"YOU KNOW, I'VE JUST REALISED, I'VE NEVER BEEN TO THIS HOUSE."
After a whole week of wobbly, the pouges were finally back on track. They had the key, they had John B and they had strong friendships. The very last thing they needed was their stunning sharpshooter. Tatum Quinn. They knew where she was. However, the last time the pouges visited Limbrey's palace, Pope found himself kidnapped.
And that was the only reason they stepped foot into the Quinn home that day, desperate for any kind of help, and Leroy Quinn was their only chance. It was one of the riskiest things they had ever done, but they were prepared to run through wars and violence for their girl.
It was six-thirty, meaning they had half an hour before Nathan would return home from the garage. That was what JJ told them, at least. That was how it was the last time he'd seen the family, anyway.
They weren't idiots. They wouldn't have touched the doorstep if they knew what they would run into. They never expected him to be home.
"When we were little, me and Tate used to sneak into her dad's room 'n' steal his drugs," stated JJ, feeling weirdly nostalgic as he opened the front door of the house that nearly killed his best friend. "We sold 'em, blamed it on Joe, then ran away before we got stabbed or some shit."
The others frowned a little. While everyone in the group loved and cared for Tatum like she was family, nobody had actually grown up with her and formed a bond like she and JJ did. He knew her better than any of the pouges - better than Kie - but he wasn't enough to bring her back to herself, and it killed him. Everyone could see the difference in him since they were separated once again. All the giggles, all the songs, all the hugs, wasn't enough to see what was really going on inside her head, and he'd never forgive himself for not noticing the signs before it was too late. Because she had lost herself now, and the pouges weren't sure if they could bring her back.
Every sociopath has their weak spot, their soft underbelly. For Tatum, it was her love for Kiara Carrera. For Rafe, it was the acceptance of his father. For Leroy, they could only hope it was the care he had for his little sister.
When JJ had first suggested this, everyone thought he was mad. Leroy Quinn? He let Tatum go through hell, he was the only sibling strong enough to take down their dad, but he didn't - he let his sister get assaulted, abused, abducted. He stood by and let it all happen because his father told him to. But the moment Nathan Quinn was gone, the moment he wasn't watching over, JJ could've sworn he seen the smallest hint of worry in his eye. That night, before Tate was arrested, Leroy seen her. In the hot tub, he seen her. But he didn't say a word. And although it was by a long shot - an extremely long shot - JJ hoped this would work. It was the only thing they had.
However, when they stepped into the Quinn home, they were faced with something they didn't prepare for. Who would prepare for Nathan Quinn? He was simply too unpredictable.
"Uncle Nate, what's up?" JJ tried to sound casual, happy, even shooting friendly finger guns at the old man, but there was no mistaking the croak in his voice.
Instead of replying to his honorary nephew, Nathan Quinn stood up from his seat on the smelly, old, leather couch, stretching out his arms to show the gun tucked into the waistband of his pants. "What the fuck d'you want, J?" he asked rudely, taking an empty beer bottle into his hand and drinking the air inside of it. "Your dad's not here, he's still in jail. And for fuck's sake, did you have to bring these little fags with you?"
The moment Kiara's eyes met her ex-girlfriend's father's, her blood was filled with a flaming hot fury she had never felt before. She could see the pleasure in his eyes, the pleasure he had in scaring people. He could sense their anxiety over him, and he loved it. Craved it, even. Fed off it.
"Ah, you're my Tate's girlie, aren't you?" he asked, pointing to her with the glass. The three boys around her watched cautiously, knowing what this man was capable of, and what he did to young girls. His own daughter. "Y'know, if it weren't for you, she'd be a star? A ruthless killer, worthy of my blood. You ruined my daughter, Carrera, turned her into some lunatic that believes she can change. She could've been incredible, the whole world would bow down to her. But that can't happen now, because of you."
As the man stepped forward, Kiara took a step back. The boys were unsure of what to do. It was their first instinct to protect Kie, of course, but who were they to stand up against The Nathan Quinn? All four of them would end up dead. This was a battle they simply could not win.
"You ruined her, actually," corrected the girl fiercely, glaring up at the man, not breaking his challenging eye contact. She was scared. Terrified. But her fear was nothing compared to the rage she felt whilst looking at this man. This man, who wanted her girl to be evil. This man, who made her girl believe she was evil. This man, who made her girl believe she was unworthy of love, of a good life. This man, who destroyed Tatum Quinn over and over again. Hurt her, mentally, physically, and everything inbetween. "She is so good, she deserves so much better than a father like you."
JJ shook his head. Usually, he was the dumb one, the one who had to sit on the sidelines beside Tate while the others figured out the plan. But this - when it came to criminals and violence and especially this family - he was smarter than the shaking Pope Heyward trembling behind him in fear. And anyone who stood up to Nathan Quinn was dead within an hour - fact.
As expected, the man barked with laughter, stepping closer to the girl, backing her up until she was standing pressed against the wall, and pulled out his gun. "There's a special place for pussies like you," he said, flipping off the safety click with a deadly grin. "Say hi to Thomas and Ian for me."
John B's mouth dropped. JJ's jaw clenched. Pope's breath hitched. Kiara braced for the impact of the bullet, forehead sweating, but there was nothing this man could do to get her to stop glaring at him.
This was it. This was the moment they would lose Kie. And there was nothing they could to about it. As said before, the teenage boys were defenceless against the killer that was Nathan Quinn.
Hearing the click of a gun, Leroy stepped out of his room with a greedy grin, knife in his hand, buzzed for any kind of drama going on in the house of horrors.
"Leroy!" Pope gasped, finally releasing his breath at the strangely relieving sight of the big brother. Oh, God, this had to work. Oh, God, he had to care. If he didn't, they were all dead.
Distracted, Nathan Quinn turned around to face his oldest son, smirking darkly. "You wanna take this, boy?" he asked, holding out the gun. "Your sister is your kill now, after she shot you in the Bahamas."
"How could you?!" screamed Kiara, gaining her confidence again now there wasn't a gun pressed into her head. "That's your daughter! How could you do that to your own blood?!"
"Don't insult me!" the man growled, swinging the glass bottle over her face. "That girl is nothing to the Quinn name anymore!"
John B looked around at Tatum's childhood home desperately. One wrong move and they were all dead. One wrong move and they had no chance of getting Tatum back.
JJ stared up at the men he used to consider family. The men he used to look up to. The men who locked Tate in a bunker and fucked with her head even more than it already was.
"Her mom took her!" Pope shouted through the tension, heart beating wildly, as he looked in the eye of the psychopahtic Leroy Quinn. Though he was terrified, trembling, on the verge of shitting his pants, he would do anything - try everything - to get Tatum back. "Please, Leroy, if you care even just a little bit, you'll help us get her back."
For a moment, everything was quiet. Everyone was looking back and forth from each other. Uncertainty and fear flashed across the eldest Quinn child, and that proved everything to the pouges. He did care. Even if it was just a little, he cared. They could work with that.
But the moment his father met his eye, it dropped. He smirked. He raised his brows. He morphed himself into the psychopath everyone knew him as.
Then there was a gunshot.
The boys' heads snapped towards a shaking Kiara.
But she didn't fall.
No. It wasn't her at all.
Gun in her hand, Kiara Carrera looked down at the mess she had made with a shaky cry.
Nathan Quinn. Dead at last.
"Holy shit."
a/n: yes, i am aware sarah isn't here.
who is ready for tiara again?!