On seeing me, Abdul grinned, showing the ugliest set of teeth I and ever seen. He looked at Silvia, his curious eyes sizing her slowly, then faster with a gaze full of lust. "I see you brought our prize." He said grinning sheepishly. "You said you'd release my brother." Silvia said not returning the warmth. "Of course." Abdul smiled coyly.
He nodded to a dark skinned fellow, who brought out a rough looking boy all covered in scratches. He looked like he'd been beaten up over and over again. Even now, his lip was bleeding slightly. On seeing Silvia, his expression brightened up and he became restless. "Silvia!" He said with a hoarse and throaty voice that sounded like he'd had no water in days. When Silvia saw him, her eyes filled with tears which formed two neat pathways on her face, chasing themselves down her neck. "James! What have you done to him you monsters!" She said trying to wipe the blood off his lip with her finger.
I began to feel pity for her. By the look of things, he probably was her only family and now it all made sense to me. Now, I didn't feel so angry anymore. Honestly, I would've done anything to redeem my family. To see them once again.
"You promised me that you'd free him." Silvia said to Abdul again as the dark skinned fellow pulled them apart, this time more impatiently. The dark skinned fellow cut the ropes that bound his hands, and then nudged him towards Silvia.
He literally ran into her arms. They were both hugging each other and crying at the same time. Suddenly, Abdul pulled out a gun and aimed it towards James's head. "James! Watch out!" I yelled instinctively. One of the slavers rammed his fist into my gut, and I coughed and wheezed violently.
Unfortunately, I was a second too late. Abdul pulled the trigger, and the bullet got him squarely in the back of his head. Silvia screamed. Some of his blood had even splattered on to her face. "Nooo!" she shrieked. "Please don't leave me James." She said crying hysterically and holding his hand. "Stay with me! Stay with me James!" she said as rivers of tears flowed from her eyes.
"Silvia..." James drawled out weakly as blood pumped out into the skirt of her dress where his head was resting. "Silvia... Silvia,I ... I..." His hand which was firmly clasped in hers fell heavily to the ground, and his intense green eyes assumed a distant and glassy look in them. He was dead. "Nooooo" Silvia said as she wept. Hers was a racking outward sobbing, and my heart bled for her.
"Take her away!" Abdul ordered his men. About three of his men who obviously had a fling for Silvia came and began to rudely and obscenely drag her away from the still body of James. She struggled desperately, and Silvia was able to bite one of the men savagely on the forearm, inflicting a wound which started bleeding. The enraged slaver hit her so hard that she went sprawling on the floor in the midst of them.
Then they began to harrass her, tugging strongly at the thin material of her dress whilst laughing. The bastards! The murderous bastards! The scene presented before me filled me with rage and distaste. It churned it's way up my stomach before filling my mouth with it's sickening taste.
I charged at them with all the force of a demented demon, and I could've sworn that I was able to knock out the front teeth of at least three men before I was roughly pulled back by Abdul and some other men. He hit my face with the butt of his gun, while the other men wrestled me to the ground on my knees.
I could feel a bleeding cut on my cheek due to the impact of his gun. I looked up at him with such loathing that he flinched a little. Abdul Chuckled. "I can't believe that I will be the lucky man that finally kills you Valerian." he said pointing the gun directly in between my eyes. "Goodbye forever Bren.'' he said with an air of finality.
I remember a review of my life flashing through my eyes. I thought of Valeria, my mother, my sweet old Father, and all my siblings. Then, finally I thought of Adriana. An image of her crying out her eyes whilst holding on to my lifeless body flashed through my imagination. But then again, we hadn't known each other for long so she'd easily get over me. I thought. She'd forget about me and fall in love again. With that thought to console myself, my unconscious mind narrowed itself back to the present.
Abdul was about to pull the trigger, and I thought well, this was it. But then, a dagger from nowhere flew dangerously close to my head and sliced off the gun hand of Abdul. The latter shrieked in pain and alarm, moving a few inches back and holding the remainder of his injured arm. The rest of us, all turned back in surprise.
The knife had come from one out of a fairly large group of men. All of them were holding various weapons ranging from guns to spears, daggers and swords. The slavers nearly lost their balance on seeing them. "Rovers!" yelled one of the slavers, and then they charged towards one another.
Some of the slavers had began to run away, others just stood there, mouth and eyes wide open showing a reflection of my expression. The remainder who weren't doing either of the two, seized whatever weapons they could lay their hands on, and ran towards the rovers.
It was a bloody fight, and I as well was not spared from the wrath of the rovers. Somewhere in the middle of the fight, both Silvia and Abdul resuscicated, and seeing that I was furiously fighting my way out of the midst of two rovers, Abdul aimed his gun at me once more.
Silvia looked at Abdul, then at me. Sensing the danger that was to come, she screamed out my name. "Bren, Watch out!" she yelled. Just as he pulled the trigger, she ran towards me blocking the bullet with her own body. I felt the bullet pass through her and into my abdomen.
As soon as she got shot, Silvia let out a high pitched shriek and practically fell into my arms. Fresh blood guzzled out of her wound, and some gurgled out of her mouth. "No! Silvia!" I yelled cradling her in my arms like a new born. "You're okay. Look at me okay? You're okay." I assured her, shaking her gently. "Bren are you alright...? Are you okay?" she said gasping for air.
I ignored her question. I knew my shirt was probably dripping with the blood from my wound, but it didn't matter at the moment. "You're going to be fine. I will take you to a doctor." I tried to lift Silvia up, but she resisted with the little strength she had left by squeezing my hand gently.
"My brother...is dead. I have nothing to live for." she said, a tear trickling down her cheek. "Don't you dare say that to me! You are going to live!" I said already crying. "Bren, you must forgive me for bringing you here." she began again. " I only did that to save my... my..." she was slowly giving up, and I could feel it from the way she was speaking and gasping for breath. "Save your breath. I would do the same. I understand." I said kissing her forehead.
She continued on stubbornly. "Please forgive me Bren." Then she squeezed my arm again, this time with a painfully tight grip. "Seek revenge. Do not let the death of my brother and I go to waste." Her expression softened as she looked up at me through her lashes. Then she reached up one of her blood stained hands and brushed it gently against my cheek. It felt like being pecked by a rose.
"I once loved you Bren...I still do. It's such a pity that I was not fated to be with you forever" she said regretfully. "I am glad that you are the last person I will see before I leave this world." she managed to smile despite the pain she was going through, and said. "Thank you. For everything Bren. You not only saved my life, you gave me my life... Thank you."
Now her breathing was coming in ragged uneven pants, and I could do nothing but watch helplessly. She struggled like that for a minute, before closing her eyes. Gently. Forever. I felt the life go out of her. "Silvia, wake up! Stay with me!" I said shaking her gently, then aggressively. "Open... Open your... Open your eyes!" I said before breaking down in tears, at the same time rocking her limp body in my arms.
I cried so much my lungs ached. Abdul grunted angrily at us, before fleeing into the forest with the rest of his men who weren't dead yet, and the rovers in hot pursuit passing me as if I was a fly. I sobbed uncontrollably, and the only word I could repeat as I wept was her name. "Silvia."
The hooting of birds, and the now deathly still quietness of the forest complemented my mood. And the only thing I could hear answering me back was the sad echo of my own voice.
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Hello everyone! First I want to give you a thumbs up for reading this far, I hope you are enjoying the story as it progresses.If you'd like a sneak peek of what the characters in this book look like to help fuel your imagination and facilitate your reading, follow me on Instagram@ authorglory.o