Avery was sure her knees were about to buckle underneath her as she stared at the now smiling man, who held a gun in his right hand loosely. She stared at his face, her breathing quickening scarily as she couldn't deny the resemblence between herself and the stranger.

The skin tone was almost a match, and the hair was the same black as hers, even with a slight curl, which explained her waves, considering her mother had straight hair. His facial structure was so similar to hers, except more rugged, manly, and the eyes is what confirmed his comment.

Looking at his eyes was like looking in the mirror.

"Who the fuck are you?" Aden hissed, stepping slightly in front of Avery protectively, and the man laughed, twirling his gun in one hand.

"I thought I just made it clear. I'm your father, Avery." He directed his comment at her, ignoring Aden, who was so tense he was barely breathing. Avery felt the opposite. Her body was in shock, and she felt sluggish, like she couldn't quite comprehend what was happening.

"You can't be-" Aden started, but suddenly, the mans face morphed into a scowl and he held the gun up to his head. Avery gasped, and Aden went completely still, although his blue eyes still burned holes in the man.

Avery stepped forward, her own narrowing. "Put that thing down, he hasn't done anything."

The man cocked his eyebrow, then chuckled, lowering the gun. She heard Tally's sigh of relief and felt like doing one herself, but she was still staring wide-eyed at the man, not quite realising how in shock she was.

"That attitude is so like your mothers. You're both so stubborn, so determin-"

"Don't you talk about my mother! You don't know her!" Avery said, surprising herself because her voice sounded so strong compared to what she was feeling.

The man laughed, tilting his head back but keeping his eyes locked on Avery. "Oh, you don't believe that I'm your father? Why don't you ring your mother and find out, hm? Ask her what she was doing on September 17th, 1992, and you mighty get your answer."

Avery's blood can cold. She counted ahead nine months, and gasped, a hand over her mouth.

The man smiled, but it was sinister, mocking. "You see? I am your father, Avery."

Tally snorted behind them, and they all looked at her for a second. "What?" The man snapped, annoyance clouding his features.

"Sorry, you just sounded like Darth Vader for a second there. Just saying." Tally said, and the man looked at her thoughtfully, before turning his attention back to Avery.

"Quite the club you have here, my dear. A boyfriend who looks like he wants to rip my head off and a friend who is just asking for a bullet in her."

"I'm sorry if my Star Wars comment riled you up that much, sir, but you must realise you are quite the nutcase." Tally continued, and Avery shot her a look as if to say 'shut up'. Tally shot her one back, and Avery noticed her phone in her hand.

Avery frowned. Why would she not just leave it in her pocket?

"Don't test me girl."

"Like Brittany must have tested you too, huh?"

Avery gasped, her head whipping around to see the man staring coldly at Tally, yet he wasn't denying the claim. She glanced at Scott, who looked pale, regretful. Well, too bad, Avery thought, knowing that whatever Scott did now, she really didn't give a shit, because he helped her so called father, slash murderer. He could go to hell, as far as she was concerned.

"I don't know who you're talking about." The man stated calmly.

Tally raised her eyebrows. "Oh? You don't? Blonde hair, a little on the skinny side, remember her now?"

"Like I said-"

"You're holding the same kind of gun that killed her. Don't bother lying to me, because my father's a police man, and I've been taught about guns ever since I was seven, so what's your answer?" Tally challenged, and Avery stared at her, mouth agape, wondering whether her friend was either really, really brave, or really, really stupid.

"She was a nuisance, a roadblock in my plan. I had to get rid of her, to get what I wanted. Besides, no one hurts my daughter like that girl did." He replied, as casually as he would if someone asked about the weather outside.

"Are you saying you shot her?"

"Yes, I'm saying I shot her!" The man shouted, suddenly growing angry. Avery looked up at Aden, who was shaking in anger. She placed a hand on the back of his thigh, trying to calm him, but he was too riled up to notice.

"Why lead us to this warehouse that we sometimes use as club? The one on the deserted street near the beach?" Tally asked, and Avery started becoming confused. What was with that stupid question?

"Because it's empty, and it only seemed fitting to continue the next step of my plan in here, since I shot that girl in here as well."

"And what was this plan of yours?" Aden piped up, glaring fully at the man now.

"Well, it was to get my daughter back, obviously." He said, smiling at Avery, which sent a sliver of fear through her body. "Her mother wouldn't let me see her when I called and asked, and when I arrived at her place, Avery had already moved away, but she wouldn't tell me where too. I found out eventually, and here we are."

Avery tried to processthe thoughts and information running through her head at that moment. Was it true? He had to be her father, she knew he wasn't lying about that, but if he was trying to get her back, why? She'd never met him in her life, so why would he suddenly want to catch up now? And why would her mother lie about him, why not tell her the truth?

It all made sense now. Why she looked nothing like her dad, the one who raised her. Why she was sent away from her mother all those months back. The puzzle pieces all fell together, giving her the picture that had been blurred in her mind all these years.

"If you're really who you say you are, why didn't you try to contact me earlier?" Avery asked, her voice not nearly as strong as before. He locked eyes with her as he began to explain.

"Your mother wouldn't let me. You see, when she was pregnant with you, she left me and met the man who raised you." He paused, with a look on his face to say he wasn't happy with her choice. "She married him just after you were born, and she decided that it would be best if she just pretended he was your dad, and you could all be a big, happy family fovever. Well, that didn't work for me, you see Avery. What is mine is mine, and no one can take it away from me. So I started tracking you down, but your mother kept moving around. I only just realised you would be here, in his hometown, a few months back. I'm here to get my daughter back, so we can be a family."

Avery heard the silence more then anything after his explanation. Then, with the swirling, building anger inside her from his word, she laughed bitterly.

"You seriously think I would go with you? You're a mad man! I don't even know you, and I don't want to because you're a murderer! My one and only father, he died. You, are just half of my DNA. Nothing else. You never will be!"

His eyes darkened, and suddenly his smug smile turned into a scarier, more malicious grin.

"You'll be coming with me whether you like it or not." He growled, stepping closer to her. Aden stepped out in front, blocking his path and cutting off Avery's view of the man.

"What's your name?" Tally asked suddenly, and Avery turned to glare at her. Now was not the time for her best friend to get aquianted with new people. But she stopped short when Tally sent her a warning glance, and looked down at her phone again quickly, as if hinting something.

"Mark. Now stop asking stupid questions and let me finish what I started." He growled again, about to grab Aden's arm when Avery walked backwards slowly, towards Tally.

"Why do you want me?" She asked, fear filling her voice even more.

"Because I love you." He said, smiling warmly again. Avery frowned at his mood swings, and his words. They sounded so disgusting coming from this man who claimed to be her biological father.

"But you don't know me!" She shouted, anger over-riding her fear. Mark chuckled, ignoring Aden who was inching closer to his right side, where his gun dangled.

"I don't need too. Love's complicated in all sorts of ways, and I just do because you're my daughter."

"Has it got something to do with my mother?" Avery asked, and Mark's face dropped into a scowl again.

"Don't you bring that filthy slag up again, you hear!"

Avery cringed back at his words, moving back further, closer to the door. She glanced around, realising Scott had vanished, and was worried that he would pop up at any moment and grab her.

Suddenly, Aden's fist swung into Mark's face, and the blow mixed with his surprise sent him spawling onto the floor, his gun flying across the room. Aden had him by the throat, and he looked up at Avery and Tally long enough to tell them to run, before going back to trying to knock Mark out.

Avery hesitated for a second, not wanting to leave Aden in the room alone, but Tally tugged at her sleeve urgently, pulling her through the door.

"He can handle himself, Avery. nobody picks a fight with Aden for a reason. We'll get the car." Tally ran towards it, jumping into the drivers seat and starting the car up. Avery slid in beside her, and watched the door with fear that the wrong male would appear out of them.

About three minutes later, Aden stumbled out, and he raced towards them without a backward glance. Jumping into the back seat, Tally put her foot on the gas, sending them flying down the road in an attempt to get away. Avery looked at their surroundings long enough to almost roll her eyes.

"Tally, we're going the wrong way."

"Right." Tally replied, and yanked on the steering wheel hard, sending Avery's head into the side window, and she winced as she rubbed her forehead tenderly. Turning to look at Aden, she looked over him anxiously, looking for any signs of hurt.

"Nows probably not the time to get checking me out, babe." He smirked, but winced slightly, and Avery sent him a glare.

"What did you do in there?" She asked.

"Knocked him out. He'll only be under for a few minutes, if that, though, so we better make it fast if we want to get the police here." He said, and Tally was smiling already.

"What?" Aden and Avery asked in unison.

"I had the police on the phone the whole time we where in the warehouse."

"Who what? How-oh, your phone!" Avery said, and Tally nodded as they passed the warehouse again.

"I can come in handy every now and again-"

Suddenly, the back window shattered, and Avery and Tally screamed as Aden swore, ducking down and turning to look behind them. Mark stood outside, his gun pointed at their car. Avery's heart leapt in her throat as he continued to pull he trigger, but fortunately, Mark missed them all.

Tally snorted. "And he thinks he good at this type of shit, he can't even hit me!"

Avery shot Tally a look. "Now is not the time to slam Mark. Aden, go straight to the police station, so we can wait to see if they bring him back in."

A feeling of hope blossomed inside Avery, and she tried not to let her emotions show. She didn't want to think about him being her father, or the man who had raised her had not actually been biological, or her mother lying to her all these years. No, she just wanted this mess cleaned up, and Mark behind bars.

Aden's hands squeezing hers brought her out of her thoughts as she looked up and smiled wearily at the boy she loved so much.

-----

What. A. Shit. Chapter.

Seriously, why do I write again? Ugh, sorry to whoevers reading this! It's not edited either...I should just stop now. Haha, no I'm not going to, but this was BAD and I'm sorry if it disappointed anyone, but I needed to get a chappie out before too long again...so yeah...hmm.

Thanks for reading my sorry excuse of a chapter!

:) x