Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine.
Spoilers:Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.
This is an AU story, with a mix of characters in canon as well. Originally the second half of Traitors Among Us.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest, as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as beta on this one. I appreciate all your help. I'd also like to thank Vanessa Loor for translating my English into Spanish. Any mistakes are mine.
A/N: I ask for your patience in allowing me to develop the story. I guarantee the end result will turn out if you can just keep believing.
This is the second story in the Traitors Among Us series.
Chapter 1: Nighttime Terrors
Bree's POV:
I bolted upright in bed, my heart pounding in my chest, and knew they were dreaming. I half expected it after what had happened in the Pine Barrens. This was the worst part of my "gift," in my opinion. This was the ability that seemed to take the longest to get back under control. I called it empathic dreaming. This was my own personal monster that had reared its ugly head after we met Stephanie. For some reason, I dreamed the same dreams as those around me. I relived the same things that they relived. Tonight, it was worse than usual because there were so many others nearby and the guys Micha worked with had seen and done things I would have never imagined—at least, not before tonight anyway. I stumbled from bed, not bothering with a robe as I made my way to the door and then headed blindly into the rest of the house.
I hadn't gone too far when a light switch was switched to the on position, and I was vaguely aware Lester was standing before me in low-slung jeans and nothing else. I met his gaze with the blind terror I knew was still in mine, and he pulled me into his embrace. I clung to him and whispered, "Make it go away. Make it go away."
"What is it, Chula?"
"Dreams."
I heard swearing, and suddenly, Micha was there beside us. I saw him give Lester a look and he gently asked, "What are you feeling, Bree?"
I took a deep breath and said, "All of it. Not just Steph and the girls, but all of you, too."
Micha swore and reached out, but when I flinched, he clenched his fists and lowered his hand. There was a blood-curdling scream, and I flinched again. Micha looked up at Lester and asked, "Will you take care of Bree?"
Lester gave a slight nod. "I got this, man."
Micha went to Angel's door, and when he opened it, I could see Hector, his eyes haunted, standing near his sister, as Angel sat on the bed with her arms wrapped around her legs, screaming. Micha only spared a glance for Hector before going to Angel, and I watched as he stopped before he reached her and started talking to her.
I felt another presence behind me and stiffened till I heard Lester saying, "You're looking a little scary there, Bobby."
Bobby growled, "You'd look scary too if you were woken from a sound sleep by that God-awful scream. Man, I thought the hounds of hell had gotten in here."
Lester shook his head. "Nah. That's us man when Ranger lets us loose on unsuspecting prey."
I leaned my head back and tilted my head, "That's what he said. Ranger said release the hounds of hell."
Bobby and Lester exchanged a glance, and although I couldn't read Lester, I got a flash from Bobby. His gaze turned in my direction and he paused before asking, "Anything I can do to help here?"
I shook my head. "No. Lester is giving me the silence I need. But Ranger might need help with Julie and Stephanie."
Bobby nodded and headed off in the direction where Ranger had gone with Stephanie and Julie earlier.
Micha's POV:
I entered the bedroom where Angel was sleeping and saw her sitting on the bed with her arms wrapped around her legs. I moved closer to her and could tell she was caught in a nightmare only she could see. From what happened earlier today, I had an idea of the demons she was facing. I knew Angel spoke fluent Spanish and English, and from the way she was looking at Hector, I had a suspicion his past was coming back to bite him in the ass in dealing with her, so I chose to go with English.
"It's okay, Angel. You're safe here, sweetheart. No one will hurt you. Hector and the rest of us will protect you."
She turned in my direction, and I could see I had her attention. I went on. "I'm going to sit beside you. Nothing more. I won't touch you unless you want me to. You have all the control."
Angel turned so she was looking right at me and said, "I'm glad he's dead. That makes me a bad person, doesn't it?"
I shook my head. "No. It makes you human. He hurt your friend and planned to hurt you. I wanted him dead as well. What he planned to do to Stephanie and my sister Bree, as well as you and Julie…If Ranger hadn't done it, I would've killed him myself. The men who helped him were just as guilty. They got what they deserved. It's going to take time to get over this, but you will get through it."
Angel moved until she was curled up in my arms, and I held her as she sobbed her heart out. I caught a glimpse of Hector's face and knew if the men weren't already dead, they wouldn't have lived much longer.
I don't know how long we stayed like that, but suddenly, Angel turned to Hector and said, "Te abochornas de mi porque no soy fuerte como tu?" (Are you ashamed of me because I'm not strong like you?)
Hector stepped forward and kneeled beside her, "Tu eres mas fuerte de lo que yo jamas he sido." (You are stronger than I could ever be, little sister.)
Angel closed her eyes and clenched her fists before saying, "Siento como que nunca estare completa otra vez." (I feel like I will never be whole again.)
Hector reached out his hand, and Angel placed hers on top of his as he said, "Pues dejame ayudarte a ver que en realidad si estas completa" (Then let me help you see that you are indeed whole.)
Angel went into Hector's arms and said, "Te amo, hermano. Siento mucho que permiti que los monstruos ganaran" (I love you, brother. I'm sorry I let the monsters win.)
Hector closed his haunted eyes as he hugged her to him and gently caressed her hair, saying, "No han ganado a menos de que no me permitas ayudarte." (They haven't won unless you don't let me help you.)
Angel tilted her head back and said, "Necesito tu ayuda ahora mas que nunca." (I need your help more than ever now.)
Ranger's POV:
When I led Stephanie and Julie to the wing of the house where we would be staying, I showed them around and let them choose their own rooms. Although Stephanie had shared my bed at Rangeman, I didn't want to force her to continue that arrangement if she felt uncomfortable. In the end, she chose to sleep in the room near Julie. I had a feeling it was partly due to the fact she thought Julie might need her during the night.
When the sounds came, they were muffled, as if someone was trying to make themselves stay quiet so as not to wake anyone. I slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats before making my way toward where Stephanie and Julie were sleeping. I peeked in at Julie, and she seemed to be sleeping. I continued to Stephanie's room and saw that she was holding the pillow to her face to muffle her cries. I moved forward, and as I neared the bed, I spoke so she would hear me and not be startled by my presence.
I was getting concerned that she wasn't responding to me and decided to give it one more shot as I said loudly, "Babe!"
Stephanie shot up in bed, and the look of terror on her face had me wanting to wrap her in my arms and hold her. I stepped closer to her, but stopped when she flinched. It felt like someone had just reached in and grabbed hold of my heart and squeezed. I lifted my hands in the air and spoke softly to her as I continued to walk toward her. By the time I reached her, I could see she was alert enough to recognize me. The look on her face was haunting.
"Are you all right, Babe?"
She hesitated before nodding her head. I was just going to sit beside her, when we heard the screams coming from Julie's room. I hesitated, but when Stephanie scrambled from her bed and headed toward Julie at a fast pace, I joined her.
Just before we reached Julie's door, Bobby knocked and opened the door to the suite. "You need help?"
I did a palms up because I wasn't sure just yet what we were going to find. Bobby nodded and fell in behind us. When I reached Julie's room, Stephanie was sitting on the bed with Julie in her arms, rocking her. I couldn't hear what Stephanie was saying, but I knew whatever it was, she was telling Julie what she needed to know. I moved over to the bed and knelt down beside them. Julie was nearly hysterical and didn't seem to be calming down. I glanced at Bobby, and from the look on his face, I knew it might be necessary to give her a sedative at some point if we were unable to get her calmed.
Stephanie tried to get Julie to open her eyes and see she was only dreaming, she was safe, and we were here to protect her. Julie's sobs were as hard to hear as when Stephanie was caught in the grips of her nightmare. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bobby getting a syringe ready and knew we were down on time to getting Julie calmed. I decided I was going to sit on the bed beside Stephanie, and I wrapped my arms around both of them. I followed Stephanie's rocking motion and found myself singing a song my Abuela had sung to me when I was a child and was ill. Stephanie tilted her head till it was in the crook of my neck and turned so she was slightly facing me. Julie stilled as well, and her face tilted up toward my voice. I continued to rock us in the motion Stephanie had started, and within moments, both of them were sound asleep once again.
I looked up at Bobby and said, "Go ahead on back to bed. I've got this."
Bobby hesitated. "You want me to help you get them to the master suite?"
I shook my head. "No. We'll stay here."
Bobby nodded and left the room.
Once he was gone, I maneuvered myself so I was lying on the bed and Stephanie was spooned against me, with Julie resting against her. I grabbed the blanket and covered us all before laying my head on the pillow and closing my eyes. Before going to sleep, I caressed Stephanie's hair and then Julie's and said, "I've got you both and you are safe."
As I held them, I thought back to that fateful day when Bree drove through the barrier in the Rangeman garage and crashed into my Porsche 911 Turbo. My men and I had come to know both of them since then, and they'd become an important part of our lives.
Learning what Stephanie had been through and that the monster from her past was connected to the monster who'd planned something equally horrifying for my little girl, I'd vowed to protect them all. We'd put a plan in motion and taken out all the bad guys, including traitors from my own company that were tied in with them.
I'd sent Lester to shadow the bad guys, and when I'd learned he was in danger, the guys and I had taken steps and made everyone believe Lester had been killed. When the traitors had kidnapped the girls from Rangeman and taken them to the house in the Pine Barrens, Lester was already in place, disguised so he wouldn't be recognized.
When the girls had pressed the number two button on their cell phones, calling for help, we were already in place and ready to take the bad guys out. Stephanie and I had worked on the plan for a couple weeks, and it was Bella Morelli's abduction that had told us we'd needed to put the plan in motion. Although we'd had our own reservations—it had put Bree and Julie at risk, as well as Angel and Stephanie—we'd known we had to move forward.
When everything settled that day, the monsters and their allies were all dead. To give the girls a chance to relax and come to terms with what had happened, we'd brought them here, near Point Pleasant, to one of the safe houses I owned. When the nightmares came tonight, it wasn't much of a surprise, given the day we'd had.
