Chapter 7: Chapter 5

William’s POV

I was nervous as fuck. I would finally see my baby after 16 years.

Would she like me? Would she want to stay with me?

I glanced at my brothers and saw that they were just as nervous as I was. Luke was fidgeting with his fingers and Damien was pulling on the ends of his sleeves. They always did that when they were nervous.

I didn’t know Alexander and Elijah that well, but I could clearly tell that they were nervous as fuck.

The front door opened and I stopped breathing.

“Come on in, Miss Diaz,” I heard Larry’s voice. “Your brothers are waiting inside.”

Larry stepped aside so she could walk past him.

My heart stopped once I saw a small girl walk inside the house. She kept her head down and I couldn't see her face.

What I could see made the alarms in my head start blasting like crazy.

Did they bring us the wrong girl?!

The girl who walked inside the house wasn’t 16 years old. She was 13 at best.

I was too stunned to speak. Why the fuck was she so small?! Did they bring the wrong child to us?!

I couldn't even look at my brothers or Alexander and Elijah. Did they see it too? Were they as stunned as I was?

Alexander approached her first and jealousy gripped my insides. I wanted to be the one who would speak to her first, but I couldn't move. I couldn't fucking move.

_______________

Alexander’s POV

I gulped the lump in my throat and forced my frozen legs to move.

Something was wrong. She was too small for a 16-year-old girl. She wasn’t just too short, she was too fucking skinny.

“Hi, Sophia,” I said as softly as I could. “My name is Alexander and I am one of your big brothers.”

I came to stand in front of her, but she still didn’t look up at me. Why didn’t she look up?

I got down on one knee so I could see her face better. My breath got caught in my throat when I saw how much she looked like our mom. She still didn’t look at me. She kept her eyes down and it stirred all sorts of emotions inside me.

I was frustrated. I was scared. I was angry. Why didn’t she want to look at me?

“We are so happy to have you back with us,” I said, trying to hide the frustration and fear in my voice.

There was no change in her. She didn’t move an inch. It was like talking to a cardboard cutout of her.

The fear inside me grew. Something was wrong.

James and Lizzie said that she was shy, but the girl in front of me wasn’t shy. She wasn’t even here.

I gritted my teeth and looked back at William. He looked murderous. I wasn’t the only one who thought that something wasn’t right.

_______________

Elijah’s POV

I studied my brother’s worried face carefully. I knew Alexander like the back of my hand and I could tell that he was freaking out.

I had to do something.

He was worried about nothing. We were strangers to her and I didn’t expect her to run into our arms the first time she saw us.

I cleared my throat, smiled, and approached my brother and sister.

“Hi, Sophie,” I said softly as I got down on one knee next to my brother. “My name is Elijah and I am your big brother. How was your trip? Are you hungry, sweetie?”

She didn’t respond. She didn’t move.

My heart raced and I glanced at Alexander. He looked like he was going to throw up.

“I know this must be a bit weird for you,” I continued, keeping my voice as soft as I possibly could. “We have a lot to explain and we will tell you everything you want to know.”

Still no response. There wasn’t even any indication that she heard what I said.

“All you need to know for now is that we love you very much and we are so happy to have you here with us,” I heard Lucas say, his voice trembling slightly.

I turned around to look at him. He approached us and placed a hand on Sophia's shoulder. I saw her tense up a little bit, but she still didn’t move or say anything. She was still looking down and I couldn't see her beautiful eyes.

_______________

Lucas’ POV

I felt her tense up under my touch, but I couldn't move my hand away. I wished that I could do more. I wished that I could pull her into my arms and tell her how fucking much I missed her all these years.

I could feel her collarbone under my palm and my stomach twisted.

Why was she so skinny? Why could I feel her bones under my palm?

I bent down and moved her hair from her face. She was so pretty. She really looked like the perfect mix between my father and her mother.

“Hi, cutie,” I said, trying to stop my voice from trembling. “My name is Lucas and I am going to be your best friend. Can you please look up at me?”

She didn’t respond. It didn’t even look like she heard me.

Did she have trouble hearing? James and Lizzie would have told us about it. I looked at her ear and I didn’t see a hearing aid.

Something was terribly wrong.

I looked up at my brothers and I could see that they were both angry and terrified. Damien looked like he was about to kill someone. Will was in shock. I’d never seen him freeze like that.

I looked back at my cutie and tried to get her to talk to me again.

“Are you hungry, Soph?” I asked as I caressed her cheek gently. “Elijah will make you pancakes. I had some this morning. They were great.”

Still nothing.

I was going to lose it if she didn’t talk to us soon.

_______________

Sophia's POV

I wasn’t aware that they would try so hard to push me to make a mistake.

James and Elizabeth told me that they were cruel, but I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect them to act so nice. It was obviously a trap. I knew better than to look at them. I knew better than to speak. I knew better than to move.

This was just like with James and Elizabeth. I wasn’t allowed to move or do anything unless they ordered me to.

I learned the rules when I was a little girl. If I broke them, the punishment would be severe. James would whip me or Elizabeth would burn me. These men were so much bigger than James and Elizabeth. There were more of them. Their punishments would surely be so much worse.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to let them punish me. Maybe I would die and all of this would end in the best possible way for me.

I was a coward, though. I wasn’t going to break the rules because I was afraid.

I wasn’t afraid of dying. I was afraid of pain. My brothers wouldn't make my death painless. They wanted me to suffer. They wanted to punish me.

I was afraid of the pain. I didn’t want to be in pain again.

I didn’t move until I got a direct order from one of them.

“Look up, Sophia,” someone said and I listened.

_______________

Damien’s POV

I didn’t need my medical degree to see that something was very fucking wrong with the girl standing in front of me.

Just by looking at her, I could tell that she was malnourished. I could tell that she was too short for her age, and unless the child in front of me wasn’t my sister, something was very fucking wrong.

And someone had so much explaining to do.

I was getting tired of watching my brother, Alexander, and Elijah trying to get her to speak or look up.

I saw enough cases of abuse on my job and I knew that she wasn’t going to do anything they told her to.

I remembered one little boy from the emergency room who only did what he was told to do. It was one of the worst cases of abuse I had ever seen, and if my sister was anything like that boy, someone wouldn’t live to see the next day.

I was afraid to speak and tell her what to do because I was so fucking afraid that she would listen to me. What would it mean if she listened to me?

I had only one way of finding out, didn’t I?

“Look up, Sophia,” I said, praying to every deity out there that she wouldn’t listen.

I thought that I would die when she looked up at me. I had to use every ounce of strength in my body not to destroy everything around me.

“Lucas and Elijah will take you to your room,” I told her, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “You will follow them.”

“Damie...,” Lucas spoke, but I interrupted him.

“Now, Lucas,” I said.

I never moved my eyes away from my sister. She didn’t look away from me either and I knew exactly why. I never told her to.

Elijah reached out and took her hand in his. She didn’t protest or tried to stop him. They started walking away and she followed behind them.

“Take every man at your disposal,” Alexander spoke coldly as soon as we couldn't see them anymore. “Bring James and Elizabeth to us.”

“Now,” Will added.

Someone was about to die.