Page 10 of A Game of Survival

“What happened? Where the fuck is Teddy!?” I blurt out moving towards him, uncaring of his injuries, only interested in Teddy’s whereabouts. My arms remain locked as I continue pointing my gun towards him, following his movements as he straightens himself to the best of his ability. If he noticed the gun at all he doesn’t seem bothered by it. He shuffles on his feet slightly and winces at the discomfort it causes but right now, he could be in all the pain in the world, I need a goddamn answer. “WHERE IS MY SON!?” I shout. A white hot rage filling my senses has me grabbing a lamp from the bookcase and throwing it just above Max’s head where it shatters against the wall. He doesn’t even move and it infuriates me even more as I’m trying to hold back my tears yet again. I hear the front door crash open, they no doubt heard the commotion and within seconds both Enzo and Dario come barrelling into the room, guns drawn and ready.

I watch from the corner of my eye as they take in the scene before them. They must be somewhat surprised to see me holding a gun, thinking I'm weak and unable to protect myself. I chuckle inwardly. But then I notice how their eyes narrow and their nostrils flare as they notice Max leaning against a small chest of drawers, undoubtedly stopping himself from falling over.

“What the fuck?” Dario exhales as he looks me up and down, his eyes bulging at the sight of me holding out my gun.

“Get your fucking hands up, Costello!” Enzo demands, shifting his own gun towards Max and I don't like that one bit. He’s still my brother after all.

“Enough!” I interrupt, turning my gun on the two men, leaving Max behind me. “Get the fuck out, NOW!” I rage at them, barely able to keep my hands from shaking now that the anger coursing through me is palpable. Enzo narrows his eyes at Max but neither of them make any attempt to move.

“Lucille, there’s no fucking way that’s happening.” Dario states, staring wide eyed between Max and I, still trying to get his head around the situation.

“I think you’ll find there is, unless you want me to shoot you. Now go on, get out, call your fucking boss and leave me alone with my brother.” I demand, aiming my gun at his head. I don’t feel bad about the desperate look he gives me, even if I did shoot, I have no idea if I'd hit him, I only ever took a few lessons. But the power it gives me feels incredible at this moment. Enzo taps Dario on the shoulder ordering him to stand down but he refuses to lower his gun. I pull back the hammer with my thumb, rotating the cylinder and locking the cartridge in place, clearly stating my warning. It has the desired effect as Dario’s pupils flare at me while he slowly lowers his arms.

“You’re fucking dead Costello.” He spits towards Max as Enzo now drags him from the room, already with his phone in his free hand, no doubt calling Silas.

With a deep breath I turn back to face my brother who looks much worse than he did just a moment ago, but I catch the faintest smirk pulling up the corner of his mouth. I lower my gun, clicking the safety back on and slipping it into the waistband at the back of my sweatpants.

“Where is Teddy, Max?” I ask, all of my momentary bravado now diminished, the after effects of the adrenaline leaving me jittery and unstable. I move forward on wobbly legs until I'm standing an arms length from Max, completely unafraid that he will hurt me. I know deep down in my heart that he never would, not after everything we’ve been through together. But the look on his face makes me recoil.

“Don’t look at me like that.” I choke, trying to look deeper into his eyes, unwilling to accept the truth.

“Like what?” he asks, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.

“Like I’m not going to like what it is you're going to tell me.” I say, hot tears burning the back of my eyes once again. This can not be happening. Max hangs his head in defeat, his legs buckle underneath him as he crumples to the floor and begins to sob. I’ve never seen him cry before, not even when we were children, and his sudden vulnerability catches me off guard. It makes him seem so exposed and my heart breaks for more than just my son while I watch him struggle to catch his breath as he sobs into his hands with a painfully strangled scream.

“He’s gone, Luc… we were sleeping… I couldn’t get to him… they beat me… knocked me out… and when I woke… I’m so sorry Luc… This is all my fault… I couldn’t…” His broken speech cripples me. What he went through, what they both went through, I can’t even bear to think about it. Nausea rolls in my stomach at the thought of Teddy being held in a cellar somewhere, beaten, starved and... I lunge quickly, picking up the small trash can next to Teddy's bed before dry heaving myself to the floor where I then begin to cry for everything I’ve lost. A firm arm sweeps across my shoulders and just like he used to while I cried myself to sleep after I ran from Vinny, he cradles me against his chest, stroking his hand across my hair and rocking us gently back and forth. The motion used to be so soothing, but now it feels tainted. I notice the stiffness in his movements, and have to try hard to blink away my tears, narrowing my eyes at the large welts around both of his wrists. I gasp, instantly bringing my hands to the wounds and gently grazing my fingers across the raised skin.

“Who did this to you?” my voice is barely above a whisper. “Who took Teddy?” I ask, unsure if I truly want to hear the answer. Max stills and I all but hear the tension crackle through the room between us before the door to the room is kicked from its hinges.

Chapter 9

Silas

“Go long!” I shout across the park to a blonde haired boy. I launch the ball into the air, and watch as he smiles back at me before sprinting in the direction of the football. Beside me I hear giggling, I smile at the sound, it’s music to my ears. I cast my gaze to my right where the melody is coming from and see the most mesmerizing woman, with blonde hair and deep emerald eyes in my best friend's arms as my younger brother, Cole is feeding her grapes and smiling at her like she is the world and he is the moon.

“Uncle Si, where is Teddy?” Alesso asks, snapping my focus from the beautiful sight before me. I look around and he's nowhere to be seen. He’s gone. My heart thumps frantically in my chest as I begin to panic and I take off running in the direction that Teddy was in just moments ago. Finally, I see him, but he’s not alone. He's being held with a knife to his throat by a monster. My father.

“Letting your heart get involved never ends well, my boy. Have you learnt nothing from what happened to your mother?” He taunts and before I can stop him he draws the knife closer to Teddys neck and slits his throat, spraying his blood and covering me in a sickly warm red liquid. I cry out, barely recognizing the sounds coming from within me as Lucille’s blood curdling scream pierces my ears while my father laughs menacingly, baring his teeth at me.

My eyes snap open, I'm sweating and my heart is pounding in my chest like a freight train. It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real. My father is dead. He's not behind this, I remind myself. I gaze next to me as I hear Lucille mumble incoherent noises in her sleep and before I can stop myself I reach over to gently stroke her cheek, desperate to feel her to make sure she’s real. Her skin is soft beneath my rough calloused hands, it looks like porcelain, delicate and easily breakable to a monster like me. She's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I love her, and I would gladly give my life to make her happy. It’s an effort to drag myself from the bed without waking her, but I know she needs her rest. Quietly, I walk over to the window and peek beneath the curtains, it's still dark out. I glance down at my watch, it’s still early. I can’t have slept more than five hours. I don't see much point in going back to sleep now, not when there is so much to do, so instead I grab some loose fitting sweatpants and a towel, and decide to make my way down to the gym. A work out will help me erase the demons in my head until I can get the revenge I so desperately need. I take one last look at my girl sleeping peacefully beneath my sheets and head out, closing the door as quietly as I can behind me.

I head down the stairs to our home gym and open the door, making my way over to the weight bench. I'd normally want to get in the ring when I feel this much tension but I'm sure Lincoln has had even less sleep than me, and I don't trust myself to stop with any other fucker in this house with my mood. Just as I start to bench a few reps the door swings open, Lincoln looks like he's going to burst as he bounds over to me. I take in his appearance, it's clear he's had hardly any sleep and with the state of him, he clearly hasn't changed his clothes since last night either. I slowly lower the weights and sit up, lifting my eyebrows, silently telling him he looks like shit.

"Don't comment on my appearance, Silas. I've just had a call from Felix, we need to move now. The van has been sighted. Let's go!" He says like he's reading my thoughts about his clothes from yesterday. But what I'm really confused about is what he’s actually rambling on about.

"Lincoln, slow down. What are you talking about? What van?" I ask him, hoping he'll explain.

"Fuck, I’ll fill you in on the way, but we need to move, NOW!" he yells. Lincoln is always the calm and collected one of the three of us. Whatever he's desperate to find is important and I'll never doubt him.

"This better be worth it, I was planning on taking Lucille to her apartment this morning." I mumble, grabbing a sweatshirt from the rack on the wall on the way out.

I pull my phone from my pocket and shoot a quick text to Enzo and Dario, ordering them to take Lucille to her apartment if I am not back by the time she wakes up. Giving strict instructions to collect any clothes or items she needs and above all, to keep her safe. As we approach the car Linc jumps in the driving seat and I head to the passenger side.

"This could be it, we could have found Teddy, Si."

I look over at Linc in shock, surely I heard him wrong. “What do you mean? Explain NOW, Brother."

Linc lets out an exasperated breath as he starts the engine and races the car down the driveway. He's already hooked his tracking system up to the display across the dash and I can see a direct link to the vehicle we are tracking. It's on the other side of the city but it's moving towards our territory.

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