𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 || 𝐉.𝐉𝐊 ✓

⊘ • ❸❹ • ⊘

"So, we meet again?" I remember her now. She held me back that one time when Jungkook and I were caught in the apartment. I could never forget her voice.

It's the same scene over again. The only difference is that it's Twix and luckily, she's not being hit over and over again like Jungkook. I do see the grin on the bastard's face when he looks down at her bloody cheek. The cut on her face now runs red.

"You're going to learn fast here, girly. You play with fire, and you're going to get burned." He winks down at her and then walks off.

The cop lets me go, but she pushes me forward, and I fall face-first to the ground. I feel the sharp rocks scratch my skin in the process.

"There, go save your little friend," she laughs while walking to the group of girls.

I ignore the pain in my face and rush to Twix. I grab her arm to help her up. "Are you okay—"

"No, I'm not fucking okay, Vee. I got hit by the back of a fucking gun. What about that makes you think I would be okay," she fires fully loaded at me.

"I'll reword it, then. Will you live? How does that sound, Twix? I'm trying to help you, and I'm sorry that the way I phrase my words have pissed you off, but you have to settle down. We're not at the warehouse, we're not doing a mission, we're done. Do you understand? Twix, we're not at a normal prison. These guys can do anything to us—anything. You need to be careful—"

"Screw you, Vee. I don't need your fucking help," she pulls herself away, leaving me alone while I sigh inwardly to myself and follow slowly behind her toward the group of girls.

When I make it back, Barbie walks up, and her eyes widen.

"Your face. Vee, you're bleeding," I didn't even notice, but when I touch my face, I see as much blood on my fingertips as Twix has on her cheek. I must've hit a few sharp rocks when she pushed me.

"I'll be fine," if anything, I don't need to show weakness here.

Before she can say anything else, another van pulls up near the short distance. A few park near the van we were in, and the others park across the distance.

We stand there, waiting to see who's going to be let out of the vans, and then the sheriff arrives in his truck. The men in black uniforms crowd around, making sure there's nowhere we could run.

However, my eyes are locked on the other vans, and I watch the cops open the back doors and pull them out the way they did us moments before.

I watch one of them throw Jungkook out of the van, then I turn away when I watch one of them kick him in the gut.

"It's over now. He's up," Barbie mumbles to me, and I turn forward where I see Jungkook across the distance. He's so far away that I can't fully see his face. I can only make him out by his clothes.

"Listen loud and clear," the sheriff announces with a microphone. "All of you will follow in line, or you will be tased, beaten, or worse. This is not a game. You step out of line, and my men won't hesitate to urgently put you right back in it. Each crowd come forward and join in the middle."

More girls join our group once they're out of their vans. Some of them I haven't seen since the warehouse, but I've seen the others on tv who luckily got away. At least, at that moment they did.

We step closer to the middle of the gravel road, and I force my head away from the prison gates before us. However, when the guys join our group into a large one, the group spins like a massive pit full of people pressed against each other. Suddenly, I feel fingertips grab my own.

When I look up, I see Jungkook smiling down at me, but I cry instantly upon seeing his beaten face. Bruises and dried blood mixed with fresh cuts tattoo his face, but he still smiles at me.

"Jungkook," I want to reach out and touch him, but he stops me before I can. He holds my hand tightly, preventing me from moving my hands.

"Vee, you have to be... brave," I see the tears in his eyes when he looks at me, studying the injuries on my fresh wounds. "You look forward and hold your head up high. Do it for me, please..." I feel his fingers tighten around mine, and I face forward and hold his back just as tight.

"Everyone move in! Women move in first, and then guys move in behind! Stay organized and don't try anything funny!" The sheriff calls back behind us, but all I can think about is the way Jungkook's index finger strokes mine to offer the tiniest bit of comfort before we're going to be torn apart again.

With the prison gates slowly opening and the crowd moving forward, Jungkook and I take our first steps forward.

We take six steps—six—before one of the guards rips him out of our group—out of my grasp. I feel the tears burn my eyes when I force myself to face forward because I know I'll run after him if I don't. I listen to him and face forward like he said to do.

"Keep walking forward. Don't turn back!" I hear Jungkook shout behind me as the guard pulls him away, but I can't keep the tears in. His encouraging words only break me further.

"Hey, you can do this, Vee. All of us are here for you," Barbie admits when she steps up to me. With small looks in my direction, I feel the group of girls glancing at me with a caring expression in their eyes.

"Our crew is a family—no matter how small—no matter the place—no matter what this cruel world throws at us. Our family stays together no matter what. We love you, Vee." Barbie says, and when she does, I hear faint words of care coming from the girls surrounding me.

Their small voices are loud to my ears, and I suck up the tears.

With my head held high and the women walking beside me, I walk into the prison not alone but with my family following behind me.

𓆩・༺ ꔫ ༻・𓆪