support the MacClifes. And some time later, he realized I was an older brother of Cassidy, on the phone of whom he found a photo of mine.”       “And I must confess that I saw Wainwright looking at Perkins kind of suspiciously,” Peter confesses. “He had the same interest in him as in Natalia, Raquelle, Helene, and Anna.”       “Yeah, I also saw it…” Edward nods confidently. “But I couldn’t understand why.”       “Wainwright knew he must’ve killed me,” Daniel replies confidently.       “Hey, did you meet him by chance or go to a planned meeting?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “No, no, I met him by chance! I swear, I didn’t know he ran away from prison.”       “Why did you the fuck go to that place? What did you forget there?”       “I was just walking. Putting my mind in order.”       “Yeah… Good place…”       “I know, I’m regretting going there. That bastard could’ve easily killed me, and nobody would’ve known it.”       “You say he threatened you?” Edward frowns slightly.       “Yup…” Daniel takes the jackknife from the inside pocket of his jacket and shows it to Terrence and Edward. “He was threatening me with this knife. He put it to my throat and cut my hand. And I was also threatening him with the same thing.”       “This knife?” Terrence rounds his eyes.       “And… I don’t know how it happened, but Peter said he and Helene found the same one near me. It was kind of all in blood…”       “Yeah…” Edward nods. “That’s the knife. The same as the one that Peter showed us. But he and Helene also found a black ring. We don’t know whose. But that’s a male one.”       “I wanted to give those things to the lads, so they showed them to Mr. Johnson,” Peter confesses. “They said he wanted to look at them. We wanted to show them to you, but it was too late. And we weren’t sure it would help.”       “Wait, how could a black ring end up there?” Daniel asks. “Wainwright didn’t have anything like rings on his hands!”       “It hardly belongs to him,” Edward assumes. “The ring wouldn’t fit even Wainwright’s little finger. He’s got a too big paw!”       “And it’s not mine! I don’t wear rings. If there was a bracelet or a wristband, I could say that was mine. But the ring is not mine.”       “Hey, do you know the one, who hit you with a car?” Terrence specifies. “Isn’t it Wainwright’s accomplice?”       “I don’t know, Terrence…” Daniel shakes his head. “But I don’t think so…”       “How it actually happened?” Peter frowns slightly.       “Wainwright and I were confronting and fighting for a long time… He cut my hand… And at some moment, a car was driving on the road… He saw it first… And then that asshole pushed me on the road. I fell on the front of it and hit my head strongly… And I don’t remember anything after that… But I passed out with the thought that I had a strong pain in my head.”       “What type of car?”       “Black. Metallic. I can say nothing more.”       “And the driver? You memorized him?”       “Nope, I didn’t see them. And I actually realized that I got hit by the car at the last moment. Everything happened too fast.”       “What if the ring could be lost by the one, who hit you?” Peter frowns slightly. “As I understand, there was nobody but you, Wainwright, and the driver of the car in that place.”       “But to lose the ring, they were supposed to leave the car,” Edward notices.       “They could get out to help.”       “And could Wainwright do something to them?”       “Likely, he made them run and keep silent,” Terrence assumes confidently. “That person got scared and got out shortly. And lost the ring somehow.”       “And if the ring is male, the driver was a man.”       “No need to guess! Even if that’s true, we’ll never find the driver of that car.”       “It doesn’t make sense,” Daniel adds. “I don’t care who hit me. I’m going to do nothing to them. My goal is Wainwright. He must pay for mocking my sister for so long and drugging her with some shit. He’d been doing that before she turned eighteen. And knowing that it all started when Cassidy was a little girl, that bastard could be blamed for another thing.”       “You’re going to report him?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “I am going! I shall do my best for that asshole to be put in prison for a long time! I always hated that man for daring to mock poor Natalia and wish to rape her. But now I shall skin him alive for what he did to my sister. What he brought the poor girl to! She does feel too bad, but he makes her condition much worse.”       “We do see that Cassidy looks bad,” Edward replies quietly and puts his hands on his hips. “But if you tell the truth is an open question.”       “I swear I’m telling you the truth.”       “You always confuse your words, Daniel,” Terrence notices. “Some time ago, you insulted the girls and us, blamed us for lying, and said we allegedly organized the attempt on you.”       “And in your opinion, we sent you the message with threats,” Edward adds. “What now? You are now saying different things! Pretending to be an innocent angel and acting as if nothing happened! If you want to forget it, we will not do it!”       “Exactly! You did a disgusting thing to us, and we are not going to forgive you.”       “Listen, guys, I know that you’re angry at me and don’t believe me,” Daniel says quietly, looking at Edward and Terrence with pity in his eyes. “But I swear, everything I’m telling you is the clean truth.”       “Maybe, so,” Edward pronounces in a lower voice. “But we refuse to believe you. You say we used you. So, we say you betrayed all of us.”       “I can explain everything.”       “No, Perkins,” Terrence pronounces gloomily. “We don’t need your excuses.”       “I’m really sorry it happened. I know I did a stupid thing and literally betrayed you. But I didn’t want it, I swear.”       “Well, at least you’ve recognized your stupidity, that’s good!” Edward exclaims with both arms crossed over his chest. “You didn’t lose all your brains!”       “I don’t deny my fault and do know that I did a disgusting thing to you and the girls. I’m really ashamed of blaming you for nobody the fuck knows what and saying too much. Going to fight with you… Wishing you to die…”       “After all of that, do you want us to pretend that nothing happened? Want us to forget the way you treated us? For nothing, just saying!”       “Trust me, I’m sorry for stopping believing you at some moment,” Daniel confesses with pity in his eyes. “Everything would’ve been otherwise if I’d been smarter.”       “Yeah, this is how someone washed your brains!” Terrence exclaims. “You were ready to believe anyone but us! You threatened to cut our throats, kill, and put us in prison for allegedly threatening you and your ‘fiancée.’”       “You’re right, I’m the main loser in this story…” Daniel moves his eyes aside for a second. “But it’s not the reason why I lied to all of you and pretended that I didn’t know you.”       “Come on?” Edward wonders. “So, why did you make yourself a bastard?”       “I was scared. I was scared when I thought everything said by that liar, Blanca, was true.”       “Oh, now Blanca is a liar! My gosh!”       “Liar! She lied to me insolently! I don’t know how that gal found out about me, but she did lie to me all this time. I mean… Not about everything… Blanca told a part of the truth, but she made it look like it didn’t happen to me and those I know.”       “Huh, we’ve already realized that the girl was a grifter,” Terrence says gloomily, crossing his arms over his chest. “The grifter, whom you believed so blindly! Whom you called your fiancée!”       “I know, I know!” Daniel raises his hands up. “That man deceived me easily! She said so much that I stopped believing those, who told the truth.”       “Did she make you think that we allegedly had to do with the attempt on you and all those threats?” Terrence asks. “That we allegedly want to destroy you!”       “She did. Blanca made me sure not only about that but also the fact that Peter decided to kick me out of the band and defeat me, and you two allegedly agreed to help him.”       “Serious?” Edward sneers quietly.       “I guess you all know about the article, which said that I allegedly had to do with Peter’s wish to kill himself. That I allegedly made him do it by humiliating him, insulting him, and even threatening him with murder.”       “We did tell you it was an insolent lie when we were at the café!” Terrence replies confidently.       “I know, but I really thought I almost became the one to blame for someone’s death. And Blanca added fuel to the fire and confirmed it. She told me a fake reason why Rose and I hated each other, and why I had a bad relationship with you and Edward. You all allegedly disliked Blanca, made me break up with her, and wanted me to be with my ex, whom you liked so much. The blond allegedly liked her much more, couldn’t bear Blanca, and always insulted her. She kinda tried to do her best for him to like her, but he gave her no chance. And it allegedly made me mad, and I started to bully him.”       “Damn, it’s so funny for me to hear it,” Edward laughs quietly. “Seriously!”       “She knew about the article and quickly thought up the story to make me turn my back on you.” Daniel shakes his head, still looking at everybody with pity in his eyes. “So, I believed it… And I had always asked myself why you were helping me and speaking to me as if nothing happened. I believed the lie more and more, seeing that people were bullying me on the Internet. Everyone blamed me for bringing Peter to kill himself. They insulted me, humiliated me, and wished me to die… I was horrified when reading that! And then Connor confirmed the charges when he came to our table at the café… And I believed that it was the truth much more… I thought you all lied to me insolently… And after Blanca’s story about that, I got furious and swore to tell you everything and piss you off.”       While Edward and Terrence frown slightly and look at each other, Peter shakes his head and sharply holds a hand over his matted hair when he says:       “Yeah… The article was released at such a ‘good’ time…”       “And it hurts that I didn’t try to get deeper into that and blindly believed what I heard from that girl,” Daniel confesses. “Blanca understood it and added fuel to the fire. I don’t know if she had a plan, or if she did something, depending on events. But I must admit that I got caught in her trap. Against my wish, but I did.”       “So, did you behave like a bastard just because you believed in that fucking article?” Edward wonders. “Before it was out, you had been fine and spoken to us well.”       “Right. I believed you… I felt good with you. I understood that you were familiar to me, but I didn’t know why. When the doctor asked me if I recognized one of you, you all seemed familiar to me. But I said nothing because of tons of doubts. I doubted everything. Even the fact that my name was Daniel. But I wanted to speak to you from the beginning. I wanted to remember you. But…” Daniel shakes his head. “After I read the article, I got remorse. I… I believed that I had to do with all of that… I wondered why you were speaking to me… Why you were pretending that nothing happened. I was afraid to look into your eyes because of a sense of guilty…”       “But why didn’t you believe when we said it was the lie at the café?” Terrence wonders.       “First, it was confirmed by the girl, who broke the CD, and Connor, who sounded true, as I thought. And second… I wanted to break any relationship with you on purpose.”       “I ain’t surprised if you came, sat down, and started to be mean,” Edward replies coldly.       “The case was not about Blanca. The case was about a sense of shame. I thought it would be better if I started to distance myself from you, reject your help, and live on my own. Even understanding that you all seemed familiar to me, I started to push you away. And I was going to do my best for you not to wish to help me.”       “A person without brains is bad, but a brainless person with amnesia is much worse,” Terrence says coldly. “Your case confirmed it.”       “Maybe, I would’ve thought about that situation if not for Blanca. Her words made me much madder and made me sure that you lied to me and used my condition. So, as I didn’t fight with you at the café, I decided to do it at the nearest time.”       “And did you know we’d come together where you came?” Edward concludes.       “I did. On that day, I saw your chat on WhatsApp, in which you agreed to a meeting at Peter’s plea. So, I thought and decided to end the show and tell you to leave me alone.”       Terrence and Edward think about Daniel’s words with their arms crossed over their chests and gloomy faces for a few seconds. There is something that makes them believe that these words are true, but they are not ready for a too quick reconciliation, just like Peter was not, who is listening to the talk silently.       “I can say only one thing, Perkins, you were deceived,” Terrence says confidently. “Deceived well! One bitch used your condition and made you think what she needed… And you, brainless idiot, believed all of that and broke friendship with us with no shame…”       “I know, MacClife, I know…” Daniel exhales sharply.       “And as it turned out, you kept silent about many things,” Edward notices. “For example, you never said a word about your sister. As if she never existed.”       “But she does exist. I have a sister, and her name is Cassidy.”       “Why were you silent about her? Were you ashamed to confess that your sister was taking drugs?”       “No, I wasn’t…” Daniel shakes his head. “I know it would be an incongruous excuse… But because I thought my sister was dead, I thought I didn’t need to talk about it… There was no meaning… My parents have been dead for ages, and I’ve never talked to anyone about them. I just said that they gave me my house. I didn’t see the meaning in talking about them…”       “And what?” Terrence wonders. “You don’t need to talk about them? You should forget? Pretend that they don’t exist?”       “I’ve never forgotten them! I always thought of Cassidy every year on her birthday. Sometimes I viewed the photos that I had… The videos we often recorded on a video camera and CDs… But… I haven’t done it for ages… It’s… Too hurtful for me. I haven’t been able to find the courage to view photos and check the cassettes and discs for many years.”       “Listen, but it really sounds like you were ashamed of your sister. Yes, she is a drug addict, but Cassidy is a part of your family. You can’t pretend that she doesn’t exist.”       “I’d never turn my back on her. Although my sister and I got on badly when we were kids, I love Cassidy anyway. And I got a stronger love after our parents’ death. I needed a lot of time to accept the fact that I had nobody when the police pronounced her a missing person and made me believe that she was dead.”       “Anyway, nobody would judge you if you said you had a sister that took drugs,” Edward says confidently. “That’s not your fault!”       “I know, but it’s late to talk about it.”       “And you said it after you proved you didn’t know Cassidy so hard,” Terrence says quietly.       “I couldn’t remember her, get it!”       “Remember or not, you behaved disgustingly. Yes, I understand that when you don’t know people, who know you, you might not trust them. But you mustn’t have brought everything to that! Do you understand you made yourself an idiot for the men, the girls, and me?”       “I swear I’d never behave like that if I knew who I knew, whom I befriended and loved. If not for the article and Blanca’s words, I would’ve hardly started that scandal.”       “I doubt it,” Edward throws coldly. “Because of this fucking amnesia, you’ve changed and become different. We couldn’t recognize the guy, who we befriended. You were kind of replaced!”       “I know, I didn’t feel like me, either. As if I lived someone’s life. In someone’s body.”       “And as you asked us to leave you alone, we did it.”       “That was my mistake. My wish to fight with you from shame and the belief that you were liars was my mistake.”       “You did it after you found out that Peter was familiar to you,” Edward notices confidently. “After you one hundred percent recalled something about Terrence when Connor showed you the photos taken near the hospital.”       “That’s true…” Daniel glances aside for two seconds. “I was silent about it. But I really remembered him. And I knew who was with me on the day we went to the blond’s home to stop him.”       “We got it,” Peter pronounces thoughtfully.       “Hey, Perkins, where did you meet the foreigner?” Edward frowns slightly.       “In the hospital,” Daniel pronounces. “She went to my room and started to say some bullshit. She went when you and the girls weren’t there. The doctor said she worked as a cleaning woman and kicked her outta the room when he saw her.”       “Did he know that she pretended to be your fiancée?” Terrence specifies.       “No, I told him nothing. But I believe he guessed everything and softly advised me to listen to those, who seemed familiar to me. Well, I quickly forgot about it and… Just listened to everybody. Eventually, everything mixed in my mind, and I was absolutely confused.”       Edward, Terrence, and Peter say nothing and just nod, thinking about something for two seconds.       “Okay, Daniel…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully, putting his hands on his hips. “Let’s think you’ve excused yourself for your behavior.”       “And the fact that you remember everything is clear…” Edward adds thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest.       “I told you everything,” Daniel shrugs. “I hid nothing.”       “But don’t you hope your tricks will go unnoticed?”       “I don’t. But I wanna believe I can fix everything.”       “After what you did, we lost the wish to speak to you and be your friends,” Terrence says coldly. “Your tricks crossed all the lines. You lost our trust.”       “Terrence, Edward, please, understand me,” Daniel begs with pity in his eyes. “At least try.”       “Yeah, understand you after you wished us to die?” Edward wonders loudly. “Threatened to put us in prison! Blamed us for conspiring against you!”       “I’m so sorry that you had to tolerate all of that for nothing. I swear, I don’t know what I was thinking of when I was slinging dirty at you, insulting you, and waving my hands…”       “You did know everything!” Terrence throws rudely. “You did what Blanca told you!”       “Blanca told me nothing! She was just telling me an open lie or a fake truth.”       “If we hadn’t noticed Wainwright, we would’ve dealt with you.”       “I wanted to get out, but I didn’t do it. Not only because of the feeling that Wainwright was familiar to me and was a certain threat… But also because of the wish to help you…”       “Help us?” Terrence and Edward smirks loudly.       “Don’t make us laugh, man!” Edward exclaims. “You would’ve been happy if Wainwright had killed us! You would’ve thanked that bastard for saving you from those, who allegedly chased you.”       “Maybe, I was mad, but I still thought that you were familiar to me,” Daniel replies confidently. “I felt really sorry for you at some moment. And seeing that you couldn’t deal with that bastard, I decided to help a little.”       “Oh, yeah, when we were beaten black and blue!” Terrence rolls his eyes.       “My blame.” Daniel moves his eyes down for a second. “I was looking at Wainwright and Cassidy… Looking at my sister, I had many emotions: from pity and sympathy to some gladness. And that bastard made me feel fear, panic, and coldness… And when I felt the knife against my throat, I got a very familiar but freaking terrible feeling…”       “Thank you at least for that,” Edward says coldly. “One hit on the head really helped us!”       “Please, guys…” Daniel shakes his head with pity in his eyes. “Don’t be mad at me. I did explain the reasons for my behavior and said I’m sorry.”       “Stop naively thinking that we will forgive you so easily,” Terrence replies rudely.       “You had a right to be angry at me. I ain’t gonna argue because it would be wrong.”       “Stop pitying us, Perkins,” Edward demands in a low voice. “It won’t help you.”       “Don’t say you really wanna stop speaking to me.”       “Since you treated us in that way, we have to.”       “No, no, lads, please, don’t do it!” Daniel begs with despair and pity in his eyes. “I don’t wanna lose all my friends because of my stupidity and naivety.”       “You’ve lost them, Perkins,” Terrence replies confidently. “You should’ve thought earlier!”       “Please, Terrence, Edward…”       “You crossed all possible and impossible lines. And we don’t want to give a chance to someone, who went too far.”       “I will do anything you say to get your forgiveness.” Daniel falls into silence to swallow up nervously. “Not to lose my friends, who replaced my family and became my brothers and sisters to some extent.”       At this moment, Edward and Terrence look at each other gloomily and roll their eyes.       “Forgive me for being an absolute idiot and insulting you,” Daniel apologizes, looking at Edward and Terrence with pity in his eyes. “I’m really very sorry… I didn’t want it to happen.”       “Of course, you speak beautifully, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have to expect something like that again,” Edward replies in a low voice.       “I promise, guys, it won’t happen anymore. Well, if you don’t want to forgive me now, just give me hope that I could get your forgiveness.”       “We should think…” Terrence exhales sharply.       “And yeah, I threatened to leave the band… So, know one thing: I will not leave the band at my wish. You, guys, are the only ones to be able to kick me out. If you want to get off me, kick me out by making a joint decision, and I will accept it and won’t argue.”       Terrence and Edward say nothing and think about something for a few seconds. But at some moment, they look at each other and shrug, while Daniel looks at them excitedly, being worried that the guys may refuse to forgive him.       “Please, guys…” Daniel shakes his head. “Don’t turn your back on me… I don’t wanna stay all alone… I need friends. I need my brothers…”       At some moment, the MacClife brothers look at Peter, who has been silent almost all the time and prefers to stay aside.       “No, no, guys, don’t look at me,” Peter pronounces quietly. “Decide it yourself. I will support you anyway.”       A few seconds later, Edward and Terrence move their eyes to Daniel and smile slightly at him, while Peter glances at his shoes at some moment and sits on the nearest stump to tie up the laces and shake the dirt off them.       “I think everyone deserves a second chance,” Edward says amicably. “And I give it to you. One of the reasons is that you weren’t yourself. You didn’t know who lied and who told you the truth. We were mad, but we understood that we shouldn’t have judged you. Someone with amnesia is like someone, who is obsessed with anger: explaining something to them is impossible because they’ll understand nothing.”       “Yes, Perkins, alright,” Terrence nods confidently. “I will also give you a second chance. First, you lost your memory. Second, we understood that someone could use your condition. And third, each of us could be instead of you. Yes, we felt hurt, but we understood the situation and believed that everything would be put in the right place when you got your memories back.”       “If it happened to one of you, I wouldn’t refuse to help you,” Daniel says confidently with a slight smile. “Know that I’m really thankful to you for trying to help me. Thank you so much for helping me when my memory was far away from me, and I was a motherfucker. Yes, you could do almost nothing. But you were doing your best.”       “That’s good you got it back,” Edward notices with a slight smile.       “But we’re sorry that we didn’t listen to my parents and Mr. Johnson, who told us to show you the knife and the rings,” Terrence shows regret. “We made ourselves think it would be worthless.”       “C’mon, guys, forget,” Daniel says amicably. “Everything’s alright now.”       “And yeah, don’t be mad at us for being too rude to you,” Edward apologizes. “We should’ve understood you, but… We lost our patience when we heard your insults and humiliations.”       “It’s okay, don’t worry. Patience is like a thread – it can’t be infinite and may be gone when you’re at the point of no return.”       “Anyway, we’re glad you’re back to us and became the same Daniel Perkins, who we had always known.”       “And stopped being the one we had a business with some time ago,” Terrence adds.       “Oh, how happy I am that I’m feeling me again,” Daniel says with a slight smile. “I never thought it could be so important.”       “I hope you’ll stop being like a little child that looks at everything with big eyes.”       “No, it’s over now!” Daniel raises his hands.       “But remember, Perkins, if you do that thing again, we won’t give you a second chance,” Terrence replies confidently.       “As you wish, Daddy MacClife!”       “Yay, that’s our man!” Edward laughs shyly. “I’m starting to recognize our former Dan!”       “Yeah, I’m back!” Daniel exclaims funnily, raising his hands up.       Terrence and Edward laugh quietly, and then Daniel does the same. The brothers shake Perkins by the hand and hug him tightly with a much wider smile, clapping him on the shoulder or back, and he ruffles their hair a little disheveled. While Peter sitting on the stump watches what’s happening with a slight smile on his face.       “Hey, where’s the blond?” Daniel frowns slightly. “Where’s he gone?”       “I’m here!” Peter exclaims, exhales sharply, and gets up from the stump quietly. “Here!”       “As we understand, you decided to believe this bandit, too,” Edward smiles slyly.       “Sorta.”       “Let’s see what’s gonna happen,” Terrence replies.       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which everybody just looks at each other or around. But then Peter breaks it, scratching the back of his head and pulling his hair out slightly:       “Okay, guys… What about Wainwright?”       “I’d run away as soon as possible before that bastard wakes up,” Terrence replies confidently.       “Is he still lying?” Peter glances at Eugene, who is still lying on the ground unconscious. “Yup… Lying…”       “But I don’t know how to get outta here. But even if we do it, we’ll have to reach my car for a long time.”       “That’s bad,” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully. “We must drive Cassidy to the hospital immediately. She feels too bad, ‘cause that bastard injected something into her.”       “Hey, where’s she?” Terrence frowns slightly. “I didn’t find her!”       “She’s not far from here. Peter and I found her. I mean, she called us. Wainwright tied her to the tree, ‘cause he thought she’d run. But Cassidy can barely sit.”       “Then take her away and get out while Wainwright is out.”       “Go without me, guys,” Edward pronounces confidently and looks at all the men. “I will stay.”       “What?” Peter opens his widely open eyes. “Are you nuts? That sick one will turn you into dust!”       “Now he has much less strength, and I will deal with him.”       “Oh, MacClife, here you go again…”       “Bring Cassidy to the hospital, but I’ll deal with Wainwright.”       “Fuck, Edward, don’t make me irritated again!” Terrence says coldly. “We are all leaving! And you are going with us!”       “No, I shall stay!”       “That bastard will kill you, idiot! If he beats you much more, you’ll end up in the hospital.”       “It’s gonna be okay, stop panicking.”       “Ar-r-r, I shall strangle this psycho!” Terrence growls irritably, grabbing his hair and glancing at Daniel and Peter. “Maybe, you two wash his brains? I don’t know how to talk to him!”       “Indeed, Edward, you’re really crazy,” Daniel says confidently. “Even if you stay here, you won’t have the strength to deal with him.”       “I will do it,” Edward replies. “Now, Wainwright is much weaker than before.”       “Aha, weaker! He will sniff some shit and start to crush everything in his way and kill anyone, whom he will look at with his wild eyes.”       “I know what I’m doing.”       “Damn, look at yourself! It’s impossible to look at you without tears! Terrence is right: if you get a few more hits, that bastard will bring you to the hospital!”       “Because of a couple of bruises? I doubt it!”       “Your wish to have him lynched might lead to a catastrophe,” Peter says confidently. “We understand you wanna beat his face and revenge for what he did to Natalia. But it will change nothing.”       “I’m doing all of that for her!”       “No normal person will mess up with such a sick bastard at their wish.”       “Since that bastard dared to hurt my fiancée and still wants to undress her, drug her, and rape her, I can’t be silent and stay aside.”       “Leave it to the police when we tell Mr. Johnson about that bastard. He’ll get caught, you will see. You just need to tell them where he is. And that deadbeat will be dying in prison.”       “I’ve already done it,” Edward says confidently.       “What?” Terrence wonders, staring at Terrence surprisingly. “What do you mean?”       “When I’d gotten out of the house, I decided to call Mr. Johnson and tell him about Wainwright. I typed his number, explained everything quickly, and asked him to send the police and an ambulance for Cassidy. So, as I didn’t know where I was, I just sent a screenshot of my current location to him.”       “But how?” Peter wonders. “No signal here! I tried to use the maps but didn’t do it.”       “I dunno, I guess I was lucky.”       “Wonderful, then!” Terrence exclaims. “Mr. Johnson will come here, find that bastard, and get him arrested.”       “No, I’ve gotta stay!” Edward says confidently. “I must detain that bastard and not let him run away before the police come here. I don’t want my call to be false.”       “He will not run away,” Daniel replies. “The police will look around and catch that deadbeat.”       “I wanna betray him to the police personally. To be sure that I’ll no longer see him and know that he got closer to Natalia. Yes, it might take a lot of time, ‘cause the police need to find out my current location and come here. But I’m ready to stay. I’m going to make Wainwright pay for everything he’s done and never hurt Natalia, Cassidy, Raquelle, Helene, and Anna…”       “Your idea is crazy!” Peter exclaims. “Wainwright will kill you before the police find him.”       “I understand all the risks, but I don’t want to let a criminal stay free. He must be in prison. Knowing what Wainwright did to Cassidy, I can’t let the same thing happen to Natalia.”       “Fuck, who made my brother such a moron?” Terrence moans tiredly, squeezing the bridge of his nose with two fingers. “The moron that can’t calm down even after his ass has been kicked so many times!”       “Mr. MacClife isn’t gonna like the fact that you decided to ask for trouble,” Daniel says confidently. “You better think of your mother and father!”       “It’s gonna be okay,” Edward replies quietly. “I will handle it. The only thing I ask you about is to leave and take Cassidy.”       “Your brother is right, MacClife, you’re a brainless moron,” Peter says.       “Go away, guys, please,” Edward begs with pity in his eyes. “Help Cassidy and drive her to the hospital.”       “I did say that we’d leave all together,” Terrence says harshly. “That’s all!”       “Listen, you’re all beaten and covered with bruises and scars! You should put yourself in order. And I’m giving you a chance to run while you can.”       “Yeah, are you gonna walk half-dead?” Peter gets horrified. “If a miracle happens, and the police find you and Wainwright, that bastard will beat you black and blue. Or give you a great dose of drugs and leave you here to die.”       “I believe they’ll come here at the nearest time,” Edward replies confidently. “And… If I started this game, I must complete it. The one, who decided to get into this shit at their wish, must sacrifice themselves.”       “No, Edward, I won’t leave, either,” Daniel says confidently, clapping on Edward’s shoulder with his head up. “As I know that the deadbeat mocked my sister all this time, I must kick him.”       “Damn, what are you doing?” Peter wonders. “Having one lover of problems is enough for us! Do you want that bastard to try to kill you again? Hit your head against the asphalt so hard that you will forget everything again! Or actually die!”       “I know, but I wanna kick Wainwright’s ass for almost depriving me of my sister. If he keeps being free, I’ll lose Cassidy. But this time, I won’t let him hurt her. I must prove that I can be a good older brother.”       “Listen, guys, we understand that you’re revenging for your close people,” Terrence says confidently. “But you two must understand that you won’t deal with him. We knocked Wainwright out just because he gave attention to the thrown rocks. None of us would’ve brought him down. Moreover, that scumbag is drugged. He doesn’t control himself and is ready to destroy anything around.”       “We’ll just play time before Mr. Johnson’s arrival,” Edward replies. “Even if it takes a lot of time, we should do our best for that bastard not to run. And not to guess that the police are about to take him out.”       “He will either kill you to the fuck or drug you with great doses of drugs,” Peter warns a little louder. “And do his best for you to never be found!”       “He won’t do it,” Daniel says confidently. “If we have to, we’ll hit him on the head again and at least try to tie him up while he’s out. I think there is a rope in that backpack.”       “Yeah, we’ll tie him tightly and watch him until the police come here,” Edward agrees.       “Okay,” Terrence exhales sharply. “Let’s tie him up and watch him.”       “No, Terrence! You and Peter must get out of here. Go home, contact the girls, and explain the situation. And Daniel and I will stay here and take revenge on that bastard.”       “Yes, lads, you better leave,” Daniel agrees confidently. “You don’t have to do with Wainwright and must not suffer. And Edward and I will handle it.”       At this moment, Terrence and Peter look at each other with horror in their eyes and shake their heads.       “No, guys,” Peter pronounces confidently. “I will stay with you. As we’re here, we must fight all together. Unity is one of the strongest powers that can help us build such a tough wall that couldn’t be ruined by any power and a big army.”       “You must not suffer because of what you don’t have to do with,” Edward protests. “I don’t like the fact that you actually decided to go with me.”       “If it’s happening, don’t think of getting off us,” Terrence replies. “If you stay, I will not move. If you leave, I leave.”       “No, Terrence, don’t do it.”       “We can do it only if we do it all together. We knocked Wainwright out all four: while Rose and Perkins distracted Wainwright and struck the syringe out, you and I knocked him out.”       “It would be unfair if one of you suffered because of him,” Daniel says quietly.       “I can’t leave you in trouble. I’d feel remorse if I got out when something happened to you. I am kind of responsible for all of you and must be sure that you’re okay.”       “Exactly!” Peter exclaims. “We’re a team! And we’ve gotta fight as a team. The important things about teamwork are not only what you’re doing, but also how many people are a part of it. The more people, the stronger the collective is.”       “We did the impossible when we became a four. The power of four helped us then and must help now. You all saw that one or two people couldn’t handle it. But we have no right to lose. If we lose, our girls and we will be dead.”       “Of course, it sounds very good, but don’t forget that we’ve got a victim,” Edward replies confidently. “Who we must drive to the hospital shortly.”       “Exactly!” Daniel exclaims excitedly. “Too much time might be over before the police and doctors come here! Cassidy is in terrible condition! She’ll die if she doesn’t get medical help!”       “Sorry, Daniel, but we’ll lose a lot of time anyway,” Peter notices. “No matter if we try to get out of here and reach Terrence’s car or wait for the police and an ambulance… We’re too far from the city and won’t reach the hospital for five minutes.”       “I know… But I can’t lose my sister again. I can’t! I did betray my parents, whom I promised to take care of her after their death. I no longer have a right to be the brainless asshole that I was at the age of twenty-two.”       “So, let’s leave together,” Terrence suggests.       “And I say, go without me! Edward exclaims. “You can get out! After running away from the house, I heard cars going somewhere far away. So, there is an auto road somewhere. If you reach it, it will be easier for you to come back to where we were.”       “Wainwright has injected some shit into Cassidy, who can’t get up and complains about weakness,” Peter notices. “But if that man wants to give her something else, she may not survive it.”       “But while Wainwright is under our view, he won’t get closer to my sister,” Daniel replies thoughtfully.       “Hey, how much time has it been since the call to Mr. Johnson?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “I dunno, a lot, I guess,” Edward shrugs.       “What if they come here soon? I think they’ve managed to find out our location thanks to our phone numbers and send a car.”       “Anyway, I insist that you and Rose drive Cassidy to the hospital, and Perkins and I stay to watch Wainwright.”       “You won’t deal with him!” Peter exclaims.       “We will!”       While Edward, Daniel, Terrence, and Peter are talking about their plan, nobody notices that Eugene wakes up slowly with a strong headache. A few seconds later, he moves his eyes aside, sees all the men, and gets literally green from anger, starting to breathe heavily. Giving a damn about strong weakness, pain in the body, and bad condition, the criminal barely gets up and tries to come to the men with a shaking walk.       “No, guys, I wanna stay and help you,” Peter says confidently.       “While Wainwright is on our hook, Cassidy won’t get worse,” Terrence adds.       “I dunno…” Daniel exhales sharply. “But I’ve got a bad presentiment.”       “Hey, Daniel, maybe, you should go to the hospital with your sister?” Edward suggests. “I understand you wanna kick that bastard’s ass, but you must care about Cassidy’s health more. Besides, doctors would talk to you better because you’re her relative.”       “Then, I shall stay!” Terrence exclaims.       “No, you won't stay here!”       “I won’t leave you alone!”       “Please, guys, let me…”       At this moment, Eugene slowly comes to Edward and Daniel from behind and wants to hit one of them on the head with a stick that he finds on the way. But Peter and Terrence standing in front of them see it and start to warn them about it loudly.       “Edward, Daniel, behind you!” Terrence warns.       “Turn around, guys!” Peter exclaims loudly.       Edward turns back and almost gets a hit on the head from Eugene. But he sharply grabs the opponent’s hand, moves it aside, twists it, and knocks him on the underbelly with an elbow. Wainwright also gets a kick from Daniel, who strongly smashes his fist against his jaw a couple of times. Next, Peter strikes Eugene down for a few seconds and starts to hold him, and Terrence knocks the stick out of his hand that gets thrown a few meters further with a leg.       “I believe the decision was found by itself,” Edward exhales sharply, shaking his head to move some strands of hair off his eyes.       “AR-R-R!” Eugene growls irritably, trying to get out of Peter’s strong grip unsuccessfully. “BASTARD! FUCKING RATS! THESE TWO FREAKS GOT OUT OF THAT HOUSE, TOO!”       “We did,” Peter pronounces confidently. “To defeat you!”       “Fuck, what kind of skills do you have? Is everything you need to do is to mess up with the MacClife family, the members of which have A FEW FUCKING LIVES?”       “A wish to turn you to dust makes us hold on,” Daniel says rudely.       “As well as a wish to protect those you, scumbag, dare to attempt on,” Edward adds in a low voice.       “BASTARDS!” Eugene roars at the top of his voice. “I WISH YOU ALL DIED!”       “This world would be cleaner without you,” Daniel says contemptuously, squats down, grabs Eugene by the chin sharply, grips it tightly, and raises the opponent’s face, moving his evil look into his lackluster eyes with dilated pupils. “We all want you to die. After what you did to Cassidy.”       “Why do you care about her? You don’t know her!”       “Remember, son of a bitch, if something happens to my sister, or you dare to touch her with your dirty hands again, you will die. YOU GOT IT? I SHALL TURN YOU TO DUST IF YOU JUST THINK OF HER!”       “Huh!” Eugene laughs evilly, looking at Daniel contemptuously. “I see someone has recalled everything. I wonder what helped you? Your pals? Or my words about your time coming? Or the knife that I left where I locked you?”       “Yes, I know everything now! I know what you wanted to do to Cassidy! AND I SHALL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT!”       “So, Perkins, congratulations! Good boy. You got a chance to see your sissy for the last time. My baby Cassidy will no longer see her brother. At first, I shall fuck her hard, and then she will die.”       “SHUT UP!” Daniel gives a strong slap to Eugene, getting furious after his words. “DON’T DARE TO SAY THESE THINGS WITH MY PRETENSE!”       “Scream or not, you will not save your sister. Alright, you saw her, but this is the last meeting of yours.”       “Oh, no! Now you will not catch me! For Cassidy, I will tear you apart! Not only will Edward turn you to dust if you dare to come to Natalia. And my friends will have the pleasure of helping me and torturing you. They will do their best to protect their girls against your harassment.”       “YOU CAN BRING THE WHOLE ARMY!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “I WILL DEAL WITH EVERYONE! NOBODY WILL DEFEAT EUGENE WAINWRIGHT! NOBODY!”       “Come on?” Daniel sneers evilly. “One against the whole army? Huh! They would turn you to dust for a few seconds! Moreover, you have less and less strength.”       “Sure?”       Eugene sharply tries to set free with a sly smile and attack Daniel. But he is still tightly held by Peter, who presses the opponent much tighter to the ground.       “Quiet, quiet, scumbag, don’t move,” Peter says coldly. “Do not move, I said! Or you would feel much worse!”       “Ha, hey, blond…” Eugene scoffs contemptuously. “Have you always been so brave? Or do you just want to show off for your pals?”       “I think I said you mustn’t underestimate me.”       “Are you so sure that you all could defeat me?”       “The bigger, the better,” Terrence says confidently, as he squats down. “The power of four is much stronger than the power of one. So, you have no chance.”       “Yes, now, we are a team and will defeat you super easily,” Edward adds confidently, bending to Eugene. “We have a lot of strength, but you are getting worse.”       “Yeah, especially, you!” Eugene smirks contemptuously. “You were barely standing on your feet some time ago! I am so sorry that you didn’t die!”       “I feed myself with anger for you.” Edward raises his head proudly, looking at Eugene with contempt. “My demons make me get up every time I fall and hit something painfully.”       “Huh, could you make your demons turn you from a little, yapping puppy to an angry adult dog and become the same as your honorable uncle?”       “Edward is an adult dog,” Terrence says confidently. “A loyal and fearless dog that’s ready to tear apart some evil, sick, and shameless bastards like you.”       “He will always be a yapping, worthless, and shabby puppy for me, Mr. MacClife and many other people. And for his mommy and daddy, this kid will always be a burden. The child, who shouldn’t have been born. The child that ruined the life of his family.”       “Stop saying what that old, sick bastard Michael told you like a parrot. The one, who shouldn’t have been born, is you. A scumbag like you should’ve never existed.”       “But that’s the truth, MacClife. If this puppy hadn’t been born, your mommy and daddy could have saved their relationship and stayed together. But they broke up after your brother was born. Who still suffers from being a burden for everybody.”       “The important thing is that my dearest people need me,” Edward says confidently. “I am different for my close people. And I do give a fuck about the opinion of such a sick scumbag like you or my uncle. Bark as much as you want – it will change nothing.”       “And I give a fuck about what you think. The opinion of a fucking kid will never matter to me.”       “I didn’t ask yours. Don’t dare to do just one thing – hurt my friends, relatives, and fiancée. Otherwise, I shall bury you alive.”       “Huh, I will bury you all earlier!” Eugene smirks evilly. “You are too cowardly to kill and threaten.”       “Come on!” Daniel wonders, takes the jackknife from his pocket, opens it, and puts it to Wainwright’s throat with a proud look, looking at him contemptuously. “If just one asshole dares to attempt on some of our close people, we will regret nothing from what we could do to you.”       “Even go to prison?”       “If I had to stab you to get revenge for Cassidy, I shall recognize my fault and pay as hard as I should do. For my sister, I could kill you without thinking.”       “Oh, are you sure you could survive the condition, in which they live?” Eugene glances at Edward. “Hey, puppy, tell Perkins how it feels in prison! How strongly they beat you and almost pushed you to the wish to kill yourself. You’ve been there and know everything about that life.”       “They’re waiting for you there with open arms,” Peter throws coldly.       “Do not dream, idiots!” Eugene snuffs. “I will not be back there!”       “You will. And you will be jumping in the locked room like a monkey in a straitjacket until they inject a great dose of a sedative into your ass.”       “I hope you all will be there! And die!”       “You will be back in prison early or late!” Edward exclaims. “You will pay not only for helping Uncle and trying to rape my fiancée but also for raping the young girl being at an illegal age.”       “I will never be back in prison! ONLY OVER MY DEAD BODY!”       “It’s alright, we believe in justice and will get what we want.”       “You will be dying in prison for the rest of your life,” Terrence replies confidently.       “Alright, believe in justice as much as you want. But it will not help any of you AVOID YOUR DEATH!”       Eugene barely gets out of Peter’s grip, strikes him down sharply, twists Daniel’s arm, takes his jackknife, and gets up when the four already stand. Wainwright points the gun at every one of them, while he sets a cold, contemptuous look full of hate and evil on him.       “HA, HA, I AM IN THE GAME AGAIN!” Eugene laughs evilly. “Now, I shall deal with you, bastards.”       “I don’t advise you to be so confident,” Terrence smirks evilly.       “And I don’t advise YOU to be so self-confident. I have the gun in my hands. I shall stab all of you ‘till death. Nobody will realize a thing. The world will just go back at some moment, and all the sounds turn off.”       “Maybe, you stab yourself?” Daniel suggests coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You would do us a great favor!”       “Of course, I could do it, but you don’t want to look at the blood that you fear? When I cut your hand, you were green and looked like you were about to clean your stomach. If there had been much more of it, you would’ve passed out.”       “It seemed to you. You hallucinate because of drugs.”       “What if I check it out?” Eugene raises the knife to his shoulder level.       “Go. Cut yourself to death!”       “So, we will see how brave you are. I shall start with a little thing, so you don’t have a heart attack from fear.”       Looking at Daniel with a sly smile, Eugene confidently brings the blaze of the knife to his hand and makes a small, not very deep cut, from which blood starts flowing. Perkins gets immediately white and starts to breathe heavily from excitement and the feeling of a lump in his throat that he cannot swallow.       “M-m-m, you got so pale,” Eugene notices with a sly smile. “What if there is much more blood…”       Eugene runs the blade of the knife over his skin and makes a deeper cut, so a stronger flow of blood starts to come out of it. Then Daniel cannot keep his balance due to the slight dizziness and almost falls to the ground, but Terrence and Peter being next to him sharply take him under his arms.       “Quiet, buddy, quiet!” Terrence says quietly, confidently.       “Hold on, breathe deeper,” Peter advises.       “It’s okay, guys, it’s okay…” Daniel pronounces quietly, swallowing up nervously.       “Just don’t look at the blood,” Edward whispers.       “Let me go… Let go.” Daniel sharply gets his arms out of Terrence and Peter’s grip. “It’s okay.”       Daniel keeps struggling with a fear of blood for a few seconds, trying to breathe quietly and deeply, looking at the blood from Eugene’s wound sometimes, and understanding that he feels nausea in his throat.       “It’s okay, Daniel, it’s okay…” Daniel thinks. “Don’t dare to faint. Don’t dare to get so ashamed and show your weakness… There’s nothing bad about it. Be quiet. You can take it. There is nothing horrible in blood… Nothing…”       Some time later, this autosuggestion helps Daniel calm down a little and start to watch the blood much quieter, even if he still does not feel good. While Edward, Peter, and Terrence watch his condition closely, and Eugene starts to laugh loudly.       “Ha, ha, weak!” Eugene mocks. “You almost fainted again! You faint like a girl!”       “It seemed to you,” Daniel pronounces in a low voice.       “I wonder, would your little sis faint at the sight of blood? Of course, I haven’t checked it out yet, but I will definitely do it.”       “I would have the pleasure to watch you screaming with pain when you cut yourself to death.”       “I did not feel pain,” Eugene says with a sly smile. “It’s like a bite of a mosquito – you feel nothing and just want to scratch and touch.”       “I can do something for you to scream with pain like crazy,” Edward says confidently. “With great pleasure.”       Edward goes to Eugene confidently and tries to take the jackknife from him to make a very deep and big cut. But the criminal jumps aside sharply and points the knife at him.       “Brave, puppy, brave,” Eugene sneers evilly. “Do you want to bleed as well as you did some time ago? When you spent one of your lives! I can do it!”       “Don’t dare, bastard,” Terrence hisses, comes to Edward, pulls him back, and stands further than him. “Nobody dares to hurt my brother. Especially you, asshole.”       “Ah, MacClife, MacClife…” Eugene laughs evilly and points the knife at Terrence clenching his hands into fists tightly. “It’s so funny to watch you try to protect your brother like a little baby. Maybe, you feed him personally? Wipe his mouth?”       “You will not understand it, asshole,” Daniel says coldly, coming closer to Edward and Terrence and setting his contemptuous look on Eugene. “Terrence and Edward are ready to protect each other, but I’m ready to tear you apart if you dare to touch Cassidy with a finger.”       “Not all brothers and sisters are friendly, Perkins. The daddy of these two and their uncle have hated each other since childhood.”       “There is a reason to hate the man, who almost ruined my family’s life,” Edward says rudely.       “The same would have happened to you and your brother if you had wanted to stand by your beloved uncle. If you had made the right decision. Proved that you are not weak.”       “I never wanted, I do not want, and I will not do it.”       “Because you’re a coward!” Eugene throws rudely. “A worthless piece of shit! I am so sorry that you did not shoot yourself down when your uncle gave you a chance to make everyone’s life better.”       “If I had a gun, I would shoot you down for these words,” Terrence says coldly.       “But sadly, I don’t have a gun. I forgot it in the house where you all should have died. But there is a knife, with which I am going to kill you. Moreover, I am sick of wasting my time on you. I could have done something more important than catching some four idiots.”       Eugene tightly grips the jackknife and moves on confidently, while Terrence, Peter, Daniel, and Edward start to go back slowly, getting ready for one more fight but being sure of their strength.       “We’ve gotta knock the knife outta his hand,” Daniel says quietly. “Knock him out and tie him up.”       “I’ve got a plan: you and I cover Terrence and Peter and fight with Wainwright, and they try to take the knife,” Edward suggests confidently.       “Maybe, you try to take the knife, while we cover you?” Peter suggests. “We have more strength to fight!”       “I’ve got enough strength.”       “Better do what we can do,” Terrence says confidently. “Cover each other and protect yourself. But our main goal is taking the knife away, knocking him out, tying him up tightly.”       “And use everything around,” Daniel adds. “It can help us play some time.”       Meanwhile, Eugene comes to Edward confidently with an evil laugh. Wrapping the knife in his hand several times. And after coming closer to him, the criminal tries to get it into his shoulder. But the guy sharply bends aside, grabs the hand with the knife, raises it up, and strikes the opponent down quickly. Daniel tries to take the knife from Eugene by force, but the man squeezes it too tightly and is not going to give it. Wainwright resists furiously for a few seconds, then he gets out of Edward’s grip, strikes him and Perkins down, gets up sharply, and points the knife at the two, while they are creeping back. But Terrence runs to Eugene from behind and hits him on the back of his head with a heavy stick. That’s why the criminal doubles over and grabs his head. Not wasting time, MacClife, Sr., and Peter grab the opponent under his arms, take him far from Edward and Daniel, and push him to a high, thick tree together. As a result, Wainwright hits his forehead and falls to the ground with a dull pain in his head.       Meanwhile, Edward gets up and helps Daniel do the same, and Peter runs to Eugene and knocks the knife out of his hand with a leg. Then he gets down on his knees, puts the opponent’s arms around his back, starts to hold them tightly, and glances at Terrence, who nods at him confidently, as he is looking for something in a black backpack that is lying on one of the stumps. But Rose does not hold Wainwright for a too long because the criminal rolls onto a side sharply, sets his arms free, and strikes the opponent down. They get up almost at the same time. Then Wainwright runs to the blond, pushes him against a tree so strongly that he hits his back against it, and tries to hit his face with a fist. But Rose dodges easily, hits the opponent between his legs with a knee, and pushes him aside rudely. Next, Eugene sees a stick that is much thicker and smaller than the one, with which he has gotten many hits on the head. He takes it and fights Rose, who grabs it tightly, making many efforts to push him off. In the end, Peter pushes Eugene so that the criminal cannot keep his balance and falls to the ground.       Meanwhile, Daniel sees the stick that the men have used many times to protect themselves. He takes it sharply, runs to Wainwright, and hits him on the forearm with it. That’s why he gives a start with a quiet shout. But later, Eugene gets up sharply and starts a fight with Perkins. They protect themselves with their sticks like swords and beat each other with their legs on everything they see, but the hazel-eyed brunet’s reaction is much better, and he avoids any hits easily and gives them himself. But a little later, Eugene twists Daniel’s free arm and knocks the stick out of his hand with a leg. It falls beside the legs of Edward, who takes it and attacks Wainwright by hitting him strongly on the spine. While the criminal winces and doubles over from pain, MacClife, Jr., knocks the stick out of his hand and strikes him down with one hit on the hip. But Wainwright tightly grabs the stick of the opponent, tries to take it, and pulls the guy on himself at some moment so that he cannot keep his balance.       Edward does not let the stick go determinedly and presses it to Eugene’s throat, as if he is trying to strangle him, while the man is lying on the ground. But later, Wainwright sharply throws MacClife, Jr., off himself and tries to hit him in the face with a fist, but he gets a hit on his underbelly with a leg from his opponent and gets thrown aside. The guy manages to get up and tries to hit Eugene on the head with the stick. But the criminal sharply grabs the stick, throws his opponent aside, and strikes him down. That’s why the guy hits his elbow against the ground and lets the stick go, wincing strongly in pain. And Eugene runs to Terrence, who is still looking for something in the backpack, and tries to attack him, but the man fights him off confidently with both hands, elbows, and fists. But he gets thrown on the uprooted tree that gets broken due to the heavy weight, and the man thinks that he scratches his back. However, Terrence gets up quickly and uses a chokehold on Eugene from behind, taking him aside slowly. But a few moments later, Wainwright sharply hits MacClife, Sr., on the nose with the back of his head, and the latter lets him go sharply and pinches the bridge of his nose. Wainwright smiling slyly uses it and tries to beat his face.       But when he raises a hand up and gets ready to give the first slap, Daniel grabs it from behind and puts it around his back. Who gets pushed away immediately. Then Edward runs to Eugene and hits his head with an empty bottle that he finds somewhere in a bust. This hit does not impact Wainwright, who gives MacClife, Jr., a strong slap in the face, grabs by the collar, and unsuccessfully tries to hit his head against a tree. Then Peter hits Eugene on the head with a second bottle and on his underbelly with a leg. The furious Wainwright attacks the blond and strongly smashes his fist against his jaw. But the next second, the blond sharply grabs his hands, hits him between the legs with a knee, and gets him down to the knees. However, some time later, Eugene strikes Peter down and gets up with an irritated growl. Later, Wainwright grabs a heavy stick, stops his eyes on Edward and Daniel, and tries to attack them. But they grab the stick at the same time and try to strike the opponent down together. At some moment, the two push him away and think that he is going to fall down, but Eugene keeps his balance and attacks him again. But Daniel and Edward push him off much stronger and strike him down eventually.       While Perkins and MacClife, Jr., throw a look at each other, Wainwright stands up and tries to attack them with an evil growl, but the men go on different sides in time. And one or two seconds later, Peter and Terrence throw small rocks at Wainwright from both sides. The opponent grabs his temples and tries to close his face, running on different sides and screaming hysterically. Meanwhile, Rose holding two sticks in his hands glances at Edward and Daniel and calls them loudly:       “Daniel! Edward!”       Edward and Daniel sharply move their eyes to Peter, who throws a thick stick at each of them. MacClife, Jr., runs some distance, does a front walkover, runs a little more, and grabs the stick. And Perkins runs at some distance, jumps up highly, and catches what gets into his hands, feeling that he might fall but keeping a balance. Terrence finds two more sticks and throws one of them to Peter, who catches it after taking two steps forward. All four look at each other and stand on different sides to form a square. After this, they nod confidently, placing their legs shoulder-width apart and squeezing the sticks tightly. Meanwhile, Eugene shakes his head sharply, looks around, and sees Edward, Daniel, Terrence, and Peter surrounding him from all sides and coming to him slowly but confidently, literally trying to kill him with their burning looks full of evil.       “No…” Eugene pronounces in a little shaking voice with horror in widely open eyes. “No, no, no… NO! DON’T GET CLOSER! YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME! I WILL NOT GIVE UP!”       Eugene starts to breathe heavily and look around scarily, imagining Edward, Daniel, Terrence, and Peter go on him as horrifying zombies, who want to deal with him and make him one of them.       “NO, YOU WILL NOT CATCH ME!” Eugene screams. “I WILL DESTROY ALL OF YOU, MOTHERFUCKERS! KILL YOU!”       Eugene glances aside, sees not a very good stick that he takes, and threatens all the men with it, who look at him with icy glances with their heads proudly up, hoping to settle a horror inside him.       “GET OUT, BEASTS!” Eugene screams. “GET OUT! I WILL NOT LET YOU MAKE ME A MUTANT! NO! I SHALL KILL YOU!”       Eugene looks around with widely open eyes for a few seconds before he attacks Peter. The blond does not get confused and starts to fight off with a stick, looking more confident after every hit and using his excellent psychical data to the fullest. Sometimes Rose wraps the stick with one or two hands, throws it up with one hand, and catches it with another, thinking of some tricks that he performs during the play on the drums. Some time later, he manages to knock the stick out of Wainwright’s hands, strike him down, and would probably continue to fight. But Terrence hits the criminal on the back of his head with his stick. And everybody wonders why Wainwright does not attack him shortly and creeps back, looking at MacClife, Sr., with horror in his eyes, while the man goes on him determinedly.       “NO!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “YOU WILL NOT GET MY SKIN! GET OFF! GET OUT, ASSHOLES! I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON YOU!”       Eugene points his shaking hand at the stick, takes it, gets up, and starts to fight with Terrence, who is acting much crueler than Peter. When the man strongly hits him on his arms with the stick several times, the criminal screams loudly and jumps back like a boiling kettle, waving his stick furiously. Having a lot of strength and energy, he can fight on a run, attack, give hits with his legs in a jump, and react greatly to any actions of the opponent, thinking this is another reason to show that he is talented at everything. But at some moment, Eugene makes a trip for Terrence, who falls down on his knees and hands. Wainwright tries to hit him on the back with a stick as strongly as possible.       But Edward meddles and gives the opponent much stronger and more painful hits on the whole body. The criminal has to protect himself from the aggression of the guy, who does not let himself relax and thinks of his close people when he understands that he is about to fall from weakness. MacClife, Jr., fights off hits easily, gives hits with his legs furiously, not missing a chance to show his gymnastics skills and good flexibility, jumping a lot, and squatting down every time a stick might get into any part of his body. However, some time later, Eugene knocks the stick out of Edward’s hand so strongly that it jumps up and gets thrown aside. While the man grabs Wainwright’s stick tightly and holds it, pushing the opponent off himself, Daniel runs back, grabs it in a high jump, and gets down on his knees. Holding two sticks, he gets up, runs to Eugene throwing Edward aside, and strikes out the object of protection, which he finds quickly, however.       Eugene starts an attack again, but it does not scare Daniel, who protects himself with two sticks confidently, proving that even if he does not have the best psychical data, he shows himself as a fearless and determined man. The thought that Cassidy suffered for so many years is a strong motivation for Perkins, who swears to become the best brother in the world for his sister. By this time, Eugene’s strength has almost gone, and he gives in much more. He completely understands it and is terribly mad, not wishing to let anyone get a victory over him. That’s why Daniel manages to strike the opponent down with a couple of easy movements at some moment. He throws one stick aside, grips the other with both hands tightly, and knocks the object of protection out of Wainwright’s hands with just one hit. That’s why it gets thrown far away, somewhere in a thicket. While the confident Daniel breathing a little heavily steps on the chest of Eugene with a foot and looks at him with contempt, Terrence, Peter, and Edward come to him with sticks in their hands, surround the opponent, point their guns at him, and look at each other proudly, as if they say they did a good job.       “You’ve lost, Wainwright,” Terrence says confidently. “You will never catch two or more people. Remember, the more people, the stronger they are. And the less chance you have.”       “Just like we are,” Peter adds confidently. “Together, we are a power! The power of four.”       “It’s the best thing of the worst ones that we can do to you,” Edward says coldly. “When you’re in jail, you will be beaten several times per day. As you deserve.”       “We will teach you to respect girls,” Daniel adds in a cold voice. “The power of the real man is not about taking a girl by force or raising a hand on her. It’s about treating her with respect and considering her a persona with her own feelings and wishes.”       To everybody’s surprise, Eugene does not attack the men. He just looks at them with fear in widely open eyes, feeling something small and unprotected in front of these people, who surrounded him from all sides.       “No, no…” Eugene pronounces in a shaking voice, shaking his head sharply, and starts to creep away from the men. “NO! DON’T TOUCH ME! GO AWAY, MUTANTS! LEAVE ME! NO!”       “No, Wainwright, YOU better go,” Edward demands in a horrifying voice. “We will not leave alone you until you pay for what you’ve done.”       “NO! NO! GO AWAY! ASSHOLES! I WILL NOT GIVE UP! NO!”       Eugene starts breathing heavily, while his eyes run from one side to another, understanding that his whole body starts to shake and hurt strongly, and his hands get sweaty.       “I need a dose…” Eugene pronounces in a shaking voice. “I need a dose now… WHERE IS MY DOSE? I NEED A FUCKING DOSE! DOSE… WHERE? WHERE?”       The excited Eugene looks around scarily until he sees the black backpack placed not far from him. He tries to get up sharply but cannot do it due to his strong weakness. That’s why he starts to creep up to the bag on his knees. Being a little exhausted and breathing heavily, Edward, Peter, Daniel, and Terrence watch him with some fear in their eyes, still holding sticks and being afraid that the worst things might be waiting for them. Wainwright breathing heavily reaches the black backpack, opens it with shaking hands, gets everything out of it, and finds a Zip-lock that he tears apart furiously.       “HA, HA, HA, HA,” Eugene laughs wildly some time later, throwing hands aside with a feeling of strong euphoria, raising them up, and looking up to the gray sky. “YES! YES! HIGH! WHAT I NEED!”       Eugene finds one more similar packet and opens it. But it’s not enough for him, and he wants more. More. Much more.       “I NEED MORE!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “GIVE ME ONE MORE DOSE! A-A-A-A-A! GIVE ME!”       Eugene opens the third packet, but even in this case, he does not get what he wants. Being shocked, Edward, Daniel, Terrence, and Peter see that the criminal starts to laugh wildly without a reason and sometimes runs from one side to another, definitely seeing some hallucinations. And at some moment, he moves his widely open eyes to the small bust, the leaves of which barely move because of the cold wind, and freezes.       “YOU WANT TO INFECT ME WITH YOUR SHIT?” Eugene resents loudly. “NO! I WILL NOT… I WILL NOT! YOU WILL NOT INFECT ME WITH THIS SHIT!”       Eugene turns sharply aside and shakes off something invisible from his shoulder.       “A-A-A-A, DO NOT DARE TO TOUCH ME! DO NOT DARE!” Eugene moves his wild eyes into the distance and starts to go backward slowly. “NO, NO, NO! DO NOT COME! DO NOT COME! I SHALL KILL YOU! DO NOT DO! NO! A-A-A-A!”       Eugene starts to fight off someone with both hands and runs between stumps and busts around the whole territory with wide shouts and pleas to help him, grabbing his head, looking back, and breathing heavily enough. While Daniel, Edward, Terrence, and Peter slowly step away as far as possible and look at each other at times.       “I’m scared, guys,” Peter confesses hesitantly. “He sniffed that shit again and is running after someone or something like crazy.”       “This sick asshole will obviously kill us if he doesn’t like something,” Edward expresses anxiety.       “Huh, he’d kill us without that shit,” Daniel throws gloomily.       “Let’s get out of here,” Terrence suggests quietly. “To find Cassidy.”       “Yeah…” Edward pronounces. “We’ve gotta save the poor girl from this nightmare.”       “We better go now, while that bastard doesn’t pay attention to us,” Peter says confidently.       “Get out, guys, get out,” Daniel jabs. “May he run here and fight with busts.”       After hesitating for a few seconds and making sure that Eugene does not care about them, Daniel, Peter, Terrence, and Edward go away slowly and carefully and later start to quicken a step, looking back sometimes. They quickly go through the green thickets, get caught in the dirt multiple times, stumble over stumps, and run on some paths between trees and busts. They spend a few minutes coming to the place where Peter and Daniel found Cassidy some time ago. But the men getting much more tired do not find the girl when they start to look around, doubling over and leaning on their knees with their hands.       “Hey, where’s Cassidy?” Peter wonders. “She was here!”       “She couldn’t leave ‘cause she was very weak,” Daniel shakes his head. “Cassidy must be here!”       “Are you sure you left her here?” Terrence asks.       “Yup, sure. She promised to wait for us.”       The men look around for a few seconds, and then Edward looks somewhere aside, opens his eyes widely, and claps Daniel on the shoulder, asking excitedly:       “Hey, Daniel, look! Is that her?”       All the men move their eyes to where Edward looks and see Cassidy lying on the ground near the tree, not moving, and looking very pale and weak. And there is a small puddle near her, which means that the girl cleaned her stomach one or two times.       “Oh, damn…” Peter pronounces with horror in his eyes. “It seems like she feels too bad…”       “Oh, no…” Daniel shakes his head. “Cassidy!”       Daniel runs shortly to Cassidy, gets down on his knees, raises the unconscious girl, and, holding her suspended, claps her on her cheek slightly.       “Cassidy, Cass…” Daniel pronounces in a shaking voice. “Please, sis, say something. Cassidy! Cassidy!”       Meanwhile, Edward, Peter, and Terrence run here and get down on their knees near Cassidy, who is held suspended by Daniel.       “Damn, are we late?” Terrence gets horrified.       “No, no, it can’t be the truth,” Daniel pronounces in a strongly shaking voice. “I can’t lose her! I can’t!”       “Calm down, Daniel, she’s alive,” Peter says quietly checking the pulse on Cassidy’s hand. “Her pulse is weak, but she has it.”       “And she isn’t unconscious,” Edward notices, looking at Cassidy’s eyes closely. “Look, her eyes are moving!”       As it turned out, Cassidy is really still awake, but she gets much worse than before. Moaning quietly, the girl barely finds the strength to open her eyes and sees Edward, Terrence, and Peter looking at her with horror in their eyes.       “Guys…” Cassidy pronounces quietly. “You’re alive…”       “It’s okay, Cassidy,” Peter assures quietly. “You’re safe now.”       “And Daniel? Where’s he?”       “I’m here, Cassidy,” Daniel says quietly, breathing a little heavily and moving some strands of Cassidy’s hair off her face.       “Brother…” Cassidy barely finds the strength to get up and take Daniel in a tight hug, to which he answers with pleasure. “Thank God…”       “It’s okay, sis,” Daniel caresses Cassidy’s head tenderly. “It’s okay. I’m here.”       “I’d see you again… And hug you… Before my death…”       “No, no, don’t say it,” Daniel says confidently, steps back from Cassidy, and, starting to press her close to his chest, caresses his sister’s cheek. “We’ll do our best to drive you to the hospital as soon as possible.”       “Don’t rush… I won’t survive…”       “No, Cass, no. Please, wait for a while.”       “I’m trying, Daniel, but I can’t…” Cassidy says in a shaking voice. “I feel too bad… I know I’m about to die… I have very little time.”       “You’re hurting me with these words.”       “Sorry… But I’m powerless…”       “It’s all over, Cassidy,” Edward says softly, caressing Cassidy’s shoulder. “You’ll no longer be back to that stinker.”       “He’ll find me… Wherever I am… I tried to hide from him, but he found me.”       “Don’t worry, Cassidy, you may not be afraid,” Terrence replies confidently. “We defeated him.”       “Defeated?” Cassidy opens her eyes widely. “He’s d-dead? You killed him?”       “No, he’s alive,” Peter says quietly. “But we promise that he will no longer hurt you. You’re under our protection.”       “Yes, sis, I swear Wainwright will no longer touch you with a finger,” Daniel adds confidently, moving a strand of Cassidy’s hair off her eyes. “I shall protect you and tear down anyone, who dares to hurt you.”       “He will find me, Dan, he will,” Cassidy whispers with tears and despair. “I don’t wanna come back to him anymore! I don’t want!”       “It won’t happen, girl,” Terrence says confidently, caressing Cassidy’s shoulder. “We will protect you against him if he dares to come to you.”       “What if that man finds and kills all of you?”       “He won’t, don’t worry. The guys and I can stand up for ourselves and each other.”       “I don’t want any of you to die because of me. I don’t want him to kill my brother. I don’t!”       “It’s gonna be okay, Cassidy, trust us,” Peter replies confidently. “You’ve got a brother, who’ll protect you, and he’s got friends, who will help him.”       “Gosh, I was such an idiot…” Cassidy swears and sniffs quietly. “Why did I go so far? Why?”       “Please, stop blaming yourself for everything. You’re not the one to blame for Wainwright being mentally sick.”       “I’m guilty of everything, everything,” Cassidy says with despair and tears in a shaking voice. “If I hadn’t wanted to try drugs, nothing would’ve happened. I must’ve stayed with Daniel after our parents’ deaths. But I did not do it. I left home!”       “Cass, please, don’t blame yourself,” Daniel begs with pity in his eyes, puts his hand on Cassidy’s cheek softly, caresses it tenderly, and wipes tears under his sister’s eyes. “You’re guilty of nothing.”       “I think Mom and Dad are watching me and regretting giving birth to a daughter like me,” Cassidy sniffs quietly. “Although you weren’t a good boy… You’ve always been much better…”       “No, Cass, it’s not true. I often made our parents upset and gave them problems.”       “But you never even thought of taking drugs! Yes, you drank and smoked… Studied badly… Went home closer to the might after walking with your pals… Had many girls… Even argued with our parents at times… But… But you never sniffed marijuana or powder. You never thought of that. And you never stole a thing. But I was a shameless robber… I stole something to sell it and buy drugs…”       “Nobody is perfect, Cassidy,” Edward says confidently. “Everyone makes mistakes at a young age. If I told you about mine, your jaw would lie on the ground.”       “None of you made my greatest mistake – taking drugs. Everything would’ve been otherwise if I hadn’t agreed to sniff marijuana.”       “You will get cured,” Daniel promises. “I shall find the best clinic for you and pay any money, so you get rid of the dependence on this shit. Do my best for you to start living a normal life. We will overcome it together.”       “No, Dan, I don’t need it…” Cassidy replies quietly. “I shall die anyway…”       “No, no, Cassidy, don’t say it!”       “I was ready to die at any time. I almost accepted the fact that I’d never see you. But… When I saw you in that room, I was ready to jump from happiness. That I got a chance to look at my brother for the last time.”       “And we’ll never be apart. I will help you survive this time. I know it’s gonna be a long and hard way, but I’m ready.”       “Sometimes I saw you in my dreams… How I met you after a long separation. And I always wanted to believe that it was real. But to my sadness, I always woke up… And cried… Because I was all alone. No Mom, no Dad, no brother… Nobody, who I could ask for help.”       “Cassidy…”       “But my dream has come true…” Cassidy points her hand to the matted hair of Daniel shaking slightly and strokes it. “I saw you… How you’ve grown up and become a man… And I finally hugged you…”       “No, Cassidy, please, don’t say it like you’re gonna die now,” Daniel begs with pity in his eyes, shaking his head sharply. “I don’t want to lose you! You’re the only one I have.”       “I’m really dying, Daniel… My time is coming…”       “No, Cassidy, no!” Daniel breaks into a cry, breathing heavily enough, and hugs Cassidy tightly with shaking arms. “Don’t say that! It’s gonna be okay! You’re gonna live!”       “Yeah… I almost forgot…” Cassidy sniffs quietly. “I want… I want to give you something… This is the only thing I have… The important one… As I’m dying, I want you to have it…”       Cassidy checks out the pockets of her old, shabby hoodie that is too big for her, takes something from one of them, and gives it to Daniel, saying in a shaking voice:       “Take it… Please, take it… Never sell it… Never… Please…”       Daniel takes the golden braided bracelet, which looks simple but very elegant.       “Mother’s bracelet!” Daniel exclaims. “The one Father gifted her for one of their wedding anniversaries!”       “Yup…” Cassidy nods. “It’s Dad’s gift… Mom loved this jewelry so much…”       “So, did you steal it?”       “I wanted to sell to get money for drugs… It costed so much… Clean gold… But I couldn’t get rid of what reminded me of Mom.”       “Damn, Cassidy… Do you know how much Mom was worried about the disappearance? And she was worried every time you stole Dad’s gifts from her! She always knew that was you! But you denied everything! And you tried to blame me for it several times. Though, I’ve never stolen a thing in my life. I’m not a robber. If I want to take something, I ask for permission.”       “Forgive me, Daniel…” Cassidy makes a quiet sob. “I'm so sorry… I’m so ashamed… Ashamed of Mom and Dad… And you… Ashamed of stealing… I’m so sorry… Sorry that I can’t get everything back ‘cause I sold it all…”       “Did Wainwright see Mother’s bracelet?” Daniel frowns.       “He did. And I was begging Eugene not to sell it because it meant so much to me. And thank God, he agreed. Even if he could’ve taken it when I was high or unconscious…”       “Amazing…”       “Please, Dan…” Cassidy looks at Daniel with pity in her eyes, breathing heavily enough. “Keep it… Please, don’t sell the bracelet. This is the only thing I saved. And I don’t want another woman to wear this jewelry. Save it, bro, please…”       “No, no, Cass, I promise… I won’t sell it… It will be with us… Remind us of Mom and Dad, who I miss.”       “Take care of it… Please…”       Cassidy starts to breathe heavily enough and feels stronger dizziness and weakness. That’s why she starts to cry bitterly and looks at Daniel as if this is the last time.       “Quiet, sis, quiet, it’s okay,” Daniel pronounces in a soft, shaking voice, caressing Cassidy’s head and cheek, and puts the bracelet in the pocket of his leather jacket. “The guys and I will drive you to the hospital now.”       “Alright, guys, stop sitting!” Edward pronounces determinedly. “We’ve gotta get out of here!”       “Yes, get up, guys!” Terrence says confidently. “We can’t waste time!”       “Come on, come on!” Peter exclaims. “Get up!”       “Stop, guys…” Cassidy pronounces quietly, taking Peter by the wrist, while he, Edward, Daniel, and Terrence want to get up. “You won’t have time… I shall die… Now…”       “No, Cassidy, no!” Daniel gets horrified. “Hold on, please! We will get out of here!”       “You’ll never be alone, bro. Even if I die, I will watch you in heaven.”       “No, stop! I don’t wanna hear it! Hear me!”       “Remember that I love you and will always do.” Cassidy finds the strength to put her hand on Daniel’s cheek and kiss another, and lies down with a painful moan. “Although we weren’t close when we were kids, now I understand I should’ve appreciated you. After our parents’ death, I realized that I had nobody closer than you.”       “Cassidy…”       “I love you, brother… Farewell…”       Cassidy’s hand slowly slides from Daniel’s cheek to his shoulder, and tears roll down her pale cheeks. And when she begins to close her eyes with a quiet, painful moan, falls into endless darkness, and leans her head back, while her body gets soft, and her hand immediately falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes.       “Cassidy…” Daniel sharply shakes his head, watching Cassidy with horror in his eyes and starting to shake much stronger when her body becomes soft in his arms. “Cassidy! Don’t do it, Cass, don’t do it, please… You hear me? Cassidy!”       Daniel softly claps Cassidy on the cheek, which he rubs with his shaking hand.       “Please, sis…” Daniel begs with pity. “Please… You can’t leave me alone…”       Daniel breathing heavily checks Cassidy’s pulse on her neck and wrist with his shaking hand and realizes she is alive because her heart is beating. Very, very slowly, but it’s beating.       “Alive…” Daniel says quietly. “Alive yet…”       “We can still save her,” Terrence says hesitantly.       “Not sure! We’re gonna lose a lot of time anyway! No matter if we wait for the police here or go to the hospital! She won’t hold on!”       “Fuck!” Peter throws gloomily and puts a hand on his forehead. “What a misfortune!”       “Because of that bastard, Wainwright!” Edward exclaims.       “I wish that asshole burned in hell!” Daniel growls irritably and presses the pale, unconscious Cassidy closer to himself. “I swear if my sister dies because of him, I shall break his dick with my own hands. I shall skin that asshole alive!”       “What do we do now?”       “Let me try to reach the city, while you, guys, stay here,” Terrence suggests confidently. “Find my car and come back.”       “But you don’t know where to go!”       “Nobody knows! But I shall try to find a way.”       “I can go with you,” Peter suggests. “It’d be easier together.”       “No, you better stay here. What if you have to fight off Wainwright.”       “What if he finds and kills you?” Edward expresses anxiety.       “I won’t fight with him. If I see him, I’ll run. He can’t catch me ‘cause I run fast.”       “He’s drugged! That scumbag might be obsessed with strong adrenaline, catch you, and leave you behind.”       “It’s gonna be okay, I promise!”       “Listen, let me go with you, while Peter stays with Daniel and Cassidy and helps them.”       “No, Edward, I will do it alone,” Terrence says confidently, putting his hand on Edward’s shoulder. “You better do your best to protect yourself, the lads, and Cassidy from that bastard. Wait for the police. I guess they’re about to come.”       “What if you get lost?” Daniel shows anxiety. “How would we know it? There’s no signal here!”       “I dunno, I’ll find a way.”       “Listen, let’s just…” Peter wants to say.       Peter does not speak his mind because all the men hear some unfamiliar sounds, which let them know that someone is trying to come here or just goes by.       “Hey, what is that?” Peter frowns slightly. “It’s like someone’s coming here.”       “Maybe, the police have finally come?” Terrence shrugs.       “Wait here,” Edward says quietly. “I’ll go to check.”       Edward gets up quickly and starts to follow the sound, leaving Terrence, Daniel, Cassidy, and Peter alone. The man confidently gets through the hateful thickets, hearing a quiet crunch of dry leaves and sticks under his feet. By this time, it has become a little darker not only because of the cloudy weather, but also because it’s almost six in the afternoon. It’s getting harder to see something far. But it does not stop MacClife, Jr., and he keeps following the sounds. And some time later, he comes to an empty glade, next to which there is a road with many crushes and holes.       “Automobile road…” Edward pronounces quietly. “That’s good… So, there’s a chance to get out of here and go somewhere in the city.”       Edward looks around carefully, listens to every noise, and watches every movement that gets into his eyes, not managing to find the source of the sounds. At some moment, he starts to think that nobody made any sounds. That the men go a little crazy from tiredness… And while the man looks into the distance, he does not notice that Eugene creeps toward him slowly from behind, being determined to destroy his biggest enemy. At some moment, Edward feels that someone is breathing behind him, but he reacts at the last moment. And Wainwright immediately uses a chokehold and puts the syringe filled with something agaist his temple.       “Don’t dare to move, scumbag,” Eugene hisses through his teeth. “Or you will die immediately. And your brother and pals will understand nothing.”       Edward feels how his heart stops when he feels the needle put to his temple and hears Eugene’s disgusting voice. He immediately opens his eyes full of horror widely and understands that he is shaking from fear that the opponent may be much stronger. Especially after he took a great dose of strong drugs.       “You and your pals fought well, I appreciated it,” Eugene says in a low, rude voice. “But it will help none of you.”       “We will see it, bastard,” Edward clenches his hands into fists, trying to stay cold and not to show his fear of the man, whose pupils in his red eyes are dilated strongly.       “Nobody can stop me now. You’ve been caught in my trap, and your gang is far from you and cannot save you.”       “So, did you make sounds? You wanted to catch us here?”       “Aha. I saw you shaking over the baby, Cassidy, and decided to bring here at least one of you.” Eugene smiles slyly. “And I am so lucky that you were the one. I do want to deal with you first.”       “And I want to deal with you!”       “Soon, you will understand that your brother was right when he warned you that you would be dead if you came here. But you didn’t listen to him. You naively thought you’d deal with me alone. You pretended to be a hero.”       “I shall do it. Alone or with someone, but I swear I SHALL DESTROY YOU!”       Edward sharply sets free from Eugene’s grip and wants to attack him. But the criminal gives him a very strong slap in the face, after which he falls to the ground, grabbing his cheek.       “DO NOT HOPE!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “Don’t hope that you will destroy me, Eugene Wainwright. A pathetic, worthless kid cannot be stronger than I. CANNOT!”       “I am stronger than you think!” Edward says confidently with his head proudly raised. “You don’t know how strong I can be.”       “Stop making yourself sure that you’re not worthless. You are a worthless, cowardly puppy. Without your gang, you are nobody. Fucking piece of shit!”       “The one to be a coward is you, Wainwright! Cowardice is not your attempt to escape. It’s a confession of responsibility for your actions. You are truly strong if you can recognize your mistakes and shortcomings. And you’re weak if you refuse to do it.”       “Stop saying some bullshit!” Eugene strongly slaps Edward in the face again. “Remember, MacClife, I will never pay for what I do not regret. And the thing I will not regret is my wish to kill you.”       “You can’t hide like a coward forever,” Edward says rudely. “Early or late, the police will find you!”       “Even a mentally retarded idiot will not want to get in trouble. You are the only idiot, who decided to come here with your pals and brother.”       “I will not let you be free, bastard! You will go to the dirtiest prison today!”       “Oh, oh, I’m so scared!” Eugene laughs wildly, rolling his eyes. “What could the puppy do to me? Bring the police here? Or does he believe that he can make me go there at my wish?”       “I can do many things! To make you pay not only for helping my sick uncle Michael do his dirty things and mocking my fiancée. You will also pay for raping Cassidy. Since you’d been mocking her before she turned eighteen, you, fucking pedophile, will get a few more years.”       “Nobody will prove anything.”       “Natalia has already proved your fault. So, Cassidy will also tell how you, asshole, ruined her life.”       “Dead don’t talk, you, shabby puppy.” Eugene bends over Edward still sitting on the ground and, grabbing him by the hair painfully, points the needle of the syringe to his throat. “And you and your pals will prove nothing. You can say anything, but not everyone can prove it. Moreover, nobody will believe a long-time drug addict. Because they lie all the time. When they’re asked if they take drugs. And when they’re charged for stealing things.”       “Don’t worry about it!” Edward exclaims coldly and confidently. “We will do everything for you to stay in prison until the end of your worthless life. I swear, Wainwright! You will go where you belong. I shall be madly grateful to your cellmates if they beat you to death. And if Cassidy dies because of you, her brother will tear you apart, too.”       “Her brother will die soon. As well as you. And your brother. And your blond pal.”       “Don’t dare to touch my brother and friends,” Edward hisses through his teeth. “Or I will not be responsible for me!”       “Relax, baby! You will never defeat me! I will live! Live! LIVE! HEAR ME THE FUCK, LIVE! YOUR CUTIES WILL BE MINE! I SHALL MAKE THEM DO WHAT I WANT! THEY ALL WILL SUCK ME!”       “YOU WILL NOT GET OUR GIRLS!” Edward screams at the top of his lungs. “NEITHER MY FIANCÉE, THE FIANCÉE OF MY BROTHER, NOR THE GIRLFRIENDS OF OUR FRIENDS!”       “I will, MacClife, I will. I will just defeat the four bastards, who RUIN ALL MY PLANS.”       “You will do us a favor if you smoked and sniffed your drugs to death! NOBODY WILL BE SORRY!”       “No, baby, nobody will be sorry if YOU die,” Eugene replies confidently with a sly smile. “And the honorable Mr. MacClife would be madly grateful to me for dealing with the one, who he hates more than your father.”       “I WILL NOT GIVE UP WITHOUT A FIGHT!”       “Yeah, knowing you’re a fucking scumbag, you will probably play some time. But when I inject what’s inside this syringe into you, you will meet your death. There is a great dose here. Nobody will survive after so much. So, rest in peace, puppy! YOU WILL DIE!”       Eugene checks the syringe with one press and starts to laugh wildly, as he confidently comes to Edward, who rounds his eyes and puts his head on his shoulders in fear. Understanding that he has nobody to count on now, MacClife, Jr., creeps back and then rolls aside sharply when the criminal wants to get the syringe into him. While the needle gets into the ground, and Wainwright tries to get it out, MacClife, Jr., gets up quickly and strikes a fighting pose. When Eugene gets the needle out, he moves his widely open eyes to the guy, attacks him with an irritated growl, and tries to inject something into him again. But Edward is fighting with the opponent determinedly, using the fact that he has a very good reaction, fighting off him furiously with his legs, hands, and elbows, and sparing no strength to kick the one, whom he hates literally more than his uncle Michael.       

***

      Meanwhile, Terrence, Daniel, and Peter are starting to be worried that it’s been a long enough time, but Edward has not been back yet.       “Listen, guys, don’t you think it’s been too long since Edward left?” Peter expresses anxiety.       “Fuck, if only he didn’t meet Wainwright,” Daniel exhales sharply. “Or he will be dead.”       “Could he go here and bring the case to an end?”       “That bastard won’t calm down until he kills all of us.”       “I’m afraid it’s gonna be hard for us to deal with him. That scumbag is gonna sniff some shit and become non-adequate.”       “I know. We can get rid of him in two cases: if he kills himself, or if we kill him. No other way.”       “Damn, we must just get outta here all together! Even if the police come here, may they look for that bastard.”       “At least for Cassidy. If we don’t bring her to the hospital immediately, she will die. We don’t know how much time we have, and what that motherfucker injected into her.”       “Something strong… Definitely…” Peter glances at the pool not far from Cassidy. “She did feel nausea, judging the pool near her…”       Daniel says nothing, glances at the pool, winces strongly, and presses the unconscious Cassidy to himself. Meanwhile, Terrence starts to breathe kind of heavily with a feeling that something is pressing on his chest.       “Hey, Terrence, are you okay?” Daniel frowns slightly. “Why are you so pale?”       “Yes, buddy, what’s going on?” Peter expresses anxiety, putting his hand on Terrence’s shoulder. “You’re too tense!”       Terrence says nothing for a few seconds and shakes his head before he, looking into the distance with shocked eyes, pronounces thoughtfully:       “Edward… I’m starting to be worried about him. I’ve got a bad presentiment.”       “Dude, we’re worried, too,” Daniel replies quietly. “But he’ll be back now.”       “No… Something’s happening to him. I’m sure about it.”       “But what?” Peter wonders.       “I don’t know, but we must find him immediately. Maybe, he really met that bastard Wainwright. In this case, Edward will be dead. That scumbag will deal with my brother super easily.”       “Maybe, we shouldn’t have really let him go alone?” Daniel assumes. “Wainwright does want to catch Edward alone and kill him!”       “No, it won’t happen, I shall not let him!” Terrence replies confidently and glances at Daniel and Peter. “Stay here, guys, but I’ll find him. I shall strangle that asshole if he does something to my brother.”       Terrence gets up sharply and runs to where Edward went some time ago.       “Terrence!” Peter exclaims. “Terrence, wait!”       After getting no reaction from Terrence, Peter exhales slowly, shaking his head, and looks at Daniel, who presses Cassidy closely to himself and caresses her head, being terribly afraid that he will not be able to save his sister and lose her because of the one, whom he will curse all his life.       

***

      Edward is fighting with Eugene too hard and trying not to let him inject him. But after such a long and active fight, his strength starts to fade away slowly. Resisting such an aggressive man, who is under the influence of drugs, was hard for four men, but doing this all alone is an impossible mission. The thoughts about his close people, whom he swore to protect in any way, no longer help him. At some moment, Eugene trips Edward with a sly smile. The man falls to his knees and gets a slap in the face from the opponent. Then Wainwright painfully grabs MacClife, Jr., by the hair, raises his head sharply, and wants to get the needle into the curve of his neck with a crazy, evil laugh. But Terrence runs here, seeing that a bad presentiment did not lie to him.       “Let him go, bastard!” Terrence shouts at the top of his lungs. “NOW!”       Eugene immediately pays attention to Terrence and wants to inject something into him. But Edward uses it, strikes the opponent down sharply, and gives him a couple of slaps in the face. Then MacClife, Jr., gets up and looks at the brother with horror in widely open eyes, starting to wave his hands and shouting with despair:       “No, Terrence, run! Run!”       “Only with you, not otherwise,” Terrence says confidently.       “He’s got some shit in the syringe! One injection before you’re a corpse!”       “I will not leave you! We will leave together!”       Terrence wants to come to Edward confidently and quickly, but Eugene gets up sharply, grabs MacClife, Jr., by the hair, and points the syringe on the curve of his neck, setting his eyes on the older brother of the guy.       “STAY THERE, ASSHOLE!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “OR THIS PUPPY WILL DIE!”       “Don’t dare to do anything to him!” Terrence demands in a high, loud voice, doing what Eugene says. “OR YOU WILL BE A CORPSE!”       “SHUT UP, FREAK! NOW NOBODY WILL STOP ME FROM KILLING THIS KID! NOBODY! EVEN YOU!”       “I SHALL KILL YOU IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO HIM!”       “Take care of your nerves, MacClife,” Eugene smiles slyly, still keeping the syringe pointed to the curve of Edward’s neck. “You will need them when you’re grieving and comforting your mommy and daddy and the fiancée of this puppy. Of course, if you live until that.”       “DON’T MAKE ME FURIOUS, MOTHERFUCKER! LET MY BROTHER GO AT YOUR WISH!”       “NEVER!”       Terrence tries to run to Eugene sharply, but the criminal points the syringe at him immediately.       “DON’T DARE!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “DON’T DARE!”       “I shall tear you apart if something happens to Edward because of you,” Terrence threatens furiously.       “You cannot help him now.” Eugene puts the syringe against Edward’s temple and grabs his neck with his arm much tighter. “This puppy is at my mercy now! He is about to die and stop making me furious with his pretense!”       “I swear I will not be silent if you do what you did to Cassidy to my brother. The girl is dying in her brother’s arms!”       “Not so much to lose! I am going to have fun with four sexy dollies.”       “We will do our best for you, scumbag, TO GO TO PRISON UNTIL THE END OF YOUR LIFE! As well as that old bastard, Michael!”       “Your uncle would be happy to kiss my legs if I killed this little bastard that ruined everyone’s life.”       “Edward ruined nobody’s life! HEAR ME, NOBODY!”       “Scream as much as you want, but what is waiting for Perkins’ sister is waiting for your brother. You were right when you warned this kid that he would be dead if he stayed alone.”       “I will not leave my brother here!”       “Leave or not, he will die anyway.” Eugene smiles slyly and puts the needle tighter against the curve of Edward’s neck. “I will be happy to kill this bastard before your eyes. Maybe, you will die from anger, and I will not have to deal with you.”       “Do what you want with me, but let my friends, my brother, and Cassidy go,” Edward demands rudely. “Let them drive the girl to the hospital. She will die if we don’t help her!”       “If she dies, she will do it! I will not be sad! I’ve already gotten the maximum from baby Cassidy. So, I do not need her now.”       “You’re sick, SICK!” Terrence screams at the top of his lungs. “YOU MUST GET CURED!”       “AS WELL AS YOU, HYSTERICAL GIRL! I’m surprised that you still walk quietly instead of getting therapy and wearing a straitjacket.”       “THE SAME IS WAITING FOR YOU, BASTARD!”       “No, MacClife, I’m not going to prison, a mental hospital, or anywhere else. I have lots of plans that I want to make come true. For example, there are so many gorgeous girls that will be mine soon. Your gorgeous wifey… The sexiest woman on the planet…”       “Shut up, motherfucker, SHUT UP!” Terrence hisses through his teeth, clenching his hands into fists.       “The girlfriends of the blond and Perkins… The gorgeous blonde of your brother, whose big boobs and tough ass drive me crazy…”       The furious Edward sharply tries to get out of Eugene’s grip, but the criminal gives him a strong slap in the face, uses a chokehold, and tightly puts the needle to his temple. That’s why MacClife, Jr., opens his eyes much wider, starts to shake slightly, gets coldness all over his body, and feels that it’s hard for him to breathe because of fear and a lack of air.       “DON’T MOVE, SCUMBAG!” Eugene roars and pulls Edward down again. “DO NOT MOVE, I SAY!”       “Let Edward go now!” Terrence demands loudly, breathing heavily enough. “LET HIM GO, I SAID!”       “Calm down, the image of your daddy, I did say I would kill your brother anyway. With you or without, but he will not run away from me. I shall destroy this motherfucker! DESTROY!”       “You will not dare to inject this shit into him! NOT DARE!”       “I will dare. And you are the next one, MacClife. At first, you are going to watch me kill your worthless brother before your eyes, and then death will find you.”       “Don’t dare, bastard…” Edward hisses through his teeth. “I SHALL STRANGLE YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS!”       “You shut up, kid!” Eugene squeezes Edward’s throat tighter, making the man feel that he lacks air. “Who must’ve been killed by his mother before he was born. When she found out that she was expecting you.”       “YOU must’ve been killed when you were not born!” Terrence says rudely. “Bastards like you must not live! MUST NOT!”       “Don’t call yourself holy, MacClife.”       “If you want to kill someone, let me be the one,” Terrence says coldly and confidently. “Inject that shit into me!”       “No, Terrence, no!” Edward shouts in despair with widely open eyes. “Shut up! Don’t dare to say it!”       “Don’t worry, MacClife, I will reach you,” Eugene promises with a sly smile. “When I get rid of the kid, I shall deal with you.”       “You will not hurt Edward!” Terrence hisses through his teeth. “Nobody dares to attempt my brother! NOBODY!”       Terrence gives a start sharply and wants to run to Eugene. But the criminal goes back, pulling Edward with himself, and points the syringe at MacClife, Sr.       “I DID TELL YOU TO STAY IN THE SAME PLACE,” Eugene roars at the top of his lungs.       “LET HIM GO NOW!” Terrence demands loudly. “OR I WILL GET THAT FUCKING NEEDLE INTO YOUR HEART!”       “I would like to watch it when you are dead.”       “DO NOT MAKE ME FURIOUS, SCUMBAG! EITHER YOU LET MY BROTHER GO, OR I SHALL SKIN YOU ALIVE!”       “Please, Terrence, run,” Edward begs with pity in his eyes. “Take the lads and run! Drive Cassidy to the hospital! Don’t stay here!”       “And let this bastard kill you?” Terrence wonders loudly. “No, I won’t let!”       “No, brother, don’t put yourself in danger! Please!”       “I did say I would go NOWHERE without you! If you stay, I will stay, too!”       “No! Run!”       “Protect this puppy as much as you want,” Eugene says confidently with an evil laugh. “But it will not help him!”       Eugene brings the needle to the curve of the neck of the shaking Edward with a wild, evil laugh and tries to get it into him. But at this moment, he hears the loud voice of the excited Daniel:       “Let Edward go now!”       At this moment, Daniel and Peter run here and stand on the two hands of Terrence.       “You have defeated my sister, who is dying now,” Daniel adds excitedly. “DO NOT DARE TO DESTROY HIM!”       “So, did you also come here to watch the death of your pal?” Eugene smiles slyly, threatening Daniel, Peter, and Terrence with the syringe by one. “And then die!”       “Let Edward go now!” Peter demands loudly. “The fact that Cassidy is dying is not enough for you! You want more deaths?”       “I want the death of YOUR FOUR! I WANT TO KILL EVERY ONE OF YOU! SO, YOU DO NOT STAND IN MY WAY! AND THE FIRST ONE I WILL KILL IS THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!”       “Run, guys, go!” Edward begs loudly in a high voice. “I will take this hit!”       “Shut up, fucking hero!” Eugene gives Edward a strong slap in the face, after which he falls to the ground, and hits him on his underbelly with a leg, making him double over and wince from the unbearable pain. “AND DIE!”       “Edward!” Terrence exclaims with horror in his eyes and gives a start sharply to attack Eugene.       “STOP, BASTARD!” Eugene sharply points the syringe at Terrence and then Peter and Daniel when they try to attack. “YOU, TOO, FREAKS!”       “I WISH YOU DIED, MOTHERFUCKER!” Daniel screams at the top of his lungs. “AND BURNED IN HELL FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE!”       “I appreciated the fact that you all fought until the end. But it did not help you. And it would not have helped you even if you had gotten out and never come back here. I would have found you and killed you!”       “Don’t dare to hurt my brother – YOU WILL REGRET BEING BORN!” Terrence says rudely, threatening Eugene with a finger and getting literally green from anger. “AND DO NOT DARE TO HURT MY FRIENDS! ESPECIALLY, THE GIRLS!”       “NOBODY WILL LEAVE ALIVE! NOBODY! YOU WILL DIE, AND YOUR CORPSES WILL BE BURIED IN THIS PLACE! AND NOBODY WILL FIND YOU!”       “We will see it!” Peter throws coldly.       “I shall make the biggest dream of the honorable Mr. MacClife come true and kill his nephews. First, the younger one, who will always be a worthless ballast for everyone. Then, I will deal with the older one, who must be dying in a mental hospital. Perkins will die not to be able to save my baby Cassidy. Well, the blond will die for everybody.”       “Leave your dreams with you!” Daniel demands confidently. “And get ready to spend your life in PRISON!”       “Resist as much as you want. Feel like heroes.” Eugene grabs Edward by the hair tightly, while he is breathing heavily enough and barely tolerating the strong pain in the stomach that he is holding now. “But this puppy is in my hands. Here he is! Helpless and wincing from pain! Not as sassy as before!”       Eugene gives Edward one more strong slap in the face, while Terrence, Daniel, and Peter are breathing heavily and clenching their hands into fists.       “Fucking piece of shit, I wish you died…” Eugene throws rudely and smashes his fist against Edward’s jaw, while blood shows up on his white face. “Get it, motherfucker! Get it!”       “ENOUGH!” Peter screams at the top of his lungs. “Leave Edward alone!”       “Enjoy, gang. Watch me get rid of this little bastard. I look forward to the moment when I get your cuties. Who I am imagining lying on the bed and being absolutely naked…”       “Shut up…” Edward pronounces in a low, hoarse voice, setting his icy look on Eugene. “Just shut up…”       “Who dared to open his fucking mouth?” Eugene asks rudely and gives Edward a very strong slap in the face. “If you keep saying something, I will beat you cruelly!”       “ENOUGH!” Terrence screams with despair. “LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!”       When Terrence moves off, Eugene threatens him with the syringe and painfully grabs Edward by the hair, saying:       “I DID SAY NOT TO MOVE, YOU, BRAINLESS MOTHERFUCKER! OR I WILL BREAK THE HEAD OF THIS ASSHOLE!”       “DON’T DARE! OR I WILL KILL YOU! WITH MY OWN HANDS!”       “How? This?” Eugene grabs Edward by the collar, brings him closer to the door placed not far from them, and strongly pushes the guys so that the guy hits the back of his head, falls to the ground, and starts to moan loudly from pain, grabbing his head.       “Edward!” Peter and Daniel get horrified and give a start sharply.       “STOP, BASTARDS!” Eugene roars, threatening Daniel and Peter with the syringe. “NONE OF YOU WILL COME TO HIM! NONE OF YOU!”       “Having one victim is enough, Wainwright!” Daniel demands rudely. “You almost killed my sister! Killing Edward would be too much!”       “I am so sorry that this puppy was not killed in prison. Michael should have left this kid there, so he really decided to cut his throat or veins.”       “I WISH YOU DID THE SAME, ASSHOLE!” Terrence screams, clenching his hands into fists tightly. “I WISH THEY BEAT TO DEATH!”       “But today I shall fix this mistake. I shall kill this kid! KILL! THE DESTINY OF THIS PUPPY WILL BECOME REAL!”       “We will see it…” Edward pronounces in a very quiet, low voice, barely sitting up, and trying to get up slowly. “See…”       When Eugene wants to attack him with fists again, Edward applies some effort to grab the hand that is going to slap him and tries to hold it above himself. But a long fight deprived him of almost all his strength and a chance to fight off the opponent easily. Who understands it well and uses it with pleasure, hitting MacClife, Jr., between his legs with a knee and making him double over from pain and fall to the ground again. And he shortly prevents Terrence’s attempt to stand for his brother, giving him such a strong slap that he cannot stand on his feet.       “Nice attempt, MacClife,” Eugene says confidently. “But you will not defend Eugene Wainwright.”       “Get off, scumbag!” Terrence pronounces rudely, gets up quickly, and tries to attack Eugene again. “You will not stop me!”       Then Terrence gets a strong hit in the abdomen from Eugene, doubles over, and winces from pain, barely standing on his feet. Wainwright comes to Edward lying on the ground powerlessly, pulls him on himself rudely to make him get up, uses a chokehold on him, and puts the needle against the curve of his neck, setting his wild, widely open eyes on MacClife, Sr., Daniel, and Peter.       “So, bastards, did you make sure that fighting with me is worthless?” Eugene asks confidently. “Anyone, who stands in my way, will be doomed to death!”       “You will not dare…” Daniel pronounces in a low voice. “NOT DARE!”       “I will, Perkins. I will dare to do so much. To you and your girls.”       “Do not dare to hurt our girls!” Peter demands. “WE WILL CUT YOUR THROAT FOR THEM!”       “I wish you cut each other’s throat.”       “I am telling you for the last time, nasty scumbag…” Terrence hisses through his teeth. “LET EDWARD GO NOW!”       “Never!” Eugene squeezes Edward’s neck tighter, while the guy chokes from a lack of air and barely stands on his feet from weakness. “This boy is in my hands.”       “I swear I will turn you to dust if something happens to my brother. YOU WILL KNOW WHO TERRENCE MACCLIFE IS WHEN SOME BASTARDS LIKE YOU MAKE HIM MAD.”       “Be mad, MacClife, be mad. Maybe, you will die from anger, and I will not have to deal with you.”       “I wish you died, bastard!” Peter throws rudely.       “And now you will see the unforgettable show that will happen only once.” Eugene points the needle in Edward’s heart with a sly, wide smile while the guy unsuccessfully tries to weaken the grip to breathe in some air. “Rest in peace, Edward MacClife!”       While Eugene decides to pull this moment a little and enjoy it, Edward looks at the dumbfounded Daniel, Terrence, and Peter with pity in his eyes, understanding how strongly he is shaking and deciding to give up. Not because he wants it. Because he does not have the strength anymore.       “I’m sorry, guys…” Edward pronounces in a quiet, shaking voice. “Someone has to die… And let me do it…”       “No, Edward, don’t dare!” Terrence screams with despair. “You can’t give up!”       “I have no choice…”       “Don’t dare to let this bastard kill you! You hear me, brother? DON’T DARE!”       “Fuck, Edward, how can you do?” Daniel wonders. “Where is your confidence? Where is your fearlessness? Why are you the fuck giving in to this asshole so easily?”       “I can’t…” Edward shakes his head. “I’ve got no strength anymore…”       “Think of Natalia, dude! She will go crazy if something happens to you! Isn’t it a good enough motivation for you?”       “I can’t…”       “Don’t dare to let this son of a bitch kill you! Brace yourself! You have no right to give up now!”       “Damn, Edward, you were fighting off this scumbag so well,” Peter adds confidently. “Keep doing the same! You can do this!”       “It would be better…” Edward shakes his head. “I must sacrifice myself…”       “Don’t dare to say it! You’re a man! A strong man! Would you miss a chance to prove that all talks about your weakness are a dream of enemies?”       “Please, bro, hold on,” Terrence begs with pity in his eyes. “You can do it, I know it. Brace yourself! We need you! All of us need you!”       The eyes of the scared, white, and shaking Edward run from one side to another, and it’s very hard for him to breathe because of a panic that is getting stronger. He has cursed himself several times for daring to show cowardice again and give up under Eugene’s pressure and threats to die. The constant mentions of his past make the man doubt himself and start to think whether he is really as strong and tough to fight. That he remained the same cowardly puppy that did not prove to anyone his power and use.       “HOW LONG I WAS WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT!” Eugene laughs at the top of his lungs. “A-A-A-A! I AM SURE THAT THERE WOULD BE NO LIMIT TO THE HAPPINESS OF MR. MACCLIFE!”       At some moment, Edward gets terribly ashamed of trying to give in. For what would be like a betrayal of all his close people, whom he promised to be strong and to fight until the end. It becomes a motivation for MacClife, Jr., and awakens a wish to brace himself and give a damn about any discomfort. Even if his whole body hurts and is covered with bruises. When Eugene tries to get the needle in the curve of the guy’s neck, Terrence, Daniel, and Peter getting sick of doing nothing give a start sharply to help him. However, Edward braces himself by force, hits him on the knee with a leg with a groan, and steps on his foot at once. While the opponent winces from pain and doubles over, the guy clenches his hand tightly into a fist and hits him in the jaw as strongly as possible.       “Not this life, motherfucker,” Edward says confidently in a low voice, breathing heavily enough with his feet shoulder-width apart. “My time has not come.”       While Terrence runs to Edward, takes him under an arm, takes him far from Eugene, and asks him how he is feeling, Peter uses the moment when the opponent distracts and knocks the syringe out of Wainwright’s hand with a leg. And Daniel does not refuse to give the opponent a couple of hits in the stomach with a fist. However, Eugene comes to himself quickly, gets up sharply, grabs Daniel by the collar, strikes him down rudely, and does the same to Peter. Then the criminal takes the syringe and goes to Edward and Terrence with a sharp, little shaking walk, while they glance at him and start to go back.       “YOU WILL NOT HIDE FROM ME!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs. “I SHALL MAKE THE WISH OF YOUR UNCLE COME TRUE AND KILL YOU!”       “Don’t dare to hurt him – I will break your bones to the fuck,” Terrence hisses through his teeth.       “OUT OF MY WAY, BASTARD!” Eugene rudely pushes Terrence aside.       “YOU get out of our way, asshole!” Edward shouts and rudely pushes Eugene away from himself and Terrence.       “COME HERE, PUPPY!” Eugene roars, grabs Edward’s hand painfully, and pulls him sharply on himself. “I WILL KILL YOU, FUCKING SUCKER!”       Eugene raises his hand with a loud, wild laugh with the syringe up and points it at Edward’s arm, on which there are tons of bruises after many hits. Not thinking of possible consequences, Terrence runs to his brother and pushes him strongly. That’s why the guy cannot keep his balance and falls down. So, as Wainwright does not manage to react to this, the needle gets into the arm of Terrence, who strongly winces because it gets in very deeply. Some time before, Daniel and Peter get up, taking each other’s hands tightly. And when they see what Eugene is doing, both of them immediately round their eyes full of horror.       “Terrence!” Daniel and Peter scream.       The friends rush to Wainwright with the hope of pushing him off and taking the needle out. Edward does not also react in time and does not understand what just happened. And when he moves his eyes to his brother, he does not manage to do anything. To be clear, the man just gets frozen in horror, opens his eyes widely, and literally forgets how to breathe.       “NO!” Edward makes a heartbreaking shout.       Forgetting about any pain and weakness immediately, Edward gets up sharply, rushes to Terrence, rudely pushes Eugene off, and takes the syringe out of his brother’s arm, barely seeing that it’s half filled. Then MacClife, Jr., pushes Wainwright smiling slyly, strikes him down in a jump, and hits him in the face several times as strongly as possible. While Peter and Daniel run to MacClife, Sr., and clap him on the shoulder and shake him by them.       “Fuck, Terrence, are you crazy?” Peter gets horrified. “Do you understand what you did?”       “Brainless psycho!” Daniel adds loudly. “What were you thinking of when giving your arm to him? WHAT, the fuck!”       “I had no choice…” Terrence barely pronounces.       “Fuck, Terrence, what the fuck?” Edward gets horrified in a loud, high voice, takes Terrence by the shoulders, and shakes him. “What did you do? You’re gonna die!”       “I should’ve done it, guys…” Terrence replies without emotions. “I’m sorry…”       “You’re an idiot, CRAZY IDIOT!” Edward starts screaming. “AND YOU SAID I WAS SICK!”       “Nothing will be changed after what you did!” Peter exclaims. “NOTHING!”       “Exactly!” Daniel agrees. “That was insanity! INSANITY!”       “SO WHAT, IDIOTS?” Eugene laughs wildly, as he gets up. “SCORE ONE FOR ME! I MEAN, SCORE TWO FOR ME! BECAUSE THE BABY CASSIDY WILL DIE, TOO!”       “BASTARD!” Edward screams at the top of his lungs, being really mad and excited. “ASSHOLE!”       “Did you decide to deprive me of my sister and Edward of his brother?” Daniel resents.       “Your game is over, a gang of bastards,” Eugene replies confidently. “Watch the all-famous hysterical girl die. Die with tortures. WATCH WHAT’S WAITING FOR ALL OF YOU!”       “You will pay me for this,” Edward hisses through his teeth and runs to Eugene. “I SHALL THE FUCK DISMEMBER YOU!”       Edward hits Eugene in the face several times with a fist so strongly that the criminal starts to shake from one side to another. His chuckles get bloody, but the guy does not care about it and keeps beating his opponent shamelessly, not even thinking of controlling his aggression, while his skin becomes red, and every single muscle is literally twirling from tension.       “Remember, son of a bitch, if my brother dies because of you, I will turn you into dust,” Edward threatens, holding Eugene by the collar. “YOU HEAR ME? I WILL TEAR YOU APART!”       “I’m sorry that this bastard decided to become first,” Eugene smiles slyly. “But I’m not upset. Your uncle has always wanted to get this bastard out of his way. At least because he is the image of his father at a young age.”       “Did I tell you not to mess up with me and not to dare to hurt my close people?” Edward hits Eugene against the ground with the back of his head strongly, holding him by the collar. “DID I DO?”       “You better watch your brother die,” Eugene laughs evilly. “Because of you, just saying.”       “MOTHERFUCKER! RAT!” Edward gives Eugene a couple of hits in the temple from both sides with a loud shout and hits him on the underbelly with his leg, throwing the criminal a mile away. “I WILL DESTROY YOU! DESTROY!”       “Aha, try!” Eugene sneers evilly. “You were lying on the ground and wincing from pains some time ago. But now you got strength and thought you would beat me.”       “After you injected some shit into Terrence, I will give a fuck about any pain! I WILL! YOU ARE DEAD, MOTHERFUCKER!”       “Huh, a couple of more hits on your pretty face before you die earlier than your brother. Your pals will not even manage to drive you to the hospital.”       “Don’t dream, scumbag! Since you, asshole, dare to attack my close people, I shall not leave you alone.”       Edward keeps giving Eugene as many strong hits in the face as possible. But at some moment, Wainwright answers with a sharp hit in the yawl and would be happy to attack the opponent and beat him to death. But Peter and Daniel attack Eugene in a run and strike him down in a jump so that he hits the back of his head. He gets a couple of hits in the face and on the back of the head against the ground. The guys spare no fingers that hurt and bleed after many hits and behave not less cruelly, not going to close their eyes to what this man did to Terrence. Edward watches his friends for two seconds, and then he moves his eyes to Terrence. He gets shortly obsessed with weakness, his vision is unclear, he feels a slight dizziness, and he hears some rings in his ears. The man just stands in the same place for some time, looking into the distance with dead eyes, but then his legs get weak, and he falls to the ground with a very quiet moan.       “Terrence!” Edward shouts with horror in his eyes.       Edward immediately rushes to Terrence, gets down on his knees in front of him, and tries to shake his brother up, taking him by the shoulders and shaking them.       “No, no, bro, hold on…” Edward pronounces in a shaking voice with a heavy breath. “Hear me! Hold on! Don’t dare to die!”       Terrence says nothing and just makes a quiet, painful moan, while his dead eyes are set into the distance, and he starts shaking strongly.       “Why, Terrence?” Edward wonders. “Why? Why did you the fuck do it? Why did you push me off Wainwright and let him inject that shit into you?”       “Sorry, Edward…” Terrence pronounces quietly, barely, coughs a couple of times, and moves his exhausted look to Edward. “But I couldn’t let that bastard kill you… I could not…”       “You’re crazy! Do you understand that you might die? We don’t know what was in that syringe! What if there was a poison? A certain rat poison!”       “So, it will happen…”       “No, no, Terrence, don’t dare to say it!”       “It should’ve happened. I should’ve done that…”       “You’re insane?” Edward gets horrified loudly. “Don’t dare to say it! DON’T DARE!”       “I don’t want you to die… I couldn’t watch what that stinker was doing to you anymore.”       “If you hadn’t gone with me, it wouldn’t have happened! You must’ve left when I begged about it!”       “I wouldn’t have left… I wouldn’t have left without you…”       “Fuck, I can’t let you die, I CANNOT! THAT’S UNFAIR!”       “You did your best, bro,” Terrence pronounces in a quiet, shaking voice. “I know you wanted to make it better.”       “But I could not protect you. I could not reach any of my main missions.”       “Please, don’t blame yourself.” Terrence finds the strength to get up slightly and put his hand on Edward’s shoulder. “Remember, you’re not powerful. Not a hero from a movie that saves lots of people immediately. You’re a human. A human that can make mistakes.”       “No… If something happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself for that. Never!”       “I did it consciously and was ready for these things. I was ready to sacrifice myself for my close person.”       “Fuck, I knew it wouldn’t be over well…” Edward shakes his head with pity in his eyes, not caring about the strong wind that is blowing his hair.       “It wouldn’t have been over well if you’d come here alone… Look what that bastard did to you. You’re beaten black and blue…”       “I begged you to run away with the guys so many times, but you didn’t listen to me.”       “I did it because a brother is always for a brother,” Terrence replies quietly, confidently. “If we risk, we risk together. I couldn’t… I couldn’t leave you and let you go here alone.”       “And what did it lead to? That bastard injected something into you, and you’re slowly dying!”       “As you said, one of us had to die. And I’m ready to make a sacrifice… That I was ready to make at any time.”       “No, Terrence, don’t dare!” Edward grips Terrence’s shoulder tightly. “Hear me, hold on!”       “I can’t…” Terrence coughs quietly a couple of times and puts his first hand on his forehead, while Edward squeezes his second hand. “I feel bad…”       “Hold on, bro, please,” Edward begs with pity in his eyes and hugs Terrence around the shoulders, seeing that he can barely sit. “All of us need you!”       “Sadly… There’s no time…”       “No, no, dude, don’t say it! We’ll do our best to help you and Cassidy. Just wait for a while! It’s gonna be okay.”       “Sorry, Edward, but…” Terrence shakes his head. “I can’t help you anymore… It’s hard for me…”       “Terrence…”       “I’m sorry… But I couldn’t let my brother die…”       “But I could not let you die! I can’t lose you! Lose my best friend!”       “Me too…”       “Do you understand what will happen to the others when they know about it? How Raquelle is gonna suffer! How our parents will go crazy from grief! And the band? It will be over without you!”       “I know, bro… I know… But…” Terrence coughs a couple of times again, starting to breathe heavily enough and getting weaker. “But these are the last minutes of my life…”       “Shut up…” Edward pronounces through his teeth. “Just SHUT UP! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT!”       “Please, take care of Raquelle, Mom, and Dad. Do your best for them to take this hard time.”       “No, Terrence, stop, I’m begging you!”       “And I’m sure you can become a decent band’s frontman instead of me.”       “Don’t dare to say it, hear me! Don’t dare the fuck to give up! You’re a strong man! You must hold on and fight! I believe in you and know you can this.”       “I can say the same about you, little rag,” Terrence finds the strength to crack a smile and ruffles Edward’s disheveled hair. “Whatever people say, you’re a strong man. And I believe in you, too.”       “Don’t dare to die.” Edward grabs Terrence by the back of his head and leans on his forehead with his forehead. “If you die, I will kill you! I will strangle you with my own hands!”       “Do your best for that bastard Wainwright not to kill you, Daniel, and Peter. Always watch out. And find the strength to get up every time you fall.”       “Terrence, please… I need you…”       “Behind you…”       “W-what?”       “Look back. Quick…”       Edward looks back hesitantly and sees Eugene standing behind him and trying to inject the rest of the liquid with a sly smile. While the weak Terrence puts his head on the ground powerlessly, turns it aside, and closes his eyes, his brother gets up sharply and hits Wainwright in the nose with a fist in anger, making him get a nosebleed. Then MacClife, Jr., grabs Wainwright by the hair, pushes him aside, strikes him down, knocks the syringe out of his hand with a leg as strongly as possible, and does not refuse to give him a few more slaps in the face.       “Fucking snake…” Edward hisses through his teeth and hits Eugene strongly in the yaw with a fist, while the criminal sneers evilly. “You will pay me for what is happening to my brother. I SHALL DESTROY YOU!”       Meanwhile, Daniel and Peter come to Terrence, who is too weak but still awake. The guys get down on their knees in front of him, still not believing that it really happened to their friend.       “Hold on, Terrence, hold on,” Peter begs with pity in his eyes, keeping his hand on Terrence’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay!”       “Don’t worry,” Terrence pronounces quietly. “You’ll have no time.”       “We will! Even if we’re dying and falling from tiredness, we will drive you and Cassidy to the hospital.”       “Listen, MacClife, you’re swearing on your brother for his irresponsibility, but you just asked for trouble,” Daniel says confidently. “Why did you the fuck let that bastard inject this shit into you? You’re a smart man, but you acted like an idiot!”       “I just wanted to save my brother…”       “You didn’t have to sacrifice yourself!”       “He would’ve injected that shit into one of us…” Terrence replies sluggishly, breathing heavily enough. “One of us should’ve died.”       “Stop saying some bullshit! Because of this shit, you don’t know what you say!”       “You shouldn’t have taken an example from your brother and played a hero,” Peter adds confidently. “We were fighting to survive and rescue Cassidy, not to die.”       “Raquelle was right when she warned me about the danger. She thought I found her words stupid, but that’s not the truth. I remembered her words…”       “And now think about what’s gonna happen to Raquelle if she knows about your crazy act. Aren’t you sorry for her? The poor girl did feel so bad because of this bad presentiment, but you’re gonna make her suffer much more!”       “I know… But she’ll understand me… Understand that I wanted to protect Edward. I couldn’t leave him when he said he wanted to follow Wainwright. Even feeling something bad, I couldn’t… I had no courage… My heart hurt…”       “Listen, bro, we understand that you wanted to protect Edward,” Peter says with pity in his eyes. “But you might the fuck die! We don’t know what Wainwright injected into you. We don’t know how much we have.”       “Look at yourself!” Daniel exclaims with horror in his eyes. “You’re getting worse! You’re getting weak! Just like Cassidy! I wouldn’t be surprised if he injected the same thing into you two!”       “Don’t think that I wouldn’t do the same for you,” Terrence replies quietly. “Even if one of you two were instead of Edward, I would also be ready to risk.”       “We don’t need these sacrifices!” Peter says loudly. “We need you healthy! And everything would’ve been okay if you hadn’t given your arm to Wainwright. What fucking demon got obsessed with you? WHAT? TELL ME!”       “Not a demon, Rose, but a wish to save my brother. The brother that I love and can’t imagine my life without.”       “Listen, everybody knows you and MacClife always get excited when someone hurts you,” Daniel says quietly. “But you did an irresponsible thing! Fuck… Terrence… We’re losing you… Raquelle’s losing you… Your parents… They’ll go crazy if you die!”       “Look at Edward!” Peter adds with despair. “How he’s fretting and fuming! MacClife will strangle Wainwright with his own hands!”       “As well as I will if Cassidy dies,” Daniel pronounces in a low voice.       “She won’t die, Daniel,” Terrence replies quietly and coughs two times. “Your sister will live.”       “Nobody will die, Terrence, hear me!” Peter exclaims. “Nobody! Neither you nor Cassidy! We will go to the hospital in any way. Just hold on! I know I feel too bad, but think of those you must live for.”       “I’m afraid I can’t hold on… Too far…” Terrence puts his hand on his forehead and sighs painfully, looking very white and weak, while his dizziness gets stronger, he feels a bitter taste in his mouth, and nausea gets closer to his throat. “Oh, shit… I feel sick…”       “It’s gonna be okay, bro,” Daniel promises confidently, squeezing Terrence’s shoulder tightly. “We’ll do our best to help you.”       “Don’t do it… I’m dying…”       “Shut up, MacClife! Shut up! We can’t lose you! We can't!”       “I’m sorry it happened, guys,” Terrence replies, looking at Daniel and Peter with pity in his eyes and seeing them blurry. “But it seems like it’s the end… There’s no need to fight anymore…”       “No!” Peter and Daniel shout with despair, shaking their heads sharply with dumbfounded eyes.       “Don’t give up, Terrence, hear me!” Daniel breaks into a cry. “You can’t the fuck die! We must get out of here together! Alive!”       “That son of a bitch, Wainwright, can’t win,” Peter adds with despair. “Don’t let him get a victory over you!”       “It’s the end for me,” Terrence says without hope. “I’ve lost this battle… But you and Edward still have a chance to stop that bastard.”       “Shut up, MacClife!” Daniel exclaims. “None of us lost! While we’re alive, we’re still in the game! We haven’t lost!”       “No, Perkins. I’m out.”       “Stop, Terrence, stop!” Peter breaks into a cry, grabbing his hair. “You’ve brought Edward to hysteria, and now you want to do it to Perkins and me!”       “I have a plea for you…” Terrence slowly, barely raises himself, claps Daniel and Peter on the shoulder, and squeezes them at the same time. “Don’t let Edward die. Please, guys, do your best for that bastard not to do anything to him. And protect yourself. Don’t dare to die.”       “It’s gonna be okay, Terrence, we will get out of here,” Daniel promises.       “I believe you, bros. You three are my brothers. And I want you to live and continue our business. Keep playing concerts and make it famous.”       “Enough, MacClife, stop!” Peter exclaims loudly, takes Terrence by the shoulders, and shakes him with widely open eyes. “You won’t die! Won't die!”       “We won’t leave you!” Daniel adds. “While we’re nearby, nothing will happen to you!”       “It’s over…” Terrence replies in a dying voice. “It’s over…”       While Daniel and Peter breathing heavily look at each other with horror in their eyes, Terrence, leaning on his elbow, slowly moves his eyes aside and sees Edward falling to the ground after a strong slap in the face from Eugene and having to fight off him, biting the bullet.        “Please, guys, help Edward,” Terrence says quietly. “He needs your help…”       Terrence sharply lies on the ground and no longer tries to get up, grabbing his stomach and suffering from a wish to clear his stomach. Meanwhile, Edward keeps fighting with Eugene cruelly, not paying attention to the terrible tiredness that makes him wish to fall and being obsessed with revenge for his suffering brother. Sadly, he does not always avoid painful hits and falls, which are the reason why his elbow and knee are scraped to blood, and his muscles hurt as hell every time they get a load. The criminal completely understands that he dominates now. So, at some moment, he throws the guy to the ground so rudely that he strongly hits his back and the back of his head and even shouts in pain.       “Now it’s your time, puppy,” Eugene says confidently with a sly smile and slaps Edward strongly in the face again. “You will die after your brother.”       Eugene starts to laugh wildly, rising above the powerless Edward breathing heavily, raises his hand with the syringe, and tries to get it into the guy’s arm. But Peter and Daniel strike him down at the last moment and press him to the ground. While MacClife, Jr., looks at the gray sky with his dead eyes and is breathing too heavily, Rose gives Wainwright a strong slap in the face, hits the back of his head against the ground, and squeezes his throat for a few seconds. Perkins sharply takes the syringe from Wainwright, lets the rest of the liquid out of it, and throws the hateful object aside as far as possible.       But at some moment, Peter gets struck down and pressed to the dirty ground by the opponent. He barely gets out of the trap, gets up sharply, and keeps giving strong hits. A little later, Wainwright takes the knife from the pocket, opens it, wraps it multiple times in his hand, and tries to wound the blond, who resists it too hard. But a few seconds later, Eugene twists Peter’s arm around his back and quickly runs the sharp blaze over the inside of his wrist. A strong flow of blood starts bleeding out of the wound immediately, and Rose falls to his knees with a heartbreaking shout.       “Oh, shit…” Daniel swears. “Peter!”       Suffering from the familiar pain, Peter tries to stop the blood somehow and does not notice that Eugene decides to give the blond a couple of more strong wounds. But when he is going to get the knife into the shoulder of the man, Daniel attacks him on a run and strikes him down. After this, Perkins gives Wainwright a few more strong hits in the jaw, runs to Rose, and, putting a hand on his shoulder, asks:       “Hey, Peter, how are you?”       “More or less,” Peter replies quietly, wincing strongly. “I hope the wound isn’t deep.”       “Will you hold on ‘till we’re in the hospital?”       “Yes, I will.”       “Hey, take it!” Daniel puts his hand in the pocket of his jacket, takes a dark blue bandana, and gives it to Peter. “Treat the wound!”       “Great, it’s good!”       “I will cover you and deal with that bastard.”       Meanwhile, Eugene creeps up on Daniel and tries to strike him down, but the man avoids it immediately and gives him a strong hit in the yawl. Beating each other on the face or grabbing by the hair painfully, the two get up at the different time, and then Perkins hits the opponent in the jaw with an elbow, making him turns aside. Wainwright tries to hit the opponent in the same way, but the man grabs his hand easily, hits him on the underbelly with a leg, and pushes him off himself rudely. A little later, Edward joins the fight, running to the opponent and giving him a hit in the temple with a fist.       “We’re less!” Daniel notices excitedly, avoiding Eugene's hit in the face. “This bastard cut Peter’s hand! He’s all in blood!”       “I know, he’s trying to stop it,” Edward replies, running aside when Eugene tries to hit him between his legs.       “We’ve lost two of us! You and I won’t deal with this bull!”       “Yeah, but we have no right to let this scumbag win! My brother and your sister are dying because of him!”       “That’s what makes me hold on. I won’t dare to give up and let this scumbag defeat us.”       “And Terrence asked us to fight ‘till the end. I must do what he wants.”       “Cassidy, too. We have no right to betray them.”       Eugene tries to strike Edward and Daniel down again but meets failure because the two keep their balance. And then they look at each other, nod, and strike Wainwright down together. That’s why the criminal hits the back of his head against the ground. The men not sparing their bloody knuckles give him slaps in the face by one and hit him in the stomach a couple of times with a leg. While he is losing his strength and is not able to answer the attacks of two opponents so skillfully because they are trying to hold on, despite being terribly exhausted.       “Cocaine…” Eugene pronounces, breathing heavily enough and getting very nervous. “I need cocaine… I must take a dose immediately! I feel bad… I’m losing my strength… Fuck… GET OUT OF MY WAY, SCUMBAGS! I NEED A DOSE!”       Eugene strikes Daniel and Edward down with just one push, gets up sharply, and starts to run from one side to another with widely open eyes.       “FUCK, WHERE IS A DOSE?” Eugene screams. “I WANT TO SNIFF ENOUGH! I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT COCAINE!”       When Edward and Daniel get up, Peter comes to them slowly, holding the wounded, wrapped hand, and looks at the two. While Eugene runs from one side to another like crazy for a few seconds. Then he sees his backpack in a bust, rushes to it with a wide laugh, literally tears it apart, and opens one of the Zip-lock packets with powder. Some time later, the criminal feels much better, and the bad symptoms are immediately gone.       “YES!” Eugene screams happily. “YES! I AM READY FOR ANYTHING! ANYTHING! DESTROY ANYONE AT ONCE! HA-HA-HA! I AM ZEUS! I CAN DO ANYTHING!”       While the shocked and exhausted Edward, Daniel, and Peter watch what’s happening with widely open eyes and literally try not to breathe, Eugene cravenly opens a few packets and finds a clean syringe and an ampule, feeling much better after he uses it all. And at some moment, he starts to laugh hysterically, making the friends much more scared, while they grab each other’s arms in true fear.        “EVERYONE MUST BE AFRAID OF ME!” Eugene says at the top of his lungs. “I WILL KILL ANYONE! ANYONE!”       Eugene laughs loudly for a few seconds, raising his hands and head up, and then glances at Daniel, Peter, and Edward, who step back slowly, while Wainwright goes on them with a wide laugh.       “HEY, FUCKING CREATURES, YOU WANT TO FIGHT ME?” Eugene sneers evilly. “YOU WILL NOT! I AM EUGENE WAINWRIGHT, THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD! NOBODY HAS BROUGHT ME DOWN YET!”       Edward, Peter, and Daniel say nothing and just look closely at Eugene, who gets literally green, shakes like a drunk man, and cannot stop laughing.       “I wonder how much time we have to get out of here?” Peter asks quietly.       “We could get out,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “But I don’t know how!”       “And knowing that we’ll have to bring the two folks to the hospital, it’s gonna be hard,” Edward exhales sharply.       “I HATE EVERYONE!” Eugene goes crazy, still thrilling with laughter and waving his hands. “PEOPLE! I HATE YOU ALL!”       Eugene goes aside with a tottering walk after he sees beautiful, sunny views far away from here. To be clear, it seems to him because the sky is now tightly covered with gray clouds, and the strong, cold wind gives goosebumps to the skin.       “WHAT A BEAUTIFUL AND SUNNY PLACE!” Eugene shouts happily. “SUN! SUN, TALK TO ME! HEY, I’M HERE!”       Peter, Edward, and Daniel roll their eyes, make a circular motion with an index finger near their heads, and cross their arms over their chests, watching the crazy Eugene and trying to assume what he would do this time.       “I AM INVINCIBLE!” Eugene screams at the top of his lungs, spreading his hands aside with a feeling of strong euphoria. “INVINCIBLE!”       Eugene freezes sharply and moves his wild eyes into the distance.       “WHAT? WHO SAID I AM WEAK? WHO SAID I AM A FUCKING DRUG ADDICT?” Eugene looks for something in the air for a few seconds. “IT’S YOU, LITTLE ASSHOLE? DID YOU SAY IT? REMEMBER, BASTARD, I AM NOT A DRUG ADDICT! I AM HEALTHY! PEOPLE AROUND ME SNIFF COCAINE! I DO NOT DO IT!”       Eugene turns around multiple times and tries to catch something that he can see.       “HEY, COME HERE! I WILL HIT YOU NOW! COME THE FUCK HERE! DON’T DARE TO RUN AWAY FROM ME! I AM EUGENE WAINWRIGHT! AND I AM INVINCIBLE! HEAR ME, ASSHOLE?”       Eugene speeds up with an evil growl and sharply runs aside, chasing something that wants to leave. And at some moment, Wainwright screams loudly and starts to fall from the abyss, which was not seen behind not very high bushes. Edward, Daniel, and Peter decide to follow him and understand that the ground ends when MacClife, Jr., running much faster and not seeing the end of the edge, starts to fall into the abyss.       “Edward!” Daniel and Peter shout.       The men magically manage to run to Edward, take him under his arms, raise him up by the collar, and take him far from the edge. The friends glance at each other and come to it again carefully, stepping over the small bush. They see Eugene falling down with sharp turns like a stone, shouting loudly when he hits some parts of his body. And a few seconds later, Wainwright falls to the ground on his stomach like a sack of potatoes and no longer moves after falling from a high altitude. Daniel, Edward, and Peter look down silently for a few seconds, breathing a little heavily, and look at each other with widely open eyes, wondering what happened to Eugene.       “Erm…” Edward stutters. “He’s… Alive?”       “I’d bet…” Peter shakes his head. “After this fall, he hit everything he could.”       “Yeah, that was cruel,” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully, not moving his eyes off Eugene. “I don’t think he will be fine after this. If he doesn’t die, he’ll obviously be disabled.”       “It would be fair. After all the shit that he has done.”       “It would be a too soft punishment,” Edward throws gloomily. “Bastards like him deserve death.”       The men need a few seconds to make sure that their fight is over because Eugene does not still move and is lying on his stomach in a star pose.       “He isn’t still moving,” Daniel notices thoughtfully. “That stinker is likely knocked out.”       “I’m not surprised,” Peter pronounces quietly. “He fell from a high altitude.”       “Yeah…” Edward nods, moves his eyes down slowly, and looks at everything under his feet. “Now I can say that this man is no longer dangerous to us.”       “That’s right,” Daniel agrees. “And that’s good you didn’t fall down.”       “Right!” Peter exclaims. “You would’ve hardly gotten only a minor injury and shock if we hadn’t been here.”       “I know,” Edward pronounces hesitantly, scratching the back of his head. “To be honest, I was a little scared.”       “Not just you, buddy.”       “Yeah…” Edward turns to Daniel and Peter slowly and claps them on the shoulder with a forced smile on his tired face. “Thanks, guys. Many thanks.”       “Be careful next time,” Daniel says with a slight smile.       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Edward, Peter, and Daniel let themselves relax a little and catch a breath, feeling like the cold wind is blowing their faces with many bruises and abrasions and much blood, matted and tousled hair, and destroyed clothes.       “Oh, shit…” Daniel rounds his eyes. “Terrence… Cassidy… They’re dying!”       “We must bring them to the hospital immediately!” Peter replies excitedly. “We don’t know how much time we have. But I guess Wainwright injected the same shit into them.”       “Who the fuck cares!” Edward throws with anxiety. “No time to guess!”       Edward, Daniel, and Peter give a start sharply and run to the place where Terrence is supposed to be. When the guys run where they see, they see that the man lost consciousness, lying motionlessly on the ground with closed eyes tightly and looking terribly white.       “Terrence!” Edward, Daniel, and Peter shout with widely open eyes.       All three rush to the unconscious Terrence and fall down on their knees near him.       “Terrence, Terrence!” Edward pronounces loudly and excitedly, shaking Terrence strongly by the shoulder. “Can you hear me? Terrence!”       “Damn, he cleaned his stomach,” Peter notices, pointing at the puddle near Terrence. “He did say he felt nausea.”       “As well as Cassidy,” Daniel shakes his head. “There was the one next to her.”       “Please, brother, please,” Edward begs with despair in a strongly shaking voice, trying to wake Terrence up by clapping on his cheeks. “Don’t die… Please… Terrence!”       “Terrence, say something,” Daniel begs with pity in his eyes, shaking Terrence by the shoulder slightly. “You can’t die! MacClife!”       “Don’t dare to die, Terrence!” Peter exclaims loudly and excitedly, clapping Terrence on the cheek. “Hear me? Don’t dare! We need you!”       While Daniel and Peter try to wake Terrence up by clapping him on his cheeks slightly, Edward checks his pupillary response and pulse on the neck and wrist.       “No light perception, and the pulse is very weak,” Edward says with a heavy breath. “But he’s alive…”       “Thank God…” Peter exhales sharply.       “Fuck! We can’t reach the hospital for two minutes and don’t know what this bastard injected into Cassidy and him.”       “But the fact that they both cleaned the stomach means something,” Daniel notices. “Maybe, that’s good in case they need to get this shit out of their organisms.”       “Anyway, we don’t better touch him,” Peter says quietly.       “Yeah, let him lie on the side,” Edward says quietly and exhales sharply. “Don’t turn him…”       Silence settles in the air, during which all the three look at the terribly white Terrence with sadness and pity in their eyes and clap him on the shoulder at a different time or just keep a hand on the one.       “Damn, he looks horrible…” Daniel notices hesitantly and quietly. “I get goosebumps on my back…”       “Me too…” Peter replies thoughtfully.       “MacClife is pale himself, but now looking at him gets me horrified…”       “I hope we’ll reach the hospital in time.”       Edward says nothing for a few seconds, looking at Terrence guiltily with pity in his eyes and squeezing his shoulder.       “It’s my fault…” Edward pronounces quietly. “What happened to him is only my fault.”       “You’re not guilty, dude,” Peter replies softly. “Terrence did it at his wish. You did see that.”       “I shouldn’t have let it happen. I couldn’t let my brother decide to sacrifice himself.”       “He saved you, Edward,” Daniel notices with sadness in his eyes. “You could’ve been instead of Terrence. And we would’ve been worried about you, not him.”       “I wish I was instead of him!” Edward says a little louder, breathing heavily enough. “It would’ve been fair! As I started it all, I must’ve suffered.”       “No, Edward, don’t say it,” Peter says confidently.       “I should’ve been much harsher when begging him to leave. I must have not let my brother become Wainwright’s victim. The victim of this sick drug addict.”       “Terrence wouldn’t have listened to you anyway and went with you from fear that something could happen to you. He said he felt responsible for you. Your brother was ready to sacrifice himself and do anything to save you.”       “I tried to save him, too!” Edward replies loudly. “I was doing my best to protect him and not to let that bastard do anything to him! I got a responsibility to protect the people, who went with me, and I failed this mission. Here’s the result: Terrence is dying now, and we don’t know how long he’ll hold on, Peter’s hand is cut, and Cassidy feels too bad, too.”       “You did everything you could,” Daniel notices confidently.       “And I screwed it up! Screwed up to the fuck!”       “Dude, stop blaming yourself for what happened,” Peter says quietly. “We three went with you to help and protect you in a dangerous moment. And stop trying to put on a load you can’t hold. All of us were responsible for each other.”       “I must’ve been instead of Terrence! Me!”       “What would have changed?” Daniel wonders. “We wouldn’t have gotten better if Wainwright had injected that shit into you!”       “Everything would’ve been otherwise if you all had heard me.”       “There is my fucking fault for what happened to Terrence!” Edward gets up sharply and starts to wave his hands actively. “I did ask all of you to get the fuck out thousands of times and give me a chance to deal with that bastard by myself. But none of you did that! None of you!”       “We wouldn’t have left and left you alone,” Peter says confidently. “However, you would’ve begged us! No matter how harsh you would’ve been!”       “I would’ve made! Because I didn’t want to feel guilty for dragging you into this shit.”       “Yeah, and that motherfucker would’ve dealt with you shortly!” Daniel resents. “Did you forget how he was beating you some time ago? How you were lying on the ground and wincing from pain!”       “That would have been fair! It’s unfair that my brother is dying before our eyes! I should’ve suffered instead of Terrence. The idea of coming here was mine. So, I should’ve suffered!”       “Nobody would’ve gotten better if you had been dying instead of your brother.”       “IT WOULD’VE BEEN MUCH FAIRER! FAIRER, THE FUCK! WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED! SHOULD NOT HAVE!”       The discouraged Daniel and Peter look at each other questioningly and look at the excited Edward surprisingly.       “Hey, Edward, Edward, c’mon!” Peter pronounces quietly. “Calm down, it’s okay… I understand you’re worried about your brother, but don’t get so excited.”       “Easy the fuck to say!” Edward throws loudly. “EASY! EVERYONE CAN WORK THEIR TONGUES!”       “You think I feel better now?” Daniel wonders. “My sister might die, as well, but I don’t want to lose her again! I’m also ready to fret and fume because of that bastard, who has done so many evil things! But I’m trying to hold on because I understand nobody will get better from my hysterics: neither Cassidy nor Terrence.”       “If none of you had gone with me, nobody would’ve have suffered!” Edward shouts. “This case only had to do with me, and I must have brought it to an end! If that bastard Wainwright wanted to kill me, that would’ve been fair! If I went here, I was supposed to suffer!”       “Fuck, MacClife, wake the fuck up,” Peter says a little irritably, gets up sharply, and comes to Edward. “That bastard would’ve killed you at that fucking house! You, jackass, were just lucky you got only bruises and hits! Everything could’ve been much worse! You could’ve died! Wainwright would’ve done his best for that! That man would’ve quietly killed you or drugged with that shit, and you would’ve seen us for the last time!”       “But it would’ve been fair!” Edward shouts. “The one to DESERVE IT would’ve died! Not the one, who must not have meddled in that case!”       “You must thank us for your ass suffering not so much thanks to our efforts. Thank us three for coming here at our wish. Letting you go alone would’ve been a crime!”       “I don’t need anyone’s help!”       “Oh, yeah!” Peter rolls his eyes. “Especially when you were lying on the ground half dead, half beaten, and all in blood!”       “That was MY business! And I MUST HAVE dealt with him! None of you should’ve meddled in all of that and especially sacrificed yourself.”       “Fuck, MacClife, calm down now!” Daniel growls irritably, stands up sharply, and comes to Edward breathing heavily. “Stop having hysteria that will change nothing!”       “What do you suggest?” Edward wonders loudly, putting his hands on his hips. “WHAT, THE FUCK?”       “Calm down, first! And stop acting like a capricious baby! For your dying brother!”       “How can I calm the fuck down, knowing my brother is dying? HOW? I DON’T WANT TO LOSE HIM! I DON’T WANT!”       “Listen, guy, stop acting like a hysterical girl, pretending to be a hero that saves the whole world alone and thinking that you can get off this shit alone.”       “Everything would’ve been okay if you three hadn’t come with me!”       “Fuck, how much you irritate me…” Daniel puts his hand on his forehead. “Peter said it right that you must thank us for not letting your parents and fiancée cry beside your corpse. Without us, you would’ve died like a fucking rat! And Wainwright would’ve gotten rid of your corpse! We could’ve NEVER seen you again! Do you get it?”       “Listen, stop chasing me like a baby!” Edward throws irritably. “I’m no longer a baby and CAN be responsible for my actions! It’s annoying that everybody tries to control me! STOP! I AM DONE WITH IT! I AM NO LONGER A CHILD!”       “Stop having hysteria!” Peter demands harshly. “We understand that you’re going crazy because of what happened to Terrence, but it’s not a reason to act like a psycho.”       “Yes, yes, you all think that I’m a worthless puppy that must be kept under view!”       “Excuse me, of course, but that’s the truth,” Daniel confesses confidently. “Terrence is doing the right thing by pulling you down sometimes. If nobody holds you down, you will wish to break the Great Wall of China with your head.”       “And we must admit that Wainwright was right when he said that you didn’t play a hero enough,” Peter adds. “You’re still trying to be the one and prove to people that you can do anything alone.”       “I just tried to protect my fiancée from that sick bastard,” Edward excuses himself loudly.       “You didn’t have to come here to do it.”       “We’re glad you gave us a chance to be saved and leave,” Daniel confesses. “But we did it the fuck at our wish! We knew all the risks and dangers. And you did see well that none of us could deal with Wainwright alone. But when we became a team, we became stronger.”       “Oh, yeah!” Edward rolls his eyes. “One is lying unconscious and dying, and another got his hand cut!”       “Remember, Edward, there are things that you can’t do alone,” Peter replies confidently. “You would be dead without us!”       “So, am I nobody without you?”       “Don’t turn everything upside down! Just learn to turn on your brain when you do something!”       “Look, MacClife, look what your wish to show off led to!” Daniel exclaims and points at Terrence. “Your brother is unconscious! Dying from some shit! And instead of doing just something, you’re screaming like crazy and having hysterics.”       “I do know Terrence is about to die!” Edward breaks into a cry, waving his hands sharply. “I KNOW! I know he suffered for nothing!”       “So, do something to save your brother, who was ready to go through fire and water for your ass!” Peter advises coldly. “Instead of screaming like a psycho girl and waving your hands!”       “Fuck…” Edward grabbing his hair with both hands starts to walk in circles with a heavy breath. “Father is gonna kill me. And Mother and Raquelle are gonna hate me if Terrence dies… Everybody will hate me! Because he will die because of me!”       “Don’t dare to say Terrence is gonna die!” Daniel demands confidently. “He will live, Edward, hear me! Live!”       “What if everything had been otherwise?” Peter assumes. “What if Terrence was blamed for your sacrifice for him? Natalia could think so! Or your parents! He was afraid of that and confessed it! MacClife was afraid that he couldn’t watch you!”       “And I was afraid that I could not save him!” Edward confesses loudly in despair. “And I did not protect him!”       “Terrence knew what he was doing when he decided to give his arm to Wainwright,” Daniel recalls. “His act was conscious!”       “Alright, dude, calm down and brace yourself,” Peter says confidently. “Stop acting like a capricious girl! It wouldn’t save your brother’s life! As well as Daniel’s hysterics won’t save Cassidy.”       “Yeah, do you know where to go?” Edward wonders loudly. “Who the fuck knows how to reach that fucking hospital? You, Rose? Or you, Perkins?”       “Edward, calm down now!” Daniel shouts. “We are all fucking excited! I AM ALSO close to hysteria! Should all of us get nuts and watch Cassidy and Terrence die?”       “Stop, MacClife, enough!” Peter exclaims. “You’re a fucking man! So, behave like a man! Then, everyone will stop calling you a puppy!”       “Stop being sassy verbally! It’s time to prove it! Nobody needs your beautiful words and solemn oaths. Everyone needs your determined actions and good attitude toward those, to whom you want to prove your love.”       “It’s easy to work your tongue!” Edward sniffs. “Cassidy suffered not because of your fault but because of that bastard Wainwright!”       “I do have to do with her starting to take drugs and literally drowning in this pool! If I had watched her better, I wouldn’t have let my sister run away from home and get in touch with Wainwright.”       “I mean the same. If I had given much more effort, Terrence wouldn’t have suffered! I was giving my everything to cover him and you two. But I screwed it up! Again. And I might lose my best friend because of my mistake!”       “You are not guilty!” Peter exclaims. “How many times do we tell you that? It was Terrence’s wish! Nobody made him do it! He pushed you and gave his arm to Wainwright!”       “I am!” Edward screams loudly, breathing heavily and tensing all his muscles strongly enough. “I AM! IT WAS MY FUCKING FAULT!”       “Stop it, MacClife!” Daniel raises his hand. “Shut up! If you can’t calm yourself down, we will do it quickly.”       “You better calm yourself down!”       “Don’t provoke us, guy,” Peter threatens. “I wouldn’t like to do it, but you make us hit you on your beaten face strongly.”       “Go to the fuck!” Edward throws in a low, rude voice. “TWO! I AM SICK THAT EVERYONE BELIEVES THEY MUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I AM SICK! MAY EVERYTHING BE THE FUCK RUINED! I WANT TO HEAR AND KNOW NOTHING! I AM THE FUCK SICK! SICK!”       Understanding that Edward will hardly calm down himself, Peter gives him a strong enough slap in the face, after which the guy falls into silence sharply, grabs his cheek, and doubles over, breathing heavily enough.       “Maybe, it will wash your brains a little,” Peter pronounces in a lower voice. “And you stop behaving like a hysterical girl and start to do just something.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Daniel and Peter watch Edward looking at them as if he at least wants to slap them in the face. The guys expect MacClife, Jr., to start a fight and get ready for this. But the guy turns his back on them, goes aside, and puts a hand on his forehead, looking around with widely open eyes and feeling how the cold wind is blowing his face.       “Maybe, it was wrong?” Daniel frowns slightly.       “Nope,” Peter pronounces confidently. “Otherwise, he would’ve kept having hysteria.”       “What if he does a stupid thing? He can do anything in this condition!”       “Hardly. MacClife is more obsessed with the thought of Terrence.”       “Maybe,” Daniel agrees with sadness in his eyes. “But on the contrary, I understand his feelings. I’m madly worried about my sister. And I’m sorry that I didn’t watch her enough.”       “You’ve got no reason to be ashamed, but Edward might be blamed for what happened to his brother.”       “No, I’m still ashamed. For my parents. To whom I gave a promise to take care of Cassidy. Mother begged me about it some time before her death. But I could not… And I missed the moment when I could do something.”       “But you can fix it now.”       “And I will. I have no right to another mistake.”       “I believe Edward will also excuse himself for his family. Yes, maybe, Mr. MacClife is gonna scold him a little. But it’s gonna be okay. I’m sure.”       “At least he understands he’s guilty.”       “Yeah… He was such a shy guy when we just met him.”       “Although Edward is a good guy, he sometimes does stupid things,” Daniel confesses. “He always changes. At first, he pretends to be a hero, then he suddenly gives up, and later he puts on a suit of Batman again and literally goes to save the world…”       “The fear of dying, Daniel,” Peter pronounces quietly. “Edward was ready to die, but he was also scared. Because he knew he had close people. He was afraid to make them suffer. Even if you know you’ll die early or late, you’re scared. You’re afraid to leave this world. Especially, if it has the people, for whom you mean a lot.”       “I believe Terrence had the same opinion.”       “Although his act is insane, I admire him. He proved that he was ready to do anything for his close people. He pushed Edward off and gave his arm to Wainwright with no hesitance. Knowing that the shit could’ve killed him.”       “Their brotherly love is strong,” Daniel replies confidently. “The guys were ready to die for each other.”       “If I were instead of MacClife, Sr., I would do the same. Without thinking.”       Daniel and Peter watch the excited Edward standing aside with his back turned to the men for a few seconds and then slowly move their eyes to each other.       “Let’s try to talk to him?” Daniel suggests.       “Let me talk to him, and you go to Cassidy and find out how she’s doing,” Peter replies.       “Right! We left her alone!”       “Go, Daniel, I’ll do everything. And I will watch Terrence.”       “Okay,” Daniel nods. “I’ll come back here with Cassidy. Then we’ll decide how to get out of here.”       Daniel goes where he needs, while Peter watches him with sadness in his eyes until he hides somewhere. Then he slowly moves his eyes to Edward keeping his arms crossed over his chest, watches him for two seconds, comes to him carefully, and puts his hand on his shoulder, pronouncing quietly:       “Edward…”       Edward turns to Peter slowly and says quietly, without emotions on his face:       “Sorry, I got excited…”       “Don’t worry, we get it,” Peter nods.       “I can’t get rid of the fault for Terrence.”       “You didn’t make him do it.”       “Anyway, he might die because of me.”       “No, Edward, Terrence won’t die. He’s strong and can survive.”       “I’m guilty of my brother again. Once, I could’ve killed him with my own hands under the pressure of my crazy uncle. And now I can definitely kill him.”       “Dude, Terrence did it at his wish. His wish.”       “I should’ve gotten the injection, Peter,” Edward replies with despair. “I was supposed to be instead of Terrence! Not him.”       “If you were instead of him, he’d be worried about you as much as you are now.”       “If Terrence dies, I will never forgive myself for that. I won’t bear it… I won’t!”       “Stop, Edward.” Peter takes Edward by the shoulders and shakes him slightly. “Terrence will live, I know it! We’ve gotta believe that it’s gonna be okay.”       “Yeah, okay…” Edward blunts under his nose. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Wainwright showed up and killed us to the fuck.”       “Wainwright stopped being a threat to us and would hardly go there after falling from the height.”       “I dunno… I doubt it…”       “Yes, buddy, we got off him. So, we can get out of here and bring Terrence and Cassidy to the hospital. Yes, it’s gonna be a long and hard way. We have two victims, who we have to carry on, and nobody knows how to get out of here. But we can do it. We’ll get out of here. Together, we are the power!”       “Now, I’m not sure about everything…” Edward replies hesitantly, shaking his head.       “Brace yourself, Edward, please!” Peter begs with pity in his eyes. “You can’t give up just because of a sense of guilt for what nobody’s gonna blame you.”       “I’m guilty, and nobody’s gonna deny it!”       “Your brother needs you. And you must help him and be next to him. Yes, I understand you’re afraid and hurt, but if you let everything happen as it wants, you’ll make everything worse. You’ll really lose Terrence.”       “I know, but I can’t help him anyhow…” Edward throws his hands up.       “You can! You can and must help your brother! He sacrificed himself to save you. So, you must save him. But if you let Terrence die, doing nothing from fear, everyone will really think you are an egoist, who left his close person die.”       “Everybody’s gonna blame me anyway…”       “Wouldn’t they blame Terrence? Wouldn’t they blame him for not watching you enough? Your parents won’t like it, surely!”       “Nobody will…”       “If your brother is so important to you, you must piss all your fears and doubts off and think about how to help him. If something happens to Terrence, Raquelle, your father, and your mother will not bear it. Natalia will also doubt you. She believes in you and always says you’re stronger than you think. But if she knows about your weakness, Rochester may doubt that you’re so trustworthy. You can’t disappoint her.”       Edward says nothing for a few seconds and swallows up nervously, while his eyes are running from one side to another, and he understands that Peter says right things.       “You’re right…” Edward exhales sharply. “I’m acting like a mollycoddle… Even if I know I have no right to do it.”       “That’s good you understand it.”       “I think I’ll never learn to hide my emotions and keep calm at any moment. And when some of my close people suffer, I actually go insane.”       “It’s fine. Don’t hide your emotions. If you wanna speak, do it. You’d better become a hysterical psycho for five minutes than always be tense and keep your problems inside.”       “I know…”       “Shake up, bro, shake up.” Peter claps Edward on the shoulder and squeezes both of them slightly. “You can. Just tell yourself you can do even the most impossible things.”       “I have no choice…” Edward shrugs. “If I screwed it up, I’ve gotta fix everything.”       Peter looks at Edward with sadness in his eyes, hugs him tightly, and claps him on the back and head.       “It’s gonna be okay,” Peter encourages. “We can overcome it together.”       “I’d like to believe it,” Edward exhales sharply.       “And yeah…” Peter steps back from Edward. “You’re not a mollycoddle. If you were weak, you’d keep yourself far from here and couldn’t stand for yourself. But you were not afraid and were confident enough. Yes, you gave up at some moment, but that’s fine.”       “Sounds inspiring,” Edward notices with a slight smile.       “Everything’s written on your face. No need to guess what you think of.”       “I ain’t trying to hide anything.”       Silence settles in the air for two or three seconds, after which Edward looks around and frowns slightly.       “Hey, where’s Daniel?” Edward asks.       “He went to Cassidy,” Peter explains.       “Oh…” Edward runs his hand over his hair slowly. “Cassidy…”       “Yeah, two victims of the sick drug addict…”       Edward shakes his head and later moves his eyes to Terrence still lying on the ground motionlessly. After swallowing up nervously, he comes to his brother hesitantly, gets down on his knees, and looks at him guiltily.       “I’m sorry, Terrence…” Edward apologizes quietly. “You shouldn’t have suffered because of me… I should’ve been instead of you.”       Edward claps Terrence on the shoulder and cheek.       “Hold on, bro. I will not leave you. I will be by your side until the very end and do my best to help you. I promise. Just hold on. I need my brother… That I don’t wanna lose…”       Meanwhile, Peter comes to Edward and Terrence slowly, gets down on his knees next to them, and squeezes his shoulder slightly.       “We won’t let you die, buddy,” Peter promises confidently. “We need you… We need the brother. Our older, wise brother.”       Edward and Peter look at each other or the unconscious Terrence for a few seconds. At some moment, the blond claps the youngest of the MacClife brothers on the shoulder, and the guy closes his face for a second and runs his hands over his disheveled hair. Later, they pay attention to some sounds that are getting louder and louder, and they see Daniel, who is holding the unconscious Cassidy in his arms.       “Nothing changed?” Edward asks hesitantly.       “Yup, she’s still unconscious,” Daniel replies with sadness in his eyes, places Cassidy on the ground slowly, and sits next to Edward and Peter, raising the girl, pressing her to himself, and putting her head on his laps. “But she’s breathing, luckily.”       “Looking at her makes me horrified…” Peter notices thoughtfully, looking at Cassidy with pity in his eyes. “The poor girl looks too bad.”       “I guess everything is bad about Terrence…” Daniel glances at Terrence, on whose shoulder Edward is holding his hand.       Silence settles in the air for two or three seconds, during which the men look at each other, Daniel caresses Cassidy’s head, and Edward looks at Terrence with sadness in his eyes.       “Raquelle was right when talking about her presentiments,” Edward notices. “Her nightmare has come true.”       “Right!” Peter exclaims. “What she was afraid of happened. And in both cases, Terrence saved his close people from death: he saved Raquelle in her nightmare, and now he saved you.”       “And Raquelle was in danger in her nightmare, and now I was.”       “Right.”       “Although I don’t believe in dreams, it came true this time.” Edward runs his hand through his hair. “Raquelle always says her presentiments come true. And she proved it again.”       “But even if she warned your brother, he didn’t listen to her.”       “Right…” Edward moves his sad eyes to Terrence and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Terrence knew about the threat and felt trouble. But I didn’t stop him… And I could do nothing, even if I was obsessed with the feeling that something bad should’ve happened.”       “Since we came here?”       “Nope. Since Terrence told us about Raquelle’s dream. I got madly scared, but I didn’t know where he could meet danger.”       “I wasn’t also quiet, to be honest…”       “Hey, what are you talking about?” Daniel frowns slightly. “What did Raquelle dream? And how does it have to do with Terrence?”       “Simon Ringer threatened Raquelle, and Terrence tried to save her,” Edward explains. “And after one of these attempts, that man wanted to shoot at her, but my brother closed her with himself and… Died immediately…”       “And Terrence knew about her nightmare and bad presentiment from the beginning,” Peter adds. “But as we see, it didn’t stop him.”       “Wow…” Daniel shakes his head with rounded eyes. “So, did Terrence know what he was gonna do? Did he understand he could suffer and risk knowingly?”       “He knew,” Edward nods. “When Terrence was awake, he told me he was ready for that and risked consciously.”       “You say Simon Ringer threatened Raquelle in her dream?”       “Yes… And alongside him, there also were Uncle Michael, Wainwright, and Eleanor Woodham, the woman, who tried to kill Alicia.”       “Wainwright was in the dream?”       “I don’t know if the fact that Natalia and I met that bastard, and then Terrence said Raquelle saw him in her dream is a coincidence. But there’s something in it.”       “But she saw that dream after you told MacClife and me about the escape of that nasty bastard,” Peter notices.       “I dunno, Peter. Anyway, it’s late to talk about it.”       “Wait, is that why you were begging us to get out so hard?” Daniel frowns slightly.       “I begged you to leave because I didn’t want you to suffer. You don’t have to do with Wainwright. I mean… Terrence and Peter don’t… I… I naively thought I could save you from death. But now I understand that this scumbag would’ve killed all of us anyway…”       “But confess that was the reason, too,” Peter says confidently.       “Maybe, we forgot about Raquelle’s nightmare later. But… But when we met Wainwright, I thought of that. I was obsessed with the thought that something was gonna happen. So, I had a mission not to let you – especially, Terrence – meet that bastard. But alas… Sometimes we can’t change some things…”       Edward inclines his head and looks at his hands, while Daniel and Peter watch him with sadness in their eyes.       “You have no reason to blame yourself, Edward,” Daniel says quietly. “You tried to avoid something bad. I don’t believe in dreams, either, and I think it’s stupid. But I must confess that it was a sign that something would happen in the future. Maybe, Raquelle also tried to avoid it somehow… But she was powerless.”       “In this case, there would’ve been at least one victim,” Peter adds. “Terrence or you – it doesn’t matter!”       “We all suffered somehow,” Edward exhales sharply. “Your hand is cut. Terrence got an injection of some shit. Daniel doesn’t look good, and my muscles and bones do hurt. I can barely do every single movement.”       “You’re suffering physically, and I’m also suffering morally,” Daniel notices quietly. “My memory is back, and I found out that my sister was alive…”       “Wow… I almost forgot you were a crazy idiot some time ago…”       “I wanna forget it as soon as possible not to succumb to the wish to hang myself. All these years, I tried not to think of my past so hard. About not completing my missing. I couldn’t watch Cassidy…” Daniel slowly moves his eyes to the pale, unconscious Cassidy, whom he presses to himself, and moves a few strands of hair off her forehead that fell on it due to the strong wind. “And I’m sorry about treating her so indifferently.”       “How did you get on in your childhood?” Peter asks.       “We weren’t close. We often fought and mocked each other. Cass always told our parents about my tricks, framed me, and even blackmailed me sometimes. And to take revenge on her, I sometimes made her bad surprises.”       “I would’ve probably killed Terrence a long time ago if our parents hadn’t separated us,” Edward assumes, cracking a smile.       “Sometimes she annoyed me so much that I sometimes wished my sister was never born. The only way to save myself from her was a walk with my friends or dates with girls. Weekends were torture to me… I gave a fuck about her life when we lived with our parents. Where Cassidy went, who she met, what she was doing, and why Mother and Father swore on her for. I saw everything, but I didn’t pay too much attention.”       “You didn’t love each other?” Peter asks.       “At heart, I loved my sister, but I never said it when our parents were alive. I confessed it only when we lost them. We got a little closer to survive the grief together. For a while. Cassidy was already too dependent on drugs. Our relationship got worse at some moment. At first, I tried to wake her up. And she insolently lied to me and was very aggressive… And then… Then I gave a fuck about her again. Let her do what she wanted… I gave a fuck. And I didn’t wanna take care of my sister that I got like out of the blue.”       “Drug addicts are always aggressive and false. When you ask them if they stole something, those people deny everything and say someone else did that. And they deny their dependence and think they could stop at any time.”       “I knew nothing about drugs and thought I could control my sister. I was kind of stronger… But… It wasn’t true…” Daniel says nothing for two seconds and shakes his head, looking into the distance and stroking Cassidy’s hair. “Sadly, I missed the moment when I could’ve saved her from the world owned by drugs.”       “Excuse me, but you wouldn’t have controlled her anyway,” Edward replies hesitantly.       “I know, but I should’ve kept the promise that I gave my parents.” Daniel raises Cassidy a little, puts her head to his chest, and caresses the back of her head tenderly, hugging his sister with another arm and pressing her to himself. “I promised to take care of Cassidy, but I did not do it… I didn’t meet their expectations. And it’s madly hurtful for me… I’ve always been a bad brother. But I prefer not to think about it. I lived as if nothing happened and put my pain under lock and key.”       “But you have a chance now,” Peter says confidently. “Yes, it’s gonna be a hard time, but Cassidy will do it. Moreover, she’s got a wish to stop taking this shit. She will agree to go to a clinic with pleasure.”       “No, I won’t miss this chance!” Daniel puts his hand in the pocket of his jacket, takes his mother’s bracelet given to him by Cassidy, and looks at it. “I will never leave Cassidy and will take care of her. For the sake of Father, who always thought I’d be a trustworthy wall for my sister. For the sake of Mother, who was begging me to take care of Cassidy when lying on the hospital bed and dying.”       Daniel exhales slowly with closed eyes and puts the bracelet against his chest, silently swearing to keep his parents' last plea.       “It’s gonna be okay, sis,” Daniel addresses Cassidy. “You can always count on me. I will never leave you. Never.”       Peter watches Edward and Daniel with pity in his eyes and feels that his heart squeezes painfully, seeing his friends grieving because of what happened to their relatives. Hoping to support his friends somehow, the blond claps the men on the shoulder, cheek, and back, embracing both of them at some moment.       “Oh, okay, lads…” Peter exhales quietly. “We’ve gotta get out of here…”       “But how?” Daniel wonders. “We don’t know where to go!”       “You two can stay here, but I will try to get out of here alone and find Terrence’s car. It would be hard for you to go through this thicket and carry these two on your backs.”       “Are you sure you can find a road?” Edward expresses anxiety. “What if you get lost?”       “I hope I won’t get lost. I have the maps on my phone and can try to get out of here by using them. Maybe, I’d be lucky to find a place with a cellular signal. I orientate on maps pretty well… And there’s a road here. It’s good.”       “Dude, your hand is cut!” Daniel recalls. “Bleeding might get stronger! Wrapping it is a temporary solution.”       “Terrence must have a first aid kit in the car. I could treat the wound well when I find the right place.”       “But how long do we have to wait for you?”       “I will try to find Terrence’s car as soon as possible.”       “Are you sure you can get out of here?” Edward asks hesitantly.       “I repeat, I will try.”       “Okay…” Edward shrugs. “Then I wish you luck.”       “And be careful,” Daniel adds.       “I’ll try,” Peter nods and moves his eyes to Terrence. “Yeah… I need the keys to Terrence’s car. Give it to me, please.”       Edward opens one of the inside pockets of Terrence’s denim jacket, takes the keys, and gives them to Peter.       “Thanks. I hope I’ll be back soon.”       Peter glances at the men and Cassidy for the last time, gets up, claps Edward and Daniel on the shoulder, and goes somewhere quickly, hiding somewhere a few seconds later.       “Do you think he’ll get out of here?” Edward asks with anxiety.       “I’d like to believe it,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “I hope there’s a cellular signal somewhere, and he’d be able to check the Internet.”       “Anyway, he’ll spend a lot of time. Judging by my feelings, we literally came to another side of the city in the middle of the backwoods.”       “Agree! That motherfucker picked up the highway that is almost impossible to reach.”       “And we spent a lot of strength coming here and fighting with that bull.”       “Oh, yeah, I’m done with him.”       “We’re done with him…”       “Yeah…” Daniel sighs tiredly. “You know how much I wanna get out of here and sit on something soft and more comfortable than the ground, the floor, or a stump.”       “Me too, but I ban myself from thinking about it. At least now. No matter how much I wanna fall on the bed and fall asleep, I won’t go home until we bring Terrence and Cassidy to the hospital and find out how they’re feeling.”       “I won’t also do it. I don’t care that I’m shocked and terribly exhausted. All my thoughts are about Cassidy and Terrence.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Edward claps Terrence on the shoulder, and Daniel still presses Cassidy to himself and caresses her head or cheek.       “I wonder if the girls could guess what’s happening to us?” Edward asks. “Could Raquelle think about something bad now?”       “Raquelle is probably feeling trouble. And knowing about the nightmare with your brother, the girls will have to try hard to calm her down.”       "We will all have to calm her down when she knows what happened.” Edward runs his hand through his hair and runs it over his face. “I don’t know how I’m gonna tell her about Terrence. And I don’t know how to say it to Father and Mother!”       “You have to do it.”       “I know. I can’t hide it.”       Daniel nods with sadness in his eyes and wants to say something, but then he hears the sounds alike a siren ring.       “Hear?” Daniel gets suspicious, looking at Edward. “A siren’s sound!”       “It’s getting closer!” Edward rounds his eyes. “As if someone is coming here!”       “Maybe, we go on the road and check it?”       “C’mon.”       Edward gets up quickly and waits for Daniel to place Cassidy on the ground carefully and stand up. Then the guys run to the automobile road, look around, and see two cars with flashing lights of red and blue colors following one another, and an ambulance car with a siren turned on.       “It seems like they found us,” Daniel says quietly.       “Damn, I almost forgot I called Mr. Johnson and asked him to send the police,” Edward shakes his head.       “It means Peter left for nothing?”       “No! We should’ve taken Terrence’s car anyway. Since Rose left, he could at least bring the car here, so we go to the hospital.”       “Well… Maybe, only for that…”       The police cars and the ambulance stop slowly in front of Daniel and Edward. A few seconds later, a young man in a uniform gets out of one of the police cars and comes to the men, showing his police identification card when he says:       “Hello, Officer Miles.”       “Hello,” Daniel and Edward greet.       “The police received a message that the criminal Eugene Wainwright was hiding in this place.”       “Yes, yes, I asked you to come here,” Edward replies correctly.       “Are you sure the criminal is here?”       “I am! He is here. But he fell from a high height, hit himself strongly, and has not woken up yet.”       “Fell from a height?” the policeman frowns slightly.       “Yes, it’s not far from here.”       “And we have two victims,” Daniel adds.       “Two victims?” the policeman specifies.       “Yes, a man and a girl. Wainwright injected something into them, and they are unconscious now.”       “Let me see the victims.”       “Yes, sure, they are there,” Edward says confidently. “Let me show you.”       Edward makes a gesture and brings the policeman to Terrence and Cassidy, while another, who was near them, comes to Daniel.       “Can you bring us to Eugene Wainwright?” the policeman asks.       “No problem,” Daniel nods. “He is there.”       Daniel quickly brings the policeman to the place where Eugene is still lying unconscious on the ground.       “Send the doctors here now!” one of the policemen orders loudly. “There are two victims here!”       “Get down, guys, Eugene Wainwright is there,” one more policeman says confidently. “And bring doctors here! He fell from a high height. I see the blood on the stones. It likely belongs to him.”       All the policemen and doctors start to do their business, asking each other about something sometimes. Edward and Daniel are now standing next to those, who are examining Cassidy and Terrence and watching what’s happening with excitement. But they do not have to stand alone because one of the policemen comes to them later.       “So, were there four of you, including this man and this girl?” the policeman asks.       “No, there was one more man with us,” Daniel replies.       “Man?”       “Yes, he decided to bring the car of the man here, so we go to the hospital.”       “He left a long time ago?”       “Not, not a long time ago.”       “Alright. If he does not come here soon, we will organize the search and find that man.”       “We hope he will get out of here.”       “Let’s hope.” the policeman clears his throat quickly. “Alright, what about the girl? She was with you?”       “No, Mr. Policeman,” Edward shakes his head. “We found that girl in the house, where Wainwright was hiding. He locked her in a room. And he had injected something that made her feel bad some time before he fell off.”       “Will you show me the house?”       “Yes, sure. But the way is long enough.”       “I got it,” the policeman nods. “Are there other people?”       “Nope, nobody.”       “What do you think Wainwright could inject into these two?”       “Probably, a drug. He kept much drug powder in the house where he was hiding, and he took it before our eyes.”       “After that, Wainwright was swearing at everything that moved, screaming like crazy, running, and had hysteria…” Daniel adds.       “So, a drug addict…” the policeman frowns slightly.       “We believe he injected a great dose of drugs into those two.”       “Alright…”       “Excuse me, officer, do you know Victor Johnson?” Edward asks. “He is a captain of the police! I talked to him and asked him to send the police some time ago.”       “Yes, yes, of course,” the policeman nods confidently. “Captain Johnson knows about your call. The police and the ambulance went here by his order.”       “Why is he not with you?”       “Do not worry, sir, he is coming here, too. He will come here very soon. Now we just keep in contact with him and tell him everything that is happening.”       “Alright, thanks a lot.”       The policeman glances at his colleagues and then, frowning slightly, takes a closer look at Daniel and Edward.       “I see Wainwright beat you strongly…” the policeman notices thoughtfully. “Blood, bruises…”       “He did,” Edward nods.       “You should ask the doctors to examine you and treat your wounds.”       “Yes, we will ask,” Daniel nods.       “And how do you feel?”       “Fine. We suffered enough, but we are fine.”       “Yes, it’s great,” Edward adds confidently.       “Alright,” the policeman pronounces. “Then let’s do something: you will quickly show me the house where Wainwright was hiding, then go back here, and ask the doctors to examine you.”       “No problem,” Daniel shrugs.       “Hey, you three!” the policeman calls a few more police officers being next to the suffered Terrence and Cassidy with a gesture. “You’re coming with me! We will examine the highway of Wainwright where there are many drugs,”       While the three policemen come to their colleague confidently, Edward and Daniel look at each other.       “Yeah, while we are on the way, tell me, please, how you ended up here, and what Wainwright did to you,” the policeman says.       “It started when I saw Wainwright not far from me and…” Edward starts to tell.       While Daniel and Edward bring the policemen to the house they need, they tell them about everything that happened and answer some of their questions.       

***

      Raquelle, Natalia, Helene, Rebecca, and Jamie have been waiting for some news from Victor Johnson or a call from Edward, Terrence, and Peter. While the girls do not even try to hold their tears down and press themselves to each other, the only man tries to hold on somehow, being terribly afraid that something might happen to his children. As well as his wife, who is literally shaking at this thought. The doggy Sammy is tearing himself between everybody and trying to comfort every single person. He does not leave his owner Helene and does not stop whining with pity, as if he is also worried about the men and wants to see them alive.       “More than three hours…” Natalia sniffs quietly, embracing Rebecca, who is sitting next to her. “No news from the men and Mr. Johnson.”       “I’m not as religious as my aunt…” Raquelle says in a shaking voice, sometimes wiping her tears off her face. “But I’m praying to God that the men are okay.”       “Gosh, where could that gang go?” Jamie wonders, rubbing his hands nervously. “They could at least turn on their phones! But all the three turned them off!”       “By the way, girls, where did the men want to go?” Rebecca asks, squeezing the handkerchief in her hands.       “Somewhere in the country…” Helene replies hesitantly. “To enjoy nature… But we don’t know where.”       “If it’s so, I wouldn’t be surprised if they really met Wainwright,” Jamie says confidently. “That man is hiding where there are no people, and it’s possible to meet him somewhere in the country.”       “I want it was just our assumption…” Natalia says with tears in her eyes. “Meeting Wainwright means getting into terrible trouble.”       “God, how I wish that man got caught and went to prison as soon as possible,” Rebecca says with pity in her eyes. “It’s unfair that he walks free as if nothing happened.”       “I’m afraid he will not be caught soon,” Jamie replies with sorrow. “I must confess that he is hiding well… Even if the police are checking every single place in the city…”       “Yeah…”       “Even if they find him, it doesn’t mean he will get arrested. He may try to run. Shoot someone again and keep making people horrified. Especially girls.”       “We’re afraid of this…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “Who knows how long we’ll have to wait for the day when that man gets caught. Or, maybe, they will never catch him.”       “No, sweetie, he will not hide forever,” Rebecca replies confidently, caressing Raquelle’s shoulder. “The police will arrest him early or late.”       “Honestly, I’m also starting to doubt that he will get caught…” Natalia confesses with anxiety, nervously rubbing her hands. “And if the men meet that man, nothing good will happen. And Edward might suffer much more because Wainwright hates him literally more than Michael. But I don’t want it to happen to him. I won’t bear it…”       Natalia doubles over and closes her face with both hands, crying quietly and shaking slightly from excitement. Sammy whines quietly, comes to her, and touches her knee with a paw. She looks at the dog with tears in her eyes, sniffing quietly, and pets his head.       “Oh, if only Peter didn’t suffer, even if the man met him…” Helene shakes her head with wet eyes. “I’m not sure that he could fight with a man like Wainwright. Yes, Peter can stand for himself, but he might not have enough strength…”       “Even Terrence will not deal with him, even if he’s strong psychically,” Raquelle says in a shaking voice. “All our men are not weak, but they can’t deal with that monster.”       “Agree,” Natalia nods.       “And remembering my nightmare, I can’t stop thinking that something terrible happened to Terrence. If it has not happened…”       Raquelle runs her hands over her hair and keeps crying bitterly, while Jamie hugs her around the shoulders with pity in her eyes, presses her to himself, and caresses her head, trying to comfort her somehow.       “Oh, damn, how much I hate to wait for nobody knows what and nobody knows for how long,” Jamie sighs quietly. “I hate uncertainty. I need to know what to expect specifically.”       “All of us don’t love it, Mr. MacClife,” Natalia replies with sadness in her wet eyes. “You are not alone…”       “We all don’t love to wait for nobody knows what, Mr. MacClife,” Natalia replies with sadness in her wet eyes and sniffs quietly. “You are not alone…”       “Especially now, when we’ve known nothing about the men for more than three hours,” Helene adds.       “God, they’re all adults, but they act like children,” Rebecca says and sniffs quietly. “They must have brains!”       “Oh, Rebecca, I’m afraid that even if we try to talk some sense into them, they will keep looking for trouble,” Jamie sighs tiredly, running his hands over his face. “Especially, Edward! He can’t actually stay in the same place and live a quiet life. He kind of gets pleasure from beating someone’s face.”       “Edward always says he doesn’t want to be someone like an old man,” Natalia confesses.       “Yeah, but that boy doesn’t know the limits. Edward turns his brains off when he gets a chance to play a hero.”       “I think he will calm down after Wainwright gets arrested. After the end of Michael's trial, he didn’t think of problems for a few months.”       “No, Natalia, he will not calm down. I thought it would be gone when my son was a teenager. I thought he just needed to burn out. But no, nothing changed. Edward was crazy when he was a child, and he is negligent now, when he is an adult man.”       “Yeah, but Terrence didn’t also sit in the same place when he was a teenager,” Rebecca notices.       “It’s not Edward’s case. Even after marrying, he will hardly get quieter. I think so. He always needs to use his energy. It’s like a syndrome of hyperactivity. I think even if he gives his strength to the band is not enough.”       “You know, Terrence also has too much energy sometimes,” Raquelle notices. “Yes, he’s lately been much quieter, but sometimes that man might be like Edward in some cases. There are moments when he turns off his brains and does something.”       “I can’t deny it,” Rebecca nods. “The guys copy each other’s behavior sometimes.”       “Nevertheless, Terrence is more responsible and serious,” Jamie notices confidently. “And Edward… Edward has always been a troubled kid, who never thinks of consequences and does something without thinking.”       Sammy barks quietly, looking at Rebecca and Jamie with sadness in his eyes.       “Oh, the sons of Rebecca and me do love giving us problems and making us nervous,” Jamie exhales sharply.       “That’s boys,” Rebecca shrugs. “They’re always problematic.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which everybody looks at each other or tries to comfort, and Helene strokes Sammy’s hair with her shaking hands. But then a phone call on Jamie’s phone breaks it. It makes everybody shake and, feeling a fast heartbeat, move a scared look at the man, who takes the phone and looks at the screen.       “That’s Mr. Johnson!” Jamie says and puts the phone to his ear. “Yes, Mr. Johnson, speak. You have some news?”       Jamie listens to what Victor tells him for a few seconds, while his eyes run from one side to another nervously.       “What?” Jamie rounds his eyes. “Found? Seriously?”       Everybody rounds their eyes sharply and looks at Jamie with greater pity.       “But where?” Jamie specifies. “How far?”       Two seconds later, Jamie opens his eyes much wider.       “What? It’s nobody the hell knows where! How could they end up there?”       Raquelle, Natalia, Helene, and Rebecca shake their heads with horror in their wet eyes and close their mouths with their hands.       “What’s wrong?” Rebecca asks in a whisper.       Jamie says nothing and raises his hand turned on the women.       “What? Four? But, wait… Are you sure there were four of them? There were supposed to be three!”       Natalia, Helene, and Raquelle frown slightly and look at each other. And while Jamie continues to listen to Victor, Raquelle’s mobile phone suddenly rings. She takes it from the table and answers the call, not looking at the screen.       “Hello,” Raquelle pronounces.       “Hey, Raquelle,” the man’s voice pronounces quietly. “It’s Edward…”       “Edward?”       Natalia and Helene move their eyes to Raquelle, literally forgetting about Jamie.       “Edward, thank God!” Raquelle exhales sharply. “Where have you been with Terrence and Peter? Helene, Natalia, and your parents almost went crazy!”       “I’m fine,” Edward replies quietly.       “We tried to call you for three hours, but nobody answered! Busy or unavailable!”       “Raquelle…” Edward pronounces in a shaking voice. “I need to tell you something…”       “Me?”       “Yes… It’s very important…”       “But what’s wrong?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “And why is your voice so quiet? It’s shaking!”       “It’s madly hurtful for me to say it, but you must know it…”       “Listen, are you really okay? You’re kind of too nervous…”       “Yes, I’m fine, don’t worry… But Terrence…”       “Terrence?” Raquelle gets frozen for two seconds and gets straight sharply, rounding her dumbfounded eyes wider.       Helene, Natalia, and Rebecca watch Raquelle with horror in their eyes, being terribly afraid of knowing what Edward is going to tell her.       “But what happened?” Raquelle asks with anxiety. “What happened, Edward?”       “Something bad happened to him, Raquelle,” Edward says in a shaking voice.       “Please, tell me what happened to him! I must know it! Hide nothing from me!”       “He’s on the way to the hospital… He… His condition is bad…”       The heart misses a couple of beats, making a pressing feeling on Raquelle’s chest, tears start rolling over her cheeks, she can barely breathe, and she starts to shake strongly.       “W-w-what?” Raquelle pronounces in a shaking voice. “Terrence? The hospital?”       Rebecca, Natalia, and Helene round their eyes and close their mouths with their hands with a gasp, and Sammy, sitting next to his owner, whines with pity.       “But why?” Raquelle makes a quiet sob. “What happened to him?”       “It’s all Wainwright,” Edward replies hesitantly. “The guys and I saw him not far from the place where we decided to have a rest… I mean, I noticed him first and decided to follow him.”       “You saw Wainwright?”       “Yes. Sadly, he got us caught, and we had to fight with him for a long time… And…” Edward exhales slowly. “Wainwright eventually injected something into Terrence… He got worse quickly… At first, he cleaned his stomach, and then he lost consciousness.”       “My God…” Raquelle closes her mouth with a hand with horror in her eyes.       “I’m very sorry, Raquelle. I swear I was doing my best to protect the lads. But I could not. I… I’m ashamed that my brother suffered because of me… Because of my wish to deal with Wainwright.”       “No…” Raquelle pronounces quietly. “No, it can’t be true… I don’t believe it… That’s not the truth!”       “Alas, darling, that’s the truth,” Edward says with sadness. “I still can’t believe it, either, but… Seeing the doctors, who examined him, I had to believe.”       “My gosh…”       Natalia embraces Raquelle and presses her closely to herself, seeing that she is close to hysteria, and puts her ear to the phone with the hope of hearing what Edward says.       “What did Wainwright inject into Terrence?” Raquelle asks and sniffs quietly. “Is that poison?”       “I don’t know, Raquelle,” Edward replies with sorrow. “But that’s probably some drug. The guys and I found out that Wainwright was a drug addict. A long-time addict… Moreover, we also found the young girl, whom Wainwright was mocking and giving her many drugs.”       “And his condition? How’s he doing now?”       “The doctor said his condition was hard. We’ll know more when he’s brought to the hospital.”       “Where are you, Edward?” Raquelle asks excitedly. “Where are they gonna bring Terrence? Which hospital? I’ll come there shortly!”       “Terrence is gonna be brought to the central hospital. I’m going there, too. I shall stay there until the doctors tell me what happened to him. The girl is brought there, too. She feels bad, too. Same symptoms as Terrence’s.”       “I’m coming to the hospital now.”       “Okay, I’ll be waiting for you.”       “If you come here earlier and know something, let me know it.”       “Don’t worry, Raquelle, I will immediately tell you if I know something about Terrence. And when you’re at the hospital, I will tell you how we met Wainwright.”       “Thanks, Edward. I’m coming…”       Raquelle turns off the call and lets her emotions go out, starting to cry much more bitterly, doubling over, and even yelling from despair. Natalia is still hugging her friend and caressing her head, being afraid to imagine what she could hear to be too close to hysteria.       “Raquelle, what’s wrong?” Helene expresses anxiety. “What did Edward tell you?”       “What happened to Terrence?” Rebecca asks excitedly. “Why is he going to be brought to the hospital?”       Raquelle makes a few sobs before he tries to explain what happened in a strongly shaking voice:       “Wainwright… He injected something into Terrence…”       “My gosh…” Natalia rounds her eyes.       “His condition is hard…”       “No…” Rebecca pronounces in a shaking voice, closes her mouth with both hands with horror in her eyes, and starts crying much more bitterly. “No, it can’t be the truth!”       “So, did the men meet Wainwright?” Natalia asks with horror in her eyes.       “Edward said he saw him first,” Raquelle replies with a heavy breath. “He decided to track him.”       “But what did that man inject into Terrence?”       “I don’t know, Natalia, I don’t know…” Raquelle doubles over again, runs her fingers through her hair, and pulls it out. “I only know he cleaned his stomach, is unconscious, and is in a bad condition…”       “And Edward?” Rebecca sniffs quietly. “Is he okay?”       “He says he’s fine.”       “God, how awful…” Helene shakes her head with horror in her eyes and pets the head of Sammy, while he is whining with pity.       “I did say that my nightmare would come true!” Raquelle recalls with despair, getting up sharply from the sofa and starting to walk in circles nervously. “My presentiments have never betrayed me! When I feel something, it comes true. But nobody believes me!”       “And it scares me,” Natalia confesses with anxiety, putting her hand on her heart, which is beating fast.       “Terrence is alive yet, but he might die… Because Wainwright injected something terrible, my nightmare will come true…”       “No, no, Raquelle, don’t think about it,” Helene says softly. “Terrence won’t die and will survive for you.”       “Gosh, why?” Raquelle sits on the sofa next to Helene and sniffs quietly. “Why was it him? Why?”       When Raquelle shouts soul-crushingly and doubles over, Helene hugs her friend and presses her to himself, letting her cry on her shoulder and caressing her head or back. Sammy puts his face on the laps of the crying girl with a painful whine, and Rebecca and Natalia hug each other, not holding bitter tears down. A few seconds later, the anxious Jamie puts the phone in his pocket, exhales sharply, and moves his shocked eyes to the women.       “I have some pieces of news,” Jamie announces quietly. “First, the men were found, but the fourth person was with Edward, Terrence, and Peter. Second, they really met Wainwright. Edward decided to follow him, and Terrence and Peter went with him. Third, that man was holding a young girl in his hideaway, raping her, and giving her drugs. And last, that girl and Terrence are going to be brought to the hospital. That stinker injected something into them. They are unconscious and have cleaned their stomachs, and their condition is very hard.”       “But how could it happen?” Raquelle asks excitedly with tears in her eyes. “Why was it Terrence?”       “I don’t know, Raquelle. Victor knows only what he was told by his colleagues, who have come to the place where it all happened.”       “But where is he?” Helene wonders.       “On the way yet. But he will come there soon.”       “How did they know where to find them?” Natalia wonders.       “Victor said Edward called him and asked him to send the police and an ambulance.”       “Edward called Mr. Johnson?” Rebecca wonders.       “Yes, honey,” Jamie replies coldly. “As we thought, our son decided to play a hero again. He thought he’d catch that stinker and betray him to the police.”       “Oh, Edward, Edward…”       “Very ‘noble’ act that led to terrible consequences. Because of his wish to follow Wainwright, his brother is in a hard condition.”       “But Edward did try to save Terrence and make the men run!” Natalia notices. “He said it to Raquelle!”       “Who cares, Natalia? No matter if he went alone or with someone, Edward did an irresponsible thing! He could’ve been instead of Terrence! And we would’ve been worried about him if he’d gotten that shit into him! Because he wanted to go to the deepest place of wood and deal with the bull that only a whole army can defeat.”       “Edward and Peter could be instead of Terrence,” Helene says with pity in her eyes.       “Those two were madly lucky that Wainwright didn’t inject that shit into them. And I highly recommend that you all pray that the injection is not lethal. We don’t know what he was injected with or how much. If the case is hard, Terrence might die.”       “No, no, I don’t want to lose him!” Raquelle jabs in a high voice, as she is choking with tears. “If Terrence dies, I don’t know what I’m going to do!”       “No, I won’t accept the loss of my son,” Rebecca says in a low voice. “My sons are the reason I live for. I could accept anything but the death of Terrence or Edward. Not this!”       While Helene and Natalia try to comfort Raquelle, Jamie hugs Rebecca and caresses his wife’s head, while she is crying bitterly on his shoulder, not being able to believe that it happened to her son. At some moment, Sammy comforting everybody, moves his eyes to Blair, Violetta, and Christiana, who enter the living room with dumbfounded eyes.       “We know about Terrence,” Christiana says with sadness in her eyes.       “We heard Raquelle’s shouts and came here when you were explaining everything,” Violetta adds quietly.       “He will survive?” Blair asks with a scare in her eyes. “Please, tell us that he is fine.”       “We can say nothing,” Natalia shakes her head and sniffs quietly. “Edward called Raquelle and just said Terrence was in a hard condition and would be taken to the hospital.”       “He will die,” Raquelle pronounces with tears. “Terrence will die… Just like in my nightmare… I will lose him… I will lose a reason to live…”       When Raquelle sobs loudly again, raising her head up, Sammy winces with pity and glances at Helene, who yanks his ears softly.       “Raquelle, for God’s sake, calm down,” Natalia says, caressing Raquelle’s shoulder and hugging her. “It’s gonna be okay. Terrence is a strong man.”       “He’ll survive just for you,” Helene adds softly, confidently. “Don’t dare to say about his death.”       “If only the injection wasn’t lethal…” Raquelle begs with despair. “If only Terrence survived… Please, God… Please… I won’t bear it…”       “It’s gonna be okay, sweetie,” Natalia says quietly. “Terrence can get through it. I’m sure about it.”       Meanwhile, Jamie, still hugging Rebecca with both arms, watches Natalia and Helene crying bitterly and being worried but trying to comfort Raquelle and exhales slowly.       “Alright, no time to sit…” Jamie says confidently. “We’ve gotta go to the hospital. Mr. Johnson said Terrence is going to be brought to the central one.”       “The guys are going there, too,” Raquelle replies in a shaking voice. “Edward promised to tell us everything that happened.”       “Wonderful! Listen to what that hothead would say! And how he will excuse himself.”       “Listen, go without me, but I shall join you later,” Helene says hesitantly. “I have to drive Sammy home because I’m not allowed to go to the hospital with a dog.”       “Erm, you can leave this doggy here if you want,” Blair suggests hesitantly. “Violetta, Christiana, and I will watch him with pleasure.”       “Yes, Helene, leave Sammy here,” Christiana encourages. “If we need it, we’ll play with him. If we need it, we’ll feed him.”       Sammy barks two times, and Helene thinks for two seconds before she says quietly:       “Okay, I agree.”       “Wonderful!” Violetta exclaims. “When you know everything, you’ll come here and take your pretty boy.”       “Sammy…” Helene moves her eyes to Sammy and grabs his face. “My boy… I’m leaving you here. But when we find out what happened to Terrence, we will go home. Be a good boy and do anything you’re told. Okay?”       Sammy barks two times again, and Helene looks at him with a slight smile, pets his neck and head, gets up from the sofa, takes her purse, and catches everybody, who has already stood up.       “Hey, Raquelle, don’t dare to take the keys and get into your car,” Natalia says confidently, putting a hand on Raquelle’s shoulder. “We will go in my car.”       “I can’t drive,” Raquelle replies without emotions on her face. “I’m only obsessed with thoughts about Terrence…”       “Go, girls, go,” Jamie says, leading everybody to the exit.       “Keep us aware!” Blair begs.       “If you know something about Terrence, let us know,” Violetta adds. “We are also very worried about him.”       “We will call you if we know something,” Natalia promises.       After taking some things, Raquelle, Natalia, Rebecca, Jamie, and Helene come to the door and leave the house, while Blair petting Sammy’s head, Violetta, and Christiana watch them with pity in their eyes, praying that Terrence stays alive and unharmed.       

***

      Thirty or forty minutes later. The yellow taxi is coming to the house of Terrence and Raquelle. Anna, who does not know what recently happened, is sitting in it. After paying for the trip, the girl gets out of the car, closes the door, and looks at the residence, while the taxi leaves the territory, on which it came after the security let it in. She immediately gets nice memories of the moments that she spent with her close people. It all makes her smile slightly with tears in her eyes, understanding that the memories are moments of the past that will hardly be experienced again.       However, Anna braces herself quickly and wipes tears off her face and under her red, puffy eyes. The girl looks at the house of Terrence and Raquelle for a few seconds, and then she exhales sharply, comes to the hall door slowly but confidently, stops in front of it, hesitates a little, and rings the doorbell two times with a shaking hand. Seymour waits for the reaction for a few seconds, as she shifts her weight from one foot to another and crosses her arms over her chest. And then the door finally closes, and Blair shows up on the doorstep. The young servant rounds her eyes when she sees Anna, getting horrified by what has happened to her. A thick layer of concealer does not look natural on her face and cannot hide signs of tiredness. And her red, puffy eyes are the “perfect” betrayer, which clearly says that Seymour has been stressed for a long time.       “Anna?” Blair asks hesitantly. “Oh… Hi…”       “Hey, Blair,” Anna replies quietly with a little false smile, waving her hand. “It’s been a while.”       “We… Didn’t expect your visit.”       “How are you doing?”       “I’m fine. And you?”       “I’m pretty good,” Anna lies.       “But why do you look so… Tired?”       “Erm… I… Just didn’t get enough sleep…”       “Oh, that’s how…”       Blair glances aside for two seconds, understanding that Anna could lie to her because she knows this girl as a positive, smiling, and sanguine person, but now this skinny, depressed girl does not look like the one.       “Erm, Blair…” Anna pronounces hesitantly, squeezing the handle of her purse with both hands tightly. “Listen… I would like to talk to Raquelle or Terrence. Are they home?”       “Raquelle and Terrence?” Blair asks with rounded eyes. “Erm… No… They are not…”       “No? Sorry… They’re probably walking somewhere…”       “Erm… No… They don’t walk…”       “They’re with the guys?”       “Nope…”       “Hey, I think you look kinda scared,” Anna looks at Blair closely. “As if something happened.”       “Listen, Anna…” Blair fixes her topknot, throwing a little scared look aside. “Something happened here…”       “What’s wrong?” Anna rounds her eyes.       “You know…” Blair scratches the back of her head. “Come in the house. Violetta, Christiana, and I will explain it now.”       Blair steps back from the doorstep and lets Anna enter the house. The girl does it slowly and looks around with little scared eyes as if she is looking for danger. While the young servant closes the door, the green-eyed girl goes to the living room hesitantly and looks around again. A few seconds later, Anna shakes slightly because of a dog’s bark and turns sharply at the sound, seeing Sammy running to her.       “Sammy!” Anna smiles slightly. “Hey… Hi…”       Sammy barks quietly and, wagging his tail, softly nuzzles his nose into Anna’s palm with a hint to pet him. She understands it and pets the dog’s head with pleasure, understanding that she gets a little better.       “Hey, what are you doing here?” Anna asks amicably. “You’re supposed to be with Helene!”       The excited Sammy starts to bark loudly, as if he is trying to tell Anna what happened some time ago.       “What’s wrong, Sammy?” Anna wonders. “Why are you so excited? Something happened to Helene?”       Sammy barks loudly again for a few seconds before Christiana and Violetta go to the living room.       “Sammy, why are you…” Christiana wants to ask.       Christiana and Violetta move their eyes to Anna, whose appearance makes both of them shocked.       “Anna?” Christiana and Violetta get surprised.       “Hello, Christiana,” Anna waves a hand with a slight smile. “Violetta…”       “My gosh…” Violetta pronounces hesitantly. “You’ve… Changed… You haven’t been like this before.”       “Erm…” Anna murmurs hesitantly, shifting her weight from one foot to another. “No, no, I’m fine… I didn’t just get enough sleep… I didn’t… Sleep… All… Night long.”       “Really?” Christiana frowns slightly.       “Yes… Don’t worry… It’s alright…”       Violetta frowns slightly and looks at Christiana, understanding that Anna just lied to them. They see that her eyes are lifeless, her cheeks are shrunk, and she looks pale and skinny. However, the servants of Raquelle and Terrence decide to be silent and say nothing until Blair returns to the living room.       “Listen, what happened here?” Anna asks thoughtfully, looking at everybody. “Why is Sammy here, not with Helene? And where are Terrence and Raquelle now?”       “Oh, you see, darling…” Christiana pronounces hesitantly. “Something terrible happened here…”       “Terrible?” Anna rounds her eyes. “Raquelle? Terrence? Helene?”       “Let’s sit down,” Blair suggests quietly.       With these words, Blair brings Anna to the sofa and sits on it along with her, while Violetta and Christiana sit down in front of them.       “I want to know everything,” Anna says with pity in her eyes. “Please, tell me what happened.”       “As for what happened…” Violetta stutters. “Terrence was taken to the hospital some time ago…”       “What? Terrence? Hospital?”       “That’s true,” Blair nods. “He’s now in hard condition.”       “Gosh…” Anna shakes her head with dumbfounded, widely open eyes. “But what happened to him? Is he sick?”       “Do you know that Eugene Wainwright ran away from prison?” Blair asks.       “Wainwright? The one, who mocked Natalia?”       “The one.”       “No, I didn’t…” Anna shakes her head sharply. “Wait, aren’t you kidding? That man ran away?”       “He shot a member of the prison staff, took a pistol, and ran,” Christiana explains.       “But… When? When did he run away?”       “More than one month ago. They didn’t announce it immediately – the reports about his escape began to translate some time ago. The police promise to give a reward for any information about him.”       “Oh, my gosh…” Anna closes her mouth with a hand with horror in her eyes. “Poor Natalia… Edward will also suffer because of him…”       Sammy barks quietly, sitting next to Anna and looking at her with sadness in his eyes.       “Second…” Anna frowns slightly and looks at Blair, Violetta, and Christiana questioningly. “What does Wainwright’s escape have to do with Terrence? I wouldn’t be surprised if you said Edward was taken to the hospital, but his brother…”       “It happened that your friends met that man and fought with him for a long time, and then Wainwright injected something into Terrence, and he collapsed,” Christiana says with sorrow.       “Injected something?”       “We don’t know what yet. But his condition is very hard now.”       “Oh, no!” Anna closes her mouth with a hand and shakes her head with horror in her eyes. “Poor Terrence… Poor Raquelle… She’s gonna go crazy if something happens to him!”       “Raquelle was close to hysteria when Edward called her and said it,” Blair says with sadness in her eyes. “Helene and Natalia couldn’t calm her down… And Sammy, too…”       Sammy winces quietly and barks, and Violetta pets his head.       “But how did it happen that the lads met Wainwright?” Anna wonders. “Where it happened?”       “Who the hell knows!” Christiana exclaims. “Wainwright found the hideaway that you couldn’t find easily!”       “It happened that Edward and Terrence were together?”       “Peter was with them, too.”       “He is fine?”       “I think so,” Violetta replies. “But everybody was so worried about Terrence that nobody thought of Peter.”       “Did Wainwright kidnap all three?”       “Aha, kidnap!” Christiana chuckles. “It’s Edward! He wanted to deal with Wainwright and made the guys run. But they refused and followed him.”       “They went to the place of the beast?”       “Edward could do many things, my sweetie. That guy literally has an itchy foot.”       “And yeah, there were four, not three,” Violetta adds. “I don’t know who that was, but we know it for sure.”       “Moreover, the guys found a young girl, to whom Wainwright was giving drugs. He did it so that she ended up in the hospital, too.”       “Oh, my gosh…” Anna shakes her head with her mouth closed with both hands.       “We heard that she was in a hard condition.”       “But Edward knew Wainwright was dangerous! I completely understand that he wanted to protect Natalia, but it happened that Edward put the guys in danger. Didn’t that guy know he wouldn’t do that alone?”       “You know, honestly, we’re not surprised that everything started with Edward,” Christiana says gloomily, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s always loved to look for trouble and involve others in it.”       “What about Terrence and Peter? Couldn’t they stop Edward?”       “I guess, no,” Blair shrugs. “If they followed him.”       “It’s alright, girls, Mr. MacClife will wash the brains of his son now,” Violetta says confidently.       “Does he know it?” Anna wonders.       “Yes, the girls and I had been talking in the living room before Mr. and Mrs. MacClife came and said they weren’t being able to call their sons,” Blair replies. “Raquelle, Helene, and Natalia had been worried ‘cause they couldn’t also call the lads. But every hour, we were much more anxious.”       “So, did they show up themselves?” Anna frowns slightly.       “I could say so,” Christiana nods. “Mr. MacClife asked his friend from the police for help. And he called him at the same time as Edward called Raquelle.”       “Moreover, Edward called Victor Johnson and asked him to send the police and an ambulance,” Violetta adds and shrugs. “Well, he did and went there.”       “He wanted to betray him to the police?” Anna specifies.       “Sort of,” Blair replies. “If the police couldn’t find that man for a long time, and any calls were false, Edward decided to take this matter into his own hands and catch Wainwright by himself, risking his life and the lives of his brother and friend.”       “We thought he calmed down after the end of the trial of Michael and his gang.”       “Aha, he did!” Christiana rolls her eyes. “Edward was probably happy he got a chance to become a hero again.”       “And we don’t believe that he will calm down even when he gets married to Natalia,” Violetta adds. “Vice versa, he will ‘infect’ his brother and friends with his craziness. I mean, he did it ‘cause they thought they’d catch such a dangerous man.”       “Nevertheless, I’m sorry for him…” Anna confesses with sadness in her eyes. “Terrence is his brother, whom he loves truly. Edward would’ve hardly wanted something like that.”       “Nobody says Edward is bad,” Christiana specifies. “Vice versa, Edward is a good guy. But he loves looking for trouble and always tries to prove that he is brave and tough and could destroy anyone.”       “But I think that’s the consequence of everything that has happened in his life,” Violetta assumes. “Edward has always been called a worthless puppy, and somehow Terrence and Raquelle said he was born accidentally and wasn’t a wanted child.”       “I know,” Anna nods.       “But I don’t believe he didn't do anything to protect his brother and friend,” Blair says confidently. “Yes, Edward is kind of crazy, but he’s responsible.”       “For his close people, Edward’s ready for anything. I’m sure that he’d prefer sacrificing himself than knowing those, who are dear to him, suffer.”       “Everybody has their shortcomings and weaknesses,” Christiana throws her hands up. “Yes, sometimes Edward might be weird, but we can’t say he is terrible and shameless. Terrence is also by far not perfect and often makes mistakes. Everybody knows it’s easy to make him furious, and he stops controlling himself. When Terrence is angry, he might do what he regrets later.”       “You’re right…” Anna agrees, looking at Blair, Violetta, and Christiana with sadness in her eyes.       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Sammy barks quietly and is happy to accept some caress from Anna, who pets his head and yanks his ears softly.       “Listen, don’t you know in which hospital Terrence is gonna be taken?” Anna asks quietly. “I want to go there, too! I want to support Raquelle and Edward. I know they need someone to support them.”       “I think they mentioned a central one,” Blair replies thoughtfully.       “Yes, central!” Violetta exclaims. “Not only did Raquelle and Edward go there, but also Natalia, Helene, Edward, and Terrence’s parents. Peter will come, too.”       “So, I’ll go there, too,” Anna replies determinedly.       “Go, Anna, go,” Christiana encourages with a slight smile. “I think the guys will be happy to see you. You haven’t spoken to them for a long time.”       “Yeah, sure… Thank you so much for telling me everything.”       “Did you come here in a taxi?” Violetta specifies, putting her finger on her lip.       “Yeah, but it left.”       “Should we order a taxi?”       “Erm, it would be great. I can’t remember the number… It’s at home… In the notebook…”       “I will call now,” Blair says amicably, takes the phone placed on the table in the living room, and types the number.       “You can stay here and play with Sammy,” Christiana suggests.       Sammy barks quietly, looking at everybody.       “I’m sorry that my little bro is not here,” Blair says with a slight smile. “He wouldn’t leave Sammy alone.”       “I like Sammy, too,” Anna confesses amicably and pets Sammy’s head, while the dog is wagging his tail and sitting next to the girl quietly. “But I was afraid of him at first…”       “You were afraid of Sammy?” Christiana wonders.       “Yup. I was attacked by a dog when I was a kid. And since then, I’ve been afraid of them. But I see that Sammy is really as good and sweet as everybody says.”       “No, Sammy is a cutie,” Violetta replies with a wide smile. “He can steal the heart of anyone. If this guy was a man, all girls would belong to him.”       “Maybe…” Anna cracks a smile, still petting Sammy’s head or neck.       A few seconds later, Blair orders a taxi, turns off the call after thanking the operator, and puts the phone in the right place.       “A taxi is gonna be here in ten minutes,” Blair says amicably.       “Thank you so much, Blair,” Anna thanks gently.       “Listen, let’s drink a glass of juice?” Violetta suggests. “We made it!”       “No, thanks… I will better wait for the taxi outside.”       “Stop, Anna, you don’t bother us,” Christiana says softly. “We don’t have work now.”       “Stay with us!” Blair exclaims. “We don’t mind it. As well as Sammy.”       “Thanks for the suggestion, but I’d better go,” Anna says quietly.       “Are you sure you don’t wanna stay?” Violetta asks with sadness in her eyes.       “Yes.”       “Alright…” Violetta shrugs. “As you wish…”       “Anyway, thank you for the talk. It was nice to talk to you. I hope we’ll meet again.”       Sammy bark quietly, looking at Anna, who runs her hands over the doggy's hair when saying:       “I was happy to see you, Sammy.”       Sammy barks with sadness in his eyes again and puts his paw on the hand of Anna, who squeezes it slightly with a fake smile. Then she stands up slowly from the sofa, moves her eyes to Blair, Violetta, and Christiana, and says:       “Goodbye, Blair… Violetta… Christiana… Thanks for telling me about Terrence again.”       “Come here someday,” Blair says with a slight smile. “We’re always glad to see you.”       “Thanks…”       Blair leads Anna to the exit, lets the girl leave, locks the door, and comes to Christiana and Violetta, who look at her with shocked eyes and Sammy whining quietly.       “God, what happened to her!” Christiana gets horrified, closing her mouth with a hand. “This girl is so unhappy, broken, pale, and skinny.”       “She was always so funny and sanguine!” Violetta says with shocked eyes.       “I was shocked, too,” Blair confesses. “That’s not the Anna that we’ve always known!”       “Is she so worried because of Daniel, who cheated on her with the foreigner?”       “Likely,” Blair shrugs with sadness in her eyes. “She always spread the light and smiled next to that man. But now there’s no hint of happiness in her red and dead eyes.”       “Yeah…” Violetta sighs heavily. “She definitely loved that man… But he doesn’t care!”       “Of course, I’m sorry for him, but his actions are not better than those that Edward did somehow,” Violetta replies confidently. “Or Terrence…”       “But what’s gonna happen when Daniel remembers everything?” Blair asks. “What’s gonna happen if Anna finds out about his betrayal?”       “If cheating wasn’t wanted, that guy would start to find excuses, and that girl wouldn’t believe him. If they had had problems before he lost his memory, it could have led to their breakup.”       “Yeah, that guy has done too much…” Christiana exhales sharply. “He lost his memory, cheated on his girlfriend, and fought with his friends…”       “He’s gonna solve all of that for a long time…” Blair notices. “If he actually can do it…”       “Yeah, he’ll need many efforts to get the trust of those he fought with. And I don’t think it would be so easy.”       “Maybe, he will reconcile with his friends early or late. But it’s gonna be much harder to get the girl back if she knows what he did.”       “That’s right…” Violetta pronounces tiredly. “You lose trust in your partner after they cheat on you for the first time.”       “But there are always exclusions,” Christiana notices. “Terrence did cheat on Raquelle with that blonde gal. I can’t remember her name… I think, Rachel… But now they’re very happy and going to get married.”       “Oh, thank God, he rejected that madam! I never liked her!”       “Me too,” Blair confesses, crossing her arms over her chest. “She’s kinda sweet and fluffy, but something was suspicious.”       “There is nobody better than our Raquelle,” Christiana replies confidently. “She is the real owner of this house.”       “She brings the light and happiness here.”       Sammy barks confidently, while Blair, Violetta, and Christiana look at each other and glance at the dog that watches them, as he is breathing with his tongue hanging out and wagging his tail. The servants come closer to him and pet his head or just run their hands over his hair, which is very nice to touch, understanding that they feel much better. As if the dog takes a part of negative emotions and gives them as much as he can.