"Dude, where is this place?" Nicole asks glancing around the building Jay had brought them. Starting from the neighborhood of the building, it was looking more like a ghetto. The three friends caught sight of the bad guys that were smoking and drinking in the neighborhood and they became nervous.

They mustered courage and kept going. "I want to introduce you guys to someone who is like a friend to me, he's in a position to help us deal with that psychopath" Jay responded and climbed a narrow staircase that was inside the building.

"Are you sure we are safe in this neighborhood by the way everyone seems to be staring at us?" Brad asks.

"Of course! These guys are only staring at us because we don't look insane like them and we never will. We are only here to get ourselves prepared for war" Jay answers.

"War? That sounds too creepy to use" Nicole whines.

"Don't be a baby now, you asked to join in this fight, do you want to back out now?" Jay asks and Nicole shook her head.

"I can only back out after blowing off that motherfucker's head" Nicole smirks.

"Now that's the vibes. C'mon, guys, we are here" Jay announced and stopped in front of a door. He knocked twice and the squeaks open revealing a green-colored scattered hair guy with noisy background music coming out of the room. The green hair guy was with a cigarette and his eyes were red like he's been on drugs before they arrived.

Nicole and Brad shared a petrified glance at each other. "Jay, where the hell are we?!" Nicole demanded while she glances from Jay to the supposed owner of the house they'd come to.

"Nic, you don't have to yell, just calm down and trust me on this," Jay said and turns his attention to his green hair friend.

"Dude, this guy doesn't look normal, he looks like someone who is going to harm us any minute. Are you sure we are in the right place?" Brad whispers to Jay.

Jay groans and ran his fingers through his hair and stared up at his friend Jasper with a brief smile, "Hey dude, what's up?"

"I'm good, boy. You finally came looking for me, you must have something interesting to share. So tell me, who are these little chickens you brought with you?" the green hair guy asked Jay pointing at Brad and Nicole, and then he drags in the smoke from his cigarette.

"They are my friends, Jasper. I'm sorry they are like this right now because I didn't prep them before coming here and besides I didn't know your neighborhood was this rough you know" Jay replies and gave a light nervous chuckle.

"Hey Jasper or Bruno, I don't care what your name is, but please do not refer to my boyfriend and me as chickens. Do you hear me?" Nicole snapped at him and the green hair guy frowns at Nicole.

"Would you shut up and calm down for once?!" Jay barks back at Nicole with a glare.

"Where did you get such a crazy bitch from, nigga?" the green hair guy asked, and that caused Brad's nostrils to flare up with anger.

"Hey watch it! Don't you ever call my babe a bitch, do you understand that?!" Brad snarls back at Jasper and that caused more tension among them.

"Or else what? You'll hit me?" Jasper retorted and stepped out of his room completely to face Brad.

"Hey hey hey, can you all just calm down?!" Jay half-yells frustratingly standing in between Jasper and Brad.

Awkward silence erupted between them with hot glares from Brad and Nicole directly aiming at Jasper. While Jay's gaze was fixed on his friends, Nicole and Brad.

"Please you guys should calm down, this is not why we are here. In case you forgot our purpose here, let me remind you. We just lost a very good and loyal friend 24 hours ago to an unknown assassin, and he also kidnapped another of our friends Anna. As the clock keeps ticking Anna's life is at stake which I don't know if she's already dead by now or-"

"God forbid that!" Nicole interrupts Jay.

"I hope not too. But hope alone is not enough, we need to find her before he murders her coldly just like he did Drake. That is the reason we are here, we are here because we need help. We can't fight him/her on our own, we don't even have the slightest idea if he has other people that are working for him. So, we need to be prepared to fight for those we love and Jasper is here to prepare us for the battle. Jasper is a cool and nice guy but he can be crazy most times. I don't know if you guys are ready to cooperate and work with him" Jay says glancing back and forth from Nicole to Brad.

"I've got many things to do, so make your decision fast so I can get back to what I was doing," Jasper said in a bored tone and didn't even care to have a glance at them.

Nicole and Brad shared a glance and heave a low sigh. "We accept to work with you if that's what it takes to track down that bastard" Brad responded.

Jay sighs in relief and squints at Jasper "Please we are ready."

"Come in" he opens the door wide and waited for them to walk in. Jay took the lead, followed by Nicole and Brad. Jasper shut the door right behind him.

The three friends glance around Jasper's living room in disgust. His room could be compared to a dumpster, it was looking so untidy with smells of alcohol and cigarette all over the place. His clothes and shoes and that of the ladies he had brought home were scattered on the floor and the couch.

Jay and his friends covered their noses from the sickening smell in the house.

"When last did you clean up your room? A month? Six months? A year?" Nicole questions almost inaudibly while she was still holding her nose.

"Shut the fuck up, it's none of your business. I can clean it whenever I want" Jasper drawls.

"This place stinks!" Brad exclaims. "How do you even breathe fine in a stinky place like this?".

"You're right on that one, buddy. Seriously nigga, how do you feel comfortable occupying such a messy place? I never knew you live in such a dump....sorry" Jay shut himself up before he crosses the line.

This was the first time Jay was coming to Jasper's home, both of them have been friends for a year plus now. They both met in a club one night when some bad guys wanted to rob Jay. After saving Jay's life, he escorted Jay home to make sure he got home safe and sound. That was how they both became friends.

Once a month they do meet up and have some drinks together with Jasper's friends, but Jay never thought of coming to know his house until today when he needed his help again. The reason for keeping his distance was to avoid becoming like Jasper and most of all Jasper's friends were worst than Jasper himself.

"You guys are too nosy for my liking, you are losing focus on why you are here. Well, well, well, if you guys are done interrogating me then is my turn to do the same. But mine is going to be just one question which I'm very sure is going to cause you guys to pee on your pants" he grins cockily and took a sit on the couch and grab a bottle of whiskey. He took a large sip of it while observing them.

"You can't scare us as like that" Nicole frowns at him and he chuckles.

"I'm not scaring you, sweetheart. I just know for sure that it's going to get you all sweaty" he laughs and then watches their reaction.

"Jasper please just tell us what we need to do to save our friend because there's no time on our side" Jay pleaded.

"Do you guys have a gun?" he asks softly with a cocky smile.

"What!" The three of them exclaim in unison staring at him with wide eyes.

"I don't have time to waste you three, just give me an answer already. Do each of you have a gun?" Jasper asked again.

"Of course not! How can you even ask us that? We don't even know how to use a gun so why should we keep one and for what reason are we to have one individually?" Jay rushed up his words. He was feeling nervous just like Jasper had predicted. Hearing the word gun has made the three of them petrified already.

"Wait a minute, you guys came here to seek my help without any protection? You guys are jokers!"

"We are not jokers! We're serious about this whole thing!" Jay replied.

"Then the three of you must get yourself a gun and I'll train you on how to use it. If not, then you should cancel your mission and take a walk out of my house!" Jasper said bluntly.

Jasper's words got the three friends dumbfounded, it wasn't what they expected from him. They expected something else for the mission that wouldn't require them to use such a weapon. But now Jasper had left them to make the toughest decision they'd ever made in their whole life before.

***

Anna weakly coughed up blood, a grim reminder of the punishment inflicted upon her by her kidnapper, leaving her teetering on the edge of consciousness. Her body bore wounds that sprawled across her form, each a source of excruciating agony. Attempting to shift her position on the cold floor, she emitted feeble whimpers of pain.

Draped in her sports bra and pants, Anna's eyes, swollen and barely able to open, scanned her dim surroundings. After a few moments, her gaze settled upon the empty space, the absence of her tormentor evoking a sigh of relief.

Glancing down at her hands, Anna realized they were inexplicably unbound. A surge of relief coursed through her, infusing her with a hint of newfound vigor. Casting her eyes towards the door, thoughts of escape began to stir within her. Despite the searing pain that surged through her belly as she attempted to crawl forward, Anna summoned her determination.

"Please, God, help me," Anna silently prayed, gathering her strength for another attempt. Slowly and resolutely, she inched her way toward the door, her perseverance undeterred by the fact that her legs remained constrained.

Each movement was met with a grimace of agony, but Anna pressed on. Eventually, she reached the door and hoisted herself into a seated position, her back resting against the adjacent wall. As waves of sharp pain emanated from her stomach, she winced and clasped her abdomen, breathing heavily.

Taking a moment to steady herself, Anna's trembling left hand gripped the doorknob, endeavoring to turn it. Despite her persistent efforts, the door remained stubbornly shut, eliciting a weak curse from her lips. Leaning her head against the door, Anna gasped for breath, her determination unyielding.

She grasped the doorknob once more, this time with increased resolve, only to be met with the same unyielding resistance. Overwhelmed by frustration and despair, Anna's sobs spilled forth uncontrollably, mingling with her thoughts.

"Is this to be my end? Perhaps it's a fitting fate, considering I've lost everything. What reason is there to endure when Drake, my happiness, is gone? His friends must suspect me in his death, and in some twisted way, they're not entirely wrong. If only Drake hadn't spent that fateful night at my house, he might still be alive, and I would be the one dead. But now he's gone, forever gone, and I never had the chance to bid him farewell," Anna wept, her anguish echoing in the confines of the basement.

Flashback of memories of Drake and herself filled her mind. "I just want to die with you Drake, I can't live without you. I need you in my life, I don't think I can go on without you here with me" she muffles.

"How I...wish... I could..see...my... parents' face.. again before...I die" she choked out on her own words tiredly and bows her head low with her hands holding her hair.

"But what if I ended up dying here, who is going to prove my innocence out there?" the question suddenly popped up in her head. "Drake's friends and family need to know that I didn't kill him and disappeared like they are thinking right now. I have to get out of here alive whichever way I can so I can tell them the truth of what happened."

She stared down at her chained legs and panic hits her. If only she could get those chains off her legs then it'll do her more good than harm, she thought. She glances around looking for something that would serve a purpose to get the chains off. Her gaze settles on the table where she'd seen him take out all of the torturing tools he's been using on her and she heaves a low sigh.

She crawled her way back to the table. She made it to the table and sat down panting heavily. Anna stretched her neck to have a better view of what is on the table but she couldn't see a thing since the table was so high.

She struggles to get on her knees to get rid of the white cloth on the table before any other thing could be done. She dragged the white cloth used in covering the table away from the table revealing three different black boxes on the table.

She tries to lift one of the boxes from the table but the pain in her arms made her throw the box to the floor and it went flying open. She grimaces and held both hands to her chest panting.

A few minutes later, she took a deep breath and exhale. Her gaze returns to the table and he used her left hand to push down the remaining boxes. The boxes fell and flew open, all the tools inside the boxes poured to the ground and Anna gasped with wide eyes.

She was awestruck by the things she was seeing. Her gaze narrowed from the hammer on the floor to the tong, pliers, nails, chisel, and many other tools.

"Monster! Evil Bastard! Cruel being!" she cussed glaring at all the scattered tools on the floor. "I'll kill you, you damn bastard!" she growls and began searching for the right tool that will first destroy the chain on her legs before she'll find the perfect match for him. "Yes!" she sighs happily when she found pliers.

She picked it up and unchained her legs. A huge sigh of relief escapes from her mouth. She dropped the pliers and picked up a screwdriver and slide it behind her shorts. She picked up a small pair of scissors as well and hide it in her pocket, "This would do with that son of a bitch. He's good as dead!" she mumbles and helped herself up by holding the table.

She limbs to where her torn shirt was and picks it up. She stared at it sadly. "I swear it, you won't get away with this you bastard, I'll kill you just like you killed my happiness."

Anna donned the tattered shirt, cleverly tying its torn portion around her waist. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she shuffled over to the door, her eyes scanning its surface for any openings to peer through. Failing to find any, she retrieved a screwdriver from her pocket and squatted down. With determined pressure, she began etching a small circle into the door until it yielded a peephole. A faint smile graced her lips as she beheld her accomplishment.

With the means to glimpse the world beyond, Anna crouched and pressed her eye against the newly made hole. Her anticipation was met with a jolt of shocking terror as the sight that met her gaze sent a piercing scream echoing through the air. In a moment of sheer horror, she found herself locking eyes with her captor. The blood-curdling sound of her scream filled the room as she tumbled backward.

Abruptly, the door swung open, revealing her tormentor, a wicked smirk playing on his lips as he relished in her terror.

"Looking for an escape?" he scoffed cracking his knuckles.

Anna's face suddenly went pale and she weakly sat on the floor staring blankly at him. Fear gripped Anna at the sight of her kidnapper and she crawled backward with her butt. Her whole body was shaking as she made a move. She wished for two things, for the floor to open and swallow her up, or for her to teleport to a safe place.

"Were you trying to escape from me?" the man asks grinning viciously while his eyes fixated on her like a predator. Anna shook her head nervously and her breathing became rapid.

"Just because I left your hands untied then you think you can do whatever you want, isn't it?" he asks using his leg to shut the door closed while he stepped forward.

Anna shook her head and slowly reaches for her back pocket to get one of the tools she had hidden earlier and her hand reached for the scissors.

"You should have just sat still and waited for me to come rather than try escaping from me. This house is too big for you to find an escape route, and neither do you have keys to the doors to start with" he said circling her with a boisterous laugh.

Anna brought out the scissors and held them by her side. Her target was his neck, if she could get him injured on his neck or his stomach then it'll weaken his strength over her. She thought she needed to play smart and get him closer to her.

"I tried to escape but now you're here now and you don't even have the balls to lay your fingers on me!" she scoffed and flashed him a smirk.

Those words enraged him and he didn't hesitate for a second to bend over and grabbed her by the neck while his eyes pierced her. Anna's plans worked exactly how she wanted them but she was getting choked by him.

"This is the moment," she mentally declared. With utmost caution, she wielded the scissors and thrust them into his neck. A low, guttural groan escaped the man's lips as his grip on her throat faltered, his hand instinctively reaching for the point of impact where Anna had struck. The scissors remained lodged in his neck, a chilling testament to her desperate act. Emitting an almost primal growl, he clenched his teeth in a display of fierce determination.

"You damn bastard! I hope you rot in hell!" Anna hissed at him and helped herself up to her feet. She scurries with a limb to the door and twisted the doorknob and it squeaks open. She sighs in relief and stepped a foot out of the room.

As she turnaround to slam the door closed, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back inside, and shut the door. Anna squealed, "Let me go! Help!"

"You little bitch!" he snarls at her and gave her a hard slap on her face that sent her to the floor. "How dare you?!" he growls and kicked her hard on her legs.

"You just angered me! You broke two of my rules. You are not only going to pay with your life but your loved ones will!" he threatens and held the scissors on his neck and pulled it out.

Blood gushed out from his neckline and he groans in pain. "You tried to escape from me and you dared tried to kill me! Your loved ones will pay!" he pants heavily. "Now tell me, which of your friends will you like me to kill first? Nicole, Brad, or Jay?" he asks sending Anna's mouth to fly open in shock.

"You...you..know....my friends?" Anna stutters in disbelief.

"Or would you rather like for me to start with your boyfriend's family?" he continues ignoring her question.

Anna gasps in bewilderment, "You...you..."

"Perhaps your sweet loving parents who are here in Ireland looking for you will be better to start my killing hunt with" he interrupted her and brought out a gun from his waist and pointed it at her.

Anna trembled and her eyes went wide open. "My parents...are here? How...how did..you know that?" she stammered weakly.

The psychopath cocked his gun and pointed it directly at Anna's forehead. "I don't have time to waste nor answer any of your stupid questions. Now tell me, would you rather die first or you'll pick one person out of those damn people I've listed out?!" he snapped.

Anna's shoulders slumped to her side and her lips quivered. Chills ran down her spine and tears seared her vision as she stared at him blankly.