Trista-

I sat in the forest, looking over the piece of paper with Gerard.  It had been a good week since the whole incident with Tony, and I was beginning to think that maybe the gang wasn't togeather anymore, seeing as how no one had come to avenge him.  But Gerard was more pensive, thinking that maybe they were just trying to find out where we were in the first place.

"As far as I know, we're the only ones in this forest.  No one else is ever here, not even the people who live near here."Gerard said, folding up the paper and placing it over to the side.  I shrugged, tapping my finger on my knee.  Maybe I was a little concerned, but not totally.  I was more interrested in figuring out who had hurt Gerard in the gang.

"Could it have been Tony?  The one who beat you up?"I asked, but Gerard mearly shrugged.

"It could have been all of them...though I don't think Dominic would have.  I don't know, I just can't see him doing that."He said, shaking his head.  

"Alright, well, we aren't really getting anywhere today.  How 'bout we do something else?"I suggested, standing up.  I'd been feeling a lot better lately, ever since the detox began to wear off.  With Gerard there every night things were actually easier than I had expected, and...begrudginly...I slowly began to find life managable without drugs.

Gerard stood up with me and asked,

"Okay, what do you want to do?" I looked around at our vast surroundings and smiled alittle bit.  Yes, it was a childish game that I hadn't played since Sarah left, hadn't wanted to play since Dad died, but right now I really wanted to play,

"Tag, you're it!"I exclaimed, tagging his arm and running.

I heard him laugh behind me and chase me, our footsteps seemingly loud in the empty, silent forest.  We weaved in and out of the off-white trees and through the crunching leaves that blanketed the ground.  I got way ahead of him, leading him through a maze of trees.

Finally, I realized I couldn't hear his foot steps our laughter, and worried.  I panted and looked around, taking time to whipe off my black jeans and hoodie that covered my black tank top and fishnet sleeves.  I had removed my nose ring and snake bites this morning, and was not glad because they would have been annoying to maneuver around as I whiped the dirt from branches off my face.

"Gerard?"I called out, walking back the way I had run.  There was no way I could have gotten THAT far ahead of him, he could run like a deer.  I called his name, but got no response.  I ended up back near where we had been sitting, just a few trees away.

"Gerard?"I called, and screamed as two rough hands covered my mouth.  I squirmed as the person picked me up and kept one hand over my mouth, carrying me over to the clearing where Gerard was being held by two people that were eerily familiar.  My eyes widened and I felt fear spike my heart rate and make my skin prickle, dread dropping a ten-pound weight in my gut.

Gerard looked at me and said,

"Trista..." I looked around, confused as Dominic stopped in front of the group. Tyler was holding onto Gerard by his collar and arm, dressed in a black, open, leather jacket and black jeans with a marroon shirt.  I glanced behind me to see Dominic, everything but a picture, including the dreadlocks and black attire.  

Then I noticed the man on the other side of Gerard, arms crossed over a black wife-beater, face dark and serious, mouth a thin line and eyes analyzing me.

"What the hell do you want?"I snapped, trying to sound angry but ending up shaken and scared.  He uncrossed his arms and looked over to Gerard, then me.

"It seems that I didn't do a good enough job when I saw you last, Germ."Kurt said to Gerard in a deep voice.  Gerard's eyes widened and I saw his memory begin to kick in.

Kurt shook his head and mused,

"I heard you lost your memory, boy.  Hope that I'll be able to kickstart it later...but for now I think I'll keep you and whoever your little friend is in our house.  You do remember that, right?" It all seemed mocking, even with the nonchalant monotone it was put into.

"I'm not gonna go anywhere with you freaks."I spat, only to have Dominic smack me on the side of the head hard enough to make my ears ring.  I wanted to turn and punch his face in, but thought better of it.

"Oh, I think you are.  See, I could just kill you right here and now, but that wouldn't really be much fun, would it?  Nah, anyways I wanna talk things out with little Germy here, maybe even get you back into Five Crowns.  Without Tony, we're down a person and in need of a salesperson.  But that's all in good time...Dominic, Tyler."Kurt said, and the two began to shove us forward.

"You try to alert anyone and I've got a .45 that you'll be facing."Dominic mummbled in my ear, in a low tone similar to Kurt's.  I gulped and tried to stand straight, not believing that all this had happened. I was being led to some place by a dangerous gang of criminals.  Definitly not how I remember games of tag ending.

**********************************

This place was actually behind the city, just a ways away from the forest.  It wasn't actually a house, more of a small warehouse made of wood an cement, the inside looking like a miniature Costco with crates and papers stacked to the ceiling in some places, a table in the middle of all of it with two chairs.  Multiple doors lined the walls, and I was led towards one on the right.

I looked back at Gerard, who had a scared, worried look on his face.  He hadn't said anything at all, and I was concerned about what they might do to him as he was roughly shoved towards anouther door by Tyler.  I tripped into my own personal hell, an empty cement room that smelt like wet dog and had one single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

I spun around and faced Dominic, who gave me a cool glare.  I remembered what Gerard had said about him, but suddenly didn't believe any of it.

"What are you looking at, kid?"He asked, raising an eyebrow.  I huffed, already tired of these guys, and walked over to the far wall.

"What, mute now?  But you seemed so eager to talk to us before."He mocked, voice not changing.  I grit my teeth and muttered,

"Gerard was way off on his memory of you."

There was a silence, and I turned around, leaning on the wall with my arms crossed.  Dominic had a flash, a quick moment of surprise wrapped in something that resembled guilt. It passed quickly, and he asked,

"What did Gerard tell you about me?"

I was interrested, now.  That look in his eyes had told me something interresting, something that said that maybe he WAS how Gerard explained...

"You were his friend,"I said angerly, thinking of Gerard alone in anouther room, "You helped him out, protected him.  At least, you used to.  Now I guess things have changed."

We stood there for a second, glaring at eachother, just standing.  I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to see the slightest bit of guilt.  He pulled his brown dreadlocks into a ponytail and turned.

"If he get's hurt, I swear I'll never let you forget it."I threatened, finally getting out the angry edge that I needed.  He paused, then slammed shut my door, leaving me in a darkness that was only eased by the faint yellow light of the naked bulb above.

I cursed loudly and looked around, hoping there were no rats hiding in the dark corners of my room.  How the hell had I gotten myself into this mess?  At the beginning I was a melancholy drug addict and fine with that.  Now I was locked up in a gang's hideout because I'd befriended a scarred-up boy who didn't remember his past who had somehow gotten me off drugs.

I finally took off my jacket and used it as a pillow, though I wouldn't get much sleep on the hard, concrete ground.