by V. F. Mason
My father?
This monster… is my father?
“You’re lying. I’m not your daughter,” I reply, shifting back, and chills rush down my spine when his laughter rocks off the walls.
“Ah, the husband dearest didn't share his past with you and the monster responsible for it?” His words still everything inside me; my breathing speeds up while slowly, despite my state, what he says starts to make sense in my head.
How Santiago said Howard wasn't my father.
How he wanted to catch a man who kidnapped him and take his revenge.
How he quickly married me and refused to tell me why he did it.
Even my mother’s diaries.
Did he intentionally hide them so I wouldn’t ever find out the truth about my father? Or their connection?
So all this time…
“Bait,” he says. “The word you’re looking for is bait. Mine and his.”
Bait.
Something two hunters use in order to catch prey, and I became collateral damage once again?
Schooling my features so he won’t see my internal struggle, I lift my chin high. “I don't believe you. You are a psychopath who should rot in hell for what you do!” I yell the last part and then groan when he kicks me in the shoulder, sending me flying across the floor.
“Watch your mouth, or your life with Howard will seem like a dream. I won’t even care about my grandson in your womb.”
What?
My trembling hand covers my stomach while I notice a small, light bruise around my vein as if someone took my blood recently. My head is reeling with this information, and shock travels through me.
I’m not pregnant. Neither of us wanted children now, and besides, how could I ever be this careless with a man who I might have to leave due to his sadistic ways?
Although looking at the man who claims to be my father, I start to think even monsters in this world have different breeds, and some of them indeed bring more goodness than harm.
“I won’t give you my baby,” I tell him, playing along while stalling for time, because madness resides in his gaze, and acting out might kill me.
I just have to wait for Santiago.
He will come and save me. No matter what, he will find me, because I might have been his bait, but he does feel something for me.
All his behavior toward me proves it.
And this knowledge allows me to calm down a little, thinking rationally and pushing all my emotions aside.
Weeping can wait.
Andreas sighs, picking up the bottle by his feet and pouring himself more whiskey. “I’ve heard that before. Your mother said the same thing when she gave birth to you. Andreas, she’s mine. You won’t get her!” He opens his arms wide. “Yet your life shows how that worked out for her.” He takes out something and throws it at me, the photo landing on my knees.
A young woman looking just like me stares at the camera, holding me in her arms, resting her back against the headboard.
Even through the picture, I can feel her pain, and my heart squeezes in my chest, seeing my mother for the first time, soothing some wounds inside me, because she wanted me.
After all, she wouldn’t try to keep me if she didn’t, right?
Running my finger over the picture, I whisper, “You killed my mom.” Deep grief hits me, sinking into my bones and crushing them anew. Before, my mom had been just a mythical creature, a person I knew nothing about.
Now, she has the face of this girl, and it’s not hard to imagine what Andreas did to her.
He clacks his tongue. “She was the only woman who managed to birth me a healthy daughter. I was ready to reward her and let her go back to Howard.” He lowers his voice as if he shares a secret with me. “She had an affair with a married man before I showed up.”
“She fell in love with you, and you destroyed her life.”
That’s why Howard hated me; my existence probably ended their affair.
“No, I just stole her from him. Since you’re my child, I will spare you the details of what happened in the past. I can be generous when I want to.” This odd statement seems weird, and uneasiness rushes through me as suspicion dances in my mind, but his next statement doesn't let me focus on it. “Right after that picture was taken, severe bleeding started, and the rest is history. Childbirth complications, they said.” A tear escapes, and I quickly wipe it away. “She left all the instructions to save you, and the stupid nuns thought I didn't know about the plan. You see, my daughter—” He gets up, walking closer to me, and I have to look up to meet his stare. “—you were always bait. But even bait has to be trained.”
Pressing the photo to my chest, I ask, “Trained?”
“Howard hated my guts, because I took away his Flora. I knew he’d take it out on a child, despite your mother’s request to save you. He worked with me when I was establishing my business. He didn’t mind when we sold women. But put a foot down when I got interested in children to expand my empire. He betrayed me, so I took what he loved the most. Her.” Acid fills my throat, and I control my gag reflex, covering my mouth.
My God.
Horrible, horrible men who shouldn't walk the earth.
Santiago and his friends are right in wanting to kill them all.
“You had to be strong-willed, since you’d be carrying my grandson. All the punishment Howard dished out brought joy to my heart. Even though you’re a naïve fool, you ended up being a strong girl.”
Oh, God. How can any father be pleased when his child is hurt? “Well, I’m not strong,” I tell him, because that’s God’s truth.
He smiles. “Your strength lies in your character.” He must read my dumbfounded expression, because he elaborates. “Psychologically, men like Santiago are protectors, so they are attracted to those they need to save. And your sorry-ass life played in your favor. I knew he wouldn't be able to resist, because you have this vulnerable look about you.”
All my life, I longed to know the truth, why Howard despised me so much and why my mother left me to rot in hell.
And finally, I know it all, and the truth is so devastating I almost wish I never got to hear it.
Ignorance is bliss and has no power to hurt you.
But all of this is my parents’ story, and not mine.
Mine will not have a sad ending like theirs, and sure as hell, my child will never suffer because of my father’s madness.
“You’re insane, and he is going to kill you.” I finally speak up, and his brows rise, amusement flicking in his green eyes. “He will find me no matter what.”
“Why? Because he loves you so much?”
I shake my head, although my heart contracts inside my chest at such a notion. How could he love his enemy’s daughter? He might not be able to control his obsession with me, and that’s why he wants to keep me forever, but my main purpose in his life is one thing.
And finally, I can give him what he so desires. “No. Because he wants his revenge.”
An emotion crosses his face, but I don't have time to examine it when a man wearing a suit enters the hall, his face pale and his hands trembling where he holds a paper in his hand. “Here are her blood results.”
He snatches the paper, scanning it, and by how dark his face becomes, I know he didn't get what he so sought.
Relief washes over me, but it’s short-lived, as he throws the paper on the floor and tells the man, “You disappointed me, doctor. And those who disappoint me don’t get to live. Kill him,” he orders, and my screams fill the space when a guard shoots him straight in the forehead, the man landing on his back.
Andreas shifts his gaze to me, intense with his hate. “You failed me, Briseis. You had one thing to do, and you managed to screw it up. You are not my seed. You brought nothing but disappointment when you were born.”
Suddenly, alarms sound all around us, and I cover my ears as they start to hurt, bringing even more of a headache.
But also happiness spreads inside my chest, because
I know he’s here.
He came.
Santiago will save me.
The only person who ever protected me.
I go still though, when Andreas says, “He came after all. Well, then let’s use you as bait one last time, shall we?” He grabs the gun from his guard and hits me in the back of my head with it, and everything goes black again.
Santiago
With Remi driving, the car flies through the gates as we leave dead bodies in our wake. My window is rolled down, and I kill anyone standing in my way.
Octavius and Florian drive behind us, and I snap at Remi, “Faster.” He accelerates the car, the wind slapping our faces as the mansion comes into the view, a newly constructed building, sold two weeks ago.
Octavius found the location in fifteen minutes, and as it was an hour drive away from the city, located in the outskirts, we jumped into the car while fury unlike any other shook my entire body.
My woman was stolen from me, and my lion currently lies on a surgical table as they try to save him.
The anger fuels my blood, and I notice a guard hiding behind the bushes. I shoot him in the head, and finally Remi swings the car to the side. As we get out, more bullets are aimed our way.
There are around ten guards, so it shouldn't be hard to kill them.
Octavius parks their vehicle at a right angle to ours, creating an L shape and blocking us from the onslaught of bullets.
Changing the magazines in my guns, I roll my shoulders, ready to get in the line of fire, when Remi’s arm stops me. “Think rationally, Santiago. Don’t go in…. Fuck!” he exclaims when I stand and then swiftly spin to face them, shooting at them as more guards show from the side, ready to guard the door, and that’s how I know Andreas is inside.
The fucking coward always used others in order to protect his ass.
Remi and Florian cover my side while Octavius watches my back as we move as a unit toward the door, more bodies falling until the coast is clear.
Racing up the stairs, I barge inside the house, and instantly the familiar whiskey scent assaults my nostrils, along with the voice erupting in the common room.
“You’ve made it. I should have never doubted you.”
Listening to him again sends shivers through me, bringing back memories, and my body shakes with so much fury I freeze, but I remind myself it’s not about me anymore.
It’s about my woman.
Walking inside, I see him sitting on his fucking throne as he sips his drink, smiling brightly at me.
Pointing my gun at him, I grit through my teeth. “Where is she?” He just takes another sip, and I step closer, shouting this time, “Where is she?”
“Nah ah ah, Santiago. One more step or a bullet aimed at me, and I will kill myself.” He puts the blade in his hand toward his artery, a gleam in his eyes. “And you will never find her.”
My entire system is filled with anger and hate, because once again I’m helpless in front of this man. “Where is she?” I repeat, hoping he hasn't discovered the truth yet.
However, his next words crush my hope. “She’s not pregnant, so she has no value for me. Or at least I thought so.” He slides the blade’s tip over his artery lightly. “She knew you’d come to get your revenge. But I think you love her.” He laughs, and my fist itches to knock his teeth out. “Your bloodline produces strong men able to withstand anything. However, just like Achilles, you have a heel, a weakness.”
Ignoring his words, I ask, “What do you want?” If she is not dead, he’s still using her as bait. He grabs any opportunity to get what he desires.
Is he delusional enough to think he can still get his heir if he blackmails me?
He continues as if he hasn’t heard me. “Your women. That’s one weakness that wipes away all goodness. Do you know your father and I used to be best friends?” Everything inside me goes quiet, only Andreas’s voice remaining. “We met in a cage. Experienced similar shit as you did, only—trust me—worse. We dreamed about getting out and building empires.”
My gut clenches at the thought of my father experiencing such shit, and no matter what he says, I won’t ever believe he participated in dark dealings.
Showing no outward reaction to his statement, I repeat again, “What do you want?” He thinks I care about him going down memory lane, but I don't give a fuck.
What happened to me cannot be changed, but my woman needs my protection right now, so fuck this revenge.
I will kill him, because he hurt her, not because he stole my childhood.
Hate coats his every word. “Only Lucian wanted to use his empire to kill bad guys, and I craved their power. And the minute he got to know what my business entailed, he decided to kill me. Turned his back on me, and for what? So he could happily live with Rebecca? Save all these women and children?” His hollow laughter echoes through the space. “We could have stayed together, building a legacy, joining you and Briseis in holy union that would give us generations of warriors.”
The man has lost his fucking mind. I’ve never heard bigger bullshit in my life.
“But his fucking brave heart would have never accepted hurting anyone innocent. So I took what he and his wife valued and loved the most. You.” He finishes his drink and throws the glass over his shoulder. “He shared his greatest fear once. He never wanted his child to end up like him. A monster with a stolen childhood. So that’s what I made you.” He laughs. “Ah, a truly brilliant plan.”
I can’t let his words get to me, can’t focus on this truth, can’t let it shake me.
Not now, and maybe not ever.
Because then guilt with overwhelm me.
“Where is she?” I hear more gunshots, and something blows up in the distance, rattling the house a little, and Andreas informs me.
“You didn't think I wouldn’t bring backup, did you? This land has so many guards your three friends are gonna be dead by the time we’re done.” He winks at me. “They can have fun while I use my helicopter to fly away. If you survive, we might even continue our game.”
“I’ll kill you if you make a move. Where is she?”
“So impatient.” He grabs the tablet from the table next to him and clicks on it, a smile widening his mouth before he flips the screen to me, showing Briseis lying inside something. “She’s in a coffin. Slowly waking up.” Fear rushes through my veins, halting all my sense as my heartbeat speeds up. “The grave is ready, and just now, they’ve started lowering it. For now, she gets the oxygen from the little holes on the bottom. Created it specifically for torture.” I see Briseis opening her eyes, slightly disoriented before she screams. “But the minute the surface touches the ground, her oxygen supply will cut off. Which means you have roughly five to seven minutes to save her before she has permanent brain damage. It’s within the perimeter, inside the garden.”
No.
No, no, no.
I fire the gun at him, and it’s empty, which only makes him laugh harder. “No bullets? I wouldn't waste your time on them, Santiago, if you plan to save my daughter. Or let me put it this way.” He splays his hands up. “You can either kill me or save my daughter. What will it be?” he asks.
Since the minute I ended up in my captivity, I dreamed about punishing Andreas.
Every new bruise, every pain, every scar reminded me of him, my hate toward him growing more and more, where I imagined destroying him with various tortures.
Killing him has always been my life’s mission, the reason I survived and became a serial killer.
Hate filled my heart, and nothing existed there.
Nothing until Briseis.
And despite the agony and everything else I’ve experienced by his hand, my love for her is greater than any fucking revenge in the world.
The boy didn't survive to hate.
He survived to love.
However, there are countless other kids who probably experienced the same fate, and I vow to myself to find him later and kill him so he won’t ever destroy anyone else.
My father comes into view wearing all black, and in this attire, everything clicks, his past and the aura I’ve detected around him for years, never finding a good explanation for why he gave me such vibes.
The serial killer in the mask who never spoke and taught me everything was my father.
Oh, God.
“Lucian,” Andreas says in shock and stands up. “How did you find this place?”
“You shouldn't have sent the video to me.”
What the fuck?
“Dad.”
“Go,” he orders, pushing me away. “Go and save your wife. My kids will never be yours, Andreas.”
And I finally do as he says, leaving my father to battle with the monster from my childhood.
He finally showed up when I least expected him.
Chaos greets me when I dart outside, countless bodies falling one after another in the onslaught of bullets, and I see the property burning around us as the smell of gasoline fills the air.
Several men scream as they burn alive, the fire rapidly swallowing them, and I see a gun pointed at me, only for Remi to block me, catching the bullet himself. “Fuck,” he mutters, his chest soaking in blood as he falls to his knees. “Go find her,” he orders, already knowing I’m on the run.
Racing through the field, another gun points at me. When he’s killed, I notice Callum standing behind him.
And then Arson drops the lighter on another set of guys, and I understand they came to save me, even though I didn't ask. Did they spy on me?
But I’m so fucking glad they did.
Octavius and Florian continue to kill everyone, although with Arson blocking the guards’ way with the fire, we don't have many more people to kill.
Turning away, I start to run as fast as possible toward the blurry vision in the distance where two men grab shovels, the air sticking in my throat and my lungs burning for oxygen, yet I don't stop.
