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The Ties that Bind	By : Lady_Kae Category: +M through R > Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Views: 2280 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used from the game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. All characters and game related material, plus any lyrics, save for original content is property of their respective owners and no money is being made from this

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
A/N: Again, sorry for the wait. This one took me a bit to write out admittedly, and my beta took a while getting to it too. She's just as busy as I am. Otherwise, no more excuses, hope you all enjoy.
Book II: Bond

Chapter 6- Fearing the Night

A Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Fanfiction
Quiet. Everything was much too quiet for Andi’s liking and she pressed her body as close as she could to the building beside her in an effort to keep from being seen. There was something wrong here. She knew she was right smack dab in the middle of New York City at Times Square, but there were no lights, no sounds. This was the city that never slept. For everything to be off like this didn’t bode well. It was as if a black and white filter had been cast over the entire city, Andi noted as she looked around. There was no color, no smells of any sort, nothing. It was as if it was devoid of life.
Kinda like something out of a Stephen King novel...she thought with a rueful grin. It was as if she was the only thing with any color to her in this monotonous grey overcast. Her airy yellow shirt, her dark blue jeans and shining chestnut colored strands were sure to catch anyones, or anythings, eye. It made Andi feel all the more wary.
“ Andi…” came a woman’s voice on the wind. “ Andi, you need to get inside...Hurry…”
Andi recognized that voice, she realized as she looked around hurriedly. There had to be some building she could get to before something horrible happened. All of this was much too surreal to be actually be happening though. It didn’t stop Andi from erring on the side of caution however and she saw a single open door across the way. There! She could hid in there! But what was she hiding from? It didn’t make any sense at all.
She tried her best to sneak her way towards the open door she could see, but Andi was forced to stop when a great roar echoed through every street and alley.
“ ANDREA!!!!!” came the bellow, striking nothing but sheer terror straight through her. A massive footstep to her left forced Andi back into the shadows, behind a dumpster in an effort to keep from being found.
Her eyes screwed shut when two more footsteps pounded out their slow rhythm, completely out of sync with her own racing heart. She needed to get out of here, needed to get away! Andi needed to find Sean!
A menacing laugh bubbled forth and Andi did her best to keep herself from whimpering in fear. “ Sean’s dead….” it hissed. “ Everyone except you is dead...And you’re going to join them…”
The scraping of metal against asphalt made Andi shriek in terror and she slipped as she tried to dash away from where this monster had found her. Tears were flowing freely down her face, her fear too much to contain as she ran through the back alleys. She found an opening into the main street and she dashed for it, only to be snatched up into the air by her waist. Andi’s fists beat ineffectually against the massive fingers holding her and her eyes went very wide in fear as she looked upon the beast that had been chasing her. There was something all too familiar about those eyes…
“ Mine…” it hissed, its great maw opening wider and wider to swallow her in one gulp.
Andi bolted up in bed screaming, her chestnut locks plastered to her head with sweat, and she looked around a bit wildly. Sean wasn’t home...He had been in Albany the last three days on an emergency call from his parents. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and she hurriedly dialed his number. She needed to hear his voice, needed to know he was safe.

Sean groaned as he heard Andi’s ringtone go off and he picked the phone up. “ What’s the matter, sweetheart?” he said sweetly, albeit tiredly.
“ I’m sorry to wake you Sean, but…” Andi began, her voice still a bit panicked and out of breath. This brought Sean to full wakefulness in an instant.
“ What’s the matter Andi? Are you alright?” Sean demanded gently. He was sitting up in bed now, and he fought the urge to get dressed and leave in the middle of the night. His mom needed him here for another day or two. His grandmother had passed away last night and Terri had been utterly heartbroken at losing her mother.
“ I don’t know...I haven’t been able to sleep since you left. I’ve been having these strange nightmares, Sean. I know it’s silly, but there something about them that feels as if it’s so real.” Andi whimpered over the phone. Sean could just see her now. She was more than likely resting her elbows on her knees while holding both her head and the phone.
“ Just take it easy, sweetheart. I’ll come up and get you this afternoon, alright?” Sean offered. He was already moving to get dressed and he paused a moment.
“ Don’t worry about it Sean, okay? You’re mom needs you more than I do right now. I’ll be fine. I already feel better just hearing your voice.” Andi replied. There was something in her tone that told Sean she was lying, but he’d have to take her at face value for now. “ Let’s both just go back to sleep, okay? I’ll see you in a few days. I love you.”
“ I love you too, Andi. Call me if you need anything, alright sweetheart?”
“ I will honey, I promise.” Andi replied.
Sean stared at his phone as the other end of the line disconnected and he put his phone down on the bedside table. This was going to be a rough couple of days.
Andi was in complete agreement with him back in Mount Vernon.

Sean burst through the door four days later, his heart thudding in his chest. “ Andi? I’m home!” he called out to her.
“ I’m in the kitchen honey!” came her voice. She certainly sounded much more chipper than she had a few days ago on the phone.
Sean took a tentative sniff, though his mouth immediately watered. Whatever Andi was making smelled delicious. He turned into the kitchen with a bright smile on his face and he had to stop dead in his tracks. Andi was in nothing but a pair of heels and her apron.
Andi looked at him coyly over her shoulder and she stood straight after returning the pan into the oven. Her walk was slow and sultry as her hips rolled invitingly with every step, her eyes full of heat and ready for the kind of loving only Sean could give her. Her body nestled against his as her arms wrapped around his waist and Sean swallowed hard. “ Welcome home, honey.” she purred. She had been planning this all morning.
“ Maybe I should leave town more often…” He whispered, though his eyes were reflecting that same heat, making them glow like twin cinnamon suns.
Andi glared a bit at him. “ Don’t even think about it.” she growled. Her ire was quickly forgotten as Sean chuckled sexily in her ear and she felt the ties of her apron loosen.
“ Forget about that for now...I believe I have a snack to indulge in before dinner tonight.” Sean whispered in her ear, forcing an aroused shudder from his lover. “ I don’t think we’re going to make it to the bedroom either…”
Andi’s eyes went wide as Sean switched their positions and he bent her over the counter, one hand keeping her in place while the other released his zipper and now straining erection. “ Sean, just let me mo...OOOOOOOHHHHH!” Andi shrieked out this last part as Sean entered her strongly from behind, and he chuckled as he bent over her.
“ Don’t worry about moving everything just yet, Andi. We’ll get there I’m sure.” he said huskily in her ear. “ Now...Where was I?”

The two were cuddling on the couch later that night, aimlessly watching an old Indiana Jones film. They were Andi’s favorite series of movies and had been since she had been a little girl. Andi could still remember running around her childhood home shouting ‘Dr. Jones!’ with an excited squeal to let her mom and dad know she had wanted to watch it. Even then, she had done that tonight when Sean had asked her what movie they were watching that night, Andi mused with a slight chuckle.
“ Did you want to tell me what those nightmares were about, Andi?” Sean said softly. His hand was rubbing up and down her arm a little as he held her and she snuggled a little deeper into him.
“ They were just odd is all, hun. I’ve been studying too hard for my midterms.” Andi replied sleepily. “ It’s nothing to fret over.” Despite trying to reassure him, her tone was far off as if she was still recalling those aweful dreams. They had been so vivid, so realistic it was terrifying. There was still the matter of that voice Andi had recognized. It had to have been her…
“ Andi?!” Sean said, his tone worried as he sat them both up. She had just completely spaced out on him for the last few minutes.
Andi started a little as she looked back to Sean. “ Sorry hun. Like I said, I’ve just been studying too hard for my exams. That’s why I’m taking a break tonight.”
Sean looked at Andi disbelievingly for a moment, but he didn’t say anything as he wrapped his arms around her again and he leaned them both back into the couch. He didn’t want to admit just how worried he was about Andi, though he was sure she could feel it. Both of them were also looking to get through their degrees as fast as possible, or else Sean would suggest Andi take a break after this semester was over. She had tripled up on all her courses for the spring time and he was worried the workload was starting to take its toll on her. “ Just don’t burn yourself out, okay? You don’t have to do this at such a breakneck pace to attempt to catch up to me you know.”
Andi smirked a little at this proclamation and she turned her gaze onto her boyfriend and lover. “ Oh really, Sean? I think that sounds more like a challenge than anything.”
“ That is not how I meant it!” Sean said defensively, though he was smiling the entire time. Andi had that playful gleam in her eyes. He knew what that gleam meant and he was wary for it…
“ You sound as if you want to stay ahead of me in our studies, Sean.” Andi said, turning over a little so that she was crouching over him.
“ I never said that, Andi. Stop putting words into my...GAH! Andehehehehehehehe! Stop!” Sean guffawed. Andi had struck and she was currently working over his ticklish spots with great relish and zeal. “ Wahahahahahaha! Andi please!” He tried swatting her hands away, but Andi wouldn’t be denied.
“ Nah ah ah!” she purred as she pinned both of his hands behind her knees. “ You’re mine, Sean Robert Morrison! Rah!”

Andi and Sean were all smiles as they walked through the streets of Mount Vernon with her cousins, all of them laden with bags that were full of gifts for Tammy, Linnette, their Aunt Jessica; who was Adrian’s mother, and Terri. Mother’s day was fast approaching and she, Sean, Mitchell, Ishmael, and Ronnie were walking everything back to Ishmael’s apartment so that none of it would be found by any of the moms. The only bag they were bringing home was the stuff Andi and Sean had picked out for his mother. The five were talking animatedly about the looks that were sure to light up their faces at the sight of some of these gifts and Andi laughed loudly at look on Mitchell’s face when he caught a whiff of the perfume that Ronnie had purchased their mom.
“ Ronnie! Stop that. You know I’m allergic to that crap.” Mitchell groused. His eyes and nose were already watering from the scented mist.
“ Sorry Mitch.” Ronnie replied with a chuckle. He ruffled his brother’s hair affectionately, laughing all the while as Mitchell attempted to fight him off, though the boy was smiling himself. “ So Andi, how have things been with you and Sean? Any wedding bells in the future?”
Andi and Sean both blushed brightly in the growing darkness and she averted her gaze to the ground a moment while Sean stammered a little. “ Sean and I are both trying to get through school before we jump into anything like that, Ronnie. Besides. You’ve got seven years on me and you’re not married yet.” Andi shot back.
“ I know, but I’m going to ask her next week on Mother's Day.” Ronnie admitted, a soft smile on his face. He was dating a young woman who worked at their family’s company, and she had a four year old son who he was crazy over. He loved them both very much and he had been dating her the last two years. “ Her name is Beatrice, and she has a little boy named R.J. She’s the one I brought with me to Thanksgiving last year, Andi.”
“ Well hot damn! Ishmael, the four of us are going out for a round of drinks on me once we drop Mitchell off at home.” Sean said brightly. He swung his arm around Andi a moment and he kissed the top of her head affectionately. " You gonna join us, Andi?"
Andi’s eyes widened in understanding and she smiled brightly. “ Well it’s about damn time, Ronnie! Aunt Linnie’s going to be ecstatic. Not only does she get another daughter now, but a grandchild at the same time! R.J. is going to be spoiled rotten by her.” Andi said with a laugh. " And not tonight Sean. I think it's going to be guys only tonight."
“ Don’t remind me.” Ronnie groaned, though he smiled at the sight of his cousin and her paramour. " Those drinks sound like a good idea though, Sean. I'm game. What about you, Ishmael?"
Ishmael nodded in response and he walked over to Ronnie. “ Oh, c’mon Ronnie.” Ishmael said with a grin. He transferred some of the bags in his hand over to the other and he looped his free arm over his sibling’s shoulder. “ At least you weren’t in the papers about being shot mid-snog session.” His grin grew broader as Andi began fuming and he ran ahead lightly a few steps. He was never, EVER going to let them live that down. Sean was laughing as well despite the shade of pink he had turned. “ What’s the matter, Andrea Elise? Embarrassed?”
“ Damn right I am! Get back here, you cheeky little bastard!” Andi shouted, running after her cousin a little.
All five came to a pause as a car rolled up beside them with the windows facing them rolling down. It was something Andi would never forget for the rest of her days. It was an emerald green Chevy Impala, with custom tires and rims, and the detail work was that of a goblin shooting an arrow down the side of the car. Cold pairs of brown and black eyes were staring back at her now as the men inside began lifting their guns out the window. Sean stood gobsmacked a moment. Some of those men were barely of age and their faces all but burned themselves into his psyche with the air of coldness and violence they radiated.
“ GET DOWN! ALL OF YOU!” Ishmael bellowed, his blue eyes going wide. Dear god...They were all going to die here, weren’t they? He dropped all of his bags as he began rushing over to Andi. Ronnie was already grabbing Mitchell to get the boy out of harms way.
Bullets began littering the air like fireworks on the fourth of July, and Andi screamed as one ripped through her back and out of her gut. She fell to the ground in shock, though she could see the fallen forms of her cousins near by. Sean was face down in the concrete as well, though he was cussing up a storm as he held his shoulder. Three of the bullets had hit him on the right side there. The screeching of rubber on asphalt told her it was okay to move now and Andi began looking around frantically. Her side burned! By god did it burn, and she could feel her body’s most precious fluid streaming from the wound in her belly and back.
Ishmael was the closest to her, his blue eyes locked skyward in death. He had done his damnedest to shield Andi as best as he could though she had been injured in the process.
“ HELP!” Andi screamed into the night, tears falling from her face at the sight of her cousin. No! This couldn’t be happening! Why the hell would someone do something like this?! “ Someone! Anyone please! HELP US!” She twisted around to where Mitchell and Ronnie were behind her and she all but dragged herself over. “ Mitch! Ronnie! Talk to me please!” she whimpered, her hand holding tight to the wound in an effort to stem the flow of blood. Where the hell was her cell phone?! Dear god, she had left it at Ishmael’s so that she would have uninterrupted quality time with her cousins.
“ Andi!” Mitchell gasped out. Ronnie was right beside him with an arm draped over his youngest sibling. “ Andi...Help!”
“ Someone call nine one one! Hurry!” came a voice from across the street.
Andi pulled herself over to Mitchell and her eyes filled with tears at the sight of her favorite cousin. “ Mitchell, just hold on…” she whimpered. She pulled her hand away from her side to start unbuttoning her blouse and she pressed the bloodied white shirt to Mitchell’s chest. He had been shot right near his heart! “ SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE!” Andi screamed out.
" Andi, are you alright?!" Came Sean's terrified voice as he struggled to get to his feet. There were three men now joining them from across the way.
“ Easy now, lady. We’ve got an ambulance on the way…” came a man’s voice from beside her. “ BRING TOWELS! BOTH OF THEM ARE BLEEDING!”
Andi’s vision was swimming as she put pressure to her cousin’s wound and she wavered a little. “ Stay with me Mitchell.” she whispered.
“ Andi...Don’t leave me!” he whimpered, his hands coming up to grab her arms shakily. Mitchell’s blue eyes were locked onto Andi’s as the blare of a siren now met their ears.
“ I won’t, I promise Mitchell. Just don’t give up on me!” Andi sobbed. She felt the man beside her ease her to the ground beside her cousin as another person took over putting pressure on the gunshot. “ I’m right here.” she whispered. Her fingers laced with Mitchell’s as they looked at one another and Andi barely heard the talk of the EMT’s as the ambulance rolled up. It was getting harder to keep her eyes open.
“ I’m cold, Andi…” Mitchell cried out softly. “ ANDI?!” Mitchell tried to roll over to shake her awake, though he was stopped from doing so. “ ANDI!!!!”

Victor was sitting in the living room while Terri and Martin were watching something on the Discovery channel, Through The Universe with Stephen Hawking if he was hearing things right. His cell phone rang and he picked it up without bothering to check the caller id. " Victor Morrison speaking." He said.
" Vic, its Peter."
Victor sat straight up in his seat at the tone his long time friend was using. Whatever the other man had to say wasn't good. " What's wrong, Peter? I know that tone of voice."
" You need to get into town as soon as possible. Sean and Andi are both at Calvery Hospital along with one of my nephews. I'll explain everything once you get here." His voice was weary and grave, which made Victor wonder what the hell had happened that night.
" We'll be there soon." Was all Victor replied as he hung up the phone. He looked to his wife and youngest son, who were looking to him worriedly. " We need to go, now."

Sean was staring blankly into the window of Andi's room in the ICU, as he had been unceremoniously shoved out when Andi's heart rate had bottomed out. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he watched the woman he love lay there in her unconsciousness, oblivious to what was happening to her at that moment. The doctor was performing chest compressions in an effort to get her heart going again and the nurse ran over with a syringe.
Adrenaline...Sean thought to himself. Living with Andi the last half a year had taught him quite a bit about medicine, especially when she had needed him to quiz her before a test or exam. He closed his eyes against the sight before him, though he was praying silently that Andi pulled through. He knew he shouldn't be up and moving so soon after surgery; as he had been under the knife himself to get those three bullets removed, but Sean hadn't been able to keep to his own room. The nurse had been kind enough to bring him down, all the while with a gentle warning about how Andi was doing, but Sean didn't care. She was alive. That's all that mattered. He felt a hand come to rest on his good shoulder and Sean looked to his left. Terri was standing there with tears in her bright blue eyes and Sean broke down right then. All the fear, uncertainty, and loss were weighing down on him like the globe on Atlas' shoulder. Terri gently pulled Sean over to a bench and they sat down, with Terri smoothing her fingers through her son's hair in an effort to calm him.
" Mr. Morrison?"
Sean looked up after a moment and he turned to see the doctor that had just been attending to Andi kneeling in front of him. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as he immediately thought the worst and more tears welled up in his eyes.
" She pulled through and I think she's stable enough for you to go back inside with her." The doctor said kindly. There was hope and compassion shining deep in his eyes as the stayed locked to Sean's and the young man let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding.
" Thank god." He whispered shakily. He didn't want to lose Andi. There had already been too much death that night. " Mom, I'm..." Sean began but Terri shushed him.
" Go on sweetie. You don't have to explain yourself to me." Terri said kindly. There were tears shining in her own eyes as Sean hugged her as tightly as he could and she kissed his cheek.
" Thanks Mom." Sean said as he went back into Andi's room as fast as his injured body would allow. He was going to stay by her aide as long as he could.

Andi groaned miserably as came back into the painful confines of consciousness and almost instantly she felt someone grab her hand. If the shock that went through her told her anything, its that it was Sean grasping her hand tightly in his own.
" Andi?" He asked tentatively, his voice cracking a bit in his worry.
" Water." She rasped. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but the thirst she felt was beyond bearable. She hissed as she tried to move and the muscles of her back and abdomen protested with their own silent screams of agony. She hit the bed again harder than she would have liked and her breathing grew shaky as she tried to keep from crying.
" Don't sit up too fast." Sean said gently. A click was heard as he pushed the button that would allow her to be upright and Andi looked up at him. " I've been so worried the last four days." He sat beside her and Andi pulled him in close to lay his head on her chest. She needed to feel him nearby.
" Where am I?" Andi looked about and her face paled more than it had been. She was in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Without warning, everything came rushing back in a sheer moment of astounding clarity and Andi began sobbing. Ishmael and Ronnie were dead. " Mitchell!" She cried out, bolting upright despite her body's unwillingness to move. She screamed as the pain slammed into her and Sean pulled her tight against him as she kept crying.
" I'm sorry, sweetheart..." Sean whispered. Andi felt two of his tears hit her cheek and she looked up at him with terror and horror shining in her eyes. " He didn't make it...He didn't get through his surgery." Sean felt as if he couldn't breath his throat was so tight. " You almost didn't make it."
Andi shook her head in disbelief, unwilling to believe that Mitchell had died. Out of her six cousins, she was the closest to him, had loved him like the little brother that she never got to have. He had so full of life and light that it was difficult to fathom his spark ever snuffing so soon. " No...No, Sean please don't say that!" She wailed. She had changed Mitchell's diapers, Andi had been the first one he walked to when she was a child, and she had taught him about his letters, numbers, and colors before he had even started preschool. Despite the six year gap between them, Mitchell had truly been her first best friend.
And now he was gone.
Sean was crying along with Andi as she kept screaming 'No!' against his chest, and he was doing his best to not nudge her IV or any of the monitors hooked up to her as he held her as tight as he could with his good arm. The other one was strapped into place with an immobilizing sling to keep him from tearing the thirty some odd stitches over his scapula. Sean kept whispering 'I'm sorry' into her hair, unsure of what else to say. He couldn't say he was as devastated as Andi was about the deaths of her cousins, but he still felt the pain of their loss. Her family had readily welcomed him into the fold with open arms, he had reveled in a closeness with them that couldn't be found in most well off families. He had thought Ishmael and Ronnie more like brothers than the friendship he had nearly instantly sprung up with them.
It was that sight that Amara and Gascon came upon.
Amara was in a state of shock as she looked at the two. What in the hell had happened to them for Andi and Sean to be in such conditions as they were? They hadn't been able to keep tabs as often as they would like on the embodiments of their souls, but they had other pressing matters to keep to date with as well. Keeping tabs on their physical forms was at the top of the list. They had no idea how long Amara's spell would truly last, no inkling if it was already fading with the time they had already been comatose.
" I don't think this is the best time, Amara..." Gascon whispered in her ear. He could feel a slight pull now whenever he was in Sean's presence. He had a feeling he knew what it meant as well.
His body was trying to become whole again.
Amara nodded and the two if them fuzzed out of the plane that Andi and Sean resided in for now. " We're running out of time, Gascon." She said, her tone worried. Her belly had only grown rounder in the time they had been here and she was worried not only for her survival, but that of their son or daughter's first and foremost.
" I know." Was the only response. Gascon had a deep, pensive look on his face and he was already pacing. Amara knew this was a sign of his own nervousness and she crossed over to him to hug him tightly. " I'm not worried about myself, but for you and the baby, love. What happens if we're still stuck like this when it's time? I...I can't lose both of you."
Amara nodded silently against his chest and she felt Gascon's grip on her tighten.
" I can't..." he whimpered.
Amara looked up at her husband and her eyes filled with tears at the sight of Gascon's own wet ones. She tenderly brushed a drop from his cheek and she stood on tiptoe a bit to kiss him. " You won't. We'll get through to them, I know we will." She replied, her voice soft but full of conviction. " Don't lose heart, Gascon. Well get through this like every other challenge thrown to us up to now."
Gascon nodded and he pressed another kiss onto her forehead. " Together." He finished, his confidence building again. Thank the gods for Amara's calming influence on him. He'd truly be lost without her if she were to die.
I won't lose them. I don't care the cost, even if it means my life is forfeit, I will not allow my wife and child to die. He thought as he held Amara tight to him. He was gripping her as if death was already trying to knock on her door.
And he was desperate to keep that door from ever opening for her.

" It's tragic whenever a parent has to bury their child, but this is more for me to even bear. Three bright lives were extinguished, all of them much too soon. The eldest son, proud and confident, who was soon to be in the family way with the woman he loved. The just and even tempered second son, part of New York's finest, and the fairest cop you could find in the tri city area. Most depressingly, the youngest son, who still had dreams and achievements he was striving towards when all three of their lives were so ruthlessly and coldly ended." A priest said as the remaining members of the Holton family, Andi's uncle Morton and aunt Jessica, her cousin Aden, and of course Peter and Tammy all stood lined up in front of the three caskets set to be lowered into the ground. The Morrison family had turned up as well, along with the many friends that Ronnie, Ishmael, and Mitchell had all made. Bea, otherwise known as Beatrice Sorenson, was sobbing as she held on tightly to her son. She had found out three days prior to the drive by that she was pregnant with Ronnie, and that had been the prompt for him to buy her engagement ring after she had given him the news. It was around her neck at that very moment as well. Their child would never know their father now.
" I believe Andi had a few words she wanted to say before the ceremonies finished."
Sean steadied Andi as she took a few wobbly steps towards the caskets and her hand came to lay on Mitchell's lovingly. He would be buried between his older brothers as if the two would always protect him now.
" Life is fickle at best." She began softly. " Our family has been blessed with fortune, and so much love. If you take anything away from this, always remember what they always did. Ronnie was the ring leader in every family function, no matter who did the planning, and he always was pushing us towards one another, not apart. Ishmael was always laughing, always smiling, and always pranking. He could always see the humor in whatever petty squabble the seven of us kids would get into, always treated everyone of us fairly. And Mitchell..." Andi's voice cracked but she kept her head held high. " Mitchell was always striving for great things, always living every moment to it's fullest. You could see the light he brought to our family, despite being the youngest. He had so much he was planning for, he always told me he was going to beat me to Harvard...He never allowed anyone or anything to hold him back if he put his mind to something. If you take anything away from this, remember the lessons these three embodied." Andi choked out this last part as she laid a single white rose on Mitchell's coffin, and Sean came up beside her in an effort to help her back to her seat. She stopped him a moment though as she brushed her tears away.
" Live. Laugh. Love." Andi said as she looked through the crowd. " Live your lives as though every moment is your last. Laugh as often as possible because happiness can turn to sorrow faster than you can blink. Love with all your heart, because it is our capability to love and be loved that truly makes us human. That's how Ronnie, Ishmael, and Mitchell would want us to remember them by." Again her voice cracked at her mentioning her youngest cousin and it was then that Sean lead her back to her seat. Tears were already coursing down her cheeks in her sorrow and Sean wrapped his left arm around her as she gripped him as tight as she could without putting pressure on his injured shoulder. Andi knew she could have just as easily lost Sean that night as well and the thought terrified her. It had been manifesting as a horrible nightmare that relentlessly haunted her whether she was asleep or awake.
Sean could barely hear anything else as he stared at the casket that would now forever hold Ishmael. After the embarrassing situation of the shooting incident after he and Andi had first gotten together, Ishmael had fast become one of Sean's best friends. He was always stopping by the apartment to visit the two of them, they had gone out on double dates on more than one occasion. There were things that Sean had told Ishmael that he had never told his own brother or even Andi. Ishmael had become not just his friend, but a confidant, mentor, and inspiration. Despite the wealth of the Demmers and Holton families, Ishmael had still pursued the career he wanted, despite how pious and low paying it was. Most importantly, Ishmael had been Sean's hero. Sean had idolized the other man for following his heart and his dreams despite what his family might have wanted for him.
And Ishmael had died a hero as well in saving Andi's life by sacrificing his own to protect his cousin. Sean would be forever grateful to him for that sacrifice.
Everyone was silent as a twenty one gun salute was fired off by the police officers in attendance and Andi flinched with every volley that boomed through the quiet cemetery. She could hear Linnette and Clarrissa sobbing brokenly off to the side, along with her mother and her aunt Jessica. The silence reigned once more as the caskets were steadily lowered into the ground and Sean took a deep steadying breath.
Saying goodbye had never been so difficult in all of his life.

Adrian walked over to where Sean and Andi were sitting on the veranda. The wake was being held at the Demmer Family home and the young couple had managed to sneak away for some much needed alone time.
“ My contacts got a hit off of the description of the car you gave me, Andi.” Adrian said as he sat nearby. “ The gang is a band known only as Los Trasgos, and they’ve been going toe to toe with Ishmael’s unit for years. I have no doubt that the drive by was gang retaliation for this.” He held out some papers to both of them and Sean looked over the top with keen interest.
“ Ishmael arrested the inner circle of the gang single handedly? And the gang leader for that matter?!” Andi nearly screeched. “ How did they know we were going to be walking down that street? We were nowhere near their turf that night!”
“ Unless they’ve been watching him, waiting to catch him when his guard was down.” Sean whispered as he read over the article a little more. “ Daniel Turino, otherwise known as Feroz, put the hit out the day of his sentencing, the article says here. ‘Kill that no good cop and his family if you come across him. HACER LO TEMEN LOS TRASGOS!’”
Andi swallowed hard as she heard that last part. “ Make him fear The Goblins…” she murmured. She felt Sean’s arm tighten around her waist and she looked up at him with worry shining brightly in her azure orbs. “ We know who’s behind it, but we survived the attack Sean. What if we’re next?”
“ That’s not going to happen.” Sean seethed as he crumpled the papers up in his hands. Once things settled a little after this, he was pulling both his dad, and Peter off to the side. He wasn’t about to allow this to happen again, and between both their families, they had enough pull to make what Sean had in mind become a reality. Los Trasgos had just fucked with the wrong man. “ Andi, head inside and go take your antibiotics. You promised the doctor that if they let you out early enough for this you’d keep up your medication regimen.”
Adrian and Sean watched Andi walk inside and both their eyes met simultaneously. “ I’m right alongside you for this one, Sean.” he said softly. “ I don’t think those bastards knew just who they were up against when they shot all of you.”
“ They’ll be lucky if I never get my hands on them.” Sean seethed. He stood up, though with a bit of difficulty from being unbalanced now, and he began pacing wildly across the veranda. “ Do you think you can get the records on all the known members?”
Adrian smiled darkly. “ I already have. And I went a step further than that. There’s only one car in that gang that’s green. That’s Feroz’s little brother. I’ve already sent the anonymous tip to the police about it being a suspect’s vehicle in the drive by.”
Sean’s brown eyes glittered with malice as he thought of that night. “ I’m not going to be able to rest until we have those bastards right where we want them, Adrian. They killed Ronnie and Mitchell in cold blood, killed Ishmael for doing the job he loved...They nearly killed Andi that night.” he whispered heatedly. “ I don’t care how long it takes, those bastard’s days are numbered. I promise you.”

Malico was in the midst of driving through his brother’s turf, as Feroz was still going to be stuck in jail for another six to ten years at least with good behavior. He had a broad smirk on his face at the thought that he had finally gotten that cop back for all the shit he had put his family through, all the pain he had caused the gang with not only their leader’s but Feroz’s most trusted inner circle of underlings, himself excluded, incarcerations. If his brother hadn’t insisted that Malico stay behind for that one heist, both of them would have easily been arrested. It didn’t help that in the last four years, the numbers had been dwindling down. He had done what he could, but the rest of the gang wouldn’t follow him like they did Feroz. He looked up into his rearview mirror to see lights flashing, indicating that he needed to pull over. Malico scowled at this. The cops around here, save for Ishmael’s unit, knew better than to pull him over. Maybe it was some dumbass rookie needing to make quota.
Groaning to himself, he pulled over and rolled down his window even as he grabbed his registration and insurance. The sooner he got this over with the better.
“ Ricardo Turino?” came the officer’s voice.
“ Yes, what do you want?” he snapped in return.
“ There’s a warrant out for your arrest.” the cop said smoothly and it was only then that Malico realized it was one of the officer’s from the 504 unit, Ishmael’s former unit. He tried to go for his gun, but the cop grabbed both his hands before Malico could reach and he pulled the struggling man from the car with a well timed heave. “ You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney….”
“ This is bullshit man! What am I being arrested for?!” Malico demanded.
“ The murders of Ronald Holton, Ishmael Holton, and Mitchell Holton, and the attempted murders of Sean Morrison and Andrea Demmers. In other words, the victims of the drive by you committed three weeks ago. You’re the only member of Los Trasgos with a green car with a goblin on the side. If you had driven one of the other cars, you would have gotten off scot free.”
“ You can’t pin this on me man! You have no clue of if I was there that night or not!” Malico screamed.
“ Not yet we can’t. Forensics will tell us otherwise.”

Andi was in the midst of trying to stretch her side out; the last couple weeks of scarce movement had her feeling stiff beyond all comprehension, when the phone rang. “ Hello?” she grunted.
“ Turn on the news, Andi.” came Ishmael’s voice.
Andi screamed at the sound and she dropped the phone. She stared hard at it for a couple minutes as if she was trying to gather the courage to pick it up again and finally she did. There was nothing on the other line. Had she been hallucinating? Shaking her head, Andi picked up the remote and turned on the news, only for her hands to fly to her mouth to stifle a sob.
“ The remaining members of the infamous gang Los Trasgos were all apprehended earlier this evening once they were placed at the scene of a grisly drive by that ended the life of three brothers, one of which who worked for the NYPD’s 504 unit, Gang Intervention. Ricardo Turino…” the anchorwoman droned on and Andi slumped to the couch in relief. She had been living in fear for both her’s and Sean’s lives since she had woken up in the hospital, had been terrified to even go to school lest the gang be following their movements. Now there was nothing to fear. She had already given her statement to the police, had already put forth her testimony. It was finally over.
Ishmael, Ronnie, and Mitchell could now all rest in peace knowing that there would be justice for their deaths.

Sean stood in the dark room as he watched the people file in from the left. He had accurately identified the last four men involved with the drive by and his eyes locked onto Malico almost instantly. That was the bastard that had been driving the car. Despite the heat of the moment, Sean had not forgotten the faces of the men that had tried to kill him. And now, they were going to pay in spades for what they had done to Andi’s family. For what those men had done to her.
“ Number three. He was the one driving the car.” Sean said, his tone belying the violence he wished he could unleash on the other man right now. They had matched the bullet from his gun to the one that had shot Mitchell and Ishmael.
“ Number three, step forward please.” the officer said into the microphone.
This was going to be a very long night, he surmised with a displeased groan, and he looked over to Sean. The young man looked ready to go a solid fifteen rounds in the ring just by looking at the dirtbags.
Malico’s eyes narrowed on the reflective partition dividing them and he stepped up to the glass. “ It’s either that little rich bitch, or that stuffy little bastard that was with them that night. Either way, I’ll kill both of you.” he hissed.
“ Kill the lights.” Seans said. “ I don’t care if he sees me.”
The policeman shrugged and Sean stepped up to the glass. “ You get anywhere near her, and I’ll break your neck first, asshole.” Sean hissed in return. “ You fucked with the wrong family to begin with. I’m going to make sure that you bastards never see the light of day for Ishmael’s death.”
“ I’d like to see you try, cabron.” Malico sneered.
“ I won’t try, you stupid puta madre.” Sean shot back in spanish. He was fluent in it, along with french and german after all. “ I’ll succeed and I’ll take great pleasure in the fact that you’re going to be someone’s bitch for the rest of your life. You see, my dad, both Mr. Demmers, Mr. Holton and myself, have all arranged for all the members of Los Trasgos to be split up and sent to other penitentiaries. In other words, you won’t have your homies to fall back on when someone’s trying to ass rape you in the dead of night. Better learn to loosen those muscles up and fast!”
Malico snarled as Sean turned on his heel and began walking to the door. “ Get back here, pendejo! I’m not done with you! I’ll kill you, you fucking bastard!”
Sean paid no heed to the screams from that worthless piece of shit as he continued down the hall. Now all that was left was to make sure of was that Malico, or Feroz for that matter, never saw the chance for parole. They could rot in prison like the trash they were as far as Sean was concerned.
There would be justice for Ishmael.
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The Ties that Bind