Brooklyn

Chapter Twenty-Five - Arielle

A.N:// Scenes of death, funerals and depression up ahead, may be triggering or distressing

Arielle sat on the window seat, reading a book. She heard a car pull up and stop. Zac was inthe kitchen, cooking. Cheryl and Kirsten were squabbling in the nursery upstairs. Arielle put her book down, expecting the mailman or someone. No... A black car. Two men came out of the car and started walking down the pathway to her. Her heart in her throat, Arielle dropped the book and half ran to the door. She stumbled to a walk as she was at the door, throwing it open and standing on the pathway which was hot under her bare feet. The men were dressed in military uniform and both of them took off their hats.

"Mrs Hall? My name is Major Carlson." Arielle shook her head. Her heart had sunk, feeling heavier than any metal in existence.

"No... No he's not..."

"I'm so sorry, ma'am..." Major Carlson looked genuinely upset. Arielle wrapped an arm around her abdomen, gasping for air.

"No... No... No....He.... can't... be.... no... no..."

"Mrs Hall... Can we take this inside your home?" The other man asked. Arielle backed away one step before falling to her knees.

"NO! NO!!!"

"Arielle?" Arielle ignored Zac's voice, ignored his hands on her, trying to help her up. She pushed him away, sobbing.

"Jaxon.... Don't leave me..." She cried out.

Zac wrapped his arms around Arielle, gently forcing her to her feet where he pulled her into the house. She tried her hardest to stop him but it was useless, Zac had always been stronger than her.

Cheryl and Kirsten then took hold of Arielle holding her close in a hug. Zac made a pot of tea. Major Carlson and the other one, General Major Hull followed Zac into the kitchen. Kirsten made Arielle sit down in a chair at the table with the Majors.

"What happened?"Cheryl asked in a whisper as Zac placed a cup of tea in front of everyone.

"He got captured by the enemy. It was a complete shock to us all." General Major Hull said.

"We had to separate. Jaxon went with three others. All but one was killed." Major Carlson added.

"Who died?" Zac gasped.

"Jennifer Sole and David Skye. Zayden Black had been heading their team. They had been merely just sent out to examine the village. Zayden made a horrific mistake. He underestimated their size, we all did. Zayden blew their cover. It was a horrible mistake and of course, could have been made by anyone."

"How did Zayden survive?"

"He barely did. He's still in intensive care. They left him and David for dead. I'm not aware why they took Jaxon and Jennifer when Zayden had been heading the attack."

"Information?" Cheryl suggested.

"They would have taken the wrong people if that was the case. The four had only been scouting the area. They had very little idea of why they were there." Major Carlson said.

"There were no signs of torture or extensive harm on either Mr Hall or Miss Sole. Miss Sole had a bruise and cut to her temple plus the shot that killed her. Mr Hall had a black eye and a shot that killed him." General Major Hull added. Arielle whimpered and Zac squeezed her hand gently.

"How did you find them?"

"We found them quite early on. We realised what had happened when we heard gun shots. We weren't early enough. It was hard to take on a whole convoy. We had a few more in our unit though." Major Carlson replied.