Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Yes I'm still alive =D NO this is not abandoned…my new year's resolution is to finish this story if it's the last thing I ever do.

Oh, and I highly recommend reading the last chapter over (or the whole story)…it's been a while…

Chapter 7: Caught

Melissa reached for the tiny flask. The pain in her knee was reaching a breaking point and Jay did seem to have a point. Her cuts and bruises did infect easily. Probably because the alleys of RS were so dirty. What was weird was Jay's reactions. His eyes flicked back and forth from her to the alley end like he was afraid something was going to jump out at him.

Pulling the silver container from his hand she gently shook the contents before unscrewing the cap. A hand came out and halted her progress.

Melissa sighed, looking up to see that the hand belonged to Jay. "Jay, what's wrong? You've been acting really strange."

His face looked pained. "Melissa…I need to tell you…that…"

But she never got to find out what he wanted to tell her. There was a loud rumbling and he stopped talking, brows furrowing. She gave him a quizzical look, which he returned with a shrug.

"Mel…" he began again, but the deep rumbling began once more. This time it was much closer.

"Shh…Jay, it sounds like it's right under us." Mel whispered.

And those were the last words spoken before the ground began to erupt around them. Melissa wasn't a fool. Despite having never attended school, she knew what earthquakes looked like. The ground was supposed to shake and while, yes, sinkholes would happen, it wasn't supposed to be anything like this. Now, the ground itself was erupting like volcanoes in certain areas, all perfectly round. And Jay…Jay looked like he was going to die.

"Mel…get down!" he shouted before grabbing her shoulder and forcing her to the ground. His body completely covered her as the explosions continued to rock the very earth beneath them.

0o0o0o0

"Get the girl inside!"

Drew let out a string of curses. "Where the hell is she?" His green eyes frantically roved the alleys, looking for a hint of chestnut hair or blue eyes. Jay was going to be taking care of Melissa, but May was his job.

"Get the girl inside, son!"

"Shut up father! I'm trying!" His shouts were getting hoarse and the suffocating heat and rising dust wasn't doing anything to help. This was anything but easy. Of course May had to pick right now to disappear. If he didn't get her inside and out of sight, the consequences for him would be severe. The work he and his father had done for their whole lives would go down the drain.

He stumbled forward as another hole blasted to his right. Ducking into May's alley he glanced around as quickly as he could manage without missing anything. He grimaced as pieces of brick began to rain into his hair and eyes, making it that much more difficult to move around or see.

Damn, the place was going to come down if this didn't stop.

"May!"

The shout was coming from a few alleys down and was definitely female. Holy shit. Drew cursed. Was that Melissa?

Why the hell was she alive?

"DREW," his father's voice, boomed out from behind him and Drew felt like his brain was going to split from both his headache and terror. He inhaled sharply, hoping to clear his mind, but as the dust met his lungs, he doubled over coughing.

Brilliant. Their two members of RS were still loose and The Hallows would be here any minute.

0o0o0o0

May shakily found her footing, as the shaking seemed to have finally subsided completely.

Gods, what the hell was that? It had felt like the earth had wanted to get rid of their…home? No, that wasn't quite the word. Dwelling would be far more appropriate. May sighed. It probably would have been better if the place had gone down. It would have created enough of a distraction that she could maybe get away.

Where was everyone?

She pushed off the wall only to meet a sudden rush of pain. Her head felt like it was splitting open and a glance at her ankle told her that it was twisted horribly, possibly broken.

She coughed and cleared her throat twice. "Melissa," she screamed. "Jay? Are you alright?"

Silence.

Then finally, just as she was about to call again, an answer could be heard. "May?" It was faint, but that was most definitely Melissa's voice.

"Mel," she shouted in return. "I'm in Jay's alley, but I can't walk!"

"Hold on. I'll come find you. Jay's ok too."

0o0o0o0

It had taken a good ten minutes, but soon the whole gang was assembled in Jay's alley. Even Drew and his father were present, though they looked more afraid than the other's.

Jay was the first to speak. "What in hell was that?"

"Cut the act, you know exactly what that was," Drew sneered.

Jay's mouth opened and closed mechanically, but no sound came out for a moment. Concerned, Mel placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, which he shrugged off immediately. May could see the hurt on her face even in the dying sunlight.

Jay's face, however, flashed fire. His eyes bored into Drew, who stared back just as heatedly. The two seemed to radiate power. May took a step back, forcing Melissa with her.

"Well boys," Drew's father broke in, "what do we do know. The Hallows know they're here now. The Quakes were proof of that." He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. It was moment before he opened them; a large chunk of sanity seemed to have returned.

"We need to get the fuck outta here." Drew's voice cut the air and May flinched at the profanity. Something had gone severely wrong.

A throat cleared a few feet to the left and all heads veered to find the source. A team of young men and women all sharply dressed in blue jumpsuits stood threateningly in a half circle, blocking our only exit.

"Too late." Drew's father's words were laced with bitterness. "They're already here son."

A blonde middle-aged woman stepped forward. A gold badge pinned right under her left collarbone, with words printed too small for May to see, was the only difference between her uniform and the rest of the team's. She seemed like the leader.

Her obsidian eyes flashed with anger and her words were clipped.

"Darian King, Drew King, and Jay Hernandez. The three of you are under arrest for human trafficking."


I'm working on chapter 8 as we speak. I refuse to take forever to update anymore. I don't want to make unreachable goals so with my schedule I'd say I can probably get in a chapter every two weeks.

I had to reread a lot of the story before I wrote this so let me know if I got any details wrong...like the color of someone's eyes etc. Everything has changed so much in my life and I feel like I hardly remember the person who wrote the first 6 of these chapters (a good thing, believe me).

I feel so much better and I want to give this another shot.

Resolution: This should be done by the end of the year (big plot...not kidding).

Thanks so much for sticking with me and continuing to review even though I was a bitch and didn't update.

Well...I hope you enjoyed this. Review!

Pinx