the song for this chapter is "R.I.P. To My Youth," by the Neighbourhood :)

***********

R.I.P. to my youthIf you really listen, then this is to youMama, there is only so much I can doTough for you to witness it but it was for me too
I'm using white lighters to see what's in front of meR.I.P. to my youth

***********

Tate

I walked with the hooded man from the market who had yet to be named quietly. Inside of me, there was a part that was shaking in terror, but it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. With each step I took, I felt my courage grow, and it was due to the thought that kept playing over and over in my head...

What would Harry do?

I had no doubt that as soon as Harry found out what had happened to me, he would be overwhelmed with distress and worry, but that his most powerful emotion would most likely be anger. And so, I was channeling his own emotions as I walked to my unknown fate. I could struggle and I could cry, but what good would that do? I knew full well that these people didn't give two shits about me, so why should I let them see me break?

If Harry was in this situation, he wouldn't be crying, no...he'd be infuriated. He would be tactful and calm, he would be observant and smart.

So that's what I was trying to be.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced down at my nails, giving off a completely unbothered demeanor. The hooded man glanced back at me and laughed.

"What?" I scoffed, not caring how evident my attitude was. I'd been kidnapped before, this bitch wasn't special.

"You're just a lot different than I thought you'd be. I thought for sure that I'd have to chloroform you or something to get you to stop screaming and crying. But what did you do instead? You nailed one of my men right in the fucking kneecap with a bullet and shanked another one!" He cried out in amazement, clutching his stomach as he laughed.

"You seem like such a concerned boss, how sweet," I replied sarcastically.

He waved his hand at me dismissively.

"Ah, those are just some goons. They aren't in any real position of power like I am. If you had nailed someone important, then I'd probably be a little more pissed," he explained.

"Good to know," I sighed, kicking up the rocks under my feet as we walked.

We had been walking for about ten minutes now, and I was beginning to wonder if he had even parked in the same country at this point.

"You know, if you're going to kidnap someone, you could at least have the decency to park closer," I mumbled, and he looked back at me, his eyes glinting in amusement under his mask.

"Why do you still have that thing on? We've already established who you are," I quipped.

The man rolled his eyes before reaching up and tugging the mask off, revealing a messy pile of dark brown hair, and a matching brown layer of scruff on his face. His blue eyes stared into mine for a moment, a smug grin playing on his lips.

"Like what you see, sweetheart?" He taunted, and I rolled my eyes.

"You know what? On second thought, put the mask back on," I shot back, causing him to chuckle once again.

"You're funny. But we will see how long you keep your sense of humor up," he remarked.

"What the fuck do you even want from me? Honestly, with the number of people who want information from me, I should really start charging for this shit," I sighed.

"Patience, darling. Let's get in the car first," he replied, gesturing to the black SUV parked in the middle of a field.

"Nice parking job," I scoffed, walking over to the car.

"So, do you want shotgun, or what?" I sighed, gesturing towards the car.

His eyes twinkled in amusement. "That's all you. I'll drive," he answered, walking to the driver's side door and opening it, before climbing in.

I made my way over to the passenger side and got in the car, buckling my seatbelt and slumping down in the seat.

The man glanced over at me and let out a breathy laugh.

"Tom's not gonna be happy that you took his seat," he laughed.

"Tom? Oh! You mean Tiny Tom!" I replied.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on! You know! Tiny Tom from A Christmas Carol! The one with the little crutch! Get it? Because he's gonna need a crutch?" I explained, and the man burst out in laughter.

"I can see why Styles likes you so much," he replied, causing me to freeze in my seat.

I quickly relaxed my muscles, not wanting to confirm or deny his statement.

"I tend to be liked by the general public, you're just new here," I mumbled, desperately wanting to change the subject.

"Ah, I see we have hit a touchy subject," he smirked, putting the car in drive and beginning to travel through the field and back towards the path.

"Nope," I replied calmly, keeping my voice at an even tone.

"Oh really? I beg to differ. I saw how he completely mutilated Maddox," he answered.

I turned my head to face him, but he kept his eyes on the road.

"Maddox?" I asked, feeling a little lost.

"Oh come on! You know Maddox! He was that nice young man who you met in the park!" He replied, and even though I kept my facial expressions neutral, I couldn't stop the involuntary goosebumps that were beginning to rise on my skin as I recalled that horrible experience.

The man glanced over at me quickly, flicking his eyes down and observing the bumps scattered across my skin, a satisfied grin tugging at his lips.

"Yeah! See? You remember!" He taunted, finally getting back onto the path and beginning the drive back towards the other men.

I didn't reply, and he took my silence as a signal to keep talking.

"Yeah, Styles completely tore him apart! I wouldn't have thought anything of it if he had just simply shot him in the head, but when we went to find him to see what was taking so long, I mean, fuck!" He chuckled.

He reached over and lightly nudged me with his arm, but suddenly, I wasn't in much of a joking mood.

"Admit it! Styles totally has a thing for you! I mean, the man is an absolute legend, and I've heard stories of some pretty nasty ways that he's killed people before, but they were nothing compared to what I saw. I know he is obligated to keep you safe because that's his job right now, but clearly, something struck a nerve when he saw that you were in danger," he continued, and I wished so badly that he would just shut the fuck up.

Images of Maddox's face bashed in flashed in my mind, followed by glimpses of Harry's blood-covered face as he beat the already dead man into oblivion, as though he had completely lost all control.

I was silent for the rest of the short drive, the car stopping as we saw Tom hobbling with his arm around the other two men down the tree surrounded path I had been on earlier.

Tom's eyes narrowed at me through the windshield as they approached the car, one of the other men reaching forward and opening the door to the backseat, and he helped Tom scoot inside, an old rag tied tightly around his knee, which I'm guessing used to be white, but was now a deep crimson color due to the blood pouring out of his leg.

"Hello, gentleman! I'm assuming you've all met Tate! Tate, this is Tom-sorry, I meant Tiny Tom," he snickered, causing Tom to clench his fists together tightly in his lap, only to wince in pain shortly after, "And this is Joshua and Vince!" He finished.

It turns out the man that I had stabbed in the shoulder was Vince, who gave me an equally irritated glare, while Joshua just slumped back in his seat in the middle, seeming unbothered as he was the only one who had managed to come out unscathed.

"It's a pleasure," I scoffed, before turning around and crossing my arms over my chest, leaning back further into the seat.

"Lads, I was just reminiscing with Tate about poor old Maddox. Wasn't he just gnarly when we found him?" The only unnamed man quipped.

"Yeah, it was pretty brutal," Joshua laughed, and Vince and Tom just grunted in response, clearly not wanting to speak to the girl who had just managed to make both of them bleed.

"Right? Don't you think Styles has a soft spot for her? I mean, why else would he take the time to smash someone's head in like that?" The man continued, and I felt my blood beginning to boil.

"I mean, I feel bad for Maddox, but not as bad as I feel for you all," I hummed, staring out the window as the man began to drive again.

I peered into the rearview mirror and saw Tom chuckle, although he was clearly unamused.

"Oh really? And why is that?" he laughed, and the rest of the men in the car let out a few snickers.

I shrugged before answering them. "Because, if Harry completely obliterated Maddox, and he didn't even manage to actually kidnap me, just imagine what he's going to do to you," I replied, a smug grin playing on my lips. I peaked back up at the rearview mirror, and my satisfied grin only grew as I watched Tom visibly gulp at my words.

"Oh, I imagine he's going to be pretty pissed. But who knows, by the time we're finished, there may not even be a person left to rescue," the man remarked, and now, it was my turn to gulp.

I heard Tom laughing in the backseat. "Not so tough now, are we, sweetheart?" He sneered.

I turned around abruptly in my seat, shooting him a glare. "Hey, Tom, how's your knee feeling?" I shot back, and his eyes flooded with rage, and he lurched forward to grab me, but Joshua held him back.

The man in the driver's seat laughed at my comment. "Easy there, Tom. Let's not get too riled up and cause the wound to bleed even more. We'll be back at the house soon enough, and we'll get you patched up, then we can interrogate our little comedian over here," he spoke, causing me to roll my eyes and face the window again.

"Can't we just knock the bitch out or something? She's annoying the fuck out of me," Tom grumbled.

"The feeling is mutual," I fired back.

"Will it make you feel better if you get to knock her out?" The man suddenly asked, causing me to sit up straight in my seat and turn towards him, my eyes widening in bewilderment. He refused to look at me, but he still had a sly grin on his lips.

"Yes, much better," Tom replied.

"Ugh, fine. You guys are so boring, I thought she was entertaining. But if it will make you feel better, then go ahead," he sighed.

I opened my mouth to protest, but as soon as the words began to leave my mouth, a hand reached around the seat and firmly pressed a cloth against my mouth. I began to have deja vu of the night that Harry took me, and I reacted in a very similar way. I reached up and tried to pull his hand away from my face, attempting to hold my breath as I did so, but Tom just pressed the cloth harder onto me, and after a while, I was forced to take in a big gulp of air.

As I struggled, I managed to peer over at the man in the driver's seat and watched as he reached over and turned on the radio, before bringing his hand back and beginning to tap his finger against the steering wheel. He hummed quietly as my muffled cries filled the car as if he didn't have a care in the world.

I thrashed around for a few more moments before I felt my body growing limp, and I let out a final sigh and felt my eyes begin to flutter closed, and everything went dark.

***********

I woke up in a small room, it was dimly lit, and there were no windows or furniture of any kind in it. The walls were a charcoal gray, at least that's what they appeared to be as I tried to make out the color with only the faint flickering lightbulb hanging above my head.

I glanced down at my body, I was sat in a chair, with my hands tied behind my back and my feet secured to the legs of the chair.

"Really? You guys could not be more cliché if you tried. This is literally like the textbook scene of a kidnapping," I yelled out, hoping to reach someone through the other side of the wooden door.

I tried to wriggle my wrists around a bit, but it only caused me to wince in pain against the course material of the ropes that were tied far too tightly around them.

Suddenly, the door began to creak open, and I squinted my eyes as they adjusted to the light pouring in. But just as quickly as the light was there, it was gone, as the person who entered promptly shut the door behind them, causing my eyes to feel strained as I blinked a few times to orient myself.

Once they finally did adjust, I realized it was the man who had driven us here, and I rolled my eyes.

"Aw, you didn't miss me?" He taunted.

"You know, as hard as this may be to believe...no, I did not," I replied shortly.

He made his way slowly towards me, looking as though he were holding back a laugh.

If he was trying to scare me and make me wiggle around and fall over in this chair, he would have to do a lot better than that. I may have lost my freedom, but I still had my dignity.

"Okay, so, are we gonna do like a good cop bad cop thing? Or are you just gonna get right into it?" I sighed.

He chuckled a bit. "What do you think it is that I want from you, Tate?" He hummed.

"I asked you first," I shot back, not willing to allow him to manipulate me into giving him any more information than he already had.

"Fair enough. I-or should I say, my boss is very interested in the software that your father was involved in creating," he began.

"Yeah, get in line bud," I huffed.

He rolled his eyes and took a few steps closer to me, crossing his arms across his chest and peering down at me, trying to make me feel small, but epically failing to do so.

"You really do amaze me, you know that? You could be moments away from your death, and yet...you seem completely unfazed. You do realize how powerful my group and I are, correct?" he mused.

I shrugged, or at least, attempted to shrug, although it ended up being an awkward little wiggle due to the fact that my arms were tightly restrained behind my back.

"You don't scare me. You think you are so great and tough, but great men don't have to use fear in order to command an audience and get what they want. Respect and fear are not the same things," I answered in a very matter of fact way.

"Ouch," he replied, grabbing his chest in mock pain.

"Look, I hate to disappoint you, but I don't know anything about the software," I lied.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sure you don't. Cut the bullshit, Tate. You can say that you aren't afraid right now all you want, but I know that inside, you are petrified," he stated.

I remained silent. He was right, inside...I was scared, but I was going to do everything in my power to not show him that.

"I wonder if something else other than your own life was at stake, your mother's life, perhaps? Maybe then you would be able to recall a few details about the software?" He hummed.

I kept my eyes trained on him and refused to show him that he struck a nerve. As soon as people like this could see that you had a weak spot, they wouldn't hesitate even for a second to use it against you.

He eyed me carefully, trying to read my facial expressions.

"What about your aunt and uncle? They live close by, don't they? We could go pay them a little visit? Would that motivate you?" He asked, continuously trying to push all of my buttons.

I remained silent, no matter how hard it was. I wanted nothing more than to rip the ropes off of my body and punch and bash his face in, just as Harry had done to Maddox.

He took a few steps towards me again, this time closing the distance between us. He hunched over and put one of his disgusting hands on my thigh, and the other on my shoulder, getting right in front of my face, the subtle light flickering and illuminating his blue eyes briefly.

"What about your father? Hmm? What if we hurt him?" he questioned.

I laughed bitterly in his face. "My father? My father is dead, so good luck with that," I scoffed.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I saw an amused expression take over the man's face, and he let out a breathy chuckle.

"Is that what you think? Tate, Christopher Bridges is a lot of things, he's a thief, and a liar, and a total fucking pain in the ass, but one thing that I can assure you that he isn't...is dead," he spoke, and suddenly, my heartbeat became very loud.

"Yes. My father is dead. He died when I was a baby," I replied, my mouth feeling very dry.

He grinned at me, finding the entire matter hilarious.

"No, he is alive. Although he might as well be dead, no one has seen or heard from him in years, but the bastard always was good at keeping off the grid. For someone that was involved in software as complex as this one, he sure hated technology. That man managed to leave absolutely no carbon footprint. So I can understand why you would think that he was dead," he shrugged.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, refusing to believe that any of the things that he was saying were true.

"If my father is alive, then why didn't you just keep trying to find him? Why me?" I asked.

"Well, as I said, the man has a damn near perfect disappearing act. The original plan was to go after your mother, but then Whit had Styles go and kidnap you, and it just seemed much easier to do this. You were practically handed to us on a silver platter," he smirked.

"I don't believe you," I breathed out, and for the first time in so long, I felt my voice wavering.

"Well, believe what you want, dollface. I don't really give a fuck who I get the information from, just as long as I get it."

A similar rage filled me as the one that I had the night that Harry had kidnapped me, and I felt myself repeating my past actions.

I couldn't help it, I wanted to kill this man, but I couldn't, so I did the only thing I could think of...

and I spit right in his face.

He chuckled a bit, bringing his hand away from my thigh and wiping his face off, giving me a dark grin.

He stood up, and for a second, I thought he was going to leave, but instead, he did something much worse.

He brought his hand back and forcefully slapped it across my face, the impact of it so harsh that I was seeing stars, and he had to grab the chair with his free hand in order to make sure the chair didn't fall over.

"Play time's over Tate, I want answers, and I want them now," he warned.

I couldn't stop the tears from forming in my eyes any longer, no matter how hard I tried not to. I had been so strong all day, and after the hit I just took, I was beginning to break.

"I don't know anythi-" I started, but before I could finish, another harsh slap was delivered across my face.

He reached his hand down again and painfully gripped my thigh.

"If you want to keep that pretty little face of yours intact, I suggest you start talking. I know you found something, why else would you and Styles be all the way over in Scotland? Hmm?"

I couldn't even form a reply, the stinging and burning sensation on my face beginning to overwhelm me. I felt the first few hot tears slide down my cheeks, which only caused the man to roll his eyes.

"What happened to that sense of humor? Aw, I guess Tom was right, you aren't so brave after all," he sneered.

I had thought that out of all of the men who had taken me, he was perhaps the least awful, but now, I saw that I was wrong.

He was the worst of them all.

My eyes were flooded with tears at this point. I had wanted so badly to remain strong and unbreakable, to be like Harry would have been in this situation.

But I wasn't Harry, and I was in fact breakable.

The thought of his name alone made my heart begin to ache and it seemed as though unconsciously, I allowed it to slip through my lips.

"Harry," I whispered.

"Harry isn't here, darling. And I doubt he will be able to get here in time. I hope you two said your goodbyes already," he taunted, "now tell me, what do you know?"

I couldn't give anything up. I would rather die than give up the information I had to this disgusting pig.

I stared up at him defiantly through my tears, pressing my lips together in a firm line in order to stop them from quivering.

The man flared his nostrils, before bringing his hand back once more, going to backhand me this time, and I cried out in pain as his hand made contact with my face, his nails scratching my skin. I looked down to my lap to see a few small droplets of blood dripping down, feeling my new wounds stinging.

I didn't look at the man, I couldn't. I just shut my eyes and kept my head down, feeling the tears sliding down my face, and wincing even more as they hit the open wounds on my face, causing them to burn.

The man then stood up, and I braced myself for another hit, but instead, I heard his footsteps retreating.

"Man, all this talk has made me tired. Have fun, Tate. I'll be talking to you again very soon. Maybe then you will have something useful to say to me."

I then heard the slamming of the door, the sound of it making my body tense.

I waited until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, and once it was completely silent, I snapped entirely.

I choked out sobs, my arms aching and my ankles burning from the rope wearing down into my skin. More blood trickled down my face and began to mix in with my tears.

I whimpered and cried all alone, and everything felt dark, despite the small amount of light in the room.

And though my body was in so much physical pain, my heart ached far worse.

And at that moment, it ached for one person and one person only, and I allowed his name to slip out of my mouth again through my cries.

"Harry."

AN: I AM SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS VERY EMOTIONAL! WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK? AND WHERE TF IS HARRY? PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! ILY ALL SM! xx