One by One

Chapter 15- Sacrifices

Devon's point of view

"It's done!" I hear William say. All I could think of was Brady and how afraid she must be feeling now. I couldn't let this happen and yet I did.

"Okay. Good. Grab your coats, let's head there before it's too late. I swear if that bastard lays a hand on her I am going to turn him inside out", I sneer angrily.

I meant every word.

"Okay, here's everything. I'm not going", Deborah whispers. She looks down at her feet then at her fingers.

"Why the hell not?" Will asks as he slips the bag onto his shoulder.

"I have to take care of a few things. I trust you boys can handle yourselves and bring her back, both of them, safely?" she crosses her arms.

"What things do you have to take care of at a time like this?" I ask, suspicious. I slip my cap on and pace around the house looking for the car keys.

"Look, it doesn't matter. Just get her back. Safely." She murmurs. "Take this with you guys, you might need it". She gives us a loaded gun and we stare at it idiotically. "Don't do anything stupid like shoot each other in the leg or something. Now go!" she yelled and pointed towards the front door.

Before we left, I looked back and wondered how someone could keep secrets this big. "Deb, thanks for everything. Thank you for looking out. Brady, she was always afraid and you were always there for her. Thank you. I was wrong though. She wasn't weak or afraid, she is the strongest person I know and if only I knew sooner, this could have been prevented".

"Nothing could have prevented this day from happening. This was inevitable, don't blame yourself. This day was coming and it came, now what we need to do is get innocent people back home, alive. That's all that matters". She leans against the doorway and smiles weakly.

I nod in agreement and head to the car where William is already buckled in.

"Let's kick some ass", he growls.

I knew he meant every word.

---

'Daddy, where are you? I hurt my knee!'

There were kids everywhere. Daddy forgot about me again. He always does this.

'Daddy! You there?'

I see daddy with another man and they hold those brown packages grown-ups hold. They talk deeply and I want daddy to see my booboo.

'Daddy. I hurt my knee.'

'Did you now? Oh dear, we have to take a look at that now, don't we?' he breaks his conversation to talk to me. I loved daddy because of this. He puts me first. Even if he was busy like mummy he still put me first.

'Ouch daddy, it hurts. You need to kiss it to make it better.'

Daddy kisses my knee and tells me how beautiful I look today. I smile because daddy likes saying things like that. Daddy was my prince charming.

'I'll speak with you later. I need to attend to some things now. I'll get it done by this week. I expect the amount of money we agreed on, on my table by the end of this week.'

Daddy ends his talk with the man with gray hair and he carries me to the car where he gives me orange juice.

I wake up to find myself tied. Not to a chair but a four poster bed. The pitch black room made it hard to see. I had something in my mouth which prevented me from saying anything. I felt groggy and painful all over. The only thing I remember is that weird dream and- my father hitting me with the gun. Shit.