Hey everyone! First off – I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how everyone was like GO KYRA in the last chapter. She is one of my favorite characters that I have ever gotten to work with. Here is the new chapter and I hope that all of you like it. This one took me no time at all to write and came together quickly, which has not happened in a while. I don't know if I should slap myself after what happens in this chapter or what – I hope that all of you like it!
Enjoy!

*~KelsNicole~*

Juli:

Staring at Dan and Alvaro, I shake my head as I think about what they're about to do – about what they're about to risk. Neither of them make eye contact with me, mamá's still not home and this whole thing could get all of us in the same position that she's in. Looking down, I try to calm my nerves as I take shallow breaths. Chuy is controlling not only my life, but now my family too. I'm involved in this and have to do as he orders me, or else we'll all be dead in the blink of an eye. When I feel someone's hand on my shoulder, I open my eyes and look up into Alvaro's eyes.

"Juli, its nothing..all that you have to do is watch. We'll do this okay?" Looking into my older brother's eyes, I feel like the helpless little girl who used to get pushed around and teased. Always running to my brothers to protect me and they always have. But how much longer can they protect me for? "Juli, todo va a estar bien, confía en mí. Vamos a entrar y salir de allí en pocos segundos, siempre y cuando todo va según lo previsto. Tome este ... por si acaso." (Juli, everything is going to be fine, trust me. We'll be in and out of there within a few seconds as long as everything goes as planned. Take this...just in case.)

I freeze when I look down and see that he's handing me a gun. Why would I need a gun? Oh right, because now I'm part of the LB and am being forced to do all of this shit that I don't want to do. Looking at it, I carefully take it and close my eyes. This wouldn't be the first time that I used a gun, but it would be the first time that I wasn't shooting at a target – but a real person. That scares me more than anyone could ever imagine. Shivering at the thought of me having to use it, I open my eyes and see that both of them are starting at me now; studying me.

"Ella no va a ser capaz de hacer esto. Mira cómo está sosteniendo el arma!" (She's not going to be able to do this. Look at how she's holding the gun!) says Dan, annoyance coating his tone as he looks at me. I've seen him look at people that way before, its when he thinks that the person is weak or useless, making anger flare up inside of me. My grip tightens on the gun and I glare at him. "Oh, is little Juli ready to help out her family? To do what she has to so that no one dies? If you hadn't of started messing with Fuentes, we wouldn't be in this situation right now."

"You're really blaming me for all of this? I'm not the idiot who ran to Chuy and got jumped into the Blood after dad left," I hiss at him, making him flinch. We glare at each other, both of us ready for a fight. "Who's really to blame? The girl who found a guy and fell for him? Or maybe the idiot brother who thought about no one but himself?"

Alvaro gets between us and pushes Dan back, shaking his head, then says in an annoyed tone, "No importa quién es la culpa, o lo que cualquiera de nosotros lo hizo, estamos atrapados en esto y no va a ser mejor. Aguanta y sólo ocuparse de ella o de lo contrario te vas a morir más pronto que tarde. Estamos haciendo esto y no hay punto en la lucha contra uno con el otro." (No matter who's at fault or what any of us did, we're stuck in this and it's not going to get any better. Suck it up and just deal with it or else you'll die sooner rather than later. We're doing this and there's no point in fighting with each other.)

Without another word, Alvaro walks to the light blue car and gets in. Taking a deep breath, I look down at my watch and close my eyes. There's only another half an hour until its my birthday and I do not want to spend it behind bars. In a short amount of time, I'll be eighteen and fully responsible for myself – which is what Chuy can't wait for. Following Dan to the car, I get into the backseat and hold the gun in my lap, as we drive to the worst part of town. My stomach lurches as the car comes to a stop. Both of my brothers look back at me and their eyes drop to the gun.

Once out of the car, I carefully put the gun in the waistband of my jeans, just in case I need it. The adrenaline coursing through my body as my muscles tense. Carefully, I pull my long blonde hair back into a tight ponytail and nod my head at my brothers. With one on either side of me, we walk up to a run down shack. I watch as Dan knocks on the door, looking as though he's here to have a nice chat with the owners of this fine place. I watch as the door slowly opens and a man stands there, his bones showing through his skin – he looks to be about seventy.

"Collin Melinkin?" asks Dan in an amused tone, as though this just made everything a whole lot easier. The old man shivers before he slams the door shut, but the door breaks away easily as my brothers kick it down. We walk into the house and I look around, hating this already as I watch the old man fall onto the floor. "Chuy sent us to collect and you know what that means, don't you? We had to run around like a puto pollo con la cabeza cortada (fuckin' chicken with their heads cut off). It took us weeks to find you..."

The old man shakes on the floor, looking up at us with pleading eyes. "P-p-le-ea-a-see d-d-do-n'-tt d-do t-th-hi-is.."

"Either pay up now or we have to. You know that we can't go back without anything or else we're the ones who are going to pay," says Alvaro in a rough voice. I already don't like this and that tone sets me over the edge. "So, do you have the money or not?"

Just by looking at the old mans face, I know that he doesn't and that my brothers know too. Shaking their heads, both of my brothers walk towards him as though their animals hunting their prey; counting down the seconds until they get the fresh meat. The man starts to cry out as Dan kicks him in the chest and knocks him down onto the ground, making a strangled cry escape from him instead. Turning away, I rub at my eyes as tears threaten to pour out of my eyes and down my cheeks. None of this is right and he...wanted me to do this. My stomach lurches at the thought of me hurting that man. The grunts and cries reach my ears as I slowly start to walk towards the door, but I stop when I see a man in the door way.

"Chuy..." I say in a light voice, barley a whisper. Taking a step back, I look at my brothers, who have stopped and are holding onto Collin, as though they have no idea what to do with him. My eyes flicker back to Chuy and I see the amused gleam in his eyes as he strolls into the shack. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice seein' all of you again. Now explain somethin' to me. Why are the two boys the ones doin' all the work?" He shoots an accusing, yet amused glace at me as he cracks his knuckles and two guys walk in. Just with a glance I can tell who they are; Alberto and Galo. They hover over Chuy like someones about to try something stupid. "I'll give you three to the count of three, to make this right. Julianna, is goin' be the one to finish this little thing up. Got it?"

My brothers stare at me, hopelessly as I walk over to the old man. The pleading look that he gives me is one that I'll never forget. Chuy walks over to me and hands me a long metal pipe, smiling at me as though he's won the lottery. Looking back down at the man, seeing a tear roll down his cheek – I try to push all of my feelings away, to shut them off...but useless to try.

He looks up at me, his eyes wide with fear and in a pleading voice whispers, "Please...don't do this...I'll do anything.."

"I..I'm s-so-orr-ry.." I whisper as I look down at him and raise the metal pipe up, knowing what's at stake here. I need to keep my family safe, as my mother's holding onto her life barley in the hospital. Closing my eyes, I let the pipe swing down and hear his grunt, followed by a moan. Shaking at the sounds, I keep my eyes closed, as I lift it up again – hesitating. "How many times do I have to do this?"

Chuy laughs and walks up beside me, brushing the hair away from my ear. His hot breath on my neck makes me want to squirm as he whispers, "Until I tell you to stop."

I do not know if I hate myself for that or not. I was sitting here, shaking my head and saying no the whole time – but I couldn't backspace it. So what did all of you think? Thank you for reading and please leave a review. Maybe our lovely couple will join up in the next chapter?