Chapter 12: Holline's Family Crisis

Tuesday 18th July Age 798

Rinjin Village

Despite the warm and pleasant summer weather during most of the day, there was a slightly chilly breeze lingering in the air of the mountainous Rinjin village. Much like the nearby Kayu village, it had grown to encompass more space, thus growing to the size of a reasonably small town, but it was quaint and quiet, and everybody knew everyone else. The hometown of Holline was a peaceful one and had been that way for quite some time.

It had been an ordinary day for Holline's mother, Anna. She had been working in the village centre, helping with crops, and working the stalls and stores in the market. Anna's day was shortly coming to an end, so she had just been going back through the market to collect her own fruit, vegetables, and other household necessities that were needed.

"Ooh," an elderly woman said from behind her stall, while putting her coat on. "Feels like there's going to be a chill in the air tonight, Anna. You better make sure that father of yours is warm and comfortable."

"I will, don't you worry, Penny," Anna said, smiling as she put some more fruit in her bag. "I'll do it just for you."

Penny chuckled with a wry smile as she sat back in her seat and continued to read the book in her hands.

"And take care of yourself too," Anna said.

"Of course," Penny replied, with a smile and a wave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Anna waved back as she started towards the path that led up towards the small residential area where she lived, along with her elderly father, Nevis.

The path that Anna took to get back home was all uphill, which is why it had become very difficult for her father to get down into the town centre and the market as often as he would have hoped. There were ways for him to make the journey without having to walk the whole way, but sometimes it was easier for the older man to stay back at home and rest up.

Upon reaching the top of the uphill path there was another short walk along another path, but it was shorter than the uphill path. Anna rounded a corner where she could see the small grouping of houses, and Anna could also see that her father was outside, and he certainly wasn't relaxing.

Nevis had a walking stick in his left hand, which he was using to support himself, and in his right hand he was holding a hose, with which he was watering the front garden plants. Anna sighed when she noticed him and shook her head as she approached the front gate.

"What are you doing out here, dad? You're supposed to be resting," Anna said, closing the gate behind her and doing her best to avoid the spray of the hose.

"I'm just watering the plants, can't you see?" Nevis said, sarcastically, but with a little mischievous smile.

"You didn't need to though, I told you I would do it once I got home," Anna said, as she turned off the hose and took it from the man.

"Yeah, but I just want to be helpful," Nevis said, "I may be old, and slow, and needing a walking stick, but I'm not dead yet."

"Dad, please," Anna said, "I don't like you saying that."

"I know, I know, but I can't sit around all day doing nothing," Nevis complained, while letting his daughter help him back up the steps to the front door.

"I'm not saying you should do nothing. I just want you to be careful," Anna said.

"I'm not going to hurt myself," Nevis said, waving his hand as if to brush it all off. "Speaking of which, how's Penny today?"

"Hey, you behave," Anna said, putting on a strict, scolding tone, as she did her best to guide him back inside the house while carrying her bag full of food and supplies.

Nevis chuckled to himself.

"I'm going to get dinner started and you can sit down and rest, ok?" Anna suggested, "I managed to get some good meat today."

"Any guests for dinner tonight?" Nevis asked.

"No, not tonight. Just me and you," Anna confirmed.

"We should invite Penny along for dinner again one night," Nevis muttered, chuckling again. "Did she ask about me today?"

Anna let out a deep and frustrated sigh, but she had an amused smile on her face too.

"Yes, she did, and I'm sure she'd love to come for dinner again," Anna replied, "but for now, it's just us, so get in the house."

Nevis crossed the threshold and continued on towards his armchair in the living room, while Anna closed the door behind her.

However, unbeknownst to the occupants of house and the residents of the mountainous town, across the valley, upon a ridge on the opposite side, somebody was looking over the town. Specifically, they were looking at that one house.

The small, mohawked Dole was watching the town through a pair of truly high-end, technologically advanced binoculars. He sighed as he stared through. Behind him, in a small campsite, his allies were sat doing other things. Avure was making sure that their weapons were fully loaded and ready for whatever came next. Meanwhile, Zala had a small briefcase sitting on his lap, but he seemed to be contemplative as he looked down at it.

Avure glanced over to Dole, who was still preoccupied with the binoculars, and then he turned and looked across the small fire in the middle of their site, at Zala.

"What is it?" Avure asked, "and why do you still have that thing in your lap?"

"Just making sure it's all good," Zala said, dismissively.

He opened the case and looked down at the contents. Avure shifted uncomfortably and set the last gun down beside him.

"It's only needed for a big fight, nothing else. There's no point using it if we're not going to need it," Zala explained. "And if all goes well and we handle things swiftly then we shouldn't need to use it."

"Got it," Dole called out. "We want to avoid all unwanted attention, anything that would push us to use Teki's… gift."

There was hesitation in his voice when he talked about the "gift" but also when he mentioned the unwanted attention. Zala scoffed.

"Teki needs us to avoid Noca, let's not dance around it," Zala explained, "he wants us to do this as secretively as possible, and if we draw him out then even Teki's "gift" won't save us. We need to do this right."

Zala turned and looked back down at the case in his lap.

"There's no reason for Noca to know what's happening here, it doesn't involve him, and it would only make things worse," Zala explained further. "This is Teki's plan, so let's do it his way. If it fails, then it's all his fault."

"But it's not," Avure said.

Dole looked around from the binoculars, and Zala also looked back at his ally.

"He's already threatened to ruin our lives if we fail," Avure said, "what does it matter if this is his plan?"

Zala had no retort. He fell silent and looked down at the case again. Dole looked between Avure and Zala.

"It's ok," Zala muttered, "it will all be ok. It won't come to that. We'll be smart and stick with this plan."

"The key is the girl and her family," Zala continued. "We use her family, we get the girl here, we get her alone away from all of her allies, and then we get the location and the information we need."

"And then we recover Teki's assets," Zala finished.

"But she's strong too," Avure added, "and we don't have the power to stop her ourselves."

"He's right, Zala," Dole said, looking from Zala's eyes down to the case in his lap.

"Then once we know the girl is on her way…" Zala started, and he slowly reached into the case and lifted up a small vial containing a blue liquid. "Then we use this stuff."

In the case there were six vials of the blue liquid, along with three small syringes. The awkward silence returned to the group as Zala slowly lowered the vial and returned it to the case, closing it.

"Once taken it will last for twenty-four hours," Zala said, "the quicker we act… the less we need."

"We'll need that for more than just the girl though, won't we?" Avure asked. It was a genuine question.

"Which is why we must do it as quick as possible," Zala added.

"So, when do we head down? When do we go for the family?" Dole asked.

"As soon as it's dark," Zala confirmed.

Night had fallen. Anna and Nevis had finished eating their dinner and the older man was perched back in his armchair, comfortably watching something on the television, while Anna sat on the other side of the room with her nose in a book. The curtains were drawn, with a couple of lamps on to create at least a little bit of light, and it was a regular peaceful evening.

All was normal, until there came a soft knock at the door. Anna looked up from her book with a frown. Her father hadn't turned his head away from the television. Anna sighed as she put a bookmark in the book and set it down on the table beside her.

"Didn't you hear the door?" Anna asked her father as she walked past him, towards the hallway.

It was surprising to hear a knock at the door at that time of night, and she was a little concerned. Anna leaned into the hall and looked at the door.

"No, I didn't hear it," Nevis replied, "isn't it very late for visitors?"

"Yeah," Anna muttered.

Whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again. Three times. Again, it was soft. There wasn't urgency behind the knocks, almost like there was familiarity, or at least consideration for the time of day.

Anna finally approached the door, but there was hesitation before she opened it. She sighed again and slowly reached for the handle and twisted. She was already halfway there, so she just needed to take the next step. She pulled the door open, slowly, and looked through the head sized gap she made.

"Hello?" she greeted, with a questioning tone.

She looked down to see a shorter man, probably around a similar age and height to herself, although he was probably older, and he had a black mohawk. Anna didn't know what to think of the man right away and frowned.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm dreadfully sorry to bother you," the man said, somewhat softly, "but I was passing through the area, and I heard about the stall you run in the village centre, and someone told me you lived up this way."

"I'm sorry, but this should have waited until morning," Anna said, trying to be as friendly as she could, despite being annoyed about the time. "My father is resting."

"Oh, I do apologise, but it shouldn't take long," the man said, "I don't need to come in, I just want to talk."

"Who is it?" the voice of Nevis called from behind Anna.

She turned back to see that her father was standing looking into the hallway to see what was going on.

"Go back and sit down, dad," Anna said, waving back at her father to go.

Anna looked back to the visitor but as she turned around again a larger man stepped in front of her and pushed on the door. He did so with such strength and ferocity that it was enough to knock Anna down to the ground.

Despite falling with a thud, she managed to scramble backwards as the man, Zala, stepped into her house and reached down to pick her up. He grabbed her in a headlock and took out a handgun, pressing it to her temple.

"Don't struggle," Zala said, calmly, despite the circumstance.

He put his hand over Anna's mouth to prevent her from even attempting to scream or call out for someone, and then he pointed his gun up the hall towards Nevis. Zala's two allies stepped into the house behind him and closed the door quietly.

"If you scream, if you struggle, if you fight back, we'll kill both of you without hesitation," Zala explained, remaining just as calm.

Both Anna and Nevis were too shocked and frightened to even consider whether or not those men were bluffing, they could only assume they knew what they were doing. Anna stifled a sob, but it wouldn't have made much noise with Zala's hand over her mouth anyway.

Nevis attempted to step forward with a hand up, even though there was a gun pointed right at him, but Anna groaned loudly to try and signal him to stop moving.

"I said no noise," Zala growled into her ear, pressing the gun to her head again. Nevis inched forward slightly, but Zala noticed it. "And don't move. Dole, deal with him."

Zala glanced back at Dole and motioned his head towards the older man, who had already started to back away.

"He said don't move," Dole said, as he walked forward with his submachine gun in hand.

He kicked Nevis's walking stick out from under him and then whacked the gun into the older man's head, knocking him into the ground. Anna groaned again as tears streamed down her face, but Zala just tightened his grip on her, making the woman choke slightly.

"Co-operate and you'll remain unharmed," Zala said.

"Well, except him," Dole said, motioning to the man on the ground.

"You didn't have to hit him," Avure said, as he walked over and helped the old man off the ground. He led Nevis into the living room and set him down in the armchair. "Don't move anymore."

"Move," Zala said, letting go of Anna and pushing her forward. "Don't mistake his helpful nature as an inability to hurt you. We will kill you if you make any attempts to call for help."

They moved into the doorway of the living room and Zala was frustrated with Anna's slow movements. He thrust his handgun into her back, and she stumbled slightly.

"Move, and sit," he commanded.

Anna did so and rushed into the living room, but she tried going towards her father only for Dole to grab onto her.

"No, no, no. You go over there," he said as he threw her onto the couch, and then aimed his gun at her. "Sit. Silent."

Zala entered the living room and looked around the room, as if trying to find something.

"What do you want?" Anna asked, stuttering, and struggling to stifle her sobs.

Zala quickly found what he was looking for. There was a phone, a landline, sitting in a dock. He grabbed it and threw it across the room at the couch beside Anna. She flinched but was surprised as it was only the phone that fell beside her. She looked at it, confused, and then up at Zala.

"You're going to call your daughter," Zala said.

Anna stiffened and inhaled sharply.

"Tell her to come home for a visit," Zala continued.

"Why? What do you want with her?" Anna asked.

"Information," Zala replied.

"But why does she need to come here?" Anna asked.

Dole chuckled.

"Silly question," he muttered to himself.

"We want to make sure the information is accurate," Zala explained, as he looked from Anna over to Nevis. "And she needs the incentive to give us what we want."

Anna shuddered, sobbing quietly. Zala rolled his eyes and Dole groaned.

"We should at least let her calm down first," Avure said.

"What?" Dole questioned.

"If she calls while she's upset then the girl might know that something is wrong…" Avure explained, "we need this to go smoothly, right?"

Anna looked to Avure, and her brow furrowed.

"Don't mistake that as kindness," Zala said. "He's right. Take a moment. Compose yourself. Think of a good reason to get her home, and don't let on that something is wrong."

"She could use that emotion," Dole suggested.

"What do you mean?" Zala asked.

"Her emotion, the old man. She can tell the girl that the old man is sick, or dying, and maybe the girl doesn't get another chance to see the old man before he croaks," Dole explained.

Zala scoffed and smirked.

"That's so cruel," Anna said. "That's a horrible lie to tell her."

"We could always give you something real to say," Zala threatened as he took his gun and aimed it at the old man. "We could say, come quick, he's about to bleed out."

"No, don't," Anna said. "Fine, I'll do what you want."

Anna stared at the phone, her breathing heavy. She looked up at the three men in her house, and then over to her father. She took a deep breath and released it slowly.

"When do I tell her to come?" Anna asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Zala said.

"Ok," Anna muttered.

She tapped on the contact for Holline, and the phone started ringing. Zala looked at his allies and held a finger to his lips, ensuring that they remained silent for the call.

Satan City – Erasa's Apartment

Holline and Kiera were curled up, laying on top of their covers in bed together, with the former operating as the big spoon, wrapped around her blonde girlfriend. They were both comfortable, in their sleepwear. Kiera going for the big t-shirt with shorts, while Holline had some bottoms and a tank top.

The couple were watching something on the TV together as they lay in bed, and it was basically an ordinary, peaceful night. It was one of their chill nights. Neither of them had anything to do for the next day, so they could just stay up late together.

While lying there, Holline consistently found herself deep in thought, wondering just how much longer they could stay in Erasa's apartment. Changes were bound to happen in their lives soon. Whether it be Holline and her job, or Kiera and her further education, it was clear that some decisions had to be made before they could even realistically think about leaving the apartment and going out on their own.

Holline still wasn't sure what was going to happen with the future of her bakery job and the possible expansion, while Kiera was still trying to decide what she wanted to do next in her life, so her studies were being put on hold. Either way, something was bound to change soon. Something that could signal the start of the next stage of their lives.

For the moment, they could only wait.

"Oh, pause it," Kiera said, referring to the film, and snapping Holline out of her thoughts.

"Huh, sure," Holline said, fumbling around for the remote, which was somewhere on the bed behind her. She eventually found it and paused. "What's up?"

Kiera shimmied out of Holline's embrace and jumped off the bed.

"I want snacks," Kiera said, almost in a childlike manner.

Holline scoffed, smiling at her girlfriend as she rushed to the door. Although, as Kiera was moving past the dressing table, she noticed something and frowned.

"Hey, your mom's calling you," Kiera said, grabbing Holline's phone and tossing it to the end of the bed.

"Weird, it's kinda late," Holline said, but before she tapped to accept the call, she called out to Kiera who had already left the room. "See if we have any of those little cookies I like."

"Will do!" Kiera called back.

Holline smiled to herself as she tapped to accept call.

"Hey, mom, is everything ok?" Holline greeted as she sat up in the bed.

Rinjin Village

Anna was still sitting on the couch. Dole was standing to her right side, holding his submachine gun at the ready, but not pointing it at her. Avure was standing with his rifle against Nevis's head on the other side of the room. Zala was standing directly in front of Anna, in the middle of the room, with his pistol aimed at her.

He mouthed for Anna to put the phone on loudspeaker, and she did, hesitantly. The phone rang a few times and then there was a click.

"Hey, mom, is everything ok?" Holline's voice said through the phone.

"Hi, darling. I'm sorry to call so late, it's just…" she paused and looked up, Zala was still glaring at her. "It's your grandfather."

"Grandpa? What's wrong? Is everything ok?" Holline asked, her voice filled with genuine concern.

"He…" Anna started, but she closed her eyes and took a breath, holding back her tears. "He had a bad fall and he… he hit his head."

"Oh no!" Is he alright thought? Did you get him to the doctor?" Holline asked, urgency apparent in her voice.

"I did and they said… they said maybe… maybe it caused some other issues to surface," Anna continued, getting more upset and overwhelmed as she spoke, but it was helping to sell the story.

"Like what?" Holline asked.

"They told me… they told me a lot," Anna continued, "they said that because of his age… it… it could be worse… worse than it seems."

"That sounds rough," Holline replied, "do you need me to come home tonight?"

"No," Anna basically snapped back in response, but she had to scale it back right away. "No, it's ok, he's sleeping now. But you should come tomorrow."

"I will," Holline replied.

"Get some sleep in your own bed tonight and… come in the morning when you're fresh and rested," Anna said, while the tears streamed down her face.

"I'll set my alarm early and I'll be there," Holline said.

Satan City – Erasa's Apartment

Holline was sitting up and leaning forward in the bed by that point, with her legs crossed while she stared down at the bed while talking on the phone.

"You try and get some sleep too, ok?" Holline said to her mother, just as the door to the bedroom opened again and Kiera re-entered. "I love you, and it's going to be ok, mom."

"I love you too," Anna replied, "good night, darling."

"Good night," Holline replied, and then the phone clicked, and the call ended.

Kiera noticed there was a concerned and confused expression on her girlfriend's face. She didn't even notice that the blonde walked in and was stood at the end of the bed.

"What is it?" Kiera asked, noticing Holline's furrowed brow, and she seemed very tense.

Kiera got onto the bed and crawled over to get beside her and put her arms around the redhead.

"Hey," Kiera said softly as she gently stroked Holline's arm.

"Sorry, it was about my grandpa. He had a fall and hit his head, they say it could be really bad," Holline explained, still staring straight down at the phone in her hands.

"That's awful," Kiera replied.

"I'm going there tomorrow," Holline said, "it does mean I'll have to set an early alarm though."

"That's fine, this is important," Kiera said, "I can come with you."

"Yeah, I would like that," Holline said, looking up at her girlfriend and smiling.

Kiera leaned forward and they shared a quick kiss as they sat back in the bed together. Once they were lying back Kiera took Holline's head and lay it on her chest, just embracing her girlfriend and supporting her as best as she could in that moment.

Rinjin Village

Anna ended the phone call and her arms dropped down by her side, with the phone falling out of her hand and clattering to the ground with a thud. She slowly, and weakly, looked up across the room at her father and saw him leaning back in his chair. Nevis had blood coming from an open wound on his head from where he had been struck, and he managed to glance at his daughter, with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Anna muttered.

"You handled that well," Zala said, scoffing.

"Can I please clean him up?" Anna asked, looking up at Zala as tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

Zala groaned and sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, whatever, just be quick and don't do anything stupid," Zala said, humouring her for the time, but he made sure to brandish his gun so that she remained in her place.

Anna practically flinched as she stood up and had to walk past Zala to get to the kitchen. She grabbed a couple of cloths, some ice, tissue, and a bucket of water so she could clean up the blood as best as she could. They needed to avoid any infection.

It was going to be a long and awkward night for everyone involved.

Wednesday 19th July Age 798

Rinjin Village

The village market had been open for a few hours, and the people of the village and some from nearby settlements were already browsing and buying their fruits and vegetables, and it was a morning just like any other.

The only thing that felt out of place for an ordinary day was the Capsule Corp. jet that flew overhead, passing over the village and heading towards the outskirts of the town, setting down in an open space on a mountain ridge. The young couple of Holline and Kiera exited the jet, with the latter pressing a button of the side of the vehicle, capsulising it.

Kiera pocketed the capsule and turned to Holline, and the red-haired girl was standing with her hand out. The blonde reached out and took Holline's hand, and they walked up the pathway towards Rinjin, hand-in-hand.

As they walked through a few people waved and said hello to Holline, and she returned in-kind, but the most pressing matter in her mind was to get to her childhood home as quickly as possible. They moved through the market and towards the path up the hill, to the residential area where the house sat.

The couple ascended the path, coming to the road, and when she saw her house there was a flash of emotion that ran over her, and for a moment she feared the worst. She wasn't ready to see her grandfather in the state that her mother had described, and she was worried that his situation could be worse following the previous night. The comfort of a gentle squeeze from Kiera's hand was enough to draw her back to the moment. She looked to her girlfriend and smiled, albeit a weak smile, and they moved towards the house.

Holline took out her door key and unlocked the front door, stepping in, gingerly. As she entered, she knocked on the door, so to alert her mother to her presence.

"Hey, mom?" Holline called out, "it's me."

There was no reply, and the two girls remained in the doorway, waiting for Anna to come to them. Kiera poked her head over Holline's shoulder and looked in.

"Why is it so dark? Is she even here?" Kiera asked.

She was right. All the doors were closed, there were no lights on, and from what Holline could tell from looking ahead to the kitchen at the back of the house, the curtains were all drawn. Perhaps her mother was still asleep.

The girls stepped inside, with Kiera closing the door behind her, and they began to walk up the hallway.

"Mom?!" Holline called out, again, with a little urgency.

Seconds later, a door to the right of the young couple swung open, and a person seemed to rush out. They barged straight into Kiera who had been standing behind Holline. The red-haired girl was unable to act swiftly enough to stop whatever was happening and turned around, confused, angry, and ready to fight back.

However, she wasn't given the chance, because something very hard whacked her in the back of the head and she fell straight to the ground, only to be lifted back up immediately. She found that her hands were being held behind her back and she struggled to try and look up to verify what had happened to Kiera. But everything seemed out of focus, and her hair had gotten in the way of her eyes.

Holline shook her head to get the hair out of the way, but that very quickly proved to be a mistake as the pain from the blow to the back of her head stung through her skull. She held her eyes closed tightly and groaned, while trying to use her senses to gauge what she could about what was happening.

The red head could faintly hear Kiera trying to call out and fight back against whoever it was that had a hold of her, but they managed to get their hand around her mouth and silence her. It didn't stop the struggling though, so the man opted to punch the girl in her lower back, which caused her to squeal, although it remained muffled. Her movement stopped as she tried to contend with the intense pain.

Holline heard the impact and pained sound, and it was almost like she felt the pain herself. She could feel her girlfriend's obvious distress, and it infuriated her, but the effects of the strike to the back of her head had been so surprising and overwhelming. She was far too disoriented to do anything. Not to mention that whoever had a hold of her was very strong and wasn't allowing the girl to move a single inch.

The couple were dragged into the next room, which Holline managed to take note of as her vision finally stopped spinning. Once they were in the room a lamp was switched on and the light was initially painful to Holline's eyes, but the adjustment was quick. Within seconds she could see what was going on.

She saw her mother and grandfather seated on the couch, and her mother was sat with her arms around her grandfather's shoulders. Holline could see the distress and fear in her mother's eyes, and she was very clearly upset. There were bloodstains on her clothes and hands, and as Holline followed the blood her eyes fell upon her grandfather's head. He had been struck, and he definitely looked worse for wear. It was clear that Anna desperately wanted to call out and say something to her daughter but felt that she couldn't.

Holline was quickly, and roughly, thrown into the empty armchair, while Kiera was still held by her captor, near the door. Holline groaned and tried to move out of the chair but was surprised to have a bucket of cold water thrown over her, which certainly helped to make her more alert to the situation.

Immediately, standing before her, Holline saw a man that she recognised. Zala. He held a finger to his lips, signalling for her to keep silent, and then pulled out his pistol and aimed it towards her family.

"You know what I'm saying?" Zala asked.

Holline looked at her mother.

"I'm sorry," Anna sobbed.

"All of this can go smoothly if you give us what we want," Zala stated.

Holline took a moment to really take in all her surroundings. She recognised all three of the intruders, and they were all armed. Avure was the one holding Kiera, while Dole was stood behind her family, with a gun pointed at them. On the coffee table in front of her there were three syringes, with three empty vials next to them.

Holline's fists tightened, and she looked up at Zala.

"Fuck you," she said.

Zala scoffed and swiftly struck her across the face, knocking her back into the armchair. Holline groaned and leaned forward, spitting blood on her own lap. Her head was pounding from the two strikes she had taken.

"Never thought I'd see you losers again…" Holline muttered, chuckling quietly with her head down.

Zala grabbed Holline's hair and pulled her up to face him, and then pressed his gun to her chest. He stared right into her eyes as she groaned from the pain in her head, it didn't help that it felt like the pull of her hair was pulling at an open wound.

"I don't really care how long this takes, or how much pain I have to cause you, I will get the answers I need," Zala said.

Holline spat in his face.

Zala pulled back, wiping his face quickly, and Holline jumped up, ready to fight back. As she moved though she winced, and the pain had halted her from acting further. It gave Zala the chance he needed to get his own back. He smashed a punch into Holline's chest, and it knocked her back into the chair, sending it toppling over and onto the ground.

"Right now, all three of us are far stronger than you," Zala stated.

Holline struggled on the ground, trying to get herself back to her feet, but her head was spinning. She hadn't been prepared for a fight and her guard had been down from the moment she landed in town. This was all such a big surprise.

"Where are the assets?" Zala asked.

"I have no idea what you're on about," Holline said, spitting at the ground.

"You are one of only three people that know their location, and you're the weakest of the three," Zala said.

Holline scoffed and looked up.

"So, I'm your best shot…" she said, smirking. "Or rather, your only shot."

Anna, watching on from the couch, was confused by the way that Holline was handling the situation. Acting like she was confident of her position, or even goading them into attacking her. It was like arrogance.

Zala huffed and punched down on Holline's head, knocking her into the ground, and then he lifted her up by her hair, but not completely off the ground. She was still on her knees. Zala leaned down to her face.

"Maybe I should be a little clearer. Where are Yaiko and Sofia?" Zala asked.

That was enough for Holline to figure out who they were working for, and why they were stronger for the moment. It made sense, and it also made sense why they had targeted her.

"I don't know," Holline said, "they ran away after the fight…"

"Liar!" Zala growled in her face, and he lifted her up then punched her in the gut, dropping her.

Anna gasped and shifted, wanting to go help her daughter, but Dole moved closer to her.

"Shut up!" Dole said.

Kiera, watching on, unable to say or do anything, looked to Anna and Nevis on the coach and then over to Holline on the floor. She had stopped struggling, allowing Avure to hold her in place.

Holline looked up again, making another mental note of her mother's dishevelled state, her grandfather's condition, and the position she had placed her girlfriend in. She sighed and tried to move up again.

Zala quickly moved towards her again, and he grabbed her around the throat, lifting her up and thrusting her back against the wall.

"Tell me where they are," he commanded.

Then he punched her in the chest and let go. She dropped to the ground in a heap and Zala took his pistol out again, then whipped her across the face with it. After that, he leaned down again, and pressed the gun against her shoulder.

Holline scoffed and started chuckling quietly, again. Zala frowned, and Holline turned to face him.

"Go on then, do it," Holline said, trying to bait him.

"Holline, stop it," Anna said.

The redhead managed to ignore her mother's words and continued to stare right into Zala's eyes. She smirked.

"They won't shoot any of us," Holline said. "They know it'll alert everyone nearby. People will come to see what's wrong. And then they'll call for help.

Zala's eyes narrowed.

"Go on," Holline whispered. "Do it."

Zala growled.

"Dole," he said, while his eyes stayed on Holline. "Give her some incentive."

And then Zala stood up, holstering his gun again. Dole nodded and turned to Holline's mother and grandfather, and then he rapidly smacked Nevis across the head with his gun, knocking the older man out of his seat and into the ground.

The action struck Holline to her core, and she managed to jump up with a flare of her aura and leapt towards Dole, catching him in the back with a strong kick that sent him flying into the back wall of the living room. Only Zala acted just as quickly and grabbed onto Holline's leg and pulled her back, smashing her down on the ground again, and punched her in the face twice, causing more blood to splat on the floor.

He lifted her head up, yet again, and leaned in closer.

"Just tell us where they are," Zala said.

Anna had moved to Nevis's side but took a moment to look towards her daughter.

"Holline, just tell him, please!" Anna pleaded.

Holline looked over to her mother, and from the look on the girl's face, Anna could tell Holline wasn't going to give in. Anna sighed.

"They're in the Kayu village," Anna said.

"Mom!?" Holline said, shocked. "Why?"

Zala scoffed and stood up, pushing Holline back into the ground, and he walked over to Anna, towering over the woman as she knelt down on the floor beside her father. At the same time, Holline was struggling to get to her feet.

"Had I known that you knew, then none of this would have had to happen," Zala clarified, "your daughter and her friend would have never been involved, and your father wouldn't have been hurt."

Zala turned around and pulled out some sort of handcuffs or binders, two sets.

"It's a shame, really," he said, and walked over to Holline as she struggled.

He put the binders on Holline's hands and legs, and she was immediately bound by them, and as soon as they were on her a powerful electric shock ran through Holline's whole body and she writhed on the ground, unable to make a sound.

"Dole, you watch over all of them," Zala ordered, "make sure they can't move if necessary. But she'll be useless with those things on her, she won't even be able to speak."

"What do I do with this one?" Avure asked, while still holding onto Kiera.

Kiera had started struggling again, trying her best to get free.

"Why do I have to stay with all of them by myself?" Dole asked.

"You have weapons and more binders if you need them, and you're powered up, so stop acting like a baby," Zala said. "Both me and Avure will be needed to make sure we capture the assets, and you can relay the information to the boss."

Zala turned to Avure.

"You can drop the girl," he ordered.

Avure did just that. Kiera hit the ground, hard, and immediately scrambled to her feet and wanted to fight back, but she knew there was nothing she could do. That was proven when Zala gave her a swift whack across the face, and she fell to the ground.

"Stay down and stay quiet, or Dole can snap your necks should he wish to," Zala threatened.

Zala turned to face Avure again and beckoned for the other large man to follow him, and they both headed towards the backdoor without saying anything else. They left Dole with all three of their captives.

Anna remained on the floor, holding her father, who was shaking, bleeding, and groaning in pain. Anna was crying and looked up to see that Kiera was attempting to move towards Holline, but upon reaching her girlfriend she realised she couldn't touch her, for fear of shocking her again.

They all just sat there, doing nothing, as Dole stood over them with his gun in hand, and the sobs of Anna were the only sound in the room.