Dean

Jemma stopped me as I was driving down a simple street.

"Stop." She said. "Pull over. I have to talk to my sister." I raised my eyebrows, but pulled over.

She slipped out of the car and stood on the curb. Jemma stared at a house to her left, and then looked back into the car.

"You two coming?" She asked, beaming.

Chris squeezed my arm and then let out a laugh that was borderline terrified. "Of course." He got out of the car and stood beside Jemma.

I sighed and turned off the car before I got out, slamming the door and slipping the keys in my pocket.

Jemma clicked her tongue. "A little moody today, are we?"

I glared at her as I stepped up beside them both. "Yeah, yeah. Watch what you say, Sticky fingers." Chris snickered under his breath.

Jemma harrumphed and flipped her hair out of her eyes before she walked off before saying anything back to me.

Wow, what a good comeback walking away was, it never got old. I followed after her with Chris on my side.

Jemma walked right up to the door of the dusky, tan house she was looking at earlier. She opened the door to the house, yes it was unlocked.

Two large men were standing in the small vestibule. They looked at us, and then at each other. Together, they seized Jemma's arms, lifting her off the ground. I stepped forward, prepared to do my best to get us out of here.

"Hey!" Jemma shrieked. "I need to get in there. I need to see Victoria!"

The man on her left narrowed his eyes, "Why bother? She didn't say you were coming."

"I'm her sister, Idiot! Now let me go!" She howled.

Almost automatically, they set her down. "Apologies Miss. Jemma. It's been a while." Said the man on the right.

She shrugged. "Yeah. Just watch who you're trying to shoot next time, Damien." As she walked to the double doors and threw them open, she turned back to us. "And don't leave my friends hangin' they're with me."

I glanced at the men, and then ducked through them with Chris on my tail, holding onto my shirt. Might as well have him hold my hand, really.

We instantly walked right into the middle of a gigantic living room, where many people stood. Chris scooted closer to me, nervous as ever, he let our hips touch, looking for a sense of comfort in this noisy, flashing room. I looked around at all the people, sweaty and talking to each other. They were of all ages and ethnicities, but all looked completely exhausted, as if they would drop dead at any second, but somehow fueled by something deep inside of them.

Jemma was gone, she had slipped away through the crowd and I had no real idea where she went. I stood beside Christopher, watching as people bumped into us and into each other. I shivered and leaned into Chris. I hated to admit it, but even I was good in situations like this.

Eventually, someone approached us, a girl with large brown eyes and straight black hair that almost reached her thighs. She smiled at us and poked at Chris' chest.

"Well look at that. What have we got here?" She poked at our chests. "New here, boys?"

Chris swallowed and looked at me. I rolled my eyes, trying to hide just how nervous I was. "Of course we are. What kind of people do you take us for? We have lives other than being at a party at noon. In fact, we're only here because a friend of ours had to stop and talk to her sister, who is apparently here." I said.

She smirked and looked me up and down, "Tough guy, huh?" She turned her back to me and grabbed another woman, a twenty-something-year-old with a short blonde bob and round glasses, who was drinking and talking to a man above thirty.

They both stood before us now, and I found myself in the midst of one of those rare moments where I was relieved that I was a relatively tall person. I could seem less delicate, unlike tiny little Chris, who was shrinking away from the women staring us down.

"Well, would you look at you two. You don't even know where you are, huh? Well let me tell you, it's somewhere you're lucky to be." Said the brunette, playing with her hair.

I sighed and looked at Chris, feigning disinterest. Chris looked terrified, poor baby. I placed my arm on his shoulder, yanking him closer to me. Chris gasped, but didn't complain.

The girls continued to talk, though I wasn't really listening to what they were saying. I watched as Chris tried to get control over his breathing, a little worried.

It was at this point that Jemma appeared again, pushing her way through the two girls and back to us. She turned, standing in front of us, and stared them down.

"Linda, Patricia. Nice to see you two. I see you've met my boys."

Linda and Patricia, though I didn't know which was which, both stared at her. The brunette, Linda-Patricia as I decided to call her, scooted away from Jemma with a frown.

"Oh, hey, Jemma. Nice to see you again. I thought we would never see each other again." Said the blonde, now Patricia-Linda.

Jemma sighed and grabbed my wrist, as well as Chris'. "Come on then, we're going to go see Victoria." She pulled us through the room and to a large door with deeply embedded designs.

She pulled open the door and stepped inside, with Christopher and I in tow. The room was bright, with large, floor-to-ceiling windows open wide. On top of a desk, a woman sat. I assumed was Vanessa, she had a lovely dark, shoulder-length hair that was straight as an arrow, and her skin was pale as the snow, even though she was sitting in all this sun.

She swallowed some pills without water and puffed what looked like a cigarette before she looked over at us with a large smile. "Hey there." She murmured, brushing hair out of her face. "Get over here."

Jemma basically skipped to the desk, placing her hands on it and boosting herself up beside Vanessa.

Chris sat in a chair by the desk, but I hung back, closing the door and watching them warily. Something surely wasn't right. First those guys in the front of the house and now this. Something about all this was making me unsettled.

Vanessa hugged her sister tightly and looked at Chris. She slipped off of the desk, landing perfectly on her heeled feet and smoothing out her dress before she made her way over to Chris.

She sat in front of him, smiling. She pulled gently on his curls and smiled to herself before she grabbed his face and turned it from side to side, examining it.

"Hmm." She said, sounding more serious than she had since we walked in the room. "You're a little young to be here, kid. Only sixteen?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

Chris stumbled over his own words before he finally let out a, "No."

I watched the exchange warily, narrowing my eyes and biting my lip.

Vanessa laughed at herself and slipped away from Chris before she even explained how she knew how old he was. I realized in an instant that she was headed for me, and in that same moment I stepped away from her.

Vanessa beamed, eyes half-lidded, looking enticing. "Oh don't be afraid, sweetie. I'm not going to hurt you." She murmured, looking me up and down and then circling me, then she grabbed my shoulders and looked into my eyes. Her breath smelled of cigarette some, wispy and smoky. I swallowed hard to keep from gagging.

Vanessa smiled. "Yes. You'll do nicely. Make sure you end up with my little sister. She's got a big one on you." I stared at her, shocked.

She stepped away and back to Jemma, who was staring her down, obviously curious.

Vanessa beamed and sat on the desk again. "Okay, kids. What is it you needed?"

"Well, Pretty boy over there," She said, gesturing to me. I frowned. "has a sister who needs saving, and we figured you would know where she is."

Vanessa raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "Me? What could I possibly know? I don't know anything about anything." She slipped off the desk and sat down in the plush chair pulled up next to it and crossed her legs, pulling her already tight dress even tighter. She grabbed her cigarette and smoked it.

Jemma rolled her eyes and took the cigarette from her sister's mouth, taking a drag. She sighed out the smoke and then handed it back. Vanessa frowned at her sister as Jemma began to speak. "We both know very well that you know everything that happens in this city. You've got connections. You could find her if you really wanted to."

Vanessa flipped her hair out of her face. She sighed and tucked some of Jemma's hair behind her ear. "Very well. I'll get it done." She turned the chair around and stood, walking over to the file cabinet in the far right corner of the room. She reached into it, grabbing a file and then closing the cabinet. She smiled to us, "Excuse me. I'm going to go take a call." She opened a small glass door and stepped out of it.

As her footsteps faded away, I walked as quietly as I could over to Chris, who still looked a little shaken from his little talk with Vanessa. I sat beside him, on the arm of the chair.

He looked up at me, and I suddenly felt very bad for him. After all, he had dragged himself through all this to help me, his sorry excuse for a best friend. He didn't actually want to be here, not at all. I sighed and bit my lip, watching him. He looked less terrified than he did five minutes ago, but still a little nervous.

As I watched him, he seemed to realize just what he was doing and he slipped out of the chair. He walked to Jemma and tapped her shoulder. Jemma looked at him and let her lips form a small smile.

"Why are we here?" He snapped, "You said that you already knew where she was."

Jemma raised her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes, "I'm doing my best to help you two, it doesn't seem that either of you know what you're doing." She retorted, not even trying to hide the malice in her voice.

Chris squared his jaw and looked straight in her eyes. "Well, from the looks of it, your sisters doing all the work while you just sit here."

Jemma laughed angrily, placing her fingers to her collarbone. "I'm the one who's not doing anything? All you do is follow Dean around like a little puppy. At least I did something for the group."

Their noses were almost touching now, both of their eyes narrowed and their teeth bared. They almost looked like two feuding wolves.

Chris' ears were bright red, and Jemma didn't look much better, in fact, she was actually shaking. "Listen here, Miss. Priss. I may not be the brawns of the group, but I am definitely your saving grace. I was the one who decided that you could come with us, and I was the one who told you what was happening in the first place!" He fumed.

Jemma scoffed, "You aren't responsible for anything I do! I'm my own person!"

Chris laughed bitterly, "Yeah, I'm not responsible for you. If I was your life would have turned out much better than it's currently going!"

Jemma shrieked, yowling like a cat as she dived for Chris. They both went down against the hardwood with a thump and I jumped to my feet, storming over to them and yanking them apart by their collars.

"Would you two quit it?," I commanded. "You're acting like three year olds!" They both looked at me, Chris looking guilty and Jemma looking enraged.

"He started it," hissed Jemma. "Make the little rat leave."

I glared at her. "Jemma, I met you earlier this morning. I met Chris almost ten years ago. Do you really think that I would pick you over him? If you do you're dead wrong."

Jemma crossed her arms, glaring at Chris. Chris didn't pay her any mind, but instead kept his head lowered.

I sighed and threw them apart, letting them find their footing on their own. I rubbed my brow and turned my back to them both, looking out the window. Honestly, this part of California seemed almost timeless. It looked just like it did in the middle of the summer, and the start of spring, and the end of winter. Flowers bloomed, and the grass was still fresh and crisp. I almost smiled, it was so beautiful. Erin's kind of state. It really is too bad she wasn't here to see it, she would love it. Just like that, my mood went back to forlorn.

I sighed. "Listen, you guys. Erin has been missing for almost a week now. And that's much longer than anyone deserves to be missing from their family. So anytime you'd like to actually cooperate with each other, it's welcome." I leaned against the frame of the window and shoved my hand in my pocket.

I could see Chris' reflection, and he was watching me, looking sad. Slowly, he reached over and shoved Jemma into the desk. She went out with a bang, quite literally.

I turned around and looked at her, she was sprawled on the floor, glaring up at Chris. She slid her leg across the floor, aiming for Chris' ankles, in the hope of knocking him over. But Chris just jumped over her leg, clicking his tongue. "Jemma, Jemma. That's the most basic move in the book! Surely you wouldn't think that I would fall-" Her leg flew back towards him, hitting his leg and sending him flying backward.

A moment after he landed, Chris rolled onto his side, rubbing his tailbone and groaning.

I chuckled and shook my head just as Vanessa walked back into the room.

"Great news, Guys! I-" She stopped in her tracks, seeing Chris and her sister. "What happened in here?" She asked.

"It's a long story," I said.

Vanessa sighed dramatically, "I leave for two minutes."

Vanessa let us stay the night in the house. And, although I was quite used to sprawling rooms and long hallways, I couldn't seem to get comfortable inside of it's walls. I spent the night pacing holes into the room Chris and I were sharing, he had been very insistent on us sharing a room.

When I had been pacing and trying to think for almost the entire night, Chris finally put down his book, which Vanessa had let him borrow from the vast library, and sighed.

"Dean, would you give it a rest? Pacing isn't going to help save Erin. In fact, it'll just make your job a lot harder." He murmured, watching me.

I grunted and walked over to the bed beside his, flopping down on it. "I know, just can't seem to lay down. I'm so worried."

Chris rolled onto his side and looked at me, even though I knew he was completely exhausted. "Dean, Erin is almost fourteen. She's going to be okay, she's she's not she's not too young to fend for herself."

I nodded, even though I still felt awful. "Yeah. That's true."

Chris sighed and stretched, stifling a yawn. "Dude, you have to sleep. I'm going to turn off the light. And you are going to go to sleep. And so am I."

I smiled. "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say." Chris bookmarked his book, and then flicked off the lamp beside him, leaving us in complete darkness.

It was a little comforting, being unable to see. I didn't know what was happening around me. Although usually being in complete darkness and silence scared me, as I thought about just what might be in that darkness. But now it felt relaxing, almost like a large blanket.

I heard Chris lay out on his bed with a sigh, and then the crinkle of his sheets. He shifted around, grunting and hissing through his teeth, but eventually he settled into the mattress.

As I lay flat, listening to Chris' breathing even out and lengthen into short snores, I thought of home. Of my parents and their antics. Of my my grandmother and her endless cigarettes. About my younger brother and his endless wails. Even of my school and the endless drama and world-shattering teasing. And I missed it. I missed the world I had spent my entire life hating with everything inside of me. I pursed my lips, floating in this gratitude and reminiscing. I slowly wrapped myself in the covers as I let my mind wander.

Thoughts floated around in my head, gradually growing dimmer and dimmer as as my body relaxed, and my consciousness faded away.