DISCLAIMER: CSI Miami and its characters are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer and CBS. No infringement intended.
WARNING: This story contains scenes of bloody violence. Reader discretion is advised.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Choices
By sinjenkai
Part 19
The lights in her room blinked on blindingly bright and Grayson's liquid black eyes shot open as she shot to a sitting position. The only reason her lights would click on would be if the perimeter of the natural front yard had been breached.
"He's come at last..." Came her frighteningly happy voice. The time was upon her, so she slid out of the bed; she always slept fully dressed and ready for a fight. Staying barefoot in the black stretch sweat pants, and black tank top, Grayson raced up the stairs from her bedroom underneath the house. Her bedroom itself was concealed inside thick walls of stone and wood; it would take a cruise missile to remove her from it.
She barely had time to hide behind the enormous wooden bar in the main room before she heard Judas push open the front door quietly. Peeking over the top of the wooden bar, she saw his figure stop at the giant wall of glass that over looked the view from Wyndhurst manor. There was an artic blue lake below the home that was built on a giant out cropping of natural rock that jutted over the lake.
Taking a step further into the room with silent footsteps, his eyes scanned every inch of it. A slow smile crept at a corner of his lips, the way man senses 'ghosts', he could feel her in the room. Slipping his coat off his shoulders, he set it on the arm of a chair, taking a slow long breath, causing steam to roll from out from his lips. He turned his head to the side, then back he took another step in. "Bellissimo…" He whispered in a bone chilling tone.
As always, Grayson's heartbeat went from calm and steady to erratic, like a dying bird. Her hands slid along the floor, there was a small knife stored under the cabinet. If she opened it, he would hear her, and there was no way in fucking hell she was letting this asshole get away from her again. Nine hundred square miles of fenced in game wild wilderness. Smiling victoriously, she laughed softly, letting the echo bounce in the cavernous room that was the focal point of the house, with its enormous three-story glass window and high open beams of wood running into stone pillars around the room, it was the perfect place for her to hide. Darting once, he turned the wrong way, she hid behind a pillar, sliding up to it, closing her eyes and sensing him in the room.
Turning as he felt the shift in the air, he sidestepped away from all things she could hid behind. His eyes darted to the floor where the steamed outline of her foot lifted from the ice-cold floor. He turned his face away from her again, then back; his vision never crossed the pillar she stood behind again. In a quick silent movement, his hand gripped her shoulder and clenched his fingers into her muscle, ripping her into the middle of the room.
Bringing an open fist, palm up, the Italian woman crushed her fist into his nose, and while he was stunned, she kneed him the groin, before grabbing the back of his head with both of her hands, slamming her knee into his face again. She darted behind another pillar and laughed again echoing off the high ceilings making her location unclear in the room. The two walls that sat adjacent to the enormous glass wall, one was full of different kinds of weapons, anything and everything in hand-to-hand combat. Maces, tomahawks, throwing stars, swords, machetes, though there was one missing form that side, anything with a blade that could saw you down the middle was there. Diving in a roll, she snatched a small brass knuckle off the wall, then spun and grabbed the tomahawk she had made herself from hollow strands of bamboo from China. "Come on pretty boy..."
He chuckled, wiping the blood from his nose, adjusting it with the pinch of two fingers. He proceeded to pop his neck, and knuckles. Finally looking at the windowed wall and snickered, "I've come all this way for you Bellissimo and that is the greeting you give me? Come on pretty boy? Tsk, tsk…" He watched her form move, his fingers gripping the brass knuckles under his gloves tightly. He moved toward her, keeping his shoulder to her, crossing over his own foot as he made his way to her side of the room. He came onto her, grabbing the throwing axe by the handle just above her hand, pulling her into him. His brass-baring fist came down on the back of her neck, dropping her to the floor on her stomach. Putting his knee to her upper arm, he kept one hand on the back of her neck, the other knee over the back of her thigh. His other hand snaked into her hair pulling her head back. "Mmm… I've missed you." He kissed just under the base of her skin with ice-cold lips. "Three years is much… Much too long." His lips dragged down her spine as the hand ripped away the tomahawk, throwing it across the room. He flipped her over in one hard swift fast movement, his hands and knees scrambling to replace themselves to pin her.
"Been following my career... Judas?" She whispered through clenched teeth, her back was bent at an awkward angle and he had almost broken her neck. Something was different this time; she knew she could take him. She just knew, but she also realized one other thing, it seemed that this time around Judas was playing for keeps. "Must suck to see me parade around like that huh? Since you want me so badly…" She spit back at him.
He sneered, "Nineteen years being your shadow… And only now you've figured out my real name." Avoiding her head butt as he leaned in close to her ear he whispered in her favorite hair rising tone, "Pity, I wanted to whisper it in your ear so you could scream it from the flat of your back." His hands gripped her wrists, positioning himself over her, his weight balanced so she couldn't move. He captured both wrists in one hand. His other hand reaching down delicately tracing a fingertip over the scar he left her so many years ago. "Constant reminder that I'm always near…" He grinned arrogantly staring at her with ice blue eyes. His weight coming off her wrists slightly.
"Then stop being such a pussy and take what you wanted..." She swallowed the bile that rose from the depths of her belly, burning its way up her esophagus. The suggestive tone in her voice was clear, as was the stretching of her lithe beautiful body beneath his. Pressing her hips back up into him, she stretched her hands out on the floor.
His fingers wrapped around her throat, pushing the back of her neck flat to the floor. "Oh I am, but I wish to enjoy the fruits of my labor at my own speed… I'm not that pathetic monkey protecting your Grandfather." His eyes narrowed, his grip on her tightening around her hands, keeping her fully stretched out and now restrained under his grasp. His thigh spread her legs, sinking between them. His vision moved from her eyes to her body over his shoulder. Undoubtedly, the most gorgeous woman he'd laid eyes upon was now moving against him like this made his ice-cold blood boil. He grabbed the back of her thigh, pulling it around his waist before pressing his weight against her; suggestive gestures were enough for now. He'd waited this long, he wanted to feel every muscle. His hand slid down the back of her thigh, curling her hips up. His hands loosening moment by moment on her wrists, tightening every so often reminding himself.
"Oh Stefan? He's nothing on you…" She smiled, moving underneath him, her voice choked under his grasp. She was waiting; the way a crocodile waits for its prey to come close enough for a big nasty bite.
His hand moved as the flat of his palm slide under her shirt, causing a low rumbling moan to roll through his throat. His eyes looked back into her, the same hand moved up, cupping her jaw, fingers in her hair, he pressed his lips to hers. Placing a kiss on her lips that poured a longing love, devotion and passion, soft and sweet to melt into despite the monsters they both were. His hips didn't move, though they held her lower half firmly to the floor.
Waiting until he completely relaxed above her, Grayson opened her mouth and latched her teeth firmly onto his top lip. She had seen bulldogs do this to a bully in the ring; when a matador couldn't control the bull; the dog stepped in. An animal picking up once again where a human left off, she yanked her head back, biting as hard as she could, enjoying the warm coppery tang of blood spraying her face and mouth as she tore at his face, her hands digging their nails into the back of his neck, holding him firmly to her.
His hands moved to her forearms, keeping them still to keep her from snapping his neck, lifting their upper bodies two feet, he roared in pain, slamming them to the ground. Growling through clenched blood soaked teeth, shaking as the pain tore through him, every nerve in his body on fire. He pressed his forehead tight to her chest, he surged his body upward pinning her head back as his body shivered to gain control over the pain but it was mind numbing. He slammed them into the ground with the force of a freight train twice more. His head bounced off her neck and between her collarbone, causing blood to drip from either side of her neck and pool on the floor below her.
Her teeth snapped through the flesh, ripping it completely from his face, laughing in victory through the pain, her hands pushed him back and off her rolling away from him. She spit his upper lip out of her mouth, smiling through the fog in her head; she fell to a crouched position shaking her head. Blood covered everything from her lips down to her chest; Grayson was soaked in Judas' blood. "What's the matter Judas... Nothing to say? I thought you wanted me big boy... Don't you want the monster you turned me into?"
Not bothering to wipe away blood from his teeth, he hissed, saying nothing. Rising to his feet, he laughed, sounding the same even without the entirety of his upper lip, "You act as if that'd never been removed before. Full… Face replacements, plastic surgery hundred's of times to keep you in check." He looked at her chest, then his own returning his ice-cold stare to her eyes. Running his fingers through bleach blond hair giving it a blood red streak to one side more like war paint than something pain induced. He cracked his neck and waited calmly. "Though, years of waiting, being so devoted solely to you, I wished you'd appreciate at very least my kiss." He eyes showed a sad grin, but the rest of his face and posture screamed pure rage.
"You honestly thought I did all this knowing you wouldn't come?" Grayson threw back her own head, laughing hysterically rising to her feet; she walked slowly around to the counter and pulled out shotgun, pointing it at his head. "All the shows, the performances, the way I dressed, it was all to lure you here... Back to me. I'm glad you missed me baby boy... Because I sure as fuck missed you." She pumped the shotgun once and pointed it at his right leg, pulling the trigger. She smiled when a huge chunk of his right thigh was sprayed with buckshot, some flesh actually peeling from bone.
He screamed through a growl dropping to his good knee. "Nineteen years... Never once drawing a gun on you... You reduce me to a shotgun. You are no monster of mine." He huffed though the pain. His hands shook as he grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, pulling her to him. Intending to harm her initially, his arms hugged her waist as his body started shaking violently. The monster within him crumbling to sedation of pain, the man buried deep inside, curled his head down against his obsessions stomach. His hands flat on her lower back as his muscles loosened, curling into her as blood loss made him dizzy and weak.
Dropping the gun, Grayson laughed, wrenching his head back, forcing him to look at her. "There is no such thing as a fair fight, Paul Judas." She drug him by the hair across the stone floor, leaving the trail of blood behind her. She unlocked and pushed open the wooden door, dragging his weakened body across the snow-covered patio above the lake. She continued to drag him towards the railing where the drop was the lowest. Taking one bare foot and ignoring the sting of the ice on her skin, she stepped up onto the railing, her now enormous muscles lifted his body easily over the edge, and she now hung him by the front of his shirt over the twelve-foot drop to stone below where the Canadian wilderness spread out around them.
His hands gripped the railing at his chest, throwing himself into her, head butting her between the eyes with a raw thud. Throwing his upper body over the rail with the motion, the rest of his body followed with a thump. Wrapping his arms around her legs, tightened causing them to come together, ripping them from under; he dropped her to the deck. Climbing over her with huffs, exhausted body heaved with breath, his head over her heart, lying limply on top of her as he had when they were inside.
Lifting her hands up under his chest where they still laid, she brought a knee up under his hip, grunting with suppressed laughter. "That's it? From the almighty Judas?" She laughed sickeningly in his face, the moonlight reflected off her scarred face showing the depths of insanity in her fathomless black eyes. His blood on her face was thick, smeared across her mouth, throat, chest, and upper arm, not to mention it was still stained in her teeth. She rolled them over sitting up and stared down at him, spitting his own blood in his face, laughing again.
He snarled. "Cowards shoot guns…" His rage started to stack, patience exhausted, along with more blood than most could withstand. His fist slammed down on her chest where his blood face print lay over her heart. He lifted his upper body up, head butting her again between the eyes. Spitting his blood through his upper teeth and bottom lip into her eyes. His hand blocked a swing of her arm to land a punch to her jaw as he sneered, holding his breath. "Blood loss… Altitude variation… Having to beat the only woman I've loved." He pulled her by the back of the neck forward pressing his manipulated face to her ear and whispered icily, "Quite exhausting…" He shoved her off him with an intense force, dragging himself to his knees, failing at standing.
She lay gasping on her knees, the snow around her, dropping on them both. Picking up a big chunk, she pushed the icy cold material into her eyes letting the natural body heat melt the water and flush out the blood. "A coward I am not...Better than you I always will be." She looked up from the blood stained face her hands smearing it across further to mimic him. "I am not the monster you created Judas ... No, no, no... I am the Nightmare that haunts you both waking and sleeping." She tackled him, slamming their bodies into the railing and out the other side, roaring in rage as she wrapped her arms around him tight, squeezing his arms compressed within hers through the freefall. Unable to control herself through the momentum, she landed flat on her back, happily, the fullest parts of her body underneath her caught the brunt of the force, her upper shoulders, and her full backside bruised, but not broken. Releasing him, she brought two rough knuckled fists with crushing force to both sides of his ribs, listening to the satisfying crunch of his bone beneath her strength.
His eyes widened as dropped relaxing into her as they slammed to the ground. His hands shot out trying to block her fists, growling each time they landed, he simply rolled his body off hers. Daring himself to breathe, his body arched in pain as he forced a breath in. Tiny forced breaths darted from clenched teeth, producing steam in short puffs. His hands shook as they gripped at the rock trying to lift himself from the jagged surface poking at him through the snow. He lay still spitting out the blood that filled his mouth letting it slid down his jaw. His body, satisfyingly numb, lifted to his feet, and hobbled slightly to his good leg feeling nothing though from head to toe he shook uncontrollably.
Slowly climbing to her feet as well Grayson staggered slowly before rolling her shoulders slowly, smiling at Judas, Grayson winked through a blood stained eye, blood vessels having blown making one eye shot to hell, the white completely gone. "Well, well, well... Had enough? Looks like it. I grow tired of this game now…" Taking the hair tie off her wrist, she almost casually swept her long bloody hair up into a ponytail. Looking down at her cracked digital watch, she tapped it, smiling when the time was correct. "I'll give you a forty-five minute head start... "She smiled at his appearance. "If you make it past the edge of the property, you can live." She nodded her gory face towards the woods past the lake towards the mountains. "There might be a Ranger station nearby… Past the Grizzly territory."
"Bellissimo…" He shook his head as his leg gave out from under him. He snarled, gripping a three-inch thigh tree branch, breaking it off with sheer force; lashing it to his leg. He looked around, he began moving, falling, crying out now and then. He started crawling as the life force from his body began to disintegrate.
Wiping bloody hands on her soaked shirt to no avail, Grayson almost skipped up the stairs of her home, past the bloody snow that would be gone by morning, wolves were all over the property. Once inside she didn't change, she began to layer, leaving her face bloody proud of what she had done. A large hunter green coat with a fuzzy hood covered her upper body, along with another layer of skintight hiking pants and combat boots. Plucking the tomahawk off the floor where it had fallen, she compressed it back to its smaller size tucking it inside her pouch on her hip. Then she picked up a compound bow off the wall, having seen Natalia use one before she understood how it worked, along with six arrows to slide into the black piece of plastic attached to her back. Gritting her teeth, she slowly walked back down to the bloody scene and looked at her watch. He still had thirty seconds left, but what the hell. "Ready or not... HERE I COME!" She screamed.
Knowing he was still miles away from any property line, he continued to crawl. His frost stricken body inched along like a warrior in battle, unwilling to give up. His forehead dropped to the snow before giving him such a headache he continued to move again. He'd made it a mile and a half surprisingly, walking before his lower body completely gave way. His forearms dug into the soft snow pulling him forward.
It took her about twenty minutes to catch up to him, tracking his bloody trail through the woods, humming quietly to herself. Finally, when she happened upon him dragging himself through a rocky gorge, Grayson laughed loudly. "Found you!" She already had the bow notched and ready, letting the arrow let loose with a tell tale whistle of the hair, burying itself in his right ankle.
Laughing hysterically, Judas completely lost his mind. "I… Think? You just shot me again, was that what that was…" He dug his hands into the snow moving full arm length at the same slow pace. "Come child. Kill me with your hands. Stop hiding behind your machines, your toys." The arrow caught on something, but he simply forced the metal of the shaft to bend and give way with a snarl. Continuing on.
She notched another arrow, jumping down ten feet onto another rock ledge, this time she smiled cruelly. "Toy this asshole..." She loosed another arrow; this time the steel rod slid through his forearm, pinning his mangled arm to an exposed frozen tree root, he was going nowhere. She jumped down again, this time landing feet away from his head. Her boots crunched loudly in the snow as her bloody visage towered over his, her foot on his throat. Reaching into the pouch, she withdrew the tomahawk, sliding it open with a flick of her wrist. "Who paid you?"
Blond hair disappeared into snow as his head lifted in an attempt to give a bigger surface to keep her boot on. His hand reached up and worked the metal shaft until it finally bent to break lifting his arm with a wince off it. "Payment was never what I did it for... That was the bonus..." Gorgeous blue eyes looked up at her, as his body lay torn in the ice.
Bringing the tomahawk up the forced the blade against his cheek, then knelt down removing her foot off his chest, but replacing it with a knee, she sneered in his face. Ignoring his remarks, she brought the blade down under his jaw sawing gently making his neck began to resemble hers, only she was taking her time. "Who hired you to kill my parents?" She smiled again. "Tell me and I'll kill you quickly." She lied.
Judas's bottom lip hid between his teeth letting out a hard breath before going totally still as blood started to seep from his neck. His hand moved up shakily and lightly holding her forearm as he stared into her eyes somewhere between madness and love, he whispered carefully. "Bellissimo..." Trying not to move his adam's apple within the slicing blades reach. He cringed finally, his hand gripped her forearm moving the blade away, once their scars would match. He moved her hand over his chest, tomahawk, and all, pulling her gingerly closer. Faintly he took a breath sinking his fingers into her hair despite her ponytail, pressing his forehead to the side of her face. "Denato... Stefan..." He shook in his weak state, his voice unable to be louder with a mangled throat. He pulled her head back slowly looking into her eyes. He was broken, merely flesh and bone, the nineteen years he took breaking her, she broke him in only an hour. He winced, gulping the blood that filled his mouth, his eyes closing before looking over her face.
"You lie..." She hissed taking the blade away from his throat. "They wouldn't dare break tradition, family rules, it's punishable by death..." She stood off him, leaving him to die of blood loss and frostbite.
"Grayson Isis Cerano... I have never and would never lie to you. Grayson!" He cried out attempting to move his body, but it simply wouldn't budge. "I spared your life... SPARE MINE OR TAKE IT NOW. Do you think I'd lie to you after they stole my life! My wife was butchered because of them; they would have done it themselves had they not been so cowardly!" He howled as his heart raced, going into shock as his mere human pleads for life and death filled the night.
Stopping she turned around, in a few steps she brought the blade back under his chin, forcing his head back to look at her. "So you butchered my parents for money, my unborn sibling growing in my mother's stomach... So you take this all out on me in the return payment, to toy with me constantly? Well sorry Judas... Your pleas' have fallen upon deaf ears now." She swung the blade back and then buried it with a soft clink entirely through his left wrist, cutting off the hand that bore the ring that was identical to her grandfathers.
He shook his head what little he could, screaming in pain. His arm fell limp in the blood soaked snow. "Like you… I am slave to Denato. Shoving money in my pocket, forced to madness." His fingers lifted his shirt to millions of crisscrossed scars worn over years, letting his head drop to the side scars, hidden by his shirt from facial replacements, be shown. "No one… Sane or mad would put themselves willingly through this… Money or pleasure…" His eyes rolled back before growling; his body tightened as he fought off unconsciousness. He looked beyond her up to the sky before his lifeless gray eyes watched her. "Grayson… I've been what you've been through… Tenfold. Spare me… Or kill me… End my life… Or let me help you. Do not send me to hell like this..." He let out a hard breath, coughing up blood he'd swallowed as it poured down his cheeks and neck.
"It's your hell... You burn in it... "She snapped on the leather gloves and picked up the severed appendage, shoving it into the pouch. Turning around she gave her back, not even turning around to spare him a second glance. "Lord knows what will finally kill you, the frost, the blood loss..., Or the animals."
"A hell your Grandfather himself forced me into!" Tears filled his eye as he rolled onto his side, sitting up, passion for Grayson, and hatred for her Grandfather and his lackey; anger for his family lost drove him to yell. "I've spared you eighteen times... Prized possession of your Grandfather! Torturing you as minimally as possible to take the torture myself for the following weeks! Why do you think you felt alone for weeks after I would come to you?" He called to her. "I did everything I could to protect you Isis..." He used her middle name like the night they met, having only ever called her by her pet name and her first name. "Remember looking into my eyes, wondering why I only cut your throat instead of mangling your body where men can't see." The flash of their first meeting, upon leaving he whispered only her middle name before leaving her side before he came to the present, his head hanging in defeat.
She refused to turn around and dignify him with a response; she continued to listen to the sounds of her boots crunching through the snow. Step after step climbing over rocks listening to the sounds of his screams. It fell on deaf ears, her Grandfather had killed her parents and Stefan had helped him. Gritting her jaw in determination, she pushed every ounce of emotion except hatred, rage, and almost twenty years of torture, the drive to succeed and kill everyone in her path. "Something wicked this way comes…"
Pulling up in front of Eric's condo, Calleigh immediately knew that the place was empty, but got off the bike to look though the windows. She could see empty rooms and the amount of dust that had gathered made it seemed that he had been gone for a while. Going around back, as she got closer to the back windows, she was almost knocked over by the images that assailed her mind. Mutilated pictures of her and Natalia, of Natalia throwing something at a wall and of Eric shouting at her.
What in the hell had happened? Calleigh knew that there was a couple of people that she could ask, but she didn't want to ask Horatio. She had a feeling that this was personal and didn't want to involve him in that part of her life so she decided on Ryan.
Going back around to the front of the condo, Calleigh got on the bike and headed to her colleague's apartment. Parking the bike in one of the guest spots, she took the elevator up to his floor. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on his door and waited for him to open up.
"Calleigh! What are you doing here? Are you ok?" Ryan asked as soon as he saw her standing in his doorway.
Shaking her head, she asked to come in and he led them over to a sofa to sit down. "Talk to me Cal. What's wrong?"
Putting the helmet on the floor, the blonde got up and walked over to the window to look out over the Atlantic. "I need to ask you some questions and I need you to be honest with me Ryan. Can I trust you to do that?"
Standing up, Ryan shoved his hands into the back pocket of his jeans. "You know that you can trust me Calleigh. I have always been here for both you and Natalia."
Turning to face her friend, Calleigh was suddenly scared of what she would find out, but felt that she had to know. "You know that I don't remember the past year or so right? Well, I need you to tell me about it. I don't want you to sugarcoat it, just tell me straight out."
Turning around, the younger man ran his hand through his hair, scowling before he turned back to his friend. "Don't you think that you should ask Natalia about all of this? She knows more than I do."
Shaking her head, Calleigh explained. "No, because she will leave out parts that she thinks that I can't handle, but I know that if I ask, you will tell me everything."
Ryan stared at her, mentally swearing at being put in this position, but knowing that he would do anything that either woman would ask. Taking her by the hand, he drew her back to the sofa and proceeded to tell her as much as he knew about the time that she was missing. About Jake kidnapping Natalia and her killing him when he tried to kill Natalia. About marrying Natalia in Key West, about Stetler and his causing the explosion that temporarily blinded her and then about Jethro and his killing the women that reminded him of Natalia before he kidnapped and tortured her. About them wanting a wedding with both of their families in attendance.
It was early evening and the sky was getting dark when he finally got around to Eric and what had happened there. He explained all that he knew about this situation. That a bullet that had lodged in Eric's head began to move and he became fixated on Calleigh. Everything that he did to both women, and that they had hired Cerano to protect them. That Eric had finally been caught and delivered gift wrapped in black ribbon and handcuffed to Horatio's front porch.
He finished off by saying that over the past six months that he had never seen either woman happier as they were right then. They were in love and expecting their first child; a son named Caden.
Standing up, Calleigh rubbed her arms as she tried to take in everything thing that she had been told. Think about something that he had recently said, she turned to ask Ryan a question. "What do you think Grayson Cerano truly does?"
Quietly her friend answered her. "I think that she's a killer Calleigh, and for some reason neither you or Natalia have brought her in. I've respected that because I can't prove it, but I think that you should be very careful."
Calleigh's eyes went wide as she realized that there was way more going on than she had ever thought. She needed to go home and talk with Natalia and Jordan. This keeping silent was going to end tonight.
Going over to Ryan, she hugged him and thanked him for being honest with her. "I have one more favor to ask. Please do not call Natalia and let her know that I was here."
"Calleigh, you are putting me between a rock and a hard place. I don't feel comfortable getting between you two."
Patting his arm, Calleigh reassured him that she would take the blame if Natalia got upset, then she grabbed her helmet and left, heading towards home.
Sitting on the sofa, Natalia worried with the hem of her shirt, slowly pulling out the thread that held the fabric together. Where could have she gone? Turning to look at the clock, she realized that Calleigh had stormed out of the house over five hours ago.
Jordan had finished painting Caden's room and was now trying to decide if he was going to have a fantasy scene on one of the walls for his nephew as he grew up. Both of their heads snapped towards the garage as they heard the rumble of the motorcycle as it pulled into the garage and then there was silence.
Taking off the helmet, Calleigh ran her fingers through her hair as she looked at the bike, then at the Mustang and the other car, then up at the house. This was her home, she knew this, she felt it, but she didn't recognize it.
Taking off the jacket, she pushed the button to close the garage door, placed the helmet on the shelf and went inside the kitchen door, hanging the keys in their proper place before going heading into the living room.
Then she stopped, she had put everything in its place without thinking. Shaking her head, she was still furious and hurt that she had to go to someone else to tell her about her life. How could she forget that much... How could Natalia withhold that much? Sighing, she turned the corner and saw that Natalia was sitting on the sofa, looking relieved and worried at the same time, while Jordan was just coming out of Caden's room.
Leaning against the wall, she waited for one of them to speak first.
"Enjoy you're ride?" Natalia asked quietly, her glistening tear stained cheeks were obvious, as were her pained chocolate eyes. Jordan narrowed his eyes looking at Calleigh before coming to sit behind Natalia on the couch. Not saying a word, his paint-covered hands were clenched tight in his lap, as if his temper was bursting at the seams.
"Not really." The blonde replied. She wanted to see what they had to say first.
"I have a feeling that I do not need to be here for this." Jordan growled, snapping to the dogs who were laying at Natalia's feet. The animals bounded past Calleigh towards the back door where Jordan opened the sliding door, planning to wait in the backyard alone to think. Natalia watched Jordan sadly, wishing that there was some kind of comfort that she could either of the people in her life.
"No, you stay. You're a part of this mess. I have some questions for you too." The blonde demanded.
Stopping and shutting the door, Jordan turned around slowly, his face drawn and pale, like the weight of the world rested on his strong shoulders. He took his time to sit back down next to Natalia, then he leaned back into the furniture, crossing his legs, watching her. "Then ask away Calleigh."
Natalia shivered as his tone, knowing he had only meant to be blunt, he must of still been angry with the blonde for just leaving like that.
"Calleigh... Baby what's wrong? What happened?" Natalia stood slowly, trying to reach out to the blonde, to grasp her hand, anything to touch her and rewrite their wrongs before this morning.
"What's wrong! What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. I had to go to someone else to find out about Jake, Jethro, and Eric. When were you going to tell me any of this? Don't you think that I have a right to know?" Calleigh backed away, afraid that if she left Natalia touch her that she was just give in and she needed to know.
Taking back her hands as if burned, Natalia looked at Jordan uncertainly, he nodded his head in encouragement. Finally she looked back at her wife. "I didn't know how to tell you all these things... Or even how to broach the subject." Natalia looked down sadly.
Huffing, Calleigh walked so that she could also look at Jordan. "And what exactly does your sister do again?"
"Lots of things.." Jordan answered guardedly, refusing to let the blonde grind him down.
Sneering, Calleigh rolled her eyes. "So she's just not a rock star huh?"
"Your Mustang is an example of some of the things she does." His voice was guttural and rough, his large hand raised pointing angrily towards the garage. If he told Calleigh about Grayson, what would stop her from going to the FBI and forcing his hand. Natalia looked worried as she came to sit beside him, an arm around his shoulders.
Taking a look at the two of them, Calleigh had it. With her voice grinding at its lowest register, she spit out. "There is something else that you're not telling me and I want to know what it is." Pointing to Natalia, she continued. "You say that you love me and that you know me better than anyone else...Then you should know that I need all of the facts before I make any decision, and you haven't given me shit. You sit there protecting him and the rest of your family while you leave me out in the cold, wandering around. How am I supposed to believe anything that you ever say to me if you don't tell me what's going on? Damn it!"
"Make a decision? Like the decision to be with me or not? To raise your son or not?" Natalia stood up yelling loudly, picking up the photo of Jordan and Grayson off of the mantelpiece, she threw it hard across the room, listening to it shatter against the wall across the room. She pointed to Calleigh rudely. "She is a mob hitter Calleigh, and we're police officers. We hid this from you because we didn't know how you would react. If you would turn Jordan in and sell out my family." Natalia had specifically used the words my, because at this moment it felt like the Calleigh she had loved was gone; in her place was some stranger.
Standing frozen, Calleigh's mind went wild as images started to flash through. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "You didn't believe in me enough to give me the chance. You didn't believe in the love that you, Jordan and everyone else says that we have for each other that I would be able to figure things out on my own once I had the information. Don't you think that I would have figured out that keeping quiet about Jordan and his sister was important to you... To us and kept it that way. I deal in facts Natalia. I deal with what I can see and touch. I can make the decision to keep quiet if given the chance, but you didn't give me that. You chose them."
"Well, you don't really have to worry about Grayson..." Natalia shouted back. "She's probably already dead or as close to it as she can get." Tears streamed down her face, hands tight over her stomach. "Natalia..." Jordan came up behind her, a large hand on her shoulder as he brought her in for a hug. "I thought that line of thinking was out."
"It's not just Grayson or Jordan. Why didn't you tell me about Eric? He was my friend. He protected me so many times. Didn't I deserve to know about him. Or even that I killed Jake." Calleigh asked.
"How would I have told you that Calleigh?... I'm sorry baby, you had to kill Jake to protect me? To save me since I couldn't save myself.. " Natalia's voice dripped self loathing, turning away from Calleigh. "That my love for you caused your best friend to try to kill both me and you, so he could have you to himself?" She collapsed into Jordan's arms while he gently moved her to the couch, where she buried her face in his chest, sobbing quietly, lost at what she should do.
Going over to the sofa, Calleigh pushed Jordan aside. "Just tell me one thing. Why did you turn me away?"
Biting back the growl at being shoved, he backed away, moving to clean up the glass from the shattered picture frame. Looking up at Calleigh, Natalia's eyes were broken, she was broken. "It was too much... I couldn't... It was too much. Calleigh I've loved you for far too long from far away... We've been through too many things. Our love is too deep to just casually touch you... I was afraid of pushing you away or holding you too tight... I'm afraid of so many things..." She whispered quietly, turning away from the blonde, unable to meet her eyes.
"Look at me Talia." Calleigh waited.
It took a long moment for Natalia to summon the courage to look Calleigh in the eye.
Slowly reaching out, Calleigh drew her hand through auburn hair to caress her tear stained cheek. "I can feel our love... I feel our love whenever we touch and I was asking for you to show me what my body remembered. I needed that. I still do. I want to feel what I've forgotten. I want to know what everyone is telling me about. I need that."
"I wanted it to be special... Like our first time. I just... I don't know if I can handle having you look at me differently... When we make love." Natalia's eyes began to blur as tears began anew.
Kneeling down, Calleigh leaned forward to press her lips against Natalia's, softly, slowly moving them against the berry lips. Letting her tongue to gently beg for entrance into Natalia's mouth, groaning when it was received. Kissing her for a few moments, Calleigh pulled back. "Does that feel like the first time? It does to me. Because my first memory of our kiss is in the hospital. And this one was so much better."
Smiling sadly, Natalia cupped the blonde's cheek running a thumb over her wife's lips. "Calleigh... Let Jordan finish picking up first.." She whispered blushing as Jordan dumped the tray full of glass into the garbage before pulling the photo out of the frame, dumping the frame in the garbage as well. He then pushed the photo into another frame he had found in the drawer under the phone.
"Does that mean what I think that it does Natalia?" Calleigh whispered.
"Whatever it means is of no matter… Any longer." A cruel, but charming voice from the front door. As soon as Jordan heard that voice; he was in front of Calleigh and Natalia looking for anything to use as a weapon.
Bowing his head, Jordan shook from head to toe, he had never thought Stefan would come for him.
Standing up in front of Natalia, Calleigh kept herself between the man and the brunette. "Who the fuck are you?" She really didn't like the way that Jordan was behaving or how Natalia was beginning to tremble.
"Language my dear, language... "The man tisked lightly, walking into the kitchen, ignoring Jordan whose eyes darted around constantly. "And Jordan, I would stop looking for a weapon... Your sister is the only Cerano still living besides your Grandfather that has that natural born killer instinct." His fingertips slid over the picture still laying on the counter. Picking it up, he smiled cruelly at the twins in the photo.
Jordan growled. "He is Stefan Mancini… My Grandfathers bodyguard."
Behind her, Calleigh heard Natalia whisper. "Oh shit."
Growling, Calleigh demanded. "I don't care you the hell you are. You weren't invited here so you need to get the fuck out of my house."
"Oh, I will be leaving... Soon actually. SIT DOWN." He commanded, the pistol that was suddenly in his hand was now pointed at the trio of people. "Jordan... Ask the blonde to sit down." He brought the photo with him, strolling into the living room again as several armed men with assault rifles stationing themselves at certain points around the room.
Jordan began to sweat, beading down his face. "Stefan please... You have Grayson." His voice broken.
Stefan just smiled sitting down in the chair across from the couch, ignoring Grayson's brother.
Sitting down next to Natalia, Calleigh laid her hand on her thigh in reassurance. "What do you want?"
Straightening his tie slowly, pushing the gun back into the holster inside his jacket. "For you stop interfering." His eyes shifted to Natalia's. "But then again... Mother like daughter...Right?" He laughed cruelly, tossing the photo at Jordan who caught it, watching him wearily. "Grayson is mine... Jordan you know this. She belongs to me. My Mia... And I won't have the two of you..." He stared Natalia and Calleigh down. "...Taking away things that are mine. Natalia... You have something your Grandfather now desires... In case something happens to Grayson.." Stefano's cruel eyes slid down to her stomach, then back to their faces, laughing again.
Calleigh bolted off the sofa, heading towards the older man. "You'll never have our child, you bastard."
Without a second thought, Stefan pulled a taser out of his suit pocket, stunning the blonde into unconsciousness. "Sleep tight blondie... " Lifting his eyes to Natalia and Jordan, he laughed. "I think I'll add her to my collection right after Grayson, Quinn and Sonia." he whispered coldly. The men around the room lifted their rifles; several laser beams were flickering on Jordan's chest and forehead. None of them were pointed at Natalia; they wanted her alive.
Carefully getting off the sofa, Natalia slowly made her way over to her wife, checking to make sure that she was still breathing, before she placed herself in front of Jordan. "I'll come with you willingly if you leave the two of them alone."
Jordan went to open his mouth before a masked man slammed the butt of a rifle into the base of his skull, bringing him to his knees. Stefan laughed, throwing his head back, before removing the gun to place it against Jordan's temple. "You're all coming. Don't worry." He pulled the hammer back. "Though Jordan has always been expendable."
"What do you want in trade for his life?" Natalia quickly asked.
Lowering the muzzle, Stefan smiled again, slamming the butt of the gun into Jordan's temple, making him slump to the floor. Stefan instructed several men to lift both Calleigh and Jordan out of the house into the back of their vehicles. "You... Come willingly... Maybe they'll live... Though I'm tempted to make Grayson end his life." He smiled more to himself than anyone else, rebuttoning his jacket.
Taking a deep breath, Natalia took one final look at their home, hoping that it wouldn't be her last before she proceeded the older man outside and got into one of the waiting vehicles.
Once they had reached the private airfield, Stefan had Calleigh and Jordan bound, gagged and covered in black hoods. Then he had several men lift them and place them in the two small separate bedrooms onboard. The cruel Italian man then helped Natalia delicately into the plane, seating her, but leaving her unbound. Denato would not excuse the bruising of his special package. His eyes narrowed as he watched Natalia fidget nervously in the seat next to him.
"Why does Jordan's grandfather care about me? I have never met the man?" Natalia asked.
"You, or the child." Stefano leaned back, taking a peculiar interest in picking Natalia apart visually, licking his lips slowly, he smiled, one well-manicured hand unbuttoned his jacket, making himself more comfortable. "The child, regardless of the sex will hopefully be something like Grayson. You are a direct descendant of that line, you really have no idea how important your family is, do you?" He laughed to himself, shaking his head.
"Our child will never be like Grayson. He won't." Natalia denied. "He'll be like me and Calleigh. He won't be a killer."
"You mean the killer you so willingly let into your home, into your lives..." Stefan laughed again, high and cold. It was now safe to move about the cabin since they were flying at the safest height possible with Natalia pregnant. "Cerano... The family name itself predates Roman history, though that it where your bloodline really came to its peak, though now it something else entirely. Gladiators, the landowners, then mafia, and now kings." He smiled. "You are the same. I know the Cerano rage. Jordan lacks it, but the females carry the instinctive gene naturally..." He stood behind her seat, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You've never been so blinded by rage that all you can see is death and carnage around you... Especially if it involved that soon to be slut of girlfriend..." He grinned viciously.
Shrugging off his hands, Natalia stood up to face him. "Grayson is only a killer because you, her grandfather and Paul Judas left her no option. She has a loving heart, but trust me when I say that as soon as she knows that you have taken us, she'll come to rescue us and you'll be the one screaming."
Covering his heart in mock sarcasm, he smiled at her. "Please don't give me the entire 'oh she'll come for us' routine... Spare me the dramatics. Grayson is busy entertaining Judas and millions of fans. She cares little for you." He advanced towards her. "After the baby... I plan to keep you around. If you weren't pregnant now, I would defiantly enjoyed your company much further. Though I still have the blonde... Calleigh I believe is her name." He turned to look back at the bedroom for a moment smiling. Then turning to look back at the brunette, he left her side to pour himself a glass of scotch.
"You stay away from her. Don't touch her. I came with you willingly and you said that you would leave her alone." Natalia pleaded.
Rolling his eyes he, turned to face her. "You are in no position to make demands. Once I saw her up close and personal, I could hardly be held accountable for my earlier words. She is delicious, but then again so are you. Grayson... " He pretended to shiver in anticipation. "... You Cerano women are something else.." He ran a hand down her shoulder.
Barely restraining a shudder that ran through her body, Natalia edged away, heading towards the bedroom that Calleigh was being kept in. "May I make sure that she is ok?"
Shrugging, he led her back to one of the small bedrooms and opened the door. "Don't move... Or I'll make you watch, everything." He smiled, checking Calleigh's pulse, taking more time than normal.
"Calleigh, can you hear me?" Natalia called out.
He smiled, leaning over Calleigh to take off the hood, laying it next to her, he pushed two calloused fingers against her throat, smiling even more when she opened her eyes, staring at him for a moment then wide eyes moved to Natalia. "You're awake… Good."
"Calleigh, it will be ok. Caden and I are just fine." Natalia tried to reassure her, wanting to go and take her in her arms, she took a step forward.
Stefan watched Natalia move out of the corner of his eye, his hand began to trace through long blonde strands. Down the side of the neck, trailing over the tendons and ligaments, he began to unbutton her shirt slowly. "I told you not to move Natalia..." His voice had lost all of its charm and wit.
The brunette immediately froze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Please... Please don't touch her."
His hand slid up the back of Calleigh's neck, roughly gripping her hair, forcing her to tilt her head to look at Natalia. "Maybe I can save that for when we land and when Grayson 'comes for you', I'll make Grayson watch me take the both of you at the same time. I think that would be enough to push her into marrying me." He laughed again, his eyes traveling down Calleigh's body.
Grinding her teeth, Natalia fisted her hands in frustration, wanting to go over and yank the man's hands off of her wife, but she remained where she was. "You won't ever have the pleasure of having any of us. Grayson will make sure of that."
Carelessly flinging the blonde down, Stefan towered over Natalia, pressing himself against her, despite her swollen stomach. "Just for that... " He ran a hand down her face before gripping her jaw in his hand. "When I consummate that marriage... I will personally let you watch. No one denies me anything, especially a woman. I do expect Grayson to come for you, just not any time soon." His breath caressed her face, smelling of scotch and cigars.
Growling through her gag, Calleigh struggled to sit up, intent to get over to Natalia. Swinging her legs off the bed, she positioned herself quickly and then lunged towards the man holding her wife. Knocking him down, she went to swing her legs, intending to kick him in the face.
Grabbing Calleigh by the front of the shirt, Stefan stood up slowly, easily keeping her at arm's length. Finally standing to his full height, Stefan lifted her over his head, throwing her hard into the cabin wall, laughing hysterically when her body bounced almost comically off the side. "I never tire of doing that.. " He pulled a small curved knife out of his pocket and straddled Calleigh's body, watching Natalia.
"Don't please. God, please don't hurt her. I'll do anything you want, just don't... please don't hurt her." Natalia held out her hands, pleading with the cruel man.
Suddenly a cramp hit Natalia, making her gasp, her hands immediately going to her stomach. 'No, it's too soon.' she thought.
His eyes narrowed in on her stomach, leaving Calleigh on the floor. He gently led Natalia back to the couch. "Sit, have some water." He handed her a cold bottle. The cruelness had vanished, it seemed Grayson and Jordan weren't the only ones afraid of Natalia's grandfather.
Sipping the water, Natalia concentrated on calming down and controlling her breathing, Humming quietly and rubbing her stomach, she tried to think about happier times, anything to calm Caden down.
"The baby can't be born yet. Can you hold on till the plane lands? We have everything for you to give birth. We will take the baby, Grayson and I will raise it." He laid a hand possessively over her stomach.
"You will never have our son. I will die as will Calleigh before we let you touch him." Natalia growled, pushing his hand away.
"Hmmm, I would rather it were a girl. Grayson is a perfect female specimen... I've watched her grow up over the years... It's been hard.." He stood up to walk over to his own chair, relaxing as soon as he slid into it, closing his eyes. "I'm sure you've seen that perfect body. Had her Grandfather not caught us when she was sixteen, I would of had a real taste then.." he cursed softly under his breath.
Slowly, Natalia turned her head to look at the man with a look of disbelief. "You tried to rape her, didn't you?"
"It's not rape... She belongs to me. She has since she was eight... Her skin tastes like heaven, her skin is so soft. You have no idea… And the way she looks.. "His hand squeezed reflexively as he looked over at Natalia.
"Grayson doesn't belong to you or anyone else. Paul Judas lust after her too, did you know that? He has pictures of her in all sorts of undress. How do you know that he hasn't had a taste." She knew that she was goading the man, but she couldn't help herself.
Growling he leaned forward towards her. "You think after she left Miami that she ran off to where ever she is now? No, she came crawling back to me. Her favorite teacher. No one has tasted her like I have.. She will father me a child just like her. Your son will have a sibling." He laughed again, opening his phone he showed Natalia a picture of Grayson tied down on her stomach. Her back was bare, horrid lashes marred her bronze skin, no doubt from a nine tails whip. Her face was mottled black and blue, like the rest of her skin.
Gasping, Natalia couldn't stop the vomit from erupting from her stomach and all over Stefan's pants and shoes. Hold a hand over her mouth, she made her way into a nearby bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before she vomited again.
Wrinkling his nose in distaste, he fought down the urge to beat Natalia senseless. He opened an overhead compartment changing his outfit into another expensive suit and shoes. Cleaning up the mess slowly, he then went to check on Natalia, grabbing her by the hair. "That wasn't very nice.. I show you a picture of your beloved, 'killer' and you vomit all over my favorite slacks."
"My grandfather won't take it kindly once I tell him that you manhandled me. So get your hands off me. What the hell did you expect for me to do once I saw that. Cheer?" Natalia snarled. "Does he know how you treat his granddaughter?"
"Who do you think helped me tie her down." He wrenched her head away from the toilet and drug her back into the galley, pushing her into a chair solidly, but not enough to physically hurt her. "Grayson was receiving lessons in torture. How better to train someone in mutilation than to try out all your favorite methods."
Natalia looked at him in horror. What kind of family life had Grayson gone through? It was amazing that she acted human at all. Turning away, Natalia stared out the window, intent on ignoring the man for the rest of the flight.
Laughing at the look on her face, Stefan settled himself back into the chair closing his eyes. "I hope Grayson comes for you. I miss her so."
Quietly, Natalia whispered. "She will come, but you won't like it."
"If I can get her to come, I think she will like it, very much." He tossed a photo across the table. It was a replica of the portrait that had been taken of Grayson that Jordan had refused to show Natalia. The young woman was wearing dark makeup, her black eyes boring holes into the viewers. She was seated in a high back chair, with a gun resting on the table beside her, in her hand was a glass of alcohol and a cigar, she wasn't smiling. On her right pinkie finger was a platinum ring, with a black diamond over which a platinum C rested.
"That means nothing."
Grabbing her hard by the wrist, Stefan snarled in her face. "Your attitude needs adjusting. I broke Grayson on a yearly basis, imagine what I can do to you." He stared her down.
"I'll kill myself before I let you do that, as will Calleigh." Natalia whispered. "You will never have either of us."
Rolling his eyes at her dramatics, he laughed again. "When Grayson was sixteen, right after I tried to enjoy her fully.. I loaded one of her guns with blanks. Nothing was funnier than the look of her face when she tried to pull the trigger on herself, and poof, nothing." he dissolved into laughter.
"We are CSI's, we won't have to use guns." Natalia swore.
"I know all about you beautiful. I have your files and Calleigh's. I know everything. Even though she doesn't remember Grayson, I promise to give her several new reasons to hate her, by the time I'm done with the both of you. You'll hate the very idea of her name." He ran his hands over the fine leather of the planes captain's chairs.
Those words made her blood run cold as they sounded just like Jethro. "You only have the facts about us. You know nothing at all about what we really are."
"Does it really matter? The only one I really want is Grayson. Denato can have the baby... Honestly I hate children." Stefan waved a calloused hand at her, bored with this discussion it seemed, though his tone implied otherwise. "The blonde, when I'm done with her... And you. I'll have Grayson help me dispose of you. Jordan is Denato's task... Or Grayson could kill him. That I would enjoy...Wait..." He smiled again, looking at her. "Calleigh is just her type actually, full of fire, passion, a spirit to be broken. I wonder if I could convince her to join me in a taste."
Natalia turned away from his look, she couldn't bear to even think about him touching her wife.
"When was the last time any of you, Grayson included, had a man?" He smiled, running fingertips down her cheek. "I saw pictures... Of the woman Grayson has been..." His voice took on a disguised tone. "... Cavorting with. Honestly... The three of you just need a man to straighten you out... Trust me."
Shaking her head, Natalia refused to be drawn in to his conversation. Closing her eyes, she turned away to looked out the window.
Losing interest in torturing her, Stefan closed his eyes for the remainder of the flight.