Then You Look At Me |COMPLETED|

Hang On

~This city's gonna break your heart; it's gonna leave you colder. Bright light's tearing us apart; it's gonna hurt all over.~ Kris Allen.

Chapter Theme Song: 'Out Alive' by Kris Allen.

••

Third-person Pov

"Ry, honey. What you're doing right here can be very dangerous, sweetheart." Robert groans, threading his fingers through his tie and loosening the suffocating material. "Keeping secrets never amount to anything good."

Riley tenses. "What makes you think I am—"

"You keep fiddling with your clothes, dear."

Instinctively, she quickly releases her garment, and Robert suspires in impatience. "Just tell us."

She chews on the inside of her cheek as Austin and Melissa inspect her carefully. Glancing down at her wristwatch, she realizes that she has less than a minute until she's allowed to reveal their whereabouts. She is beyond relieved. The teen has never been a fan of falsity and having to sit here and whopper to three sharp-witted adults is like being mercilessly sentenced under the law of perjury.

Clearing her throat, she smooths out her shorts with her hands as she nervously jiggles her feet. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2—

"Uhm...actually, they are at Freetown."

Robert's head jerks back at the information, as his face scrunches up. "Freetown? What-why are they there?"

"Did they go after Ron Moretto?" Austin questions with wide eyes, and Riley nods.

"It seems so..."

"Oh my God." Melissa pushes her hair back, pulling at the strands as she does. Riley gazes at Robert guiltily as he shakes his head in disappointment.

"Ry, why did you take this long to tell us something this important?"

She opens her mouth to give an account, but Austin speaks first, causing her lips to tug upward culpably.

"We're going over there right now; these boys never listen." He hastily crosses the room to collect his brown jacket from the coat rack while Robert arises from the couch to accompany him.

As they stalk out the door, Riley sinks into her shoulders as a heartening Melissa sits next to her, offering a soft smile while rubbing the girl's arm comfortingly.

••

"Rainey, Rainey, Rainey."

Ron's menacing tone sears through the air as he is stooping in front of the traumatized teen, his grey icy marbles drilling through hers. Grasping a portion of her short hair, he roughly tilts her head back; her chin elevated while her empty orbs glazes at him. Her eyes are now a black mirror of his, having no trace of life or vibrancy.

"Don't touch her. Take your hand off her!" Alaric warns him, but that only earns a short chortle from the man. His deep, sinister voice reverberates with such control and dominance. Certainly, he does not have to take orders from a young adult who is currently bounded. He has the upper hand; the ball is lying in his court, and that reality feeds his ego a bellyful.

The King boys are sitting on blistered knees, their hands tied behind them whilst men stand above their heads with loaded rifles; waiting submissively on Ron's permission to shoot. Rainey is the first in line and Arden is next to her. Aiden is in the middle, and Alex is right next to Alaric who is last in line. A few of Ron's men, who Max had attempted to keep off, have by now arrived at the cliff with a beaten-up Max and his companions lying limply on the ground.