| Ephemeral |

twenty-seven

The next day

"Alex, I know you're a smooth talker, but how the hell are you going to convince a random guy to go along with your mob leader take down?" Grayson asked as we drove down the road. 

"I'd like to hear this one myself," Theo chimed in, causing me to roll my eyes at their annoying voices. "I'm simply going to ask him if he wants to help me out," I shrugged.

"What, are you going to charm him? Yeah, you're hot but I don't think he's going to walk into a mob house for you," Grayson retorted. "You did, more than once." I smiled sarcastically at him. "Damn, she got you there." Theo laughed.

 "But no, my plan is not to charm him," I argued, "One, the kid is my cousin. Two shut the hell up and let me do what I have to do," I responded as I reached for the volume button and turned the music up drastically to drown them out. 

We got to the destination we intended, or at least I hope so. I did a bunch of research, you'd be surprised at how hard it was to find this kid. 

"So this is where Larce's secret resides?" Grayson asked as he looked around confused. It was a car shop. The building looked really old and rusty, not to mention it wasn't in the best part of town. In the midst of my research, it seemed like he didn't have the best life either. 

I walked into the shop and saw the waist down of someone. The rest of the person was under the car. 

"Can I help you," The person asked from under the car. "Uh, yes. My name is Allison. I had a few unrelated car questions for you," I spoke, hearing Grayson and Theo giggle about my fake name.

He pulled himself out from under the car and wiped his hands off on a dirty rag. His name tag spelled Wyatt in cursive letters. I could see the resemblance between him and Larce, it was uncanny. 

"We don't really get pretty faces around here often. What can I help you with?" He asked nicely, causing me to smile.

I looked behind me at Grayson and smiled at him mockingly, causing him to roll his eyes. "What I am about to say is going to sound like the twisted tale of a movie storyline, but it's real life and I need your help." I spoke slowly as he furrowed his brows at me.

-

"I already tried doing research on my real dad, I got nowhere. I knew he wasn't a good person, but I never knew he was a homicidal mob leader," Wyatt spoke as he sat down on a chair after I explained our very messy situation.

"I guess I should also probably tell you that I'm your cousin, and that my name isn't Allison." I responded quietly, causing his head to shoot in my direction.

"Yeah... Your dad kind of killed my dad the other day, but we're still blood." I nodded slowly causing his eyes to go wide. 

"So will you help us get my brother back or what?" Grayson asked suddenly causing me to glare at him once more today.

"Excuse me if I need a second to process that story." Wyatt responded to Grayson, causing him to roll his eyes like he usually does when he gets impatient.

"What do you want me to do?" Wyatt asked, looking back up at me. "I'm going to use you as leverage to get someone I love back. You might not even have to do anything except sit in the car," I tried smiling at him. I forget how crazy our lives would sound to a regular person. 

"Is this person worth all of this trouble? Is he a bad person like Larce?" He asked, looking at me. "He's nothing like Larce. He's kind, compassionate. He would do anything for the people he loves, that's why he's there," I responded, looking at the wall as I talked about him. 

"Fine, I'll help. But if you get yourselves killed I'm getting an uber home and pretending I never met you," He spoke as he stood up. I stood up as I smiled.

"Thank you so much!" I half yelled as I turned to look at Grayson, but he wasn't there. "He's waiting in the car," Theo pointed behind him, causing me to nod confusingly.

-

Ethan

"Can you behave for five seconds, please?" Crimson walked in my room quickly, causing me to furrow my brows.

"Why are you helping me all of this sudden?" I asked. Last night he dragged me away from Larce before I could do anything that would get me killed. 

"Just try and trust me for a second," He responded as he paced back and forth in my room. "That's like telling me to end world hunger," I retorted, causing him to let out a breath of annoyance. 

"Fine, I'll try." I responded quietly. "Good. You need to do everything I say, and how I say do it," He responded sternly, and I nodded reluctantly. 

-

Alex

We arrived at the place I was told. My heart is beating out of my chest if I'm being completely honest.

I took a deep breath before opening my car door. "Be careful," Theo warned me. No one can come with me, especially not Theo. He's supposed to be dead.

I nodded slowly before closing my car door. "Alex wait," Grayson spoke as he followed me out of the car.

"I have to do this, don't try and stop me," I responded quietly. "You could die," He raised his eyebrows as he spoke. I saw his eyes get watery causing me to frown.

"Would you do it for me?" I asked, causing him to look away from me. "Hey," I spoke again, bringing his face back toward me with my hands.

"Everything will be okay. We've been through hell before." I smiled at him, but he didn't respond. 

He leaned in and kissed my cheek before backing up. "I'd do it for you in a heartbeat." He responded, before turning away from me and getting back in the car.

I took a deep breath before walking through the woods to get to the house. 

-

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I'm nervous about the next chapter ngl... Do you think she'll be able to save him? Even if she does how are things going to be if he comes home?