J was the first to react. His box of books was forgotten as he shoved the envelope away and took its place in front of Sam. "Sammy? Sam, look at me."

Sam was crying, shaking with fear as his eyes focused on J, "H-he's comin', J. I-I can't."

"He won't get you, remember? I'm right here. Nothing's gonna happen while I'm here."

"He's gon-na kill you, J. He can't know it's yo-u. He can't know-" Sam choked up.

"Calm down. Everything's gonna be okay. You just need to relax." J pulled him into his chest, rubbing his back while Sam sobbed into his chest.

Taurtis picked up the envelope and the picture, looking them both over. Grian couldn't read his expression, but that told him he was pissed. Dom moved to his side, glancing over them as well. He whispered something to Taurtis, who just nodded in response.

He glanced back at Sam, who was now crying in little pants, trying to calm himself down while J continued to reassure him that he was safe.

Grian could feel his own terror creeping up, but he pushed it down; it wouldn't do any of them good if he started panicking now. He tip-toed over Taurtis and Dom, worried that any noise might upset Sam more.

"What do we do?" He whispered. Despite his efforts, he still heard fear in his voice.

"We wait for J to do his thing and then we talk," Taurtis's tone left no room for arguing, not that either Grian or Dom wanted to.

Taurtis wrapped his arms around Grian's waist, pulling him closer so his back was against his chest. Grian settled against him, his eyes still trained on the two crouching on the floor. He watched Sam's already drooping bunny ears droop further as J snuck a glance at the three of them. He sighed, carefully lifting up Sam and placed him on the couch, not wanting him to be out of sight while he slept.

"How serious should we take this?" Taurtis asked.

"It depends on what it said," J answered, "I didn't look at it and I'd rather not."

"There's no return address or even the proper information on here. So, whoever sent this was here," Dom scowled as he checked the envelope again.

"Then this is a code red "no one leaves" situation," J sighed, running a hand through his hair, "He can't be left alone."

"He won't. Like Dom said, we can all miss tomorrow. I'll inform the school that someone broke in and that'll be the end of it," Taurtis concluded.

J shook his head, "You don't know who we're up against. I don't even know who we're up against, not really, at least."

"What do you know?" Dom asked.

"I know enough to know that this guy is good at what he does. I have no idea how Sam escaped in the first place, but if he's caught again, it's over."

Taurtis frowned, "Bull. What's his name?"

"The Music's can't win against this one. Trust me, Taurtis. We have to stay low and hide."

"Name, J."

He sighed, "Justin Woods. His father is a very powerful man in the underground."

"And just like that, he'll be dealt with."

"That's not how this works."

"What other option is there?"

"What did he do?" Dom asked, trying to stop their arguing from getting too loud, but Grian saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

"My father, Stanley, was a timid person," they all turned to look at Sam as he leaned against the arm of the couch. Though he was looking at them, his eyes were distant, "He couldn't keep a job and after my mother left he needed money really badly. He found someone who claimed he could take all his problems away, so long as he paid him back. Stanley got in over his head and couldn't keep up, so he offered me as payment, I was eight."

J moved to sit next to him on the couch, "You don't have to."

Sam shook his head, "There's no point now. Justin had taken a liking towards me and begged his father to let him keep me, so I didn't get sold like the countless others I saw come and go."

"Human trafficking," Dom mumbled.

"Sex slaves to be exact," Sam responded, "It didn't matter how young or old, someone out there was more than willing to buy."

"I spent the majority of my time chained, but sometimes Justin would make me help clean people up or the beds after they had been shipped off. I did little chores here and there and by the time I was about eleven he had no use for the chains because he knew I'd obey whatever he told me to do." Tears started to slide down his cheeks again. "I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. I just accepted that it was my life, you know. About a year later, I had learned the patterns of the workers and I decided to take a chance. I ran and ran and ran, and I didn't know where I was going, but I wanted to get as far away as I could. I wanted to go home, but I didn't know where that was. I didn't even realize I had found a familiar street or even a familiar town. I didn't stop until I realized I had knocked on a door."

"I hadn't seen him over four years," J continued when Sam stopped, "His dad had moved not long after he disappeared, so everyone just assumed they moved without saying goodbye. I rushed him inside before I noticed his ratty clothes or that he was covered in dirt because of the way he looked at me. I'll never forget the horror I saw in his eyes, mixed with the relief of someone familiar. I didn't even ask what had happened. I asked the maid to get him new clothes, called the jet, and left a voicemail to my parents telling them I was heading home and switching to a new school there. I also gave my grandmother a ring and told her I wouldn't be staying near her anymore and that I'd explain later."

"And now here we are. After all this time, nothing and now this," J concluded.

"We still have to do something," Taurtis said, "We'll stay in the dorm, I'll call the front office and explain everything. We wait a week and see if anything changes and then if we have to, I'm sure my mother would be more than willing to get us out of here. Okay?"

J sighed but didn't argue. Instead, he turned his attention to Sam, "Do you want to watch something?"

"Can we do a Disney marathon?" Sam asked, already starting to curl up in a blanket.

"Yeah, we can watch Disney."

"Do you want popcorn?" Grian asked, already moving trying to ignore everything going on around him.

He could stay calm. He could pretend that everything was okay. Taurtis would fix it; he'd find some way to sort everything out and this would all blow over and all the worrying would be for nothing. But he couldn't shake the fear that climbed up his throat when he caught sight of Dom starting to close all the blinds and curtains or heard bits and pieces of Taurtis's hushed voice as he talked on the phone. He will pretend that everything was okay. He will stay calm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey guys, I'm not sure if I like the way this chapter ended, but it's what we're going with. I also don't know how I feel about Sam being the one to explain his past, but again, if I don't like it I have to take it up with past me. Also, my school has officially said that whatever our grade was for third quarter will be our grade for fourth quarter and can only go up if we do the work our teachers assign online. I'm super head about this because I'm an A student which means Imma get As this quarter for doing absolutely NOTHING!!! WHOOP WHOOP! But that doesn't count for my college class, so I still have to do that, but Senior Project is cancelled so I'm officially on the road to graduating. They're also still giving us our Cap and Gowns even though we're not gonna be able to have a normal graduation. I'm also not sad about this, so you don't have to worry. I'm more sad about prom and Senior ditch day because I was looking forward to skipping school with my friends for the first time and going to the beach and just having a fun time. I really hope I get to see my friends again before they all go off, but it is what it is I guess. Anyways I hope you all have a wonderful day, I hope you're all in good situations (you know what I'm trying to say), and I'll see you all in the next chapter, Bye~!
~ PinkBoss