So, from now on I will be posting each chapter in two parts. 1. For faster updates, and 2. People have said that shorter ones would be better since my chapters usually are about 4000-5000 words, and that can be a bit much for people sometimes.

Do you like this new updating way, or not? Hopefully you do, because it's a little easier on me as well. XD Anyways, enjoy the new chapter!

The smirk displays proudly on Eddie's face. His gun is put away, but mine remains in a firm grip at my side.

    Eddie whistles to himself while he inspects my room. Every time his back turns to me, I feel the pull of temptation to rid the world of one less psychopath, but my better judgement gets the best of me. If I were to bring him down now, Dax would be out for more than just money or revenge - he would be out for blood.

    "You really got a nice place here, Griff." Falling down onto my bed, my football in hand, Eddie makes himself comfortable. He nustles into the bedsheets a little and smiles at me with mock interest. "Is this Egyptian cotton?"

    I cut right through his bullshit. "What are you doing here, Eddie? I still have until Friday."

    "Change of plans." A sickening, pleased grin takes over his lips as he spins my football in the air, his every movement made to get a rise out of me. "You don't have any reason to be so upset about it. From the look of your room alone, you could have paid off your debt right away and left scot-free, but no - you had to get the cops involved."

    I cross my arms against my chest and eye him carefully. "What do you want?"

"Me?" Eddie laughs while pointing at himself. "Oh no, if it were up to me, you would be dead already. This is about what Dax wants."

"Stop playing with me and give it to me straight. I'm already giving Dax the money, what more could he possibly want from me?"

"I'm glad you asked." A look of feigned excitement crosses his face, proving that his sadism is the only thing driving him at the moment. "He wants you to come back."

My whole body freezes. "No."

Eddie lets out a low chuckle. "We're not giving you a choice, Griff."

"Why does he even-" I stop my question mid-sentence. "You need to leave."

With an eyebrow raised, Eddie gets up from my mattress and hurls the football at my chest. He stops in front of me and folds his arms. "You're not the little kid we used to push around anymore, but don't think for a second we're not capable of it. You will be coming back and-"

"Austin?"

Both Eddie and I look towards the entrance of my room to find Sabrina standing there. Every muscle in my body tightens and a dryness creeps up my throat that makes it hard to swallow. Quickly, I hide the gun by securing it in the waistband of my jeans behind my back. She isn't supposed to be here, especially not when Eddie is here. Any weakness that presents itself is fair game to him, and Sabrina is the last person I want wrapped up in his games.

"Rina," I hiss, noticing the grin spreading on Eddie's face. "Leave. Now."

She looks to me and then to Eddie, her eyes widen considerably when realization hits. "I was just, um..."

"No, stay." Eddie smirks at her before turning back to me. He slips me a piece of paper and continues.  "Meet at this location Friday after school. Bring the money."

Before he's makes it out of the room, he grabs Sabrina's trembling hand and places a kiss on her knuckles. "I sincerely hope that we cross paths again, gorgeous."

Every fiber in my body is pushing me to pry him away from my girlfriend, but I know when a fight isn't in my favor. A reaction is what Eddie wants, and would only make things worse.

Right once he's gone, Sabrina rushes to me and I wrap my arms around her.  "Hey, you're okay." I hold her tight and rub her back soothingly. "I'm so sorry you had to meet him. I had no idea that he was going to be here - or you, for that matter."

She pulls away from me. "I tried calling, but you didn't pick up." Her eyes travel to the door for a moment before turning her attention back to me, her brows furrow in concern. "What was that about?"

For a moment, I contemplate whether I should tell her, or leave her in the dark. While the second option is easier, I know it would come to bite me in the ass later.

"A week ago, Dax confronted me about money I owe him." I give in, hoping it's the right call. "He wants twenty grand by Friday."

"Twenty grand?" The look on her face reminds me that it's a huge amount of cash to most people. "And you're just going to meet them?"

I huff, she doesn't understand what is at stake if I don't. "I have to."

"There's more to it than that, isn't there?." She squints at me suspiciously.

"Dammit," I curse under my breath. "Okay. Yes, there's more."

A mix of frustration and fear crosses her face. "Tell me."

"Rina, come one," I plead with her. "Will you just fucking stay out of it?"

The fear leaves her face immediately, being replaced by only anger. "Stay out of it? You need to go and meet with the guy you said stabbed you a couple years ago, and you expect me to just stay out of it?"

"Yes," I grunt. "It's the only way I can protect you."

"Protect me?" Confusion now sets in on her face as she searches my eyes in a desperate attempt for answers. "You said that Dax would be done with you after he gets his money. You said after that it would be all over."

"Yeah, I said that." My jaw clenches and my fingers brush through my hair. "But the truth of the matter is, Andrew was right. He was right about Dax, like he is about everything. Dax wants more than just the money."

"Stop beating around it. What does he want, Austin?"

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and give in. "It's me... I'm what he wants, for whatever fucked up reason. And knowing him, it's not a good one."

"You can't do it." Sabrina grips my arm, the realization making her eyes water. "You can't go back to them."

"It's going to be fine," I assure her, even though I don't even believe myself at the moment. "I'm going to go back, help Dax with whatever he wants me to do, and then it'll all be over."

"No!" A defiance bursts into her tone. "This can't happen! Not again. You told me how hard it was for you to get away the first time. What if there's no way out? Stuff like this never ends well. And what if you get into drugs again, or-"

I grab her by the shoulders. "Hey, hey." I pull her in for another hug. "Shh. Don't worry. I'm not going to be getting into drugs again."

"Please," she begs, trying to hold in a sob. "Please don't do this."

"They're not giving me a choice. Plus, anything is worth keeping you safe. Me going back to Dax keeps you safe, don't you understand that?" My shaking hands cup her face as I search for understanding in her eyes, trying to hide the anxiety in my own. "He will target anyone he possibly can use against me until he gets what he wants. I've made so many wrong choices in life that I deserve this, but you don't. You don't deserve getting sucked into my problems. You've helped me through them once already, and now I'm going to make sure you never have to get sucked into them again."

The feeling of dread I've been feeling for the past week have now been multiplied, and I feel like I can't think straight. The dread was a mix of fear, loss of control, and the knowledge that I have failed. Like the saying that is passed down in the Griffin family - 'failure isn't an option'.

Every possible decision I could make besides surrendering risks the safety of the ones I care about. I don't want to take my chances on challenging them again, because I know it would be like tempting fate. This time, I have to play it smart and safe in order to make it out alive.

Going back is a horrible mistake, but if it means the safety of Sabrina, and my friends, I don't care.

"When do you have to go back?" she finally asks, an unmistakable tremble is accompanied with the tears running down her face.

I sigh, wiping the tears from her face. "Friday."

She inhales deeply and exhales, most likely her attempting to stay calm. "But that's in two days. How are you going to get that kind of money in just-"

I crouch down next to my bed and pull the suitcase out from under it, revealing its contents after setting it on my bed. The way her mouth drops makes me realize she's probably never seen this much money in cash in person before.

"Please tell me you did not steal that from your dad."

"Better. He's the one who gave it to me."

A quizzical expression crosses her face. "I just... I don't want you to get hurt. I mean, it is Dax, after all - you could die."

"That's a bit melodramatic, don't you think?"

"NO." Sabrina all but explodes on me, her red eyes glaring at me with a newfound horror. "I do not think!"

My hands grab at hers in an attempt to calm her down. Her freaking out is the last thing I need in order to think straight.

Wrapping my arms around her, I use the small of her back to pull her closer to me. "I can take it," I mumble into her hair and kiss the top of her head. "But what I wouldn't be able to handle is you getting hurt because of me, and I can't protect you without making a few sacrifices."

"This isn't going to end well, Austin." Her voice shakes as she holds onto me tightly.

My throat constricts at the thought of every possible thing that can go wrong. Even the smallest of mistakes could lead to my death, and that terrifies me, but I don't have any other choice. I push all my mental state out of the way and try to focus on comforting my girlfriend, but come up with nothing.

I place another kiss on her forehead. "Things with Dax never do."

My head veers to the side, the impact of Andrew's rage had caught me off guard. If it weren't for the wall holding me upright, I would have lost my footing.

    A grunt escaped him as he pinches the bridge of his nose. His hand runs through his hair, readjusting some strands that fell out of place.

    "Now are you going to tell me why you had this-" He holds up the pistol. His eyes darken while looking at me expectantly, "-or do I have to ask again?"

    I hang my head in defeat, my left cheek still throbbing. "Eddie Torres broke in a little over an hour ago. I freaked, so I grabbed the gun."

    "And then what would you have done? Shot him?" He laughs sardonically. "Then we'd have a dead body to get rid of, as well as Dax's little gang out for blood. What would you have done then, huh?"

    "I would have thought of something."

    "No, you wouldn't have." He runs his hand through his hair again and looks at me angrily. "Your stupidity has really outdone itself this time."

    "Come on, we have that gun for a fucking reason!"

    Another blow to my cheek is his response, but this time he uses his fist instead of his backhand. Warm liquid floods my mouth with a metallic taste and I wipe my lips with the sleeve of my sweatshirt when it starts spilling onto my chin.

    "Don't you dare use that tone with me," he says, eerily calm.

    I clench my fists at my side, my anger getting the best of me. "Fuck. You."

    An enraged grunt leaves Andrew before hitting me on the other cheek. This time I can't keep the blood from draining onto the hardwood floor of my father's office as I fall to the ground, but he doesn't seem to care about that right now. He grabs me by the collar and pulls me to my feet, slamming me hard against the wall - a groan escapes me from the jolt.

    "Dammit, Austin! Don't you see that I'm trying to help you?" He snarls, his dark eyes searching mine for some common ground. "Just like last time, you don't know what the hell you are doing. If you would have shot him, even in self-defence, you would have declared war on Dax. That what you want - no? Then stop being a child, and stop this foolishness."

    "Foolishness might be my only choice." My words slur, the weight of Andrew's hits taking a toll on me.

    A frown appears on his face, followed by a skeptical look. "What are you talking about?"

    "You were right." I don't look at him in an attempt to avoid his heated gaze. "But things are going to be different this time."

    Andrew's frown deepens. "What are you talking about?"

    "Things will be better this time," I mutter, telling myself more than him.

    "How are things going to be better?" Genuine concern actually laces my father's tone. When I don't reply he grips my arm tightly. "Austin. Answer me!"

I look up into the eyes of the man who used to be my only monster. Now I have bigger ones. Ones that would kill me if I'm not one hundred percent compliant, and I can't have Andrew getting in the way of that.

"I give Dax the money this time, and it's over," I lie. Throwing him off the trail is what I have to do, because underestimating Dax is something I'm never doing again. My last words are a mumble of false self-reassurance. "Then it'll all be over." 

***

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a harder chapter to write emotion-wise, so if there's anything I can do to make the Aubrina scene more realistic, please let me know in the comment section. Also, what did you think of the chapter in a whole?

Remember to hit that little star if you think the chapter is deserving of it, and hopefully I get this next chapter out pretty soon here! Can't wait til chapter 20, where things really take a turn! (:

Til next time,

TheWriterD