A C T  T H R E E

"Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise."

Maya Angelou, Still I Rise

WHEN NAOMI WAS THIRTEEN, HER HEART BROKE. The Riverside Dance Academy was dancing the Nutcracker, Naomi's first ever production, for the entire town. It was her first chance at being something great. But, Jessica got the lead instead of her and Naomi always paled in comparison whenever they hit the stage together. It was pointless from there. In that same week, her crush, Daniel, left the Academy and migrated before she ever got the chance to tell him how she felt. Back then, Naomi was convinced her world was falling apart bit by bit and just breathing made her miserable. The same feeling took her under when she found herself in the hospital a few weeks ago, hollowed and meaningless. And now, the feeling was back. Only this time, it wasn't just a feeling. It was something much, much worse.

Saint took the remote and turned off the television.

Naomi wasn't quite sure what to say or do to the expectant faces of The Guise staring back at her. It was as if the past few weeks had collapsed into no time at all and she was back where she began with them. A stranger. A liability. A dangerous unknown variable. Although this time, she supposed, the looks were warranted. Hell, she probably deserved worse. Because the brutal truth that was spinning fouettes in Naomi's mind was that she was the source of their pain, yet she could not soothe it. She was never the solution, only the problem.

Lia went to the couch and leaned on its stained back, using her hands to help prop herself up. Her eyes, like everyone else's eventually moved from Naomi to something innocent and abstract. "It's not just the cops after us anymore. Everyone in Riverside might want to turn us in. That's a lot of money, guys."

Sully grabbed up Naomi's hand and squeezed it. "Just," he smiled brightly, "tell your family that you're not kidnapped. Um, make them take back the reward money."

Lia shook her head. "The police would never accept that. They've wanted us out of their hair for a very long time. This is their Trojan horse."

Saint chimed in, "Even if her parent did drop the charges, you heard him, there's plenty of stuff we're wanted for now."

"So, we're criminals," Chyna exhaled heavily. Her eyes scattered across the room to prevent the tears from running down her face. "We're so screwed." she whimpered.

Saint held her left shoulder. "We're not screwed," he turned to everyone else, "We've always been criminals and we've outsmarted the cops before-"

"We were criminals for vandalism, Saint, " Chyna interrupted. "Not kidnapping. We could seriously go to prison for this."

"We won't go to prison. We can come up with something." Perhaps, on another day, they would have believed him. But not now. Not when his voice was struggling against the rock hard silence making the basement out to be their own little concrete jungle.

Naomi sniffled, wiping away at the wetness under her eyes and nose. She could try to talk her parents out of the whole thing, but would they listen? If she told them she wanted this life, would they let her have it?

The basement settled. "You," Cairo whispered, his stare drifting to Naomi's face before his dead eyes snapped up at her scared ones. "Do you see what you've done?" He stood out of his chair but simultaneously Saint dashed to block him off, a barrier of chest and arms.

Naomi held her elbows and shook her head. "I'm sorry." But the words never made it out.

Cairo didn't stop, though. He was looking over Saint's shoulder and glaring right at her as his voice shivered with indictment. "You caused this. We're all going to prison because of you," Lia tried interrupting him but his loud voice shot down hers, "No, screw that, we're all going to die because of you! You think when they catch us they'll be cuffing us? The second they get the chance they'll be raining down bullets like Armageddon. They'll kill us. Do you understand that?! Do you even care?!" There were tears in his eyes but he wasn't crying. Saint was still trying to whisper some understanding to him but Cairo would not let up.

"We're all dead people." The boy's fingers curled like the very bones were cracking in on themselves and protruding from the skin for sweet release; but then, Cairo straightened his index and stuck it out at her, a direct point to Naomi's chest before Saint grabbed his hand and pushed it back down. "Except you," he spat. Chyna murmured for him to be quiet but he ignored her. "It's always except you. We should have left you on the street. To rot." Cairo stepped backwards and flung his arm out of Saint's grip. He deadpanned at the other boy, his best friend, and shook his head incredulously. "Why do you keep defending her, man?" The corners of his mouth sank. "You're dead too." Cairo retreated into his chair now, the thing idly rolling away with him from the force of his dead weight.

Naomi looked at them again. Chyna was crossing her arms and widening her eyes so her tears were able to dry before escaping and then Naomi remembered that her sister had died from police brutality. Lia and Sully were in too much shock to even flinch and Saint was only just now beginning to look over his shoulder at her. Helplessness in his eye.

Footsteps suddenly came into their space and they all turned, some slower than others, to watch the figure step out into the light. It was Tio. None of them said a word. The defeated look on his face told them, he already knew. "Mijos," he began sadly. For a second, Naomi thought he was there to turn them all in and collect the cash. But instead he said, "You can't stay here. It's not safe."

Cairo got up and sauntered toward him, this time Saint did not interfere. He murmured, "We aren't hurting anyone, Tio" he went closer to the man, shaking a defeated stare, "We were just trying to help."

Tio gathered the boy into his arms and shushed him there. "I know, mijo. I know." He kissed his head and squeezed a little tighter when Cairo struggled out a, "I don't want to die."

At that point, Naomi was sure Cairo was crying. She couldn't see his tears or hear the shaky whimpers but she recognised the internal chaos, even from behind. She was too familiar with such things by now. Everyone else in the basement must have recognized it too because they were all silent, watching his posture erode bit by bit. It was a strange sight to witness too, as if crying and hopelessness were not befitting of the iron Bull, but now in the man's arms he looked like nothing more than a helpless cub. Perhaps that made it all the more gut-wrenching.

"Tio is Cairo's real uncle," Saint said to Naomi. And suddenly it all made sense. Saint turned around before she could comment. "Everyone grab your things. Tio's right, we have to leave."

"Where would we go?" Lia asked.

Saint's jaw worked. "Anywhere that isn't here. We need to leave Riverside. Now."

They all looked amongst themselves, then, pointedly, at Naomi. She still hadn't made her decision yet.

"Don't bother," interrupted Tio, "Mayor Fowley has cops patrolling literally every block. You'll never make it out on a bike. At least, not today."

Chyna finally blinked and faced them all. She clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. "So what do we do then? Where do we go?" she asked.

Tio shrugged."I know a place. It's not much, but I suppose it's safer than here. I'll take you there."

Cairo leaned out of his arms then and looked up at him confusedly. "Where?"

Tio ruffled his nephew's hair. "I have to show you." He looked up to everyone else and there was something grim and hopeless in the set of his eyes. 

"I'm sorry."

It was a delayed apology but it was as fast as her brain and mouth could manage at the same time. She meant it though, and she prayed that much was apparent despite the smallness of her voice. Her eyes glossed over each of them and she saw the opposite of what she saw when she looked at the Morgans. She saw love, compassion, truth. If only they saw those same things in her.

"It's not your fault, mija," Tio said, disrupting the silence and stares. He smiled briefly, a fleeting thing before he told them all, "Get packing. We need to hit the road."

*

The Guise had packed with them anything that they were willing to lug around with. But, that evening, that wasn't much. They already felt a little too weighted to want to bear any extra burdens. They got into Tio's old bus, walking around the back of his taco shop with their hoods up to get there, and looked on in silence. The old thing had all of the back seats taken completely out so everyone ended up slumped on the cold, bare floor of the metal box, except Cairo who took his spot in the passenger seat next to Tio.

For the most part, they travelled in silence, Lia resting on Chyna's shoulders while Sully's head was in Naomi's lap and Naomi and Saint sat wordlessly next to each other feeling the rattle of the bus with every turn and stop. From the front seat, Cairo unsheathed his tablet and began scrolling, letting everyone know that they were trending nationwide. Then he began reading aloud the things he saw...

I only hope they didn't do anything to her. Sending thoughts and prayers to the family. #CaptureTheGuise

And some of y'all really supported them? Whew. #CaptureTheGuise

Naomi Morgan deserves to live a happy life. Those sickos need to be caught! #CaptureTheGuise

"Shut up, Cairo," Saint blurted. "Nobody wants to hear that."

Though no one really looked at her, they didn't have to. Naomi already knew what they were thinking. If she had never joined them, they wouldn't be in this mess. She came with her problems and pulled them down with her. How much trouble was Naomi Morgan truly worth? But what made Naomi's tears so heavy was that she didn't have a way to fix it. She didn't know how to help them and it made her sick.

Cairo kept quiet but the light from his IPad was still bright on his face for the whole ride.

Naomi twirled Sully's hair around her index finger and watched Riverside shy away from her beyond the dusted van windows, the purple tint saturating the intimidation. There were clearly some things that Naomi Morgan was destined to endure forever. This, her intimate cycle of heartbreak, loss and mockery seemed to be one of them. When does it end?

A little closer to dusk, Tio stopped the bus and walked around the back to open up the double doors. He sighed, taking in all of their dishevelled looks as Riverside cracked with life just behind him. "Let's go. Hurry up."

The Guise grabbed everything and leapt out into a mostly empty lot of dust and stone. One single building the size of a barn stood to the back of the land, its red outside walls grimacing into brown. "Where are we?" Lia murmured, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Abandoned warehouse," no one moved right away, then Tio continued, "I know how it sounds, but it's the best thing I've got."

Saint scanned the barbed wire fences lining the property and traced his eyes up the brick red building. "I didn't know there was still any abandoned property in Riverside," he said, trailing Tio.

"There isn't. This place was where I wanted Tio's Taco's to be. Big land, safe atmosphere, away from traffic, but before I could sign anything it was bought out," he pushed open the rotting wooden doors to a sea of darkness, "I don't know who the owner is but they haven't done anything with the place in ten years."

Chyna adjusted her bag strap. "I wonder why."

Saint made a sound as the rest of The Guise followed Tio further into the heart of the clearly deconstructing building. There were cobwebs in every corner and blotches of mid-air.

Leading them further in, Tio continued, "And it's way on the outskirts of Riverside too, so it's your safest bet right now." When stopped walking, everyone dropped what they had in their hands to the floor and spun around. Chyna, however, huffed and took to the floor. She huddled her knees into her chest, her hair still half-way done from earlier and curling outward like a paused explosion around her head.

Cairo embraced Tio in another hug. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Por supuesto, mijo. Te quiero." He looked up at the rest of them. "I will try to find a way to get you out of Riverside but I don't know how long it will take."

"Then what?" Cairo asked. "Become refugees for the rest of our lives?"

No one replied until the sound of Sully rubbing Lia's hand was the only sound fiending back the overwhelming silence. "Thank you, Tio. You've already done so much," Saint answered, ignoring Cairo.

"No, you kids have done much more for this town. I am sorry it has come to this."

Cairo took in the building. It was just black and bare, despite a few haphazardly boarded up windows that let rays of light skim through the particles in the air, reminiscent of the things he and Saint had to sleep in when The Guise was nothing more than two boys running away from home.

Naomi Morgan watched Tio give each of them a hopeful goodbye before dipping out the building and leaving them alone to the dark misery. Relatively speaking, the space was a lot bigger than the basement but Naomi's skin still crawled as if the darkness was too close for comfort like a snake that wanted to swallow her whole and without Tio, she was sure she would be digested soon.

The Guise collapsed to the floor, each individual doing their own fall alongside Chyna as the silence hardened.

Saint was the only one standing. "Guys, come on. Now's not the time to sulk." He fished a phone out of his pocket and switched on the flashlight.

"Turn that thing off," Chyna complained, shielding her eyes.

He pointed it directly at her. "Not until we come up with a solid idea."

"I have an idea," went Cairo. "We turn her in to the police, she convinces them that we've already skipped town and then when they're not looking, we actually skip town."

There was a pause. Sully shrugged. "That's actually not a bad idea, but we can't leave Naomi." The boy glanced at her and smiled. Naomi tried to force one back.

Cairo scoffed. "It's either she leaves or we stay in Riverside. Both can't happen together."

Saint folded his arms. "Yeah, we'll see about that, Cairo."

The boy unrolled his sleeping back and switched on his IPad. "Careful what you wish for."

For the rest of that evening, The Guise remained quiet. It seemed fitting in the dark warehouse where nothing seemed to thrive or grow, and that had included Naomi Morgan. Right now, she felt smaller than she ever had, spinning her head away from all of them, even Saint, to peer into the darkness, wishing it would just take her and never let her go. But even still, she wouldn't want to go without uttering another deep resonant and loud this time, "I'm sorry."

Author's Note

And that, my friends, is the beginning of Act Three!

This week the dedication goes to the one, the only, *drumroll* morganaboulton for staying in my notifications with those votes each time I update! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It means a whole lot to me, you don't even know! Remember if you vote/comment, the next dedication could be you!

So, I wanna hear it right now, readers! What are your predictions for the end of WWW! Sound off in the comments! I want to hear everything because truth be told, there are only nine chapters left readers! How do you think it will all end?

Oh before I go, I have a huge announcement to make! For those of you who didn't already hear, your boy (that's me) is now a Wattpad star!!! Listen, I already raved about it on my profile so go over there and read that but this means A LOT to me. I really never thought this day would ever come. I'm beyond honoured! 

IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

"I have an idea," Naomi blurted.