Her Mafia Brothers

Uh-Oh

There's a sack over my head, trapping my arms in front of me. At least, I think it's a sack. Whatever it is, it's heavy and dark and suffocating. I can't see. I can't move. I can hear, but everything is muffled. And I can breathe, but the air is thick, stuffy. My lungs burn. Utter terror overwhelms me. I try to fight my way out of whatever this is, but I can't. I'm stuck. I can't move at all.

"Jack!" I scream. "Rocco! Nick!" But whatever is over my head sticks to my face, getting sucked into my mouth, stealing my breath, stifling my scream.

There's nothing I can do.

I'm lifted up, tiled sideways, moved through the air. And there's nothing I can do to stop it.

Who the hell has me? Where are they taking me? What do they want with me?

There are people who want to hurt you, to get to me. I hear Damon's voice in my head and freak out completely. The panic that was teasing at the edges of my consciousness engulfs me totally, wrapping itself around me and holding on tight.

I'm hyperventilating in fear.

"Help!" I scream but, just like before, no sound comes out.

I'm not on my feet, I'm not even horizontal. I don't know which way is up and which way is down or even which way is sideways. I don't know anything. All I know is abject terror.

I can't even think, I'm so afraid.

Suddenly, there's yelling. Raised voices, swearing.

I'm shifted again, swinging wildly through the air, the sack once again swallowing my screams.

Gun shots.

I'm thrown roughly against something and frantically, my feet scrabble on the ground, trying to make purchase on the hard surface. My hip hurts where I landed and so does my arm where I bumped against something. There's a string or something tied around my waist, tying the bag or whatever it is, over my body, trapping me. I try to get up, but I'm disoriented and it's dark and I fall back in despair.

"Help!" I try to scream, but I can't even suck enough air into my lungs to make a tiny squeak.

Who has me? What are they going to do to me?

More gun shots.

"Carrie!"

Oh my god that's Rocco! Rocco is here! I try to call out to him, to tell him I'm here, I try to wave my arms to get his attention, but I can't move. I can't do anything.

But it doesn't matter: he finds me.

"Oh Carrie, thank god." He's right in front of me now, I think, and he sounds so relieved.

"Come on, I'm going to get you out of here."

He doesn't take the sack off my head, he doesn't untie me. He just picks me up in his arms and carries me away, away from the shouting and thuds and bangs and more gunshots that are going on behind us. He doesn't put me down, he just holds me in his arms, telling me over and over again that everything is going to be okay now, I'm safe. He says it so many times I start to wonder if he's trying to convince me, or himself?

Just a few seconds later, I hear the van door slam shut and the sound of the engine roaring as it takes off, the tyres squealing in protest.

My brothers surround me, all talking at the same time, yelling at me, demanding to know if I'm okay, what the hell was I thinking, what was I doing, what...... Their voices all jumble together, a cacophony of noise. Of scolding.

I am in so much trouble.

I don't want Rocco to take the sack off my head. I don't want him to free my arms. I'm quite happy right where I am, invisible. Well they're invisible. I'm not, obviously, but as long as everything stays dark, I can pretend I am.

I don't want to face them. I don't want to see the fury and fear I know is written on their faces.

But I don't have a choice. I feel hands pulling at the cords that bind me, I'm poked and prodded and twisted and turned and then whatever is over my head is pulled off and the bright sunlight blinds me.

Immediately, I'm engulfed in strong arms. I don't even know who it is that's holding me right now, I'm being passed from arm to arm, brother to brother.

Rocco. Logan. Nick. Jack. Each one of them squishes me so tight I can't breathe. When they press my cheek against their chest, I hear their racing hearts. All of them are the same. They're shaking. Their voices aren't as strong and growly as normal. They all sound freaked out.
"Thank god you're safe." Jack holds me tight and kisses my forehead. "I don't know what we would have done if they'd taken you, sweetheart." Then he straightens up and holds me at arm length and fixes me with the sternest stare I've ever seen him give. "But you are in so much trouble, little girl. If Paul hadn't been on the ball, we wouldn't even still have you with us. I was working; Rocco and Nick were both in the left wing, talking to Damon. Logan was in his room playing music. None of us heard you leave. And you're allowed outside, so Paul wasn't bothered at first. If he hadn't decided to just watch the cameras for a bit longer, we would have lost you, sweet girl. We would have lost you. Do you understand?"

Jack's voice is choked up and I can tell he's pretty emotional. But his words are redundant, really - I mean, I just got grabbed, taken by people I don't know. I didn't get a good look at them. I don't know who they are, what they wanted. To hurt me, presumably.

"Yes Jack," I tell him slightly sarcastically. "I know. I got kidnapped, remember?"

Smack! I jump a mile in the air, yelp in pain, and clutch at my butt with both hands as fire rages across it. Tears spring into my eyes. That whack was hard, and it stung.

"Now is not the time to be a smart-ass, Carrie," Nick growls.

Author's note: I'm sorry this is just a short update, but I didn't want to go away and leave you all on the cliffhanger. I know most of you wanted it to be good guys who captured her, but I just couldn't make that work with how the rest of the story is going to go. So I hope this was okay :)  I will be away for the next week or so, and then there's Christmas, so I'm not sure when I will next be able to update, but I'll get to it as soon as I can.