Polly's heart was in her throat, panic washing over her body in an instant. She had nothing to say to her uncle on the phone, and it was Gryphon who was shaking her, trying to figure out what was suddenly wrong.

When she wouldn't answer, he called for help.

His hands found her cheeks. "Polly? What is it? What did your uncle want?" He tried to make eye contact with her, but she was looking off into the distance, trying to collect her thoughts. Trying to understand why her parents would do this to her.

"My parents..." she trailed off.

Kenzie burst into the room. "What? What is it? What's wrong with her? Why are your hands on her cheeks like that?" She swatted away his hands so she could hold Polly's face in her own hands. "Polly, c'mon. Talk to me."

Tanner stood in the doorway, a strange feeling in his chest at the sight of Gryphon with his hands on Polly's cheeks like that. As if they were about to kiss. He didn't like the tightness in his chest, or the nasty feeling he got because of it.

Polly looked at Kenzie. "Home. I have to go home."

Kenzie slowly got Polly off of the bed. "Alright, we'll get you home. Why do you have to go home?"

Her entire body trembled as Kenzie held her, and Polly dug around to find the right words to say. But her mind was shutting down, and her heart was pounding in her chest, and fear was worming its way up her spine and into her hair and seeping into her skull.

The tears rushed down her cheeks immediately. "My parents... my parents want me back."

The entire way back to her uncle's house was a blur. Kenzie and Minny helped her up, half-carrying her to the car in the driveway because Polly couldn't make her legs move right, and she couldn't seem to gather control of her emotions or her body.

Tanner, Gryphon, Lennard, and Tom stayed behind, watching with fascination as they packed Polly into the car. But fascination turned to fear when Tanner realized that Polly living with her parents, in an entirely different state, meant she would no longer be able to help them on a campaign.

"What are we going to do without her?" Tanner wanted to go with them, but Kenzie and Minny were perfectly clear that they should be the only ones with Polly right now, and they were right. Kenzie and Minny were her two closest friends; it only made sense.

Lennard didn't know how to answer, and so he didn't. He watched as Polly disappeared out of sight around the corner in the driveway, leaving all of their lives in an instant. In the car, Polly was panicking, her body was shaking, and she was losing her mind. The thought of living with her parents again worried her. How will they treat me?

Kenzie was driving, so Minny had to console her, which Kenzie wasn't happy about. She'd much rather her arms around her girlfriend. Instead, Minny was holding the blonde to his chest tightly, rocking her back and forth.

"Polly, we're here for you, no matter what happens. No matter where you go. We're here."

She wanted to believe those words. She truly did. But when they pulled up to the house, it wasn't the three of them anymore. They weren't invincible. They were just kids, young enough to still live under their parents' roofs and not be able to escape it all.

Outside her uncle's house, police swarmed the property. Seeing a police cruiser on the property was normal, due to her uncle's job, but this was different. Seeing her uncle in handcuffs certainly wasn't the norm.

Polly burst out of the car. "What is going on? Why are you in handcuffs?"

Her uncle struggled briefly against the restraints, wanting to hold his crying niece. "I'm being accused of kidnapping, Polly. But don't worry, they won't get away with it. You weren't kidnapped; they don't have a case."

At the word they, Polly made eye contact with her own parents. They were smiling, looking happy to see their child, as though they were finally reuniting. But Polly wasn't about to fall into that trap, not again, not when she'd tasting what freedom and happiness tasted like.

She turned to an officer, pleading. "Please don't send me back with them! They're abusive! They've hurt me before. I can't go back with them."

Two sets of hands on her shoulders made her jump, and the smell of her mother's perfume filled her nose. "Can't you see our daughter is so traumatized by this kidnapping? We'd like to take her home, now. To her legal home, since she's still seventeen."

Polly looked at Minny and Kenzie, saying a silent goodbye. She loved them both, and the thought of leaving them behind to finish her senior year in another school freaked her out. She looked at Kenzie and her flaming pink hair and her badass attitude. Her usual defensive facial expression was softened into sadness and fear. Beside her, Minny stood, looking strange with his hair hair growing out of it's buzz cut from before. His hands were in his brightly colored cuffed pants, and he too looked sad and afraid. The matching expressions on Minny and Kenzie told Polly that this situation was worse than she imagined.

There was no them. Now it was Polly on one side, and Kenzie and Minny on the other. Soon to be states away from each other, with no real way to contact each other. Because Polly knew that the moment she got home, her phone would no longer be hers.

She looked to the police officers. "Please don't let them do this to me. They sent me to an abusive camp for years! They don't care about me, not like my aunt and uncle do!"

It was futile. There was no fighting anyone in this situation, and Polly was being pushed into her old family's car, sitting in the backseat like a prisoner being taken to jail. She certainly felt that way about the situation.

"Now that we have you back in our house," her mother started, not turning to face her, "things will have to change. No more being on the television. No more speeches. No more telling anyone anything. You won't even be attending school; we've hired a private tutor for the rest of your senior year. You won't be leaving the house. Period."

Polly felt her blood boiling at the thought of being locked away, in her old house, with no one around. "You can only do that until I turn 18."

Her mother turned around this time. "Little, little Polly. By the time you turn 18, the elections will be over. And there is very little damage you can do, then. Tanner's father will be elected, and all the gays will go to the camps, where they belong. Including you, since everyone knows your sexuality. We'll happily turn you over to them again."

Her face paled, and her body stilled. This was her worst fear coming to life, all over again. Being back in those camps. Suffering. Watching other people suffer. She tightened her hands into fists. "Why are you doing this to me again? Why did you bring me back here?"

It was her father that spoke this time. "Polly, we told you in the Principal's office. You're ruining our reputation. But now that you're back, we can do damage control and fix everything. And you will become the perfect daughter again. Church every Sunday, youth group three nights a week. A perfect little church girl."

She wanted to spit at him. She wanted to strangle him. Her fight or flight instincts were kicking in, and flight wasn't an option in this scenario.

"I will ruin the both of you."

Both of her parents laughed. "We'd like to see you try."

* * *

Sorry for the late-ish update. 

And it's kinda short... whoops. But now, there will only be a few more chapters until the entire series ends. Isn't that wild? I can HARDLY believe it!!

I plan to finish this story by the end of the Summer. Fingers crossed.

If you're interested in reading the first three chapters of my new book (being released January 2018) then go give my blog a follow! 

https://wickedpromisesblog.wordpress.com

If you already have a wordpress account, please follow my blog and then comment below what your email is (or message it to me). That way I can send you the PDF <3

Love you all, and Happy Tuesday!! XOXO