I had my dad on speed dial, but I didn't have my phone specifically on me. I had left it in the car.

Which is when my brain (that was put on emergency mode) came up with the most reckless yet most helpful idea.

"Adam they're packing their things to move. I left my phone in the car. I need you to go grab it and dial my dad to tell him exactly that."

"Okay," He said, immediately getting up and turning towards the car.

"And tell him that my dumbass got myself caught by the bad guys."

"Wait what-" But I was already running towards the building they were staying.

------------------

Somewhere along the way, Adam stopped calling my name. I had hoped that meant he had given up and gone to the car to call my dad. Which was really important if this was going to work out. Otherwise, I'd have done this for nothing and I'm a goner.

No one was by the truck when I got there. I tucked myself behind it and looked around to see if anyone was out. When I saw no one, I made my way to the door.

My hand went up to grab the handle, but then I stopped.

If this was going to work, I couldn't break into their property. They could use that against me.

So instead, I knocked. I knocked and then I waited, feeling my pulse spread everywhere in anticipation. Then the handle wiggled, and it opened, revealing Marcel on the other side.

He was bigger this close up, a lot bigger than I had realized. I had to swallow my nerves before I spoke.

"Hi," I smiled. "Um, my car ran out of gas on the other side of those trees over there and my phone died. I was just wondering if I could use yours? I just need to call a friend to help me out."

I watched him as he watched me with a blank expression. And then I saw as his eyes flickered with recognition and he let out a single breath of laughter.

He knew exactly who I was. Good.

"Rowena Salone," He says, not hiding the fact at all. He reaches behind his back and his previously empty hands now hold a gun. He brings the barrel up to his face, casually rubbing his forehead with it as if he had an itch. "I know someone who's looking for you. Why don't you come inside? We can all have a little chat."

The smile he gives me is anything but friendly.

------------------

I'm practically thrown down into a chair. Marcel sits down across from me, gun still safe in his grip, and then he takes a deep breath as he slowly looks me up and down.

"You're cute," He says.

"I'm illegal," I shoot back immediately.

"You're eighteen, I've done my research," He smirks and then gives his shoulder a shrug. "Not that it matters anyway, I do lots of things that are illegal." I don't miss the innuendo in his tone. The pit of my stomach churns in disgust.

I don't say anything back. Instead, I silently look around. It's a smaller place than I had thought. The kitchen table that I was sitting at was in the same space as the living room. There were closed doors for what I assumed were bedrooms. At the corner of the room was a staircase that led to the second level. I wondered what was up there.

And then my gaze followed to the living room table. There were drugs there. Lots of drugs. That alone could land them years in prison.

"I know a lot about you Rowena, you and your dad. I know you have a mom who lives out of town. I know that your little boyfriend is Declan Montgomery, and your best friends are Cyrus Rivers, Adam Meyers, and Natalie Griffith. Ooh and that sweet little Natalie. She's just precious isn't she?"

I sit on my hands and try not to grind my teeth. It takes everything in me not to lunge at him. He has a gun, he has a gun, he has a gun. I repeat it to myself over and over.

"What am I doing here?" I ask.

"We're waiting for Gio to come back so I can show him what I caught. It'll be any minute now."

The gun was resting right there on his knee and I became extremely aware of how free my foot was.

All it would take was one kick. I visualized it in my head and then suddenly my imagination became a reality. I brought my foot up and knocked the gun out of his hands. The gun clattered against the floor, sliding halfway across the room.

I moved quicker than he did when he tried to grab me. I ducked out of my chair and then bolted for the gun. He was running up behind me too fast. I knew I couldn't grab it fast enough, so instead, I shoved it away farther by kicking it again.

The action still slowed me down and I felt his grip on my arm. Everything was happening so fast and somehow, I managed to yank myself away.

Every horror/thriller movie I've ever watched had some stupid ass character who ran upstairs instead of out of the door. My horror/thriller movie that starred me meant that I was the stupid ass character who ran up the stairs.

But I had a purpose for that. I needed to be inside the house when dad came because I was now his probable cause.

So when I bolted up the stairs the first thing I did was find a door to get behind. The bathroom had a lock, look for the bathroom, Rowena.

The sound of his footsteps pounding up the stairs gave me anxiety like no other. I saw a bathroom sink through an open door a little more down the hall. I ran as fast I could and swung the door shut behind, quickly flicking the lock in place.

He came up the door not a second later, slamming into it with his body. I jumped back as the door looked like it was going to be ripped from its hinges.

Please hurry dad, please hurry.

"You're not going to like it if I have to knock down this door, girl." He knocked once, then once again, then a third time, then more. Each knock grew heavier and heavier until he was pounding on in. "OPEN UP!"

I moved back from the door until my feet hit the bathtub. I fell down to sit on the edge of it, bringing my hands up to cover the sound of his yelling and beating on the door.

A yelp escaped me when the door flew open, the handle punching a hole into the wall as it crashed open.

He stood there breathing heavy and when he smirked, all my limbs went numb.

But then a flash of a practice jersey flew past, taking Marcel with it. I heard the thump of two bodies crashing to the ground. There was a struggle.

And then I saw another practice jersey zoom past, this one looking strangely like Cyrus. 

The confusion I felt brought feeling back into my legs as I got up from the edge of the bathtub and walked to the door, sticking my head out to see what was happening.

The practice jerseys made sense now. Because one did belong to Cyrus and the other belonged to Declan.

Marcel worked quickly through his confusion, shoving Declan off of him with all the strength he had. He was shoved back into a wall and Marcel was about to lunge at him. Then Cyrus cut in and kicked him back to the floor with his soccer cleats.

He was too big, I thought. And he has a gun.

But then I remembered he didn't. The gun was still downstairs.

"Rowena, get out of here!" Declan yelled. "Your dad's coming, go wait outside."

Not yet Declan. I ran downstairs for the gun. I climbed down the last step just as Adam came running through the door.

"Where are they?" He asked.

"Help me find the gun. I kicked it somewhere," I told him. He only frowned but he moved quickly. He went to one side of the room and I went to the other.

What lasted maybe ten seconds felt like a lifetime. I found the gun right under a coffee table. I reached down to get it.

Only a tight grip in my hair stopped me from reaching it. I was yanked back so hard I thought my hair would rip right out of my scalp. The pain tore a scream out of me as my back slammed into a chest.

I knew who it was before he even spoke. Giovanni gripped my jaw with his other hand and leaned down into my ear. "Fool me one fucking time, Rowena. That's all you get."

A/N: I finished typing this chapter and then threw my laptop across the room. And that's on making myself nervous.

Thanks for reading I'll be updating again soon !