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IN THE EARLY HOURS of the morning, the fire is still going though there's not much left to burn.

   "Could've been a faulty electrical wire," Pope says.

For hours, we've been trying to think of what could've been the reason a fire started in the Chateau. With every collapse of the beams of the house, my heart drops. With every picture I watched burn, my heart aches. So many memories, burnt to a crisp within the walls.

    We're still covered in ash and debris. I'm sitting between JJ's legs, back to his chest as he rests his head on mine.

    "Place was all wood. A tinderbox," Kie sighs. "I'm just confused. The fire was outside. I don't think a faulty wire fire can start outside. Can it?" I question.

   "Maybe. Not sure on the logistics of that," Pope answers.

   "Thing just went up," Cleo quietly says. Bailey lets out another string of coughs. I'm sure her lungs are worse off than the rest of us. She was confined in the small bathroom for what felt like forever, inhaling smoke. "There was nothing we could do," Bailey whispers, her voice still hoarse as she holds Kie.

   The home we all found comfort in is gone. The house we'd go to when we had nowhere else to go, the house that most of us grew up in. John B's house. His little fish shack on the marsh—gone.

   "Verdict's in, bro. Whoever's up there—does not like you," JJ comments. I move my head, glaring up at JJ. I'm too tired to come up with a remark. My lungs feel too tired to even breathe. At least he whispers a sorry to JB before tossing a glass bottle at the still burning home.

   Thunder rumbling in the distance catches all of our attention. "We might wanna get our shit together. Weather doesn't seem like it's good for a plane ride," I say, leaving the safety of JJ's arms and dusting the dirt off the back of my exposed legs. Well, I can't tell what is dirt and what's ash, so.

  "We should take you to a hospital or something, Bails. Your lungs can't be good," Kie says, brushing hair from the Perez girl's face. Bailey gives her a weak smile, "We don't have time for that."

   "You sound like you smoked five packs of cigarettes though," I tease, pursing my lips to touch my septum. Kie and Bailey both deadpan at me. Not the time. Got it.

   We all walk down to the only part of the Chateau left. The dock. The very place where JJ and I shared our first kiss and many more after.

    There's dark clouds in the distance. I love rain I just wish it fucking rained when the house was still salvageable.

    "Sarah, when did you say the pilot was getting in?" John B asks.

   "Probably like an hour?" Sarah says, questioning herself, "I mean, once he's here, my dad says we can leave whenever we want." My fingers play with the rings around them nervously. I have to face my mom. I haven't seen her since the fight with Adrien but I also don't wanna leave for another country without saying anything. "Okay, we'll, as much as I would love to ghost my parents again, I can't," Pope says. I nod in agreement.

   "I can't do that to mom or the boys or the twins—or Marcus," I sigh, ".....again."

   "Guys, we're talking about El Dorado here. Can you just slip out the back maybe?" JJ asks. "Great advice," Kie sarcastically says. "It always worked for me," JJ retorts. "Babe, I think my mom would blow up the island if I disappear again. Or maybe Blake will. Or maybe they both will!" I exclaim, throwing my hands up in the air.

Not only do I not wanna disappear again but—I don't know what's gonna happen in South America. Neville said we could die which I doubt would be because of a curse, more so a simple fuck up on my end.

   I have to tell them about Weston before I go. Just in case.

  "He's not wrong. My mom barely talks to me much less texts me to ask where I am," Bailey snaps her fingers, shooting out finger guns. "Exactly, Perez. How to avoid unpleasant circumstances 101. If there's a problem, you don't wanna face it, turn that face and keister around and walk the other way," JJ says.

   "As much as I agree with that—now is not the time to do that," I roll my eyes.

   "Yeah. I'm not doing that, okay?" Pope says, moving from his seat against the railing. JJ sighs, glancing at me and then Pope, "I just want you to be there, dog."

   "I'm gonna be there. I'll meet you at the airstrip in an hour?" Pope says. "Yeah, be there or be square," I smile, giving him a light chuckle. "One hour, Pope. Not a second later!" JJ tells him, throwing pebbles into the water. Cleo and Pope walk off and down the dock.

   "I'm gonna take one last walk down to the shack. For ol' times sake. Wanna join me and then we'll, uh, swing by yours?" JJ asks me. "Yeah. Of course," I look behind me at the others, "Be careful, okay? We'll see you at the tarmac." They each smile at me, nodding their heads at us.

ITS TIMES LIKE THESE that I miss JJ and I's bikes. We walked from John B's to my house, a familiar walk but I think the fire fucked us up a bit because it made the walk longer.

    I must've been huffing at one point because JJ made me jump on his back despite my arguing that I'm fine.

So, as my legs are wrapped around JJ's body, arms dangling over his shoulders, I let out a shaky breath. My home stands in front of me. The home I battled with myself on whether or not I wanted to see again. I still do. If someone out of the Pogues finds out what happened, someone would target them to get to me like some shitty kingpin movie.

   "J, let me down," I tap his back. JJ gently lets me down but quickly pulls me towards him. I let out a laugh, "Clingy?"

  "Fine," JJ fakes a huff and lets me go, "Just thought you needed a hug."

   I nuzzle myself back into his warm embrace, "I did. I do. I always do," I look up at him, "J, I'm gonna tell them." His face changes into panic. "Sunshine, you think that's a good idea? I'm just scared the more people that know..." JJ trails off.

   "My mom won't snitch, JJ. Neither will Blake or Vanessa. I'm not tellin' Marcus," I say, hands running through my hair. "I know. I'm not sayin'—y'know what? It's fine. I've got you," JJ smiles, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I unlock the front door.

   I can hear the hum of the TV and as we get further in I can tell it's my mom and Brandon because it's one of those dramatic shows with horrible acting.

   "Who's that?" Brandon shouts. "Just JJ and I," I respond as we turn the corner into the living room. My mom, Justin and Brandon are sitting in the living room but Justin couldn't give a fuck less about the show that's on.

  "Oh," My mom turns to us but her smile drops, "Why are you so dirty?"

  Shit. The ash. I'll have to explain that as well. "Oh, Jesus. You walked into the house like that?" Justin says, looking up from his phone. JJ and I glance at each other, sighing because we know we're gonna have to explain so much to them.

    "Alright, everyone take a breath. You'll need it," JJ jokes. All three adults share a worried look. "Okay, just don't sit on the couch like that," Brandon points to us.

  The short version of everything takes about 15 minutes to explain. Including their many, many questions.

  "South America? On Ward's plane? Are you sure it's not gonna blow up?" My mom asks, gulping down her wine. "I asked those same questions and I think as long as his favorite child, Sarah Cameron is on the plane, we're good," I throw a thumbs up at them. Now that that part of the story is done, I have to tell them the other thing.

   "There's one more thing—"

   "We're home!" Vanessa shouts and I can hear the crinkling of shopping bags. JJ leans down to me, "Princess, we gotta go. We still need to stop by—my—place," He whispers.

    He's right. We're tight on time. Ward will leave on the plane without us despite whatever the Pogues tell him not to do.

   My leg is nervously bouncing but I feel JJ's hand rest on my knee, calming my nerves somewhat. "I'm real tired of seeing y'all only when you're covered in dirt," Blake sighs.

   "Listen, we really gotta catch the plane. Uh, we're going to South America to get Big John. Remember, I told you about that before I jumped Adrien? Yeah. Okay, um," I glance up at JJ.

Do I wanna deal with the million questions or am I just nervous for their reactions? Maybe I'm saying we have no time as an excuse. I just told myself I need to do this but suddenly all my words feel so much heavier and I can't get them off of me.

   "We're gonna come back rich! We swear on it, okay? She's gonna pack some stuff," JJ quickly changes the subject and begins dragging me towards the stairs to grab my stuff. As I run up the stairs, I catch the confused looks from my siblings. When we get to my room, I just start grabbing shit with not a care if it matches or whatever. My brain is rambling, a thousand thoughts at once.

  "Sunshine—hey," JJ grabs my frantic hands, "It's alright. You're alright."

  "I need to tell them, J," I say with a shaky breath. JJ lets go of my hands and starts to grab the random items I stuffed and place them on the floor. "You don't need to tell them anything. If you're not ready, you're not ready," JJ gently tells me. My chest hurts. I feel sick. I claw at my chest, playing with the J pendant.

   "It's just—they need to know."

   "Maybe but not right now. And that's okay. Worry about yourself for once. Please," JJ practically begs of me, holding my face in his callused hands. There's so much worry and love in his eyes and I'm scared that's how he always looks at me and I just never realized. Always worried about me.

  I pull at the skin on my lips till I taste blood. "Hey, no. Don't do that," JJ says and pulls my bottom lip down with his thumb. That was—hot. Now is not the time to be hot. We surely don't have time for that. "Okay, okay. I just have to make sure I have an outfit that matches," I let myself laugh and step away from JJ's touch.

   "Do you want my fashion advice?"

   "No," I quickly say.

MY BODY FALLS ONTO JJ's couch after I climb through the window. I'm hit with the smell of must. It's not bad, it's just a smell of must, y'know? Like, I can smell the dust in the air. JJ hasn't let me in the house itself when we sleep outside. I don't know why but I didn't want to question him further after I'd ask.

  "Okay, I'mma just grab some shit and we'll be on our way, alright? Grab whatever you'd like, baby," JJ says as he hastily grabs a knife.

   "Oh, yeah, I'm sure I'll find—" I nearly trip over a pile of stuff. Luke's shit is still everywhere. You'd think he'd clean up before he abandoned his kid, but, it's Luke Maybank. I step over the pile of Luke's stuff and tools but my eyes nearly pop out of my head. Under a side table, there's a bag of pills that I guess Luke junkie Maybank forgot to take with him.

  "Hey, you alright?" JJ ask as he walks over to me. I don't want him to see the pills and get upset so I quickly step in front of the table, hands behind my back. "I'm alright. You alright?" I ask him, landing a kiss on his cheek. "I got a gift for you," JJ says, swinging his back over his shoulder. A gift? Where'd he get a gift from?

   "Ta-da!" JJ smiles and gives me an old t-shirt. I can tell it's his by the smell of the cologne that it's sprayed in. It's an old black shirt with one of the local marina's logo on the back. A smile creeps into my face, "Thank you, babe. Maybe I should get your fashion advice."

   "Eh? See? It's not that bad. I'm just broke!" JJ jokes before he gives me a quick kiss.

    The moment is ruined by a loud rev of an engine. One that doesn't sound like a normal car. "What the hell?" JJ whispers, "Stay here." He tells me and walks over to the window. Me, being the curious person I am, step to the side to look over JJ's shoulder.

  Shit. Fuck. All the curse words in the book possible.

  Outside of JJ's house is Mike's black Mustang. I keep forgetting the bad shit we've done because other bad shit happens. For example, I completely forgot we did not deliver the drugs Barracuda Mike ordered us to. Really living up to our last names right now.

   "Oh, shit," JJ curses, "Quick. Grab your shit. We gotta go."

   "Fuck. Alright, okay," I slightly panic as I grab my bag and stuff the shirt in there, "JJ—"

   "JJ! Your ol' buddy, Mike! Sam, you there too? You two lost my load. Time to pay up!" Mike shouts.

   I quickly duck down to the floor and away from the windows. JJ gestures at the back door and I catch on.

  "I'm coming in, JJ! Yeah, I know you're in there. Your little girlfriend too!" Mike continues to shout. The screen door flies open and my breath hitches. JJ grabs my wrist and I can barely catch myself on my feet as he drags us through the back door. As he lets go and we race down the porch, we can hear shit breaking inside the house.

     I'm running as fast as I can with a heavy bag and fucked up lungs. JJ is a bit ahead of me. He notices this and takes my wrist in his hand again, "Keep up, babe," He whispers. "Fuck off. What happened to your sensitive lungs?" I tease.

    Mike is shouting for us as we run off the property. JJ stops in his tracks though, turning around to face his house. "Babe, we gotta go," I tug him but his eyes don't leave the house. I step in front of him. There's a slight sadness on his face. That's when I realize, this might be the last time JJ can be near the house. Even though it carries horrible memories, it's still his house. He's lost two homes in one day.

   JJ throws up two peace signs before looking down at me with a crooked smile. "I got you. I'm alright," JJ caresses my hand with his thumb, "Enough with the dramatics. We gotta go!"

   JJ and I set off towards the tarmac.

  IT'S BEEN OVER AN hour at this point. Kie isn't here, Bailey isn't here and Cleo and Pope aren't here. The plane is here though. The big ass private plane.

   "Bro, where the fuck are they?" I stomp. "Would you just—take a breath!" Sarah tries to calm me down. It's either they're late or something bad happened.

  "Dude, where is everybody?" JJ asks, throwing down his bag. "I don't know," John B answers. "We should get them! We should get in the Twinkie, and we should just get 'em!" JJ shouts at John B.

  "I agree. Something could be wrong, JB!" I shout as well. "Guys, just give them five minutes, alright?" John B grabs me by the shoulders but I huff, moving away from his touch like a child. I can at least admit when I'm acting like one. Sometimes.

    JJ and John B continue to argue though. Through their arguing, Sarah and I hear a motorcycle engine. "Guys, there's Pope and Cleo!" Sarah says and the two stop arguing. Finally, they're here. Now, where the hell is Kie and Bailey?

   "God!"

  "You guys waiting for us?" Cleo asks. "No, not at all!" I sarcastically reply with a scoff. "You're late!" JJ exclaims, "Now, did you actually convince your pops this time or...."

   Pope hops off the bike, "Cleo convinced him." A smirk plays on my lips, sharing a knowing look with Sarah. Those two definitely like each other but I doubt Pope will be the first to crack.

   Cleo puts her hands out and JJ high fives her. "My girl. That's what I'm talking about," JJ high fives her and then it leads into the famous Pogue handshake, "I thank you for being part of thy crew." I giggle at JJ's dramatic wording. "Good job, Cleo," I say, giving her a high five as well. "Anytime," Cleo smiles.

  "Hey, where's, uh—where's Kie and Bailey?" Pope asks. "I honestly thought they'd be with you guys," I say with a sigh. "It's gotta be her parents, dude. They've been up her ass. Bailey is probably trying to convince them as well right now," Sarah tells Pope and Cleo.

   "They must've said she couldn't come. We're gonna have to do this without them—"

  "Pope, what?" I yell, completely cutting him off, "That's bullshit. We can't leave them." That's ridiculous. We can't just leave them. I'll fucking kidnap Kie from her house. I don't care. Where Kie is, Bailey is so, they have to be together right now.

   I nudge JJ, knowing he'll be the one to agree with me to get the girls. Immediately, JJ knows and turns to John B, "Give me the keys. We will go get them since you won't."

  "Which is bullshit by the way," I bitterly say, arms crossed. I understand everything is a tight schedule and that we need to get to Big John but I'm not leaving without the girls. Neither of them would do that to us.

   "No, dude. Guys. No!" John B denies. "JB, the fucking keys," I put my hand out. "It doesn't seem like a good idea now, JJ," John B says.

   "Dude, Bailey is probably having a screaming match with Kie's parents right now, hearing shit that will only hurt her. Her parents already hate us. Give us an hour," I rush my words out, hand still out for the keys. John B exhales, clearly weighing the options of letting the two firecrackers go off on a rescue mission.

   "It'll be like a black ops mission, in and out," JJ assures him, "Surgical removal type shit."

   "What analogies are these?"

  "Sam, alright. I'm trying here."

  I blow air from my mouth and throw my hands up. "John B," I punch his bicep. "Ow! Why? Why'd you punch me?" John B punches me back. I gasp, "Give me the keys!" I punch him even harder.

   "Oh my God!" He yells, rubbing his arm, "Here! Here, shit! An hour!"

  With a smile, I grab the keys to the Twinkie and rush over to it with JJ. Except I get in the normal way and JJ, no, he doesn't. "No, no, no!" I hear John B yell.

  The van rocks as JJ just hops through the window of the van instead of just, I don't know, opening the fucking passenger door.

  "Bruh! That door opens, bro!" Pope shouts.

  "You're an idiot. Fix yourself!" I hide my chuckle and start the van. "Uh huh, you love me," JJ makes kissy noises as I step on the gas.

   WE'RE HALFWAY TO KIE'S house. JJ and I keep rehearsing what the fuck we're gonna say to the Carrera's because we can't go in there, guns blazing and insults ready because then they'll never let her go. We'll need a miracle actually for her to go.

  "We have to be—nice, JJ," I sigh. "I don't wanna be nice, babe. Okay? I'm sure they yelled at Bailey, called her all sorts of names and you want me to be nice?" JJ huffs.

  "I know. I don't like them but we need to, dare I say, manipulate them, alright? Call Mike a dick as we're pulling out of the driveway," I tell him.

  "I'm gonna call him a lot of—" JJ is cut off by his phone ringing. "Who is it, J? Who is it?" I frantically ask. "I—damn! Hold on!" JJ says as he grabs his phone, "It's Bailey."

   My heart drops. "Well, answer!" I shout. "Okay, fuck!" JJ says, "Bailey?" He puts the phone on speaker.

  "JJ? Sam? Guys, they took Kie!" Bailey sounds like she's about to cry. Took Kie? I step on the brakes so hard that JJ and I jolt forward. "Jesus!"

  "I'm sorry!" I quickly apologize, "Bailey, what do you mean?"

  "I mean, I went to go get Kie there were these people stuffing her into a van! She wasn't kidnapped. It was those fucking camp weirdos!"

  "What camp, Bailey?" JJ asks. "Kitty Hawk! I'm running to my house right now. I'mma steal my mom's car and get Kie!" Bailey says. It's when she says that that I now hear the smacking of her sneakers against the pavement.

   "Fuck that! What road are you on? We'll get you in the Twinkie," I tell her. "Uh, fuck. I have no idea—"

   "It's fine! Go to your house, we'll meet you there, okay?" JJ says in a calmer voice, "It's alright, Bailey!" JJ assures her. If I wasn't so concerned, I'd be smiling at how much he cares about Bailey. "Okay, okay. I'll see you there," Bailey hangs up.

   "Those fuckers!" I start the van up again and smack the steering wheel. I'm so angry. Her parents don't care about her, they care about control.

  "Alright, let me call John B, tell him the change of plans," JJ dials John B's number. The pedal is to the metal as I speed over to The Cut. Tires screech as I turn the corner quickly.

  "Little change of plans. They did it. They sent Kiara til the wilderness camp. Bailey watched them do it," JJ tells JB.

  "Oh no."

   "Yeah, so somehow, we're gonna get her out. We're on the way to get Bailey and that'll take, uh, maybe eight hours?" I shrug and brace for the impact of John B's yelling. "Eight hours? I don't have eight hours! We've got a jet here. We're all waiting!"

There it is.

   "I know, dawg. I know the clock is ticking. Just hold out as long as you can. If you gotta go, we'll meet you there," JJ says with a nervous glance. How the hell are we supposed to get to South America?

   "No, we can't—we can't! Guys, we can't wait for you!"

   "John B, we are working on it!" I yell. I'm pushing the van definitely past its limits right now.

   "Just stay in the Matrix, okay? Just stay—"

  Suddenly, the tire explodes with a loud air pop. The wheel slightly slides under my grip but I quickly get control of it, watching the air leave the tire in my mirror. Are you fucking kidding me? The day a single plan goes right is the day hell freezes over.

  "Are you shitting me?" JJ yells, smacking the dashboard. "JJ?" John B says.

  "I'm gonna kill myself. I mean it!" I yell and lean over to hang up the phone on John B.

"Piece of shit van!" JJ smacks the door and hops out but quickly turns to face me, "And don't say that!"

"I'm sorry!" I follow him to the back of the van but I hear tires screech and then a black Dodge Challenger turns the corner.

It's not a car I recognize. It's also hard to tell because a lot of people own this kind of car.

   The engine revs. Maybe they're just driving past. Right?

   Nope. They're not. As JJ grabs the spare tire, the engine of the car revs louder and then another car screeches it's wheels, stopping in front of the Twinkie.

   "Uh, JJ," I smack his shoulder, "Is it Mike?"

    JJ drops the tire and as two men and a woman leave the car behind us, JJ pulls him behind him. I keep my eyes on the car in front of the van, trying to move in front of JJ but he holds me behind him. It's not Mike, unless he sent other people after us. The people in the other car haven't gotten out. I can't see who it is because the windows are so tinted I'm surprised they haven't crashed.

   The woman steps in front of the car. Her heels click against the pavement and her blonde hair bounces with every step. I don't know this woman or the men behind her. I forgot to mention that they have guns drawn on us, so.

   "Who the hell are you?" I spit out, JJ still holding me behind him.

    The woman smiles, "Are you Weston Vernon's daughter?"

   "Why does that matter?" JJ shouts. "I asked her, not you," She yells back, getting closer and closer to us. I rest my hand on JJ's flexed bicep, trying to tell him to let me go. He only loosens his grip slightly. "You seem like you know the answer already," I remark.

   The woman smugly shrugs, "Because I do. You can let her go, JJ. I've heard she can handle herself."

  How the hell does she know JJ's name? This frightens me more than anything. "Who the hell are you?" JJ starts to walk towards her but the men point their guns right on him. "JJ," I pull him back. He looks between the gun and the tire. "Really? You shoot out our friend's tire? That's not even—that's not even our van!" JJ yells, humor within his words as he tries to calm us both down.

    "Samantha Marcy Vernon. Born March 24th at 8:14pm."

    I freeze, taking a step back from this woman. What the hell is going on? "Are you a stalker or something?" I ask, "Because that was fuckin' weird."

   "No. I've just heard a lot about you."

  "Clearly," I retort.

   "We know your dad. We haven't seen him in a bit. Do you know where he is?" The blonde woman asks. My head spins, heart racing. They either know that he's dead and are trying to avenge him for some reason or Weston screwed them over and for some reason I'm the target to get information.

   "I've got no idea where he is," I lie. I know where he is. He's in hell.

    JJ is seething, eyes narrowing on the three. We're surrounded and they fucked up the Twinkie. "Aw, okay. Well, that was your one shot to tell the truth. Grab them."

   "What? I'm telling you the truth!" I yell but suddenly my arms are tugged behind me roughly. "Hey, get your hands off of her!" JJ yells and lunges at the men but the men next to the woman tackle him to the pavement. "No!" I cry out. I'm not getting arrested because there's no cuffs on me but they're bending my arms.

   "Get off of me!" JJ is fighting back. "Stop it! He has nothing to do with my dad!" I yell. I can't believe what's happening. It's all so fast—a blur. "Let him go!" I try to pull away from the men but one of them twists my arm so much that I let out a cry of pain.

   JJ gets the upper hand for a quick second, landing a punch onto the shorter man. He rolls away from the other guy. I throw my head back, hitting the man in the head. He lets go with a loud grunt.

  "Fucking bitch!" I swing at the woman but she dodges it. This fucking asshole. I swing again. "Sam!" JJ yells. My shoulders drop and I turn around at the call of my name. No, no. One of the men has JJ in a chokehold, knife to his neck. With one wrong move, JJ is dead.

   "Wanna swing again, Samantha?" The woman almost giggles in my ear. "What did my dad do? Whatever it was, I'm useless as leverage. He doesn't give a shit about me and much less about JJ!" I yell, chest heaving as my eyes don't leave JJ. He looks—scared yet angry at the same time.

  It's breaking my heart. I'm so confused. I'm scared. I'm scared of what I got JJ somehow into.

  "Weston doesn't give a shit about him but you do. That's enough," She says, "Where's Weston?"

  "For fucks sake, lady! I don't know!" I yell, trying so hard not to lose my shit. "But, you do because you guys are after the same thing. Gold. The gold. Your dad is a very special man but he's also a moron. I miss him but—he owes me. So for those two reasons, you're gonna tell me where he is or I slit your boyfriend's throat in front of you."

   I bite my tongue, resisting the urge to say fuck you to this lady.

   Instead, I take a deep breath, glaring as I turn to her, "I have no fuckin' clue, alright? And I don't know what kind of special man he is for you, but I can assure you, he's not worth all this."

She smiles, and then takes a step closer to me. Suddenly, she punches me across the face. It rattles my bones and the pain is almost instant. "You fucking bitch!" JJ curses. "JJ, no!" I collect myself enough to stop him from slitting his own throat. The blood rolls down my face from my nose. His eyes widen in concern, still slightly struggling against the man's grip.

   "He's dead. Weston is fucking dead," I say, spitting out blood onto the woman's expensive coat. She gasps and her fucking dogs jump at me but she stops them. "That's a lie. I know that as well," She says. "No, no it's not!" I yell. I step too close to her though because I'm pulled back by the men.

   "Don't touch her!" JJ shouts. "Oh my God. Shut him up!" She orders.

  Fear courses through me as to what that could mean. "No—" I snap my head up, expecting to see JJ die in front of me but instead a man lands a hard blow to his face, instantly knocking JJ out, making him limp.

  My throat goes dry and I try to reach out for JJ but I'm pulled back again. "If you want him alive, you'll come with me," She says, "Take him to the other car."

  "Lady, I don't know shit! Please, let him go! Take me!" I swallow my sobs as I watch them take a limp JJ away from me.

    "No," The blonde shrugs. I'm lifted up under my shoulders and I fight and kick but they're stronger than me. I'm thrashing around, holding onto everything and anything to not be dragged in the back of this car.

   There's a hot pain in the back of my head though and my vision goes blurry. My body is weak. I don't know what's happening. I can't fight back anymore as the pain increases.

   I'm put in the back seat alongside a man and then, my eyes can no longer stay open.

———

long chapter i apologize