Author's Note: Well aren't you a lucky bunch! Look where I am with my updates :) More feedback would be appreciated but...if you don't want to, I guess you don't have to. I'm just saying it would be nice :) Thanks to those of you who have been supporting me – enjoy :)

P.S. I just finished this chapter and realised how it turned out so I'm adding this on. I think it's my favourite chapter so far but parts may be a little disturbing for some because of the violence and acts of cruelty. It isn't nice. I'm just warning you. If you'd rather skip it (even though it's the best part of the chapter) then don't read the italics. You don't have to read what Robin saw, just get Alex's view on things. But it is still a teen rating, it's not that graphic. But the theme isn't nice and I warn the emotional or easily upset.

Robin's Point of View

Bang. A shot rang out through the warehouse. Bang. Another one. Bang. Bang. After this, I slowly began to lose count. Their eyes stared at me, their desperate last pleas dying on their lips. Whipped away along with their souls. Their lives. I knew some of them. Some of them weren't so bad. Some of them were. None of them deserved it though. Not like this. The cheers and the jeers echoed throughout the space, ringing in my ears. Drumming in my head. But I just stood silently and stared at the brutal act before me.

Why?

Why did they do this?

Some people begged for death. Looked up and asked them to do it. Anything was better than the torture they'd already received. Anything.

I looked at my father, his grinning face, his foul laugh. The cruelty dancing in his eyes. Crack went a whip. Bang went a gun. A scream pierced the air, a tear fell to the ground. Still I did nothing. Nothing. Like the coward I was.

People were still queuing. Waiting in line. Patiently for death. Others...not so patiently. Others wounds were so terrible, they tried to get the front. I felt sick, bile rose in my throat. Tears prickled my eyes. These people...they were our prisoners. Yes, our prisoners. Some, I don't even know what they'd done wrong. Some I knew. But torture...? Death...? How could they?

Bang. Bang. Bang. People blurred into one. Shouts mingled together. I couldn't see anymore until the gun was pressed into my hand. I looked up, my father smiled down at me. "My daughter. Please, take your place." I walked up, trembling. I looked at the man tied up in chains. At the wounds on his face, the blood running down his body. He was only young, about twenty perhaps. He didn't look a bad sort. Kind of sweet. I looked at the gun in my hand and I knew I couldn't do it. Mafia cheered around me. Their chants getting louder. I walked up to the man and looked into his eyes.

"Kill me."

He said.

"Kill me."

And it hurt so much for him to say it. His cracked teeth and bloodstained lips moved.

"Kill me."

And then.

"Please."

Someone whipped him. Hard. He cried out in pain. I didn't want him to suffer. I walked forward, so close I could feel his breath on my face. I kissed his forehead, gently. I looked at him again "I'm sorry. I wish you the best...for the next life." He smiled at me. Pure bliss on his face.

"The world has hope." His words were painful. They shook in the air. "I...you're a good person. Bless you, child...Bless your heart." But he said them as he smiled and closed his eyes. A tear trickled down my own cheek, mirroring his own. I raised the gun...

Bang.

I looked up. I never had to pull the trigger. The man slumped in his bonds and my gun fell to the ground with a clatter. I looked at his forehead, the spot I'd kissed. There was a hole. A bleeding bullet hole. Tears streamed down my face as I turned my head up to look at my father. The barrel of his gun smoking. His face red with fury. People laughed around me. "I'm sorry-" I croaked.

"You wimp." He growled.

Slap.

His palm burned against my cheek and I fell sideways to the ground.

"You coward."

Slap.

"You worthless child."

Slap.

"You are no daughter of mine."

Slap.

I lay, breathing heavily and cried silently. For the people. For the man. For me. For my father. The tears wouldn't stop.

Bang. A huge bang. An explosion. Pieces of rubble flew in every direction, a fire burned all around me. I sat up as best I could, not sure if I was hurt or not. Flames raged around me, wood stuck up everywhere. I got shakily to my feet and looked around. Someone screamed and my eyes fell upon a child. A little boy, no older than seven or eight. He screamed, his eyes filled with tears. He was right in the middle of the flames. How that must burn. Flames licked at me. The boy screamed again, unable to move because of his chains. I held out my hand when a beam came crashing from the ceiling. I choked on the smoke, my already teary eyes streamed down my face. I coughed violently and made for the door. The last thing I heard in the depths of the crackling fire was that scream. Just screaming of a child...

I screamed and jolted upright in bed. My breath heavy, my body wracked with sobs. "No." I cried, shaking my head "no. Please." I slammed my fist into the wall and let my body slide down it. Relishing the cold feeling on my burning skin. I kicked away my bed covers and pressed myself against the paint. "Why didn't I do something?" I cried. "Why? I'm a coward." More sobbing. More tears. I curled up onto the floor. "I'm sorry." I cried into the floor, "I'm sorry."

"Robin?" Came a voice. Alex. A knock at my door. "Robin, are you alright?"

I sniffed and breathed in, wiping at my tears to no avail "I'm fine." My voice shook horribly. "Just go...go back to bed. Just a...a nightmare." I breathed in a shuddering breath but more tears just seemed to fall from me, despite my efforts to calm down. My door opened.

"I don't think you're alright, Robin." Said Alex, concern evident on his face as he looked at me on the floor. I staggered to my feet and wiped away my tears, looking at him bravely. My eyes sparkled but I held still.

"Bad dream, Alex." My voice a whole octave higher than normal "bad dream." I sniffed and looked up, not letting the tears fall. I couldn't let him see me like this. I couldn't break down in front of him. He needed me.

But what did I do? And what did Alex do? He said "it's ok to cry, Robin. I don't mind. It's only me. Everyone needs to cry sometimes, it helps. Especially people like us, people with too much in their lives." Then he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. So what did I do? I broke down. I cried. I sobbed just like before. It just felt nice, to know someone actually cared. It made a change to lonely nights of crying alone. A nice change. A real nice change. Because usually, I cried alone. In the cold. In misery. Hiding my tears from everyone, so as not to seem weak.

"I'm sorry." I cried again and again. "I'm sorry." I welcomed the warmth then. The warmth of someone else. I'd had enough of being cold. Staying in the cold.

"Oh, Alex. I'm sorry." I cried. Even though he didn't know why I was apologising.