Dianna Agron as Rosalee Michaelson

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Stuck on You: Kapitel Fünfzehn

"What's happening?" I put my free hand on my gun, standing to alarm. I couldn't see in the dark that well without my hat that held my flashlight. My blood began pumping as silence registered in the building.

There was no one here.

"Make sure you stay alert, Santiago!" I hissed quietly as I stumbled towards the door, making sure that it was still unlocked. There was no telling what could happen. I was in this dark room, hidden away at the back of the building. There was no sound, no movement. There was just the sound of our breathing. Shadows seemed to be swirling around my feet, sucking and pulling at my feet and I had to remind myself that it was just my irrational fear. It didn't work. In a burst of panic, I fumbled along the walls for a light switch. My hand landed on a familiar feeling and I flipped it up and down frantically, sighing as the room remained in pure darkness. Fear settled in and deep down inside, I knew I wasn't alone in the dark. Santiago was there, of course, but there was no telling what lied beyond this door.

"Calm down."

I jumped at the sudden voice, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. "Do you have any idea what's happening?!" I mildly screeched, taking a deep breath. "It turns out that Haila is really Victoria Grimmaldi, the daughter of the man who used to be your right-hand!" I exclaimed, my hands feeling clammy and warm to the touch. God, I hated being in the dark. It felt like things were watching me. "Whoever her accomplice was, they teamed up to try to attack all of the people who were close to you! Then, they would kill you last. But I don't understand," I narrowed my eyes, wondering why Santiago was just sitting there, all calm and collected. I couldn't see him but something told me that he was sitting there with a grin on his face. "Why am I still alive? Surely, they would've tried to kill me again." I finished, wondering what call of action to take.

There was no signal, so no calls could be made.

I felt the air bristle behind me as the room came to a slight dim. Santiago stood behind me, chuckling in earnest, the dark, black and sadistic aura growing around him. He cracked his neck as he smirked down at me and I got chills. He meant danger. He was silent, calculating and meticulous for a moment, then he uttered in a soulless and clear voice. "I suspected as much. No need to worry, Anthony," In the dim light of the room, I could see him running his tongue along his teeth, his skin baring to show the devil in disguise. My heart thumped as he continued. "It is already taken care of."

He was speaking in such a deliberate and serene manner, but even I could sense the malicious evil waiting to break free. He was seething quietly in rage and he masked it over with a smirk. He then took out a silver gun, cocking it and aiming it at nowhere in particular. He snorted before nodding in satisfaction as he pressed a button on his digital and touchscreen watch. "This is my battle to fight, not yours." He muttered in a careful tone and I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't want you doing anything." His tone was crisp and clear and that was it.

His brown eyes were cold to the orb, slit and narrow and it made me shudder.

Santiago then let out a maniacal laugh, shaking his head. "They will both realize what a dumbass decision it was to double cross me." I wondered what he was thinking as he grabbed my hand, opening the door. "Um, where are we going?" I questioned in a panicked voice, wondering why we were going out when there was something waiting for us out there. "No need to worry. I've got you." He smiled softly as he held my hand tightly, his eyes reassuring me. God damn you, Santiago. "Let's go." He touched another button on his watch as we entered the long hall and I watched, wondering what he had up his sleeve.

All of a sudden, the corridor lights lit up like dominos, leading all the way down to a single door. "Huh?" I furrowed my brow in confusion. "When did that door get here? It wasn't here before." I turned to look at Santiago who smirked. He pulled me along as we walked up to the door. At first, it seemed like a mirror, so no one would question why it was there. At second glance, you could see that there was biometric and number lock embedded into the silver wall behind it. He typed in a series of numbers before putting his pinky on the finger scanner.

Thus with a click, the door slid itself to the right and we both stepped in. I nearly lost control of my jaw as I took in a luxuriously high and beautiful black ceiling, enchanted with diamonds and fluorescent lamps. We were in some new building and he pulled me along to a shiny and clear elevator, pressing the button. There were glass chandeliers along the main floor, with furnishings all over the giant lobby. The floor was crisp marble and I could hear the clink of my shoes. "Where are we?" I murmured in a soft tone, seeing men in black scattered around. There were no windows in sight. "Anthony, welcome to the Zonglovia syndicate," Santiago nodded his head to the men, who bowed and saluted in return.

"Come on," He pulled me onto the shiny elevator when it arrived, pressing for the B button. "We have business to take care of." His lips were set in a grim line as he stared ahead. What did I get myself involved in?

We finally hit the basement floor and I had a feeling we were underground, hidden away from the real world. The clear doors opened and there were about five to seven men waiting for our arrival. They saluted Santiago, moving out of his way. "Welcome, pate," He nodded to them, acknowledging their presences (godfather). I could see that they greatly respected him and his nature. They also bowed to me and I smiled in response, unsure of what to do. "Renard, bring me the crates." Santiago bellowed out in such a calm voice but it was dripping with authority. His voice boomed across the basement lobby as the man in question ran like thunder to wheel over a large, brown crate.

"Would it be wrong of me if I said I wanted to take my time," He reached into the crate and out came the legendary Kukri dagger. He held it in his hands, staring at it with a sharp look in his eyes as if he was ready to kill. He cracked his knuckles before reaching in once again, pulling out a blunt hammer, analyzing it. "Santi..." I whispered, wondering what he was thinking. Where was he taking me? He flicked his sharp gaze over to me, letting me know that it was okay before his eyes reverted back.

He was stone-cold pissed.

Santiago held the weapons in his hands, nodding sharply to the men as the crate was wheeled out of sight. There were several more, tons of crates littered around the lobby and it made me wonder what was in it. "Let's go." He barked out and three of the men swiftly lead us down the hall, to the left, down some more, to the right and down a flight of stairs. Once we arrived, we stood in front of a black door. "Open it." He motioned to it and the men looked at each other, typing in a series of numbers. "Thank you, Gustav." The door creaked open eerily and Santi took one last look at me before we entered.

The door was slammed behind us and I heard a soft scream. I followed Santiago further into the dark space before a flip was switched and the bright lights burned my eyes. I heard knuckles cracking before my eyes landed on the sight before me. "Huh?" I murmured in disbelief, wondering why I saw two women sitting in wooden chairs, their arms, and legs bound by duct tape. They had blood running down their body as they panted, tears running down their faces. They were blindfolded and there was tape across their lips.

They looked beaten and pale.

They looked terrible.

They looked starved and startled by sudden noise.

I couldn't recognize them as well, but I could recognize the boots of one of the girls. Huh? What? The fuck was going on here? "Thank you, Terrence," Santiago's dark voice bounced off of the walls as the man in question came out of the darkness. "You did me proud, man. I owe you one." Terrence came over to clap Santiago on the back, ignoring my questioning and confused stare. WHAT THE FUCK WAS HAPPENING? WASN'T HE A SUSPECT?

"No need. It's my job," He winked at Santi before coming to stand next to me. "Aw, cutie, can't believe you thought I would do my best friend like that." He pouted as Santiago loomed over the two girls, who jumped as he blew on their face. "Hm, you guys played a good game," He unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them back. "Haila or should I say, Victoria, I'm sure you never thought that I would put it together," He ran a finger down her cheek while scraping the wall with a nail, the sound echoing. Haila whimpered and panted. I knew she had to be driving herself to insanity. I could see the goosebumps raised on her skin as she frantically looked around under the blindfold, to see what Santiago's next move was.

He studied her carefully, trying to find out what made her tick. "But game's over. I actually knew from the start when you first came to Germany to tell me you wanted to work under me. I watched you for the next few years, wondering what your diabolical plan was. It was smart, it was brutal," He leaned in closer, licking his lips and she shuddered with a squeak as blood oozed down her temple. "But you gave yourself away too much. I'm not stupid and I saw your every move on the board," He pulled out the hammer and jammed it against the wall. She let out a piercing scream as she sobbed, the prickling sense of terror filling her.

Damn.

He wasn't even trying to beat her.

"And to think you brought in my consigliere in on your plan," He stalked slowly over to the other girl, looking at me briefly before he took his time unleashing her blindfold. Green eyes stared into hazel, wondering what was happening. "Huh?" My lips quivered as I stared into her hateful eyes, wondering if everything she had ever said to me was a lie. With a shaky hand and trembling lips, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the paper that Alex gave me. Her cold orbs raked me over.

With mild hesitation, I forced myself to open the paper and once my eyes landed on the sight, it fell the ground with a crinkle. "Huh, you, huh?" I stammered in disbelief, tears coming to my eyes as my hands shook. "I-I thought I was your friend. I thought I could trust you!" I snarled removing my eyes from the picture that displayed a woman standing on top of the private school that Ivory went to, a bomb in her hand. "Did you know, Santiago!?" I screeched like a mad man and he put his hands up, shaking his head. I wanted to say that he was lying because it hurt so much to see that someone I trusted did me like that.

So wrong.

"Luzia, you fucking bitch!" I went to reach for my gun, blinded by sheer wrath but Terrence stopped me. Someone I trusted around my child put her in danger! "Just wait. He got this." He held a firm hand on my shoulder and I snarled, curling my lip as I shook my head. All these years. It was a dead, crumbling feeling. I felt nauseous, sick to myself. My trust was destroyed, everything. It felt like I was on my first rollercoaster; everything was too fast to comprehend and I was plunged immediately down that steep hill. My stomach was lurching into my throat, threatening to throw everything up. It felt tangled inside of me but as I stared into her eyes, it began to feel clear.

Luzia Cardenas, someone I once trusted. "No need to cry, Anthony," Santiago gritted his teeth as he traced the Kukri along the wall, the sound of the blade sharpening. Luzia jumped, looking around as she waited for him. It was painstakingly scary. He wasn't touching them. He was just looking at them; psychologically torturing them. His penetrating stare bore into their souls as they fidgeted, breathing heavily. "Tell me, Luzia, how did it feel when you were cutting my baby's brakes?" His voice was dark and ominous as he traced the edge of the blade along her skin, careful as to not to cut her but to make sure she felt how deep it would go. She gulped, wanting him to just kill her.

The atmosphere of the room trickled slowly into pungent hell. "How did it feel when you saw that precious child bleeding because of you?" He slammed the hammer down on the ground and the piercing noise filled our ears, scratching at our brains. She whimpered in reply, more blood leaving their wounds, no doubt Terrence's doing. Their blood pooled around them like a crimson cascade. They were scaring themselves to death.

This was the intensity of the boss of the Zonglovia.

"I thought about hammering your fingers into the wall, slicing off of your limbs piece by piece so you felt it all," Santiago traced the blade on the back of Victoria's neck and she shuddered, blood exiting her open wounds. "But..." The silence was deafening as he stared at both of me, a tinge of excitement and furious insanity filling his features. He looked cold-blooded, rotten to the core. He looked angry, scorned.

A killer so cold like the icy wraths of hysteria-ridden chains.

"You've both been deprived of sleep, food, and sunlight for the last 5 days. You've been blindfolded and left in solitary confinement, electrically shocked from time to time. You didn't even know when and where and who was coming. You were all by yourself, with nothing but your thoughts," He grinned evilly. "You've mentally agonized and now your mind has gone crazy. Terrence here has tortured you for a bit and I'm sure you're in pain." He rolled his sleeves back down, blowing at imaginary lint as the glint in his eyes twinkled dangerously.

I gulped.

"I don't need to kill you. I can let you kill yourselves slowly," He let out a laugh as he motioned to Terrence, who came by his side. "Lucky for you, you guys didn't seem to notice anything when I asked you what your worst fear was," There was a black aura suffocating Santiago. "Luzia, you said you hated rats," Her eyes widened in fear as Terrence opened a big and black metal crate with locks on it. "Today's your lucky day," He chuckled as he broke the legs of the chair with swift. I watched in motion as Terrence carried the legless chair and placed her inside of the crate. She was bound, couldn't move. Soon, there was a closed red bucket placed on top of her stomach and all I could hear was the sound of squealing and tails sliding against the rim of the bucket.

Oh god.

Luzia began to flail as much as she could, screaming and crying all in one. The bucket was on her stomach as there was no other space to put it. Terrence used a match to apply heat to the top of the bucket and there were loud chewing sounds through the plastic bottom. "It's going to take time for those rats to chew their way out and inside of you, so be a good girl and ponder your actions." Santiago seethed in a raging tone as he slammed the crate closed.

The sound of her muffled screams filled the room.

God damn.

"I hope it was worth everything," I said in a soft tone, knowing that she heard every word that left my mouth. I wanted to grimace and beg for her life to saved, but I found that I didn't give a damn. She endangered my life and my daughter's life.

Nothing could make up for that.

Santiago appeared as if he was two people. This sadistic and menacing killer and the sweet and puppy-like man.

Which one was he?

"Victoria, it's your turn," He broke the legs off of the chair as Terrence held her up. "Put in her in the oxygen chamber and turn it down to 15," Victoria began to writhe in her chair and moan, but it was no use. "When you get to hell and they ask you who sent you," He bucked his head at her, mocking her. "Tell them Santiago Luzardi sent you." He finished in a crass tone and that was all he had to say. Wow.

She was going to die slowly.

"I'll tell the men to dispose of their corpse when they are ready." He wiped his hands off with a handkerchief before cracking his neck, turning his gaze to me. There was a lump in his throat as Terrence disappeared into one of the back rooms. "Let's go." His voice sounded hollow like he didn't want me to witness this part of me. He was silent until we made it up and out of the hidden syndicate. He asked his men to clean up the bodies in four days once he was sure they'd be dead. I was still in shock after what I've just seen, and he knew it too. We were in his personal office, the window large and glass, wide enough for me to see Manhattan.

"I'm sorry," Santiago spoke in a soft tone as rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, avoiding my gaze. "I didn't want you to get dragged into this." He sounded sincere, regretful as I peered into his face. He did a complete 180 and it made me wonder if he had a split personality. He looked too ominous and too scary to have just reverted back into someone so soft and caring. Or maybe he was like that all along, only with the people who truly crossed the line.

Still, I found that it was nothing because it was him standing in front of me. Him. I snorted in disbelief as I turned to look into the beautiful horizon. It was as if he was scared that I didn't want anything to do with him now. I've seen the evil parts of him. I've seen it all.

I let out a grim sigh, reaching over to grab his warm hand and entangling my fingers with his. I kept looking on into the distance, preparing myself. "I was going to forget about you when you left. I was going to focus on me and forget the man who broke my heart," I felt his hand squeeze mine and I smiled. "It was hard because I never stopped loving you. Sure, you had your reasons. Sure, I'm risking everything I have now that you're back. Sure, you pose a danger to me and my family. But you're back here, with me," I gripped his hand as I turned to look at him, a clear decision coming to my mind as I smiled. "So rest assured, Santi." I tilted my head boyishly.

"No matter what has happened, what you've done in your life and what you will do," I sighed, knowing the risks that came with being a syndicate leader. I was risking it all and for what? He was a dangerous and unpredictable man. I could easily die today or tomorrow because of him. So could my daughter. The world was not promised to me so that gave me all the more reason to fall into his arms.

"I will always be there."