Remembering Red {Book Three} The Mentalist

3: The Red Stars

*Brayson's pov*

"So, what kind of pizza should we get?" I asked Alexis. She looked at the piece of paper and then smiled at me.

"How about a meat lovers?" she asked backed and I smiled.

"You know me so well," I answered pressing the buttons. In five minutes the pizza was here, paid for, and being eaten.

"So when do you think Mom and Dad will be home?" Alexis asked and I thought about it.

"Well knowing both of them, I say Dad is sleeping on his couch and Mom is working on the case," I answered.

"I wish she didn't work so hard all the time. It seems she never really has fun." 

"She married Dad, didn't she?" 

"Very funny." 

"I thought it was." 

The door opened then and Mom walked in looking very worried. Dad followed her upstairs with the same worry, but I couldn't tell if it was for himself or Mom. I looked at Alexis and we both stood up and walked to their closed door. I placed my ear on the key hole to listen. 

"What are we going to do?" Mom asked him with so much worry I was starting to panic. I never heard her sound like this before, not even when I broke my arm two years ago. 

"I don't know Missy," Dad said the few words I never thought I would hear from him. "I just don't know." 

"We can't let the kids know, they will be worried sick." 

"I know that, but we can't act like nothing is wrong. Also they will notice if we are taken in the middle of the night or when ever." Taken? I looked down at Alexis, but she was deep in thought. 

"I know, but Patrick, we can't just let them know that we are being threatened!" 

"I think it is time they learned about them, don't you think?" 

"I suppose. I really don't want to though."

"I don't either. Come on, just-"

I didn't listen to what he was saying, and neither did Alexis. We walked quickly down the stars and pretend like we were eating pizza the whole time. Mom and Dad walked down looking at us, and I smiled.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad," I told them.

"Are you two okay?" Alexis asked, just now looking like she was noticing that they were upset.

"Alexis, Brayson, we have something to tell you," Mom said sitting down at the head of the table, and Dad sat next to her. She sighed and looked at us.

"Yeah Mom?" I asked not knowing what they were about to tell me.

"Well, have you ever heard of the group called the Red Stars?"

"You mean that group who used to take men and women and do really bad things to them before they killed them?" Alexis asked. I knew that too, I just never thought of them. They were taken out when Lisbon's team arrested them with Mom's and Dad's help. I never knew anything past that.

"Yes," Dad answered. "Well there is more to that story than you know. We tried to keep this from you all for a long time, but we have always meant to tell you. Now seems like a good time."

"Tell us what?" I asked looking at both of them.

"About how I was taken hostage by the Red Stars twice," Mom answered looking down at her hands.

"But no one has ever lived though that!" Alexis cried looking at Mom.

"I have. I don't like to think about either times. The first time I was taken, they made sure that I would never remember it, and so that they could watch me without looking for them."

"They stalked you?" I asked.

"They did, but your mother didn't know it until I told her," Dad answered.

"So they let me live a live under rules I didn't know," Mom continued. "If I broke those rules, someone besides me paid the price. I broke one of the rules, I guess, though I still don't know what the rule was. Anyway, since I did something they didn't like, they had my mother and sister killed."

"They killed your mom and sister?" Alexis asked. Mom nodded.

"That is how we meant," Dad put in. "Her name was on a note, and I was on the case with Lisbon. I helped her get over the pain, and start the job. Well I hope I did anyway."

"You did," Mom told him. "So I tried to forget that I was told I had done something wrong. I slowly fell in love with your father, and he finally asked me out. I'm telling you this because that was another rule: do not date or love anyone. That rule was so strong they took me again with the plan I was going to die."

"Then what happened?" I asked.

"They tortured me. They beat me to the point I just wanted it to end and them to put the needle in my arm. That was how they planed to kill me."

"How did you survive?" Alexis asked.

"I found the place they were keeping her," Dad answered looking out the window. "Lisbon's team went to get her, and they found your mother just after they placed the needle in her arm. They took her to a hospital, and luckily for all of us, Missy was safe."

"Then of course we moved here, I testified against the leader, and he plead guilty," Mom finished.

"Why are you telling us this now?" Alexis asked. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"The leader, Bill Pint, was relished on your ninth birthday," Dad told her. "In the news report he told everyone that he was not done with your mother, and he planed on taking me this time. He told them that is 'gift' would not be ready for a long time, so we figured we would have time for you kids to not be here when it happened. We thought that maybe you would be adults then, but we were wrong. The Red Stars plan on taking your mother and I in the not too distance future."

"What about Alexis and I?" I asked. I didn't want my parents to be taken, but I would kill them if they laid a hand on my baby sister.

"They seem to not want either of you," Mom said standing up and took both of us in her arms. "I promise that they won't get you even if they want you. I won't go easy this time either."

"I know you won't Mom," I told her hugging her back. "But what will happen to Alexis and I?"

"You will stay with your Uncle Louis until we are safe, if we ever are."

"You will be!" Alexis cried burying her face into Mom's shoulder. She held her, letting me go for a little bit. She pulled her to her feet and lead her to the couch. Dad walked over and sat down next to me, and I sighed.

"Will you and Mom be okay?" I asked him, and he looked at me with a lot of thought.

"I don't know Brayson," he answered. "I don't honestly know."

I sat with Dad thinking about how I may never again see my mom and dad ever again. All because of a group that wanted Mom dead. 

I have been listening to songs that match the stories perfectly. If you want to hear some of them, go look up my Youtube channel (Coppercurlz0) and it should be the only playlist I have, haha. So look that up and tell me what you think. I hope you like this so far. Peace out my Stars!