𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - kiara carrera¹

𝒙𝒊𝒙. 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍

"MY LITTLE GIRL, FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HER LEGANDARY ANCESTORS."

Tatum stared around at the scene in front of her. She could bet on the fact that every single one of these guys had dropped at least one person in their lives. That was what her father was currently celebrating - her newest felony. Murder. Her oldest brother patted her on the shoulder in praise, while her father snaked his arm around her waist, squeezed her ass as he gave the guys at the garage a big, proud speech about his only daughter. Even with the terrible state she was in, Mr and Mrs Carrera paid for Tatum's bail. She didn't know why, but she didn't question it, either. She didn't question anything anymore. Whatever happened, simply happened - she didn't care. Everybody could fuck themselves.

The large group of drunken, middle-aged men left the crowd at the end of the toast, but not before parading over to congratulate Tatum, as if murdering someone was the equivalent to graduating high school. She looked up at them. Expressionless. Her mind was gone. And she never wanted it to come running back.

"All right, sis, I'll be back in a minute to show you the ropes," said Leroy, a smile on his face. He knew there was potential in that girl. He heard what the people on the streets were now saying - that Tatum was the girl-version of her psychopathic brother. Leroy was glad. At least one of his pussy siblings had the guts.

Tatum watched him go with a slow blink. She watched him go behind a crate with Dominic the handy man - apparently he could do a lot with those hands. A part of her wanted to rat him out. To be the one her father orders to kill him when he found out. She almost smirked at the idea of being soaked in his blood. She knew he felt the same when he murdered Joe. She knew that's how he felt everytime he looked at Thomas. Her twin brother hadn't so much as looked her in the eye since she returned home. He couldn't believe his eyes when he seen the girl she had transformed into. He didn't know what happened - what it was that made her snap. Killing someone? Almost being killed? The fallout with her friends? He had no idea, but it terrified him to think of what she was now capable of.

"Tatum?"

The girl looked up slowly. Pope Heyward's eyes widened. She smirked. It was unrecognisable.

"Careful there, Pope - gotta gun in my ass pocket," she said, and he could've sworn that behind her eyes, rested the devil.

But the boy shook his head instead. He took a step forward, looking Tatum in those eyes. Those dark, dangerous orbs. She tilted her head threateningly.

"I'm not scared of you, Tate," Pope revealed finally. And it was the truth. That girl was unpredictable as hell, but she drew the line at hurting her friends - he knew that now. He despised himself for not realising it sooner. "You can play pretend sociopath all you want, but I know you'd lose the other half your mind if something happened to one of us. Especially if you were to one to do it."

Tatum wasn't fazed in the slightest. She raised a single brow. "Us?"

On cue, John B and JJ stood at either side of Pope. The Routledge boy had a hard time hiding his guilt - her words had been replaying in his head since the moment they came out of her mouth. JJ frowned a little at the sight of her - he'd known the girl longer than the rest, and not once, had he seen her transform into her family. She was always different to them. She was never a Quinn at heart. They always failed to realise that. And now they were too late. Because now, she really was one. They just hoped, more than anything, they could get their girl back.

"Kie's waitin' outside," said JJ, as John B was unable to talk. "You comin'?"

"And why would I go with the same people who treat me like a pet?" she asked with her arms crossed. But even at these hurtful words, no emotion played in her voice.

"Because you love us," the blonde said. "Because everytime my dad's hit me, everytime John B's left him, everytime Pope's pressured him, you were there." He shrugged. "And, yeah, maybe we didn't deserve it, but you knew that, and you were still there."

Tatum shook her head. "No, I didn't know that, actually. I was too naive to see you bastards taking everything I did for granted. Even after I apologised and spoke my heart out, not a single one of you trusted me," she said harshly, spreading guilt through the air. "You only care now because you know what I've been through." The girl shrugged. "I'm not gonna be some victim story."

The three boys frowned. They finally understood and took responsibility for their mistakes. Mistakes that made their sister feel so low. John B was the one to nod. "Do it for the money, then," he told her confidently. "We're gonna get the gold - you can use your cut to get the hell out of this town. I know you want that." He looked into her eyes, watched as they tried to mask their softness - she tried so hard to pretend she didn't give a shit. And it was so believable - to the point were she believed it herself. "You can get away from this shitty garage, away from us, away from your dad. You can go to fucking Texas and get that farm you always talked about. Please, Tate, we need you."

She pursed her lips stubbornly. She pointed at the boys, her face still threatening and frightening. But they weren't scared of her - not anymore. "Fine, but only because I want the fucking money."

JJ whooped in delight. Pope threw his arms around the girl, only the be thrown off the floor. John B smiled. They were going to bring their girl back to herself - that goal was more important than any money in the world.

A/n: ew that chapter was so dramatic, like, for what? bro, you only had to clean your brother's body, get threatened by the other, die if you came out to your dad, got taken for granted by your friends, almost got killed for your friends, and killed someone. like, dude, suck it up, you big baby