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“I can’t do it, Francisco.”
“Don’t become a mother hen, Juan Carlos, please.”
“What happens if something goes wrong or I miss? I won’t chance losing you so soon after finding you. I think the cold was more than enough to indicate your condition has changed.”
Francisco glared at his brother with fury.
“Do it!”
“No!”
Juan Carlos didn’t have time to react when Francisco jumped on top of him and they both went down to the ground. They began to struggle for the weapon Juan Carlos had in his hands. He clung to it as if his life depended on it. It was not exactly his life, but his brother's. The very imbecile got the idea to punch himself in a specific area of his body to assure nothing serious would happen to him. He wanted to verify his immortal condition, to see if he was immortal or not.
Juan Carlos never believed they would reach this point. He had been evading the subject ever since Francisco had thought of testing it. They were still in the United States when the terrible idea occurred to him.
The oldest Requena, thought with evasiveness. The moment would come when his brother would forget the idea. He hoped by then further proof might pass to confirm everyone’s suspicions of Francisco having recovered his mortality thanks to his love for Natalia.
However, what happened that morning between them was evidence his brother never forgot and wouldn’t until he buried the damn center punch in his lower abdomen. He would suffer an infernal pain for several days and the wound would take weeks to heal —and not hours— he wouldn’t rest easy.
Francisco struggled with his brother half-heartedly. He knew he could tear it away from him at any moment. He had the experience and the agility to do it, but he did not want to hurt Juan Carlos. One false step could be fatal for Juan Carlos and the truth was he also didn’t want to lose the only family he had in the world, again.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to make it easy either. He would have nailed the damn punch himself if he had the courage to do so, but he was not brave enough to nail things into himself, especially when the fine sting grazed his skin and aroused all the terrors of torture.
He tried. Of course he tried unfortunately, he wasn’t able too. So his brother had to do it. It’s not like he could ask Rodrigo or Manuel, to do something like that and with Edward he did not have the necessary confidence. He had not mentioned his plan to the women due to knowing they would force him to abandon his plan.
He needed to ensure his mortality considering if he did, his whole life could change. If they stopped following Juan Carlos after he was wounded for that reason, then the same would happen with him and only then could he lead a normal life in every way. Although he knew he was also wanted to avenge the cold-blooded murders he committed so many centuries ago.
He was lying on the ground trying to control Juan Carlos's hand and directed it to the exact point where he indicated he should nail the punch. They were in the open, away from anyone who could see them, but very close to the ruined house where Isabel and Natalia were working, making paper sketches of the restructuring they planned.
His cell phone’s vibration distracted Juan Carlos for a brief second causing him to loosen his grip giving Francisco the advantage to fulfill his stupid desire. The youngest brother felt as the thin, cold metal pierced his skin and entered the precise spot.
“Damn it!” Shouted Juan Carlos. “You're a psychopath.”
Francisco rolled on his side with the punch still protruding from his stomach. With each movement he made, the pain intensified and his cell phone vibrating didn’t help. He took a deep breath as he watched the blood begin to spurt.
“In the briefcase there are clean cloths and gauze, also medicine to treat the wound,” he told his brother. “I'll answer the call while I figure out how to get this out without hurting.”
Juan Carlos glared at him and ran to locate said items.
“Yes,” Francisco answered, trying to sound normal. He witnessed his brother pulling out his cell phone to answer.
“You will receive the coordinates of our meeting, if you don’t come, the girl dies.” He heard a heartbreaking scream freezing his blood in the background.
For a few seconds he lay motionless on the grass trying to analyze what was happening. When he understood it, distress seized him. He began dialing Natalia’s number hoping they were playing a joke or it had been a wrong number.
His hands shook and something kept him from getting up. Juan Carlos, at the edge of his vision, pinched the bridge of his nose while he was still on the phone.
Natalia did not answer.
“AHHHH!” He shouted with hatred and despair. He was afraid his Natalia was the victim of the damned secret society. He looked at his abdomen and remembered what happened just minutes before Juan Carlos approached him with cloths, medicine and bandages. “I WILL KILL THEM IF THEY TOUCH ONE SINGLE HAIR ON HER HEAD!”
He snatched the center punch out without feeling anything. He watched the blood spurt rapidly. He grabbed a cloth and pressed it to himself to stop the bleeding.
“Do they have her? Isabel is worried because Natalia is never late and she has been waiting for her for an hour. I told her we saw her leave and we thought they were together.”
Francisco couldn’t hear for his anger. He was going to tear the heads off of each one of those bastards. He was going to beat them before ripping off their limbs. He would make them beg for mercy. They bandaged the wound quickly. He’d take care of it later.
His Natalia needed him now. He started toward Scout.
“You can’t leave like this, Francisco.”
“Let me go, Juan. I don’t want to hurt you and right now, I'm not a good person.”
He stared his brother in the eye. Juan Carlos had never seen his brother so full of hatred and fear over losing someone. The memory resurfaced of that infamous day in which they both were captured by the guards when they were ready to leave the place where they had lived all their lives. It seemed he relived that moment of so much fear and suffering also. Tears of rage and helplessness slipped from Francisco's eyes.
“I'm not letting you go alone, I'm going with you.”
Francisco appreciated his brother's gesture but if he took him, he would be one more concern. Juan Carlos didn’t have the experience he had in hand-to-hand combat with those assholes in the society. He was sure things wouldn’t end well for him. He needed to be focused on Natalia in order to rescue her safely and Juan Carlos would be a distraction.
“I'm sorry, Juan. I can’t allow you to come with me.” Those were his last words before he escaped his older brother's grasp. With agility and dexterity he put him in a hold that left Juan Carlos's neck within the bend of his arm with which he pressed lightly to render Juan unconscious. He lay him gently on the ground.
He received a text message from the society with the coordinates. He did not know where he was going but it was not far from there. He would leave on Scout. He dialed Isabel's number again as he mounted the horse.
“Juan Carlos is unconscious north of where you are. Bring the car and get him as soon as possible. You will see him easily because I have put him on a horse. Do not delay.”
“Did something happen to her?”
“I'm going to bring her home safely, even if it's the last thing I do. Come for my brother.”
He hung up, put away his cell phone and rode to the meeting point with the assholes.
***
Francisco couldn’t think clearly. The mere thought of losing Natalia short circuited his brain leaving him useless and in return, charged with uncontrollable anger. He had never in his life been so enraged at another human being. Undoubtedly, when he escaped from the clutches of the Inquisition he was furious, but nothing was comparable to what he felt at this moment.
He had no weapons on him but his body would become the deadliest weapon anyone has ever seen. He was going to destroy them all. He didn’t care if there were two or a thousand accursed society members, he would face them all. Natalia's scream echoed in her head incessantly, fueling his rage. If he found her wounded he would not have any mercy on them and he would torture them to make them suffer a damnable hell.
And if... he found her... dead...
He felt a tight knot in his throat and an unknown pressure in his chest to think he might find her dead. He would make them suffer twice as much before killing each of those demons.
Scout rode as fast as he could. He knew the animal was giving everything he had and there wasn’t much left. If they came out of this, he would retire his poor friend. He would surround him by the best females of his race to have a precious family.
The pressure in his chest tightened again at the mention of the word ‘family’ in his head. He thought about himself and Natalia in a short time. Since he fell ill with that cold it left him useless for a week, he realized if he regained his mortality, he wanted to have a family. Children, many of them who would exhaust him and catch his colds. To give him the happiness only a father could know.
Natalia laughed at the thought of a battalion of children and told him if they did, they would have two because she wasn’t ready to be a mother. They were not in the time when he had grown up where everyone had a dozen children.
He laughed at her comment and told her to only take care of giving birth and he would take care of them. That night they made wonderful love. They did not look away from each other; Francisco could read in her eyes how happy she was at the thought of forming a family with him.
That night, Francisco asked if she was in love. She explained that love was a set of experiences and moments a couple lives together. She had seen it in her grandparents and so she could describe it perfectly. He told her no matter how long it took to know, love was always capricious and played with people making them fall into its web sooner or later. However, making them fall hopelessly into a condition in which you stop living individually as a human being because in your thoughts you can only imagine your day to day with that other person you cannot escape your thoughts. He also explained love needed solid foundations of respect and trust; complicity and high doses of laughter because you will not always be young and sex may become scarce but laughter would continue to fuel that partnership.
Natalia told him she had never had a good experience with love and thanks to him she was discovering it.
That night he told her he loved her and would love for her to stay by his side forever.
“You'll have to do it the right way,” she said, smiling as he began stroking her bare skin. “A ring and a formal proposal. I'm a traditional girl who likes old things.”
Francisco smiled at her with amused irony.
“I am an expert in ancient methods, so I will endeavor to please your wishes for a marriage proposal. I hope you have a good dowry because that was the case in ancient times.”
She only kissed him with unbridled passion as she stroked his manhood and then whispered in his ear:
“I have something better than a dowry to pay you.”
She began to cover Francisco's body with warm, seductive kisses until she reached his shaft, where she slipped him in her mouth giving him unimaginable pleasure.
Francisco groaned with pleasure and gave thanks for the times change and dowries too.
His cell phone’s GPS signal snapped him out of his memories when it beeped to indicate he was already in the place but ... What the hell! There was nothing there!
He looked around and only a field stretched out before him.
Suddenly he heard buzzing and remembered the day of the attack with the poison dart. He had heard something similar.
He looked up and saw a drone overhead.
He received a message.
“Follow it”
He did what he was told until he reached an abandoned house. This house seemed to be the beginning of a new nightmare. It was almost the same as the cabin he was imprisoned in before killing the Inquisitor General.
Goose bumps broke out all over his skin, and Scout seemed worried about the place as well.
“Easy boy. We’ll get out of here soon. Wait for me here.”
He had nowhere to tether him, so he set him free, hoping he would not run anywhere.
The drone disappeared from view and the property’s door opened own its own.
Francisco entered with caution on high alert.
No one was there as the door behind him closed with a dry, fast snick. The sound of the locks engaging could be heard. They controlled it mechanically from who knew where.
He noticed this bastard’s house had a sophisticated alarm and surveillance system, which meant they were always watching him. A small, empty room with a door to which he went and opened. It was a room without windows and trapdoor in the floor. Francisco's cell vibrated again and he read the message:
“Lift the gate and go down”
He did as he was told despite the anger and fear beginning to invade him with each step he took, descending the dreadful spiral staircase made of stone. By the conditions in which it was found, Francisco supposed it was old like him.
Memories began to dominate his mind and body. Fear rose in his system, completely distracting him of his objective: to rescue Natalia.
It was affecting him so much he did not react in time when a couple of armed men grabbed him at the end of the stairwell. If he had been alert, he would have shot to kill. By not concentrating he was the target and ready to be shot.
They led him through a narrow corridor lighted by white streetlights. The walls, from floor to ceiling were of gray stone. He remembered the moment when he was led to a similar place more than four centuries ago. A chill swept through him.
He breathed deeply and had to make a superhuman effort to concentrate on Natalia.
They stopped at the end of the corridor, before a massive iron door. They looked in the camera overhead and the door immediately opened. They pushed him through almost knocking him to the floor.
Before Francisco, a hexagonal room appeared with six doors on each side.
Francisco wanted to get to Natalia as soon as possible and could not fall prey to despair. He had to have a clear mind and make his cold blooded attack as soon as possible. He didn’t know how many more men there were underground with him.
One of the doors opened and his companions forced him across the threshold. The new room was dark. The humidity sent Francisco back to the first time he was locked in a cell. He would never forget the epidemic of that cell.
The light flickered on suddenly. White and bright. Francisco's pupils reacted immediately adapting to the surrounding brightness. His instinct also kicked in immediately upon recognizing a torture machine in the distant corner. The rack brought back the pain of them dislocating each of his extremities. The door opened again, and five men appeared in long black robes.
Francisco groaned getting into position because he was ready to die before allowing them to subject him to that again.
All his momentum went to hell when he saw a sixth man entering dragging a wooden wheelbarrow with Natalia tied to it. She looked at him with panic in her eyes. She had a thin red line across her forehead and a drop of blood stained her cheek.
She tried to say something, but couldn’t due to the gag in her mouth. Francisco wanted to go to her but two men stopped him. They drug him to the wall in front of the torture machine. They sat him down on a wooden chair and bound his hands and feet to it.
As soon as Natalia was taken away, he grew pale and began to tremble with a mixture of agony and rage.
“NOOOO!” He began to scream with the greatest misery of his life. “USE ME, DAMN BASTARD. I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!”
Francisco started screaming like a savage. That's what he wanted exactly, to let out everything he had accumulated against those people without scruples making his life a living hell and now, they dared to threaten the woman he loved.
“At last we meet, Mr. Requena.”
A bald, plump man entered through the door while the others lowered their heads to pay him respect.
Francisco hyperventilated, a fire lit inside him motivating him not to give up. All he needed to do was behead them.
Natalia was struggling with the men who were trying to place her to the rack. When they finally got her on it, Francisco couldn’t stop thinking about the pain she would be in as soon as they turned the lever. He had to find a way to release her.
How did he let something like this happen to another human being? The guilt began to eat at him. He had been so selfish getting involved with her knowing what was transpiring would happen sooner or later. So many years fleeing those assholes so that everything ended there and in this cruel way. Especially for Natalia who was crying disconsolately.
“What do you want?” Francisco stabbed the bald man with a look laden with guilt, hate and pain. “Let her go. Let's make a deal, kill me but leave her alone.”
“That would be very easy, Francisco. My name is Marcos, by the way.”
The man gave a signal and the rest of the men left the room.
Marcos went to Natalia, removed the gag and caressed her lips.
“She’s beautiful.” The man's sadistic gaze swept over the blonde's body as Francisco pulled at the straps that bound him. The beast in him wanted to come out and kill. The first one would be that filthy swine in front of him glaring at Natalia as if she were a piece of meat. She was terrified, Francisco could see how her body trembled, yet she was strong and he was proud of her when she spat right in the asshole’s face.
He snorted ironically and turned the lever slightly. Natalia could feel her limbs struggling to stay in place.
“I'm going to start soft,” Marcos told them both. “I want the formula and, of course, you to pay for what you did to my ancestors.”
“I am a descendant of the inquisitor whom you killed. I am obliged to avenge his death even though the superiors have not yet authorized it.”
He turned the lever a little more increasing the tension to Natalia’s limbs.
“I’ll give you the formula but leave her.”
“No,” the man said sarcastically, “she will please my desires for torture and then I will make her my mistress. When you cannot move, of course.”
A scorching fire burned throughout Francisco’s body.
He growled like a wild wolf ready for the attack.
Marcos only smiled and turned the lever again.
Natalia could not stand the tension any longer and begged him to stop. The pain in her limbs was becoming unbearable.
Helplessness overpowered Francisco and it was that jolt he gave the chair he was tied to with such a force he extricated himself from his bonds. Unfortunately, everything happened with the accursed man watching who, in the surprise of seeing Francisco unleash himself and brazenly charge him turned the lever quicker causing Natalia to scream with excruciating pain.
She felt her shoulders began to crack and thought she would pass out due to the pain rippling through her now but she couldn’t. She knew Francisco would need her to be able to leave of her on accord so he could take care of the rest of the men.
You know very well with one more turn, she won’t be able to move her arms and legs.
Marcos threatened. Francisco immediately stopped short after watching Natalia's body tremble uncontrollably from the pain.
Natalia turned and focusing directly on Francisco’s eyes making him promise once more to get her out of there immediately. His beloved Natalia had tears in her eyes. Her eyes were also filled with the terror of what could happen, and at the same time she let him see the great strength inside her, telling him to do what was necessary to get them both out.
It was then Francisco, in a rapid movement, came to the new inquisitor and issued a series of punches to his face knocking him to the ground.
Francisco ran to Natalia and untied her as quickly and delicately as possible. He took her in his arms and set her down.
“I'm going to get you out of here, I promise,” he whispered in her ear. “Can you walk?”
“I'll do whatever it takes to get us out of this hell hole soon,” she said determinedly.
He planted a kiss on her lips that gave him the necessary energy to lift Marcos off the ground.
The wounded man tried to say something but the blood was pooling in his mouth making it impossible to be understood. Francisco, then broke his nose and knocked out several teeth as well. The man's face was an amorphous, bleeding mess.
“Stand behind me, Natalia.”
Suddenly the group of men who had been there before rushed in. Francisco understood no more men would come to the attack due to those being the only ones present.
He wondered what kind of idiot made such an important move as to capture Natalia, with only six men to defend themselves with when he himself had wiped out larger groups of the society in some of their encounters around the world.
They pointed at him and Natalia with their weapons.
Getting out of this was going to be complicated due to having to watch out for Natalia in a very small space.
“I'm going to kill him if you don’t let us out of here.”
He took a piece of wood from the destroyed chair and jabbed it at Marcos’ throat. The men had no intention of listening to him. He would have to act. He cursed under his breath as he stabbed Marcos in the throat killing him instantly.
He took advantage of the men's surprise to attack them. Luckily, not all of them were armed. First he dealt with the two pointing their pistols at him. He managed to evade the bullets of the first that hit the second man following Francisco’s movements with the weapon. Another of the men got hit in the crossfire and Francisco took that chance to pounce on the man still shooting. They fell to the ground struggling for the weapon. The other men walked toward Natalia who waited for them in a corner of the room ready to attack with the wooden stake used moments ago to take Marcos' life.
The first to approach her received a huge laceration across his face making him step back and putting him in Francisco’s sight. He was still struggling with the man on the floor. He didn’t think twice about pulling the trigger. The projectile hit the man directly in the head making him collapse in the act. It was another surprise that gave Francisco an advantage. Immediately, he snatched the weapon from his attacker placing it to his forehead and shot without remorse.
The scene was not pleasant but it couldn’t be worse than what would happen with Natalia if he did not hurry. Natalia screamed. She was being held by the two remaining men. Each one holding an arm while they glared at Francisco with a mixture of hatred and fear. One of them took out a knife and put it to Natalia's throat.
Natalia looked into his eyes as she did minutes before it all began. Immediately, she made use of those self-defense classes she once took as a teenager. Although she would have liked to use her strength on her attacker, she was just as proud when the man staggered due to her letting go a little allowing Francisco to shoot him precisely in the head. The last man in the room, who still held Natalia by the arm, released her immediately kneeling on the floor with his hands held high.
“How many more?”
“There's no more. Not in this city. Marcos knew he shouldn’t rush, but his thirst for revenge and his crave for immortality blinded him and led him to commit this fatal mistake.”
“Who directs this? The church?”
The man said nothing.
“Speak, damn it!” Francisco pressed the muzzle of his gun to the center of his skull.
“They're several. An additional meeting was scheduled to discuss your death.”
Francisco breathed heavily.
“Natalia, get out of here and check if there's any where we can get information.”
She didn’t make him beg. She left the hexagonal room immediately to search the rest of the rooms. She entered one with only a table and a mirror. It looked like an interrogation room. She turned around.
She entered the next and it was a surveillance room. The front wall was full of monitors from ceiling to floor in which various images were displayed: the interior of this sinister place, the outskirts of the cabin serving as a cover for the site; aerial and real time images of Caserío Peña, Alcalá Orange Grove and areas bordering both estates. Natalia did not stay there any longer. She continued on her quest.
The next room was empty. However, the next one to that one, made her hair stand on end. There, before her, were the torture machines she had read so much about in history books. She could not understand how they had survived so many centuries. The wood appeared so old that probably none of them were useful. Although the one she was on seemed to look the same and worked perfectly. It reminded her of the pain in her shoulders as she made a sudden movement.
After a series of shudders, she left to enter the last room in which a modern studio was found. This bright, cool place did not seem to have anything to do with the rest of the gloomy area.
She settled behind the computer and gave thanks it was not password protected. She rummaged through the apparatus without any success. Then she spied a folder by her side. She opened it and discovered a list of names. She recognized several of them.
Were they the people who ruled the secret society against Francisco?
She shivered with the thought considering they were moguls with money. Some had power yet still some had both, money and power. A bad combination to go against them whereas they lacked both.
She hurried out of the apartment, returning to meet with Francisco, who was still pointing the gun at the boy.
He did not look older than 25 years old. How could he be seduced by a sect like this?
Did they promise him immortality?
Francisco studied the list and showed it to the boy.
“Are these the bosses?”
The boy did not respond. With his patience exhausted Francisco pulled the trigger, shooting the boy directly in the head.