It had been a few days since the fire and things around the house had become..difficult. The worst part of it all was the silence that plagued the house. Zane had become quiet and his gazes seemed to hold this kind of traumatized sadness in them. Wolf was still in the hospital recovering from what had been 'an injury that would have killed anyone else' by the words of the doctors who had treated him. His arm was gone and there was no way of fixing it. For the rest of his life he was going to be without one arm, a cripple, and he was going to be badly scarred on top of that.
Just coming to terms with such a reality was difficult for the 15 year old girl. Nothing could have prepared her for what was going to follow after that night. Never in a million years would she have thought that such a thing could happen to their small family. And to think that it was all because of her. Because she had slipped away from Zane's watchful eye only to go off to meet up with her friend.
Her brother had lost his arm because of her. (Of course she did not know the truth at this point and therefore she blamed the whole thing on herself.)
As a form of coping mechanism Nice had spent the majority of her time after the accident trying to put together a mechanical arm to give to Wolf once he got out of the hospital. That way he wouldn't have to feel bad. At least that was what her thought process was at the time. She created a chassis from scratch and began trying to put in movement of the elbow and fingers. Hour after hour she spent locked in her room trying to tinker together something that would work. In the end she was forced to give up. The mechanics of an arm were simply too difficult for such a young mind to grasp fully.
The arm she fashioned could bend at the elbow and the wrist was maneuverable through the use of small cables but that was as complex as she could make it with her abilities. She had actually wrapped her gift in cloth on the day that 'it' happened.
Earlier in the day Jeffrey had come by and he had asked her whether she wanted to go down to the docks with him later on. They had not seen each other since the fire and as such Nice was very quick to agree to meet him. It worked for her as well seeing as she was going to visit her brother in the hospital just after their meeting, which meant she could go straight from the docks past the house on her way to the hospital.
She had just finished wrapping the arm when the time came around for her to meet her friend. She left the house without so much as the vaguest idea of what was about to happen.
Nice headed down to the docks where she saw Jeremy waiting for her on one of the piers. When she approached him she noticed something strange about the way he was standing. He was stiff, his hands were in his pockets, and there were tears running down along his cheeks.
At first she was confused and she approached him with a look of concern on her face.
"What's wrong Jeffrey? Why are you crying?" She asked him quietly while placing her hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at her for a few seconds before he began to sob even more than before.
"You'll forgive me, won't you Nice?" He suddenly said before she could speak. This caused her to frown.
"What in the heavens are you talking about?" She demanded in a voice that was a mixture of confusion and apprehension.
Jeffrey turned his head to look at her again before he swallowed back his tears, knowing that had to get his words out as quickly as possible.
"I was supposed to lure you here..so please, please..please forgive me." His voice was scared but at the same time sincere. There was something in the tone that sent fear rushing throughout Nice's body. What was he talking about?
Suddenly there was movement behind her and the world went black as a bag was pulled over her head and tightened at the neck. She could barely let out a gasp of surprise before a hand was clamped over her mouth through the back, making it impossible for her to scream out.
"You promised not to hurt her! Stop it!" Jeffrey's voice came from somewhere outside the bag and the reply came from directly behind Nice.
"Shut up brother, go home." Immediately she recognized the voice as Jeffrey's oldest brother.
Her feet were dragged along the ground until she was lifted into the back of what felt like a car or a vehicle of some kind. Once inside there was no way for her to tell what was going on or where she was being taken against her will. All she knew for sure was that Jeffrey's eldest brother, Dave, was involved somehow.
At one point one of her gloves was torn off her hand and that was before they were bound together behind her back. Everything was darkness from there on.
--
They left a note at the door and next to it they set Nice's glove as proof that they had taken her. The note simply read;
Think of this as retribution for Warehouse 12. You will never see her again.