I fight to keep my eyes open as my head droops to the side. Every time I catch myself drifting off, I jerk upright, a fiery pain in my neck. Seth is asleep, his face as pale as the sheets around him. It's after midnight, and Dad has already left. I'm alone in the hospital room, and I feel like the only person in the building who's awake.

I keep checking my phone, hoping for an email from Austin. He never wrote me back when I sent my last email about Seth's suicide attempt, and that worries me. There's no way he wouldn't respond to that if everything is normal.

Outside, the rain continues to fall and, the cold presses up against the window like a hungry dog scratching to get inside. I shiver, staring at the inky blackness. I hope they're okay, that they're warm enough.

Seth stirs and opens his eyes then, and I lean forward.

"Hey," I say softly.

He looks up at me. "Hey..."

"You're okay," I say, "Whether or not you wanna be. I found you before it was too late."

Seth swallows. "I'm sorry," he says in a hoarse whisper.

"Why, Seth?" I ask.

Seth shakes his head, staring at the ceiling as if the answer he's searching for is there. "I just can't anymore."

"Why?"

"I can't spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for them to get me. I can't live like that. I don't want to anymore. I want to die my way."

"I told you I'd protect you!"

"It's not just now, Rory. It's my whole life. They'll never leave me alone. When I go to college, when I have my own family... I'll always be afraid that they're coming for me. I don't want to live anymore. I don't wanna be scared anymore! I don't want to be me!"

I put my hand over his. "Seth... tell me the truth. Tell me everything."

Seth shuts his eyes tight, and I see a tear escape and run down his cheek. He turns his head away from me.

"You should have gone to New York," he whispers. "I'm sorry you didn't... just because of me. You could've become a dancer for the New York City Ballet. It was your dream, and you lost it because of me. I fuck everything up."

My heart aches when I hear the sadness in his voice. I'd never imagined he thought about that or felt guilty over it.

"It was my choice, Seth. I could have gone, but I didn't want to after..."

Seth is silent for a long time but then finally speaks in a small, quiet voice.

"They kept us drugged most of the time, especially when they moved us from place to place. I never knew where we were. They didn't want us to know. I don't know what the drugs were, but they made me sleep. They made me so out of it I couldn't even think."

"Who drugged you?" I ask.

"The people who took me. It wasn't just me. There were other kids and grown women too... some American, some Mexican, some from other places like Thailand and the Ukraine. A lot didn't speak English, but it's not like we could talk to each other anyway. They kept us separate, alone, and drugged most of the time. There was a girl there, about a year after they took me. She tried to escape. They snapped her neck, one of them with his foot while she was on the ground... I saw him do it... I heard her spine crack."

"Is that why you tried to escape?"

"Yeah, but I lied about how I did it. The truth is they took us to California once and when I saw an American flag I ran and ran and ran even though I was drugged and we were supposed to be sleeping. I just ran forever. I thought maybe I was dead and I was in hell or something, because I got lost in the desert. I laid down and I didn't care if I died, and the next thing I knew I was in a hospital. I don't know how I got away. I really don't. I made up that story so I could sound like a badass, but the whole thing just sorta happened when no one was lookin'."

"It's okay if you lied before. I just wanna know the truth now. What did they want with you?"

"Money."

"Like ransom? Did they try to get Dad to pay ransom?"

Seth slowly shakes his head, tears running out of both of his eyes. "Not ransom. Money other people paid them for us. For sex," he whispers.

I suck in a breath. I had suspected it after Austin told me his own story... but I'd hoped and prayed I was wrong. Now I feel like all my breath has been knocked out of me.

"Oh Seth," I say, tears blurring my vision of him. "I'm so sorry."

Seth rubs his own eyes. "That last time in California they took us to a big party at a nice mansion. Lots of really rich dudes who'd pay for us. We were just passed around like a drink that everyone takes a sip from. But we were so drugged up nothin' mattered. Nothin' at all. By then I just didn't care. I just wanted to die! I had nothing to lose by runnin' away."

"I understand."

"You can't tell dad, Rory! He'll look at me different!"

"No, he won't. He loves you," I say as the tears run down my face.

Seth shakes his head. "It's not about love. It's about the way he'll see me. This doesn't happen to guys. It just doesn't."

"Bullshit. It happened to Austin," I say softly.

Seth looks at me, his eyes wide with shock. "What?"

"Seth... this is really important. Did the name Ray ever come up while you were there?" I ask.

It's too much of a coincidence that Austin and Seth share the same trauma, and I don't believe in coincidence. Every connection has a purpose.

Seth shrugs. "I don't know. I know that it was a big network, and they had people working for them in America too. We were moved back and forth over the border all the time. It was easier to keep us in Mexico, because all the police were too scared to cross Diego. But I know they had people working for them as far up as Colorado."

My brain is whirring as I put the pieces together. Could what happened to Austin and Pixie be connected to this network? If so... we could take it down. All it would require is telling my father. All it would take is speaking up. Ray and all the rest of those bastards would be put away forever. They'd never be able to hurt or sell another woman or child. They'd never be able to ruin another life.

"Seth, I know you don't want Dad to know, but-"

"No, Rory!" Seth says, his red, teary eyes full of fear. "Please don't tell him! Dad hates me enough!"

"He doesn't hate you," I say gently. "He's just like I was when you first got back. He doesn't know how to help you, and it makes him feel useless. Don't you want them to go to jail?"

"I want them to go to hell!" he says through clenched teeth, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "I want them to rot in hell!"

"This is the only way. The only way you'll ever be safe. The only way any of those kids and women will get out. The only way you'll get justice."

Seth doesn't answer me. I can tell he's thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons. In order for this to work, his hatred for these monsters has to outweigh his fear of them.

"Will you do it?" I ask, "Do you hate them enough to go after them? Or will you always be too scared to do the right thing? You can't get back what they stole, but you could save other kids... kids who haven't been taken yet. You could save them from ever having to live through that. Or you can be too scared to try, punishing only yourself by taking your own life when you should be taking theirs!"

My heart is pounding with rage, not at Seth, but at those who did this to my brother. I know the words are harsh, but they need to be said. And something in my speech must change Seth's mind. I see it in his eyes when he turns back to me. There's still fear there, but it's mingled with rage and determination now.

"Yes," he finally whispers, "I'll tell Dad. Fuck them. Fuck everything. I have nothing to lose."

————————

When I finally fall asleep later that day, I'm yanked out of my dreams only hours after my head hits the pillow. My phone is ringing. It's a number I don't recognize. I usually ignore unknown numbers, but something tells me to answer this one. It's a local area code, and after everything that's happened with Seth I'm on high alert. Seth is still at the hospital under observation but will be released tomorrow. After he gets home, we'll tell Dad the truth together.

"Hello?" I say groggily, rolling onto my back.

"It's Austin," says a quiet voice on the other side of the phone.

"Austin?"

I sit up, throwing my legs over the bed. I can hear it in his voice: something isn't right. He's never called me before.

"What's wrong?" I ask, "Where are you?"

"It's a long story."

"Tell me everything," I say.

Austin explains that he's in a group home and had to wait all day to use the phone. Pixie is in the hands of the authorities, who are taking her back to his mother and Ray. I don't have time to tell Austin about my suspicions regarding Ray and the trafficking ring Seth told me about. My brain is in panic mode as I try to figure out how to get Austin out of the situation he's in.

"They say I need a guardian. Even a temporary guardianship would get me out of here. All they'd have to do is apply for an emergency, temporary arrangement. Do you think your dad might-"

"No," I say softly, "He wouldn't want his name associated with it. But I think Blanca will. It might take a day or two."

"Okay. Just please hurry," he says desperately, "Pixie is gonna go back to Mom and Ray. I can't let her stay there. You know why..."

"I know. I'll call Blanca now. Everything will be okay."

"Thanks, Rory," Austin says softly, "I love you."

"I love you too. Stay safe. Call me back when you can use the phone again."

The second I hang up from Austin, I call Blanca. It takes some convincing, but she finally agrees to apply for the emergency guardianship. With a little luck, we'll get Austin out in just a couple of days. Then we can get Pixie back and work on taking down this trafficking ring.

Each of those things sounds impossible... But if it all works, our lives will change forever.