♕Harley Anderson♕

My feet stay frozen, my eyes zeroed in on the black gun beside the black boots of the girl who I still have no idea who is. I suppress a shiver as I remember what it felt like holding a gun, pulling the trigger and watching a body drop.

"Who are you?" I hear Danté ask tersely and the girl kicks her feet off of the table, standing up to her full height so that I realise that she's not too far off from Danté. It also gives me a chance to really admire her beauty. Her blonde hair goes on to shape her heart face that gives rise to prominent cheekbones and pouty lips. Her almond grey eyes are almost hypnotic if it weren't for her long eyelashes that distracted you. In her pointy nose sits a nose ring and her long manicured nails catch my attention as she trails them up and down a knife.

"I'm Percy." The girl smiles slyly before pointing to her friend with the knife that is incredibly sharp. "And this is Isaac."

The man doesn't smile like her and instead keeps his broad shoulders locked in place with his muscular arms over his chest. His chocolate skin is a contrast to his green eyes and he almost looks friendly with thin lips, soft eyes and short hair. Earrings hang from his ears that have tattoos behind them.

"And why exactly are you in my house, Percy?" Danté almost spits and she looks at us darkly.

"Because I'm here to fetch you. Both." She glances at me.

"Excuse me?" I snap harshly and she cocks her head to the side, eyes sliding up and down my appearance as she openly judges me.

"You- Harley and Cameron- are coming with us."

I ignore the fact that she knows our names and instead narrow my eyes at her.

"Why should we do that?" Danté asks, too calm for my liking.

"You do realise that we both have guns right?" The man finally speaks up, eyebrows raised high. "And neither of us will hesitate to shoot you and drag your bloody bodies if that's what we have to do."

I gulp, watching as Dante's jaw clenches and he begrudgingly nods.

"Fine. Where exactly are we going?"

"Nowhere you haven't been before."

****

We drive to the unknown location in an SUV that was parked around the corner from the house so that Danté and I didn't see it. The drive is filled with the man driving casually and Percy flicking a switch blade in and out on a constant loop.

Danté and I don't say anything but he does keep a grasp on my hand as I try and keep my fear at bay. What am I supposed to make of two people breaking into my house with knowledge of who Danté and I are and then dragging us to some remote location?

The thing, though, that really confuses me is that I know the route they're taking and where exactly it leads which is to the building I killed Frank in. Besides that building, there is nothing for miles and I have images of being murdered in a forest come to my mind which cause me to grip Danté's hand tighter.

My worries, however, are soon comforted when we pull up to the building. Only this time a new bunch of emotions wash over me. Fear, shame, guilt... oh, the guilt.
But the sight of men patrolling the area with guns throws me completely off guard and when Percy nods to one who seems to open one of the garage doors so that Isaac pulls up inside, I don't want to do anything except go back home.

I can't see too well out of the tinted windows but from the concerned expression on Danté's face, I know that I'm not overreacting. Percy and Isaac hop out of the cars and we follow after them. Men with guns tucked into their waistbands and intimidating figures unpacking packages of white packets while some people count them throws me off guard and when my eyes land on an older man whose aura screams dominance, authority and danger, I see that he's already watching me from where he is standing with his hands in a suit.

The stranger has short cropped hair, and a beard that only makes him look older but his eyes are what are really striking- they're a deep blue, reminding me of a sapphire ring my mom always wears. And when he smiles- a bright and pearly one- I know that I have every right to be terrified.

Because we have just being thrust into a stop house for drugs and I'm assuming that I'm staring at the leader.

"Here they are." Percy says in greeting to the man and he smiles at her.

"Thank you Persephone." He then turns to us. "Harley, Cameron."

"Who are you?" Danté asks lowly and the man grins at our discomfort.

"I'm Jack. Leader of the Slither Gang and I believe you both owe me something." Before I can say anything, he shouts, grabbing everyone's attention. "Everyone out. Now. Persephone will let you back in when I feel suitable." Nobody says anything or protests, they simply drop what they're doing and make it out the back door. I ignore the fear I feel from seeing him demand something and everyone doing it and instead gulp. When the room is empty, only Persephone- or Percy, whatever her name is- , Jack, Danté and I present, I go on to say:

"Owe you?" With furrowed eyebrows.

Jack's blue eyes move to mine. "Does this building look familiar Harley?"

I gulp, my heart racing.

He can't know. He can't. The only people who do is Danté and Mason and they destroyed all evidence.

"No." I lie smoothly and Jack nods in amusement, rubbing a hand over his chin before he walks to a spot near one of the pillars and seems to think for a moment.

"Was... it here that you shot that officer?" He asks with a confused frown before moving two steps to the right. "Or over here? No, it's definitely here." He remarks, going back to the original spot. "Because the camera is there which is exactly the angle I saw it from." He points a finger at something in the distance.

If feels like someone has punched the air out of my lungs and my throat begins closing up, my heart thumping at an unsteady rate.

"We don't know what you're going on about." Danté hisses and Jack grins.

"Oh but I think you do. Because Harley shot an officer- I believe his name was Frank?- and you dragged his body from this exact spot." He purses his lips. "Do you need a reminder? I think you do."

He pulls out a phone and is soon handing it over. Danté grips it tightly, looking down to see the footage... which is of me... killing Frank. I snatch the phone out of Dante's hands.

"No, this can't be." I mumble softly, urgently. "You got rid of all the evidence."

"All except one camera which is hidden in the corner." Jack remarks, taking the device back. "Which is how I got evidence of you murdering a man." He grins sardonically as I begin to tremble. "And you know what that means? You are indebted to me because you killed a man on my property. Which is exactly why you're going to do everything I ask."

"And what is that?" Danté responds and I see him clenching his fists tightly by his side as he is no doubt unnerved by the drugs going on just outside the door.

"You two are going to join the gang."

"Like hell we are!" I snap harshly and Jack raises a brow.

"I can put you and Cameron in prison Harley. Is that what you want?"

I begin to shake in anger and desperation before he smiles.

"That's what I thought." He looks between Danté and I. "It's simple. I leave for California on Monday since that's where we're based and you both need to be there by Tuesday."

"And what are you going to make us do? Kill people for you?" The words slip out of my mouth before I can think clearly.

"No, no. Darling Persephone out there has got that covered. You will be racing. And you, Cameron, will be fighting in the underground ring."

I feel bile rise in the back of my throat and I shake my head vigorously, images of me crashing into a tree coming to mind and images of Danté beating people up.

"Harley doesn't race. She can't." I hear Danté say for me and Jack looks at me in mock concern.

"You think I'm giving you a choice? I've heard of both of your successes at Emery's track here in Oregon. In fact, I've laid a few bets on you Cameron."

"Then why not make me race? I'm the champion, not Harley." Danté's attempt to get me out of the situation warms my heart but I know it's only a futile attempt.

"Well, if you want to switch places with Harley so that she can do the fighting instead, that's fine by me."

Danté only growls in response.

"You should go now. You both have a lot of packing to do since you'll be moving to Cali."

"What?" I hiss and Jack smiles in amusement.

"Didn't you hear me? The base is there which means that's where you'll both be working."

"We go to college, Jack. We have people who are going to ask where we're going and wh-"

"I don't care, Cameron." The man snaps harshly. "I'm not giving either of you a choice. Drop out, fake your death. I don't care, just do it and make it work."

I blink back my tears of frustration. How can this be happening? How are we being dragged into a gang?

"Any more questions?" Jack asks, looking between the both of us. We offer no response. "No? Good. I'll get Isaac to drive you both back. And, one last thing- don't disappoint me."

We walk out of the small room after his warning.

****

Danté is quick to get out of the car when Isaac stops the SUV and I don't bother to thank him before I'm clambering after the brooding man and into the house. The first thing Danté does is switch the kettle on and pull out two mugs. He goes on to start making the tea and I gingerly step forward, unnerved at how calm he is reacting. The silence is scary and I don't know what to make of this.

"Danté?" I say and he stops what he's doing, leaning on the counter and staring down at it. "Are you ok-" before I have the chance to complete my sentence, a mug is sent flying to the wall, the sound of it shattering making me flinch. My eyes move back to Danté who is pacing slightly, running a hand through his hair in distress.

"It's going to be fine." I try and reassure him but I fail to even reassure myself. He spins around to face me, incredibility etched into his features.

"Fine? We are not going to be fine Harley! We're getting dragged into a gang!" He snaps and I purse my lips, understanding why he's so worried.

"We'll figure it out."

He shakes his head. "A gang is everything I've tried to stay away from. They might as well have asked me to join a cartel again." He mutters and I round the counter to be by his side, reaching out to lightly squeeze his arm.

"We'll figure a way out."

Danté looks at me then and I see the sorrow behind his eyes. "There is no way out of a gang Harley. Once we're in, we're in."

I gulp at his words. I don't want to be part of a gang. I want to go to college and get my degree and then travel around and experience new things before maybe- eventually- starting a family. I don't want to be tied down to a life of illegal activity and be surrounded by people who murder as a career. But I keep a strong face on for Danté because I know this hurts him more than me- he's the one who lost everything because of his heartless father, he's the one who ran away from his home to leave a cartel, he's the one whose being haunted by a life like this.

"Fuck. How could I have missed the camera? Mason and I went through all of them? How could we have missed it?" I hear him grumble dejectedly, tugging at his hair in a panicked manner.

My heart tells me to turn the footage in and get it over with. I killed a man- I'm supposed to pay the price. But Danté would be charged too since he did dispose of the body. I can't- won't do that to him. Besides, I know I wouldn't survive a day in there. They might as well just kill me.

"Hey," I say softly, pulling his hand away from tugging at his hair. I cup his cheek so that he's forced to look at me and a small, reassuring smile is plastered to my face. "We're going to figure this out, okay? It's going to be fine."

The man I love stares at me for a moment, doubt swimming in his eyes before he nods stiffly and I pull him in for a hug. But even then, I cannot deny the feeling of doubt swimming in my own heart.

•••
Don't forget to drop a vote if you enjoyed this chapter XD
Anyway, what did you guys think of that? Any theories on how this is going to go? All I can say is that things get pretty hectic...
Also, I updated the next chapter as well so don't forget to check it out xo

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