Chapter 2: Mommy, Daddy, Help Me!
Dmitri hung up after talking to Sasha. He continued watching the Beilschmidt brothers, deciding on waiting until Ludwig looked away to snatch Gilbert.
An hour passed, and Ludwig still hadn't moved from his post by the slide; he was still making sure nothing happened to his baby brother. The time was now 4:30 in the afternoon.
"Screw this," said a frustrated Dmitri. He got out a gun and walked up to the playground.
Ludwig was busy with watching Gilbert, when he glanced sideways and saw Dmitri striding up to him and the other children. Something didn't set right with the boy about this man, so he got ready to fight. 'Good thing I took karate with Kiku,' he thought to himself.
Gilbert and the other kids were laughing and playing, then stopped when they saw Ludwig ready to fight. Gilbert grabbed Prussia and slid down, this time landing on his feet. He went up to Ludwig and looked at him. "West, what's going on? Bro, what's wrong? You look mad…Who's that?" Gilbert shook as he saw Dmitri coming towards him and his brother. The other children hid under the slide.
"Gilbo, go to Mommy and Daddy, right now," Ludwig said urgently. "I'll take care of this guy." He gently pushed Gilbert away, then charged at Dmitri, his fist making direct contact with the man's gut.
Dmitri gasped for air as he bent over and held his stomach. He glared at Ludwig, who backed away and shielded Gilbert. "You insolent little—!" He was interrupted when Ludwig delivered more blows to him, using the martial arts he learned.
"Gilbo, run!" Ludwig yelled. He pushed Gilbert ahead of him, then started running as well. "Gilbo, go back to Mommy and Daddy! Hurry!"
"Oh no you don't!" Dmitri shouted. He ran after Ludwig and Gilbert. "Come back here, you little brat!" He intended to grab Gilbert, but Ludwig got in the way and Dmitri ended up grabbing him instead.
"Let me go!" Ludwig yelled. "Nnngh…!" The boy then managed to judo-flip Dmitri to the ground and ran to catch up with Gilbert.
"You!" Dmitri hissed. He slowly got up, then looked. Gilbert was getting farther and farther from his reach! Dmitri leered at Ludwig, then grabbed him, knocked him down, and kicked him until he was unconscious.
Gilbert heard Ludwig shouting for Dmitri to get off him and stopped. Then he saw the man standing over his big brother. Gilbert started crying and ran up to Ludwig, not knowing that Dmitri had done that to get him to come back. He reached his brother, then started shaking him. "Big brother! Lui, get up. Please get up." The child turned his head in the direction of his parents, who were now running to him and Ludwig. "Mommy, Daddy!"
Dmitri roughly grabbed Gilbert's wrist and squeezed. "Come on, kid. Let's go." He forcefully picked Gilbert up, then took Gilbert's stuffed bear the threw it on the ground. He walked away just as Claus and Elise came running to their children's rescue.
Claus and Elise gasped when they saw Ludwig lying unconscious on the ground. Claus took him in his arms and tried to wake him.
"Lui. Lui, wake up son. Please!" Claus said frantically. "Oh, shit…Lui, please wake up." He then felt for a pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed that Ludwig was alive.
Elise picked Prussia up off the ground. "Gilbo! Gilbo, where are you?" She turned towards her husband, about to go out of her mind. "Claus, Gilbo's gone! Someone took him, I just know it! He wouldn't just leave Prussia here! Call the police!" Then she heard the sound of her youngest son calling out for her and Claus.
"Mommy, Daddy, help me!" Gilbert exclaimed, tears coming out of his eyes. "Help me!"
"Gilbo, no!" Claus yelled as he, too, heard Gilbert's cries for help. He had been calling the police, and an ambulance for Ludwig.
"We're coming, honey!" Elise cried. She looked like she was about to start sobbing. "Gilbo, just hang on!" Claus ran with her, while another adult stayed with Ludwig. She angrily yelled at Dmitri. "Let my son go, you son of a bitch!"
"Mommy, Daddy, help!" Gilbert cried.
"Oh, shut the hell up," said Dmitri. He covered Gilbert's mouth in order to muffle the child's cries for help. Then he opened the back door to the van and climbed in, carrying Gilbert with him.
Gilbert, still crying, reached out for his parents and tried calling for them again, before the van door slammed shut.
"No!" Elise cried when she saw the van door closing. The van took off, and Elise grabbed the rear doors, managing to pull them open. "Gilbo, I'll get you out of there, honey! Come here!"
Gilbert, now free of Dmitri, was still sobbing. Then he saw Elise. "Mommy, help me!" He crawled over and latched onto his mother without Dmitri noticing.
"It's okay, I've got you," Elise said gently. She got a hold on Gilbert, then jumped out of the back of the van and started running back towards Claus. "Ssh. It's alright, Gilbo, Mommy's got you."
"You bitch!" Dmitri yelled as soon as he looked out the window of the front passenger seat and saw Elise with Gilbert in her arms. "Brother Yuri, stop the van, now!"
"Right!" said Yuri. The van came to a sharp halt, and Dmitri jumped out. "Get him back here, Brother Dmitri." Dmitri angrily strode over to Claus and Elise, who were trying to calm their son down.
Claus and Elise gasped, and Claus tried shielding his wife and son from Dmitri.
"Give me that brat!" Dmitri hissed.
"Over my dead body," Claus said angrily. He and Dmitri fought, but Dmitri won.
"Claus!" Elise said frantically. She saw Dmitri coming towards her and Gilbert and held her son even tighter.
Claus slowly looked up from the ground, wincing from the injuries the blows dealt to him caused. "Ellie…run…"
Dmitri grabbed Elise by her hair and leered at her, getting in her face. "Thought you could get away with what you did, huh, you bitch?"
Elise wrinkled her nose at the smell of Dmitri's breath, which smelled like cigarettes. Then she kicked Dmitri in the shin and started running, like her husband said.
"Come back here, lady!" Dmitri shouted. He ran very quickly after Elise and Gilbert, then finally got a hold of the frightened woman.
Elise screamed. "Let go! Claus!" She was dragged into the van, and the door slammed shut.
Claus saw his wife and son being dragged into the van, and the van driving off once again. "No, Ellie, Gilbo!" He started running, then stopped when the van came to a sharp halt.
The van's rear doors opened, and Elise screamed hysterically as she was thrown out. "No! Give me back my baby, please! Gilbo!"
"Mommy! Help me, Mommy, help me!" Gilbert shrieked. He cried as the van doors slammed shut and the van sped off in a flash, away from the park.
"Ellie!" Claus said as he ran up to his distraught wife. Then he helped her up and tried calming her down, while trying to keep it together himself. "Ellie, don't worry, it'll be okay."
"Gilbo…no," Elise said quietly as she cried. She and Claus went back to Ludwig and thanked the adult who was watching over him. Then they waited for the police and ambulance to come as they held their eldest son.
Meanwhile, Dmitri was in the back of the van, trying to get Gilbert to shut up and stay still.
"You stupid brat!" Dmitri sneered as he bound Gilbert's hands with a length of thick rope; he made sure the knot was tight enough so that Gilbert wouldn't somehow wriggle out of it. Then he tied another length of rope around Gilbert's chest, making it a little hard for the boy to breathe. "You really thought your mommy could save you?" Then he and Yuri chuckled.
"I want my mommy and daddy!" Gilbert exclaimed, still bawling.
"Shut the hell up, kid," said Yuri. He looked back, glaring harshly at the poor child lying on the floor of the van.
"Please lemme go," Gilbert pleaded.
"Brother Yuri, hand me that roll of tape," said Dmitri.
"Gladly," Yuri replied to Dmitri's request. He got out a roll of duct tape and handed it to Dmitri, who tore a large piece off and put it on Gilbert's mouth to keep him quiet. Now all Gilbert could do was whimper and struggle, the rope scraping his wrists.
Dmitri got back in the front passenger seat, then called Sasha. "Brother Sasha, we've got him."
"Good," said Sasha.