Dre and Ellise visited Jade few hours after the traumatic revelation. Jade's baby girl was such a beauty. She had Jade's eyes and nose but she looked so much like her father. Dre and his wife returned home thereafter.
"I bet you're going to be a great father" she said to Dre, hugging him from behind. His body relaxed in her arms.
"I don't know what I'll do without you, Ellie. You're everything to me" he said.
She smiled, kissing his bare back.
"You mean a lot to me too" she whispered.
"We'll get through this, I promise" he said.
She nodded, closing her eyes.
"Aren't you tired?" He asked.
She chuckled.
"I'm tired. My back hurts and my feet are starting to hurt" she groaned, pouting.
He cupped her face, his eyes reflecting his concern for her
"Oh come on. It's nothing serious. I just need a massage that's all" she whined.
He gave her a small smile and led her to the bed before grabbing the massage ointments.
She sighed as he began to massage her back. "You okay?" He asked. "Mmmhm" she hummed, closing her eyes.
"What are we going to name our child if it's a boy?" She said.
"No, I want a girl" he said, playfully. "Dre, come on. I want a boy. Beautiful, strong and brave like his father" she said and he smiled.
"I want a girl. Beautiful, courageous and strong willed like her mother" he said, kissing her cheek. She blushed, burying her face against his chest.
"I'm not courageous. I left without taking a good look at the situation" she said.
He kissed the corner of her ear.
"No, you were the victim" he said and she sighed, leaning into his arms.
...
Dre sat up in bed, trying to pull in air into his starved lungs. He'd fallen asleep with Ellise after the massage, only for him to be woken up by a bizarre nightmare. He looked beside him to see that his wife was sleeping safe and sound. 'She's okay,' he tried to assure himself. But, the images of her being killed kept flashing over and over again in his mind.
It had been a nightmare but it had felt so real. Ellie's stomach had been cut open and she'd been stabbed in the chest with the baby's head separated from it's body. He shuddered unconsciously and left the room. In the bathroom, he stared at his image. There were circles under his blood shot eyes and his face was horribly pale. He swallowed hard, splashing water on his face.
The heavy feeling of foreboding settled around him and he felt an anxiety attack coming on. Something wasn't right.
Something was going wrong.
Gasping, he rushed out of the bathroom and went back to the room. Ellie was still lying on the bed, asleep.
Unable to steady his breathing, he rushed to Lilly's room. She wasn't in bed. Alarmed, he switched on the lights. There was no sign of her in the room but there were blood stains on the floor and the window was open. 'No, no, no' he muttered.
There was a piece of paper on the floor. It was stained with blood but it had Lilly's handwriting.
'Don't come for us. It's what she wants. She wants to kill Lizzy. I'm'
He was dismayed.
'Why 'us'?
Who else was taken?
Oh God, no' he thought.
He hurried downstairs to Cece's room. The window was open and there were blood stains on the floor. He couldn't breathe.
His phone rang and he picked the call. It was from Xanthis.
"Xan?" She rapsed.
"Hello, Mr Alexandre Montero" came Nadine's reply.
His stomach clenched and he swallowed hard.
"What have you done with my brother?" He demanded.
She laughed.
"I didn't want to take him too. He tried to stop me from taking Tasha but he had to go down with her. Don't worry, there's one more person I have to take" she said. His grip on the phone tightened. Like hell would he let her anywhere near Ellie.
"I'll give you five days. You show up here and kill yourself right before your relatives. That way, you'll be saving their lives. Good luck on your choices. Oh, and your beautiful mom is here too. Ciao" she said and the line went dead.
With an angry yell, he punched the wall until his knuckles bled and swelled.
"Dre? Are you in there?" Ellie's voice came from outside the room as she opened the door.
"What's wrong?" She said, her eyes widening.
"They're gone" he choked out, his heart constricting.
"No" she breathed, tears filling her eyes. "It's my fault. I should've-"
"Please, stop it. It's not your fault" Ellie sniffed as he sank to his knees.
She held him in her arms as she wept. He closed his eyes, pain filling him to the core. "We're both stronger than Nadine. We'll pull through. I'm here with you. I'll never leave again" she said, rubbing his bare back. "What if-"
"Sh! No what ifs. We'll bring her down. She can't hurt us. Nothing can hurt us if we don't let it hurt us. We have to be strong"
The irony of it was that he didn't feel so strong. It felt like he'd been wounded deeply and it was bleeding so much. This pain felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest.
This pain caused a sudden change in him. This pain had just awakened a part of him that he'd kept buried deep within him. The monstrous and vengeful part of him. The pain had awoken something raw. Something fierce. He was afraid that the part of him that Ellie had met when she'd first met him was back. He felt like he could tear anything apart to get to Nadine.
....
Xanthis opened his eyes, groaning weakly. His head was pounding hard and someone was gently dabbing his temple.
"Tasha?" He said, blinking at her. She smiled weakly, wiping her bleeding nose.
"You're hurt pretty bad. You have a nasty head injury" she said as she continued to wipe off the blood from his temple. He winced, closing his eyes briefly.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"I don't know, but it looks like a basement" she said, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
"Isn't there a way out?" He slurred, his vision blurred.
"Not exactly. Hey, look at me. Don't fall asleep" she said, stroking the side of his face.
"Need to- so tired" he slurred, his head hurting badly.
"You need to stay awake" she whispered. He nodded weakly as she held him close to herself.
"We'll get out of here. This is all my fault" she muttered.
"No, not-" he wanted to argue with her but he was feeling too woozy from blood loss.
There was a loud bang and some other people were pushed into the basement before the door was slammed shut. Xanthis winced, trying to clear his vision. "Mum? Lilly? CeCe?" Xanthis said, shocked.
"Xan? You're bleeding a lot" his mum said as she moved closer to where he was lying.
"You need medical attention" CeCe said. Lilly just sat there with tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I don't want to die" she whispered. His heart broke for her. She was so young. She shouldn't be brought into this mess. She didn't deserve it.
Alicia tore the edge of her dress and tied it around her son's head.
"That bitch is going to pay for this. Nobody messes with the Monteros and goes free" she said, squeezing his hand gently.