*****

"I can't believe she would do that! How dare she?" I chuckled as Claire ranted on about what some girl did to her at her track practice earlier as she ate a bag of chips.

I didn't do any sports; I was usually in the library all afternoon and if I wasn't, I was with my friends because they didn't have any type of practice or lecture at the moment. It wasn't that I hated sports or anything... it was that I was probably physically incapable of running even fifteen meters without tripping over my own feet. But hey, I was still pretty healthy and fit because my roommate always dragged me to the gym with him saying he needed a spotter. As long as there was no running involved, I was good.

"That looks heavy." I shot a glare at Shiloh when he joined us while we were walking across the clearing towards the parking lot. Being the kind of friend he was – and obviously Claire as well – he didn't bother offering any help aside from his comment.

"Yeah? I didn't notice." I muttered sarcastically as I moved my arm around the books in my arms trying, unsuccessfully, to make it easier to carry.

My backpack was already filled so there was no extra room for these books, but I was hell bent on only making one trip to the car.

"You have heard of the internet, haven’t you?" Shiloh kept poking at me.

"I prefer more reliable means of study then celebrity pictures captioned with fake quotes from historical figures." I replied. He chuckled as Claire laughed.

"You're coming to James' tonight, right?" He asked.

"No, I have an assignment to finish." I said.

"When is it due, Alex?" he gave me a flat look. I gave him a tight, guilty smile in response. Let's just say I didn't have to finish it today, but I preferred getting things done as soon as possible, "Come on, Man, even the girls are coming. You never take a night off!" he said.

"I'll take nights off when I graduate." I shrugged.

"Yes, two years from now, amazing. No wonder you can't find a guy." I shot him a glare.

"He's right, you know." Claire waved a chip at me. "How is anyone supposed to fall for your adorable face when they never even see you?"

"Adorable? Really? You couldn't find a better word?" I frowned at her before I rolled my eyes. "I don't need anyone." I said.

"Ha." Claire began laughing. "Shiloh, tell him." She looked at Shiloh.

"Man, you need to get laid. Everyone can see that. You practically fricking radiating stress and obviously that stress is not academic or financial." Shiloh said running his eyes over me.

I felt my face burn as both my best friends stared at me waiting for my reply.

"Uh... I'll- I'll see you guys on Monday. Tell AJ I send my regards, Claire." I said talking about the guy she was currently seeing.

They both groaned. "See, you can't even speak like a normal person anymore! You have no social skills!" Claire cried out.

"Alex, help us, help you." Shiloh said taking my shoulders and looking at me seriously. I laughed twisting out of his grip.

"See you guys later," I said seeing my roommate waiting for me at his car.

"Wait, let's see something –" Shiloh ran over to my roommate, Jordan's car, "Hey, J. Quick question. What will you be doing tonight?" he asked as they fist-bumped.

"Party at James'” Jordan said as he fist-bumped my hand after I placed the books on the backseat before hugging Claire. Shiloh turned to me giving me a pointed look at the answer and Jordan laughed, "Another night in? You cannot be serious, Alexander!" He said to me. I rolled my eyes at the use of my entire name because they rarely called me that.

"You're wasting your life!" Shiloh cried.

"By not getting drunk and grinding against random people I don't know before heading to a random room, well, if we're lucky enough for it to be a room, to do-the-dirty and possibly – no, actually, probably – get an STI I haven't even heard of?" I asked.

“'Do-the-dirty'?” Jordan stared at me like I was some type of alien before he turned away from me, "Are you guys sure he's male? Are you sure he's even human? Because I'm not." He said to our friends.

"Neither are we." Claire shook her head. She didn't sound like she was joking.

"And we're highly starting to doubt it." I kissed my teeth frowning at my friends, "See you later, Jordan. Enjoy your weekend of solitude, Alex." Shiloh patted my back before Claire hugged me saying her goodbye. I waved at them climbing into the car before Jordan and I began to make our way home.

We lived in a two-bedroom apartment not that far from our college. Jordan worked in sales most weekends and when he had days off from school to pay his half of the rent, even though his father offered to pay it for him (Jordan would always say something about being 'independent') while I used the money I had inherited from my parents after they passed. I would work but I wanted to focus solely on school.

The ride home consisted of him relaying stories about basketball practice and trying, unsuccessfully, to convince me to join them at James' later.

When we got home, I went straight to my room and threw most of my clothes off leaving me in just my boxers before I walked back down to the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge along with the last bag of cheese puffs from the cupboard and then I walked out and jogged my way upstairs towards Jordan's room.

"How do I look?" I shook my head before I ran my eyes over him. He was a little bit bulkier than I was; his blue and black stripped shirt clung to him slightly. He wore a black jean and high-top sneakers that looked like they had never seen the sidewalk before, but most of his shoes did despite him having worn them outside.

"Honestly? The same as always." I admitted.

"Alex." He frowned at me. I chuckled.

"Woman won't be able to keep their clothes on when they look at you." I almost rolled my eyes as I said that.

"That doesn't help, I know they won't no matter what I wear." He said. We laughed as he grabbed his car keys, "Don't have too much fun." He gave me a blank stare, his voice laced in sarcasm.

"I'll try not to." I grinned. He sighed throwing his eyes toward the ceiling before he looked back at me.

"Alex, you really ought to get out more. I'm serious, I'm worried about you." He looked concerned, it only lasted for a second before he added, "Don't expect me back tonight." He smirked as he winked and left.

I turned and made my way back to the kitchen finishing what was left of the puffs in the bag. I was still starving so I tossed the packet into the bin and I looked through the cupboards cursing silently at the fact that Jordan and I had been too busy, and lazy, to actually buy any groceries. I knew I would be too lazy to cook right now anyway.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was just after five and figured I would just order something in a few minutes. With that, I went upstairs and sorted my books out before deciding to just read over the assignment I had gotten earlier. What I thought would be a few minutes of reading later resulted in being a few hours of research, and the only reason I stopped doing work was because my head was starting to ache because of my hunger.

It was almost eight when I gave in to my hunger and dropped my pen on my book with a groan. I considered ordering food again but figured a walk would do me some good as I had been sitting for the past few hours and all day in school before that. I got dressed into what I had been wearing earlier and pulled a jacket over my long sleeved t-shirt because it looked windy outside.

The store was a fifteen minute walk away from my apartment and it closed at nine. I left shoving my phone into my pocket as I walked along the side walk. I pulled the box of cigarettes from my pocket and lit one. It was a bad habit I picked up after my parents died and I began stealing cigarettes from our gardener because it relieved me a little at the time. According to my friends I had quit smoking a while ago. I only had one now and then so it wasn't that bad of an addiction. I would actually stop… sometime.

Jordan and I lived in a pretty middle-class neighbourhood. The houses weren't that big but most were taken care of so it looked quite clean. The paving, amongst other things, needed to be re-done but it was good enough to still look good from a distance and it was safe to walk on.

There were not many cars moving around so I watched as one car drove by me, it was a white van. Looked like a delivery truck with its windows painted the same colour as the rest of the car. What was a delivery truck doing at night passing through the middle of a city? That made no sense because there was an easier way past this part of the city without as many turns and stops... Well, it had no logo so maybe it was not a company vehicle. I promptly forgot about it when it disappeared around a corner, focusing on getting out of the wind as I walked by the park and a few more houses before I reached the store.

I bought the stuff I wanted along with a few things I knew Jordan liked eating before I left to make my way back home. I had just reached the park when my eyes fell on a fluffy little white thing scurrying around not that far from me.

"Sammy?" I called. The dog immediately looked at once she heard her name and barked happily as she ran over to me. I chuckled kneeling down to give her a pat, the tag on her neck proved it was Sammy, our neighbour's dog. I chuckled guessing that that the small dog had snuck under the fence gain. Our elderly neighbour, Mrs Davids hated when she did that. "Bad girl." I mumbled with a smile as she kept jumping against me trying to get on my lap.

I decided to take her home but as I reached to pick her up, she went running into the road.

"Sammy –" I jogged after her following her into the park. "Sammy, come back here –" I stopped as I found myself in front of a foam factory as she ran in past the gate. I tried to call for the dog but I was cut off by the sound of screeching tyres.

I dropped my groceries as I jumped to the side just as the white van from earlier came speeding out of the factory. It had slowed for a second when its lights had landed on me and swerved. I cried out as loud shots went off before the van swerved and fell onto its side. I stood frozen for a few seconds watching as its door fell open letting brown bags fall out into the street, some broke as they hit the ground and sent a puff of white smoke all over the road. I was completely shocked by the scene in front of me, but I was jerked out of my shocked trance when I heard shouting.

I quickly moved to hide behind a tree and held my breath praying that no one had seen me, but I knew the driver of the van probably had. I had not seen him get out though, so I was okay for the moment.

"Make one move. I dare you." My heart pretty much stopped as a voice came from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see a guy standing with a gun in his hand pointing it right at my forehead.

I lifted me hands shaking my head as I looked back in front of me. I didn't trust my voice but I felt the need to speak, "I-I- " I cried out as his gun met my temple.

"Shut up. Move." He shoved me making me step out from behind the tree into the view of the white van.

I watched as someone tried to climb out of the van only to get shot in his head, his body flinging back and hitting the side of the car. I felt myself shaking while I watched as he slid back into the car leaving bright red streaks of blood on the white pain before more shots were fired at it.

I covered my ears, jumping as the man behind me fired a shot and it hit one of the people that had shot the truck. I heard curses and yelling around me and I glanced behind me contemplating running. He was distracted by them, but if I ran; chances are I would get shot in the back.

"You're fucking dead!" I heard someone shout from behind the factory walls.

"I'll kill your friend!" The man behind me shouted. He thought I was with them!

"I-I'm not –" I cried out as he slammed his gun into the back of my head.

"Shut up!" No. There was no way I was dying. Not after everything I had been through. Not yet.

"You're dead either way, Rick." A shot fired and I took advantage of the temporary distraction when he fired back.

I turned and shoved his arm further out of my line before I kicked him in his gut. I grabbed the his hands as he fell over and stepped on his wrist so he let the gun go before I turned to point it at him as I stumbled to back away.

"Stay – stay where you are –" My voice cracked, hands shaking so badly as I held the warm metal that I could see gun point moving off target.

I wasn't going to shoot him; I just needed to scare him so I could run. I just needed him to stay still long enough for me to get away.

"Wait – wait – I'll let you go." He looked at me holding his hands up as he got to his feet slowly. We were still hidden from the factory walls behind the tree.

I held the gun tighter trying to stop my shaking. "Stay! Don’t move!" I shouted. The sound of sirens made me tense up and I saw his hand move to his side and grip another gun.

I shut my eyes as an ear-piercing shot went off that sent a harsh jolt through my arms into the rest of my body and I felt warm liquid spray onto my face. I let out a croak as I the gun dropped from my trembling hands before I brought them to my face seeing him on the ground. I shot him. I shot him! Oh god. No. No. What did I do?! There were more of them – and the police. I needed to get away before I was spotted.

I turned and began running only to get speared into the grass of the park from behind making me fall face-first onto the ground painfully. I felt him kick into my side causing me to roll over before he knelt on my chest while I groaned and tried to breathe beneath him, "Who do you work for?!"

"N- No one! No one! I-I – I don't know – I didn't see anything, please – I-I promise I won't tell anyone –" I let out a panicked sob shutting my eyes as I felt a gun against my forehead. "Please – please –"

"Clyde, kill him! We need to move." I heard a car hoot loudly.

I was certain I was dead, but he did not immediately shoot me and I swallowed as I opened my eyes to look at the man above me. My breath caught in my throat as I saw his face. I had seen him before, just outside of my school... He smirked running his eyes over my face and I realised he recognised me as well. "He might actually be useful though." He muttered.

Before I could begin to think about what that meant by that, he lifted his gun to smash it into my head.

*****

*****

I felt a painful pounding in my temple and I tried not to groan as I moved my head, my neck feeling stiff and the movement making me sick. What the hell happened?

"He's awake." The fact that I didn't recognise the voice made my eyes shoot open and I got up way too fast. The room spun around me and I groaned rubbing my temple gently while I blinked trying to see clearly through my dizzy haze.

"Sit down." I felt my breath catch at the voice. I looked up and saw the guy from the park beside a couple of other people. The same guy from my outside my school. He must have had knocked me out. I froze as everything that happened came back to me. The gun... I shot that man... I shot someone. Was he…? Did I…?

I opened my mouth but not a sound left it. What was I doing here? Who were all these men?

"Did he stutter?" I looked at a man across the room. He stood against a table with his arms crossed over his chest. One look at him and I knew he ran this entire thing – whatever the hell this was. He just seemed to command the room with his presence and he was not even trying.

"No, I..." My eyes drew back to the man in front of me as his fingers moved and I watched them clench around his gun. I sat down slowly, my eyes never moving from the pistol.

"That man you shot last night is dead." The guy used his gun to motion to me. I looked down and cringed at the blood all over my jacket as dizzying sickness filled my stomach and tightened my chest. I didn't mean to. I didn't want to kill him... I just… needed to get away before he could kill me…

What if he had a family? Children? What if that was just him trying to provide and I took that all away? I cringed. I knew what it felt like to have your parents taken from you; I could not imagine doing that to someone else. What have I done?

"I didn't intend to –" I began.

"You killed someone." He cut me off, "Be it by accident or not, the cops won't care seeing those drugs on the street. You're going to be put away for a long time, boy." He said playing with his gun in his hand.

I swallowed trying to breathe. I could not think clearly past the worry in my mind and the bile in my throat at the fact that I had killed someone, the fact that I was covered in someone’s blood. I tried to urge myself to calm down. I wouldn't be in this if it wasn't for them. I wouldn't have killed someone if it wasn't for them. And now he was going to stand there and try to intimidate me with his gun?

"Given that there were no witnesses and it's my word against yours: I'll take my chances." I said confidently, pretending that the fact that if his hand just tilted up and his finger twitched I would be killed didn't bother me.

"Take your chances?" he chuckled.

"You think –" I looked back to the man who had been leaning against the desk; he was walking towards me, "this can't buy witnesses – and cops?"

I watched as he threw a roll of money on my lap. I swallowed clenching my teeth.

"Now shut your mouth and listen to my man Clyde, alright? Because I'm really not looking forward to having this couch look like your jacket, I just bought it." He said walking away from me.

"So here's the deal uh – your name is?" Clyde raised his brows at me.

I kept quiet. Like hell I was going to tell them who I was. I wanted nothing more to do with these people.

"Let me rephrase that: tell us your fucking name." My head moved back as his gun touched my forehead.

"Alex – Alexander." I stuttered looking down as he moved his gun, too scared to realise I should not have told them my real name, I had just said the first thing that came into my mind.

"Right, Alex. Here's the deal: you will be our dealer at your school and in return, I'll keep these bullets out of your skull." He waved his gun and my eyes drew to his face.

"Skull?" I frowned. Just my skull?

"Your body." He rolled his eyes. I clenched my teeth balling my fists on my legs.

"Dealer? Y-you mean sell – sell drugs?" I asked.

"No, sell cards." He rolled his eyes again.

I looked back down. How did I end up here? I had never done anything wrong up until last night. I studied, had always been a top student. I never hurt anyone... unless they messed with someone I loved.

"We'll take that as a yes." Clyde said at my silence.

It was drugs, jail or death. What kind of twisted decision was that? They all practically meant the end of my life.

"And... and if I get caught?" I didn't have a choice here, but doing what they wanted would be putting my entire future at risk...

"On purpose? I'm sure you know jail's not a very nice place for a decent boy like you, add my gang to that mix and you're going to be wishing you were on the other side of that barrel last night." I kissed my teeth as the leader spoke, "Your room is upstairs." He added.

"My – my room?" I looked up shocked, "You can't – you cannot keep me here." I said panicking slightly.

"Until we trust that you understand enough to be sent back to school without running your mouth, you will be kept here."

"Back to school? Look, I'm not going to tell anyone about your fucking shit –" I cried out as I received a blow to my head from Clyde's gun and lifted my hands in an attempt to block any other swings but he spoke instead of swinging again.

"Your life is in our hands, have some fucking respect, Kid." He said.

I swallowed shifting further away from him slightly on the couch I was on.

"How long?" I glared at the leader, "If I do this, how long do I have to?"

"As long as I want you to." He shrugged before looking at his watch, "Ben." He looked across the room to someone behind me before he walked out followed by everyone except Clyde.

"Get up." Clyde pointed his gun at me like I would even consider attacking him, I was not stupid; I did what he said and he shoved me towards the door.

"You don't have to push me; I'm not the one that's armed." I hissed at him as I began to walk out of the room.

His response was giving me another hard shove in my back making me stumble up the stairs. I grit my teeth as we reached the top and he shoved me towards a room down the hall before he opened the door.

"This is your room." He pushed me into it.

I shot him a glare and reached into my pockets but my hand clasped around a box too small and thick to be what I was looking for.

"Where's my phone?" I looked back at him.

"’Fuck you need a phone for?" He frowned.

"To call my friends and tell them I'm alright before police come looking for me." I glared at him.

He rolled his eyes but he reached into his pocket and chucked his phone at me. I caught it and sighed. Luckily I knew Jordan's number out of my head. I dialled it while Clyde stood playing with his gun's safety while it was aimed at me. I wanted to finish the call quickly so he would leave me alone.

"Jordan, who is this?" Jordan's voice sounded into my ear.

"Hey, it's –" I began.

"Alex, you went out?" he cut me off. “Whose phone are you calling from?”

"Sort of. My phone’s dead, I'll be visiting someone for a while; it's kind of an emergency, so I won't be home soon." I said.

"'Someone'? Who? There are no emergencies around me or any of the others. You didn't even give me a heads up. Do you know how fucking worried I was when I could not reach you seeing that some people got killed not that far from our house last night?"

Since my mother and father had been my only family, I had no family to visit. Well, except Jordan, Claire and Shiloh's families. They were sort of like my family, I mean Jordan's mother was pretty much my own. She would obsess over me when I was sick, call to check up on me once a week and pester me about my grades. I guess Jordan really was like my own brother.

"I know, I'm sorry. It really is an emergency. Look, I was just calling to tell you I'm fine. Could you relay this to... uh... the others." I glanced at Clyde to see him smirking as he watched me.

"Why do you sound like you're speaking in code?" Jordan chuckled. "Fine, I'll tell them. But you have to promise to come to Sarah's birthday in a few weeks." He said. Sarah was his cousin; she would be having a massive birthday bash to celebrate her 21st birthday at the beach.

"What? You know that's not going to happen." I said.

"Then relay the message yourself, Alexander." He said, I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Damn it. Fine." I hissed, "I'll be there." I really didn't know how the hell I would be there.

"Great. See you at school." He chuckled.

"Whatever." I hung up pretty mad at him. I tossed Clyde's phone back at him and he caught it.

"You're pretty dumb if you think I haven't seen you with your friends." He said.

"Don't you have something to smoke or someone to hurt or bully to make your miserable life look meaningful or at least a little better to you?" I asked glaring at him. He chuckled.

"A mouth like that is going to get you pretty beat up in this house." He said sliding his phone into his pocket before he turned to leave.

"Wait, what am I supposed to do now?" I asked. He gave me a look that clearly said, 'I don't care' before he disappeared into the hallway.

I grit my teeth and turned to look at the window, but to my dismay it had bars across it. If I left, I would have to leave university because they knew I went there. If I stayed, they would let me keep going, as long as I sold crap for them. How the hell was I supposed to sell it anyway? I knew less about drugs than I did parties and that was saying something. I had never done or touched anything even remotely illegal before.

I ran my eyes over the room looking for some sort of weapon. If I was leaving this room, I was NOT leaving it empty handed. The room was pretty empty. It had a bed, wardrobe, a night stand on either side of the bed and a dresser, the walls were painted a pale white but there was nothing to decorate anything or make it look like this was someone’s personal bedroom. Breaking the mirror on the dresser would make too much noise and I could not take out the light bulb...

Walking into the bathroom that the room was attached to, I stopped when I saw that it was connected to another room by a door on the other side. I frowned at the thought that I would be sharing with someone, was it another person they kidnapped?

I walked over to the door and tried to open it but it was locked so I turned to continue my search for a weapon and ran my eyes over the bathroom; it had a smell to it. It smelt like aftershave and strong cologne, definitely a male's bathroom that had been used recently. I walked over to the medicine cabinet and pulled it open. It was filled with the usual things, including one toothbrush which I assumed was not for me, and shaving razors.

I grabbed the razor and unclipped it so the blades were detachable and slid one onto my palm, it would only be effective in close combat but I would just have to work with that. After hiding the rest of the razor above the cabinet, I shut the cabinet and frowned as I came face-to-face with myself and my eyes were drawn to the blue on my temple. I lifted my hand but hissed when my fingers brushed over it. That asshole... I cringed as the man's face shone in my mind with the gunshot wound to his head and ran my hands over my face to cover it.

Stop thinking about it, it was self defence.

You killed him!

I didn't mean to!

Yeah, well, bullets to the head have that effect on people.

I shook my head covering my ears despite the vice being in my mind. I cannot think about that now, I need to focus on right now. I walked out of the bathroom back into 'my' room and out of it into the hallway. My eyes searched the hall for someone else before I made my way downstairs, slowly, with the blade in my hand.

I kept searching for movement or sound as I made my way through the house looking for an exit. I didn't really know what I was doing, I was just moving.

I let out a cry when I was suddenly shoved before I turned and threw my hand across whatever had shoved me. I heard a painful scream and froze realising I had actually cut someone. I didn't plan on actually using the blade when I had taken it; just threaten to, besides, having it made me feel somewhat safer. I let out a grunt as something smashed into my stomach sending me to my knees before a boot stepped on my hand forcing me to drop the blade as my fingers began feeling painfully crashed under the weight put on the shoe while I received another kick and then another.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

The kicking stopped instantly.

"Fuck, Ben, take care of your face." I looked up and saw that I had cut him, Ben, horizontally on his face, going across his nose. He was bleeding quite heavily as he tried to cover it and for a second I was horrified that if I had sliced higher I would have blinded him but I was drawn back to my position as I received a kick to my temple from one of the two men that had been kicking me causing me to cough. "Stop that." My eyes shifted to the man from earlier, their leader, "Can't you behave?" he frowned down at me. I didn't reply as I tried to move my hand from under the man's shoe but it only pressed down harder and I hissed. "Well, until you decide to, you will be in your room." He knelt down to me before he pulled a syringe from his jacket.

"No – wait – what is that –?" I tried to move way but my chest was stepped on pinning me further to the floor, "No, no, don't – get the hell away from me –" I heard some chuckles before I felt a needle poke into my neck and the leader emptied the syringe into my blood.

In just a few seconds while I worried about what dug he could have possibly just put into me, I felt woozy before everything became a colourful blur and then went black.

*****

*****

I groaned slightly as I rolled over. My stomach still hurt. I opened my eyes to find the room I was in dark, the curtains were left open and I could see a street lamp just outside. I sat up groaning as my stomach growled. I had not gotten a chance to eat the previous night... Or I thought the park scene had happened the previous night, I didn't know how long I had been out. I got up and walked over to the door before I tried to open it but it was locked.

Right. I expected that after cutting that guy like that…

What did behave even mean? I wasn't a fricking dog or a child... I was almost twenty... I sighed letting my hand drop. I was so hungry it was making my head pound as my stomach ached. I looked at the bathroom and walked over to it praying that the other door was now unlocked. I stopped when I walked into the bathroom and I heard a running shower. My eyes drifted to the wall the shower was behind and I stepped back a little. Who was that?

I walked over to the other door and tried to open it, it opened easily. I frowned. Why hadn't this person locked my door if they were in the bathroom? I decided to think about that later as I walked into the other bedroom and stopped once I entered it.

It was considerably larger than mine. It was decorated in black, grey and green. I smiled seeing a hint of orange here and there, this was definitely professional work. I gasped spotting a chair that hung from the ceiling. Jordan and I always wanted our living room to look like that but his mother would never let us. She said we were renting and couldn't destroy the apartment, mirroring what our landlord said. Neither could we destroy her house by putting a couple there...

I walked across the room and pushed the chair gently making it swing slightly. I was contemplating taking a seat but I got distracted by the alarm clock. It was a sphere shaped digital clock, it had the world map on it. I walked over to it and touched it. I smiled as it zoomed into Uruguay and it lit up. Wow, I need to get me one of these...

"What are you doing?"

I jumped back surprised and turned to see the man from the room... the leader. I froze as I realised he was wearing just a white towel around his waist. My eyes were glued to him for a few seconds as they studied the contrast the tattoos on his arms and chest made against his golden brown skin. He was pretty built, more than Jordan so definitely more than me. I felt slight envy at the eight pack he had compared to my... well... I was getting toned, okay? Even if you couldn't see it yet. I really should listen to Jordan and intensify my workout regime... and take it seriously...

Wait. He asked me a question. I should answer. Why the hell am I checking him out anyway? Well, they kidnapped me but that doesn't make him any less good looking. It does however make him dangerous; I should be checking him out from as far away as possible. No. I could find better people to check out. People that aren't delinquents or kidnappers. People on my level. Yes, I have a level and it was above his – and any of the people that lived in or worked in this house.

Fuck. Alexander. Answer him!

"I –"

"It really does not matter, get out." He said.

I opened my mouth but shut it before I scoffed. "I would love to 'get out' but you threatened my life."

He rolled his eyes. "Of my room. Get out of my room." He said frowning at me. "The one you woke up in will be yours." I had known that already, Clyde had showed me to it already but I guess this guy did not know that.

"I have to share a bathroom with you?" I looked at him.

"You have that privilege." He smirked.

I grimaced before I shook my head and attempted to walk by him to go back to the other room but he caught my arm.

"Where do you live?" he asked. I snorted in response, he rolled his eyes. "I have no intention of robbing you or any of the shit you have going through your head. I figured you would need clothing, but be my guest and wear that for as long as you want." He said.

I opened my mouth but a knock on the door silenced me. "Sergio, Aaron called, says he needs to meet an hour earlier. Can I confirm that?" A man's voice came. I recognised it as Clyde's.

"Do I have an appointment at eight?" The guy in front of me – Sergio – asked.

"No."

"Confirm then." He said. We heard shuffling outside as Clyde retreated before he looked at me, "Breakfast is in twenty minutes, after that Clyde will have someone teach you a few things. But get cleaned up before that, because this might not be your usual scene of law and medical students, but we still have standards." He said before he let my arm go. Breakfast? So the park had been two days ago and I had been out all of yesterday. "The faster you learn to behave and understand what you need to do, the quicker you will be back at school."

"I need to go to school, you cannot keep me here." I glared at him.

"Oh, then you better keep razors out of people's faces, Alexander and learn to stop being so smart-mouthed and keep your mouth shut." I frowned as my name left his mouth while he smirked. He made it sound odd...

I shook my head and walked out of his room back into the bathroom, his door immediately shut behind me and I sighed.

I walked back into the room I had woken up in and frowned. I really didn't want to shower. I couldn't let myself be that vulnerable while surrounded by these people. I had to find a weapon first. I looked at my bedroom door wondering if it was still locked before I tried to pull it open and it worked. I walked into the hall but stopped as I almost bumped into someone.

"Good morning, Kid." I looked at Clyde's face before my eyes fell to the towel in his arms. On top of it was a toothbrush still in the package, amongst other toiletries.

"So, let's say I do this and I don't get caught," Because I was so great at keeping secrets. Pffft. "When do I get out?"

"Sergio already answered that." He shoved the things into my chest causing me to lift my arms to catch it, "Breakfast is downstairs."

I glared at his back as he walked away before I drew in a breath and looked at my hands as they clutched the towel and my mind drifted back to the dark park and that man lying on the ground causing my chest to tighten as my throat closed up again.

I hope he had no family... I hope he was sick and was going to die anyway...

I sighed. It didn't matter. Nothing was going to take the guilt away anyway.

-----

I looked around cautiously as I made my way through the house. I could smell eggs and heard laughing as well as a TV, I also heard a woman giggling. All the sounds were from different rooms. I decided to follow the smell and made my way downstairs before I walked into the kitchen and smiled seeing a cook. The kitchen was quite big, the whole house obviously was. It looked like a lot of money was spent on making it look the way it did. I could not understand why. Maybe for appearances if the house was ever being searched by police?

"Good morning." He smiled.

"Hello." I replied, "You work here?" I asked.

"Have for the past three years." He nodded, "Are you family?" he asked furrowing his brows. Probably trying to figure out who I could be related to.

"No, I'm abducted." I replied simply. He laughed before he stopped when I didn't join in.

"You're serious?" His eyes widened. "Clyde!" he shouted.

I stepped out of the way as Clyde walked in with a little girl in his arms. What the hell was a child doing in a drug house?!

"Why are you shouting my name?" Clyde replied.

"We had an agreement!" the cook hissed before he put his spatula down and covered the little girl's ears, she made no attempt to fight the hands on her ears as she sucked on a lollypop and played with the collar of Clyde’s shirt, "You said this was not one of your prostitution houses."

My eyes shot wide. What?

"It isn't. Why would I bring my daughter here if it was? Oh him. No, Sergio wanted this specific dealer here for some reason. Don't ask me. Don't worry; this house is safe and clean. Agreement hasn't changed."

So this house wasn't one of their normal drug houses? That’s why it was so clean and put-together… How many others did they have? Prostitution? They did that?

"And you know we only do trafficking around here, not prostitution."

Oh my God... 'Around here'? So they did it elsewhere? Trafficking?! Drug or… I did not even want to consider the other possibility.

"You think that's better?" I asked.

"Shut up." Clyde looked at me, "Enough talking about this." He said. The cook dropped his hands from the girl's ears.

I stared at Clyde shocked. Was it people? How could he be okay with selling people? How could anyone be? He had a daughter...

"Good morning, Sweetie." The cook smiled.

"Morning Uncle Kent!" she chirped before she looked at me and smiled. "Hi." She said. "Who are you?" she added.

I looked at Clyde who was staring at me blankly. "Uh... Hey." I gave her a smile. "Uhm... I'm... Alexander. You can call me Alex... I'm..." Well, what the hell am I supposed to say a seven-year-old?

"He's a friend of Sergio's." Clyde replied.

"Clyde. Let's go." I raised my brows as the Ben guy walked in with a band aid plastered across his face. His serious face turned sour as soon as his eyes landed on me. I smirked in response to his glare.

"That looks..." I took in some air through my clenched teeth as I studied his face from my spot, "...really painful." I finished with a smile.

"No." Clyde grabbed Ben's arm as he stepped towards me aggressively and Clyde shot me a glare. I watched as he put the little girl down on a seat, "I'll see you, alight? Mommy will pick you up later." He kissed her forehead.

"But you said we were having waffles –" she was saying.

"I know, Princess, but I have to work. I'll take you for ice cream. I promise. Right now, you can just have waffles with Kent and..." His eyes moved to me for a second and then he kissed her again before he walked out grabbing Ben's arm and pulling him out with him while the guy with the Band-Aid on his face still glared at me. He looked ridiculous.

I slid into one of the seats at the table.

"What do you guys want?" The cook asked smiling from the girl to me. I tilted my head. I knew I looked young but geez. He laughed, "Alex, this is Sasha and I am Kent." He said.

I smiled at the girl and she smiled brightly back at me. For the child of a criminal, she sure was friendly. Wouldn’t it be safer for Clyde to teach her to be sceptical of new people? The next few hours went by with the three of us eating waffles and then watching Disney princess movies after Sasha showed me some of the dolls she had over at 'Uncle Sergio's house. It was weird for me to try to see these people thorough her eyes, it was pretty much impossible. They were bad, clearly not to her, but they still were.

We were in the middle of Tangled and I was seated on a couch with Sasha leaning against my side as I held one of her dolls when the front door opened. I turned to see Clyde walk in followed by three men I recognised from the room I initially woke up in.

"What are you doing?" he frowned at me, his voice edged with suspicion. I almost rolled my eyes and had to stop myself from pointing out that he was the criminal here.

"Watching TV!" Sasha yelled the answer as she jumped on me. I laughed catching her and getting up with her in my arms as she put her arms around my neck.

"Well, Alex and I have some work to do, so we'll see you later, alright?" Sasha's smile fell when her father spoke.

"Don't worry, you still have Kent. You can use that toy spider we found to scare him." I heard Clyde and the guys try to hide their chuckles as Sasha nodded excitedly. Kent was upstairs taking a nap.

I put her down and followed the men outside.

"Where are we going?" I asked as they led me to a car.

"Like it matters." I shot a glare at the man as he shoved me into the back of the car. Everyone else got in and I found myself in the middle of two bulky guys, their shoulders brushing against either of mine. I cannot say that it was very comfortable...

"Alright, are there any parties this week?" I snorted as Clyde asked that from the passenger seat as someone drove. They kidnapped the wrong person for that.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

I let out a grunt as I was fisted in my sides by the assholes next to me causing me to bend over at the pain.

"No. I don't know about any goddamn parties." I hissed.

"Fuck, he's a loser." The guy on my right said. "How is he going to sell like that?"

"His friends." Clyde replied.

There were massive differences between my social life compared to Shiloh, Jordan and Clair's. Massive. Had he been watching me? This couldn't have been planned... Could it?

"His friend is a regular." Clyde smirked at me through the rear view mirror.

"Fuck you, my friends don't deal with scum like you." I coughed as I got hit again.

"Can't take a joke?" Clyde chuckled, "Well, we know you 'deal' with 'scum' like us." He said.

Damn it, Alexander. Learn to hold your tongue or by the end of the day, your insides will be grinded to a pulp.

I sighed internally. I had no choice here, but maybe if I gave them what they wanted, participated, they would let me leave soon.

It would be worth a try...

*****