Hello everyone, and welcome to book 4! This is set from Willow's POV. Continues right where book 3 left off. I hope you enjoy—it's going to be a roller coaster! And don't be afraid to leave a review 😊
Chapter 1- Jax's Lullaby
Willow felt like her heart stopped beating. Danny had just been shot in the chest—likely his heart—by his girlfriend. She had a bad feeling about Angelica since day one. Danny laid there as still as could be while Sam and Drew ran towards him, and Sam dropped her gun.
Leo knelt over, white in the face, and pressed his fingers to Danny's wrist. It was hard for Willow to see the expression on her—uncle's?—face. But then he moved his fingers to Danny's neck, and said, "He'd dead. He's dead!"
Drew and Sam came to a halt, staring at Danny's lifeless body. How could that be? How could her little brother, whom she was just starting to get along with, be dead?
"Nooo!" Sam shouted.
Angelica walked briskly over to Danny's body and thrusted him over the cliffside.
Sam darted over to Angelica and shoved her, then slapped her face. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? Danny trusted you!"
Drew came to her side.
"Give me your gun Drew!" Sam said, not taking her eyes off Angelica. "I said, give me your gun!"
Drew wrapped his arms around Sam, and Angelica ran over to one of the helicopters and Alessandro lifted her on board.
"Leave my Cupcake alone!" Alessandro shouted as the helicopters ascended.
"Let go of me!" Sam broke free from Drew's grip and turned to Leo. "You were wrong. My son is not dead!"
"Sam!" Drew placed his hands on Sam's shoulders.
Sam whipped around and smacked Drew in the chest. "He's not dead!" She moved to the edge of the cliff when something dropped from one of the helicopters.
"Sam!" Drew lifted her and carried her away from the edge.
Julian grabbed Leo and dragged him away, just as—
Boom!
It was as though a fist of dust and rocks had decided to punch its way out of the earth. Sam, Drew, Julian, and Leo came flying Willow's way, and fell smack on the grass.
Smoke bellowed them, and everyone coughed. But Sam jumped up, covering her eyes with her forearm. "I'm going to find Danny, and no one's stopping me!"
Drew nodded and Sam disappeared through the smoke. Within seconds, Drew followed her.
"Willow, get Leo to the village," Julian said. "I'm going to search for Danny too."
GHGHGH
Dante took Willow and Leo to his house. Leo was extra quiet the entire way, but Willow didn't feel like talking much either. A few hours prior, there were explosions in the village. Luckily enough, no one was hurt. The police-fire station and a few empty houses, however, were destroyed. Not long after, Sam had come home frantic, but seemed relieved when she saw that Willow and Scout were safe. They ended up moving everyone over to Jax's house, where Dante, Lulu, and Kevin brought Laura and Charlotte to see Rocco again. When Dante and Sam decided to head back to Wyndemere, Sam wanted Willow and Scout to stay with Jax. Shortly after they left though, Willow was feeling like she needed to help. So, she took a page from Danny's book and snuck out. Except, she left a note for Jax.
When they arrived, Jax hugged her. He said he was worried about her and was glad she was okay. At that moment, Willow started crying. She was about to explain about Danny, when Scout looked up from where she was playing marbles on the living room floor with Rocco, Donna, Josslyn, Carly, and Kevin, as Charlotte sat with Max the puppy, Lulu, Laura, and Bobbie on the couch and watched. Though it seemed like Charlotte was staring right through those playing, as if in her own little world. Laura kept reaching over and tucking Lulu's hair behind her ear and smiling at her. Scout ran over and hugged Willow.
"Can we go home now?" Scout asked. "Where's Mommy?"
Willow didn't know what to say. She looked up at Jax, as if he had the answers, even though he didn't know about Danny.
"Hey, Scout!" Jax said. "Why don't you go finish your marbles game?"
"No," Scout said. "I wanna go home. I want to see Mommy."
Willow frowned. "I don't know when Mommy's going to be back, Scout."
"I think it's safer if you guys stay here a little longer," Jax said.
"No! I wanna go home!" Scout stomped her foot, then picked up a baseball from the floor (which Willow assumed was Rocco's), and she hurled it at the wall. It bounced off and hit Carly in the side of the head.
Willow's eyes grew wide.
"Ow!" Carly rubbed the side of her head.
"Carly? Are you okay?" Jax asked.
"I'm sorry…" Scout said barely above a whisper.
"It—It's okay…" Carly said. "I could use some ice though."
Jax hurried over to the freezer and wrapped some ice cubes in a tea towel.
"Thanks…" Carly said when he handed it to her.
Willow turned back to Scout.
"Please, take me home! Please!" She wrapped her arms around Willow's waist.
Jax ended up taking Willow, Scout, and Leo home. He didn't want to send them alone, even with Leo's insistence that he could protect his nieces. It was a long afternoon, and evening soon came, but Sam, Drew, and Julian hadn't arrived yet. Willow and Leo didn't want to say anything in front of Scout. Willow felt like it wasn't her place to tell her. Scout kept yawning so Willow took her to bed. Scout fell asleep as soon as she hit the pillow, obviously tired from the day's events.
When Willow returned to the living room, she told Jax about Danny. Leo was still very quiet, but Jax wrapped his arm around Willow when her eye's welled with tears.
"We didn't… we didn't always get along," Willow said. "But we were starting to… how can he just be… gone?"
Leo rose to his feet and made his way to the bathroom.
Jax started humming softly, then sang, "Lavender's green, dilly dilly, lavender's blue. If you love me, dilly dilly, I will love you. Let the bird's sing, dilly dilly, and the lamb's play. We shall be safe, dilly dilly, out of harm's way."
Tears spilled down Willow's cheek and as her father sang the very same lullaby she was jealous of when he sang to Josslyn less than a year ago, she felt comforted and safe in his arms. That somehow, some way, everything would be okay. But how could it be? Danny was gone.
The front door slowly opened, and Julian walked in with Sam. Both were soaking wet from head to toe. Sam's eyes were red and blotchy, her cheeks flushed.
Willow slowly sat up and their eyes met. "Scout's asleep…"
Sam gave a very slight nod, then hastened to the basement.
Julian frowned and walked over to Jax and Willow. "She's in shock. We found…" he started to choke up. "We believe we found Danny's body. Or at least his legs."
Leo stepped into the hallway.
Willow gasped. "Just his legs?"
"That explosion… all the rocks… they're piled up against the wall. And it's covering a body. We couldn't lift the rocks. They're too heavy."
Willow lowered her gaze. "And you think it's Danny."
Julian nodded. "We found his body almost immediately. Your mother though… she refused and said it wasn't him. She had us keep searching. But there's no sign of another body."
Leo stared at the floor.
"Where's Drew?" Willow asked.
Julian sighed. "He's not handling it well. He just said he needed to be alone. I don't know where he went."
"Any word on Alexis?" Jax asked.
Julian shook his head. "I won't let Valentin get away with this. I'll come check on you guys before I go to V-Town in the morning."
"I can sleep here tonight," Jax offered when Julian and Leo left.
"Thanks, but we'll be okay," Willow said. "I'm sure Drew will be home soon."
Jax placed a gentle kiss on Willow's forehead before leaving for the night. Willow was wrong, however, Drew did not return that night. She headed downstairs, something she never did uninvited before. It was Sam and Drew's personal space, and it wasn't Willow's business to go down there.
Sam was lying on her side, not crying, but staring at the wall.
"M-Mom?" Willow peeped.
Silence.
"I just want you to know that I'm here if you need anything," Willow said.
Sam curled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
Willow turned and headed upstairs to her room. She sat down on her bed and pulled her pink blanket to her cheek and cried.
She jolted however, when she heard Scout scream. Her little sister hadn't had any nightmares in a couple of weeks, but she was beginning to think she'd continue to have them on and off the way their lives were going. She waited to hear the patter of Sam's feet running up the stairs to Scout's room, but she didn't hear it. Moments later, she heard the scream again. Willow set her blanket down and headed to Scout's room.
Scout's cheeks were wet with sweat and tears, and she was curled in a ball, shaking.
"Oh, Scout, it's okay." Willow sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her.
"I want Mommy…" Scout cried.
"I know… But Mommy… she's sad right now. But everything will be okay."
Guilt flooded through her. She told her sister a lie. Nothing would be okay. How were Sam and Drew supposed to just get over the death of their son?