Chapter 25

"-in the glass." A voice said.

"But why would he put it in the glass? Why not the cake?" Another voice asked.

"She would have swallowed it!" Finn yelled exasperated.

"Yes, because a ring is chewable." Cedric said sarcastically.

"No but it's small enough to be swallowed. In the glass she could have seen it before she swallowed it!" Finn was getting irritated.

"What if she is thirsty and gulps it down? Both these methods are stupid. Why would anyone even do that?" Cedric retorted.

"Because it's romantic, you idiots. This is why you both are single." I croaked in a voice I felt like didn't even belong to me. I was in Gabriel's room again.

"Santana! You are alive!" Finn rushed to my side and so did Cedric. Cedric. Alive and healthy looking Cedric.

"Im alive." I whispered with a smile. "Cedric, you are alive."

"I am. Thanks to you." He replied brushing my chin with his thumb. He smiled at me.

"I'm alive too." Finn pointed out.

"I'm still mad at you." I glared at him. "Where is Nana?" I suddenly remembered.

"She's safe in her room being tended to by a doctor. Don't worry, you will get a chance to see her." Cedric answered and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Finn was staring at me with an open mouth. "Why are you mad at me?"

"You joined the hunters. Help me sit." I said.

"Should you be sitting up? You just got out of a coma." Finn said.

"Wait, what? I was in a coma?" My eyes widened as I clutched my chest.

"No you were not in coma." Fabio's voice from the doorway spoke up.

"Fabio!" I sat up with a big smile on my face. My body ached a little but I was feeling so rested it wasn't so bad.

"Don't-listen-to-him-you-were-in-a-coma." Finn said so fast in my ear I barely caught his words. "Hie Fabio!" He said brightly.

Fabio just smiled and shook his head.

"Coma." Cedric whispered before he patted my hand and sat down on a couch and Finn joined him.

"You were not in coma." Fabio repeated firmly.

I laughed. "So what happened?" I asked because after Gabriel touched me behind my ear I passed out. "What did Gabriel do to me?"

"He didn't want you in the way. To protect you." Fabio replied.

"By having to carry an unconscious woman in a battle?" I frowned failing to see the logic behind it.

"It's better than having to worry about your safety." Fabio crooked his head to the side and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Hmm." I mumbled deciding whether to be upset with Gabriel or not.

"No, Santana." Fabio rebuked me.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"You have umm..um reputation for being angry with Gabriel. So try to understand him this time." Fabio explained.

"But he did some weird voodoo to me and I passed out." I argued.

"You went to sleep." Fabio corrected.

"Forced sleep!" I huffed.

"You must understand, Gabriel went crazy after he woke up and you weren't in at the helipad with us." Finn said.

"Not crazy, we call it protector mode." Fabio corrected again.

"I call it 'full-on Guardian'." Cedric put in.

"What is that?" I directed the question at Fabio.

"Its when a Guardian goes crazy and more powerful than ever."Cedric said matter of factly.

"Cedric!" Fabio chastised him. "It is when a protective sense comes over a Guardian and when that sense comes, every decision that the Guardian make is in favor of the protection of the supernatural in trouble. In this case it was you, cara. We get a power surge where all other senses are dulled and the only senses alive are Guardian senses."

"Ohhh." I was slowly understanding the look in Gabriel's eyes when he barged in to rescue me.

"It has the potential to consume and control you so we usually suppress it. But yesterday... Gabriel was beyond redemption."

"Whoa." I whispered. "So what happened after that?" I asked.

"We took Shelly back here in the chopper then Fabio and Gabriel came back for you." Finn explained.

"I think it's better is Gabriel told you the story." Fabio said glaring at Finn.

Where was Gabriel? This was his room after all. Maybe he was in his office. I would go and find him later.

"Fabio, thank you so much for saving me." tears filled my eyes. "I could have been-"

"Shhh. Don't mention it, cara. You deserve to be rescued." Fabio leaned in and hugged me. I hugged him back as I blinked my tears away.

After I pulled away both Finn and Cedric lunged themselves at me in a tight embrace.

"Ah... how'd...mmphh...guys..." i stammered as I tried to breath.

"We are happy you are okay. So happy." Finn whispered.

"So you could suffocate me instead?" I asked in a choked voice.

"Oh!" They pulled away. "Sorry." Cedric said with a grin.

I smiled up at the three of them. I was so happy to be back and alive and not someone's mistress. Oh I was so glad. I had never been more grateful for living as I was now. These guys were family and I would kill for them. Tears filled my eyes again.

"Thank you so much guys. For everything."

"You've done more for us than we've done for you." Cedric smiled.

"Oh you have no idea." I whispered.

"I will leave you now. I will be in my room if you need me." Fabio reached over and ruffled my already ruffled hair.

I grinned at him.

"So does this mean you aren't mad at me anymore?"Finn asked.

"No! Now I need to go to my room and shower." I pushed the bed cover aside and swung my feet to the ground. Again there were no slippers. Had this man ever heard of bedroom slippers? Where was he?

"Your shower stuff is in the bathroom. Gabriel wanted you to rest more. He'd be upset if he knew you were out bed right now." Cedric said.

"He would?" Me heart warmed as I suppressed a smile. "But I need to shower." After yesterday, I probably would never get clean again. I shuddered at the memory of that pervert slobbering all over my neck. "I need to shower now."

"The shower is right over there." Cedric frowned and pointed at a door I was already familiar with.

Without another word i trudged towards the bathroom and indeed found a few of my bathroom stuff in it. Talk about high-handed. Gabriel was the master of it.

I almost screamed when I saw my reflection in the mirror. Both of my eyes were a nasty shade of purple and my cheeks so thoroughly bruised I wondered how it is I had not felt the pain. I looked terrible. Thanks alot, Damien. That evil evil man.

I swallowed back the tears. I took off the robe someone had covered me with when I was sleeping and I found that I was still wearing Gabriel's shirt but the fishnet stockings and the torn night dress were gone. I pulled off the shirt and brought it up to my nose and sniffed. The scent was pure Gabriel and I got lost in it. Closing my eyes and hugging the shirt close to my chest, I let the tears fall. If Gabriel had not shown up when he did...I would be some dirty whore right now. Maybe I would have died from the shame. I sank into the floor and let the sobs consume me.

This had been the toughest couple of days I had ever had in my life. From being kidnapped by my father to coming dangerously close to being raped. Yet we still managed to rescue Nana. And rescue me. And my brother. But mum and dad....I cried harder...maybe i had lost them forever. We were on opposing teams now and I had no idea how to fix it. Maybe it could never be fixed. And that was beyond sad.

I cried until I got the hiccups. So I eventually dried my tears and got up from the floor letting Gabriel's shirt fall to the floor. I drunk water from the tap until the hiccups stopped.

Standing up straight, I caught my full body reflection in the mirror and i gasped. My face wasn't the only place that was bruised. My mouth agape I turned around in all angles to look at my body. I looked like a freaking panda! I even had bandages on my thighs, chest and arms. Touching some of the really purple spots, I found my skin incredibly tender.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly pealed off the bandages wincing in pain occasionally. When I was done I got in the shower and stood under the warm soothing water for a while letting the water soothe me.

*            *             *

"Come in." Nana's voice responded to my knock. It was roughly an hour and a half later and I had finally mustered enough courage to leave the confines of Gabriel's room. I had redressed my wounds and applied some concealer on my visible bruises. It didn't eliminate them completely but it was so much better.

I still had not seen Gabriel and I had not gone in search for him. I wasn't ready to face him yet. I needed to see my grandmother.

So I was standing outside the room in which i had seen the closet from my dreams. Cedric had been right, this was indeed Shelly's room.

I slowly turned the knob and let myself in. I closed the door behind me then turned to the room. Nana was standing beside her bed her arms open wide as an invitation for a hug.

My chest swelling up, I ran up to her and threw my arms around her and in turn her arms enveloped me in a tight embrace. Involuntarily, tears broke free and streamed down my cheeks into Nana's sweater.

She was here.

She released me pulled back. "Santana, let me look at you, sweetheart." There were tears on her cheeks as well as she cupped my face and looked me over. "You have grown so much!" She gushed more tears spilling on her cheeks.

I was so overwhelmed i couldn't speak so I merely nodded as I took her in too. She looked older than I remembered and older than the beautiful picture Gabriel showed me but she looked more beautiful than ever as she beamed down at me and her hair had been chopped short. The glow i had seen in that beautiful picture was back and brighter than ever. Now that she was here, memories of her from my childhood flooded my mind and i could barely stem the flow of tears.

"Nana. I'm so happy you are here." I whispered pulling her back into the embrace but I let go quicker this time.

"And I have you to thank for that." She brushed tears off my cheek.

"I didn't do anything." I waved my hand with a smile.

She chuckled as her wiped away her own tears. "Sit." She said settling down on her bed and I sat next to her.

We stared at each other for a moment then in unison we both spoke up. "Are you okay?"

We laughed at that.

"You got kidnapped by that horrible man." She said after the laughter had died down.

"But you lived with him for longer." I protested. "It must have been terrible."

"Oh, I'm an old lady. I don't concern myself with too much. I just did my work and kept my head down. He didn't bother me." She said dismissively.

"What kind of work?" I asked.

"Just the usual house work, sweetheart. That was a filthy place, Santana. Full of terrible terrible things." She shuddered as she said that.

"What? What terrible things?" I took her hand and held it in mine.

"You are too young to hear of such things. But just be happy with me because I'm back to my family now." She smiled wide.

"Not all your family. I can't believe what Dad did." I voice chocked in the last word.

"You father was only doing what he thought was right." She shifted and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"There was nothing right about what he did! It was horrible and he is a horrible person!" I said hotly.

"He did it to protect his family, sweetheart. It was his job as a man to protect you and your brother." She reasoned out.

"How can you be okay with what he did! He faked your death!" I was puzzled by her behavior. I thought she'd be furious.

"I have had a lot of years to be angry and to hate my son, during that hate and anger I came to understand why he did it. And I forgave him." Nana explained calmly. "He's my son."

I just stared at her in awe. I could never forgive someone who faked my death and made me live like a slave. It was a rotten thing to do whatever the circumstances.

"Wow Nana, I understand why you are our leader now." I breathed.

Nana chuckled. "The greatest thing is love, Santana. If you have love everything falls into place. And you have alot of it. I know you will forgive your father." She playfully tapped my nose.

But I shook my head. "Dad is dead to me now." I said hardly feeling the pain of my own words.

"Shh! Don't say that!" Nana rebuked.

"Did you know he kidnapped Finn then he kidnapped me when I tried to save Finn?" I asked my eyes blazing.

Nana nodded. "Finn told me of all the madness that has been going on."

"And you still think I will forgive him?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes you will because you have a big heart that's full of love." Nana said confidently. "I know you will."

"Hmm." I was doubtful. I still felt so much anger towards Dad.

"I know after I 'died' there was alot of confusion and rumors that I was insane." She sounded sad as she said this. "I can imagine that it must have been difficult for you to grow up in such a situation. And for that I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"Nana...it wasn't your fault. Things were a little difficult but after i knew everything that happened I understood. I'm sorry I ever blamed you for any of it." I squeezed her hand.

She looked at me for a moment then she reached over and brushed my cheek with her hand. "I told you you had a big heart." She smiled.

We sat in silence for a brief moment

"Nana... what really happened the night you went away?" I asked curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well, I was staying with you at your father's house in those days. I knew something was going to happen but I couldn't quite get it right. So one day, I saw Gabriel come to see your father but your father loathed him and always treated him badly. But it was my understanding that Gabriel wanted something from your father. The day wore on and Gabriel was still waiting for your father's answer then hunters came into the house...so many hunters. Your mother took you and your brother and made you hide in a closet.

Your mother tried to stop Lucas from doing what he was about to do and it became a full blown argument that went on and on until I couldn't contain it any longer. I screamed.

The next thing I remember was waking  up in a cell in some foreign country. The guards spoke a language I don't understand until now. I lived there for a while until I was moved to someplace where they allowed me to work. Your father came to visit me occasionally and kept me updated on your lives and everything. At first I didn't want to see his face but eventually i adjusted because he was the only one who ever came to see me and he had pictures of my grandkids!

Anyway, the work was good. It kept me busy and my mind off a lot of things. Until they moved me again to Damien's fortress. Then my beautiful granddaughter rescued me." She finished with a smile.

I sat frozen on the bed. Absorbing everything she had said. The closet! My nightmare had actually happened! It was the night that Nana was taken away. And Gabriel was also in the same house! Oh lord! So did she know that Gabriel had tried to have me killed? Oh this was insane!

"Whoa..." I whispered. I glanced the closet. Just looking at it gave me a sense of claustrophobia. "It must have been really hard on you." I sympathized.

"It wasn't ideal, honey. But the important thing is that I'm well. I don't want to dwell on it.

I nodded then glanced at the closet again. "Nana, this closet..."

"Yes my husband, your grandfather carved it out. He gave me as a gift. It was the same closet I used to use when I stayed at your father's house. You remember it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It's the same closet we...mother hid us in. We hid in here while everything was happening." I shrunk away from the scary closet. "We heard the fight ...and the scream." I whispered rubbing my arms.

"Oh, darling. You remember all that? You were so young." She cooed rubbing one of my arms in an effort to comfort me.

"It comes to me in a dream. I thought it was just a dream. Until today." I swallowed hard.

"You dream of this?" Nana frowned.

"Yes. It's a recurring nightmare. But as it turns out, my nightmare actually happened!" I gave a short nervous laugh. "It's suddenly not so scary anymore!" I laughed surprised by my discovery.

Shelly laughed too and we allowed ourselves to lighten the atmosphere before it sobered up again.

"You have been through a lot Nana. I'm sorry." I said. I had decided not to mention that Gabriel tried to kill me. No need to upset her over something that happened in the past.

"And you have been through a lot to save me. Thank you." She countered. "But enough about me. You got kidnapped by Damien! Oh dear, how selfish of me! Did he hurt you?"

"Oh no! No...erm...Im fine. He tried to hurt me but I'm fine." I didn't want to think about that.

"I know he put you on the electric chair." She said quietly but I could see anger lines emanating from her.

"Well yeah but it wasn't so bad!" I lied. "The worst was when he tried to rape me." A lump rose in my throat. "But Gabriel saved me before he did." I swallowed the lump and bit my lip in an effort not to cry again.

She came closer and hugged me tightly. Which made it damn near impossible not to cry but I fought the tears really hard. Nana was pouring a lot of love and compassion into the hug that I felt to my bone. When she released me I realized she had been crying.

"Nana!" I frowned squeezing her hand.

"Im glad you are okay. Remind me to thank Gabriel. He is a godsend, that boy." She said with one of her beautiful smiles.

"He really is." I smiled too my heart warming up like a ray of sunshine had come and chased the bad clouds away. Gabriel was my ray of sunshine. "I haven't had the chance to thank him yet."

"What? Santana! Don't be rude! Go out there and thank the man who saved your life!" Shelly chastised.

"But I still want to talk to you!" I protested.

"You can talk to me later! Go!" She waved her hand towards the door. "Now!" She added when I didn't move.

I smiled then hugged her before I got up and left the room after I gave her a little wave from the door.