Donovan Plot - Part One “Stop trying to tell me what to do, Jax!” Gia exclaimed, pulling her arm free of his grasp. “I am fifteen and Mana trusts me!”
“Mitera doesn't know what people say about her.” Jax countered, still following her into the alley, which was a short cut to the next block and was across from their apartment building.
“Did Mana know what people say about Shelly?” Gia asked, bringing up Jax’s ex girlfriend who had a sketchy history with the male population. Jax frowned at her, clearly upset at her dig. “I'm sorry, I know you like her. I just need you to leave me alone and just let me enjoy my summer.”
“Fine.” Jax exclaimed, throwing up his arms in surrender. “Don't come to me when everything falls apart.” Jax turned around and headed back out of the alleyway. Gia watched his retreating back for a moment before turning around to continue to her friend’s place. When she turned she found herself looking at a man standing at the end of the alley. It was in the middle of the afternoon, so Gia didn't normally feel nervous, but the stillness of the man unnerved her. Deciding that taking the longer route would be better, Gia turned to head back the other way only to find her path blocked by two men.
Jax was heading towards the gym when he spotted his mother heading home from her shift. “Mitera!” Jax called out to get her attention. Just as she looked up and smiled, Gia’s scream echoed from the alley. Jax hesitated for a moment, but the widening of his mother’s eyes confirmed his initial thought and panic ran through him as he turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the alley where he had last seen his sister. His mother wasn’t far behind him.
Jax had only exited the alley moments before, so he was closer and reached it first. His sight was met by a limp Gia in the arms of a man whom Jax had never seen before. Reacting on impulse, Jax charged. His quick reflexes allowed him to get in one good punch before the spell hit him from behind and he collapsed to the ground.
Dahlia had only managed to reach the alleyway just in time to see her son collapse before she was yanked out of sight and pressed against the brick wall of the building. Her brown eyes widened when she saw the face of the man holding her. She initially mistook him as Kian, her lost love, but reason kicked in and she realized that it was his younger brother, Liam. It had been such a long time since she had last seen her brother in law, he had aged around the eyes and a salt and pepper beard covered the lower half of his face. Dahlia struggled to get free, but he hushed her with warnings that they would take her too and then her children would never be found. The intensity of the look on her face had Dahlia stop struggling despite every fiber of her being wanting to scream for help
After another minute, he released her and Dahlia pushed away from him and the wall back into the now empty alleyway. She started to yell for her children, running further into the alley and began to hastily look around, trying to find any sign of them that she could. She had heard the popping noise when she had been hidden away by Liam and knew that her babies had been taken. Dahlia turned to Liam who had followed her into the alley. “Where are they?” She pleaded with him, her voice thickened by her emotion and accent. “What did you do with them? Please tell me! Please give them back to me!” She sobbed, her hands clasped together as she pleaded.
Liam looked sorrowful at her. His brother had loved her dearly and Liam had done all he could to have kept them safe for so long, but he was only one man and the Nikoleav were a powerful family with many resources. “I’m sorry, Dahlia, I do not know where they are, but I promise you that I will get them back to you. Please trust me. For Kian.” His Irish accent was unmistakable, but so was his genuine heartache.
Dahlia let out a mournful cry of despair and sank to her knees in uncontrollable sobs. Several people joined them in the alley, having heard her cries, but Liam picked her up and pulled her away from the people, explaining that they were family and they just received terrible news. When they were out of sight and in the hallway of her building, Liam apparated the two of them away.
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Gia awoke in a rather large bed. Confusion set in as she looked around, not recognizing anything. At first she thought she was still on the road trip with her friends and just woken up in one of their spots; however the room was far too nice for anything they could afford and she saw no other person in the room with her. Her memory slowly came back to her and fear crept into her foggy mind. Gia sat up in the bed and looked around. It was a large rather fancy room with furniture that probably cost several galleons. She was laying in a quite large (possibly even the size of her kitchen back home) four post canopy bed. It was probably the nicest bed she had ever slept on and this realization only confused her all the more.
Quickly getting out of the bed, Gia ran to the door and attempted to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. Turning, she ran to the balcony doors but discovered that she was far from the ground, too far to jump without injuring herself. She felt her panic rising as she came to understand that she was trapped in a room inside a large manor. Not only that, but she had no idea who had taken her, why they had taken her, or what country she was even in!
“Hello?” She called out into the grounds, hoping someone would answer her. But she was only met with silence. She returned to the room and instead began to pound on the door, begging for help and hoping someone was around to hear her.
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Jax awoke on cold concrete in what seemed to be a damped room in a basement. He back and head was hurting. It only took him a moment to remember what happened and he immediately stood up and looked around for Gia. She wasn’t in the room with him, but someone was. He didn’t recognize the man who was standing in a dark corner. Jax froze when he noticed him, fear overcoming him for a moment. “Where’s my sister?” He asked, but when the guy didn’t answer, he asked again only in Greek.
The man stepped forward with an eerie grin upon his face. He had long stringy black hair, dark hooded eyes, a thick nose that looked to have been broken more than a handful of times, and a scar that ran down his left cheek. He looked bulky beneath his clothes, but the sort of bulk of a man who once trained but hadn’t for some time. “You have grown since we last met.” He said, his words harsh and his English broken with his heavy Russian accent. “You were such a small little thing when I ripped my claws into you…”
Jax eyes went wide and a rush of anger hit him seconds before he lunged at the man in front of him.
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The door finally opened, hours after the sun set and Gia had nearly fallen asleep waiting. Her voice was shot from screaming and crying and her fists were bruised from pounding on the door. She sat up from the bed, watching in fear as two large men threw her brother to the floor and quickly left. Gia ran to him and dropped down beside him. He looked as though someone had done a number on him. His eye was swollen shut, his lip split open, and his face bruised. When he moved, he grabbed his ribs and moaned. “What did they do? What’s going on?” She asked her brother. “Are you alright? Jax, what’s happening?” She continued to plead.
“He was him.” Jax gasped out, in pain from the beating he received from not only the man that murder his father, but from one of his goons that threw a hex at Jax to prevent him from being able to protect himself from the punches.
“He was who?” She asked, her voice pinching in panic and fear.
“The… wolf. He was the wolf. He killed Patéras.” With those words, Jax broke down. He dropped his head and hid his face behind one of his hands. It had been a long time since he had cried, it felt strange and foreign but it was unstoppable. He felt his sister wrap her arms around him and cry with him.
They had no idea that this was only the beginning.