Against the Tide
Chapter 2 –
It was a hot day. The familiar sound of his brothers arguing sounded more uninteresting to him than usual. Pope's ever-studying eyes traveled to their mother who appeared busy preparing their lunch. His heart painfully hardened upon remembering what she had forced him to do.
He stared at her intently. This woman had used him, over and over again, to do her dirty work. Because of her, he had done the unthinkable. He had murdered the woman he loved, the woman he cared deeply for, the woman he thought he'd never ever harm. That ugly night still plagued him. It played in his head repeatedly without stop - an endless nightmare, one he desperately wanted to end.
At least the little girl was not here today to make him feel worse. She was at a friend's house for a sleep-over. Pope covered his face and sighed.
"Where the hell is Deran?" Craig said suddenly, clearly annoyed.
Smurf was right. It was boring without Deran in the house. It was a fact none of them would admit openly.
J joined them and sat beside Pope, quite as usual.
"You've see Deran?" Pope asked him.
"Nope."
"He's going to miss lunch," Smurf announced as she started to pour the gravy over the sliced chunks of freshly roasted beef.
The smell was good, and the hungry men looked like excited children waiting to be fed.
The bell suddenly rang earning an annoyed frown from all. Smurf removed her apron and turned to the monitor.
"Who is it?" Baz asked while taking a large bite out of his plate.
"Adrian," Smurf said with a hint of worry in her voice.
Suddenly Pope was worried too and he left his seat and followed his mother outside to greet the uninvited guest.
The moment they saw Adrian, they knew something was wrong. The guy looked horrible.
"Hello Adiran, how can I help you?" Smurf asked carefully.
"Is Deran ok?" Pope asked right away.
"Deran," Adrian breathed, his hands still shaking and heart beating wildly, "Deran's been taken."
Smurf stared at him like he just said something crazy. However, it took Pope one second to comprehend what he had just said before he jumped on him.
"What did you say?" Pope breathed, his face so close, Adrian could feel his breath against his skin. "What the hell do you mean taken?" Pope demanded as he tightened his grip around Adrian's collar.
"They took him," Adrian's voice broke against his will, "They drugged him and took him."
The blonde then turned to Smurf whose eyes were haunted as she stood in her place, frozen.
"They said not to call the police. They'll call you," He managed to say through erratic pants ignoring Pope's tight grip on him.
Adrian was aware then that the three remaining Codys had joined them. Pope loosened his grip then slowly released him, his hands dropping limply to his sides.
"They took him," Adrian repeated as rebellious tears threatened to fall and shame him. "He tried to fight them but they were too many. They had guns." At that point Adrian was not sure what he was saying. He just hoped he was making enough sense and that the family knew the gravity of the situation.
He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths, and mentally trying to bring his wild heartbeats under control. Looking up finally, he was met with five sets of worried eyes, four of them full of rage.
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His head hurts. The first thing Deran was aware of was the sickening taste in his mouth then the bounding in his head. His eyes and body were strangely heavy, and the moment he tried to move, pain spread and he moaned.
"Shhhh" He felt someone breathe against his face; then gruff fingers touched his cheeks and cupped his face. "Easy now, pretty boy."
Deran's heavy eyes sprang open with alarm. Blue sets of fearful eyes met with hard smirking dark ones.
"Rise and shine!"
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End of Chapter 2 –