This is a really short chapter, and it's just to put you guys out of your misery, the next one will be longer. Please don't hate!

My laptop broke completely, and so I couldn't update and I lost the chapter I'd written…please forgive me, I feel so bad for being so awful when it comes to updating! I really hope you haven't given up on this story completely… I am doing my best but it's getting so hard to write…

I wrote replies to all the reviews but I lost them, and I don't want to waste more time, so thank you to everyone, they were so appreciated!

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Previously…

"Brighton?" Jem said. "Why is Tessa in Brighton?"

"Maybe she wanted to visit her aunt?"

Jem shook his head. "She would tell someone, and she wouldn't miss school."

"Why would she leave without telling someone?"

Jem shook his head. "She wouldn't.

.

Will frowned, his usually joking face turned completely serious. "Are you implying she's been kidnapped? That doesn't seem right either, although it is a possibility…But don't you think she was acting a bit weird at the picnic?"

They were walking slowly back toward the car, both of their brains whirring as they tried to understand what had happened. "Before you came, she got a phone call, she went to another room so I couldn't hear what was said but when she came back she looked really shaken up..."

Will shook his head, "It doesn't matter there's nothing we can do and for all we know Tessa did decide to just go to Brighton. If something is wrong or she needs us she will call."

Jem frowned, "I'm still worried."

Will didn't reply, just frowned more.

….

Nate shook his head, and paced his room but memories of the past wouldn't leave his head, he couldn't stop thinking of the what if's. He stopped and sucked in a sharp breath as the memory played out in his head…

He walked down the long, dimly lit corridor. The floor was cement and the walls were grimy stone, making him feel dirty without having touched anything. He stopped outside the office door and took a deep breath, gathering his courage, but it would be so easy to just walk away…he raised his fingers to rub his temple, and closed his eyes wishing someone could just push him in. He sighed and concentrated on the rewards of going through with this, of finally quitting. He would be free, he wouldn't have to do anymore ugly things, and he wouldn't have to carry a gun around.

He raised his head, and pushed the door open before he could change his mind, congratulating himself on the immense amount of courage that had taken. Robert looked up, his hair greased back, and his dark three-piece suit immaculate.

"I'm busy, make it quick."

Nate almost left right then, and formed an excuse in his head, but he swallowed it down and choked out the words. "I want to leave."

Robert looked at him silent, and Nate squirmed under his stare. "You want to quit?"

"Yes."

"You understand what this means? If you are not with the Blood Raider gang, you are against it."

Nate gulped. "I don't want to be an enemy, and I don't mean any disrespect, but I've decided the crimes are too much for me now."

Robert laughed sharply. "You should have thought about that before you joined. You are an enemy now. We will let you leave but you better hurry, because we don't like our enemies as I'm sure you know. You are not just an enemy, you are also a traitor. We do not look kindly on you. I am sure you are aware that no other traitor has survived very long."

Nate gulped, again, his breathing accelerating until he was practically hyperventilating. "I'm sorry, once again."

He turned quickly and hurried out the door, he made it down the corridor and out the front entrance of the warehouse, before a group of three Raiders caught up to him.

"So you think you are better than us?" one of them said. Nate couldn't see who they were, as their faces were covered with bandannas. They circled him, and his head darted around looking for an escape.

Another laughed. "Relax, we can't kill you, but we can hurt you." With that they attacked, launching punches at his stomach and face. He tried to stay standing, to remain some form of dignity, but was brought to his knees with punches straight to his gut. Once he was on the floor, their kicks and punches pummelled him, and he curled trying to protect his stomach, as he felt blood leak from his face. Every inch of him was being beaten and soon he felt sharp cuts along his arms and looked up to see one of them holding a small knife. He refused to make a noise, having been brought down. They didn't give him any major injuries just bruises all along his body and covering his face, and small cuts down his arms. Once they finally left, after 30 minutes of non-stop beating, he lay curled for a few minutes but realizing that more Raiders could come, he slowly made the painful journey to his feet, and then to his car. He raced away, feeling stupidly safe in a moving vehicle.

Nate growled, and shook his head trying to dispel the memory of when he had finally quit the gang. He had no proper reason for joining, he was young and stupid when he did, thinking he would be made stronger, and he would have purpose. They told him of how it would be like he was in a family, how a hundred people would constantly have his back, and nothing bad would ever happen to him because of that. They weren't lies, it had been like a family, his best friends were Raiders, but they all turned on him as soon as they realized he was a traitor. As soon as he started being sent on drug deals, as soon as his gun started smoking, he couldn't do it anymore. And because of his cowardice and stupidity his entire family had been at risk.

If he hadn't joined his mother would be alive.

Tessa would be happier.

His dad would be with them, and his family would all be together. Happy.

But they weren't, and it was his fault.