Chapter 34

                                    

                                          
Daniel
Lucas broke the stunned silence with a cough.  "So...is anyone else f*cking terrified right now?"
Michael nodded slowly.  We all strained our ears to listen for the sound of running water to stop, cringing when it was cut off abruptly.  
I winced at the sound of the hand towel being yanked off its hanger, knowing she was still pissed.
Her footsteps drew nearer, and we tensed as she came into view, her arms folded and an almost inhuman snarl on her face.
"Now that that's done, I have a question.  What the hell would I hate?"
Marcus didn't even try to play dumb, knowing she had heard the yelling from earlier.  "We have someone in our...basement who you wouldn't like."
She raised her eyebrow, staring at us expectantly.  "Benny?" she asked drily.  Marcus nodded sheepishly.
"I'm assuming you tortured him?" 
At our nods, she smirked.  "Good.  I'm also assuming you got everything out of him that you couldn't get out of me."
We nodded, slower this time.  She rolled her eyes and huffed but accepted it, knowing there was no way to hide the knowledge of the...rape now.
"Fine.  Then I have a request."  Marcus sat up straight, alert at her serious tone.  
"Teach me how to shoot a gun."  Her words were met with chaos.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" 
"MY BABY SISTER IS NOT SHOOTING ANYONE!"
"Why do you need to learn?  We'll protect you!"
At the last argument she almost growled.  "Great job protecting me when I was f*cking kidnapped two days ago!  If you're part of the mafia, I'm going to need protection, and you can't be around me 24/7.  I'm not an idiot who's gonna shoot myself in the face, I know which end is which!"
Shockingly, Marcus was the only one to not protest her words.  He studied her face, seeming surprised at the determination it held.
"You want to learn how to shoot?" she nodded firmly.  "You do it our way.  Always under supervision, never left alone with a gun, and no complaining about our teaching methods."
"Deal," she said without hesitation.
"MARCUS!" Michael exclaimed.  Marcus narrowed his eyes at him and shrugged.  
"She's right.  We're not always gonna be around.  I'd rather her know how to use a gun than have one and not know what the hell to do with it."
Brooke
Honestly I was expecting more pushback on the gun thing.  I wasn't shocked about Benny, I knew damn well they had kept him after my little runaway stunt.
They may think I'm a stupid teenager who just thinks it's cool to shoot a gun, but I needed this.  I hated the feeling of being helpless, unprotected.
My first lesson found me in a warehouse, an array of firearms on a table in front of me.  Daniel swatted my hand away when it drifted toward a particularly shiny gun.
"Do not touch," he said firmly.  I rolled my eyes but listened, reluctantly.
"Your first lesson is to know the gun.  You can't use a gun effectively if you don't know every part, every piece, every tiny component."
I listened attentively.  "So for the next two hours I want you to practice taking apart and reassembling a pistol."  
He picked up a black, sinister-looking handgun and gave it to me.  I took it carefully, studying every screw.
He handed me an allen wrench and let me loose.
For two damn hours I disassembled each spring, each metal plate, putting it in its own spot, before carefully piecing it back together.  
Imagine a 5000 piece puzzle, but there's no picture; the pieces are just blank.
That's how putting a gun together without a blueprint felt.  Daniel chuckled at me whenever I got frustrated, earning a heated glare.  He got glared at a lot in those two hours.
Eventually I started getting the hang of it, my hands automatically pressing the right component into place.
Every piece came with another memory, another scar he and Benny had left on me.  I worked faster, feverishly, trying to outrun the pain of remembering.
I barely heard Daniel's phone timer let off a cheerful ring, letting me know two hours was up.  
Instead of stopping, I gripped the allen wrench tighter and twisted a screw into its place, ignoring Daniel's repeated calls.
"Brooke...Brooke!"  I snapped out of it when he shook my shoulder, tensing at the contact.  "You did good," he said softly, a tone uncharacteristic of him.  
I dropped the wrench, realizing my hands were cramped and shaky from exhaustion.  There was an imprint on my palm from where I clenched the pieces too hard.
"That's enough for today, ok?  Let's head back."
We drove back to the house in silence, Daniel looking pensive.  I knew there would be a discussion about the trance I was in.
Sure enough, before I could rush to the safety of my room, Marcus called my name.  "Brooke, come here," his tone was gentle.
I reluctantly shuffled toward him, avoiding eye contact.  "You ok?  Do you want to talk to Wanda?"
I nodded slightly, my movements almost imperceptible.  "I checked, she can do Telehealth right now if you want.  You just need to pull it up on your laptop, ok?"
I jerked my head in affirmation and escaped to my room, pulling up the videochat app.
Wanda's softly smiling face appeared on my screen and I leaned against my headboard.
"Hey hon," she said.  "Heard you're learning how to shoot a gun.  Pretty cool."
I nodded, not ready to speak.  "Daniel is the best teacher you could have.  He's even better than Marcus.  He taught Lucas and Michael, so he knows what he's doing."
I stayed silent.  "Did you get the hang of taking the gun apart?"  Tears welled up in my eyes, and a sob escaped my mouth. 
Wanda seemed to be the only person I could show my emotions to.  Probably because she legally couldn't tell anyone about them.
"I'm scared," I whispered.  "I was kidnapped, and no matter how hard I try to compartmentalize it, I'm worried it'll happen again."
She nodded.  "I can understand how upsetting that is, even to someone as strong as you.  What are some things you can do to cope?  Learning to protect yourself is a good start."
I shrugged wordlessly.  "How about asking your brothers for motion sensors or more guards?  It's ok to feel vulnerable.  And how about spending time with them, playing a game or something?  Isolating yourself after an incident like this will only make you feel worse."
I let out a watery laugh.  "I can't imagine the hardened mafia leaders sitting around playing Uno, but that's a good visual."
"Honey, they'd do anything for you.  Hell, they'd put on tutus and sing 'I'm a Little Teapot' if they thought it would make you feel better.  And they'd love every minute, because it would be for you."
My heart squeezed at her words, because I knew they were true and it scared me.  I haven't had anyone to actually care about me in 5 years; it was weird to be loved like I am now.
Wanda read my expression and smiled.  "I know it's a little scary, these are big emotions that you're not used to.  But you've got a support system now; you're not alone anymore.  Don't be afraid to lean on your brothers.  They're here for you, and I'm here for you too."
My panic slowly calmed, and I smiled weakly.  Maybe I would be ok.