The Criminal Diaries

      After a long way, Daniel, Terrence, and Edward finally arrive at the neighborhood Ryan talked about. They do not have to spend a lot of time trying to find a place to leave the car, even if there are not so many free lots. When the motor is turned off, and the driver gets the keys out, the guys do not rush to get out because they are not sure about where to go, and decide to look around first.       “Okay, we’ve come, where do we go?” Daniel frowns slightly, knocking at the steering wheel with his fingers.       “And what’s our next plan?” Terrence asks. “Come to the house we need, crush the door with a head, and shout something like, ‘Fear and shake, fucking bastards, the sassy boys are in the building!’”       “Is this the neighborhood we need?” Edward specifies, looking around.       “At least, that’s what the navigator said,” Daniel shrugs. “I just inputted the coordinates Ryan sent us, and it brought us here.”       “If the house I talked about is here, the neighborhood can’t be recognized so easily,” Terrence confesses. “Everything was different when I came here back then.”       “Hm, houses are really cheap at first sight, and nobody builds castles here…” Edward notices. “The neighborhood for the middle class, so to speak.”       “Didn’t you see any ads about selling houses in the place when you wanted to buy something?”       “Nope, no house located here was on sale. I remember that for sure!”       “But actually, the neighborhood is pretty good,” Daniel notices thoughtfully. “But it’s kinda yearning… When I look around, nothing makes me feel positive emotions.”       “I had the same feelings when being in the neighborhood where the house that Uncle Michael stole from Father was located. I never liked that place.”       “Okay, guys, stop working your tongues!” Terrence exclaims determinedly, clapping on his knees. “We’ve got an important business now.”       “What are everyone’s suggestions?” Daniel asks. “What do we do now?”       “First, let’s just get out of the car, walk a little, and look around,” Edward replies confidently. “Try to find the house of Marcus and find out what’s going on.”       “Ready to bet we surely notice some of the ass-lickers of that old bastard.”       “I can assume that they’re gonna try to find us,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “I guess Marcus thinks Peter came with us, but he went alone and told us to hide somewhere.”       “We will not hide and be silent and will be happy to kick the ass of those assholes,” Edward says confidently. “And if they think we can give up so easily, they can fuck themselves.”       “Okay, guys, let’s get out of the car!” Daniel exclaims. “We can see nothing from here and won't decide anything. We’ve gotta plan something on the way.”       “Listen, put my phone in the glove box,” Edward says, giving his smartphone to Daniel and Terrence. “I will leave it here.”       “Oh, good idea, I’ll leave mine, too,” Terrence approves, takes Edward’s phone, and takes his own phone from the pocket on his jeans. “I think we won’t need them now.”       “I won’t take mine, either,” Daniel decides, takes his smartphone, and gives it to Terrence, who puts all three gadgets in the glove box.       “Let’s go for the mission then?” Edward suggests cheerfully. “Save our friend from the old wreck and his suckers!”       “Go!” Daniel and Terrence pronounce at the same time.       When the three men take off their safety belts, they leave the car that Daniel locks by pressing the button on the key. Then the guys go somewhere straight, going by some houses that do not look luxurious and gorgeous, just glancing at them and knowing they do not need any of these.       “I hope the girls won’t get confused and will tell Mr. Johnson everything in time so he can help us out,” Terrence expresses hope.       “Maybe, we shouldn’t have told them to wait for two or three hours?” Edward expresses anxiety. “Maybe, we should’ve told Mr. Johnson everything immediately?”       “He would’ve started to persuade us not to go anywhere and to leave everything to the police,” Daniel assumes confidently. “But having to sit and do nothing when my brother is in trouble is like a hit on my balls with a sickle to me.”       “Oh, Rose is an idiot!” Terrence exhales sharply. “What was the blond hoping for when deciding to go here alone? Does he really think he can deal with a gang alone?”       “And whether we can take it all if that old wreck finds a couple of more helpers? If there are four of us, but there are, like, six of them!”       “Don’t be afraid, men, it’s gonna be okay!” Edward assures with his head proudly raised. “We can do this even if there are ten or twenty people. And if the police come here by that time, it’s gonna be super easy for us.”       “Now, kid, now, wait for a while,” Terrence laughs, clapping Edward on the shoulder. “You’ll show everyone your heroic power. Dan and I will give you a chance to drink blood from your enemies.”       “Yay, bro, I see you’re rushing into a gladiatorial combat,” Daniel laughs, clapping Edward on another shoulder. “Well, or fights without rules. You learned a couple of new tricks, and you rush into an octagon to show them.”       “Listen, you, irresistible pensioners, if your pants are wet, and your legs are shaking, nobody makes you go on the mission,” Edward replies quietly. “I can deal with this by myself.”       “Aha, you can deal with this so that the doctors put you together piece by piece on the operation table like puzzles,” Terrence throws gloomily, crossing his arms over his chest.       “Don’t worry, bro, I promise I will make sure your hair looks good. Every little strand looks beautiful. And if you want, I can help you strike a pose, in which you’d look like someone who makes girls get wet and finish immediately.”       “Aha, but someone would hardly finish,” Daniel laughs. “Because someone would hardly see it.”       “I’d hit you two on your neck strongly,” Terrence throws gloomily. “So you don’t work your tongues for nothing.”       “Okay, okay, horse, calm down!” Edward raises his hands. “Why are ya so excited?”       “Exactly, you'd better show Edward and me the house that wasn’t lucky to be owned by the self-proclaimed Apollo,” Daniel says.       “I can’t see it yet,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “I think it’s not here, it’s a little further.”       “It’s a shame Ryan didn’t tell us how to find the house where Marcus is probably living,” Edward crosses his arms over his chest. “No number, no address… We’ve gotta find it by the photo. Though the houses are almost the same and differ slightly.”       “We’ll find it, don’t worry! The neighborhood is not so large! Those who live here probably know each other. Which means we can try to stop someone and ask where Marcus Longbottom is living.”       “The neighborhood is small but too quiet,” Daniel notices. “So quiet that it’s kinda creepy. And it’s in the woods. Far from the city.”       “We’ll just go straight on the asphalt path,” Edward decides. “And we will see later.”       After looking at each other, Daniel, Edward, and Terrence go straight with no rush, walking on the tiny asphalt path placed across small houses that are fenced with small fences and look more or less similar. Although this neighborhood really seems too quiet, they get a sense of some kind of anxiety caused by the fact that they have not met anyone and have not seen a car. They cannot even hear any sounds of nature – no birds’ singing, no crows’ cawing, no sounds of water, and anything else. And the sky is covered with thick and tight gray clouds, through which shoots of the sun cannot get.       Nevertheless, the guys try to keep calm and continue to walk in the city and look at every house they see on their way. At some moment, they decide to divide and turn on different sides to look around, but they come back to the same place and keep walking straight, doing the same things several times. And after they pass some distance, they easily recognize Peter’s car parked on the small lot alongside two automobiles.       “Fuck, where’s that asshole living?” Daniel growls irritably. “Are we gonna spend a lot of time showing ourselves and walking from side to side like a runway?”       “If I’m not mistaken, there was something like a weather vane on the roof of the house, the photo of which we got from Ryan,” Edward says thoughtfully, putting his finger on his lip. “In the form of a rooster… It was big enough… Kind of white…”       “Hm, yeah, there was something like that…”       “But all these houses don’t have it…” Terrence adds, looking around again. “The only thing we can see on the roof is a chimney.”       “But there’s something at that house!” Daniel exclaims, pointing at the house at the end of the way. “Something big and white…”       Not thinking a lot, the three men take a few steps forward to see what is placed on the roof of the house Daniel is interested in.       “Hey, I think that’s it!” Terrence exclaims with a slight smile. “The white weather vane in the form of a rooster!”       “Does it mean that’s Marcus’ house?” Edward concludes. “We found it?”       “Come closer and see?” Daniel suggests.       Edward, Daniel, and Terrence come determinedly a little closer to the house they need and look at it from up to down again, preferring to keep themselves at some distance.       “Yes, Ryan sent us the photo of that house,” Edward confirms.       “It’s weird, I thought we’d see some of Marcus’s accomplices there,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “But there is nobody there.”       “Nevertheless, we know surely that Peter is here ‘cause we saw his car in the parking lot,” Daniel notices.       “It seems that people living here can do anything, but everyone gives a fuck. Torture people, rape them, or grow drugs.”       “You think Helene’s here?” Edward asks. “Or did Marcus decide not to risk his reputation, which is perfect for his neighbors?”       “He did say they hid her in a different place,” Daniel recalls.       “You can say anything, but everything’s actually otherwise.”       “Even if Marcus’ neighbors saw and suspected something, they wouldn’t hide it from the police,” Terrence assumes. “Someone noticed that young men often visit that old bastard.”       “Who knows, maybe, they all have their own demons,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “Well, or everyone just gives a fuck. Everyone does their business and doesn’t care about what’s happening around.”       “Anyway, even if Helene’s here, we didn’t waste time coming here,” Edward says confidently. “Peter is here. Who those assholes can deal with at any time.”       “Oh, yeah, after the killer makes a full confession and explains why he the fuck started it all.”       “Listen, guys…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully as he glances aside. “I think you wanted to see the house I almost bought.”       “You found it?”       “Yup, it’s there!” Terrence points at the house that is placed opposite Marcus’s one and looks similar enough. “I recognized it ‘cause the roof of it is the only one that has three chimneys. While others have at least one.”       “So, do you wanna say you almost bought the house placed opposite Marcus’ place?” Edward opens his eyes widely. “Opposite the man that terrified the entire country in the 90s and made everyone live in fear?”       “How did I know this?” Terrence throws his hands up. “And when murders stopped, everyone forgot about Marcus and relaxed. At least, I almost stopped thinking of him.”       “Yay, MacClife, you rock on!” Daniel puts his hands on his hips. “You almost became the neighbor of that asshole!”       “My guts didn’t let me down when everything inside protested buying the house. And the insolent behavior of the owner confirmed all my suspicions.”       “I wonder if someone else bought that house?” Edward asks. “Or does that idiot still live in it and doesn’t wanna get a little cool?”       “You know, I give a fuck!” Terrence exclaims. “Now I’m really happy I didn’t let the deal happen. In this case, I wouldn't have known about the residence where I feel like home.”       “And I wouldn’t exchange my beautiful place for anything else,” Daniel says. “I just need some time to work on it a little. When I was covering the holes in the walls, I found a couple of problems.”       “Nevertheless, we came here not to look at houses,” Edward notices confidently.       “Okay, since we found Marcus’ home, what’s our next step? We haven’t come up with anything good yet!”       “Anyway, we should be careful,” Terrence warns. “Even if his accomplices aren’t seen, it doesn’t mean they aren’t near. They could hide somewhere and watch from afar. Which means these assholes could see us and tell their lord about it.”       “Even if someone shows up, we’ll be happy to start a fight with them. So, they don’t think we’ll give up on them so easily and let them kill us.”       “They’ll wanna kill us one hundred percent,” Edward adds. “I mean, they’ll want it if they think we came here with Pete.”       “We can’t get into the house so easily… It means… We can wait for these assholes to catch us.”       “Do you wanna just wait for them to get us caught?” Terrence rounds his eyes.       “We can’t get into the house in a different way. Well… We can also try to get their attention with loud voices. Scream, hit the door, tell them to set our friend free…”       “Yeah, but we may have to pay a lot of money for trying to damage someone’s property,” Edward says thoughtfully and starts walking in circles and looking around. “Just one thought about having to pay something to the bloodthirsty killer chokes me as fuck.”       “Oh, now I want the girls not to wait and to ask the police for help immediately,” Daniel exhales sharply, putting his hands on his forehead. “We don’t have the opportunities they have.”       “Agree, but we can’t also be stuck here and do nothing,” Terrence throws his hands up. “Our friend is there! We must save him before it’s too late.”       “I know, and I won’t forgive myself if I do nothing to help Pete. I won’t forgive myself if something happens to him.”       “Oh, think, guys, think…” Terrence puts his hands on his hips. “We’ve gotta do something… Time is going by… We can’t waste it…”       While Daniel and Terrence rack their brain to decide on what to do, Edward keeps looking around as if he wants to find something interesting. But at some moment, he stops his eyes sharply on two young guys who come to his friend and brother slowly but confidently, and one of them is holding an electric gun. To his horror, Perkins and MacClife, Sr. do not notice it and are standing with their backs to them as they fall deeper and deeper into their thoughts. So, MacClife, Jr. does not waste time, moving off sharply, getting closer to the opponents, and pronouncing at the top of his lungs:       “Terrence, Daniel, watch out, turn back!”       Daniel and Terrence barely react when Edward gives a hit with his heel in a jump with a full twist against the head of the one holding the electric gun they want to use to hit his brother. Then the guy strikes the gun out of his hand with the same foot and throws him as far as possible with a powerful hit of the fist. That’s why it falls to the asphalt with a crunch and gets broken in some areas. And while one of them grabs his head with a loud shout and doubles over, the guy spends just two seconds fighting with the second opponent before he hits him in the jaw and pushes him off himself with a strong hit of his foot against his chest.       “Not on my watch, bastards,” Edward pronounces in a low, rude voice, striking a fighting position with his hands clenched into fists.       At this moment, Daniel and Terrence stand on both sides of Edward, striking a pose that lets the opponents know they are ready for this battle.       “Hey, hey, it seems like we have some unwanted visitors here,” Ronald smiles slyly, trying to ignore the fact that it’s hard for him to breathe after the hit in the chest.       “We did know Rose was afraid to go here alone and took his supporting group here,” Luther adds coldly after he gets up carefully on his feet. “The lord was sure that the bastard would not listen to him.”       “We are not cowards to hide,” Daniel raises his head proudly. “And we are not heartless bastards that would let our friend go where death would be waiting for him.”       “Relax, freaks, you cannot help him anymore. As well as you will not help his gal, who is going to get through the same as your friend.”       “We will not leave until we save Peter and Helene,” Terrence says determinedly. “And if we have to fight for this to the death, we are happy to accept this challenge.”       “Haven’t you, idiots, understood what Marcus said?” Ronald wonders. “If one of you showed up here with Rose, they would not leave his house alive.”       “So, ass-lickers, do you want us to pull your balls on your nose?” Edward sneers contemptuously. “You want to scream at the whole neighborhood from pain?”       “Oh, how self-confident and sassy we are…” Luther laughs evilly. “Forgot what you were told by your mommies and daddies: don’t ask, babies, for trouble.”       “Leave our friends alone at your wish, so we can show generosity kindly and do nothing to you,” Daniel suggests with a sly smile.       “You had a chance to avoid problems. A chance to stay alive and do your business. But since you did not use it, you will have to pay a high price for your stupidity.”       “And what would you do to us, corrupted assholes?” Terrence puts his hands on his hips. “Do you really think you can defeat us so easily?”       “We will not even waste time on you and will just hit every one of you with an electric gun,” Ronald says. “Your friend and his gal have already felt what it is like. It doesn’t work worse than a baton against the head or an injection in the ass.”       “Wow, we are so scared,” Danie smirks evilly. “We are about to run away from here so you never see us again.”       “Oh, no, you will not hide from here,” Luther says in a low, rude voice and hits his fist against his palm. “If you haven’t said goodbye to your close people, it’s your problem.”       “First, catch one of us, freaks,” Daniel throws boldly. “But I don’t advise you to underestimate us because we can do a lot to protect our friends and close people.”       “Do ya really think there are only two of us here? Do ya really think the lord didn’t make sure as many people helped him as possible?”       “Right, that old bastard is so helpless and cannot even raise his hand,” Edward puts his hands on his hips. “He is sitting quietly on his old wrinkled ass and just giving orders to everyone. While you do all his orders like dogs and look into his eyes in hope of getting praise and money.”       “You'd better go home and lie in the bed with a pacifier in your mouth, baby,” Ronald laughs evilly. “It’s funny when some little kids pretend to be sassy, even if they are in the age when they should just suck their mom’s breasts.”       “Do you know people came up with such a cool thing as a brush? Your flash haircut would look good with it. And I advise your friend to grow shoulder-length hair and to never get such a short haircut to hide such big ears, showing which is a fucking shame.”       “We give a fuck about what you say!” Luther sneers contemptuously. “And we give a fuck about all the attempts of Rose to hurt us somehow with a wish to show sassy and fearless. While he is a weak coward with ruined mental health and underwear that is always wet from fear.”       “It seems like someone’s face hasn’t kissed someone’s fists for ages,” Daniel throws gloomily. “And someone’s balls forgot what kind of pain they could feel,”       “Don’t worry, bastards, we will be happy to give you all of this,” Ronald promises. “The double or even triple amount. The lord doesn’t limit us at all now.”       “Ah, you’re so poor and unhappy, you finally got it…” Terrence laughs ironically. “Your owner approved of the fight.”       “We had a much more interesting business than a fight,” Luther confesses with a mysterious smile.       “We know,” Daniel throws in a low voice. “We know you, bastards, fucked our friend regularly without her agreement!”       “It’s a shame that we’ll no longer get this wonderful chance,” Ronald sighs with sadness in his eyes. “We didn’t have to spend time warming up. It just took several minutes. Get in deeper, work your thighs, get an orgasm, get out, dress up, and leave.”       “Peter dreamed of cutting all your balls. So, we will be happy to help him with it. Make you regret what you did to that poor girl.”       “We will see what’s going to happen, freaks: either our aggregates will remain unharmed or your whistles will live their own lives,” Luther threatens.       “In short, one-celled boneheads, we will go to Marcus’ house right now, take Helene and Peter out, and get out to the fuck,” Edward says determinedly. “And if you hid our friend in a different place, we will find her and take her far from some fucking dogs.”       “The gal is not here, I want to notice. And your friend will not escape. He will know how he is connected with Marcus, and then the lord will give us an order to defeat him and Marshall.”       “Of course, it’s very interesting, but we’re wasting time by listening to your verbal diarrhea and laughing at your confidence about winning this game,” Terrence raises his head proudly.       When Terrence, Edward, and Daniel want to turn around and go to the side where Marcus’ house is, Luther and Ronald grab Perkins and MacClife, Sr. under their arms and pull him onto themselves.       “Hey, hey, where are you going?” Luther wonders. “We haven’t ended you yet!”       “While Marcus is dealing with Rose, you three will go with us,” Ronald says. “And then we will beat your faces strongly so you don’t even want to show resistance.”       “I suggest we start our wild race right here and now,” Daniel smirks evilly. “So you, bastards, remember that we don’t leave our friends in trouble. And since you and that fucking old bastard dared to attack Peter and Helene, you will pay us for it.”       After getting his arm out of Luther’s grip sharply, Daniel smashes his fist strongly against his jaw, which makes his opponent lose his balance and fall to the asphalt. Then Terrence follows his example, stroking Ronald down without any problems.       “Don’t ruin your hair, peacock!” Ronald snaps.       “I won’t look worse even with the mess you have on your head,” Terrence chuckles. “Because I am always perfect.”       “I see Rose’s main protector doesn’t leave him alone,” Luther notices.       “He is absolutely safe next to me,” Daniel says with his head proudly raised. “Because I will not stop protecting him from some big-eared assholes.”       “Alright, bastards, it’s time to kick your ass hard,” Ronald says and warms up every part of his body. “Satisfy ourselves a little, while our lord is busy with your friend, and the other guys are getting ready to kill his gorgeous friend.”       “You aren’t so worthless by one, I must admit,” Luther adds. “But you can’t deal with two of us. Just like you will not handle all the tricks I can show as a karateka with a blue belt.”       “Ha, the luck is now at our side, mates!” Edward puts his hands on his hips. “We’re a trio, but you are a duo. One person difference.”       “It’s just the beginning, puppy. Now some guys will come back here to help us. And one of them will watch the gal.”       “Hey, Winchester, deal with this sassy kid,” Ronald orders. “He shows off too much. But I will deal with the older guys.”       “Alright, Eddy, this karateka is yours,” Daniel says confidently. “Turn him into a cutlet with a couple of tornado kicks.”       “Yeah, bro, have fun to the fullest,” Terrence adds. “We will deal with this creature now.”       “With great pleasure, bros,” Edward raises his head proudly. “Let’s show these boneheads who is the sassiest and most imitable in the building.”       “Don’t mess with us, cads,” Luther pronounces in a low, rude voice. “If I use all the tricks I know, you will turn to a bunch of dust.”       “We will see it!”       “You can’t beat me.”       “C’mon, undeveloped karateka, come to me,” Edward strikes a fighting pose with an evil smile. “Let me hang you by the balls or tear them apart. I do really want to taste the blood of my enemies. I am fucking suffering from a thirst!”       “We will see how many seconds it will take for you to get tired, nasty bastard.”       When Luther wants to make a tornado kick in a jump and hit him in the face with his foot, Edward turns aside immediately and answers him with the same thing, hitting the target with his heel. Then they start an equal fight, during which both of them fight off with hands and feet easily, with no problems, and try to give as painful hits in all the vulnerable areas as possible.       “So what, shabby rag, can you deal with two?” Daniel challenges. “Or are you scared?”       “Why would you the fuck resist when you’re about to lose and die?” Ronald laughs evilly.       “Trust me, we’ve got a great experience in fighting some assholes,” Terrence says confidently. “We’ve had bigger and sweeter desserts. Unlike them, you are just little cakes. Or cheap bars that we eat for one second.”       “Okay, the challenge is accepted! If you want a wild race, you will get it! You will now whine as hard as that fucking dog when we stabbed him with the knife to take the girl out quietly.”       Ronald runs to Daniel and tries to hit him strongly with his fist against his jaw, but the man dodges immediately from several attempts, answers with the same, and twists the opponent’s arm sharply, making him scream hysterically. Terrence pushes Adams off himself with a powerful hit of his foot against his solar plexus and strikes him down by hitting him on the spine with it. Not thinking a lot, they come to help out Edward, who, however, is fighting brilliantly off Luther and shows some tricks that his friend and brother have never seen before. When Daniel pushes him off in a jump with his foot, Terrence uses a chokehold on the opponent from behind and squeezes his neck for several seconds.       Edward himself starts a fight with Ronald, giving him strong and excellent hits on all parts of his body with a wide, smug smile. Despite all the attempts of his opponent to hurt him somehow, the guy dodges all the attacks successfully so far. And he looks very collected and determined. However, Daniel and Terrence do not seem scared and remain confident enough, even if they do not feel such wild happiness from the fight. Thus, the guys sometimes change their positions and exhaust their opponents more and more, while the villains’ faces are covered with tracks of blood, their muscles start hurting, and their breath is not as stable as before.       “Hey, guys, are you exhausted already?” Terrence mocks. “Is this everything you can do?”       “Aha, so much arrogance, so many sassy words!” Edward exclaims. “But you’re freaking weak!”       “Don’t be happy so early, pretty boys!” Ronald adds. “We just started it. It’s been just a few minutes.”       “Ha, you didn’t surprise us at all the last time!” Daniel sneers loudly. “And we see nothing has changed since then. You’re still pathetic.”       Getting kind of green from anger and irritated by the current situation, Ronald and Luther attack Edward, Daniel, and Terrence with fists at the same time, but the guys fight them off with no problems again. Another attempt to harm them meets the failure, and the friends still feel like kings of the ball.       “You will the fuck regret it!” Luther roars, threatening his fingers. “YOU WILL REGRET! YOU WILL PAY US FOR THIS!”       “Oh-oh-oh, it seems that our ass-lickers are nervous,” Edward puts his hands on his hips. “They can’t do anything to us because we’re too perfect.”       “It’s okay, we will get them fucking exhausted and find Peter now,” Daniel replies confidently. “And that old bastard won't be dangerous for us. He can do nothing now.”       “I feel like we’re gonna have to become someone like hackers,” Terrence assumes. “Anything to save our close friend.”       “Alright, scums!” Ronald growls irritably. “We will turn you into meat right now!”       “Did ya get permission from your lord?”       Not saying anything else, Luther and Ronald keep attacking Daniel, Terrence, or Edward, while they still dodge all the hits successfully, cover each other, and pull each other aside when someone may suffer. And while the friends keep calm and remain collected and know what to do, their opponents get wilder and wilder every second and want to defeat those against whom they are powerless now, in any way. All of them get so busy with this fight that they do not notice that another young guy shows up, getting closer to them confidently with a baton in his hands at some moment. And when he sees the electric gun lying on the asphalt since everyone forgot about it, he takes it and starts to wait for the moment to do something quickly and quietly to neutralize Edward, Daniel, and Terrence, at least for a while.       

***

      Peter is trying so hard to accept what he has heard from Marcus, who is walking in front of him with his head proudly raised, looking at his own son with contempt, while the blond protests against these unexpected family ties. Although he tries to keep his emotions under control and not succumb to the excitement, it’s hard for him to struggle with a lack of air, pressure on his chest, slight dizziness, and weakness in his legs, because of which it’s hard for him to stand.       “So, as I’ve said, this is not the full story yet,” Marcus says quietly. “I have something else to say.”       “It’s enough for me,” Peter throws gloomily. “To understand you’re a bastard.”       “Yeah? Don’t you want to know how my wife died? And how are you connected with this?”       “I don’t! Because you are my father, and that woman is not my mother!”       “I shall say it anyway! And I give a fuck about whether you believe I’m your father, who is passionately dreaming of getting rid of his sonny that deprived him of the love of his life.”       “YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!” Peter shouts. “YOU ARE NOBODY TO ME!”       “Quiet, quiet, sonny, don’t get so excited.”       “I am quiet! I AM FUCKING QUIET!”       “Sit on the sofa if you cannot stand. If you want, I can give you some water, alright.”       “I need nothing. I need just one thing – you to leave me the fuck alone! AND NOT TO DARE TO HURT MY GIRLFRIEND!”       “Shut your fucking mouth up! And if you cannot say anything good, listen to me fucking SILENTLY!”       Marcus slaps Peter in the face strongly, making the guy turn around sharply and grab his burning cheek.       “Let’s continue from where we ended,” Marcus says much quieter. “The news about Julia’s pregnancy and the way I reacted to this. So, when I found out that giving birth was mortally dangerous for my wife due to her weak health and aneurysm, it was too late to change anything. So, I only had to pray and wait for the approximate delivery day with horror. I’m going to be honest, I kept hunting people and getting pleasure from it. But one day, I gave a promise that I would stop doing this if Julia didn’t die during childbirth and after it. I would work hard and take care of my wife so she would need nothing. I was ready to help her raise the child and swore to try to love him. I was ready to do this for my beloved wife. Who, sadly, felt that the child was like a dog’s fifth paw and was madly upset. Even despite my promises not to leave her and to help her with everything.”       Marcus frowns strongly as he glances aside.       “When Julia went into labor and was taken to the hospital, I was like on the needles. When I was allowed, I didn’t leave her alone. Meanwhile, my wife was absolutely quiet and tolerated the pain bravely. The pain that lasted for more than sixteen hours. And when she was taken to the maternity ward, everything squeezed inside me. I felt that I panicked and prayed so hard that everything ended well. Time went by super slowly, and the doctor didn’t come to me. I didn’t sleep for one day, but I didn’t feel any kind of tiredness.”       Marcus exhales sharply with closed eyes, clenching his hands tightly into fists.       “But when I wanted to come to someone and find out everything, the doctor finally came to me and told me Julia and I became parents of the boy. Healthy, though, with good weight and height… That woman started to tell me how precious he was, how beautiful he was, but I didn’t care about it. I stopped her sharply and started to ask her about Julia. At first, she mumbled, but then she said she collapsed during the birth. She got a strong pain in her chest and stomach, and got weakness… I didn’t get deeply into all her complicated words, but one thing was clear – Julia was unconscious, she had high blood pressure, and a strong bleeding. She must’ve gotten a surgery she was taken to immediately. And I had to wait for several hours. My wife gave birth in the evening. And she was taken to the surgery immediately. It lasted for several hours. When it ended, it was an early morning. I was awake and started to panic and be afraid of the worst.”       Marcus swallows nervously.       “At some moment, the doctor gave me the child who felt great. She suggested I hold him. Of course, I didn’t refuse, but I felt nothing inside. I looked at you and blamed you for what was happening to my Julia. The longer the surgery lasted, the stronger my hatred was. I understood that the child wasn’t guilty, but I couldn’t accept it. However, I didn’t show it and pretended that I was very happy to become a father of the healthy sonny they watched very closely.”       Marcus stops sharply and moves his gloomy glance to Peter, who embraces himself with both arms tightly and inclines his head.       “It was an early morning, but I hadn’t gotten any news yet. But when it was like eight o’clock, that doctor finally came to me and started by saying they did everything they could. And she ended it with the news about Julia dying of the extremely strong bleeding they could not stop, to their sadness. I asked her about it twice, but when I got the confirmation, I felt dizzy and could barely stand. That woman told me something about true condolences, but I gave a fuck about it. It wouldn’t have brought back my wife. My Julia. My wonderful angel who left me. Who left me all alone. I could not believe it and thought it was my nightmare. I wanted to wake up and realize that she was near. Everything was like in a daze next. They told me something, but I ignored it. I only had one phrase on my mind – ‘Unfortunately, your wife died today at 7:53 AM of aortic rupture’. It played in my head like a broken record.”       Peter swallows nervously and grabs his stomach, which starts hurting for an unknown reason.       “After this, it was disgusting for me to look at my child, whom I considered guilty of Julia’s death. If not for him, she would’ve been alright. I hated him to the core and didn’t know how to live with him. How to live without my beloved woman. Just one thought about having to organize her funeral made me hysterical. Yes, people showed their sympathy when they found out what happened, but it didn’t change anything for me. I wanted to be alone so badly and overcome my grief alone, but someone was with me all the time. Everyone thought they should’ve forced me to speak. Like, if you talk, you’d get better. Sometimes they annoyed me so much that I just fucked them off. And I decided to take a short vacation, during which I was just sitting at home and talking to nobody.”       Marcus comes to one of the windows and starts looking at something through it.       “I seriously thought of refusing to take the child from the hospital. I wanted to refuse him officially and tell them to give him to another family. But the doctor annoyed me with her sweet speeches, and I decided to give up. Not because I changed my mind, no. I just wanted her to shut up and stop telling me that taking care of my child would help me get rid of the pain. About him being too little and needing love and attention. About feeling bad around strangers. So, in the end, I had to take him home. And I didn’t let him die of hunger. No. I honestly took care of him and did everything the doctors told me. But the thoughts of Julia’s death didn’t let me go. And one year later, I was done with playing a perfect daddy and taking care of this maggot. I was at least lucky you were a quiet enough child and didn’t fuck my brain with your screams. That’s what I can thank you for. But I could not get rid of my hatred for you. I looked at you and saw Julia. Alive. Happy and healthy.”       Marcus clenches his hands into fists.       “I decided to get rid of you. But I didn’t know how to do this. I had an idea of just leaving you somewhere and going away, but I would’ve been found quickly. But living with the one who was guilty of Julia’s death was just unbearable. However, later, I got a wonderful chance to get rid of you once and forever. One day, my former workmate went to visit me at home to ask about how I felt. He saw you in the bed and noticed you were a pretty sympathetic child. And when I said I hated you and would be happy to get rid of the one to be guilty of my wife’s death, he said he could help me with it. He said he had some familiars, who work on trafficking the children and earn a lot of money for that.”       “Trafficking the children?” Peter pronounces in a little shaking voice, opening his eyes widely.       “He said someone would undoubtedly like such pretty boys and suggested I think about getting some money for it. I didn’t think a lot and agreed immediately. Then my familiar gave me the number of the one I called shortly to talk about something. When we met personally, we talked about everything in all the details. I even brought that man to my home and showed you to him. He was delighted and started to beg me to sell you to him, promising to pay as much as I want. And… It would be a sin to refuse when I could chase two rabbits: getting rid of my son and earning some money. I needed them a lot, huh.”       Peter’s heart starts squeezing painfully, it’s getting harder for him to breathe, and he feels a slight dizziness, because of which he has to sit on the sofa powerlessly.       “In short, that man and I agreed on everything. I didn’t call him a too high amount, but I almost went crazy from happiness when he offered ten times more. And I couldn’t believe it at first. But he confirmed he was ready to pay so much money for such a wonderful boy that many people would like. It goes without saying, I agreed without minding and kept discussing the conditions of our deal. And some time later, we met on the neutral territory where nobody could see us. I got a case with money, and I gave you to them. And I said farewell to you once and forever, as I thought. They kind of wanted to sell you to someone abroad. So they adopt you or give you into slavery, for sexual exploitation, recruitment, or forcing you to commit crimes. However, I gave a fuck. I didn’t care about you after I got the money. And I thought this story ended, but it did not.”       Marcus starts walking in circles in the whole room again.       “As I recently found out, one of the people who worked on trafficking the children turned out to be a betrayer. When a foreign rich family wanted to buy you as a slave, he stole you secretly and took you somewhere. Nobody knew where. But as it turned out, that man wanted to give you to someone not to have children. For nothing. And then Cornelia Rose, who you know so well, stood in his way. She was a young, electric woman full of energy back then. Blood and milk! I don’t know why he chose her, but that betrayer came to her and gave her the bundle with the child, asking her to take care of him. Of course, that woman was fucking overwhelmed and thought it was a joke or a prank. But he explained everything to her. Like, he was just saving the boy from being sold to those who wanted to make him a slave and use him for crimes and selling prohibited substances. He said they wanted to pay a lot of money for this child, but he kind of pitied him and decided to save.”       Peter grabs his throat with one hand with the thought that he lacks air.       “At first, Cornelia resisted, but then she agreed to take the child. She liked the boy so much. She said he was really beautiful. But you lost much weight when you were in the hands of the traffickers, since they tortured you with hunger and even beat you when you showed your character and screamed at the top of your lungs. I would say you were between life and death. Cornelia noticed it and pitied you. That man advised her to change your name and go somewhere far away so nobody would find him. To be clear, so his father wouldn’t find him. The one who sold his child for a lot of money because of the thought that his wife died because of him.”       “Change the name?” Peter rounds his eyes.       “Yes. Your birth name is Theodore Wilson Longbottom. Julia came up with it when she was pregnant and wanted her son to have this name. I remember her caressing her belly, talking to the one, and saying, ‘Theo, my sonny, my little Theodore…’ And I didn’t go against her will when I applied to register you and get a birth certificate. By the way, I gave all your documents to the traffickers. But they destroyed them completely to remove any mention of Julia and me. Cornelia adopted you as a foundling child since she didn’t get any documents, which could connect you with me. Also, she officially changed your name from Theodore Wilson to Peter Jackson. And she gave you her surname, Rose. And that’s how the boy named Peter Jackson Rose was born.”       Peter says nothing to this, trying to accept the information that he gets super fast.       “By the way, I can even tell you the reason why that woman started to drink as fuck. The problem was about her husband, Jeffrey. At first sight, they were a good enough family. But there was a little problem – they couldn’t make a child. As it turned out, the reason for it was Cornelia’s infertility, which they learned about after a full examination. After this, their relationship started to get worse. But the peak of the conflict was the day when Cornelia brought you home and told her husband what happened. She thought that a meeting with you was like a blessing from heaven. Like a wonderful chance to become a full family and adopt such a beautiful boy.”       Marcus crosses his arms over his chest.       “But Jeffrey, Cornelia’s husband, didn’t share this happiness with her and was unhappy that she brought a strange child into their home. Especially after she got him from some traffickers, because of which he and his wife would have problems, as he thought. And he refused categorically to raise strange children. It was a principal thing to him, and he was not going to refuse it. He was the first one to get cold for Cornelia after her news about her infertility. And no matter how hard she persuaded him, Jeffrey didn’t even look at you and told her to take the child away from his home. Cornelia used to do everything her husband told her, she rebelled that time and refused to do it. That’s how she got that man super mad. He gave her an ultimatum: a strange child or him. Cornelia chose the child. Jeffrey got it all, took his stuff, and moved to a hostel, giving Cornelia time to leave his apartment and saying he would file for divorce.”       Peter swallows nervously and clenches his hands into fists tightly, while his dead eyes are set into the distance.       “Cornelia had nothing but to do this. She took you with you and moved into her parents' house that was empty after their death. By the way, that’s the hole you and she lived in for the time being. A pathetic one-floor house with rotten windows, squeaky doors, rotten boards, broken furniture, and lamps that barely worked. A wonderful place for webs, creeping and flying insects, and fat rats. It was always dirty and dark. Maybe the situation was better when Cornelia’s parents were alive, but after they passed away, living there was unbearable. But that woman had to. Because she was literally kicked out of the house and got nothing after she was divorced from Jeffrey, who cheated on his wife with a young lady: no share in the apartment, no two cents. He took everything. He left her nothing. Yes, she could’ve filed a claim for the division of property, but she didn’t have money for lawyers, and she was a stupid, non-educated woman, who knew nothing about laws and rights.”       Marcus stops and crosses his arms over his chest, watching Peter sitting on the sofa with his back turned to him.       “She lived at that house and was really responsible for taking care of you for some time. At that moment, you became her outlet. The opportunity to show her maternal instinct, even with the help of the strange baby. Cornelia considered herself your own mother and didn’t want someone to call the child sent to her by heaven adopted or strange. But even if she took care of you, she couldn’t get rid of the pain in her heart. The pain from such a mean betrayal of her husband, whom she still loved. She felt bad that Jeffrey refused to raise you with her, cheated on her because she was unable to give birth, and got out when he got a small chance. But at first, Cornelia honestly tried to hold on and made herself think of you. She even got her first job ever not to die of hunger and feed you.”       The excitement makes Peter breathe heavily enough and feel that his heart starts beating like crazy.       “But the point of no return was the day when she walked outside and saw Jeffrey not far from her. Happy and blossoming. With a young girl and two little twins in a stroller. That man, as she said, treated his new lady with all the tenderness. He took care of her the way he never took care of Cornelia herself. And when they met, they fought to the hell. Jeffrey blamed Cornelia for running after him and hanging on his neck, while he never loved her and found a reason to leave her. And she wouldn’t have made him stay due to her infertility, as many women try to do. In short, passions were running wild. People going by almost called the police. Even that young lady suffered. She almost lost her hair and heard many insults from that woman. Cornelia scared those children, whom Jeffrey took away, saying his ex was sick and must’ve been in a mental hospital.”       Marcus laughs evilly.       “And after that, Cornelia broke down. She gave a fuck about you, her job, and everything in the world, and fell into a deep depression. That she decided to put down with alcohol. A bottle of champagne that she had at home. And since then, a glass of alcohol every day became something like normal for her. As well as stealing expensive whiskey, wine, or being absent from the nearest shop. The degree was getting higher and higher. But Cornelia got a strong love for vodka and moonshine, which she got from the local alcoholics. And in the end, nothing was left of the woman who was full of health. She became a skinny mummy with dry, pale skin, unclear speech, a puffy face, and sores on her whole body.”       “Ha, how do you know such detailed information, let me ask you?” Peter crosses his arms over his chest with an evil smile.       “About your adopted mother? She told me everything when I met her once! First, I found out that you were alive thanks to your band’s work, and later, I met that man, with whom I agreed on selling you into slavery. He told me one of their accomplices stole the child and gave his life for what he did. Those people dealt with him quickly. But they could not find you. Their accomplice confessed that he gave a child to a random stranger and gave the description of the woman. But it didn’t help them. There were many women like hers. Anyone could’ve been a suspect. So, they gave a fuck about it because they had many more children. I was worried that they’d tell me to give them money back because I had already spent it on buying and arranging this house after leaving the rental apartment, where everything reminded me of Julia. Before buying it, I lived in a different city for several years, thinking this kind of change would help me. And I was also hiding to have everyone forget about my child and not to answer their questions about where he had suddenly disappeared. And… Nothing reminded me of having a son except the official record of the hospital and the specific authority. I did nothing to it back then. And when I came back here, nobody cared about it. New people, new neighborhoods, a chance to tell the story I wanted. Everything was wonderful! And luckily, I didn’t lose the money. By the way, I still have a part of the amount that I saved for a bad day.”       “Aha, or for paying bail for your accomplices who get caught by the police.”       “Nevertheless, I memorized Cornelia’s appearance with the thought that I’d need it. And my guts didn’t lie! One day, I went outside of work and met a woman wearing ripped clothes and begging with her hand reached out. She was pretending to be disabled with crutches, but I bit her through because I saw she literally jumped on healthy enough legs. I took the money I left in the box and wanted to leave, but then I looked at her closely and thought she was similar to the woman who was described by the one who stole you. And I wanted to ask her about it, but Cornelia betrayed herself, starting to talk about how her life went wrong because of her own husband, who snuggled with another woman and raised their common children. Something made me sit down next to her and start to ask her about everything. Thus, I got deeply enough. I got the confirmation of the fact that Cornelia was the woman who raised my son Peter, who should have been sold to someone.”       Marcus starts stroking her chin.       “I told her I was the father of Peter Rose, whose birth name was Theodore Longbottom. She knew the full story. So, I didn’t have to explain anything. So, I just told her to say where you were. I even promised to pay some money to her. But Cornelia refused. Not because she loved, no. She confessed that she started to blame you for the fact that Jeffrey left her. Like, if she hadn’t brought you home, her marriage wouldn’t have been ruined. The case was different. You lived in a different place when we talked. You left her home. And she knew nothing about you. I didn’t believe her at first and started to show cruelty and press on her, but that woman didn’t give up, either. I mean, she said, if she could, she would be happy to do this. You became her curse. The demon that ruined two families: Julia and me, and Cornelia and Jeffrey.”       Marcus locks his fingers tightly.       “You gave us a lot of grief, Theodore. Your birth ruined so many lives. It should not have happened. Look what you’ve done! Look! How can you keep living in this world as if nothing happened? Why are you so lucky? Why does a guardian angel take care of you so hard?”       “I’ve never been lucky, honorable,” Peter confesses coldly in a low voice. “My whole life was full of shit. Full of sufferings and tortures.”       “Yes, yes, I know, you’ve always been alone. Forgotten by everyone, left by everyone, hated by everyone… You tried so hard to get someone’s attention, but everyone ignored you or fucked you off.”       Marcus stops sharply behind Peter.       “But you know, I can understand you. Because I was not noticed when I was a child, and I tried to get someone’s attention. But the case was not about whether I was wanted or unwanted. I was loved. At least, my mother did. But my father could beat him often, even if I never heard that he hated him. Nevertheless, they gave much more attention to my twin brother, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his childhood. And who left with our mother after her divorce from our father, with whom I lived. He always saw some horrible things that terrorized him. That’s good Felix, my brother, didn’t try to kill anyone. Vice versa, he was hiding from everyone. Not only because of his demons, but also because my brother was never a socially adapted man.”       Marcus clears his throat quickly.       “Yes, I was supposed to be mad at that. But no. I treated it indifferently. Being mad at the ill person didn’t make sense. We could do nothing with Felix’s diagnosis. We could just help him feel a little better, but no therapy existed. Nevertheless, I was happy to some extent when our parents decided to divide us when they got divorced. And I rarely talked to Felix, even if we got along well. But life without him seemed much better to me. Because hearing his hysterical shouts about some beasts that wanted to kill him, about squeezing walls, and someone telling him to do something was, saying softly, exhausting.       “Cool!” Peter sneers contemptuously. “One is a schizophrenic, another is a killer. You’ve got an excellent family, honorable!”       “Not just me, but also you. Don’t say these things about your family.”       “You are not my family! NOT MY FAMILY!”       “By the way, your suicidal tendencies are not acquired, not provoked by the school bullying. The case is that your grandmother Zoey, my mother, suffered from depression since an early age and took powerful drugs that didn’t help her get better, though. She even got therapy in a clinic multiple times, but it didn’t lead to anything good. She tried to live a normal life, but she never felt truly happy. The birth of the son with schizophrenia drove her crazier. But she went really insane after her divorce from your grandfather, who refused to take the ill child and participate in his life. So, Mother could not take this all and killed herself one fateful day by jumping off the roof of her own house. Father refused to take his son to his home. He actually never told Ellen that he had two children. Your grandfather was madly shy of this and didn’t want to be ashamed. And he banned me from talking about Felix, who was put in a mental hospital after Mother’s death. He is there nowadays, just saying. I visit him regularly. He is not a stranger to me. And Felix is always happy when he sees me. But I’m not planning to take him to my home due to the safety measures. I don’t want my brother to stand near my bed with a knife in his hand in the deep night. He understands it and doesn’t get mad.”       “I see your family is full of freaks.”       “You’re one of us, Peter. Your mental health is not fine, too.”       “Wrong, I am much healthier than all of you. Much.”       “You know, Felix thinks he’s healthy, too. And your grandmother Zoey said it. And I don’t think I’m ill because I liked killing people and watching them suffer.”       “I am overwhelmed by the fact that Julian found something about you. Didn’t she have any other men? Couldn’t she fall in love with someone else? Someone not to have freaks in their family!”       “Julia always suffered from a low self-rating and was a too quiet and shy girl who couldn’t shout, snap, or fight. Your mother could not argue. She did not argue when her parents started to take her to vocal lessons and piano lessons at an early age, wishing to make her a great opera singer or a pianist. She had everything to become the one. Julia sang very beautifully and could play the hardest music on a piano. But sadly, she got sick of all of this at some moment and said she wanted to leave the piano lessons and learn to play something different. When she was a teenager, she was a fan of a rock band and fell in love with a drummer, thanks to whom she wanted to play drums. But your grandmother banned her just to think about it. Like, drums weren’t for girls. She was horrified that she liked rock. And she kept taking her to the lessons that my Julia hated and called madly boring. That’s why she started to be lazy and play badly, disappointing her teachers and mother. And after our escape, Julia quit vocal lessons and piano lessons, graduated from school, and went to college to learn linguistics. But later, she went to learn art criticism.”       Peter says nothing and just sneers quietly, looking into the distance without emotions.       “Well…” Marcus pronounces thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “What else can I say? Erm… After talking to Cornelia, I made sure that you were the one I needed. And she somehow saw you on TV and confirmed you, asshole, started to learn money thanks to your band but gave her no fucking cent. In her opinion, you must have provided for her and be grateful for saving you from being sold into slavery.”       “Uh-huh, give her money so she could spend it on boxes of elite vodka, start riots with her pals, and participate in the competition called ‘who can vomit longer and further’.”       “Yes, I still had some doubts back then. But one thing made me sure that I wasn’t wrong.” Marcus comes to Peter with his head proudly raised from behind and touches the nape of his neck with his fingertips, making him shake slightly and tense. “The birthmark on your neck. Small. On the back of it. Light brown. The form of it reminds me of a map of a small city. You’ve had it since birth. I memorized it very well. That’s what helped me understand everything. I checked this area when the guys took you to the abandoned building in an unconscious condition. There was no doubt – you were Theodore. Theodore Longbottom, my son. The son Julia gave birth to. The son, because of whom she died the next day after his birth.”       “I have a birthmark on my neck – who cares? Many people have birthmarks! It doesn’t mean anything yet!”       “You don’t believe you are my son?” Marcus rounds his eyes. “Whom have I been telling all of this for nobody the hell knows how long?”       “I don’t believe it… I don’t believe any of your words. I SHALL NEVER BELIEVE!”       Peter jumps off the bed sharply and turns to Marcus sharply.       “IT’S NOT THE TRUTH!” Peter screams with a heavy breath. “NOT TRUE!”       “I am sorry, my boy, but what you have heard is the truth,” Marcus replies quietly.       “You confused me with someone. Yes… You don’t need me… Don’t need my girlfriend… Don’t need my friends…”       “Not at all, I need you.”       “YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!”       “Looking at you, I see Julia in front of me. I see your own mother, whom you, bastard, killed.”       “Don’t make me responsible for your mistakes. My conscience is clean because I killed nobody.”       “Now do you understand the meaning of the phrase ‘this world literally wants to get rid of you?’ Do you understand you don’t have a place in this world? Nobody needs you, as it turned out. Everyone gave a fuck about you. Cornelia, Jeffrey, me… Your friends will not be grieving for you for too long.”       “That’s what YOU think! If some people don’t need me, other people do.”       “This is just an auto-suggestion. It’s something like trying to erase the memories that hurt you. That your psyche cannot just accept.”       “Stop it, please, stop!” Peter cries, closing his ears with his hands. “STOP! I WANT TO HEAR NOTHING MORE!”       “Sorry, Theodore, but I told you the truth.”       “I AM NOT THEODORE!”       “Theodore. My Julia always addressed you like this when she carried you in her belly. She always said she’d name her son like this if she had a boy.”       “Just shut up… SHUT UP AND DO NOT SAY ANY MORE WORDS!”       With these words, Peter throws the coffee table with a sharp movement of his feet, letting everything fall off it.       “STOP! STOP DOING THIS TO ME! I DON’T DESERVE IT! I DO NOT THE FUCK DESERVE IT!”       “M-m-m, and you say you are healthy,” Marcus smiles slyly, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you had a gun in your hand, you’d run to kill someone in a gallop.”       “I WOULD KILL YOU WITH PLEASURE! BECAUSE I HATE YOU! HATE YOU! I WANT YOU TO DIE!”       “Our hatred is mutual, my dear. I hate you to death, too. I’ve been doing so since I learned about Julia’s death. I thought I would accept it and get used to it. I thought I would get a love for my son and raise him with pleasure. It was the child of my beloved woman, for whom I was ready for anything. Anything, Theodore. I was ready to get over myself and honestly tried to accept you. But after you killed my wife, I cannot even talk about it. I shall never forgive you for that. NEVER, HEAR ME! YOU MUST HAVE BEEN BURIED IN THE GROUND, NOT JULIA! YOU! YOU MUST NOT HAVE BEEN BORN! NEVER! And I can’t live quietly while you are alive. And I give a fuck about being sentenced for the murder of my child. I GIVE A FUCK! I HATE HIM, I HAVE NEVER WANTED HIM! NEVER!”       Maybe Peter does not want to accept the news about Marcus being his father, but after such a detailed story, something inside starts to tell him it’s true. Even if the truth turned out to be much more shocking than he could have assumed. Just one thought about being sold into slavery makes him feel a mild pain in his stomach that makes the man wince slightly, while something presses on his chest too strongly and does not let him breathe deeply. Though he needs it so badly right now due to the lack of air, which provokes a slight dizziness and a fast heartbeat.       

***

      After using the moment quickly and doing their dirty business, the happy and satisfied David, Darren, and Shawn put Helene’s clothes on her, while the girl is still unconscious. Then they sit her on the chair and tie her hands up tightly behind her back as well as her feet. Thanks to the joint effort, it does not take too much time. And when the crimes finish their business, they look at their prisoner from head to foot, while her head is lowered.       “So what, men, it’s ready!” Shawn rubs his hands happily. “We only need to wait for a sign from Marcus to start the show.”       “In this case, we can leave her alone quietly and go to Marcus’ home to help him deal with Rose,” Darren throws his hands up. “The girl won’t untie herself one hundred percent.”       “Even if she can, she will not get out of the trap we will get her caught in,” David assures, crossing his arms over his chest. “Sadly, Marshall is doomed to death.”       “Ah, I am really sorry about killing such a beautiful girl,” Shawn sighs with sadness in his eyes, comes to the unconscious Helene from behind, grabs her throat, raises her head, and caresses her cheek with a free hand. “But what we can do if Marcus wants to make Rose feel what he felt when his wife died.”       “I think that idiot already knows that Marcus is his own father, who sold his son to the slave traders for a lot of money,” David assumes, clenching and unclenching Helene’s breasts. “And that alcoholic woman is not his mother.”       “Anyway, time spent with this cutie was the best in my life,” Darren notices cheerfully, bending to Helene and running his hand between her legs. “She was awesome!”       “Yeah, incredibly generous gift from Marcus!”       “It’s a shame he’ll no longer give us the same cool one again,” Shawn says thoughtfully and raises Helene’s eyelid to look into her eye looking into the distance.       “Never say never, buddy,” David smiles mysteriously. “Everything is possible if you want it.”       “The important thing is that there are no witnesses around,” Darren adds, raises Helene’s top, and caresses her belly a little. “So, we don’t get arrested for the rape attempt charge.”       “That’s right!” Shawn agrees. “Since nobody sees a crime, it means it’s never happened.”       “That’s what I mean!”       “Even the girl doesn’t remember and know the bigger part of what we did to her ‘cause she was unconscious for most of the time,” David says confidently, running his hands over Helene’s thighs. “Only the pain in her body can make her think she was fucked in the front and the back.”       “Oh, she has no pain!” Shawn exclaims. “She just shows off and tries to make us pity her. Though we did everything carefully, with no rush. We even spent some time caressing her body, even if we could’ve spread her legs and gotten a dick into her immediately.”       “Anyway, the dolly will no longer have to suffer,” Darren smiles slyly and leans Helene’s head back, seeing that it stays in the same position. “Because her tortures will end in one or one and a half hours.”       “Hey, yo, do we really have everything ready?” David frowns slightly. “We forgot nothing?”       “No, we have, I think! We just have to wait for the sign from Marcus, who wanted to contact us with a video call to give Rose a chance to see the gal.”       “So, will he let him see her, after all?” Shawn specifies.       “He just wants to let his son become the witness to the girl dying right before his eyes. Since it would be dangerous to drive her to his home, organizing a video call and showing everything is a good enough idea.”       “That old man is a genius, I must confess!” Shawn notices cheerfully, crossing his arms over his chest. “Rose can’t save his precious lady when they are so far away from each other.”       “Well, actually, he does think they’re far…” Darren smiles mysteriously. “But actually, it takes like fifteen or twenty minutes to go to Marcus’ house from here.”       “Even if it’s so, Rose doesn’t have time to do anything,” David assures. “While he spends time coming here, the girl is gonna be dead already.”       “Besides, Marcus chose the way that would leave her no chance. Ash will be left of her body. No cops will recognize the girl, and her grandmother will not be able to organize her granddaughter’s funeral.”       “In short, men, everything is freaking cool!” Shawn exclaims happily.       “Right, everything is awesome,” David agrees, runs his fingertips over Helene’s throat, and gets down to her cleavage between her breasts. “Nothing can ruin our plans.”       “The one to dare to ruin them is going to pay a lot for it,” Darren adds, rubbing Helene’s nipple with his thumb.       “Without doubts!” Shawn raises his head proudly, running his hand over Helene’s belly that is still naked and running his finger around her navel. “The victory is going to be ours.”       Darren, David, and Shawn laugh evilly, agreeing with everything they said. They keep caressing the unconscious and tied Helene on all the parts of her body before Elijah enters the room, glances at the open door surprisingly and then his friends surrounding the girl.       “Oh, Elijah, you missed the party!” Darren exclaims cheerfully.       “Aha, while you were hanging around, we managed to fuck this cutie quickly for the last time,” David confesses, caressing Helene’s cheek with both hands.       “I got it, judging by your happy red faces,” Elijah laughs. “And the fact that the gal is still unconscious. And the fact that you put on her top inside out and backwards.”       “Calm down, bro, she will wake up now,” Shawn assures. “The girl is breathing, and her heart is beating.”       “Watch out, boneheads, don’t kill her earlier.”       Elijah comes to Helene, raises her eyelid, and lights up her pupil with a small flashlight that he takes from the inside pocket of his coat.       “Peter Rose must become a witness to her death. It’s Marcus’ wish. He wants the girl to die before his eyes. He wants his sonny not to be able to save her. Just like the lord himself could not help his wife.”       “It will happen, you’ll see it!” Darren raises his head proudly.       “Alright.” Elijah lowers Helene’s head. “I hope you learned to tie ropes well so she didn’t untie herself?”       “It’s okay, Hartley!” David clicks his fingers. “The gal can even break her nails. But she cannot untie them.”       “I hope so! Don’t miss the moment, just like in the case of Rose when he talked into you, idiots, and was untying his hands.”       “If we let Marcus down again, he can kill us personally,” Shawn challenges.       “Today, we have no right to screw it up, guys. Today is the day when everything is going to come back to its place. When revenge becomes real.”       “It will happen!” Darren exclaims. “Everything is ready. We just need to wait for a sign from Marcus.”       “He will give it soon. I got a message from Luther on the way here, and he said Rose was supposed to know the story of his family.”       “Excellent!” David smiles slyly. “It means the one to be born Theodore Wilson Longbottom is on the finish line. A few miles away from his death.”       “And yeah, we got a problem,” Elijah says quietly. “While Luther and Ron were outside and smoking, they saw Rose’s pals walking not far from them.”       “Come on?” Shawn pronounces surprisingly. “Did they come here with him?”       “Yeah, it seems like Rose told them to hide somewhere and went to the lord alone.”       “The guys are sure that’s them?”       “Yes, that’s really them! All three. Both of the MacClife brothers and Perkins.”       “So, in this case, they signed their death sentence and didn’t make it better,” Darren exhales sharply. “Though we gave them a chance to stay alive.”       “Right, since they don’t want to live, they will go after Rose,” David adds.       “Winchester said he and Adams are now trying to deal with them,” Elijah says. “Bob went to help them out, but these freaks are not as weak as they seem. They fight, snap, and ain’t gonna give up so easily.”       “I’m sure the guys will find a way to defeat them,” Shawn says confidently. “They aren’t Supermen to fight their enemies without getting tired.”       “The guys got a goal to knock all these three out for a while and carry their bodies in the basement of Marcus’ house. I guess he will bring Rose there and tell the guys to deal with them right before his eyes.”       “Yeah, Rose is gonna see so many deaths before he dies himself,” Darren sighs with a slight smile. “Who knows, maybe, if he loses everyone, who is ready to lick his ass, that idiot will be begging us to kill him.”       “Or he will make it all much better and kill himself personally. Again.”       “Anyway, that freak won’t avoid what’s waiting for him,” Shawn says confidently. “Since everyone has been trying to get rid of him for all these years, it means he doesn’t have a place in this world. As our dearest lord said.”       “I can’t wait to start our cool party,” David rubs his hands happily. “I wanna enjoy the emotions that we’re gonna get as we get rid of these two and their friends.”       “We all are gonna have a lot of fun,” Darren raises his head proudly. “Don’t doubt.”       And while the four men look at each other with a sly smile, Helene makes a quiet, tormenting moan, shakes her head faintly, and raises it, opening her eyes slowly. With a sense of slight dizziness, unclear vision, and pain in her abdomen. Moaning quietly, she looks around hesitantly and opens her eyes widely when she moves her hands and feet, and understands that they are tied up tightly. And any desperate attempts to get out make her panic and breathe much heavier.       “No…” Helene pronounces in a little hoarse voice, twirling on the chair like crazy. “No, no… No, please…”       “Oh, you’re finally awake!” Darren pretends to be surprises, clapping his hands. “We started to be worried!”       “The guys were right: fucking you was really awesome,” Shawn adds. “Even though everything ended quickly, we all got much pleasure.”       “How long will this keep happening?” Helene asks powerlessly with tears in her eyes. “How long will I have to get through all of this?”       “Not long, shorty, not long,” David assures, pinching Helene’s cheek. “Sadly, the guys and I fucked you and came on your naked body for the last time.”       “We only have to wait for Marcus’s sign,” Elijah adds. “Wait for him to tell Rose the truth about himself. Wait for your sweetheart to be fucking overwhelmed after everything and barely has time to accept it all.”       “If we’re not mistaken, we’re a little time from that moment,” Darren says thoughtfully. “So, the death of Rose and you is getting closer.”       “Just like the death of your friends, who came to save you, too. They will not do away with us so easily. We prepared something special for them.”       “But first, all of them will have to become the witnesses to your death,” Shawn adds and raises Helene’s face by the chin with his finger. “So, the blond-haired don’t have a wish to cling to his life. That he should have never had.”       “What did I do?” Helene asks desperately in a shaking voice. “Why are you doing this to me?”       “Don’t worry, Marshall, your sufferings will be over tonight,” Darren assures, running his hands over Helene’s thighs. “You will no longer have to spend time in this dark place all alone.”       “Untie me…” Helene tries to set free her hands and feet again. “Please… It hurts…”       “Oh, no, cutie, don’t even ask!” Elijah says determinedly, clapping Helene on her cheek. “We did it not to let you escape, fight, bite, and resist.”       “Don’t I have any chance to save myself? Am I doomed to die here?”       “Nothing personal, dolly!” Shawn throws his hands up. “We’d be happy to keep you alive. But an order is an order.”       “I don’t want you to rape me. I don’t want…” Helene sniffs quietly. “My whole body hurts… It hurts… So badly…”       “Sorry, but resisting such a sympathetic girl was beyond us,” David smiles innocently. “And Marcus gave an order. But as we’ve already said, it was the last time.”       “It’s a nightmare… A nightmare that doesn’t want to end.”       “It will end soon, Helene Marshall,” Darren assures and squeezes Helene’s breasts tenderly, while she shakes slightly and tries to set her hands free again. “Sooner than you think.”       “If I feel bad anyway, I’d rather prefer to die,” Helene says in a low voice. “Since nobody can save me…”       “Alright, Marshall, sit here a little, but the guys and I will go outside to smoke,” David says and moves some strands off Helene’s hair. “We will agree on who will go to help out Marcus and the others.”       “Yes, yes, men, go to get some air,” Elijah approves, waving his hand. “I will watch this cutie and talk to her a little.”       “Deal!” Shawn exclaims and takes a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pocket of his coat. “So what, who needs a cigarette or light?”       “Oh, light for me, please!” Darren says, holding a cigarette. “My lighter died at all.”       “But mine works like magic!” David adds and uses the lighter for a cigarette that he takes from his pack.       Setting cigarettes on fire and breathing in the smoke, Shawn, Darren, and David leave the room and close the door. The smell of cigarettes spreads rapidly throughout the entire room, and Helene does not like it at all.       “Here’s my advice, cutie,” Elijah crosses his arms over his chest. “Be quiet and do everything you are told. Because if you resist and torture our ears, your death is going to be tormenting.”       “Please, help me…” Helene begs quietly. “Help me get out of here. I don’t want to die. I don’t wanna stay here anymore.”       “Oh, damn, how much fun I have from your attempts to pity me and persuade me to help you.”       “My heart tells me that I can count on you. You are not one of them.”       “You just want to make yourself sure about it.”       “You’ve never come here to rape me. You’ve come here with other goals, not this one.”       “Why are you so sure about it?” Elijah rounds his eyes and bends to Helene. “How do you know I didn’t fuck you? You were unconscious literally all the time at these moments! The guys always knocked you out because you resisted.”       “But I know who comes to me.”       “And what? What if someone came when you were lying here naked and unconscious? Not just could David, Ron, Luther, or Darren come. But also me. And even Mr. Longbottom himself.”       “M-m-mr. Longbottom?” Helene gets sharply pale from horror, putting her head on her shoulders and tensing all her muscles.       “Don’t worry, I will not tell you everything I had to see.”       Elijah claps Helene on her knees with both hands.       “But I repeat, don’t even count on me.”       “Marcus can’t get a victory. He can’t kill Peter and harm his friends. It would be unfair!”       “He’s been waiting for this day for more than twenty years and is not going to give up so easily. So, girl, stop having your head in the clouds and come back to reality. And stop crying and whining. It starts to irritate us as fuck.”       “Please…”       “Just shut up and do what we say,” Elijah demands coldly. “Everything is prepared already. There’s no way back. Do our claims so you can die quickly and easily.”       “I don’t believe it’s really happening to me. I don’t… I wanna get out of this nightmare! I want someone to wake me up and say I’ve just been sleeping tight all the time!”       “You know, Marshall, I think I will tie your mouth so you don’t annoy us with your talks. You can moan as much as you want if it helps you feel better.”       With these words, Elijah takes a medium-sized rag made of thick fabric from the pocket of his black coat.       “No, don’t do this, please!” Helene begs desperately. “Don’t do this, don’t d-m-m-m…”       Elijah ties up Helene’s mouth with the rag quickly and determinedly, while she moans with pity and shakes her head sharply with hope that it will help her.       “Yeah, it’s much better…” Elijah caresses Helene’s cheek with his thumb, while she looks at him in a begging way and keeps moaning quietly. “You will stay here like this until Marcus gives us a sign.”       Helene makes a quiet sob, while a tear starts rolling down her cheek.       “Calm down, dolly, don’t cry and get nervous,” Elijah says quietly, holding Helene’s face under her chin and caressing her head. “Que será, será, as they say. Tears will not help you save yourself from what’s waiting for you.”       Elijah moves aside some strands of hair of Helene, which does not look clean now.       “But don’t worry, I talked to the lord and assured him that you’d rather see your sweetheart for the last time. And since the friends of Rose followed him, you’ll see them, too.”       Standing behind her, Elijah leans Helene’s head back and sets his look into her eyes, while his fingertips caress the girl’s throat.       “And after a short talk with them on a video call, we will do what we should, and you will be doing what we say. So, you can say goodbye to everyone again and apologize to everyone.”       “M-m-m…” Helene moans with pity.       “Everything will end soon, shorty, I promise you. Very soon. Just wait a little.”       “M-m-m…” Helene tries to release her hands, twirling on the table.       “Quiet, quiet, Marshall, quiet, relax.” Elijah keeps caressing Helene’s throat, pressing on it with his fingertips strongly. “Sh-h-h… Breathe deeper. Your heart is beating too fast. Quiet… Sh-h-h-h…”       While Elijah keeps caressing her face and head, Helene closes her wet eyes and makes a couple of quiet sobs, feeling absolutely powerless like a little animal caught in the corner.       “Please, men, help me…” Helene begs desperately. “Please, don’t leave me. I need you so badly! I can’t get out of here without your help. Please, Peter… Daniel, Terrence, Edward… I’m counting on you. Do something, I don’t know what, but please, let me know you’re near. I can count on you. I’ve been hoping for the best for a reason.”       Helene starts crying much more bitterly and tenses all her muscles when Elijah’s hands squeeze her breasts tightly, and his thumbs stimulate her nipples intensely. She wants to resist so hard when his hand gets underneath her top and caresses her belly, but she cannot because she is in a hopeless situation – with her hands and feet tied up. The girl puts her head on her shoulders and looks at her offender with horror in her widely open eyes, while he does not miss a chance to caress her body a little, sliding to the inside of her thighs squeezed with pain and caressing the lady’s crotch with his fingertips at some moment.       

***

      Meanwhile, Natalia, Anna, and Raquelle keep spending time waiting impatiently for the news from their men and friends, and try to do their best to comfort Sammy, who refuses to drink and eat when the girls offer him something. However, the friends cannot eat anything and just prefer to sit on the sofa, walk from side to side, or go outside to breathe in some air.       At some moment, Natalia receives a call on her cell phone from her parents, Letitia and Anthony, who tell her that they are now at the home of Scarlett, along with the girl's grandmother, Adriana, to try to distract the woman who feels worse and worse every day and does not even get out of bed. Turning the speakerphone on, Raquelle, Anna, and she decide to use the moment and tell them about the current situation.       “In short, yeah,” Natalia says thoughtfully with sadness in her eyes. “The girls and I are sitting and waiting for the news.”       “God, the men cannot sit quietly again,” Anthony sighs tiredly. “Why the hell did they go there if they knew it was dangerous?”       “Especially, when you’re having a deal with the criminal, who terrified the country in the 90s!” Letitia horrifies.       “Mrs. Rochester, Mr. Rochester, we really tried to stop them,” Anna says confidently. “We said the police should’ve solved this problem.”       “But they didn’t listen to us because we didn’t want to leave Peter alone,” Raquelle adds.       “Here we go again!” Anthony resents. “Didn’t they kick their ass enough the last time? Not just one time, if you remember!”       “At least, we know surely where they went this time,” Anna notices. “We have the address of the neighborhood where the guys are supposed to be. My old friend saw Peter and contacted me shortly.”       “Oh, thank God, the police are aware of the situation,” Adriana sighs with relief.       “Yes, Mrs. Lascano, we’ve already talked to Mr. Johnson, who promised to start the operation immediately!” Raquelle says determinedly. “But we haven’t gotten any news from him over the past hour.”       “And the men haven’t contacted you?” Letitia specifies.       “Sadly.”       “Excellent, girls, that’s good you decided not to wait and told Mr. Johnson everything. If you’d listened to the men, it would’ve been probably too late.”       “We thought so!” Natalia exclaims. “Waiting would be a great risk. I guess this is the only thing we can do for the guys now.”       “Right, girls, you did the right thing!” Anthony approves. “Of course, it’s a shame that you didn’t hold the men, but what’s done is done. Nothing can be fixed now.”       “You said you are now at the home of Mrs. Marshall?” Anna asks.       “Yes, we brought something necessary to her,” Adriana replies. “And just wanted to support her a little.”       “Sadly, we can’t leave and help you,” Raquelle upsets. “We need to wait for the news. The guys or Mr. Johnson can call us at any time.”       “No, no, my sweeties, don’t even think about it!” Letitia exclaims. “Wait for the news, while Anthony, Mother, and I do everything here.”       “Besides, we recently talked to Mr. Cameron, who said he’d come with Mrs. Middleton soon,” Anthony says. “They promised to bring some cures for Mrs. Marshall.”       “Gosh, thank you so much!” Anna puts her hand on her heart. “We don’t really know what we’d do without you.”       “Yes, Mom, Dad, Grandma, you’re helping us out,” Natalia adds. “We just can’t tear ourselves apart between our friends, sweethearts, and Helene’s grandmother.”       “We completely understand you, girls,” Adriana replies softly. “Don’t worry about Mrs. Marshall. We will take care of her and try to distract her somehow.”       “Yeah, guys, moreover, you’ve got too many responsibilities now,” Letitia adds. “We can’t stay aside when we can help.”       “Thank you so much,” Raquelle thanks. “We’re really grateful to you.”       “By the way, how’s Mrs. Marshall doing there?” Anna expresses anxiety.       “She doesn’t even get out of bed and takes tons of cures that don’t work, though,” Anthony says with sadness. “We’re worried that she will end up in the hospital soon.”       “It will probably happen if the guys don’t find Helene,” Natalia assumes hesitantly.       “I’m even afraid to imagine what has happened to the girl for one week,” Adriana confesses in a little shaking voice. “They probably torture her with starvation and keep her in the cold. Wouldn’t be surprised if she had to go to the doctor after all of this.”       “The most important thing is that she’s alive,” Anna notices. “These people don't do anything to her.”       “God, why did it happen to Helene?” Anthony wonders. “She’s a good girl! Yes, of course, she wasn’t always like this, but is this a reason to punish her for the mistakes of the past? Didn’t Helene deserve to be forgiven?”       “By the way, did you tell Mrs. Marshall about the men going to save Peter and her?” Natalia asks hesitantly.       “Not yet,” Adriana shakes her head. “We went out to meet Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Middleton. And decided to contact you.”       “Please, tell her nothing now,” Raquelle says quietly. “Let’s just wait for some confirmed news.”       “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Letitia agrees. “She should know nothing yet. Suspense would make her much more worried, even though she doesn’t need it.”       “That’s why we want to tell her nothing yet,” Anna replies.       “Alright, girls, we got it,” Anthony says confidently. “Mr. Marshall will know nothing about what’s happening.”       “Anyway, we warned Mr. Johnson about it if that woman wanted to call him,” Natalia specifies.       “She calls him several times per day. But Mr. Johnson takes it with an understanding and talks to Mrs. Marshall softly and very gently.”       “Anyway, if we have some news, we’ll contact you shortly,” Raquelle promises. “Call you or my aunt and grandpa.”       “Alright, my dears!” Adriana exclaims. “Don’t worry, we will do everything we can.”       “But you keep the phone with you and watch Sammy,” Letitia says. “Mrs. Marshall said he had lately felt too bad.”       “We just tried to give him some water and a piece of fresh meat, but Sammy rejected it categorically,” Anna confesses with sadness in her eyes, running her hand over Sammy’s back.       “The poor boy has a strong stress and even lost some weight because of it,” Natalia notices, caressing Sammy sitting next to her and whining on the head.       “At least, he doesn’t withdraw into himself and doesn’t reject our attention,” Raquelle adds and yanks Sammy by his ears. “He doesn’t leave us alone and presses himself to one or another.”       “Oh, I wish nothing had happened to Helene!” Adriana begs. “I wish those people didn’t kill her! God, don’t let it happen! I wish the boys had helped her and saved her from the killer.”       “It’s gonna be hard, knowing we don’t know where they’re hiding her,” Anna sighs heavily.       “Gosh, my heart squeezes at the thought that Mrs. Marshall would have to bury her granddaughter,” Letitia puts her hand on her heart. “She’s already buried and knows nothing about her missing daughter. And she is about to lose the last reason to be happy.”       Sammy barks with a great pity at this moment, hearing clearly the talk and literally understanding what it is about.       “Alright, girls, let’s not talk on the phone for too long,” Anthony says confidently. “What if someone calls, but the number is not available.”       “Yes, beauties, call us if you have something to say,” Adriana says. “Any one of us. Our phones are always with us. If one doesn’t answer, another will.”       “Of course, Grandma!” Natalia exclaims. “We will contact you, Mom, or Dad if we know something.”       “And you call us if you need something,” Raquelle adds. “We’re always on the line.”       “Try to believe in the best and not to lose hope,” Anthony advises. “I know it’s too hard for you, but still…”       “Thanks, Mr. Rochester!” Anna thanks. “We will be hoping and praying. And waiting.”       “Alright, we will talk a little later,” Letitia says quietly.       “Yeah, see you soon,” Natalia pronounces thoughtfully. “Love you.”       Natalia finishes the call by pressing the button on the screen of her smartphone, while Raquelle and Anna look at each other with sadness in their eyes, and Sammy barks quietly.       “It’s the only thing we have to do,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “To believe, wait, and pray.”       “And the more time goes by, the stronger anxiety I’m starting to feel,” Natalia confesses.       “My heart squeezes kinda painfully,” Anna puts her hand on her heart.       “It’s not gonna be something easy,” Raquelle assures. “The guys will probably come back beaten and in blood. Those men will beat them strongly.”       “Yeah, no matter how hard the boys show off and say they’re strong and unbreakable, they can’t throw all their enemies by the click of their fingers easily, without problems,” Natalia agrees. “No, of course, they’re really strong and tough, but let’s not forget the men are alive people that live in a real world, not a movie one.”       “Let’s wait for some time and try to contact Mr. Johnson so he tells us about the current situation,” Anna says thoughtfully. “To… Know when they will reach the place Ryan talked about.”       “Oh, gosh, this expectation drives me crazier and crazier…” Natalia moans tiredly, running her hands from the top of her head to the nape of her neck.       “We’re used to this,” Raquelle shrugs. “We were sitting and waiting for some news when the guys went to follow Wainwright and participated in the arrest of the Potters at their wish.”       “But when they go on the worldwide tour, it’s gonna be a little easier for us,” Anna notices. “Though, we’re gonna have to wait for six months or even more.”       “We’re gonna be anxious… Anything may happen on the way. Attacks, robberies, shootings, hostage-taking… Even the security may be powerless and miss something.”       Sammy barks quietly with sadness in his eyes as if he agrees with it and puts his paw on the paw of Natalia’s knee, while she caresses his head softly. Then the dog starts pressing himself against Raquelle and Anna, who do not refuse to caress the pet a little, not thinking it gives him great relief, but hoping to let him know they will always be near and not leave him in hard times.       

***

      After finding out the truth about his own father, Peter starts to understand why he did not feel comfortable at the thought of searching for him. The sixth sense told him it would not lead to anything good and would not give him any pleasure. It’s hard for the man to believe that he is really connected with family ties to the mentally ill man. The heartless killer who is known at least in the entire country, or actually the whole world. Who took people’s lives just for fun, for his own pleasure. That’s why the blond is sure that this is his nightmare, and he cannot wake up and has to listen to everything that seems like total delirium.       “So what, sonny, I have told you the full story,” Marcus throws his hands with an innocent smile. “Now you know I am your father, and the woman you have called your mother all your life is actually nobody to you. You know the reason for my revenge is the death of my dearest Julia.”       “I was ready to hear any kind of truth about my father,” Peter says in a low, rude voice, sinking his nails into his palms to the pain. “I was ready to hear he was an alcoholic, homeless, workless… Or just an asshole that cheated on my mother with another woman and left her. I expected anything but this. The connection with the criminal. The criminal, who must have been executed more than twenty years ago.”       “A bitter and sour berry is the same part of the harvest as sweet and tender ones. And sometimes you have to eat it just because you aren’t given anything else. And there are just people who have been unlucky in everything since birth. You are one of them. Your birth was a great mistake that ruined the lives of many people. Including you.”       “Holy fuck… Holy fuck…”       Peter puts his hand on his forehead and starts walking in circles nervously in the whole living room.       “Marcus Longbottom… The killer… The criminal… My own father… Fuck, I wouldn’t have seen it in my dream!”       “I also thought I would never see you again. I thought you were sold to some sectarians or terrorists several times. I thought you’d be far from here, but I would live quietly and forget you. But no, you are fucking alive! ALIVE! And I have to waste my time dealing with you.”       “Couldn’t you pretend that I didn’t exist? I lived my whole life like my father was a ghost! A fantasy! And you know, I didn’t feel so bad. Now I don’t need a mother and a father.”       “Seriously?” Marcus explodes. “To live on the same territory with the killer of my wife?”       “As if you are holy! As if people are happy to live with the man who killed their innocent people! Who has not paid for that!”       “There are no holy people in this world, Theodore. Every person has done something terrible and made other people hate them at least once in their life.”       “I would love to know who loved you just a little.”       “Although Julia knew well about my inclinations, she didn’t leave me anyway. Because she loved me.”       “Yeah?” Peter surprises falsely. “Maybe, because you held her next to you by force? Maybe Julia would’ve been happy to leave you, but she was afraid? Afraid that you would kill her because you wanted to share that woman with nobody?”       “She was one of those whom I would not harm even if I were under a Kalashnikov assault rifle.”       “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if you killed all her potential admirers so she couldn’t leave you. When you knew someone flirted with her, you caught them somewhere and dealt with them cruelly.”       “What kind of bullshit do you say, stupid boy?” Marcus sneers nervously. “Did you get a cold under an air conditioning?”       “Why is it bullshit?” Peter puts his hands on his hips. “It’s possible, huh! I refuse to believe Julia loved you. And why would she love you for? What good things could you do? How could you get a girl’s heart?”       “When I was much younger than you, I was a very sympathetic guy,” Marcus says with his head proudly raised. “Tall, lean, with a trained body…”       “Well, looking at you, I doubt it.”       “You consider yourself ugly?”       “I’m Apollo next to you!”       “Look at yourself in the mirror again and see what I looked like at my young age. Thick, gorgeous blond hair, amber eyes, a careful nose, a sharp chin… You know how many girls had a crush on me. How many beauties wanted to get into my bed.”       “I would think twice before getting in touch with you if I were a girl.”       “At least, I can thank you for being born ugly. For letting me have a sympathetic enough son. Not a freak… A dawn or an autist… Or a schizophrenic, like your uncle Felix… Though you have some defects anyway: you tend to depression and suicide, just like your grandmother. A certain hothouse that cannot be harmed at all.”       “Alright, I agree with you,” Peter raises his hands in front of himself. “Sometimes I don’t understand why I want to cut myself. Sometimes it happens by itself. A blade clouds my mind and turns off my brain like hypnosis when I see it. And I don’t always wake up by myself. Sometimes other people wake me up.”       “And my mother didn’t sometimes understand why she always felt bad, even if her life was kind of normal: everyone loved her, appreciated her, took care of her… She could not or did not want to explain why she loved harming herself on purpose, as if she tried to punish herself for something. Trust me, I saw it all many times. I guessed everything. Though they hid the reason for her death for a long time because they were worried about my mental health.”       “Fuck, I can’t believe it…” Peter puts his hand on his forehead. “My whole family is sick… Everyone’s sick with something… Fuck… I don’t know what to say! I don’t even know what’s better: being a son of the killer or being a son of an alcoholic woman.”       “And you took a little bit from all of us,” Marcus says confidently. “Yes, you’re now pretending to be innocent, but I am more than sure that everything will change if someone gives you a gun.”       “No, I shall never be a killer. I shall never dare to take someone’s life. Especially for nothing. Even if that’s someone I hate.”       “We will check it later, my boy. We will see what will happen to you when your precious Helene dies right before your eyes.”       “She’s guilty of nothing for you! Helene doesn’t deserve all the torture you put her under.”       “Nothing personal, I just want to take revenge on you with that gal and make you suffer. Make you feel the pain that I had when people started to call me a widower.”       “Don’t pretend that you loved your wife!”       “I loved her!” Marcus roars. “I loved her like crazy!”       “So, did you get obsessed with her because nobody else looked at you?” Peter sneers evilly. “Or did you use the fact that she had a low self-rating, because of which she didn’t understand she deserved much more than one nasty and heartless bastard?”       “First, I’ve already said I was a handsome guy at my young age. And second, Julia paid attention to me because of my actions first of all. Because I always protected your mother from any assholes who annoyed her, and was near to comfort and listen to her.”       “It seems like she didn’t love herself since she lived with the beast and wanted to make him the father of her child.”       “I don’t deny my fault for that situation. I failed it. I delayed the solution. I didn’t find out that it was dangerous for my wife to give birth. But the bigger fault is with you. You killed your own mother. Not just her, but also your adopted one. One is lying in the grave, another drinks as fuck!”       “You killed your wife!” Peter states. “You should’ve gotten out in time and never forgotten about such a wonderful thing as a condom. And Cornelia started to drink at her wish! Nobody made her do that by force! Including her husband, who left her.”       “Anyway, you’ve understood that I was looking for my son not to hug him, kiss him, and be a part of his life. Not at all. I was looking for him to take revenge for the pain he gave me. Since other people could not get rid of him and send him to another continent, I have to solve this problem by myself. And I am not going to fail it.”       With these words, Marcus comes to the drawer under the stairs that leads to the second floor, opens it, and takes something. By the end of his speech, he turns around to Peter and points the pistol sharply at him, making the guy immediately squeeze, get a little pale, and open his eyes widely.       “So, did you think I wouldn’t do this by myself and would tell my guys to do it?” Marcus asks surprisingly. “Did you think I would just be standing and watching? Oh, no, my dear! I want to participate in this show and take the main prize – the sense of satisfaction after the death of my enemy.”       “Are you serious?” Peter sneers evilly, trying not to show his fear. “Isn’t it hard for you to hold the gun? This is such a hard thing!”       “M-m-m, are you trying to pretend that you are not scared. Though I saw you getting pale and shaking at the sight of the gun.”       “Are you really ready to fight with the one who is much stronger than you due to age?”       “I will not have to! I shall just shoot at your head, and you will die immediately. Without a fight.”       “Yeah? Do you know you need to get into my head? Trust me, I shall not give up on you so easily!”       “You will give up,” Marcus pronounces confidently. “You will surely give up. After you see the death of your beloved girlfriend personally. I do know your life will have no meaning if she leaves you.”       “If you touch her with a finger, I shall put this pistol in your throat to the tonsils and take a shot!” Peter threatens in a rude, low voice, clenching his hands into fists.       “I said you had a so-called gene of a killer,” Marcus smiles smugly. “If you are not a coward, I will obviously say you are really my son.”       “If you don’t want your old ass to suffer, I highly advise you to bring my girlfriend to me and leave her alone once and forever.”       “Alas, I can’t bring her to you.” Marcus lowers the pistol and runs his free hand over it. “But I’m going to contact the guys with a video call and ask them to show her to you. So, you tell each other some words, say goodbye, send a couple of air kisses, and then… My long-awaited show will finally begin! And you will be dead!”       “We will see it, bastard.”       “I’m not a fan of making a moment too long and prefer to do everything quickly.” Marcus points the pistol at Peter again. “Especially if the case is about my son I have never wanted.”       “You know, honorable, I lived a pretty good life without a father and didn’t suffer from not having him. And I have never aimed to find him, whatever it takes.”       “But I wanted to find you and take revenge.”       Marcus comes closer to Peter, still keeping the pistol pointed at him, and takes it off the safety.       “I wanted to watch you drown in your own blood and leave this world that has never needed you.”       “Those whose relatives, friends, and close people you killed wouldn’t mind seeing this happen to you.”       “I think you have enough time to say goodbye to your sweetheart on a video call if I wound you a little. And shoot you down so you, bastard, BLEED AND DIE SLOWLY.”       Shouting out the last words, Marcus takes a confident shot at Peter, who jumps aside immediately and hides behind the sofa when the old man does it for the second time.       “Oh, shit!” Peter blunts under his nose, breathing a little heavily.       “Kitty, kitty, kitty, come to me, sonny,” Marcus pronounces with a sly smile, coming to the sofa. “Come to me, my boy.”       Marcus shoots at Peter again, but the blond creeps aside in time. Since the old man starts attacking him hard, the guy gets up on his feet shortly and hides everywhere he can, grabbing a big metallic thing lying quietly under the stairs, covering himself with it, and running from the opponent, whom he cannot come to start a fight with.       “Fuck, it’s gonna be hard to fight…” Peter says thoughtfully. “But I’ve gotta come to him closer and take the gun.”       Protecting himself with the metallic piece, Peter runs successfully to the kitchen counter and hides behind it.       “Don’t run, Theodore,” Marcus says confidently, following Peter everywhere. “You will not hide from me.”       When Marcus comes to the kitchen, looks from up to down, sees Peter sitting on the floor and hiding behind the counter, and points the pistol at him, the guy shows a brilliant reaction, squeezing the wrist of the opponent tightly and starting to twist his arm painfully. That’s why Longbottom cannot hold down a shout and winces strongly in pain. Though he squeezes the gun with his fingers tightly enough, while Rose tries so hard to take it. When the blond gets up from the floor quickly and strikes the pistol out of his hand with his foot, they start a hand-in-hand fight, in which Peter turns out to be much stronger than his opponent due to his age.       “M-m-m, another bastard that looks sassy with a gun in his hands and turns out to be nothing without the one,” Peter sneers evilly.       “It’s just the beginning, milksop!” Marcus hisses through his teeth. “My guys will suck your blood out of you and let me bring the case to an end.”       “I’m not going to give up so easily!”       “You have to. You cannot strike down all of them all alone.”       “When my girlfriend’s life is at stake, I’d move Shanghai Tower! And I don’t have to wait for help from someone.”       After giving Marcus a strong slap in the face, Peter gets the same one back. Then he fights with him hand in hand for some time, understanding that the luck is at his side yet because the opponent is losing to him. But at some moment, the unfamiliar dark-haired man enters the living room through the hall door. With a little bruise under his eyes. Looking a little tense but collected enough.       “Excuse me, Mr. Longbottom…” the stranger addresses Marcus hesitantly.       “Oh, Bob, you’re in time!” Marcus exclaims. “I have a job for you and the guys. You should tame this wild animal a little. The boy is now too excited.”       With these words, Marcus slaps Peter in the face again so that he slips badly and falls to the floor like a stone.       “Sorry for bothering you, but can I see you for a second?” Bob asks hesitantly. “We need to talk about something.”       “Yeah, sure,” Marcus pronounces quietly. “What’s wrong? You got problems?”       While Marcus comes to Bob and starts listening to what he hears from the man, Peter gets up on his feet with no problems, pulls down his t-shirt, and puts on his black denim jacket. He frowns slightly, trying to hear what the owner of the house and his accomplice are talking about in a whisper. But since this attempt failed, the man just looks around with a little heavy breath, noticing a large portrait of the young woman with long blonde hair that he saw in the photo before on one of the walls. He quickly understands that it’s Julia, whose photos in frames are put in the entire living room. She may pose alone and with Marcus in them.       Peter understands that he may be right because Julia does not look too happy in the photos next to her husband, who, vice versa, shines bright as he stands near. However, she does not smile a lot in single photos, her gray eyes are full of sadness, and her poses and glances do show her great insecurity. The man has to admit that the woman has some resemblance to him and just starts to think that Cornelia, with whom he spent a bigger part of his life, is not similar to him at all. No, he noticed it before, but he thought it happened because of alcohol, which impacted the woman’s appearance negatively. He thought he could just inherit nothing from his mother and be the image of his father. But now, no matter how much he wants to deny it, the situation is getting clearer and clearer.       “Are you sure that’s them?” Marcus specifies, frowning slightly, after listening to everything Bob says. “Are you not wrong?”       “No, sir!” Bob exclaims. “That company was walking not far from your house and definitely looking for him.”       “Alright, where are they now?”       “In the basement. Those assholes are there now.”       “Do you think Peter brought them with him and told them to hide somewhere?”       “Most likely, my lord.”       “So, these guys did ask for trouble,” Marcus crosses his arms over his chest. “I gave them a chance to stay alive. But they are too stupid or too stubborn.”       “Obviously.”       “Alright, I shall bring Peter to the basement and show him a surprise that he is going to be happy with.”       “What are your orders?”       “Since these bastards ruined my plans, we have to spend much more time to take their strength away. And then we can organize the live translation of their friend’s death.”       “We’ve already told Elijah, Shawn, David, and Darren about the situation. Some of them will come back here to help you.”       “Yeah, they can come. The strength must be equal: every one of these freaks gets an opponent.”       “And when the girl is dead, the others will join her.”       “Right,” Marcus smiles slyly. “And then, we will have a lot of fun and destroy Peter and his gang.”       “Don’t worry, Mr. Longbottom, we can do this,” Bob assures. ‘Even if these assholes are active and restless, we will find a way to destroy them anyway.”       “Alright, I got it. Go to the guys now. Wait for my next orders.”       “As you wish, sir.”       Inclining his head, Bob turns around and leaves the house of Marcus through the hall door, while the old man watches him with a sly smile.       “Now we will have a lot of fun,” Marcus rubs his hands happily. “Let’s see what my sonny is going to do in this case.”       Marcus coughs quickly, pulls down his t-shirt, strokes his hair, and goes to Peter with his head proudly raised, while the blond still views the portrait of Julia hanging on the wall.       “So, do you look at the woman you killed?” Marcus asks, moves his eyes to Julia’s portrait, and smiles at her sadly. “My wife, who would have been alive if not for you.”       “Aha, she literally shines from happiness,” Peter sneers sarcastically. “She is so happy that the cheekbones are cramping up at the smile she doesn’t have in any photos.”       “Julia just never liked photographing and thought she looked bad in photos. Though I loved taking pictures of my sweetheart so badly. I photographed her at home and outside every day. I still have the photocamera I took photos with, even though it doesn’t work anymore. But I remember I paid a lot of money for it.”       “Oh, yeah, you took photos of your wife and all your victims.”       “Don’t worry, the photos of you and your gal will be added to my collection. And they will take a special place in it. Because you are my most wanted but most hateful victims. Who are about to leave this world.”       “I will not give up on you so easily and will not give Helene to you for nothing!”       “By the way, my boy, I almost forgot that I had something else for you. And I want to show it to you before the guys and I deal with you for sure.”       “So, your wife is actually alive, but you’re hiding her somewhere at your house?” Peter hums. “But you tell everyone she’s dead so that people feel sorry for you?”       “I’m sure you are going to like it. But in order for you to see it, I need to take you to the basement. Which is going to be a wonderful place to kill you with no problems.”       “M-m-m, I think I got it… Your assholes are waiting for me.”       “You will see everything now. Come with me.”       With these words, Marcus hugs Peter around the shoulders and pushes him forward to the stairs, while the blond crosses his arms over his chest.       “I think everything would end quickly,” Marcus confesses and raises the door in the floor that leads one floor down. “But sadly, some things make me spend much more time.”       “Nobody made you!” Peter throws gloomily.       “Just shut up and follow me.”       Marcus starts getting down the wooden stairs first as they make a quiet squeak every time he steps on a stair. Peter stands in the same place at first, but then he follows the owner of the house when he glances at him questioningly. When they get down, they end up in a poorly lighted room with shabby walls and concrete floors, on which there is a thick layer of dust and dirt, some cables, little pieces, buckets, shovels, and even small rocks. There are also many-level wooden shelves with kind of forgotten boxes, cans, and other little things. Several chairs made of rotten wood are placed in one of the corners. There are some panels and pipes that are made to provide water, electricity, and warmth to the house. The only light bulb hanging on the ceiling in the middle of the room blinks at times, spiders have made a thick web somewhere in the corner, and specific holes in the bottom part of the walls say that mice and rats may run by here.       “Don’t pay attention to the dirt and mess – I don’t come here,” Marcus says. “And even if I do, I just leave what I will not need anymore.”       “I really hope I will see my girlfriend here and be able to take her out finally,” Peter replies coldly.       “You will see something that is not much worse.”       “I’ve understood that you’re just trying to distract me so one of your assholes can come to me from behind and hit me on the head with a baton or an electric gun.”       “Alright, I must admit that you weren’t born ugly, and you were born with brains.”       “Oh, thank you, daddy!” Peter sneers ironically.       Marcus stops in the middle, looks around, stops his eyes on something far from him, and smiles slyly.       “So, my boy, here’s what I wanted to show you,” Marcus says quietly, takes Peter by the shoulders, brings him closer to himself, and turns him to the side he needs. “As they say, enjoy the show.”       At first, Peter rolls his eyes with an irritated growl, but then looks at the side Marcus points at. Then he gets sharply pale, stops breathing, and opens his eyes widely when he sees three young dark-haired men lying on the floor, not moving, and literally not breathing in the corner lighted up with another light bulb. There are some blood tracks on their pale faces and several bruises on the open parts of their skin. Rose shouts quickly and gets kind of frozen in horror when it takes less than a second to recognize them as Terrence, Edward, and Daniel, and understands that his heart starts beating faster, and everything goes black for a second.       “Daniel?” Peter pronounces quietly in a shaking voice, barely moving his lips. “Terrence? Edward?”       Peter closes his mouth with a hand and starts breathing heavily, while every single muscle tenses strongly at the thought that what he has been afraid of all this time has happened, after all. He comes up with just one thought – Marcus chased his friends somehow and brought them here by force. The realization of the fact that so many close people of his are in danger horrifies him. Helene is far from here and is put under regular torture, and Edward, Terrence, and Daniel are lying on the floor unconscious with blood and bruises. Peter does not know how to get through all of this alone, but he gets stuck on the thought that he must get out of here in any way and save his friends and girlfriend from what Marcus and his friends are going to do to them.