Anne pushed Justin away and planted her hand on his face. The door opened and Dr. Frank surveyed the scene for a few seconds before clearing his throat.

"Anne, are you okay?" the older man asked watching the girl hold back tears.
"Go away," he said watching Justin angrily. "Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!"

The girl tried to sit up to push the boy away, but Dr. Frank was quick to stop her. The small wound on her breast could break open if she continued like this.

"Go on, boy. I'll take her home," he tried to reassure him. His face was full of tears. He held the girl in his arms with fatherly affection until she stopped fighting and the boy was gone.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and sighed. Be strong, Annie.

***
I can't take this anymore, the 42-year-old mentally repeated to herself as she paced back and forth in the small studio. Her footsteps echoed on the spines of the books lining the walls, absorbing every sound as if deciding to devour them forever.

Silence and emptiness intertwined around her, making her guilt feel palpable, almost corporeal. It was too much for her. Her heart was being squeezed by a non-existent gravity that she feared would leave her breathless at any moment.

The door opened and the void disappeared. A tattooed man watched her for a few seconds before speaking.

"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Were you with Henry?" she blurted out trying to compose herself.
"Yes. Tell me what's going on."
"We have to get Justin out of this," the man rolled his eyes in annoyance. "It was our mistake! We can't let him keep on taking the blame."
"You of all people know things are harder than that. John is..."
"They're not to blame for anything, Jeremy. It was just us. They don't deserve to be going through this. They're too young and they have a baby to look after," she walked over to her husband and put her hands on his chest. "Please, let's stop this. Give him what he wants or have Henry get a warrant to arrest him."
"Patricia, you of all people know how hard I've been working on this for 16 years. I can't wipe my hands that easily."
"Then wipe your son's hands clean. Give that man whatever he asks for and..."
"He asked for Justin. From the beginning, he's wanted nothing more than that. And that's what I've given him. The girl has just been unfortunate collateral damage," he removed the woman's hands from his chest. "It's the best I could do for them," he turned around ready to leave.
"We weren't the best parents for him, for any of them. We owe them the chance to have a family."
Jeremy clenched his fist. "I know, but your wishes aren't going to change that man one bit and I don't plan on screwing things up at this point. Not with that child involved," he said and walked away.

The woman took his face in her hands. I'm so sorry, Rose, she thought.

***
John grimaced as he watched 2 of his drunken customers starting a quarrel in the middle of the place. It was a pain in the ass to deal with those kind of people because they never understood. You could only resort to violence with them.

He moved his hand closer to the rifle he kept under the counter, but, before he could pull it out, a third man, who didn't seem to have a single drop of alcohol in his blood, made the quarrel stop and convinced the other two to leave the place. He pulled out some bills and walked past leaving them on the counter on his way to the exit.

John took the money with a half smile. It was more than those men had consumed. He took the extra and stuffed it in his pocket. When his shift was over and the fat good-for-nothing who owned the bar came for the day's money, he would go to his apartment and deposit his small fortune in the jar he kept next to his picture of Rose. He was getting closer and closer to his goal.

He saw a woman with wavy brunette hair and green eyes enter the place heading straight for him.

"We need to talk."
John laughed. "You'll have to wait your turn."

Pattie hugged herself in the seat of her car. She had waited in the cold for a few minutes, but her body demanded warmth, so she decided to continue her wait in the company of the heater.

She closed her eyes as she felt the warmth returning to her body. Memories began to come one at a time until it was impossible to ignore them and she decided to just let herself get lost in them.

***
"John, it's necessary. We have enough profits to continue on our own. If we keep making deals with those men, we'll lose everything in the blink of an eye."
"Don't you see the possibilities that will come with this! Look, I know that neither Pattie nor you agree with staying in this business, but we worked hard and now we have 3 franchises in the surrounding area. It's a risk worth taking. We can become big shots very quickly."
The brunette woman, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation from the doorway, decided it was time to intervene and entered the room. "We can't go on. We have a son who was visited by 'a very big man' at school today. You have a daughter too, John, and a wife - don't you see how serious the matter is?"
"Serious? Do you know what these men are capable of if we don't keep helping them? They will visit our families, and not in a nice way. They will destroy everything we have and leave us penniless. Then they will make sure we learn our lesson and kill us. That's the real risk."
"No, that's the future. And I'm sorry. You're my friend and colleague, but, if you don't give up on this, there's nothing I can do for you. We'll buy you out of the business and take Detective Clarke's help. Justin needs a real home and it's time we give it to him," Jeremy hugged his wife under John's angry gaze.
***

A tapping on her car window brought Pattie back to reality. She watched John smile, a cigarette in his mouth.

She got out of the vehicle shielding herself from the cold.

"Jeremy sent you?"
"No, he doesn't know I'm here."
He exhaled the smoke he had been holding in before speaking. "Are you going to give your compassion and self-improvement speech again?"
"Why my son?"
John laughed. "I'll tell you if you answer one of my questions first: why my wife?" he threw down his cigarette and faced the small woman. "Why my house, why my wealth, why my family?"
"You know very well why. If you had stopped at that moment..."
"I wasn't the only one who went through with it and you know it very well," he approached her threateningly. "You two also preferred to take the easy way out a little longer."
"Of course we didn't. We asked for help. We only agreed to continue the cooperation because it was necessary to get evidence to keep those men away from our family."
"And it was because of your evidence that the demon awakened. But, of course, you had the protection of your friend the detective. You left my family exposed! They came for us, took Rose and tried to do the same to Annie. Meanwhile, you guys were drinking hot chocolate cuddled up in front of a fireplace."
"Please, listen to me..."
"You know nothing about anything! I know what kind of people you are and I won't stop until you feel the same way I felt. Whatever it takes."