A/N : To all those readers who can write/read French perfectly my apologies for using the language if it is not accurately
translated. I just used online translation for that matter, though I enclosed it on open and close parenthesis what I
meant in English . Again big shout to John Knighwak for being my P/R
Chapter 7
Lucas, Matthew and Quinn looked at each other in disbelief on what they had just heard.
"I killed someone" Rachel said again.
Rachel looked at her fathers trying to gauge their expression but she's too exhausted to focus, if she can not continue talking she's not sure if she will be able to do this again. She took a deep breath, pulled out her hand from Quinn and clasped them together.
"Honey, tell us what happened?" Lucas's urged their daughter to continue.
Before Rachel continued she looked at Quinn, who sat besides her patiently waiting for her to continue.
"Three weeks ago, you already knew that we were going to Austria right?" her parents just nodded.
"Supposed to go there at least 2 weeks before Christmas but we finished school early so they let us leave earlier. We arrived in Vienna around 9 am, we checked in first then we wandered around the city, we got busy so we lost track of time, then it was already 10 pm. Louella and I decided to walk back to the hotel. While walking we saw a young girl being harassed by two men, we looked around to ask for help but before I knew Louella was already there protecting the girl, she's about 2 years younger than me. I helped Ell, it happened so fast daddy, next thing I knew we were inside the van with other girls who were crying. There were about 8 of us there; the goons were talking in a language that I couldn't comprehend." Rachel paused for a while to take a deep breath.
Quinn can't bear the pain in her lover's voice and eyes, once again she took Rachel's hands and clasped them tightly, and she wanted Rachel to know that no matter what she will be there by her side.
"We made a lot of stops, we don't know exactly where we were, oh I can't do this" Rachel said about to cry.
Lucas stood up, knelt down in front of Rachel and took her face with both his hands.
"Baby, listen to me. You have to tell us everything so then we will be able to help you" Lucas encouraged his daughter to continue.
Rachel just nodded and tried to recollect that faithful event of her life.
Three weeks earlier
"Ell, do you think we can survive this?" Rachel said fearfully. They were in the large dim room with everyone.
"Have faith, we can get out of this mess" Louella retorted.
It's been three days since they were kidnapped and they just kept traveling, nobody knew anything. The only thing that they knew was every time they stopped there was another girl added to their number.
It's a good thing that one of the guards was a female; probably they could talk some sense to that girl and help them out.
Everything seems to be quiet and having quiet time for the last three days is not always good. Either they will hear some girls crying or gun shots.
It was like Day 5 already and again they were traveling; they are like a 5 van convoy carrying young girls, when Rachel saw some of the girls she felt more terrified. They've talked to some of them and found out that they were about to go home to their homeland. Some are students and the others are just on vacation.
Everyone was whispering to each other when the Van stopped, which cause them to collide with each other.
"Why did we stop?" Rachel asked the lady guard whose name is Monica.
Monica just looked at them and said "Be quiet".
Rachel heard commotion outside the vehicle and they heard gun shots all over the place and people shouting. Like FBI, Interpol and local police, people are talking in foreign languages, she tried her best to listen and she has a clearer audible range.
"It was French" she told Louella. Louella did the same and they heard a lady said "You are under arrest for white slavery".
Louella and Rachel looked at Monica who was trying to unlock the door from the inside; after a few attempts it was successfully opened. Monica instructed all the girls to run outside the Van and look for a safer place to cover their selves.
Agent Alyssa Duval heard the commotion somewhere at the back of the 5 van convoy; she went to the back to check for herself. When the driver saw her she saw the panic in his eyes but didn't move. Duval was very much alert as she reached the back of the Van. Before she could even take a look at what is inside the driver maneuvered the vehicle and drove away fast.
Inside the van there were still 5 more girls, it was Rachel, Louella and three Asians who looked traumatized already.
"I told you to get out! Why you didn't listen to me?" Monica exclaimed to all of them.
"We—are did try but there's no time" one the Asian girl says.
"Where are we going now?" Rachel asks in a very terrified voice.
"Casablanca."
"We're in Morocco, which explains the French language" Louella said.
"Oh God, we've been traveling for 5 days from Austria down here, we are near Africa" Rachel said.
"Why did you help us?" Louella asks Monica
Monica just looked at the girl and blankly stared at the wall of the vehicle. For more than a year that she's being doing undercover, this is just the first time she got tired of it. She can't bear to see the pain in the eyes of those girls that they kidnapped. She missed her family, but she can't contact them, one more week and everything will be through. She already gave all the information that Agent Duval and Alistair needs and it's all up to them. In about 2 hours they will be at their safe house in Casablanca. The bidding will start in three days, the FBI needed to move before hand or they can't get these girls out.
Rachel looked at Monica, she wanted to know more about the girl, and she felt terrified for Monica. She's very much aware that when they reached their destination Monica will be questioned.
"I want to see Bella, Ell" Rachel said.
"We have to get out of here first."
"What if we can't, what will happen to us?"
"Don't you dare say that, we will get out of here, no matter what" Louella assured her.
"I'd rather die than to be used by those animals" Rachel said, referring to the goons.
"It will never happen Berry, we need to regain our strength, take a rest" Louella instructed Rachel.
Louella knew that Rachel was terrified so is she; she's just trying to be tough because one of them needed to be or else they could not survive this one.
The van stopped and after a few moments the door flew open and someone asked them to get out.
Rachel and Louella eyed Monica while the older girl was being pulled away from them. They knew something bad would happen they needed to be ready.
For the last two days Rachel felt her world was going to collapse; she saw what they did to other girls and just the mere thought of being in their place she could not bear that anymore. She and Louella did not sleep anymore; they wanted to be strong and wide awake.
"You two, you need to sleep" Monica said from the far corner of the room.
"We can't, we want to be ready" Louella said.
"Ready for what?" Monica asked.
Rachel stood up from a very uncomfortable bed and walked towards Monica.
Monica looked at her and gave a weak smile.
The bruises on Monica's face were very visible, she wanted to touch them but Monica avoided her hand. Rachel sat down beside Monica and looked at her.
"Why are you here? She asked.
"Long story."
"I'm willing to listen."
"I will bore you."
"Monica, as much as I want to talk, I love to listen" Rachel encouraged.
"You really won't stop, would you?"
"Nope."
"Monica, if I were you I will tell her, she won't stop" Louella said while joining them.
"Okay."
"I've been here for more than a year now" Monica started.
Louella and Rachel looked at each other silently.
"Why didn't you try to escape" Louella asked.
"I can't, I have a job to fulfill."
"You call this a job?" Rachel asked surprisingly.
"You guys would not understand and I can't tell you even if I wanted too, I just can't" Monica said tiredly.
Sometime she wished it was done differently but it's kind of too late already, there is no backing out and this was almost finished, soon she would be seeing her family.
Louella and Rachel stopped asking questions, they knew that Monica would not say a word anymore; they just felt confused in all of this.
"You guys will need every ounce of your energy tomorrow if you want to get out of here" Monica said.
It was the day that Monica's been preparing, their "Big Boss" will be here any minute now and she needed to device a plan and she couldn't do it alone. She looked at Louella and Rachel and contemplated if she would ask the two girls for help.
"Louella" Monica called the brunette.
Louella looked at Monica then Rachel. Rachel just nodded.
"Yes?"
"I need your help; if you want to leave this place I need you to help me."
Louella looked at Rachel. Rachel kind of understands that she needed to get near the two ladies.
"What help do you want us to do?" Louella asked eventually.
Monica pulled out a blueprint of the building, before she continued she looked at the door and to the other three Asian ladies in the room that's walking towards them.
"Okay, we are currently located here" Monica pointed to the second floor of the villa.
"There are five rooms on the second landing, this room is the middle of the hallway, there are three more rooms across and the master suite is just beside this room" Monica looked at the girl first before she continued "there are other girls in this house. I'm not really sure how many there are but what I heard last night they were able to get 4 more" Monica tried to explain everything to the five girls.
"Okay, so what we are going to do now?" Rachel asked worriedly.
"In about 2 hours all of you will be called outside, you will be transferred to the Hotel to start the bidding" Monica saw the panic in the girl's eyes.
"But we will not allow that to happen."
"How we are supposed to do that?" one of the three Asian girls asked.
"When you guys go down, I will be there at the back, there are still 6 guards left in this house. We are six so I think we can take them down".
"I'm not very confident that we can take them down, it will be a long shot even though I have my conducive training in self defense I'm not quite sure about this I mean the 3 guards they are so huge and…" Rachel tried to remember the goon's faces but to no avail she can't put it into words.
"And look sooooooooo good looking, that's why I can't take my eyes off them" Louella finished the sentence for Rachel while rolling her eyes. Louella's statement solicited giggles from her new found friends.
"This is it guys no turning back" Monica said.
"Yeah, I just hope I can really get out alive here, I want to see Bella, Quinn and my fathers" Rachel said hopefully.
After like an hour they heard a knock on the door, Monica wasn't there anymore like she said. They just waited for the situation to unfold before their eyes.
The five girls went downstairs with one of the guards behind their back. Their attentiveness was impeccable. They needed to be ready. When they arrived at the first landing there were other girls who sat on the living room and looked very terrified.
Rachel tried to calm herself and not panic, she looked at Louella and the other three Asian girls, all of them were waiting for the signal from Monica. She looked around trying to find how many guards were there. There are two standing near the main door, another one is behind Monica, another one located at the foot of the stairs and she was sure that there are also lookouts.
Rachel was not really a religious person, they are Jewish but they are not practicing. She remembered the time that she tried to talk to a priest to get another point of view from a different religion. She knows that Catholics believe in many saints and angels. They believe in one God, it's just that they have a different way in worshipping. She was taught that praying will do no harm, she looked at Louella whose eyes were closed and the other girls were doing the same. She tried to concentrate to pray also, she prayed that if she can't get out alive here she wanted her fathers to be happy and move on as well for Quinn and Isabella. When she opened her eyes she immediately looked at Monica and Louella who nodded in unison.
Monica turned back to her "comrade" and asked him "Can you come with me for a while?"
"I can't leave my post, neither can you" the guy said grumpily.
"Yeah well you can't but I can" with that Monica swing her knee into the man's groin, when the guy fell on his knees she took out her gun and smashed his face hard. When she's sure the guy passed out she asked the other girl to tie him up who immediately followed her orders. Monica looked at the other girls who were doing the same, she ran upstairs and looked at the two girls whom she had grown fond of in a very short time and said "you take them out; the FBI will be here any minute now."
Rachel looked at Monica and nodded, it was too fast but they got the signal from Monica they moved very fast. Louella and the one Asian girl attacked the man near the foot of the stairs while Rachel and the other 2 Asians attacked the two near the main door not wasting any time. They hit the goons in their very sensitive body parts; the other girls who were sitting earlier were hysterical already. Monica just commanded them to tie up the bad guys who had passed out.
When everything seemed to be quiet they heard gun shots and a shattering sound at the second landing. Rachel felt terrified for Monica, she was there alone. "God help her" she prayed silently and focused on the pressing matters at hand.
She looked at her surroundings and found something was missing. She counted the guys and it's only 3, she felt a surge of panic.
"Louella" she called out.
"Yeah" she said while standing up from the man that had just been restrained.
"Other guy is missing."
"What?"
"The other guy is missing" she said while looking attentively around her surroundings. Unconsciously Rachel reached down on one side of the guy who was currently tied up and pulled out his gun, when the girls saw what she did they did the same.
Rachel started walking up the stairs to help Monica while looking at everyone else. She looked at the other Asian girls who looked like they were about to pass out, when she traced the vision of the one Asian girl looking upstairs. She spun back forward, ready to shoot while running up but before she knew it everyone heard a gun shot from the second landing, and Rachel saw Monica covered in blood.
The other guy who was missing fell down but before they knew it he pulled the trigger and shot Monica again, who fell weakly to her knees. The man aimed the gun at Rachel but before he even had a chance to pull the trigger she had already fired the gun in her hand while looking directly into his eyes. She never withdrew her gaze until the man closed his eyes. Rachel was shaking but they needed to leave. Louella was calling her name and together they ascended upstairs to check on Monica.
Monica was feeling weaker every minute; she knew that she would not last much longer. When she felt her body being grabbed she felt an unbearable pain.
"C'mon Monica, get up" Louella said while caressing her face.
Monica looked at Louella and smiled weakly.
"I won't last, yo—u ha-ve to go without me."
"No, we can't do that. You'll be fine, we just have to get you at the hospital on time" Rachel said while moving Monica's weakened body from her lap to Louella.
Rachel searched the room and looked for any means of communication that she can use. Every time she opened a room's door the girls inside were screaming, curled up in the far corner of the room.
"We'll be fine" Rachel said in assurance. She looked the man's lifeless body near the foot of the bed; fortunately she found a cellular phone in his jacket pocket.
She searched the phone directory and hoped that there were emergency numbers stored so she could dial it immediately. Rachel held the phone tightly; when she saw the name Police she dialed it immediately, when the operator answered and said "177 ce qui est votre urgence?"
Rachel couldn't have felt more thankful that she decided to take French class for her elective, she was not fluent but at least she could carry a conversation smoothly.
"Nous avons été enlevés certains sommes vers le bas nous avons besoin d'infirmier ici ou bien ils ne lui feront pas une fois, svp nous aident" (We were abducted some people are down we need paramedic here or else they will not make it one time, please help us)Rachel said, but suddenly cursed herself for talking incoherently.
"Le ralentissement de miel, m'indiquent ce qui continue exactement" (Honey slow down, tell me what is exactly going on)the operator tried to buy some time to get the exact location of the caller. They had already received the alert status that there were girls who are missing. Every Police Patrol and Paramedic is already out just to make sure that they can make it on time.
"Nous n'avons pas assez de temps, nous sommes un trop grand nombre ici. Nous avons été enlevés parce qu'ils sont le membre de l'esclavage blanc" (We do not have enough time, we are too many here. We were abducted because they are the member of white slavery)Rachel said about to panic.
"Obtenu le" (got it) the operator said on the other line. They were able to locate the exact location of the safe house.
"Restez-vous juste où vous êtes et l'équipe de secours sera là, comprenez-vous?" (Just stay where you are and the rescue team will be there, do you understand?)Rachel just nodded as if the operator can see her, when she realized that she was on the phone she just said "Nous ferons ce que vous dites"(We will do what you say) with that Rachel hung up and went back to Monica's and Louella's side.
"You hav—e to leave now" Monica said.
"No, we will not leave you here" it was Louella.
"C'mon, let's carry her down; the paramedics will be here any moment" Rachel felt Monica's hand gripped her tightly.
"No, I can't make it, I can feel it, even if the Paramedics will be here I won't be able to make it anymore" Rachel looked at Louella who's hands are pressing tightly on Monica's wound to suppress the blood from flowing freely. Monica was shot in the abdomen and it looked pretty bad.
Rachel shut her eyes trying to control her emotions. She grabbed Monica's hand and held it tightly; she's had been convincing herself that everything would be alright.
"I was dreaming of seeing my family for the last time, but I can't see them anymore. My parents, they were against my profession but I love helping people" Monica coughed continuously.
Monica looked at the two girls and smiled weakly; she was happy for a chance to have these two girls as her friends but it's kind of too late now. For the last two weeks the homesickness that she felt from her younger sisters was able to be filled by Louella and Rachel, the only wish that she has was to see her family for the last time. But she knows it will never happen anymore, her time has come. She believed in God and she knew everything happened for a reason.
"Thank you" Monica said calmly.
Louella and Rachel looked at each other then looked at Monica. The duo just eyed Monica when the latter slowly closing her eyes and took her last breath.
In a few seconds Monica was dead. Rachel was trying to compose herself not breakdown as well as Louella.
"We need to leave Rachel" Louella said emotionless while standing up.
Rachel just looked at Louella and went to the nearest room to get something to cover Monica's body. She came back with an orange blanket in her hands. Rachel knew that Louella was just trying to be strong, before she covered Monica's body she knelt down a placed a kiss on Monica's lifeless body.
Rachel and Louella grabbed their respective guns and went downstairs; the girls that they left earlier were still in the same position ready to attack whoever tried to hurt them.
"We have to go now" Louella announced to the terrified girls.
Before they could even open the door, Rachel looked once more at the man that she shot. She felt a shiver all over her body, she would face the consequences later on.
When they opened the door there were handfuls of people already outside. When Rachel saw their jackets she immediately dropped her gun on the floor. She looked at the lady agent and said "they are all up on the second landing." Rachel looked at everyone and every girl looked very terrified. Rachel couldn't think anymore; she just sat on the ground holding her head, trying to grasp the reality that they were safe now.
Everything happened so fast, after they were being driven to Interpol Headquarters they heard that the mastermind of the white slavery was being apprehended. Rachel didn't care anymore what really occurred; what she wanted to do was go home and sleep in her own bed and be with her family. She knew it will take time with all the proceedings; she wanted to call her parents badly but the authorities are not allowing them to call.
It's been three days since they were rescued and due to her persistence they flew back to Austria to gather their things in the hotel, fortunately it was still there. When they were given a clearance to travel back to their hometown, Rachel made sure that Louella would arrive home safely. That's why she decided to travel with her to Sussex but it took a lot of convincing with the FBI who escorted them.
Rachel didn't know want she wanted anymore, after the nerve wracking experience she wasn't sure if she has the ability like she had before. She tried to contemplate but to no avail, she was lost for words. All she wanted to do was to go home and seclude herself in her own refuge.
In about an hour she will be home but she felt nothing. She was grateful that she's still alive but her conscience has been bugging her from the minute she pulled that trigger. Though all the people that were trying to help her said it wasn't her fault it was self defense, but still she had the choice not to pull the trigger and she still did. Rachel was trying hard to live her life on the righteous path. She's a good kid, she never hurt anyone intentionally, law abiding citizen, she paid respect to those people who deserved it but it was all gone because she pulled that trigger.
She snapped back to her reality when Agent Duval called her name; Agent Duval was her silent confidante, the agent never forced her to talk which is why she's very much grateful. She let her cry freely every time and held her until she was able to compose herself.
"Rachel."
Rachel looked at the owner of the voice.
"We are here; do you want us to come with you?" Agent Duval asked.
"No, I'll be fine" Rachel smiled sadly.
Rachel opened the door of the SUV but before she got out she said "will you be the one to go to Monica's family and tell them?" When the authority arrived at the crime scene they heard someone said Agent Wilde, it was Monica's last name. Monica was an undercover agent, now she understood perfectly.
"The other agent will do that" Agent Duval said.
Rachel climbed out of the vehicle when she heard her name being called again. She looked at the two agents and waited on what they were going to say.
"Can you call us, when you are ready?" Alistair asked hopefully.
Rachel looked intently at the two and just nodded silently.
Agent Duval looked at Rachel while the younger girl was about to enter her home. For the last 5 years that she's been doing her job, Alyssa has already met many different kinds of persons but Rachel and Louella are different. She just hoped and prayed that the two girls and everyone who survived will moved on and not be traumatized.
Present Time
Rachel was exhausted after sharing the whole story with her loved ones, she couldn't focus anymore. Rachel felt her body was beginning to collapse with all the heavy emotions she's been keeping inside for weeks, she just can't pretend anymore. She collapsed into Quinn's embrace and cried her heart out; she felt Quinn's body harden against her and the blonde was already sobbing.
Quinn didn't know what to say. She was very grateful that Rachel was able to survive this incident but she had this strange feeling that Rachel would never be the same again. She just continued to hold her girlfriend, for now that's the only thing she could do.
Lucas and Matthew were already crying too, they couldn't imagine that their baby girl had that kind of experience. If they had not allowed their girl to leave the states none of this would have happened but they knew what was written can't be changed anymore. They will let Rachel decide if she wanted to go back to Switzerland or not. Whatever the decision that their daughter will decide will be okay for them what ever it is. The couple looked at Rachel and Quinn and felt the strong bond that the two had for one another, and they knew instantly that Rachel would get through this rough time because Quinn was at their daughter's side.