《Selena Arabella Calos》

The first thing I notice when I wake up is that I am chained to a chair.

How absolutely fantastic.

The cold metal chains dig deeper into my skin when I shift in the chair. The hard metal chair is so uncomfortable that it makes my back hurt. The poor lighting makes it hard for me to see the room properly, but from what I can make out, the room I am in is entirely made of unpainted concrete. The only furniture in the room seems to be the godawful chair that I'm restrained to, and the only light source is a dim light bulb situated on top of my head, which flickers on and off every five seconds- making me want to break it.

The only way to enter or leave this room seems to be through a metal door on my right. At least, I think it is the only one because I cannot see behind me, and I doubt that anyone would consider the ceiling a good entrance to the room.

Five cameras are strategically placed around me, so all my movements can be seen, which I think is a little creepy. But what else can I expect from Adam?

I try to turn my head to check if I can try and see behind me, then realise that the needle that the bastard used to knock me out has left a dull ache on the side of my neck. My mouth is also parched, and I feel cold, light-headed, and utterly confused.

I try to observe my surroundings more to keep my panic at bay. As long as I keep myself distracted, noting tiny details about the room, my mind will be too busy to shut down because of panic.

"What do you want?" I ask no one in particular after a while as I try to relax in the chair once there is nothing else left in the room that I can focus on.

I try to keep my voice steady and calm. In other words, completely the opposite of what I'm feeling inside. Now that there's nothing in the room for me to note, my mind has gone to panic mode, and I need to do something. This seems like the best thing to do- at least I'll know then if I will be staying alive another day.

I can scream or shout, but I know that if I call for help or show any sign of fear, it will only satisfy the people watching me. On the other hand, my calm and unbothered demeanour will only infuriate them. Which is another thing that I learned from years of dealing with my family.

I don't know what scares me more- being in this ordeal or realising that my parents' "life lessons" may not be completely useless.

Maybe what scares me the most is the realisation that my parent's behaviour towards me has been borderline psychotic.

Five minutes pass, and no one comes into the room or answers my question. Not like I actually expected them to answer the question; I am not that stupid... I think.

Maybe they will leave me here until I die- which is actually quite sad because I really wanted to die in an epic way, but I guess-

I take a sharp breath when I hear the creak of the door opening. I don't know who or what to expect. Will it be Adam or someone else? Maybe his father- after all, he's the one who wants something from my father.

The poor lighting makes it impossible for me to see who it is. The person at the door does not move toward me. They just stand by the door and... well, I don't know what they are doing. Are they trying to see my reaction? Are they just staring at me- contemplating the best way to kill me? I hope they don't just shoot me in the head- that would be a very anti-climatic way to die.

After a few seconds, the person moves forward, and I realise it is him. Adam. My eyes meet the eyes that once kept me calm during my worst times but now look detached- like a stranger's eyes. He is observing me, waiting for a reaction, because he knows that I want to say so many things to him, and I would say those things under normal circumstances, but he is a stranger to me now, and I don't talk to strangers. Except for handsome ones I happen to bump into on the street, but that's an entirely separate and unrelated story.

Looking at him hurts me a lot, and I don't understand why. Maybe it is because, despite everything, I didn't expect this from him. I think that's because I've tried to convince myself that Adam really isn't a bad person for the past two years. He made a mistake because he wasn't in his right mind- because he was drunk. And he never would've done those things sober. But seeing him stand in front of me dead-sober makes me realise that I was wrong all along, which hurts.

He hasn't changed much, apart from the rather odd addition of tattoos on his arm. There are tattoos of skulls, arrows, birds, and quotes covering his whole arm. Only one quote catches my attention, and I almost cry when I manage to translate it as accurately as possible- which is hard because my french is a little rusty. It says: "à l'ange qui était toujours là", which when translated to English means: "to the angel that was always there". It may not mean much to others, but it means everything to me because he used to call me 'angel' for one. And before he tried to kill me, we were always there for each other- no matter what. We loved each other at our worst and best. And now, reading the quote feels like a punch in the gut because of everything he has done.

I look at his face and find him already staring at me. I try to discern any emotion in his eyes, but I can't- they're empty. He looks like a shell of the person he once was, and despite everything he's done to me, I'm worried about him.

We stare into each other's eyes, neither of us willing to look away first. At first, I just want to understand him- see what he is feeling- but soon, it becomes a competition of sorts. I don't want to look away first because that will be a sign of cowardice for me, but I don't know why he is not looking away, considering that he is already a coward.

He steps forward and leans down without looking away from me, so his eyes are level with mine.

"Never one to give up on a challenge, are you, angel?" he asks me quietly. He puts his hands on the arms of the chair that I'm sitting on and leans closer, and I try not to panic. "I know you want to hurt me, I see it in your eyes, but you and I both know that you cannot."

He is right; he knows it, and so do I. If I said he was wrong, it would definitely be a lie. I cannot hurt him, not because I'm not physically strong enough or tied up, but because no matter what happens, I can never hurt the people I love- or in his case, once loved. I can't hurt him because I know he is going through something terrible, and despite everything, I want to help him. A part of him still sees him as the person he was before- not the monster standing before me.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, sweetheart," I smile sweetly at him, then lean closer to him, so my mouth is by ear. "Oh, just by the way, you are absolutely wrong. If I have the chance, I will do something to you that I will never regret- maybe even the same thing you did two years ago."

If my feet weren't tied up, I would probably stomp on his foot to prove my point. But they are, so the only thing that I can do is glare at him. I can spit at him, but that's way too unsanitary.

But, oh, how I want to kill him- if I could only convince that tiny part of me that'll never let me hurt him to think otherwise.

To say that he is shocked at my words would be an understatement. And I understand his reaction because the old me, the one he knew, would never have had the courage to say these things. My words may not seem that bold to anyone, but they seem brave to him and me because I used to be the sort of person who wouldn't say anything to anyone, no matter what they did to me. To an extent, I still am that person, but I'm trying to be strong in front of him.

"Angel..." he starts after a long pause.

"Don't you dare call me that!" I snarl at him. "You lost the right to call me that the day you tried to kill me."

"Selena, please just listen to me without interfering," he pleads in a pained voice, and I nod my head in response. I would absolutely love to hear his shitty excuse for this. "I'm so fucking sorry. I had no choice. I love you more than anyone else, and I don't want to do this to you, I promise."

"I-" I start, but he places his finger on my lips. I glare at him again. Doesn't he realise that I am not above biting off his finger?

"Sorry," he mumbles, removing his finger. "I guess I should start by explaining the incident that occurred two years ago."

I scoff at his use of the word 'incident', and he sends me a look. "Please, don't interrupt me, no matter how much you want to."

I nod at him, and he continues. "You always knew that my father was abusive towards me, but you never knew how bad it was. At first, he just used to hit me and be over it, but it got worse over time, despite my telling you otherwise. He started abusing Mum. Every time I interfered, he would just hit her more and make me watch. I was helpless. I couldn't do anything about it. Then he started brainwashing me against you- because he knew that the only reason I was still sane was because of you. It didn't work at first, but then I started drinking- more and more every day, and it got easier for him to manipulate me into thinking that you were the enemy- that all you wanted to do was control me. And that day, when I was at my worst, I believed it, and I ended up doing you something that I will never forgive myself for."

At this point, I can't help but interrupt. "So that's your story? That you were manipulated? Adam, you-" I stop talking when he looks away from me. "It was something else too, wasn't it?" I ask him, but he doesn't look back at me. "Adam, look at me- it's the least I deserve."

Unwillingly, he looks at me with tears in his eyes. As much as I hate myself for it- my heart breaks. I'm not surprised, though, considering that some of me still loves him.

"No, that is not all," he says sadly before blinking away the tears. "Mum. That week my father found out that Mum was pregnant and he didn't want the child, so he threatened to kill her. I couldn't let him, so I told him I'd do anything he wanted, and in return, he would leave Mum and the baby unharmed. That's where you came in. Dad considers you my weakness, so he told me to kill you. He didn't want his son, his heir, to have a weakness."

This time I am the one who has to blink away the tears starting to form in my eyes. I am not going to forgive him, obviously, but now that I understand why he did what he did, his actions make much more sense now. He was desperate to save his mother, and who wouldn't do anything in the world to save their mother?

I might not, but my relationship with my mother is unusual.

"What about now?" I ask, my voice breaking slightly.

Adam touches my face, and I stay still, not knowing how to react. "Your father has something mine wants, and your father isn't willing to give it away- no matter the cost."

"So your father is going to kill me- you're going to kill me?"

"No!" Adam almost shouts, shaking his head vigorously. "No. He's not going to kill you. I made sure that that won't happen, but he will hurt you. I'm sorry about that, but the most I can do for you is make sure that you don't die."

"Hurt me?" I ask him, though it sounds more like a whimper than anything. "Hurt me, how?"

He doesn't answer me. Instead, he places his lips against my forehead. "I'm so sorry, Lena. I really am. I have to go now before my father changes his mind. Remember that I love you- always. And please try not to hate me."

He pulls away from me, touches my face again, and then injects me with something that makes everything turn dark again.

-

Four Years Ago

I was getting ready to go out with my friends when my phone rang.

"Hey, Addy. What's up?" I asked when I answered the call.

For a moment, there was silence, and then I heard the quiet sound of Adam sobbing.

"Where are you?" I asked him as I ran out of my room.

"Our place," Adam replied, sounding so broken that I started panicking. By "our place", he meant the shed behind my house.

"I'm coming. Please don't..." I stopped talking, not sure how to finish my sentence. How can one end that sentence anyway? Please don't hurt yourself? Please don't go anywhere else? Please don't do anything that you'll regret?

I ran across the backyard into the shed. I gasped when I saw Adam. He was sitting in the far corner of the shed, covered with blood and bruises.

"Oh my God," I exclaimed as I sank to the ground beside Adam. As tempted as I was to ask him all my questions, I knew that he needed help first- but I wasn't sure if I could help him. I had patched him up every time his father had hurt him before- but his injuries had never been as bad as they were then. "We need to go to a hospital, Adam."

"No!" He cried, shaking his head. "Please. They'll ask what happened, and I can't tell them. And if he finds out that I went to a hospital, he'll kill me."

"But I can't-"

"Yes, you can. I trust you, angel," he said, raising his hand to touch my face but withdrawing when he realised his hand was completely covered in blood.

"Okay. Okay. I can do this. I need to get the first aid kit," I muttered to myself as I got up to get the required items. It took more than an hour for me to patch him up.

"What happened?" I whispered to Adam when he finished cleaning up all the blood on him.

He sat beside me on the sofa, then pulled me to him- clinging on to me like I was the only thing preventing him from slipping away. I adjusted slightly so that I could see his face.

"He came back from work madder than I've ever seen him be. I was about to leave the house when he saw me and just lost it. I-"He stopped talking and rested his forehead against mine. "I just want it to end. I can't do it anymore."

I lightly traced circles on his face with my finger, knowing it helped calm him. "I know, love. I'm sorry that I can't do more for you."

"You're doing more than you think, angel, so don't ever apologise again."

"You can't live like this, though. What if one day he just snaps and-" I stopped midway, unable to complete to question.

"He won't kill me if that's what you're worried about- I'm his heir. He'll lose everything if he kills me," Adam reminded me. "Can you please distract me? Talking about this is just making the pain worse."

I wiped both of our tears. "What do you want to do?"

"For starters, you can tell me why you were crying before you found out about me," Adam said, and I slightly pulled away from him.

"It's nothing."

"Lena, it obviously wasn't nothing if it got you upset."

"It was just a silly thing with Mother," I said, hoping he would let me dismiss the topic.

"What thing?" He asked, and I gave him an annoyed look. Why couldn't he just drop it?

"Mother and Father fought, and Mother wanted someone to get her anger out on, so she just, you know, told me she hated me and the usual things. I shouldn't even get upset anymore. Like I said, it was silly."

"No, it wasn't silly," Adam replied as he ran his fingers through my hair. "What else did she say?"

I looked away from him because I knew that I would start crying again if I didn't. "Nothing false."

"Selena, what did she say to you?" He asked firmly again.

"She told me that I'm so unlovable that people end up hating me no matter how hard they try and that she wished that I died when I was born so she didn't have to waste her time on me," I told me, as tears started flowing down my face again.

"And you believed her?" Adam whispered. "It hurts me to see you think so lowly of yourself."

"I don't want to hurt you," I told him, wiping my tears.

"Then please believe me when I say that you are the easiest person in the world to love. Believe me when I say that the only people that hate you are either lying or crazy."

-

Present

I wake up with pain in the side of my neck for the second time since I have been kidnapped. This time, though, I am not chained; I am lying on the ground rather than sitting on a chair. I keep my eyes shut because I don't know what to expect and need time to process my dream. It was not a dream but a memory I have often thought of for the last four years. When we were little, Adam's father abused him. Mostly Adam was not as hurt as he was that day but seeing him like that made me want to cry every time.

Before everything happened, he was the person that I was closest to. Whenever his father hit him, he would always come to me because I was the only one who knew about his father's abuse. And whenever my parents did something, or I was feeling down, I would go to him or Alessandro. I talked to my other friends too, like Alex or Nat, but I didn't let anyone in as much as Adam before he tried to kill me- except Alessandro.

Despite being so close to Adam, I had no romantic feelings toward him. He was my best friend, my confidante, and I loved him as a friend, nothing more, despite many people thinking otherwise.

I take a deep breath, open my eyes, and sit on the cold, hard floor. I'm in a new room now. This room is much smaller than the other room and is also much scarier. The walls and floor of the room seem to be made of stone- which makes the room feel like some sort of prison. There is also no furniture in the room. It is entirely empty.

There's a dim light on the ceiling, which does little to illuminate the room. The room is scarily silent. I can't hear anything from the outside. It's like the outside world doesn't even exist- and that thought freaks me out.

As I move around the tiny room and stop freaking out as much, I realise that my wrists and ankles are red and hurting because of the ropes that had previously tied me up. My whole body is also aching, which I assume is because of the thing that Adam keeps injecting into me.

The room doesn't have any windows, but it has two doors. One leads to a tiny, shabby bathroom, and the other, locked, leading out of the room- probably.

I laugh internally. Locking the door was useless because I'm not stupid. I know if I try to run away, someone will catch me, and I will be killed, or worse, tortured.

I look around the room and decide to go to the bathroom first to see if there are any windows. But there aren't. All I find in the bathroom is an envelope placed above the sink.

I take it to the room to examine it in the dimly light and learn that it's from Adam. There is a small paragraph written on the envelope:

Angel, I hope that you are fine. I know you hate me right now, but please open this and read the letter inside.

Try not to hate me so much.

I love you always,

Adam

I feel as conflicted about opening the envelope as I do about its sender.

On the one hand, I want to rip it up and throw it away. I can't believe he has the nerve to give me a letter after betraying me and leaving me to a fate that is probably worse than death. I hate him for it.

On the other hand, I want to do nothing more than to read it. I want to read his excuses. I want to read why he thinks I shouldn't hate him. Does he believe that I've suddenly forgiven him for everything?

I decide not to do anything about the letter. I throw the envelope to one side of the room and choose to sit on the opposite side. If I sit next to it, I will open it because I have no self-control.

-

I don't know how long it has been since I have been sitting down on the floor, in the corner of the room, staring at the door. Ugh.

I know that there are cameras in the room- I see one above the door- which makes me wonder if anyone will come in if I break a bone or something. I guess someone might come, but it will take a lot of effort to break a bone, so I'm not doing it.

I look at the floor and frown. I was so happy yesterday. Everything in my life was close to perfect; today, it is so messed up. I miss my brother. I miss my friends. I even miss my godforsaken parents.

I want to cry.

I get up and start pacing around the room to calm my nerves, but I can't. I don't know what will happen to me. I don't know if my parents will do anything to get me back. I don't know anything. One thing I know for sure is that I'm going to lose my mind pretty soon. I stop pacing and stare at Adam's letter, which sits on the floor opposite me. Just a few steps and I can read what he wrote. That may be the last thing I read before I go insane. Do I really want to do that to myself?

Before I can decide for certain if I want to read his letter, I hear the click of the door unlocking. I back away from the door in anticipation. The door opens, and three people with guns push a person inside the room. 

-

A/N

Yeah, I'm updating again in a day. I have an exam in less than 6 hours- which I haven't studied for yet by the way- and the only think I can do is write.

Again, I have written this chapter on my phone without autocorrect so if there are any errors please just tag me there and I can fix the.

Also, I hope you like this chapter.

Wish me luck. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to study now.