Preyed Upon pt. 3
As always, (majority of) OCs were created by @ladyfluff. Give her a follow if you haven’t already.
Also as always, enjoy the read!
They didn’t know what their next move could be after they left Raymond’s place, and all remained silent as they went back to Y/N’s apartment with more than millions of thoughts swimming in each of their heads. Once they got there, they each went about the place like mindless drones, still not one of them saying a word. With Peter being the most active on autopilot, he scurried over to the kitchen and looked through the fridge and cupboards. Luckily he was able to find some things to help keep him occupied for the time being.
Cooking had always been a way for him to cope with tension-filled situations since it was something that kept him busy and his mind at ease. Which was why not long after, when the place began to produce a sweet smelling aroma from the desserts being made, he had a moment where he was feeling a form of contentment. That was until reality came back in the form of Adam.
“What are you doing?” He had asked, looking around the kitchen and witnessing the various ingredients and plates of snacks already made.
“Thought I’d make a little something for Ian,” Peter said. “I’m sure he hasn’t eaten anything since...all this.”
“It looks like a bakery in here, Peter,”
“Well maybe he’s one of those zombies that stress eats!”
Peter let out a sudden, irritated huff and put down the mixing bowl he had been stirring on the counter. It was harsher than intended, with some of the batter jumping out. The two stood there in awkward silence after his outburst, waiting for one of them to at least remotely address the situation they were in.
“Where’s Eve?” Peter asked.
“In the bedroom, having a bit of a row with Ava,”
“What are they arguing about?”
“Eve’s trying to push her into trying to remember whatever can be useful in finding Y/N. While also chastising her over her taste in men,” Adam explained, a ghost of an amused smirk appearing. “Where’s Rowan?”
“In one of the other rooms, talking to a neighbor of ours that’s watching over the pups while we’re gone,”
Neither had asked about the whereabouts of Ian, having seen him go straight up to the roof while mumbling about having a smoke. So seeing no other way to beat around the bush, the younger brother had decided to express what had been on his mind for some time now.
“Do you remember the first person from our past life that we saw die?” He inquired, almost expecting Adam to not answer. “After we’d been around for a good while?”
“Henry,” Adam responded with.
Peter confirmed with a quiet nod. Their parents had died long before their brother did, but they didn’t include them since they each passed away about five years or so after the three siblings were turned. Although they didn’t attend either of their funerals, it wouldn’t have raised too much suspicion if they had. With Henry, however, it was already a good 40+ years when they caught wind of his nearing death and decided to pay him a visit. Funny enough, it was Y/N that had insisted on going to see him.
“He was just a senile old man on his deathbed,” Peter recalled, sounding so far away. “Didn’t even bat an eye to us looking the way we did.”
He gave a bitter and tight-lipped smile as he remembered the final moments they each shared with their late brother; taking a withered hand and smiling down at him on the raised bed. He had managed to raise his tired eyes that could only widen slightly from seeing his estranged siblings.
“Sweet sister, you’ve grown to be quite the beauty,” he had expressed in a croaking version of his younger voice.
“Adam, you’re due for a shave...Ah, little Peter...I use that term ironically now,”
They had let him spew out tales from their childhood and young adulthood. Peter shook his head a bit when remembering the way Henry had babbled in an almost child-like way, giving his spin on the way he tormented the family growing up. He had always been the one that was more of a bully with the way he “playfully” picked on everyone.
“He was such an asshole,” Peter remarked. “Probably the biggest one when we were kids. But I was still sad to see him go.”
Adam heard the sadness in his voice. He knew he didn’t like to talk about their past lives very often since there weren’t much fond memories to look back on. So it was rare for them to talk about the family that had been dead and gone for centuries now.
“Y/N has always been the good one,” Peter went on to say, appearing to be quite spaced out. “Since the day she was born, she had been so sweet. I don’t know where she could’ve gotten it from. The rest of us were full of such meanness and resentment.”
“You, at least, had a reason to be bitter,” Adam brought up lamely.
But he was able to see what he meant. Y/N was always someone with a kind heart; an open-minded free spirit that always had at least an ounce of empathy for people. It didn’t matter who you were, she would do what she could to understand you and the things you did. It’s why even when they struggled with seeing eye-to-eye about certain things, they always had been able to confide in her when it came to their deepest emotional thoughts. Whether it be Peter talking to her about his sexuality for the first time, or her helping Adam be momentarily distracted from his darkening thoughts, she was always the light of the family.
“I just keep thinking,” Peter suddenly choked out. “What’s going to happen if we can’t...how we’d react if she-”
“Oi, don’t think something like that for even a second! We’re not going to let that bastard get the best of us.”
“Adam, face facts! He’s got her locked up somewhere and is most likely torturing her every time one toe is out of place. He’s already winning!”
“He isn’t winning!” Adam argued, his voice rising. “The only way he will is if we continue with all this negative thinking. And since that’s coming from me, that should tell you plenty about how much you need to lighten the fuck up.”
The tension grew after that outburst, as though that were possible. Anyone else would’ve been shocked or hurt by the way his stoic demeanor broke so harshly, but Peter only rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“I just don’t see how we’ll be able to get her back,”
“There might be a way,” Eve called out.
They turned and found her standing in front of them with a sulking Ava by her side.
“Ava has something she needs to say,”
“If it’s an apology, I’m not really in the mood for it,” Adam grumbled. Peter just resumed stirring his mix. It’s not that they blamed her for this situation, but they’d be lying if they said that they weren’t more than a little upset with her for bringing Raymond back into their lives. Despite multiple warnings to do otherwise.
“I don’t know where Raymond’s keeping Y/N,” Ava started with. “But I know someone that might,”
That drew their attention back.
----
Everyone had gathered into the living room to hear what Ava had to say.
“A couple days ago before this all happened, Raymond had gone to see Victor,”
“Victor?” Adam inquired. “Are you sure?”
“The guy’s been living in the same place in Brooklyn for over 70 years. I’m sure. I don’t know what he asked from him since I was left in the car while he went inside, but I’m certain whatever it was helped with getting Y/N to wherever she is now.”
“Wait, who’s Victor?” Ian asked.
“He’s someone like us that has been known to get things,” Peter told him. “There’s hardly anything he can’t get his hands on. Especially for the right price.” He threw a question of his own to the rest of the group. “But you don’t suppose he’d actually do business with Raymond, do you?”
“Only if he wasn’t told everything,” Adam stated. “You know Victor, he doesn’t ask a lot of questions if you flash enough cash his way to keep his mouth shut. He probably doesn’t even know about Y/N.”
“Most likely not. He wouldn’t have sold anything to the asshole if he did.”
“So what now?” Rowan asked next. “Do we just go over to Victor’s and ask him what he may or may not know?”
“It’s better than doing nothing,” Adam reasoned. “If anything, we can go over and see what he has in stock that might help somehow.”
He took a glance at the window, estimating how much was left of the night. “I’ll go there myself, but the rest of you should get some sleep,”
“No, I’m going too,” Peter claimed.
“Are you sure?”
He stepped over to him, a sheepish smile forming on his face. “You were right before. We’re not going to let him get the best of us. We’re going to get her back.”
Adam didn’t say anything except nod in agreement. But then he was spun around by Eve who gave him a worried expression.
“Adam-”
“There’s no sense in all of us going,” he interrupted her with his explanation while giving pleading eyes of his own. “I don’t know what kind of information will be handed to us, or what situation we’ll be landing ourselves in. But I’ll contact you as soon as I can. Just stay here, please?”
“The things I do for you,” she uttered in return. They then shared a good, loving kiss.
“Hopefully we’ll be back in a night or so,” Peter meanwhile assured his own love. “And if things go well, Y/N will be with us too.”
“I’ll try my best to not worry,” Rowan could only half-joke about that. “And I’ll keep you updated about the babies while you’re away.”
“Thank you,”
“I’m going too,” Ian piped up, getting up from the couch.
“Ian, it’s probably best that you stay here-”
“Yeah, no offense Adam, but I wasn’t asking permission,”
That definitely caught everyone off guard.
“Look, I know you guys are way smarter and stronger than I am -- and there’s still a lot I don’t know about your kind -- but I can still be useful. I want to be, anyway. Because she’s my girl, I want to do what I can to save her.”
Adam peered over to Peter who just shrugged and gave him a look that said it was his call. He went back to look at Ian.
“All right, but stay close. I’m sure Victor will be able to supply you with a gun, if needed. You ever use one?”
“Does a paintball gun count?”
“Sure,” Peter answered him with that same weak smile on his face. “We should probably get going before it gets light out.” He returned to Rowan and shared a few more parting words.
Ian stood off to the side as he watched Adam and Peter share goodbyes with their partners. He did his best to ignore the twinge in his heart that came from doing so while also doing what he could to avoid the wandering thought of how he should’ve done better in savoring the last moment he shared with Y/N...
----
Y/N ran her fingers through Ian’s hair while his face stayed hidden in her neck. With his weight on her, she could easily feel his thundering heart as he continued to catch his breath. She started giggling when he lightly rubbed his nose against her cheek. She had no choice but to turn and share several lazy kisses with him. They broke apart eventually, going on to look at each other with hooded eyes and sated smiles.
“That was amazing,” he whispered, still a little out of breath.
“You always say that,” she teased, sliding her arms further down to hug him closer to her.
“That’s because it’s always amazing,”
He gave her one more kiss then rolled off her to go on his side of the bed. They had spent majority of that night between the sheets, only taking breaks every so often to wash themselves off, share a smoke, cuddle or let him recharge with some food. They made love through the dark hours until the transition of the first morning lights when slept it all off.
Had he known that that would’ve possibly been the last time, he would’ve made more of an effort to memorize her movement, the noises she made. He would’ve stayed up a little longer to watch the peaceful way she slept, the cute way her face would subtly twitch from the dreams she had. Had he known what was to come, he would’ve tried harder to keep them in bed.
----
Adam glanced up towards the rearview mirror and caught sight of Ian in the backseat, still lost in thought since leaving the apartment. Did he even realize they had left? When he turned to look at Peter in the passenger seat, he saw that he was checking on him too. They shared a look with each other afterwards, seeming to be thinking the same thing.
It was usually smarter for their kind to not get too close to many people, safer. But the ones they did have in their lives were always going to be the ones they stayed loyal to and kept safe. The brothers might’ve failed in keeping Y/N away from Raymond’s clutches, but they were going to do everything in their power to get her back. And they were also going to do what they could to make sure Ian was well taken care of. They knew she would’ve done the same if it was Eve or Rowan in his position.
So they made a silent agreement on the way that no matter what happened, he would be protected and come back in one piece.
