"Oh, I'm a little traumatized with foreigners," I commented in a low giggle, so I looked through the half-open door, wanting to see if any curious leftovers were passing by. So I turned to my two quasi-loves. "I need to tell something I didn't tell Suzy's father or anyone before. The day you had that engagement party, there was a photographer in the square. He took pictures of me, said some strange things that implied that he was part of the Brotherhood. But the fact that he was there made me apprehensive, you know? He was there and you were right behind the block, so I stopped to think that maybe the purpose of the Brotherhood is even to take me away, but that they won't stop just with an interruption from the police.”"Are you afraid they might hurt us? “Asked Mikaela. “Penny, I am the daughter of one of the most respected judges in the country. If someone touches a hair of mine, they will be hunted for the rest of their lives. My father doesn't have a true sense of justice when the
"A few days ago, I ended up meeting a person who has a delicate history with my brother. His name is Dante Laurentino. I don't know if you would know how to recognize him. "I informed, but Colton remained impassive. "Anyway, he told me that Dean Rivers was one of the men in his group. He said that Dean was hired to kill Suzane, but that he did not have the courage, and set out to marry her to always be around and know when she would contact the Brotherhood, or vice versa. However, Dean was caught by my brother and disappeared. He never came back. No one knows where he is, and Suzane believes that he may have lost his tongue by not confessing that he knew where his bosses were. He was subjugated by the Brotherhood, and can be anywhere. As long as he has access to a computer, nothing would stop him from tracking our lives and using it to bring the Brotherhood to us, and then the police could arrest them.”"It's a brilliant plan, but only one thing doesn't make any sense," Mikaela reflec
It was at that moment that I had a dimension of how things should be decaying. Caleb Johnson did not admit weaknesses, even more so on his part. Admitting that he was in a panic about what would happen around the world was the same as entering a hospital and receiving the sad news that the doctor on duty was not fit for work. The true feeling was that we were on a ship that was slowly sinking, and that the Brotherhood was our iceberg. I was shocked. But I had to stand firm, because I still believed that Caleb did not deserve to see my most vulnerable side. He had made me bait to capture the Brotherhood, even so, he had failed. It wasn't just my fault."You say that Hunter didn't deserve to know the truth because he was just an ordinary citizen, but I'm also "I spoke in a defensive tone, raising one of my eyebrows. I noticed a trembling muscle in Caleb's chin, as if he was trying very hard to avoid saying what he really thought. "I'm also just a civilian, even so, you, the police, the
Suzane hung up on me, but I was already taking myself and leaving anyway. If I still had to pick up Mikaela to only then be free to stay with Colton, at least I would do that as soon as possible. I didn't used to stay late at the company, and I didn't know how Suzane handled the situation so well, because the place looked macabre with the sound of the elevator going down and the rooms empty. I was tense, feeling that at any moment something would come up to attack me. But I arrived safely in the lobby, waved and wished good night to Suzane's security guards, and received some tired answers as I got into the car and left in search of Mikaela.The school where she taught was in one of the heavy bars of Boston. My car, although it was nothing like Suzane's Porsche or Ferrari, was flashy enough for me to close the windows and drive in a hurry. Mikaela wasn't outside, as I thought she would be. So I honked a few times, but she didn't leave school. I sighed. All I needed was to have to go i
The poor girl should be dying of pain. I had gone through so many painful situations that the body seemed to have gotten used to it. But she was bleeding somewhere that should be lethal. A human body has no more than a few liters of blood in the body. She couldn't stand long in that state of fainting and regaining consciousness. My hope is that someone else would come up to help us, because my instinct said that something very wrong was happening to those men. And this was even more evident when I felt the reverberations on the door on my side of the car. It was the most damaged side, in which the door and the ceiling kneaded so much that it was impossible to see its interior.It was lucky that my seat was practically loose against the panel, or I would have broken the column exactly at the time of the impact, due to the compression on the ceiling that lowered it until the entire metal structure became a ball. The person who moved on my side of the car, tried to see, and uttered a bad
"Mika, listen to me" I tried to move my arms to get to her, but I failed. Mikaela moved to me on her own. Her face was so close that I could smell the blood in her hair. "These men won't just kidnap you. I need you to try to escape. Fight to the end. Don't let them take you without resistance. They will never let you survive. Especially for being a Johnson. Mika, listen to me, your father has no power against the Brotherhood. He couldn't even prevent this from happening, he won't be able to find you. Please run away and don't look back. They have already had countless possibilities of killing me and never did. I have to stay alive. They need some Maxwell in power. They just want to destroy me and now they know they can do it by using you. Don't stay to help me under any circumstances. I'm asking with my heart. Run away. At the first opportunity you have. They're going to take a long time to get me out of the car, so run away as soon as possible. Do you think you can go through the win
I didn't even notice that the unknown man was again bending down next to me, even when a strong light was thrown against my face and his head appeared. Because I was looking at Mikaela's legs in the other window, seeing when she suddenly softened and how the men pulled her up in order to carry her, still making debauched and unflatterous comments for a woman to have to listen. That scared me so much that everything else became very small and unimportant. I knew how the basics of the Brotherhood worked. Those men had no scruples. They could easily kill, steal, rape, and would not be afraid to settle accounts with other people later. That's why it took me a while to understand that the man still had one more message to give me, and when he spoke, it took me even longer to decipher the lines."A man without fear is capable of anything, miss. That's why we want to make sure that fear won't exist for someone like you. This is a message from Aslan, our new leader: when you have to choose, c
"If I said, I would be lying, girl," said the man in a tone of regret. So he completed it with something, but my panic and the noise of the tools of the firefighters who were trying to rescue me left me momentarily deaf. So he repeated it. "It's not certain that I say this to a civilian, but considering that you must already have some good contacts with the police... The truth is that the city is being evacuated little by little. The survivors, those who have not been fully affected and have had their homes marked, are being taken to more distant cities. Some are remaining in bases protected by the army. Some countries have received calls for help, few have answered, but they will still take a long time. The biggest concern is with tonight. No one believes you're safe. I know decorated police officers who are hiding on farms so they don't have to face what this Brotherhood promises to do in the city.”"Isn't this characterized as desertion? "I questioned in an incredulous tone. "For G
The nightclub was crowded that night.It wasn't difficult for that to happen, though. Everyone knew that that place was only filled with regulars by the numerous illicit activities that occurred between the parts illuminated only by the lights that flashed from time to time with colored kaleidoscopes. All the regulars ended their night with good debts in their pockets, enriching the owner of the place, who almost never mingled with those who used their establishment to hide their atrocities for money from the police and the rest of the world.That night, however, the owner of the establishment had left his room on the upper floor of the nightclub, and had taken the trouble to join two other men as arrogant and unnecessary in appearance as this first. All of them were being pampered by the women who worked at the nightclub, because the men allowed there were only the security guards and those who prepared the drinks.Women of all colors and ages walked back and forth in a few clothes.
"I would never sanctify my brother," I guaranteed in a cold tone, although I smiled. "I never told you exactly who Jonathan was, did I? “Osman shook his head, so I sighed. "Jonathan has always been very temperamental. Complicated to deal with. He never introduced us to girlfriends. At least, as far as I can remember. Then he came up dating Suzane Johnson, and at the time of dating, he was aggressive and abusive. He almost killed her, and when he couldn't, he made everyone go against her. The few who supported her made my father and brother pay. But those people had no idea that they ran an entire country. So, even when my brother was presumed dead, and even when my father lost his fortune, they continued to have power over each of us.”"We knew about Suzane Johnson," Osman confessed, watching the sun set on the horizon. "But we didn't know what she could have represented in Saltuk's life. As far as we understood, he was only connected to a woman from his past, and we all knew that he
"When that happens, and if it happens, I'll be ready "I spoke in a tone of triumph, opening a smile without showing my teeth. Aslan's hatred flashed in his eyes and he looked at me as if he were really looking into the eyes of a venomous snake. "You can come after me, because I will always be waiting for you or anyone from the Red Brotherhood. I don't need the police on my way, Aslan. I don't need to work for someone specific, I can take care of myself. I'm more than you think. I became something much bigger that night when you decided to take one of the best people in my life. That night, you determined that I would be your worst enemy. And here I am. I'm not a God. I'm not a ruler. I'm not a person who rose from the dead, as my brother claimed to be. I'm just the one who ended up with a Brotherhood that survived for decades. I am the one who goes after each one of you to condemn you. You will remember my name. You will know what I became that night. And when the day comes, you will
The little boy gave a wide smile, nodding with energy. I walked away from your house, feeling the looks of those poor and desperate people. Watching the children walking freely on dirty puddles and the countless elderly people who sneaked through the open doors of their wooden houses to see that group of foreigners marching away. An entire population that was hidden by the tyrants and dictators who thought they were the owners of their lives.At that moment I really understood my purpose to stay alive.The Red Brotherhood was like the barracks in which I was staying with the American army. The place was located in an open and isolated area, with no houses around, no factories or any impression that people could easily access. In fact, it was necessary for a small boat to travel through the waters of the river that crossed the city to reach that islet on which the barracks remained erected. While the boat in which Osman and I were cleared the waters of that river, with small droplets r
My brother got involved in it because of his thirst for revenge. He made Suzane and I get involved up to the neck in that whole story. I judged and condemned him for being part of a terrorist mafia. I never noticed that I did that to other people myself. And I had just repeated the story by dragging that family to the same bottom of the pit where I was. Not all the excuses in the world would be enough to explain what I was putting them in.“What does your necklace mean? "Asked the little boy named Can. I took a look down. Lately I only remembered the pendant when I imagined that the police would be aware of each of my steps by the little tracker they arrested there. I almost didn't remember that I got it exactly on the last night of Mikaela Johnson's life. I divated for so long that the little boy even thought I wouldn't answer anymore. "I don't want to sound uneducate. I thought you knew about altın yılan's tale.”"The tale of what? "I questioned in a low voice. The boy's father was
The little boy translated, and at this point one of the young people on the couch became more rigid, as if the mention of the police aroused some peculiar kind of interest among them. Perhaps the word in its translation was something that demonstrated authority, and not a specific position. And that they could be understanding that people of a very special and powerful nature could have taken me to their country. The chance for them to think that I could be something worse than the Brotherhood was very great. I took a deep breath to avoid stuttering when I needed to talk again. The little boy finished translating and was silent. It was the lady closest to the arm of the couch who said a few words to him."They want to know what our people need," said the little boy, so he interrupted, because his grandmother kept talking and pointing to the space on the roof. Would they really be so bothered just because I fell? I wonder if they didn't understand that for that, I would have to have a
"Do you think you can reach the next window? "Murmured Osman, his voice sounding no more than a warm breeze against the cold wind. I nodded, but I hesitated. “Great. Remember the training on the climbing wall. Imagine that you are still using the safety equipment. Imagine that there is a mattress down there, waiting for the moment when you will fall. Everything will be fine, Penelope. Just jump. I'll be here if something goes wrong. I promise to pull you.”“Miss Maxwell? "He called Aslan once again, with a note of laughter in his voice. He knocked on the door, with such a slow movement that I knew very well that he was having fun with the situation. Of course he loved that game. I had learned from my father and my brother. The only one who seemed less aware of how to play like that was myself. "I need to say that it doesn't matter where you are. We'll be there. Everyone in this city respects us. Everyone knows that the Brotherhood rewards its allies and torments its enemies. Even if y
"I had to learn everything again after my accident," I said in a low voice. "I had to learn to breathe, walk, talk, and move. So that must have been why the training with the police was better to do. I'm still learning, but the difference is huge. I really feel like a person prepared for any situation. From an extreme cold to an endless race. Even though I have to depend on the firecracker for almost everything, I'm still better than I was in basic activities. Not to mention that my reflexes are much better now. So he was right. It's easier to learn everything when you've forgotten how to do it. That must be why they considered my brother as a God. It was not because he came back from the dead, but because he reached a level of lethality that no one alive has achieved. But I did it. And I think that's exactly what they expected me to do.”"Perhaps, but in relation to the children and his brother, it's all true," Osman said, nodding absent-mindedly. He let out another heavy sigh. "Ther
The arrogance of the leader name of the Brotherhood would be his downfall. He never thought that the police would appear, even more so in large quantities. He never thought that a simple auction "which always took place on days of the week known to people" would cause the police to invade the place. Of course, it would not take long for his sources to inform him of what happened, but, by then, hopefully we would have released the kidnapped children. Aslan had no chance. And worst of all, he left his soldiers and friends, or brothers as they were called, alone. He didn't set up an escort outside to see if they would be okay. He didn't send people to watch the sales and make sure nothing went wrong. He left the people who trusted him the most without any protection. And the strangest thing about all this is that they still remained faithful to that rotten Brotherhood.The police easily surrendered the members of the Brotherhood in that hall, and managed to arrest all the rich who were w