Born to Fight

Chapter 17

Celeste

I had been wandering around in these trees in the darkness for what seemed like forever. I had been trying to outmaneuver the men that were clearly hunting me. I felt like I was trapped in one of the horror movies that Lilly and I had been watching before we went to bed. How fitting the last movie we had watched before going to bed had been The Predator, because right now, I certainly felt like the prey. I was hunkered down in some bushes that were at the base of a large tree, and I was worrying about Lilly and Loki. I hoped that they were okay where I had left them, safely hidden in the pantry.

I didn’t want to head back towards the house, just in case the men that were out here looking for me, seen me and ended up following me. Though, deep down I knew that if they saw me, they would probably just kill me. But regardless of that, I couldn’t risk Lilly and Loki’s safety on the off chance they hadn’t been found yet.

I kept still where I was, hiding in the bushes, and lowered my respiratory rate to ensure my breathing was as quiet as possible. I had hold of my grandpa’s g*n, and at this moment it was a heavy and comforting presence in my hands. I knew that the moment I took a shot at one of the men, the other men would all know where I was. Once they knew where I was, Jamie and Josh's yard would become a shooting gallery. What I wouldn’t give for a silencer right now. But as my mother used to say, "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

By now I was totally convinced that these men were the same men responsible for killing my mother. But there were more of them here than there were at my house the night that my mother had died. I didn’t know who these men were, or what they wanted with Billy. But I was determined that if I lived through this nightmare, I was going to find out. I wanted to know what was so important that it was worth killing my mother over. I wanted to kill them all for what they had done to my mother, and for what they had done to me. They had ruined my life! The only thing was, as much as I wanted to make these men pay, I honestly didn’t know if I could bring myself to take a human life. That was something I was going to have to get past. If push came to shove, I needed to know I could kill without hesitation!

I was staying as still as a statue in my hiding spot. The small group of shrubs which were growing at the base of the large tree provided me with adequate cover. I had to admit, it was a good place to hide, offering me plenty of cover out of the path of where anyone would be walking while trying to find me. One of the men passed close by to where I was hiding. And in the darkness, I could clearly see his silhouette moving among the various shadows of the night. Listening carefully, I couldn’t hear anyone else moving close by. As I watched the man in the shadows, I wondered if it was worth the risk for me to take the shot. If I shot him and killed him it would be one less bad guy for me to have to deal with.

Deciding that it was worth the risk, I took aim at the lone figure. But before I could pull the trigger, I was grabbed from behind. A hand was quickly clamped over my mouth and the g*n was removed from my hands before I had even fully comprehended what had just happened. I started freaking out until I heard Jamie whisper, “Calm down, it’s me, it's Jamie.” I stopped struggling and he let me go. Looking around, I saw Josh was with him. I looked at Josh, and holding my hand out, I said, “Can I have my g*n back please?”

“Your g*n?” Jamie asked, sounding surprised by my question.

“Yes, my g*n,” I replied.

“Where did you get a g*n from?” asked Josh.

“It belonged to my grandpa, he left it to me in his will,” I replied.

“That day at the hunting cabin. You had it in the coat you brought back with you, didn’t you?” Jamie asked.

“Yes,” I admitted.

“And I am guessing that is why you wanted me to take you to the rifle range?” he asked.

Knowing he was going to be disappointed with me, I just nodded in answer.

Jamie took the g*n from Josh, and before I knew it, he had handed me back the g*n, “You will only use this if there is absolutely no other option, do you understand me?” he asked, as he placed the g*n in my hand. I nodded to him as I took the g*n back, grateful to have the familiar weight of the g*n back in my hand once more. "And don't think for a second we are not going to be talking about this later," he told me in a no nonsense tone.

"I don't doubt it for a second," I replied.

 “Okay, Freeze, stay,” Jamie said looking at his dog.

Then looking at Josh, Jamie said, “Okay, Josh, let’s get this thing over with." Jamie looked at me and added, “Stay here, Freeze will look after you."

Before I could answer, the boys had disappeared into the darkness. “It’s true what they said about SEAL's,” I thought, “They are like ghosts.”

Jamie

Josh and I moved silently through the trees keeping low. It wasn't long before we had silently crept up on the guy that Celeste was going to shoot. Josh grabbed him and with minimal effort, he broke the man’s neck. I glanced over to where we had left Celeste, but to my surprise, she didn’t make a sound. Josh obviously knew what I was thinking because it was apparent to me that Josh was thinking the same thing. It was probably difficult for Celeste seeing that happen after watching her mother die not that long ago.

We continued to move forward through the trees and darkness, picking off one enemy combatant after another. We were closing in on the last one when he suddenly turned coward now that he no longer had his buddies around to back him up. The coward having realized his buddies were now dead, turned tail and ran. Josh and I started giving chase, but surprisingly the guy was a lot faster than he looked, and he had a good head start on us. The guy ran and got into the getaway car that they had left parked down the street.

 When we confirmed that the car had gone and was not going to be coming back, Josh went to get Lilly while I went to get Celeste from where we had left her. Josh knew that now that the people who had been responsible for killing Celeste’s mother knew where she was, it was only a matter of time before more of them came back to finish the job that these men had failed to complete tonight. Celeste was going to need more protection than Jamie and I alone could provide, because we were not always going to be around. We needed to bring more people that we trusted into the picture to help us keep her safe.

Celeste

When we got back inside the house, I quietly went upstairs to take a shower. I needed one after being out in the dark and hiding in the great outdoors. While I was in the shower, I kept my g*n on the vanity bench, so that it was within easy reach, just in case I needed it. I didn’t feel safe anymore. The incident earlier had rattled me more than I was willing to allow Jamie and Josh to know. Those men now knew where I was. I had brought this danger into Jamie and Josh’s home. All because I had called Jamie in a moment of weakness, because I was acting out of fear and had not thought about the consequences of my actions. I never should have made that phone call! Jamie didn't need this craziness in his life!

When I had finished in the shower and had gotten dressed, I grabbed my g*n and made my way back downstairs to where Lilly, Josh and Jamie were all seated at the kitchen table. When I stepped into the kitchen, I noticed that the boys had already cleaned up the glass from where the intruders had gotten inside earlier. Josh and Jamie were having a discussion about arranging for additional men to protect the house and getting the windows fixed later that day. Once again I felt bad that they were having to deal with this mess.

Lilly was keenly listening to the discussion, from where she was sitting in her chair, patting Freeze who was sitting with his head resting on her lap. The moment the boys saw me they stopped talking. I took a seat at the table, and smothered a yawn as I placed my g*n on the table. When I looked up, I saw that Lilly was looking at the g*n that was on the table in front of me. She looked at me with wide eyes, “Where did you get that?” she asked in surprise.

“From my room,” I replied, shrugging like it was no big deal.

“Your room? Is there one of those in my room?” Lilly asked, looking at Josh hopefully.

“Ah, no..., no there isn't,” declared Josh, looking at his sister as if she had just lost her mind.

"Definitely not," added Jamie, trying and failing miserably to hide a grin.

“Than why does she have one? If anyone should have a g*n out of the two of us, it's me. I am older then her after all,” yelled Lilly, in an annoyingly whiny voice.

“They didn’t give me the g*n, it is mine. I had it in my room,” I stated, looking over at Lilly.

“Well, where did you get it from then?” Lilly asked.

“That is none of your business now, is it?” I replied in an irritated voice.

Sensing that I was about to fly off the handle if pushed any further, Jamie decided it was time to intervene. “Okay, girls that’s enough,” he declared, playing referee.

Josh quickly spoke up in an attempt to help Jamie out, “The two of you don’t want to be fighting when dad gets here now, do you?”

“Why is he coming here?” Lilly asked, looking at Josh in surprise.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” asked Josh, looking over at her as though she had just grown two heads.

“After what just happened here how could he not come here?” asked Jamie, also looking at Lilly as if he to was having trouble believing what he had just heard. “He wants to see for himself that the three of you are safe,” Jamie added, clearly wanting to diffuse the situation.

I got up from my seat at the table. “Okay you guys, I’m going to go and get some sleep. The two of you have fun with your dad when he gets here,” I told Lilly and Josh as I picked my g*n up off the table and left the kitchen.

I quickly made my way back up to my bedroom and lay on my bed with Loki. But I couldn’t sleep. I was dead tired and felt like I could sleep like the dead, but I was too scared to close my eyes. Even with Loki’s protective presence and the g*n in the draw of my bedside table, I was too afraid to close my eyes and let sleep claim me.

Josh

Even though we knew it was the wrong thing to do, Jamie and I had called in some favors. We had had some guys who used to work in the SEAL teams come and remove the bodies of the guys Jamie and I had killed during the night. The boys would dispose of them where they would never be found. We didn't want a police presence here, it would attract to much unwanted attention. The quieter we could keep this, the better.

We were lucky the guys had gotten here so quickly and the bodies had been loaded up in the dark. The last thing we needed was to have the neighbors gossiping about dead bodies and calling the cops.

Jamie and I were just finishing cleaning up the glass from the broken windows, and Lilly was sitting at the kitchen table patting Freeze. She was still shaken up by what had just happened. I knew that this would keep her rattled for a good couple of days. On the upside, it might bring me some peace and quiet. I was hoping Lilly was one of those people who became silent when they were in shock. Who knows, I could get lucky! I had rang my dad and told him what had happened. He was on his way with some friends of his to help with defending our house and protecting Celeste. I knew that we were going to need him, especially Lilly. She wasn't used to this sort of thing. I knew that Celeste would need dad as well, but she would resist it with everything she had. She would never want to admit that she needed any of us. She was fearful of letting any of us get to close to her. I could see that now. I would be willing to be that Celeste resisted us because she felt that if she allowed us to get close to her, she was somehow betraying her mother. 

We finished cleaning up the glass and Jamie and I each took a seat at the kitchen table with Lilly. I began to fill Jamie in on what my dad had said about bringing additional people to help defend the house and Celeste. We discussed arranging to have the windows in the kitchen fixed later that morning and what additional security measures we were going to need to implement.

We were in the middle of our discussion when Celeste walked into the room. The moment she walked into the room, all conversation ceased. Celeste pulled up a chair at the table, and as she took her seat she placed her g*n on the table. I saw Lilly's eyes widen at the sight of the g*n.

“Where did you get that?” she asked, Celeste.

“From my room,” Celeste replied, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal that she was carrying a g*n around.

“Your room? Is there one of those in my room?” Lilly asked looking at me, her eyes full of hope.

“Ah, no..., no there isn't,” I told her. Hell, the mere thought of my psychotic sister running around toting a pistol was the very thing nightmares were made of.

"Definitely not," Jamie added as he tried to hide a grin. Clearly he was thinking the same thing I was.

“Than why does she have one? If anyone should have a g*n out of the two of us it's me. I am older then her after all,” Lilly shouted, her voice getting a whiny edge to it that made her sound like a toddler who wanted their favorite toy back, and who was about to throw a tantrum if they didn't get their way.

“They didn’t give me the g*n, it is mine. I had it in my room,” Celeste told her, as she sat in her seat looking at Lilly across the table.

“Well, where did you get it from then?” Lilly asked, not believing Celeste's explanation.

“That is none of your business now, is it?” Celeste retorted, a note of irritation creeping into her voice.

“Okay, girls that’s enough,” Jamie said in a warning tone, clearly trying to throw water on fires before they got out of control.

 “The two of you don’t want to be fighting when dad gets here now, do you?” I asked.

“Why is he coming here?” Lilly asked looking at me.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” I asked her. How could she even ask me that? My father obviously wanted to make sure that we were all okay. Of course, he would want to be here.

“After what just happened here, how could he not come here?” asked Jamie looking at Lilly as if he was also having trouble believing his ears. “He wants to see for himself that the three of you are safe,” Jamie added, wanting to diffuse the situation.

Suddenly Celeste got up from her seat at the table, “I’m going to go to bed and get some sleep. The two of you have fun with your dad when he gets here,” she taunted, looking at Lilly and me, as she picked her g*n up and left the kitchen.

"So, she is still not claiming us as family," Lilly murmured, as she watched Celeste make her way upstairs towards her bedroom.

"Nope," I replied.

"Dad's patience is going to be tested with her that's for sure," Lilly giggled, as she went back to patting Freeze.

"Lilly, come on. She is dealing with a lot, give her a break would ya," Jamie groaned, clearly getting annoyed with Lilly's bitchiness when it came to Celeste.

"What? I am just saying, she is not the easiest person to deal with. She won't accept us, she won't accept our father, she doesn't talk to us. It's like she is building the great wall of China between herself and us. I mean... it's almost as if she is treating us like we are the enemy. And if that's what she is doing, then how the hell are we supposed to build any kind of relationship with her?" Lilly asked.

"The same way dad said we would, by being patient," I retorted.

"Are you going to be going to bed soon?" Lilly asked me, changing the subject.

"Nah, I think I will wait up for dad. Why is that?" I asked her.

"I was going to go and lay down on the mattress in the lounge room. But I am still a little freaked out by everything that has happened," she replied.

"Well Jamie and I will be awake, so you'll be fine, now go get some sleep," I assured her.

"Take Freeze with you," Jamie told her.

"You don't mind?" she asked, clearly surprised that Jamie had told her to take Freeze with her.

"I'm sure," Jamie assured her.

"Okay, well, in that case, there is a mattress in the lounge room that is calling me," Lilly declared, as she got up from the table, making her way into the lounge room. 

When it was just the two of us left sitting at the table, I rubbed my hands over my face, fatigue starting to make an appearance. I wasn't tired physically, but dealing with Lilly often left me feeling emotionally and mentally drained. Don't get me wrong, I loved my sister, but I preferred her in small doses. "I honestly think that Celeste might just end up killing Lilly before this month is over," I cheerfully informed Jamie.

"Celeste is a fighter man, she doesn't take crap from anybody. Lilly needs to watch herself. When it comes to Celeste, Lilly is grabbing a tiger by the tail," Jamie agreed, grinning at me.

Jamie and I sat there engaged in a quiet conversation while we waited for my father to arrive.