"Uncle Marcus," I whispered.

"Who?" Emily asked.

"That- that's my uncle, Marcus," I continued to whisper. "He- I don't know why he's here."

Sam looked over at me and nodded for us to get out of the car.

Emily sighed. "Let's go."
I got out of the car, and Uncle Marcus smiled at me.

"There's my beautiful girl," he held out his arms for me. I went to hug him slowly and nervously. I hated him touching me.

"How is my princess?" he asked, running his hand through my hair. "I heard that you had a rough time with your family."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Your mother gave me custody," he told me.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked. "I'm sorry, but we have custody of her now. To get her custody you must go through us for custody of her."

"No, her mother gave you temporary custody," he told her. "She gave me full custody. She wanted her to live with a family member. I just live up a few miles. Her friends can come visit her any time she wants."

"I can't give her up just yet," Emily told him. "Give us two days?"

"My stuffs already packed," I whispered. "It's been packed ever since I moved in with you. I keep it packed."

"Payton," she whispered. "Please don't do this."

"I have to," I whispered. "He's my guardian now. I love you Emily." I gave her a hug. "I love you, Sam." I gave him a hug. "Let me go get my stuff."

"I'll help," Sam piped up. "Are you sure you don't want to say good bye to Embry?"

"Who is Embry?" Uncle Marcus asked.

"Her boyfriend," Emily growled. There were tears in her eyes.

"I'm sure," I said to answer Sam's question. "I don't want it to end that way."

"He can come see her," Uncle Marcus assured them. I knew that was a lie.

You probably wondered why I hated my Uncle Marcus. For one, he had two kids of his own that I hated. They didn't bother me too much, but they thought I was their mother. The reason they thought I was their mother was because Uncle Marcus used to abuse me, just like my dad did. He would make out with me right in front of them; I hated him so much for that. He was back, and I couldn't tell anyone about it. He threatened to kill the closest person to me. He told me before he would kill my mom. Now that he knew about Embry, that was who he would threaten to kill. I couldn't let him know about any of my friends, otherwise, he would threaten to kill them all. That's why I couldn't say good bye to Embry. I couldn't let my uncle see what he looked like, or where he lived. That would only make me more vulnerable.

Sam brought all my stuff down and into the back of my uncle's car. Uncle Marcus put his arm around me and watched Sam close the trunk of the car.

"I promise I'll take good care of her," he told them. "Don't worry about a thing."

I hugged Emily again. "I love you, Emms."

"I love you too," she whispered.

"And I love you Sam," I hugged him as well. "Good luck with everything."

"You too, darling. Come back and see us soon."

"She will," Uncle Marcus assured them. "I can promise you that."

"Good bye guys," I whispered, and then climbed into the car. Uncle Marcus drove a mile or so before saying anything.

"So, baby, are you ready for some loving when we get back to my place?" he asked.

"Uncle Marcus," I whispered. "I'm so tired tonight. Can we do it another night?"
"I finally get to see the love of my life again and you're going to deny me what I truly want?" he asked, teasingly. "You're such a tease, baby. I love it."

Quickly he pulled into an empty parking lot. He climbed on top of me and started kissing me roughly. I started crying to the point where he pulled away.

"Aw, baby," he cooed, brushing my hair away from my face. "You'll get used to this soon I promise. You get to take care of me and the kids, and have the life you always wanted. We'll make it perfect, I promise."

I shook my head. "I don't want this," I cried. "I want to go home."

"That's where we're going, baby," he whispered. "We're going to your home."

"No! It's not my home."

"I won't treat you like your daddy treated you," he promised me. "I'll love you like no other."

"Please take me home," I begged. "Please."

He was starting to get frustrated with me; I could tell. "No. You're going to stay with me, and that's final. Now stop throwing a fit like a two year-old and be the strong girl that I know you are."

But I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't stop crying because I wanted to go back to Embry and my friends.

We drove back to his house.

(Embry's POV)

It was noon, which I thought would be a good time to go and see Payton. I remembered how she was the love of my life, and how much I really did love her. She was my everything, and I would never let her go.

When I got to Emily's house, Payton's car wasn't in the driveway. That was strange, but I didn't mind. I knew she had to be home.

I rang the doorbell, and Emily answered. When she saw me her eyes watered, and she looked away.

"Emily?" I asked. "What's wrong?"
She looked at me and hugged me close. I took her in my arms warmly and held her like no other. Sam came out and rubbed Emily's back.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"Come inside," Sam said. "We have a lot to discuss."

Emily didn't let go of me as I walked inside. I sat down on the couch, and she finally let go of me.

"Payton's uncle came last night," Sam told me. "His name is Marcus, and he lives a few hours up north."

"So?" I asked.

"So, we talked to Payton's mother. Apparently, she gave him custody of Payton. We no longer have custody of her."

"What?"

"She's gone Embry," Emily whispered.

I hated her uncle and her mother. They took away the love of my life, and I would never forgive them for that. How was I to live without my angel? She was just a vulnerable little girl, and without me she couldn't take care of herself. I knew that without me she would spend her days crying.

"No," I whispered. "No that can't be."

"He said you could visit her, but he didn't give us an address."

"I'll look him up," I growled. "I'll do anything to get her back."

"We can't do anything now," Emily whispered. "She's just getting settled in. Don't talk to her yet. Wait a couple days until she realizes what's going on again, okay?"

"Fine," I continued to growl. "Fuck my life."

"Don't worry about it, Embry," Sam said. "We're already looking for loop holes. We're going to get her back, I promise."

"Thanks guys," I whispered. "I just can't believe she didn't say good bye."

"Me too," Emily whispered. "I guess it was for the best, right?'

None of this was for the best.