A petite, pale figure stood on the balcony, leaning against the railing. From behind her, a man stood leaning against the door frame. He cleared his throat. “Miss Rodriguez?”
The girl pushed a blonde curl behind her ear and noticed her hand shaking somewhat. She released a pent up breath and shoved her fright down before turning to face the guard. “Yes?”
“The suspects escaped. There were fifteen of us and only four survived. Security has been upped with more guards and the like, for the sake of you and Mr. Gutierrez.” After a pause, he took another breath and finished, "So we need you to come off the balcony and inside where it's safe, per your grandfather's orders."
The girl stood there a moment in the cold, taking in the crisp air, then nodded. “Yes. I will. Soon. Just give me a few moments to myself, please.” The girl turned around and looked out at the damage where James and his co-workers had been attacked. She could see dark patches of grass where blood stained the ground and trees had been strewn aside as if they were just weeds. “You may be dismissed, Sir. How long will these security measures be enacted?”
“Until your grandfather gives us the okay, or until the suspects have been taken care of, Ma'am.” 833Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn20Ehlwo9h
"Thank you," Lucy said quietly. "Now go."833Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNe7rb6Xdq
"Yes ma'am." The guard lowered his head and slipped back inside where he would resume his post as head guard.
Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath as a gust of cold wind whipped her. She stood there until her face began to sting and her fingers became cold. With a shiver, she returned to her bedroom and shut and locked the balcony door, welcoming the warmth of her room. There, she collapsed on her bed, instantly sinking into the plush surface. Lucy closed her eyes and reminisced the attack only a little while ago. She remembered distinctly being on her balcony with her grandfather having their afternoon talk when her guards burst out the big oak doors and ran to James' hiding place. She had only been so frightened once before, when her parents had died in a plane crash when she was eight years old. Her grandfather had told her not to worry and had dismissed himself at once, which only scared her more.
Calm down, she told herself. Papa said I have to be strong. I will be strong. Lucy clenched her hands into fists. For my parents. Lucy rolled onto her stomach and rubbed her eyes furiously.
"Lucy," a voice said, old and ragged. Lucy sat up and saw the familiar face of her grandfather.
Instantly, she brightened. "Hello, Papa, how are you?"
Her grandfather entered and sat on the bed next to Lucy. "Just fine, darling, just fine." He patted her on the head. "Now tell me, what is bothering you, dear?"
Lucy didn't answer for a while, she never liked to tell him her feelings. But he was the only one she could tell. None of the guards would have time to care for her and she had no friend. So instead, she looked him over and saw he was wearing his favorite robe, a burgundy color, and there was a letter on the left side, next to his heart, which was a cursive letter G. It was the first letter of his last name. His family name ended, however, when he and his wife had a daughter and she married a Rodriguez.833Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoU81V5jgT
833Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYkqpAAm0H
"Darling?" he asked.833Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhXwc1u9g5
833Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk056Iyze6R
Lucy realized that she had been staring at her grandfather and shook her head before saying, "I'm just having second thoughts. Papa, explain this to me.... Why do you want James so badly? Why did you go after him by attacking our own country? It doesn't make any sense, I'm afraid. You haven't explained what your plan is." He smiled at her and took her hand in his.
"Let me explain to you as we walk, shall we?"
"Of course, Papa."
The two stood up from the bed and left the room. Immediately, they were greeted by two guards. The two nodded, but otherwise made no acknowledgment that the two men were there. They walked down the long hallway in silence until they reached the gold spiral staircase. "James and his family have a history with my family. I'm still not sure if I should explain this to you about what happened, but you do need to know that James' father did something terrible to one of our family members. Something very, very terrible and it needs to be addressed."
"He did? Does James know anything about this feud between you and his father?"
"No, I'm afraid not. James' father has kept it a secret from his family for all his life. Even his wife." He led her down the stairs until they came to the bottom where another long hallway met them. Lucy had been through here a thousand times before. The dark colored walls held oil lamps which needed lighting each morning. They burned brightly now and lit the entire hallway. Lucy didn't understand why her grandfather liked having oil lamps, she thought the smell of them was awful, but it pleased him, so she never complained.
"But there's another thing too, of course. You were at a camp, my dear, when this happened and I'm glad you were. It would've been terrible for you to endure that situation. Now I, on the other hand, I happened to be at my vacation home in Virginia where I could relax and have a good time to myself. But, anyway, that's not important, so, back on subject. James and his brother, Nathaniel, had invaded my home one night in search for me. Little did I know of what was going on, but I had gathered my guards together when I heard noises, soft noises. With them, I left and found the intruders and trapped them in a hallway. I ordered them to be killed, of course, as I recognized who they were immediately. They look just like their father did when he was younger. I left before they shot and so I didn't know what had happened later on, but somehow, one of the boys escaped, which was James. The other did not, however." He led Lucy to a room that had the door shut. The door was a brown color and had old bronze hinges on them and a brass knob.
"But, where's Nathaniel now? He couldn't have just been left there, could he have?"
Her grandfather chuckled and reached for the brass knob. "He wasn't left there, no. That would be a waste on my behalf. I couldn't let the poor boy stay there and die. He needed immediate attention... So, I took him in..." As the words left his mouth, he opened the door and Lucy saw, to her surprise, a person lying in the bed. He had tanned skin, brown hair, and a muscular body, by what she could tell at the moment. "This is Nathaniel Matthews, the older brother of James Henry Matthews the Second and son of Roslyn and James Henry the First."
"Papa!" she exclaimed. She ran into the room and looked down at the boy lying in the bed. He had tubes running out of his nose and an oxygen mask over his mouth. He had an IV attached to his arm and his head lied to one side. She could tell that he was asleep by the way he was breathing.
"I wanted the boy to suffer for what his father did all those years ago. Killing him would be much too easy on the father. He needed to feel the pain."
"And you never told me?" She questioned him.
"Yes, the boy has been in a deep sleep since the intrusion. I've been waiting for him to wake and I've been taking good care of him. So he's almost as good as new now. I just need the boy to wake."
"Why do you need him to?" she asked him curiously.
The grandfather laughed. "My dear, I want the other boy, James, as well. I want to use Nathaniel as bait so I can get James and kill them both. Their father was a terrible man back when I knew him and he deserves to lose both his sons, if not his wife too." He walked up to Lucy and put his hand on her shoulder. He looked down at Nate and saw his eyes fluttering lightly. "He will wake soon, I know. It is only a matter of time."
"But, Papa, I don't understand. Why didn't you just blackmail James and tell him that we have his brother?"
He smiled a devious grin, "I knew that young James would never believe me. He still might not. But I know they are going to attack here eventually and I'm going to lead them into finding Nathaniel where James will believe me and I'm almost a hundred percent positive he will give fall into the trap and I will have him in my clutches. Then the others will follow suit as James is the leader of the group."
"Papa, how are you going to know when they attack here?"
"I have my ways, darling, don't you fret your little genius mind over my plan. Everything will work accordingly."
She wrapped her arms around his middle and said, "I know, Papa, all of your plans do."
Her grandfather hugged her back. "Yes, now go run along. I have my own business to attend to."
Lucy pulled back and smiled at her grandfather. "Oh, but Papa, you didn't explain to me why you wanted the United States to be destroyed. Why is that?" she asked, looking up at him expectantly.
He chuckled. "Oh, Lucy, yes, I will tell you now. The United States, as we know it, is nothing of what it should be. It has caused more trouble than it is worth. This place, where the abstract freedom is found, needs to start back at its foundations and rebuild. They need to find what freedom really is before they start preaching about it. No one is really ever free; there are always restrictions against people for certain reasons some people don't know. What I did, was basically hitting two birds with one stone. I had to destroy the District of Columbia to let them know that they need to start over and also to get us noticed so our plan will go into effect. Understand now, darling?"
"I understand a little more now, Papa. This is enough to suit me for the next little while," she answered, giving him yet another hug.
"Good, now please, I need to be left alone for a while. Your papa is old, as you know."
"Alright, call for me if you need me," she told him as she moved away from him and Nate. Then she left, shutting the door behind her. Once she heard the resounding click behind her, she leaned against the door and sighed. She felt a growing headache beginning to form with the new information. Putting a hand over her mouth, she whispered, “I live with a sociopath.”
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