I woke up to the smell of mint and smoke.

It was a weird combination to say the least. I tried to remember who I knew that smelt like that, but I couldn't come up with anything. Nobody I knew smoked so often that their clothes smelt like smoke.

And then I realized the second thing. I was being carried. I opened my eyes, but the my vision was to blurry and I was so tired. I fell right back asleep.

~~~~🌸~~~~

When I woke up again, I was in a moving car. Street lights passed overhead and the smell of smoke was stronger in here.

I rolled my head to the side and looked out the window. Street signs passed by and I tried to read them off in my drunken state.

Berkley - 5

Richmond - 13

Hercules - 23

I knew these places. I studied them as a kid everytime we visited–

Oakland.

I was in freaking Oakland. No one I knew lives in Oakland.

Well except Aunt April, but she's 92.

Fear clutched my heart and I gripped the door handle, not wanting to turn and look at who I was driving with.

"Welcome to the land of the living."

Oh no.

I struggled to breath. It was like something was crushing my wind pipe and I grasped my throat to release whatever it was, but nothing was there.

Then all the air rushed back to me and I started to hyperventilate. My head became light and my stomach lurched. I had enough of these after Cooper's 'death' to know what's going on.

I scratched the door looking for the window button.

"Here don't puke in my car." The window fell and I stuck my head out trying to get fresh air to calm my panic attack down.

I took some deep breaths before I had gathered up enough courage to turn and look at the person on my left. As soon as I did, I wished I hadn't.

That tattoo under his left eye was still as bold as the day we met at the race. His blonde hair clung to his forehead and his erratic green eyes lit up when they met mine. "I told you I would get you Daytona. What's better then snagging you when you're drunk." I couldn't take my eyes off of him even when he tied a blindfold around me, throwing me into the black.

Logan's POV

"Hey it's Daytona. Leave a message at the beep."

"Dammit!" I threw my phone into her bed and ran my fingers through my hair. Mason, Jake and I had been trying to reach her for the past half hour, but we kept getting her voicemail each time we called her.

When she didn't come home, I called Jaxon asking if she was still at the party, but he told me he saw some guy carry her to his car.

I sat down at her desk with a huff.

Jake sat at her window seat and Mason sat on her bed. "Maybe we should tell Cooper."

Jake offered up.

"Yeah? And tell him what? That his baby sister, who he told us to protect, was taken by someone? And better yet we don't know who it was. Shit guys. It could've been anyone. Someone from Colton's gang, or Jared, or someone stranger who saw her and decided to take her." I yelled at them.

Mason closed his eyes and looked as if he was in actual pain. "It's my fault. I should've gone with her to Ben's party."

The room was silent before I sighed, "No guys. It was my fault. I was there at the party and I left without her." The anger that was swelling inside me quickly vanished and was replaced with worry and guilt.

I slouched back in the swivel chair and spun around.

"Guys we should really tell Cooper–"

"Tell me what?" Cooper stood in the doorway.

I jumped out of the chair, "Oh nothing." I laughed nervously. "What's up Cooper. What're you doing here?"

He eyed me and walked into Daytonas room slowly. "I came to see my sister. But then I saw your cars out front and thought it a bit weird. Now I'm here in my sister's room and see not her, but you three goons instead. So I'm going to ask again: Tell me what?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to calm my shaking hands. To tell you the truth, Cooper scared me more then anything at this very moment.

Mason stood up off the bed, "Look Cooper, it was my fault,"

I cut him off, "No. It was mine. Daytona was at a party and I left her there. After that, well, someone took her."

His eyes flashed a darker color and in a second he was across the room, gripping my collar, "One job. You had one fucking job, and that was to keep my little sister safe." He let me go and I stumbled back. "Well do you at least no who took her?"

Jake who had been quiet the whole time spoke up, "No. We have no clue."

Cooper stood eerily still, then he kicked her dresser, knocking some stuff off. He turned and looked me dead in the eye, "If anyone hurts her, your head is on the line. Got that?" I nodded my head. "Good. Now let's go. Mason take Jake's car. You two go out and look for her. Logan, you're coming with me."

This was it. I was going to die tonight.

I grabbed my phone off the desk and followed him out the door. When we were walking up to the car, someone else was walking our way.

"Hey Logan–" Jaxon's voice trailed off when he saw Cooper. "Wait. You're Cooper. Shouldn't you be dead?"

"The only dead one around here is Logan if we don't find my sister." He unlocked his car and climbed into it.

"Wait. What happened to Daytona? Is she all right?" I rolled my eyes and walked to the other side of the car.

"No she's not. Whoever took her at the party still has her." I tried to close the door on him but he opened it back up.

"I can help. I can tell you what the guy who took her looks like." His words rushed together at the end and I figured we might as well hear him out.

"Okay what does he look like?"

"He had short blonde hair. Probably 5'10 or 5'11. He had green eyes and oh yeah! He had a tattoo of a gun under his right eye. Or was it his left?"

Cooper took deep breaths, "It was his left. Now whoever you are, don't tell anyone that you saw me tonight. Okay?"

Jaxon nodded his head and stepped back as we sped off.

The first few minutes of the car ride were unbearable. I could feel Cooper's rage radiating off of him.

"Hey. At least we know who has her now."

He just looked at me from the corner of his eye, but I wanted to shrink back and die in a hole. "Woohoo! We know who has her! Yeah. Let's just pretend that the person who has her isn't a psychopath who runs San Francisco's most powerful gang. Oh yeah. And has his own personal agenda against my little sister." The muscle in his jaw jumped and his gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. "I swear to God, if that lunatic touches my baby sister at all, you're going to pay Wylde."

I didn't say anything, all I did was face forward and watched as street lights faded overhead.

~~~~🌸~~~~

We had crossed over into Oakland and I had just called Jake so he knew where to go.

"Do you know where he is holding her?"

Cooper continued driving and for a while I thought he wasn't going to answer, but then with a sigh he said, "Vallejo. He has an empty warehouse there where he takes people and..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't need to. That's where he takes people and kills them.

My mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour and I couldn't calm down. It was only when we pulled up to the warehouse that I had finally started to get a grip. "Well. Let's go get Daytona."

Daytona's POV

Wherever Colton was holding me, it was cold and damp.

Hold on. Cold was an understatement.

It was freezing in here. I was shivering so much I was surprised that the rope he had tied me to the chair with, hadn't snapped yet.

But how cold it was, was the last thing on my mind right now.

About thirty minutes ago, or maybe it was an hour, Colton had taken me to wherever this place is and tied me to a chair in this freezing room. He had been gracious enough to take off my blindfold, but it's not like that actually was any better. It was so dark in the room, I couldn't even see my legs.

With that being said, I had no idea how big, or how small, this room was.

I had no idea if there was someone in the room with me.

I had no idea if there was anything in this room with me.

And let me tell you, being isolated in a dark room, is not good for one with an imagination.

Everytime I even thought I heard a noise, my mind went to the worst possibilities, and it was wearing me down. I even found myself crying at one point, asking for someone to come in here.

Just as I was about to crack though, a door opened. And yes, I knew it was an actual door because it lit up the whole room.

I looked around the room and saw that it was completely empty. No bed, no table, no creepy monsters that my mind had conjured up.

"We can't have you cracking yet, can we Daytona? After all I haven't even gotten started yet. It wouldn't be fair if you drive yourself mad, now would it?" I couldn't stand anything. My teeth were chattering so hard that I thought they would crack.

"F-f-fuck you-u." I managed to stammer out.

This only seemed to amuse Colton even more.

"Looks like you still have some fight in you. This will make for a fun time."

He flipped a switch on the wall and a bright light came on above me. I had to squint my eyes it was so bright.

Colton closed the door with and locked it. As he walked towards me I realized for the first time, maybe I wasn't shaking from the cold, but from fear.

My palms were getting clamy and my bottom lip trembled with every step he took, pushing me closer and closer to the edge of crying again.

"Now now. Don't cry just yet. Sorry I didn't come sooner. I was a little bit held up." He gave me a devilish smile and I shrank back in my chair. "Take a look at this." He held the phone screen so I could see it and I froze.

"No." I whispered.

The pictures he was showing me were of Logan, Mason. They were laying on the floor, with blood all over them. They were either unconscious or... dead.

"No-o. Th-that can't be t-them."

His smile grew wider. "Oh but it is. See, these two tried to save you, but my men overpowered them." He leaned in close and whispered, "Let's just say, you won't be seeing them anytime soon."

That was it. That pushed me over. I broke.

Tears poured out of my eyes and I didn't try to hold back the sobs that raked through my body.

Mason and Logan were dead.

My nose was running and I screamed out, "No!"

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down." Colton bent down to my level and wiped away my tears. "I'm not done with you yet. The next target on my list is that little girl, Ashton was it?"

"No please don't hurt her. Please. She's only a child." I continued to sob uncontrollably.

"You know. This could've all been avoided if you died that night. Better yet, if you had just killed yourself. Mason and Logan wouldn't be dead, Ashton wouldn't be next." He whispered to me.

Then I thought: He's right. If I had died that night, none of this would've happened. If only I had died instead if Cooper, we wouldn't be here. My dad wouldn't have beat me, I wouldn't have met Logan, he and Mason wouldn't be dead, and Ashton wouldn't be next.

"Maybe I should kill myself." I muttered.

"Maybe you should. After all, what would happen if you did? The world would still turn, the sun would still rise. Nothing would change. So go ahead. Do it." Then something cool was placed in my lap. I looked down and saw a shiny black gun.

My arms were still bound, but Colton cut the rope away and I lifted the gun and the memories came rushing back to me.

(Flashback to 8th grade)

I had cornered the girl in the bathroom. I had no clue who she was, but did I care? No. She bumped me in the hallway and didn't apologise.

Now I'm going to make her pay.

"I-I'm sorry Daytona." The girl stammered. I studied her. She was pretty basic looking in the end, boring even.

Her blonde hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. Freckles dotted her pale nose and she had these ugly braces. Her green eyes were wide with terror and I cocked my head to the side.

"Why should I care if you're sorry or not. You bumped into me and didn't say sorry." I yanked her ponytail back and lowered myself until I was a few inches in front of her face. "Say you're sorry. Or better yet just kill yourself. Do us all a favor. After all, what would happen if you did? The world would still turn, the sun would still rise. Nothing would change. So go ahead. Do it." I let her go and she ran away in tears. I stood there with a smug look on my face as she ran through the front doors.

Later on that night, it was headline news:

Sophia Derry attempted suicide.

I automatically switched to that channel and found out that she really had attempted to end her life. She was in critical condition and it was a miracle that her mother was able to get to her in time.

She was never the same after that. I think she even was admitted to a mental health hospital after she was released.

It was all an eye opener for me though.

I was sucked out of the flashback and tears still filled my eyes and I held the gun with shaky hands. "She was your sister. Sophia Derry. That's why you're doing this is because of her."

The unnerving smile on his face faltered and he scowled at me, "Among other reasons yes. Because of you, my sister almost died."

"I'm so sorry Colton." He back handed me across the face and I held my cheek.

"I didn't ask for your pity! I asked for you to kill yourself. It's the only way to make it better." I nodded my head.

If I killed myself, Ashton would be safe.

I raised the gun to my head. "Okay."

What a chapter.

Amirit?

I just don't even know what to say.

So I'll leave you here with all of this.

Love you all! 😘❤️

~May