--: Author's POV: --
The atmosphere within the Fernandez mansion had shifted from a calculated defense to a primal scene of war. The main hall, once a symbol of elegance and wealth, was now a combat zone bathed in a hellish, flickering red glow. The magnesium flare in Kaizar's hand hissed violently, spitting white-hot sparks that scorched the polished marble floor.
Angelo stood at the base of the grand staircase, his silhouette as rigid as an iron statue. He didn't look like the disciplined businessman or the protective older brother anymore; he looked like a predator that had finally stopped playing with its prey.
"Mistake?" Kaizar's voice was a jagged rasp of manic laughter. He kicked a shard of a shattered Ming vase, the porcelain skittering across the floor. "The Hanamitichis gave me the keys to the kingdom, Angelo! Your 'influence' is just a title. It doesn't mean a damn thing when the people who run this country want you erased!"
"The people you serve are politicians, Kaizar," Angelo replied, his voice dropping into a register so low it seemed to vibrate the very air. "They live in offices and hide behind signatures. But right now, in this house? There are no signatures. There are no lawyers. There is only me, and the fact that you are standing on my floor."
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I stared at the security monitor in the secret room, my hands pressed against the cold glass. The blue light of the screen washed over me, highlighting the sheer terror in my eyes. I saw Kuya Angelo step closer to that burning red flare, his face illuminated in stark, terrifying shadows. Behind Kaizar, two more men emerged from the darkness of the gallery—professional "Cleaners" with cold, dead eyes and silenced tactical weapons.
"Kuyaa, watch out!" I whispered, my voice breaking. I wanted to scream it, to warn him that they were flanking him, but the sound died in my parched throat.
Beside me, Keiran and Keigan were huddled together. I had moved them behind a heavy oak desk, shielding them with my own body. They were shivering, their breaths coming in shallow, jagged hitches. Every time an explosion or a gunshot echoed through the vents, they flinched.
Suddenly, the monitor showing the service hallway outside our door flickered and died, then snapped back to life. A shadow was moving with frantic, desperate speed—it was Keifer. He was covered in soot, his clothes torn, but his eyes were burning with a singular, focused mission.
"He's here," I breathed, a sob of pure relief finally escaping my chest.
--: Keifer's POV: --
I didn't stop to check if the three men I had just neutralized in the hallway were still breathing. My knuckles were split and my lungs felt like they were filled with glass, but I didn't care. I reached the hidden panel and slammed the override code into the keypad with trembling fingers.
The heavy steel door hissed open. Before I could even step across the threshold, Jay Jay was there. She collided with me, her arms wrapping around my neck in a grip so tight it was bruising. For one heartbeat, the war outside didn't exist. There was only the scent of her hair and the frantic beat of her heart against mine.
"The boys?" I managed to rasp out, pulling back just enough to look at her.
"They're okay," she said, her voice a shaky thread as she gestured toward Keiran and Keigan, who were already scrambling toward us.
"We have to go. Now," I said, my voice hardening. "This room isn't a sanctuary anymore; it's a cage. They've mapped the internal power grid. They'll blow the hinges in five minutes."
I grabbed their hands, leading them toward the second, reinforced door—the "Second Exit" that led directly to a concealed path toward the forest perimeter. I threw the door open, and the biting winter air rushed in, smelling of pine.
"Run, Jay! Don't look back!" I yelled, the sound of an explosion from the West Wing punctuating my words. "Run until you're off the estate grounds! Go to the main road! I'll find you all, I promise!"
Jay Jay's eyes were wide, filled with an agonizing choice, but she looked at the terrified faces of my brothers and knew she had to be their shield. She gripped their hands and vanished into the darkness of the thick woods.
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
The forest was a blur of scratching branches and freezing wind. My lungs were burning, every breath feeling like a swallow of needles. We had cleared the estate gates and reached the asphalt of the main road, but the rhythmic, heavy thud-thud-thud of combat boots behind us told me we weren't alone. Kaizar's men were hunters, and they hadn't lost the scent.
"Faster! Don't stop!" I urged, my voice a desperate rasp.
Keiran and Keigan were running until their legs shook, but the sounds of the men were gaining. I looked back and saw the flash of a tactical light.
Suddenly, two pillars of blinding white light cut through the darkness from the opposite direction. A sleek, matte-black luxury car drifted across the pavement in a perfect, high-speed arc, screeching to a halt just inches in front of us. I froze, my heart dropping into my stomach. Not another trap. Please, not now.
The doors swung open. Four figures stepped out, silhouetted by the brilliant white high-beams. They didn't move like soldiers; they moved with an unmistakable aura of absolute, untouchable power. As they stepped into the light, my brain struggled to process the reality of who was standing there.
"Howw are they here?" I gasped, my knees nearly giving out.
"Jay Jay?" One of them spoke stepping forward, his expensive coat fluttering in the wind. His face, usually arrogant and composed, hardened into a mask of pure, murderous fury as he saw the dirt on my face and the two terrified boys clinging to my waist. "What the hell is going on here? Who did this to you?"
"They're following us! Please, save us!" I pointed back toward the shadows of the tree line.
The other two didn't wait for an explanation. They exchanged a single, dark look. With the lethal efficiency of men who had spent their lives protected by the best, and trained by the even better, they vanished into the darkness. Within seconds, the silence of the night was broken by the sickening sound of muffled blows and the clatter of dropped weapons.
A moment later, they stepped back into the light, calmly adjusting his cuffs. "Clear."
"You're safe now, kiddo," The fourth one whispered, his voice as calm and cool as a mountain spring, cutting through my panic. He looked at the smoke rising from the Fernandez mansion in the distance. "It looks like our welcome party is a bit loud."
"Let's go," the first one growled, his eyes locked on the mansion. "Let's remind them who they're messing with."
--: Author's POV: --
Inside the mansion, the final act had begun. Section E, Percy, Aries—had turned the hallways into a gauntlet.
Yuri was moving like a phantom, his movements a masterclass in deception. To any onlooker, he was fighting Section E, but every strike he landed on his "enemies" was a staged move to put his grandfather's guards in a position to be taken down.
Angelo had Kaizar pinned against a marble pillar, his hand tightened around the his throat. But the heavy, double-thud of the front doors being kicked open caused the entire room to go still.
Yuri's grandfather stepped into the red light, surrounded by his personal elite guard. "Enough of this circus. Yuri, finish them. Prove your blood."
Yuri stepped forward, his face a mask of cold, unfeeling steel. At that exact moment, four figures walked in through the main entrance, escorting Jay Jay, Keiran, and Keigan.
Yuri's eyes met Jay Jay's for a split second—a silent communication that spanned months of friendship. He moved with lightning speed, grabbing Jay Jay and pulling her in front of him, pressing the cold muzzle of a gun to her temple.
--: Keifer's POV: --
"NO!" I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat. I lunged forward, but Angelo's hand shot out like a vice, pinning me back.
"Look at his eyes, Keifer!" Angelo hissed.
I stopped. Yuri wasn't looking at me. He was looking at the Patriarch, and his thumb was nowhere near the safety of that gun.
"Let him go, Keifer!" Yuri shouted, his voice echoing with a manic, desperate edge. "Let Kaizar go, or I'll end her right now! I'll do it!"
Yuri's Grandfather let out a dry, rattling chuckle. "That's my boy. Blood is thicker than any pathetic bond you made in that school."
Kaizar, sensing a shift, scrambled away from Angelo's grip, laughing breathlessly as he stood next to the old man. "I told you! She was the key! Kill them all, Yuri! Start with her!"
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I felt Yuri's grip. It was firm, but he wasn't hurting me. He leaned down, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered a single, jagged breath: "Act with me, Jay. Trust me one last time."
I let out a broken, agonizing sob, my body sagging in his arms as if I had finally given up.
"NOW!" Yuri roared.
In a move faster than anyone in the room could process, Yuri didn't pull the trigger. He flipped the gun in his palm and launched it through the air. It spun end-over-end, a silver blur in the red light, landing perfectly in Keifer's hand.
--: Keifer's POV: --
The weight of the gun hit my palm, and in that instant, the world went quiet.
Yuri didn't stop. He pulled a hidden blade from his sleeve and turned on to his grandfather in one fluid, murderous motion. "I am not your puppet! I never was!"
The old man's eyes widened in sheer, frozen horror. Behind him, the 4 figures moved like a whirlwind. Their presence was a tidal wave of elite power; they neutralized the remaining guards before a single shot could be fired.
I leveled the gun at Kaizar. He tried to beg, his hands shaking, his face pale as he realized his "kingdom" had turned into his grave.
"This is for Jay Jay, Keiran, Keigan and my mother." I said, my voice as cold as the winter outside.
Bang.
Kaizar crumpled. The shadow that had haunted us for months was gone.
Beside me, Yuri's blade found its mark. The man who had tried to destroy his soul was finished.
--: Author's POV: --
The silence that followed was heavy and absolute. The red flare finally sputtered out, leaving the main hall in the soft, natural glow of the moonlight and the stark white LED beams from the luxury car parked outside the shattered entrance.
The air was thick with the acrid scent of gunpowder and the metallic tang of blood. In the center of the wreckage stood Jay Jay, Keiran, and Keigan. They were frozen like statues, their faces devoid of color. The sheer brutality of the last few minutes—the deafening roar of the gun, the cold glint of Yuri's blade, and the sight of the two men who had haunted their lives finally falling—had locked their bodies in place. They didn't move. They didn't cry. They just stood there, their eyes wide and shell-shocked.
For a long moment, no one moved. Even the four mysterious figures stood back near the entrance, their silhouettes imposing and watchful, their eyes scanning the room with clinical precision.
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
The world felt like it was underwater. My ears were ringing so loudly I couldn't hear the wind howling through the broken windows. I felt Keiran's small, trembling hand clutched in my left and Keigan's in my right. We were three souls trapped in a nightmare that had just ended too abruptly.
I saw Kuya Angelo move first.
He didn't say a word. The terrifying predator I had seen through the monitor was gone, replaced by the brother who would move mountains for me. He crossed the distance in three long strides and wrapped his arms around me, pulling the three of us into a crushing embrace.
"It's over," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "You're safe. I've got you."
A second later, I felt more weight surrounding us. Aries and Percy joined in, their presence like a shield. Percy was silent, his hand resting protectively on the back of my head, while Aries leaned his forehead against mine for a split second, a silent promise of safety.
--: Keifer's POV: --
My hands were still vibrating from the kickback of the gun. I looked at the weapon in my palm, then at the man on the floor, and finally at the people I loved most in this world. I dropped the gun. It hit the marble with a dull clack.
I stepped forward, I knelt down, pulling Keiran and Keigan into me with such force I was afraid I'd break them. They finally broke their silence then, sobbing into my shoulders.
"I'm sorry," I choked out, closing my eyes tight. "I'm so sorry you had to see that."
I held them until their shaking slowed, then I stood up. Jay Jay was standing just a foot away. I stepped into her space and pulled her into me, wrapping my arms around her so tightly there wasn't a breath of space between us. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in—the pine from the forest and the scent of her fear—and tried to squeeze the trauma out of her.
--: Author's POV: --
The moment was intimate and raw, a desperate cling to life after so much death. However, it didn't last as long as Keifer might have hoped.
"Ahem..Ahem.."
Angelo cleared his throat loudly, the sound echoing through the quiet hall. It wasn't just a noise; it was a clear, protective command for Keifer to let go of his sister.
Keifer reluctantly loosened his grip, stepping back just enough as Yuri approached. Yuri's clothes were stained, and his expression was weary, but his eyes were clear for the first time in months. He didn't hesitate; he reached out and pulled Jay Jay into a firm, brief hug.
"Thank you," Yuri whispered into her ear, his voice cracking. "Thank you for trusting me. I couldn't have ended this without you."
Jay Jay nodded against his shoulder, her hand patting his back. The "So-Called Traitor" was finally home.
Soon, the separate circles of protection began to merge. Keifer at the center, holding his brothers close as Jay Jay leaned into them, and the rest of Section E surged forward. They didn't care about the dirt or the blood; they formed a massive, collective embrace. Angelo, Aries, Percy, and Yuri stood as the outer layer of the wall, their arms linked around Jay and the boys, with the rest of Section E joining the circle. It was a singular, massive group hug that seemed to defy the destruction around them—a human fortress built on loyalty and relief.
Standing by the entrance, the four figures watched the scene unfold. The tallest one shifted his weight, his eyes lingering on the group hug, his presence a silent, looming question mark in the middle of the debris.