She grabbed him by the neck and lifted him in the air, pressing him against the icy cold wall.

“You stupid kid!  Do you really believe that?  All that magic crap?  About angels and demons?  You're stupid and I'm about to prove to you that such a world doesn't even exist!  In a moment you will die, you understand, you will die like a dog and no one will save you.  See, they're not here, there's no one to help you if they don't even care that you're gone, but they saw it.  And what?  Where is your Gemini?  Your, bleh, "boyfriend"?”

The woman spat on the floor after contemptuously uttering the word "boyfriend", which seemed to irritate her mouth just by saying it. It was obvious that hurting him was her unhealthy pleasure, she enjoyed it. The more he suffered, the happier she was.

Fourth couldn't move.  Somehow, it wasn't hard for him to believe that the woman who had raised him for so many years now attacked him.  He had always felt something was wrong with her, and now he could only reassure himself that at least he knew the truth and his birth mom, a mom who really loved him and First, a mom who had spent nineteen years looking for her sons and never found them  but she hadn't given up, a mother he knew would rather die herself than sit idly by while her children suffered.  The last thing he thought about before he died was his family: Mrs. Puitrakul, his mother, First, his brother, Gemini, his boyfriend, and Phuwin, his boyfriend's brother.  He remembered them all and said goodbye to them in his mind.  He didn't give the woman any satisfaction though, continuing to smile softly.  Gem always told him that love was the cure for everything, and though he didn't quite believe it, he had nothing to lose and a lot to gain.  He remembered that Mr. Puttha had told them how to use telepathy to summon another hybrid or someone from the Magicians, and he was doing just that.  He also remembered NuNew's story about twin souls.

“If he's really your soulmate, he'll come when you summon him,”  NuNew had told him at the time, revealing more secrets to their magical world as they sat together in Fourth's room after one of their first training sessions, just after Fourth found out about his true  origin.

As the woman turned for a moment to walk to the opposite wall, where bottles filled with vodka stood by the door, Fourth dared to open his eyes and look around.  He saw that Phuwin was staring at him persistently, and with a mere movement of his lips he tried to give him a short message, or rather an order: "Call your brother, think of Dunk or Gemini." There was no time for more. The woman took a drink.  She took a few sips of alcohol and set the nearly empty bottle back on the floor. Fourth began to think hard about his beloved, repeating one thought over and over again:

"I'm in an old castle, this madwoman kidnapped me, help me!  Help me, she kidnapped me, that witch did it again, help me, she's the same person."

He believed Gem would finally hear him.

He wasn't concerned about himself at all, he was more worried about Phuwin lying on the wet and cold floor (this woman was so crazy that she didn't notice the difference between the brothers and probably kidnapped not the one she wanted, Fourth could only guess that she meant  about Gemini, however, even imprisoning his brother could be a great blackmail if she only knew how strong the feeling between her foster and Gemini is; Fourth wouldn't let Gemini's brother get hurt, knowing how important he is to him), NuNew and Fluke.  The last two were shackled with heavy, somewhat rusty chains that protruded from the orange brick wall.  The concrete floor was flooded with water, and from time to time not only small mice, but even bigger and dirtier rats ran past them.  There were also cockroaches, which disgusted them.  The room looked like the basement of some very old and long-abandoned building, and in the corner of it Fourth saw a pile of clothes, and on top of it the skull of some small animal, perhaps a cat.

The woman, in a fit of sudden anger, grabbed him by the neck again and lifted him up slightly, to hit him on the cheek with her open hand after a moment.  She didn't like the fact that Fourth didn't drop his kind smile for a moment.  Fourth had this extraordinary ability that he was a great actor.  Now he was also taking on a new character, and she didn't know it.  His smile made her hate him even more.

“And why are you smiling stupidly?”  she asked, releasing him and making him fall painfully to the concrete floor.  “Are you glad you're about to die?  You brought us shame!  To have two sons and both to be fags!  Shame!  Good thing I was able to take care of Iris.  Stop grinning like a fool!”

“I'm smiling because I feel sorry for you. You're not our mother.” He said in a flat and emotionless voice, as if he were playing a decisive game of poker.

“WHAT?!  How dare you?!”  She slapped him once more.  Her claw-sharp nails split the skin, causing a little bleeding, neither of them cared.  Fourth felt an unpleasant burning sensation for only a few seconds.  It was the words she'd said to both of them over the years that had hurt more, but Fourth wasn't going to let her know that, didn't want her to know what she'd gotten her to do.  He let her think whatever she wanted to think.  He didn't care anymore.  He was just waiting for Gemini, he knew that his boyfriend would not leave him without help, he trusted him completely.

“I raised you! I worked to feed you.  I was hoping you'd give me a bunch of pretty, smart, lovely grandkids, and what did you give me?  Shame and humiliation!  I did it all for you!”

“Which doesn't change the fact that you're not our mother,” he insisted.  “I already know, and so does First.  You kidnapped us from the hospital.  You and your husband stole us away the day I was born.  You moved, changed your last name to one of the more popular ones.  In a new place, no one knew you, you started all over again.  We know you couldn't have children.”

Fourth's acting lessons were now coming in handy.  The techniques learned in the workshop allowed him to save face, even though inside he was trembling with fear, outside he was a hard rock, too hard to break.  He was strong because he felt responsible for Fluke, New and Phuwin.  After all, it was his babysitter who imprisoned them.

“Not true!  I am your mother! You listen to me!”

“I'm not at all sorry to say it, but you're not her.  Your son died in the hospital a year before you kidnapped us.  You were given a devastating diagnosis: you will never be able to have children again, was it not?”

The woman finally broke down.  She slid down the wall to the floor and suddenly started crying.

“I just wanted my little boy back, my little Ford... He was so little, so little!”

“That doesn't justify the kidnapping or anything you did after that.  You're disgusting, and believe me, you'll get what you deserve.”

  Someone new entered the basement, illuminating it with a strong, bright flashlight.  Fourth recognized the voice he longed for and whose sound made him so happy.  Familiar hands embraced him and lifted him up.  The cold, wet floor was replaced by warm, familiar arms that he could sum up in one word: home.  His home, his safe haven, his energy source, his comfort zone, his Hybrid, his boyfriend.  It was Gemini.

“Gem, Gemi, it's Phu... Go and help him, help Phuwin... Gemi, take care of your brother, he must have a fever” Fourth blurted out in one breath, pointing his hand in front of him.  Gem aimed a beam of light there and saw Phuwin shivering on the floor.  This time, instead of Lewis, whom Fourth had expected, he was accompanied by First, who appeared moments later.

“Now we know why you kidnapped these two boys.  Stop lying, you've never had children.  You kidnapped the boys because you knew perfectly well that they were hybrids, no Ford ever existed” New freed by Fourth joined the conversation. New knew all the truth and he was going to reveal it all.

“What hybrids?  Have you lost your mind, boy?  Oh, you sure are just as fag as they are.  You have nothing to brag about.  You should be ashamed.  How dare you talk to me anyway?  Who are you kid to talk back to me?”  She asked him tauntingly, discouraging him from speaking respectfully to her.  New ditched the nice tone, he wasn't an actor, he was a musician and therefore lasted less than Fourth, who felt he could hold on to the role to the very end.

“Woman, understand that you have lost.  We got you and your lousy hubby.  I let you kidnap me because that was Khaotung's plan.  Too bad he's not here.  And you have no right to talk to us.  You took away the boys' chance for a normal childhood, you destroyed the family, and you treated your pupils as servants and sometimes even worse.  Now you're on trial at the Institute.  End of fun.  You knew that First is not only a hybrid, but he's also Magical, right?  That's why you chose them, it's not often that a hybrid gets the gifts of the Magicians.  And First got it, he's a sorcerer and with the right training he could become one of the best in all of history.  You wanted to use his skills for yourself, didn't you?”

She didn't answer, and no one even wanted to hear her answer.  First used magic to free Fluke.  The spells protecting the cellars have been broken and the curse is finally reversed.  The other Knights of Light appeared just outside the entrance, including Pond, Kaownah, and Joong.  Each was loaded with weapons in case it became necessary to use them.  Kaownah had a band-aid on his neck where the bat had attacked him earlier.  Joong had disinfected the wound for him a few minutes earlier.

Fourth felt his head spinning.  He was saved from the fall by Gemini's strong arm, which supported him in time.  The woman laughed an unpleasant, mean laugh.  He was very tired and weakened more and more, ceasing to understand what was happening around him.

“I may have lost, but your pet lost too.  Hahaha!  Hahaha!”

Her mad laugh echoed through the nearly empty basement.  The chains rattled and Phuwin tripped over them.

“Shit.  We take them to us.  Quick!”  New rushed them.  First helped Phuwin go, New led Fluke with Kaownah, Pond and Joong kept the kidnapper from escaping, and Gemini supported Fourth.  With considerable difficulty they went outside, with only a certain relief breathing fresh air.  First, as he had been taught, sealed the entrance to the cellar with a stele and a spell.  On the next door, he drew a rune of passage that opened a portal to their squad.  Behind them, the fire still raged, which First put out with one short, loud spell.

He was a warlock.  Only now did he fully realize what it meant.  He rubbed his dusty hand across his itchy cheek, leaving a dark mark on it.  The woman who tortured him for 19 years has finally been imprisoned.  First sighed with relief.  He was sure that at the Institute Jimmy and Mixxiw would manage and restore Fourth to full health.  He looked ahead.  For the first time in his life, he felt that he had a real family, that he belonged somewhere and that he was part of something bigger.  For the first time in his life, he felt proud of what he had accomplished.  He couldn't wait to fall into Khaotung's arms and tell him everything.  Had it not been for Thanawat's pre-season F1 car testing, Khao would certainly be here with him now.

😂😆😭🥰👀💔🤯🤗😬😍🖕🤍🤣🧡💙🪄👼😡😴🤩💜🧑‍🎨❗😈🎂🥴😜😉🙏🔥🥺💖💛✨☺️❤️

From Annie!

How do you like this chapter?

Any comments for me?

Would you change anything here?

You know that we're really close to the end?

So please, support this fanfiction, I know it's not the best GemFot ff that you have been reading but I hope it's at least good enough to stay till the very end ☺️🙏😉

Please, leave some comments for me 🥺 naaaaaaa? 🙏🥺❤️

💖💛💖💛💖💛💖💛💖💛💖

~Annie