Marci Wellington's POV

Today is the day of the party that Mr Leo Stuarts is holding for famous people. It's also the day that I might die, judging how hard Lucas is glaring at me.

"Are you going to stop staring, or do I need to wear a tinfoil hat?" I direct at him as we make eye contact through the mirror.

His gaze gets more heater as he tilts his head to the side where my bed is positioned.

Leave it to Caleb to allow a boy in my room and send Gail to play in my room simultaneously.

I roll my eyes at the thought, Older brothers.

"Hey, Abigail?" I call out to her as I drop my hairbrush on the vanity.

She hears her name, looks up and sends me a cheeky grin. She knows what her job is here, but like I always say, you'd have to outsmart me first.

"I need your advice on a song that I want to practice for my next dance video," I reach for the headphones and make my way towards her, "Listen to it and tell me what you think."

I place the headphones on her ears whilst ignoring the confused look she wears. I tap on my phone and play a lengthy playlist for her. I walk to my door to check if anyone is behind the door.

At least my brother and the rest of this household has faith in me.

"Now, what has you holding your tongues as tight as a stripper can hold their virginity?" I turn to Lucas. He looks way too serious in the suit he's wearing.

"What exactly did my dad tell you?" The solemnity in his voice allows me to know how pissed off he is, and his anger is always at a new level whenever his father is involved.

You would think that when you go behind someone's back, the second party would be smart enough to know to keep their mouth shut. I inwardly facepalm because I can picture how it played out. Lucas' father knocks on his room door and snitches on me.

Snitches get stitches.

I resist the urge to apologise because I sure as hell know that I'm not sorry.

I know that what they did to me would take a long time before I could forgive them, but I'd be damned if I allowed my parents' names to be dragged into the mud. Although I should have handled this situation better. I've been making a lot of mistakes since this year started, and I can't blame all of it on acting out. I really need to up my game and consider people's feelings. I was never a selfish person, but it's hard to know what to prioritise first.

"You saw the news last weekend, didn't you?" I raise a brow in question.

He nods begrudgingly but remains quiet.

"I didn't have much of a choice when I did that. You know that your dad is aware of the divorce. I don't how he does it, but that man would put certain Editors to shame with how he gets his information. The point is I have a plan."

"Enlighten me, Black Moses." he mocks me.

I kiss my teeth, and with narrowed eyes, as I continue, "If we show up together, it would be all over the news; the presses would think that we were dating. They should banish that thought. We would deny it but say that the war between our families is ending. Since we are both already friends and attend the same school, it wouldn't be hard to fool them."

He rubs the space between his eyebrows, "For someone who hates the presses, you want them to notice you tonight, don't you?"

"Bingo. My parents have to come to uphold their status. I will be with you for most of the night. We would be able to take most of the media coverage that would be pinning on him for most of the night." I explain to him.

"And what happens when my dad decides he has as much sense as an Ostrich?" he asks the question that hangs in the air.

"Well then," I walk closer to Gail, "You'd just have to trust me when the time comes."

I remove the headphones from her ears which has her scowling at me.

"You killed my jam," she grumbles.

I check my drawer and pass her a flash drive, "Meet Jack to plug this for you and continue your jams."

She snatched it from my hand and ran out of the room while shouting thanks behind her shoulder.

"Shall we?" I tilt my head towards the door.

Lucas takes my cue to leave my room and follows me towards the living room, where the rest occupants of this household are present.

Ironically Lucas has been here a couple of times, and everyone else is pretty clueless that he is the son of my dad's rival. It's better that way because I wouldn't put it past Caleb to have Shawn search him anytime he walks in here.

Taryn and Jack are snuggling in one corner of the couch while Caleb is using the computer at the other end of the room. Shawn would most likely be in the kitchen making dinner while Jacob is nowhere to be found.

"Where's Jacob?" I announce my arrival.

The trio turned around, and Jack let out a low whistle.

"Caleb, buddy, you owe me a fifty."

Caleb grumbles as he wrenches a few dollars from his pocket and throws it toward Jack. The living room is very spacious, so you could say it was raining fifty bucks.

"Damn, Caleb, you need to give your sister more credit," Taryn untangles herself from Jack and walks toward me.

She twirls her index finger in a circle, "Come on, girlie, and spin for me."

"Trish, if I knew you were into the other side of the coin, I know a couple of friends that I could call and-"

The rest of that statement was lost in Jack's voice box because Taryn picked up one leg of her slippers and hurled it toward him. As you can tell from his muffled curse words, she got him where she wanted him.

She turned to me with an expectant look; I rolled my eyes but still complied.

The material was sheer black lace that was an off-shoulder gown. It goes snug on my waist, then flares onto my knees in defined pleats. A pair of black wedges adorn my feet, a simple black choker is on my neck, and a small black purse is in my hand.

"Dinah must have put a lot of effort into it." she gushes.

Yes, you heard her right. My mom had found out I was attending the party, and she decided that no child of hers would be seen wearing rags. When she could design any piece of clothing with her hands. She sent Caleb to give me my whole outfit this morning, although she could have just given me since she was in the penthouse, that confrontation was for another day.

"If you are done accessing me, we should get going." I cross elbows with Lucas and drag him towards the elevator.

"I want her back home by 9pm," Caleb demands from the computer chair where he has been silently fuming.

I raise an unimpressed brow, "First of all, I have a boyfriend. I plan on staying till the end of this party."

It was a stare-off. Caleb has lived under the same roof as the Wellingtons for a decent amount of time, and his glare has improved. He could out-glare me if that's a thing.

"I'll be home by 9.30pm." I huff, and a satisfied smirk coats his lips.

I press the down button on the elevator door and watch it close.

Since we were both dressed fancy enough to pass as off as fancy rich kids that we are painted out to be, the back door was put to use. It is barely used because it's not fun climbing an extra set of stairs after coming out of an elevator.

The chauffeur opens the door for us and gets in. He manoeuvres his way through the traffic towards our destination. We pull up to a fancy hotel whose hall will be used to hold the event of the evening.

"Here."

I turn towards Lucas and see him holding a small earbud in his hand while the second one is already in his ear.

"Should we separate, which is inevitable, we might as well find each other and scram before your brother sends out a search party. Besides, I can already feel the energy retreating from my system because of the bright lights," he grunts.

I nodded and took it from him. I slipped it into my ear, "Remember to watch your mouth. These people could eat us alive using just our words."

"I wish them luck because last time I checked, we are the most polite people here." he snorts. He opens the door beside him and comes around to get mine.

It takes time for my eyes to adjust to the influx of lights. The press didn't allow us to take one step away from the car before throwing questions at us left and right. One was even ballsy enough to come onto the white carpet laid out for us to walk on and shove a microphone in our faces. The questions left his mouth so fast that you could diagnose him with mouth diarrhoea.

"Why did the two of you come together? Is there a relationship brewing? Are you both aware that your fathers would never support this union? Marcella, are you modelling a new product of the fabulous Dinah from her Delabsy? Lucas, have you been prepared enough by your dad to take over Stuart Studios when you are eighteen?"

This reporter gave Lucas and me enough reasons to throw him over a cliff. Lucky for him, he was grabbed by a bouncer and dragged away before we could load the car booth with a body. He put up a good fight but couldn't fight the walking hulk that held onto his collar.

A female reporter stopped us and put the microphone in my face. Hope shone on her face as she asked, "Is there a reason the two of you showed up together?"

Lucas and I make brief eye contact before I answer her, "Yes, there is. The world will do well to keep in mind that we are not dating. The feud between our two families is ending. We hope everyone is enjoying their evening."

I don't give her the chance to ask more questions because I tug Lucas into the large hall. A waiter walks up to us with two glasses of fruit wine the moment we walk in. We thank him and take them.

I take a sip and sigh, "Remind me how your dad came to be the person he is today?"

Lucas twirls the liquid in his glass as he observes it, "Something along the lines of wanting to be power-drunk from what I could understand. He's afraid that his spawns won't carry on his legacy. Maybe if it didn't question our morals, we would."

I nod and lead him to the corner of the room where we can see the grand stage in front and the door. I used this to my advantage and scanned the room; the hall had champagne and peach decorations around every corner. The carpet ended at the door, and the marble floors were coated with intricate designs that flowed loosely.

The guests were covered in expensive designer suits and dresses, and banter and slight insults wafted the air, but since this was meant to be a middle ground, no fists would be thrown.

I was honestly on the boat of my parents not wanting to be in the same room, but they proved me wrong. The doubting Thomas that made a home in my head gets shipped out because my dad walks in arm in arm with my mom.

Lucas tightens his hold on my hand and drops his head low to my ears, "I hope you don't plan on walking towards them."

Well, he didn't have to worry about that because my dad was a shark. He always had a sixth sense when he knew I was in the same vicinity as him.

He and his wife walked closer to me, and like the power couple I knew them to be, people stepped out of their way and continued looking at them till they were within speaking distance of Lucas and me.

Time slowed down as we observed each other. None of us made a move to say a thing. This is the first time I'm seeing them since the divorce, and I have to physically restrain myself from crying or running into their arms.

I'm not sure which is more painful.

Lucas silently curses and raises his hand to my dad, "Good evening, sir."

My dad eyed his hand but didn't shake it. My mother scoffs at his antics and shakes Lucas' hand after she hits my dad in the end.

Lucas must have had some real balls because he brought my mom's hand to his mouth and kissed it, "Good evening, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The silence returned after that. The other guest slowed their speech to observe our meeting, clearly more drama hungry than the presses outside. Lucas apparently was tired of this and brought our attention back to himself, "I would like to take Marci to the dance floor."

The slight nod of my dad's head was the only response he got from them. He nodded at my mom before taking me towards the dancing couples. I place my right hand in his left while his other hand grips my waist, and mine rests on his shoulder.

Classical music fills the air, and the other couples on the dance floor seem to be having a swell time while I feel like I've seen a ghost.

"I don't know what's going through that head of yours, Marci. But just so we're clear, if your dad kills me before you go home. Could you tell Giá that I will haunt her if she places flowers on my grave." he tells me.

I let out a small laugh, "Not even going to put up a fight to stay alive?"

"And live with cuts and bruises, I think I'll pass," he smirks, "My dad will say a small speech soon. I reckon you want to have a few words with him."

"Actually, both of us have to have a little chat with him. How good are your lying skills?" I ask.

"Clearly better than yours," he snorts.

"Don't get too cocky, Stuart. You might have the skills, but I'm the brain in this operation."

He pushes me out, twirls me around and pulls me back in, "Alright, Captain."

We sway quietly to the music allowing it to soothe our worries for a short while. If someone took a picture of us right now. I can bet on the fancy purse in hand that we would make more vibrations on the internet than an earthquake.

Lucas' dad takes the microphone as he walks up to the stage and begins to address everyone present. At one point, he looks me dead in the eye and speaks, "Finally, I want to thank the Wellingtons for honouring my invitation." he then turns his gaze to my dad, "It was really a pleasure."

Trust him to stir up some drama when it isn't needed.

"I would like to invite the Wellingtons to my house for a family dinner. Since our children are best friends maybe we can emulate their ways in our relationship."

My jaw dropped to the floor. I knew the dinner he was talking about. It was the one that was pissing Lucas off when we danced at the arcade. I knew I would have to be there with him, but I didn't count on my parents coming. It wasn't going to end well. It will only lead to a disaster. At this rate, I'm starting to hate that meal of the day because it was the perfect time for everyone present to take cheap shots at each other.

My mom places a hand on my dad's chest to prevent him from marching up to that stage and slapping the shit out of Leo Stuart. Although the wine glass in his hand is taking the brunt of his anger.

My mom answers on their behalf, "We'll be there."

Mr Stuart smiles, "Splendid."

He leaves the stage. Lucas tugs on my hand, and we slip out of the crowd. We walk towards a secluded part of the room where the rest of Lucas' family is.

Poor Skye has a very bright yet pained smile on her face. When she sees Lucas, she rushes up to him. Lucas hoists her into his arms, and she nuzzles his neck.

"We should talk." I spit out the moment I get there.

The person I direct my speech at offers me a smirk while his wife looks between the two of us with worried eyes.

Mr Leo drops the glass of champagne in his hand onto the tray of a passing waiter and motions his hand to his wife, "Dear, could you take the kids away from here."

"I'm staying." Lucas cuts in. From the invisible smoke coming out of his dad's eyes, he still wasn't used to the disobedience from his son.

His wife takes Skye from Lucas and walks away. When she is out of earshot, he shoots us an unimpressed look, "I believe the two of you have a bone to pick with me."

I'd say we have a whole Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton to pick with him, but I'm supposed to be polite right now.

"I believe I already know the answer to your end of the pact," I begin, "I have another thing to offer you."

"You leave my sister and me out of your fucking hopes and dreams. You allow the Wellingtons to continue leaving their lives and wake up from the stupid fairy tale you are in." Lucas demands clearly not to stick to the plan. I resist the urge to send him an irritated look.

"And why would I do that?" he says in contempt, unfazed by Lucas.

Note to self, never involve Lucas in a pact ever again.

I try to salvage the mission, "Because we can find you a new talent; one that has been lurking under your nose. You could offer it to the winner of the talent show that is coming up." I offer.

I make a mental note to talk to Xena when I walk into school next week.

Just another demon to deal with.

"And why would I want to hire a complete stranger when I have two kids naturally gifted in the music industry." he spites me, "You can try all you want, Marcella. I'm not changing my plan."

I inhaled deeply to calm myself because this man was about to not complete our agreement, and I had nothing on him.

"Lucas, could you please get me a drink?" I turn to my companion.

Lucas shoots me a questioning look, wondering what I'm planning.

"Please?" I request once more.

Mr Leo looks between us sceptically but refrains from saying anything. After having an inner debate with himself, Lucas nods and leaves his father alone with me.

Lucas says before walking away, "I hope you know what you're doing."

I look Mr Leo in the eye and allow irritation to coat my face, "Old man, you are going to comply with my request."

A smirk crawls onto his face, "And why would I do that?"

"Because you need me and not the other way around; you and I both know that if you don't find a new talent within this year, you could kiss this company of yours goodbye. If none of your children agrees, you'll have no one to blame when you live in the streets but yourself." I say calmly.

The smirk falls off his face and goes straight to mine. He gruffly responds, "When is this talent show you speak off?"

The summer break starts the moment May begins. Although the sports teams will still be having their matches and practices on school grounds.

"Next Friday." I tick off the calendar in my head and count two weeks from now.

"You know your dad would be proud of how well you think you can handle me."

I control my temper because this man was asking for a slap, and I don't need a lecture or media coverage right now. "I believe that is none of your business."

I turn away and walk away before I'm tempted to stick it to the man. I walk past my parents dancing and making eye contact with my dad. His pointed looks pin me to my spot. A whirlwind of emotion covers his face, regret being the strongest, and I bite my lip to stop a sob from breaking out. Lucas comes to my rescue.

"We should get going." he places a hand around my elbow and leads me out of the hall through the back entrance.

He calls the chauffeur to drive towards the back entrance to avoid the nosy camera holders in the front. We walk out of the building and briskly enter the waiting car.

"Mind if we make a detour?" I ask him.

He glances at the watch in his hand, "We have close to thirty minutes left before I become wanted. Where to next?"

"Nate's," I replied and retreated into my thoughts.

Nate's house was on the other side of town, meaning we wouldn't make it back on time. The ride was longer than I expected, so I texted Taryn to cover for me.

We pulled up in the driveway and made our way to the front door of the rickety house. There was no sign of life, and everywhere was quiet which made Lucas place a hand between the two of us and the door.

"Don't you think we should check his room before we knock on the front door?" he whispers, and I realise he has a point.

It all started when Nate's mom was craving greener pastures. She immigrated from Scotland to America, but I don't think she thought her actions through. Their visas expired, and she was desperate to stay and sold their lives to a devil named Mr Pierce.

My first encounter with Mr Pierce wasn't a pretty one. Nate and I thought we were the only ones in his house that afternoon until we heard one of the doors swing open. His drunken cries rang through the house and increased in volume as he approached Nate's room. I was forced to hide in Nate's closet while Mr Pierce beat him up for not restacking his alcohol closet.

Lucas and I creep around the house and look for moving shadows. Nate's room is at the far back of the house to avoid attention whenever his stepdad has funny ideas. It has a small window which is low on the outside but high on the inside. The sight I see when I peek into the room has anger flooding my veins and removing the sadness I felt moments prior. Nate is hunched into a ball and shivering violently on his bed. Mr Pierce yells at him, and since the window was soundproof, I couldn't hear a single word. After Mr Pierce is done giving Nate a bath with his own spit, he walks out of the room after slamming the door.

Lucas scoffed, "Some people should never be called parents."

I hum in agreement and open the window slightly. I quietly slip into the room.

I move towards the shivering figure and touch his forehead to discover he is burning up. Before I could figure out what to do, Lucas jumps into the room and landed with a small thump. He walks towards Nate's wardrobe, picks up Nate's backpack from the floor and starts stuffing clothes into it.

"What are you doing?" I whisper harshly.

"I'm preparing for a slumber party. What does it look like I'm doing, Genius?" he says.

"Who's there?" Nate's voice is rough because of how long he has spent crying.

I remove the bangs covering his forehead and cup his face, "Lucas and I were passing by and wanted to stop by."

"What is Lucas up to?" He nudges his head to the boy going through his clothes as he prepares for a sleepover.

"I think it's about time you left, don't you?" I say the words quietly to get my point across.

"Come on, Nate." Lucas hoists the bag on his shoulder and walks over to the two of us, "We're blowing you out of this popsicle stand."

An internal struggle takes over Nate's mind with how his eyes dart around the room and settle on the door. I can already guess the cause. His mom. She might not be the best in the world, but she is the only family member he knows. He doesn't want to leave her here even though he knows she once told him to go in one of her sober moments.

Lucas places his hand on Nate's shoulder, but I slap a hand on his mouth when I notice the door handle turn.

The pin drop silence that fills the room is a straight contrast to the yell that comes out of the intruder.

Mr Pierce. Nate's stepdad.

"Who let these bastards into my house?! Woman, get my fucking gun! Your stupid son decided to have friends over without my permission." he yells while staring at us with so much malice.

I gulp loudly. I have never felt this amount of fear in my life. My mouth's motor neurones refuse to work as I take in the figure coming towards us with evil intent in his mind. Mr Pierce looks me up and down and licks his lip. Lucas notices and pushes me behind himself, pulls Nate from the bed and places himself between us and Mr Pierce.

The man could be mistaken for a bear from his figure. The floorboard groans as he walks toward us. With every step forward he takes, we take one back.

Cold sweat broke down my back as I thought of what we could do to leave this messy situation. I looked around the room searching for a weapon but came up short. Lucas tensed when he felt we had reached the wall. His attention is on the man before us but holds a firm grip on Nate and me.

Liquor and fear wafted in the air as he drew closer to us; the beer stains on his shirt did nothing to hide the swell of his belly and his meaty hands. I swear those things could crush me in one squeeze. The woman who was supposed to bring the gun was not forthcoming, but with the amount of shuffling going on in the house, I might as well ask Lucas if he could lead us in our last prayer.

"Mister, I would step back if I were you," Lucas speaks calmly.

"Why would I fucking do that?! Rotten kids breaking into my house, and I'm supposed to watch? Woman, where the hell is my gun?!" His spit flies everywhere as he walks closer to us.

Lucas eyes him and tilts his head to the side to observe the situation. Quietly, he tells me, "I'm going to push this man down. I want you to help Nate and get to the car. I'll join you shortly."

The fear in my body mixes with defiance as I open my mouth to argue, but no words come out.

Lucas takes my silence as agreement because he sweeps his leg under the man. Mr Pierce's body landing on the ground shook the floorboards so hard that if another weight joined him, the floor would collapse.

"Go!" Lucas screams at me.

It all happened in a blur. I take Nate and use my invisible upper body strength to push him out the window. As I said, I have invisible body strength, so the mission was futile.

"A little help here?" I cry towards Lucas.

Lucan runs towards us and helps me lift Nate out of the room through the window. He folds his hands to form a stepping tool for me to climb through while he looks at Mr pierce.

Mr Pierce groans from the floor, "Rotten kids."

He coughs up a black substance and spits it out somewhere in the room. His eyes take a red hue as he notices our escape.

"Hurry!" Lucas says to me.

I grip his shoulders and place my leg on his interlocked palms. He hoists me up, and I crawl out of the room through the window. I force myself to ignore Nate's groans and reach my hand back into the room for Lucas.

Lucas takes it, and I pull.

I must join a gym after tonight.

Mr Pierce growls and launched toward Lucas. He wraps his hand around Lucas' throat and rips him away from my grasp.

"No!" I hear my voice for the first time since Mr Pierce walked in.

Lucas throws his head backwards and gets Mr Pierce in the nose, but the man has thick skin. He remains unfazed and uses his other hands to catch Lucas' writs and pins them on Lucas' shoulder blades.

"Nothing pisses me off than rotten kids interfering in my business."

A new voice joins the conversation, "Then your in for a treat."

Nate's mom was by the door with swollen red eyes and multiple cuts on her face. A double-barreled gun lay in her hands and aims it at the man she calls her husband.

"Give me." He commanded.

A mother will always protect her child. It didn't matter how wrong her actions were. She will always put her child first.

The struggle in her eyes was transparent. This wasn't the kind of life she wanted for herself or her son.

She pointed the gun toward her supposed husband and gulped. "Let him go."

Mr Pierce's eyes narrowed as he seized up his wife. "Excuse me?"

"Pierce, let the boy go," she says calmly.

Time held still as our fate was left in the hands of a woman thin enough to pass off a walking skeleton.

After a stretch of silence, Mr Pierce let Lucas go and stepped back.

I sighed and reached my hand toward Lucas again, silently hoping I can pull him out of the room this time.

Nate's mom didn't remove her aim on Mr Pierce, which was good. Lucas was almost out of the room, remaining just his legs, and we will be home free.

Mr Pierce glanced towards his wife and signed his fate. He reached for Lucas with determination, throwing all caution into the wind. I take it that losing to rotten kids was a big hit to his ego.

Nate's mom didn't think twice as her hand pressed down on the trigger. The bullet sailed through the air and landed in the back of Mr Pierce's head. He dropped to the floor, and I would never forget the way life drained from his eyes.

Who would have thought that wouldn't be the last time someone was killed before me?

"Marci," Lucas called out to me to help him finally leave the room.

Her eyes held so much hatred and pain as she held eye contact with me. Her voice was soft but had so much pain that I knew her next course of action would bring her peace. "You people will take care of my son, alright?"

Lucas replies, "We promise."

She nods, "Good, get out of this house."

I stay rooted in my spot. A part of my brain thought we could save her because I knew what her death would do to Nate. There had to be hope. We could save her. Hell, we should save her.

She turned to look at me with agony in her eyes. It's as if this woman was a mind reader because she whispered in the air before shooting into the air.

"Thank you."

Lucas and I help Nate to walk towards the car and get in. The driver gives us a questioning look, but the harsh glare from Lucas has him keeping his eyes on the road.

"Take us straight to the penthouse."

My voice box decided that now was the perfect time to get back to work.

"Are you crazy?!" I ask him.

A groan slips from Nathan's mouth, and I lower my voice for the spill out of the remaining words, "I don't think taking him to the penthouse is the best option."

He grunts, "We don't have a choice, Marci. I obviously can't take him to my house, and Abuela will smack us in the head with her newspaper and demand answers. Now I don't know about you, but I never planned on going into an interrogation tonight."

I huff and turn my attention to Nate. His face is full of cuts and bruises, and the growing patch of red on his shirt has my eyebrows climbing towards my hairline.

"Fuck the penthouse; take us to the nearest hospital!" I scream and apply pressure to the wound.

Lucas follows my line of sight and swears, "Shit."

He takes off his tie and joins me in applying pressure to the wound while the driver makes his way through the traffic of Miami.

Nate's breathing gets fainter by the minute, and his eyes start closing. I tap his face and speak into it. "Nate, Nathan, I'm begging you, please stay awake."

He doesn't reply. Groans leave his mouth to become more profound, and the car seat has a dark splotch of red on it.

How the fuck did we get here?

The tires of the car skid to a stop in the emergency part of the building. Lucas and the driver get out of the car, carry Nate and put him on the stretcher the nurses rolled out of the building.

The both of us followed it till they went to the operating room and made us sit in chairs beside the door. We slumped into it and let out a collective sigh. I take a peek at the clock beside me and sigh once more.

12 am.

The presses will have a field day with this one.

-

I speak for myself when I say watching one of the people you love almost die before your eyes cause trauma.

"Reports say that it was a residential homicide. The house was in a mess when the cops arrived; the male victim had multiple gun wounds all over his body. In the bathroom, a female was found in a pool of blood with a little boy's picture on her chest. Apparently, her life was taken away from her with a slit of her wrists. Witnesses say that the children of popular music producers Lucas Stuart and Marcella Wellington were seen helping a limping figure to escape the property barely minutes before the gunshots began." The reporter said.

Giá took the remote from the bedside table, shut it off and put it in its original position, "These people sicken me every day." she says

"That makes two of us," Lucas mutters from his side of the room.

Still, in yesterday's clothes, we were allowed to see Nate and the sight before I broke my heart. There were casts on his foot, and his arm was in a sling. A white gauze covered his abdomen where his knife wound had been stitched, his eyes were swollen shut and were it not for the heart monitor, I would have thought he wasn't with us.

I know physical abuse is not a joking matter, and the fact that he chose to wait it out till he was eighteen for his mother might have been a heroic idea, but it was his dumbest one yet.

Giá takes out her phone to answer a call. She grimaces as she gives me the phone. I'm having second thoughts about whether she knew how to lie.

"Marci speaking."

"Where are you, young lady?" Abuelo says calmly into the phone.

The same can't be said about his wife, who speaks in her dialect in the background while Giá's parents try to calm her down.

"We are in the hospital," I sigh.

No point in lying.

"We are coming right now, do not go anywhere. Swords are never meant to come in contact with kitchen knives, chica." He ends the call with one of his infamous quotes.

A loud groan fills the room next, and our eyes shift to the bed in the middle of the room. Nate's eyes open a fraction and close right back, but he forces them open. He sits up on the bed while we rush toward him.

I get him to drink some water, and he coughs a bit before speaking, "How long have I been here?"

"Not long, just a couple of hours." Lucas supplies him, "How are you feeling, Nate?"

"Horrible." He groans and throws his head back down on the headrest.

If he feels horrible now, I'm not sure how he would feel when he realizes what his mom did for him.

As if hearing my thoughts, his gaze shifts from Lucas to me, "What happened to my mom?"

Lucas and I look at each other but don't say anything. If he knows about his mom's death after waking up from surgery, it will help his case. Giá presses the call button for the nurse.

His eyes start to water, "Did she get the gun for him? Fucking answer me, guys! Where is she?" His tone takes a hysterical turn. It makes all of us take a small step back from his bed. "Where is my mom?"

My heart broke further as he began crying. The noise increases when he takes the remote, switches on the television and reads the headlines. The nurse rushes into the room at that moment with a doctor. They try to calm him down as his heart rate picks up and he goes unconscious.

Family comes with a lot of pain. You forget to differentiate love and pain and choose to combine them because of the origin of the emotions. This can make you swallow a lot of things before you go mental. Sometimes fear can join the mix and make it more fucked up than it is meant to be.

Only one person in this room has a normal family, and I highly doubt she could share in Nate's pain. One thing is for sure though, after today, Nate will never be the Nate he was, and neither would any of us.

Theories anyone?

This was a hard chapter to write, and I hope I nailed it. Please tell me what you think and vote. If you see any grammatical errors, please point them out.