Someone went down with my first shot. Blood splattered over my suit, only looking like decor. “Elijah! Get him now!” I demanded and my twin’s best friend went for him. The shots were starting to be heard by more, our silencers not working. 

“Neriah! Over here!” Ezekiel called, pulling me behind a bush. His spirits were better today, he was nearly back to his joyful self. 

Aurora and Giovanni van Husen were up, guns out. I saw Elijah from the corner of my eye, etching closer and closer to the table full of Zomji members. He’d snatch Austin van Husen and take him back to base. 

They were moving out of the room, seemingly empty handed and weaponless. I saw Maverick making a run to the door and let him go. Elijah wouldn’t be able to get Austin while I took Maverick. 

An ear-piercing scream I knew only a girl could make came from the doorway. 

“AUSTIN!” The girl’s scream made out those words and those words only. Her heels -I think her name was Aurielle- fell to the ground as she chased after her brother. I believed he was her brother. Aurielle’s brother however was frozen, limbs limp and green eyes wide as Elijah dragged him. 

“Let’s go! Now!” He grunted, the excess weight slowing him down. Ezekiel grabbed Austin’s legs and together they ran out to the car. I knew Aurielle was weak so I shot her in the thigh. She fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes and I made my way to the car. Apparently, they’d all collectively agreed to use my car while I was away for the vote! Nova greeted me with a wave. The boys chucked our victim into the back on the floor and gave me the signal to begin driving. We were all going to stay at Piltatria’s headquarters for the week, taking turns guarding our captive, gaining information from him. 

“Good run, eh?” My brother chuckled.

“What are you, Canadian? We’re Slavic for god’s sake!” I hissed at him. He shrugged and turned to his friend. “Nova, how’s Austin going back there?” I asked my own friend. 

“He’s fine. I gave him a sedative so he should be out like a light soon.” Even though he was wide awake the whole time, he hadn’t screamed or kicked whilst we stole him away. He hadn’t fought while he was tossed around either. I didn’t know why either. 

“He’s completely out now, like.. I don’t know when he’ll wake up. It’s like he’s asleep but the sedatives made it worse?” Nova added on and I turned to face her.

“Maybe just give him a while. If he’s not up by dawn, wake him.” I instructed.

“You’ll be on the roster then, so you do it.” So much for being besties when she had to remind me of all the hard work I had to do. 

“Right.” 

________________________________________________________

He wasn’t awake by eight in the morning and no matter how much I tried, he just wouldn’t get up. We’d tied him by the wrists and legs, letting him roll around on the floor when he slept. 

“How is he not up? He’s had twelve hours of sleep!” Ezekiel mused as he came down.

“Why don’t you wake him up then? I’ve tried everything!” I sighed, flopping into one of the chairs I’d moved down here. 

“Watch this baby sis.” He cracked his knuckles. 

“I’m younger by three damn minutes and I am so much more mature than you!” 

My older brother kicked our victim in the stomach and he folded like a piece of paper before gasping and opening his eyes. “There! He’s up. Wasn’t hard either.” Ezekiel snorted and I rolled my eyes. 

“Whaddya want? I-I need to… Go bread.” Austin seemed like he could barely string a sentence together. He definitely could though. “I need to use the restroom.” He concluded, flopping like a fish when he tried to stand. 

“Bucket, corner. Or you could do it in your pants.” I snickered and he flushed bright red. 

“Untie me. Now.” Sounded like a command but I continued standing over him.

“Sorry buddy, but we have a few hundred questions to ask you.” I responded, placing my foot on his stomach. “If you don’t answer, you might want to go to the toilet now.” I stuck my bottom lip out and gave his stomach a light press. 

“I’m not telling you jackshit!” Austin cursed, trying to move his arms. 

“Might want to hold your bladder then. Question one, name and information of each of your peers.” 

“So we got Jim, Tim, Pam and Lia.” He lied, smiling.

“Liar.” I pressed down on his stomach and he grunted. I noticed how thin he was, compared to the rest of his team. I’m pretty sure Maverick had more muscle than he did.

“Why didn’t you fight back when we took you yesterday? Something is clearly wrong in your pretty little head.” I taunted, pressing down more on his stomach. His lips pulled back into a scowl and I added more pressure. 

“Neriah, you're off and I’m on!” My twin called and skipped over. Like actually skipped. 

“You’re back to normal now, are you?” I smiled, feeling happy for him.

“Mhm. Now move. I want a turn with this thing.” He eyed Austin before inching towards him. 

“I’m not a thing.” The captive growled from his spot on the floor.

“You are now.” My brother chuckled. 

I left them and went upstairs, knowing Ezekiel wouldn’t be as nice as I was. 

________________________________________________________

It was my turn once again, but I had more information now. Nova had read up on Austin and found out he had a rough teenage life. Despite growing up rich, he’d been abducted while on holiday. Not much else was written in the file except from a few family issues and medical stuff. 

It’d been eight hours since I’d been down in the basement. Eight hours since I’d seen Austin and he was not in a very good condition. Bruises marred his thin frame, along with streaks of crimson in his blonde hair. 

“Wassup?” He slurred from the floor, rolling over to face me. His right eye had a horrific bruise covering it. “Is it dinner time?” He added on, his voice quiet. 

“No.” I flat-lined, rolling him over with my foot. He groaned at the movement. I quickly realised that the ropes that were once tied around him were now gone. “Still haven’t answered any questions?” 

“Nah. I politely declined.” Austin snickered before wincing. 

“Here’s an easy question, where is the Zomji hangout?” I knew the answer to this, but I needed to see if we could really trust this kid.

“17 None of your business road.” He smiled, sitting up against a wall. The corners of my mouth fell down into a frown as I grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head back into the wall.“I don’t tolerate liars.” 

“Then you better let me go.” He sneered, wiping the blood from the back of his head. 

“No thanks. Maybe answer the questions truthfully and we’ll let you go quicker.” I suggested, smiling down at him. 

“I’ll have to decline, politely.” Austin said, continuing to wipe away blood.

“How sad.” I rammed his head back into the wall. “Now, answer these questions if you want to go home, little boy.” 

His eyes widened as I tugged hard on his hair. When I pulled my hand away, it was drenched in blood. “Ew!” 

“Your fault.” He shrugged, a smile rising on his face. I rammed his face into the wall and felt him go limp.