Juliana's POV



I wouldn't say that isolation was horrible.

That is if you don't think about the fact that I was restless, I was in pain, I was hungry, and worst of all I was bored.

It's barely 13:00, and after waking up around 5, out of habit of course, definitely not choosing to wake up that early. I had found that there was really not much to do in my room. At least not that I wanted to do when being forced to partake in it as my only choice of entertainment.

I tried messing with my hair, it hurt to raise my arms above my head.

I tried drawing, but ran out of paper. Seeing as most of the supplies were in Elliot's studio, there wasn't much need for me to have much stashed in my room. And the sketchbook that I currently have is for... special occasions.

I tried napping, but there's only so much sleep a person can get.

I tried reading, but that's only really enjoyable when you're willingly choosing to do it.

13:40. That was the last guard change I had witnessed. They didn't completely change very often, while that mainly happened during the day, I would say that they only changed about 2 times a day. They did; however, rotate. Simply moving to a different station around the house.

That had happened 4 times in the past 10 hours. Aka, every 2.5 hours.

What? Have I mentioned I'm bored?

It didn't help that my room had literally been a dead zone today, nobody even getting close to my door.

Today was Wednesday, which meant that every working adult left for the main office. Justin should be at summer school until 5 tonight, seeing as they start and end later than normal in the summer. Hunter, I'm not sure. I know that he gets online work every other week, so I would assume he was working on that.

Okay, so maybe solitary confinement was getting to me.

That being said, when my door opened at 15:17 they found me in a bit of an odd position.

I was sitting on the floor, because laying down with pneumonia wasn't a good idea, with one of my legs bent next to me, so that my ankle was behind me. My other leg is resting up on my bed. I had papers and books strewn around me, neatly, because it's still my mess to clean, and I was staring at the 36th page of Icebreaker.

The same page I have been staring at for the past 17 minutes.

"Why are you on the floor?" Hunter startled me, and I jerked around to face the sudden noise, wincing when my hip flexor screamed in disagreement about my newest position.

"Why are you in my room?" I countered, using my hand to manually reposition my leg on the floor, seeing as it had fallen asleep.

"Well I wanted to see if you'd come watch a movie with me, but I can leave if you'd like." He took a half step back and I gave him a look.

"I'm not allowed to leave, remember? Plus, what happens when everyone gets home in a little while?" I tried to be reasonable about the situation. Leaving my room would be a direct disobeyment of orders, but even I could tell that I really didn't give much of a care at this point.

"You coming or not?" He asked and that's how I found myself laying on Hunter's bed watching Grey's Anatomy.

It was honestly kind of peaceful. Even though Hunter and I were by no means the closest in the house, it was almost like a mutual understanding had fallen over us.

"I'm sorry." Aaaand there it goes.

"What?" I ask, rolling over so that I can get a better look at him. Analysing him a little bit, I saw the bags present under his eyes, the greasy, messy hair. The bloodshot eyes. Either he was hungover or he hadn't been sleeping very well. Or both.

"About what happened. About allowing those guys into the house, getting drunk, putting you and Justin into harm's way. It was stupid and I-"

"Don't want to talk about it." I interrupted, lying back down on my back.

"Well I do. We can't just continue to ignore it. I feel horrible. It happened so long ago, and I haven't even truly apologised." He whispered the last part, like it was physically hard for him to get out.

"Yes you did. In my room that day, remember. And I said that I didn't want to hear it. Not until you can tell me what we both need to hear." I continued to watch the tv, mentally cursing the tv when I saw that we were watching an episode about a kid who overdosed on drugs.

"I couldn't cope" I heard a faint whisper, nothing loud enough for me to pick up more than a few sounds.

Pushing up to rest on my elbow, I turned so that I was looking straight at Hunter.

"Speak up."

"I couldn't cope." He whispers, his voice breaking and I wait for him to continue.

"I couldn't do it. When Justin got taken, it's like everything went to shit. Like my perfect little view on life was just... demolished. I realised how easy it was for the things most important to you to be snatched away from you. And I hated it. And it was like the longer it took to find him, the more destroyed I became.

"And it wasn't any better when he came completely traumatised. He was so young, he didn't deserve that." Tears started slowly drawing patterns on his face as he gazed blankly into the distance, remembering something disturbing.

"And there was nothing you could do about it." I said, bringing him back to the present.

"No. But did you know it happened on my watch?" This I didn't know. My expression turned to one of shock and Hunter pressed his lips together, nodding.

"Like it wasn't bad enough that some of those guys were my friends also, but I was the only other person in the house that day. I was the one who left Justin alone with that guy. I was the one who let him get kidnapped. I allowed my baby brother to be tortured." Hunter's body racked with silent sobs as I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around him.

"It wasn't your fault." I whisper. "You were what? Eleven? What could you have realistically done?"

"You sound like our therapist." He laughed dryly.

I pulled back when I felt he was ready, and laid back down beside him.

"It was probably a year or two after Justin's disappearance, right before he started age regressing. I remember he had had a nightmare that night. And while everyone was preoccupied with him, I snuck into dad's office. He has a liquor cabinet in there. I just took one, it didn't matter to me which one, and brought it back to my room with me.

"I remember it tasting disgusting, and how it burned my throat, but I didn't care. I felt like I deserved it. That was the first ever time I got drunk. And I just remember it taking all of my problems away. For a few short hours, I didn't have a care in the world.

"And you know it can't stop there. I was careful about how I did it, and tried to take the ones that he drank frequently so that he wouldn't suspect anything. That was until I got old enough to figure out how to get my own."

Every word that Hunter spoke, my heart yearned. It wasn't fair that he had to struggle with an addiction at such a young age.

"You're an addict." I whispered.

"And you're protecting somebody." He whispered back. I nodded and then gave a watery smile.

"I won't tell if you won't." Hunter let out a choked laugh, but sobered up quickly.

"Who?" At that I sat up, mainly because I knew I wasn't supposed to be lying down right now, I mean hello? Pneumonia. But also in an attempt to hide the shaking that was starting to happen in my hands.

"No, please don't." Hunter begged, sitting up after me. "Please don't pull away. Don't shut me out. I just want to help you, we all do. The others may have some fucked ways of showing it, but they do. Please, Jules, we need you to be safe." Hunter grabbed my shoulders from behind before moving to wrap his arms fully around me, pressing me to his chest.

My body shook, my breathing became more shallow, my head swum as my awareness of Hunter slowly dissipated.

"I SORRY! IT WAS A MISTAKE, I NEVER DO AGAIN, PROMISE!" I shouted, desperately trying to keep pace as the guards dragged me towards the all too familiar set of stairs.

"PLEA-" I was cut off by a hand being slammed so hard into my mouth I tasted blood. Spluttering, I gagged at the coppery taste in my mouth, sniffling as my mouth throbbed.

"Finally, I never thought that brat would shut up." One of the two guards dragging me snickered.

Resistance was futile, and painful, as they still succeeded in dragging me down to the bottom floor, "accidentally" bruising me up a bit on the way down.

Soon enough I was thrown on the floor with a grunt. I didn't stay there, as I was yanked up to my knees by my hair, I cried out, but stilled when I felt the unmistakably cold, sharp metal of a knife being pressed against my throat.

Shuddering, I surveyed the room through blurry eyes, seeing that I was in a cell, with the normal suspects. Only I wasn't the one tied down this time. It was my twin, Jamie.

"Nonono, qui-" I was cut off by the knife digging deeper, a warning to keep my mouth shut.

"Julie," My eyes snapped up to meet him as he said my name gently, kneeling down beside me and taking my chin in his grasp.

"What did you do at school today?" he asked and I knew better now. He doesn't want an answer, he already knows.

"Did you break a rule?" He asked, his voice lowering as though he were telling me a secret. I made a scared noise in the back of my throat as I nodded to the best of my ability.

"That's what I thought." And with that he stood up. Just like that? No hits or screaming, or threatening or anything?

But again, I know better. So I watched fearfully as he sauntered over to the table near the blood splattered wall, where the weapons were.

I watched as he picked up a gun, something he never chose. He turned, presented it to me, and then motioned to the guard holding me.

The knife was removed from my throat, a hand replacing it as I was hoisted up to my feet, and guided forward, where my twin sat, completely unaware as to what was going on.

He walked over to us, and my breath stopped as he held the gun up to Jamie's head. He motioned me over with two fingers, and I was quick to move once my throat was released.

Shock was keeping me mute, unable to fully comprehend what was happening. He grabbed me, moving me to stand in front of him, facing a broken Jamie. She just continues to stare forward, like she didn't know what was going on, or that she was about to die. Just continued to lucidly sway back and forth.

He moved my hand so that while he was still in full control of the gun, and my hand, that my finger was the one resting on the trigger. That's when I finally snapped out of whatever trance I had been stuck in, and I started thrashing.

"No! No! Me, no Jamie. Jamie no bad. Jamie no die." I screamed, but then I saw his finger move and click off the safety.

"Careful now, you wouldn't want to accidentally pull that trigger would you?" I stilled, tears gathering in my eyes.

"Jamie no bad. Jule-Jule bad, no Jamie." My voice cracked and I wanted to scream at myself for not being able to find the right english words. Stupid Italian speaking family.

"Yes, Jule-Jule has been very bad, hasn't she. Tell me exactly what rule she broke." He still spoke softly, calmly. I didn't like it.

"Not tell anybodies about home." I sniffled, wishing I had just kept my damn mouth shut. Why did my stupid teacher have to call those stupid child investigators? And why did they have to be friends of his?

"And what did Jule-Jule do?"

"She told." My breathing sped up as he squeezed my hand on the gun a little tighter, keeping it trained straight on Jamies temple.

"And what happens when we break rules?"

"We have consequences." I didn't quite pronounce it right, but he didn't seem to care. I sobbed as his hand squeezed tighter and tighter on my finger around the trigger.

"Please." I sobbed, squeezing my eyes shut for what was to come.

I gasped, jerking and fighting away from Hunter as I snapped out of whatever that was.

"Juliana, please." He let me go, nevertheless, and I suddenly felt like I could breathe again.

"No." I rasped, shaking my head violently.

"Why not?" He raised his voice, causing me to flinch slightly. "You're safe here, I promise." He lowered his voice, scooting to the edge of the bed to sit next to me. Both our legs hung off the bed, his feet planting on the floor while mine still had room to swing back and forth.

"You remember who we live with, right? Not just one, but two ex Capo's and Donna's, not to mention the current Don to the fucking Italian mafia. I doubt there's much this stronzo could do before we get to him. And trust me, they will." He assured me.

He reached his hand out to touch my shoulder, but stopped when I tensed. I contemplated it though. Right now, I had the opportunity to get one of my tormentors out of my life. He would finally get what he deserves. My own little revenge.

"He's here." I whisper, and Hunter looks at me with wide eyes.

"Please tell me you did not just say that." I saw Hunter looking at me with a horrified expression.

"I- How? Who, what?" Hunter stammered.

"The guard. The one assigned to my room."

"Which one you have, like, four." He rolled his eyes and then stopped me when I opened my mouth to question that. "Sorry, I just- how the hell did today turn out like this?"

I hummed in agreement. Honestly, I have no idea how any of this turned out this way. It was just the other day that we were making exploding brownies, and doing makeovers. But in all reality that was close to a week ago. In that time I've gone into a coma, been grounded, seen one of my tormentors and had a heart to heart with Hunter. Who would have thought.

"I need to tell dad." I froze at this. I knew it was coming, but at the same time it just felt wrong.

"Juliana, I have to. This guy is an active threat to all of us." I nodded, but didn't relax.

Hunter reached out to me slowly, giving me time to object if I really wanted to. I didn't and he pushed my hair back behind my shoulder, cradling my head into his chest.

"It's going to be okay, Everything is going to be just fine, I promise." He whispered, and for once, I wanted to believe him.

Wanting to take our minds off of heavier topics, we started watching The Fault in Our Stars. Or should I say that I was watching it from the top of the bed while Hunter was still over on the edge of the bed sobbing while repeatedly blowing his nose.

"Why would you do this to me? They were meant to be together. Why did he have to die?" Hunter yelled, and I couldn't help the snort that escaped me.

"OH, you think having my heart shredded to pieces is funny? Is that why you didn't warn me about how horrible this stupid-"

"Why do I hear... screaming." Hunter and I both whipped our heads over, horrified when we saw none other than Elliot standing in the doorway, arms crossed giving us both a look that said we were in some shit.

"You have five seconds to start explaining why the hell she is in your room." Elliot spoke slowly, honestly scaring the shit out of me.

"It was my idea." Hunter interrupted me when I went to speak. To muster up an excuse as to why I was out of my room.

"Hunter, you know she's grounded." Elliot snapped, and Hunter looked down guiltily.

"I just, she's not only sick, but she's also hurt. I just didn't think it was fair to make her sit in her room all day." Aww, that's actually kind of sweet.

"I know, I don't exactly agree with it either, but regardless she's being punished and it's not our place to undermine papa's authority." Elliot crossed his arms, and I pinched my lips in a thin line, failing at hiding my laughter at how sassy he looked.

"Oh please, quit trying to be the righteous big brother, it doesn't suit you." Hunter rolled his eyes, wiping the rest of the dampness off his cheeks.

"Shut up. Either way, good luck getting her back into her room." Not gonna lie, it was kind of annoying having people talk about you like you weren't there. I huffed, crossing my arms and leaned back against the wall.

"Why?" Hunter said, ignoring me when I kicked in his direction.

"Because her lock has officially been reactivated." Elliot said casually, moving further into the room to close the door. He walked towards the bed and flicked the lamp on Hunter's bedside table to make up for the missed light from the hallway.

"Shit." Hunter cursed, groaning something in Italian under his breath. My annoyance only continues to build.

'Why do you care if they're excluding you in this one particular conversation anyway?' I asked myself mentally and I didn't have a good answer. All I know is that it does bug me.

Taking one of Hunter's many pillows laying on his bed next to me, I lob it with all my strength towards Elliot, who has his arm up before I could even process it moving, catching the damn thing before it goes anywhere.

He turned to look at me slowly, raising one eyebrow at me as he paused. "Juliana, would you like some attention? Because I can pay some attention to your behind if you don't stop it right now." He said in such a calm tone that it almost hit harder.

"Don't listen to him Juliana, he can't do shit. Dad won't let him, it's a rule." Hunter said, almost triumphantly and Elliot looked displeased as he tossed the pillow back at me with a little force. I however was not fast enough to catch it, so it smacked me straight in the face.

Deciding to be dramatic I fell backwards with it, planning to just flop backwards onto the bed. But of course that is not what happened.

I overestimated just how close I was to the edge of the bed, so when I flopped back, in true Juliana style, I fell head first off the bed, onto Hunter's hardwood floor.



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I would like to start out by saying I am really sorry for leaving ya'll hanging for like, two or three weeks, I promise I didn't do it willingly. I'd rather put out good chapters rather than rushed chapters. Cause I know I'd regret it later on.

Also, for any of ya'll who had been asking for updates on my ankle, I am officially at the 6 week mark, which means I should be fully healed and out of PT by now. However that's not the case. I am still at square one, actually got demoted a level, so that's amazing. I'm getting it re-x-rayed this week, and not going to lie, I'm sort of nervous.

Anyways, I hope ya'll like it, and let me know if you have any idea's for upcoming chapters. Either on here, or through PM. I'd really love to hear what you all think. Again, I'm really sorry. Hope ya'll enjoyed.