Peter

I woke up earlier than usual that morning. Seeing that Thalia was still asleep in my arms, I decided to remain there for a while longer.

I stared out the window at the endless expanse of grass beyond. I had no idea where the hell today was going to go, but I knew for a fact that it would be far from easy. There was no way we were going to just initiate Thalia and leave. My brow furrowed at the thought of it. No matter what the hell was coming, I promised myself and Thalia that she would get out of here alive. I intended to keep that promise.

The door to the bathroom opened and Rhys stepped out, his hair wet and a towel wrapped around his otherwise bare hips. His grey eyes widened when he saw me awake and he blinked awkwardly. "Dang, dude I thought you'd still be asleep." He said.

"Well I'm not. Now will you go put on some fucking clothes?"

"Yea, whatever you piss baby." Rhys said. With a roll of his eyes, he went back into the bathroom.

Thalia began to stir in my arms, and I looked down just in time to see her eyes open slowly.

"Good morning sleepyhead." I said softly. She looked up at me with tired eyes and sat up slowly. "What time is it?"

"Ten thirty. Your initiation isn't until twelve though according to Caesar, so that gives us a while to do other things." Thalia and I turned to the front door at the sound of Leo's voice to see him standing there in his sleeping clothes, though he looked as though he'd been awake for a while.

"I'm surprised they let you out of your room without an escort." I smirked cheekily.

"Oh, they didn't." Leo said pushing the door open to reveal a man in a suit standing by the door. "He's been out here all night and I asked him to order us all breakfast, so that's coming soon. But even after I told him I was just coming over here, he told me he'd get us our breakfast after I was back in my room."

Leo walked in the room and handed me some papers. "Caesar sent this to me last night. They're the plans for Thalia's initiation ceremony." He clarified.

I read over the papers as Thalis looked over my shoulder. "It looks average. Not flashy like I expected from him. He even suggested it be private with only Jason as an outside witness."

"I know. I was rather suspicious of that, but I'm not going to complain." I handed Leo the papers back.

"But he's in charge of everything else like the clothes we're wearing, the decorations, and the after celebration." Thalia pointed out.

"Yeah. He could have something he's planned to reveal at that after party, so we'll have to be wary of that. Other than that, though it looks normal."

"Hey!" The guard called from the door. We all turned to look at him.

"You'll have to go back into your room from the bathroom. I'm sick of waiting for you to leave so I'm locking the door." He said rudely. With that, he closed the door and we heard it lock.

"I'm going to assume he's going to get our breakfast, because if not that was just rude as hell for no reason." Leo sighed.

He ran his fingers through his hair and Rhys exited the bathroom, fully clothed this time.

"Well I'll be going." Leo said, nodding at us as if to say goodbye before entering the bathroom to go back into his room.

"Oh! Thalia, before I forget, come with me." He added.

Thalia blinked before getting up and following Leo out of the room. I stretched my arms and yawned. There was literally nothing else to do to pass the time besides sleep and read the single shitty mystery novel that had been left in the room. I chose the latter over the former and picked up the book.

Thalia

Fiona quickly enveloped me in a tight hug as soon as I entered the room. "Oh my gosh Thalia I'm so happy to see you again! I'm so sorry I didn't go see you yesterday night but there was so much going on with Leo and Caesar having talks and Corey explaining what had happened to the two of you and worrying about today and-"

"Fiona," I cut her off. "Its okay." I said with a simple smile.

She stared at me for a moment before she smiled back and nodded, releasing me from the previous hug.

Ricardo looked me up and down before scoffing and turning away. I guess I should have expected him to not be happy with their current situation given his stance on me knowing about the Ronan's mob in the first place.

Corey seemed to be doing alright. He was sound asleep on the bed, snoring softly like a baby.

"We chose not to wake him up. He's had a rough two days." Leo said, sitting down on his own bed. He patted the empty space beside him as an invitation for me to sit and I did.

"Tal," He began, "I'm sure that I don't have to sugar coat this for you. You of all people must be aware of how much trouble we're in right now."

I nodded. "Try as he might, Caser can't use his wealth and hospitality to mask his dangerous aura." I stated.

Leo nodded. "You're correct. Like I said in the other room, He's probably going to try and pull something during the after party and I need you to be prepared for that. He might very well try to kill you."

"K-Kill me? Why?" I exclaimed. "By that time, I'll be initiated, and I won't be a problem for him anymore, right?"

"Caesar is a man who uses his money and status for power. You mean nothing to him. He's rich, powerful, and bored. To him, you're nothing more than a doll in his vast collection of toys. Killing you would mean nothing more than a means of extracting a reaction from us so that he could 'have some fun'." Leo said doing air quotations.

"Like I said before, I need you to be prepared for that. No matter what happens, I need you to remain calm and try to show no emotions. He's a sadist. If You're scared or destressed, Peter will see tat and go off, feeding Caesar's sick expectations ad giving him the exact reaction he'll be looking for. Promise me you'll listen and stay calm no matter what he tries to do to you."

"Leo-" Fiona began.

"No, Fiona! This is serious. She doesn't need to be babied right now. Especially considering hat's about to go down in a few hours. I need her ready and strong willed. Do you understand me?" He asked, his voice raising dangerously.

Fiona's eyes widened at the harsh tone her brother was using on her, but she nodded, nonetheless.

"Good. Now promise me Thalia." He said, turning his attention back to me.

I stared into Leo's royal blue eyes that, at that moment, portrayed an ocean of emotions. He was scared. I could feel it. His hands, although they were balled into fists at his side, were shaking, which further supported my theory.

"Please, Tal," He continued, his voice steady despite how weak and broken his eyes portrayed him to be. "Please promise me."

"I...I promise." I finally ceded.

He nodded. "There's most likely going to be a gun fight too. Stay close to whichever one of us you can." Leo stood up and ran his hands through his hair. "If push comes to shove, some of us might have to stay behind and buy time for the others to escape. Hopefully, it won't come to that, but if it does, don't be afraid to leave those people, understood?" He demanded.

"I understand." I said, not daring to challenge his ideas again.

"Good. That's all I wanted to talk to you about. You can go back now." Leo said.

I nodded and left the room. I couldn't believe it. Actually, I could. I just didn't want to. I should have been just as prepared as Leo was, but truth be told, was subconsciously hoping that I wouldn't have to be. These people were willing to throw their lives away for me. I didn't want that. I didn't want to be the reason they die. But they weren't giving me any choice. A tear fell down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. Now was not the time to be crying. In just a few hours, I would be faced with possibly the most dangerous situation of my life. I had to be ready, both physically and emotionally.

Just as I entered the room with Peter and Rhys, the door opened and in walked a slim woman in a button up shirt and pencil skirt with three covered trays followed closely by another woman with a rack of three outfits.

"We brought the breakfast you requested, as well as the clothes that Mr. Vindicci ordered you all wear during the ceremony." The woman in front announced.

"Thank you." Peter said simply. The women bowed before exiting the room. Rhys wasted no time in snatching up a tray and uncovering it.

"An omelet, bacon, sausage, grits, a biscuit, and a glass of orange juice. Nothing too fancy." He announced. "Should we eat it? It could be poisoned."

Peter shook his head before grabbing his own tray. "Caesar wouldn't take the easy way out to kill us. He'd want to see us dying. Poison is out of the picture for now, so I say it's safe to eat." He said taking a bite of the biscuit.

Rhys followed suit, digging into the omelet. I too began to eat my grits. Not surprisingly, the food was delicious, and we had finished it quickly.

Tossing back the last of his orange juice, Peter pointed to the clothing rack in the corner of the room. "So, are we going to check out those threads or what?"

I stood up from the bed and made my way over to the clothes, the boys not far behind me. It was obvious whose outfit was whose. I had a black ballgown styled dress with an open back and red accents on the hem. The more I stared at it, the more it reminded me of blood. But I guess that was the whole idea Caesar had in mind. From the back of the dress flowed a red Watteau style cape. Had it had been selected for any other occasion; I might've found it pretty.

(Like this, but  black and red)

"Man, how come Thalia gets a fancy looking dress and all we get are simple black suits?" Rhys complained with a pout.

"Would you rather have the dress?" I asked with a smirk.

"Honestly, yes." Rhys retorted.

Peter burst out laughing, eliciting the same reaction from both Rhys and I.

"Don't worry, Rhys. I'll let you wear it to the after party." I joked.