Chapter 27 - I think I'm going to be sick.

Lucy's POV

As I sit here, watching the clock tick down from 00:32:57, I feel more scared than I ever have done before in my life. A steady stream of tears trickle down my cheeks as I begin to silently count down in time with the clock, knowing that there's no way I'm getting out of this.

I probably look like shit, but it doesn't really matter now, because in just over half an hour I'll be dead. I can't escape, I've tried everything. My wrists feel red raw from the amount of effort I put into trying to get these ropes off, but it's no use.

Nobody knows where I am. Even if they've realised that I'm missing by now they won't get here in time. Kailen knew exactly what he was doing by bringing me here, nobody will suspect it. They'll go to the forbidden land and look for me there and, by the time they've realised that that's not where they're keeping me, I'll already be dead. Kailen will have killed me, here in town, in my old room in my old house. It's kind of an ingenious plan when you think about it, I decide bitterly.

00:30:00

Oh, God. Half an hour. I have half an hour left to live. Kailen will be back soon, I bet. And then... it'll all be over.

I wonder how he'll do it. Maybe he'll rip my throat out like he did with my mum, or snap my neck like he did to my dad, who knows? Whatever he does, I just hope that it's quick and painless. It probably won't be, though.

A sob rips through my chest and escapes from my mouth.

This is it. This is really it! Nobody's going to come for me, and there's no way I can escape on my own... this is really how it's all going to end.

00:28:47

I close my eyes and bow my head, feeling a fresh set of tears escape down my cheeks and drip onto my jeans.

I'm going to die. I don't want to die!

No, I tell myself and shake my head. This is not how it's going to be. If I'm really going to die, then I'm going to do it with as much dignity as I can.

Raising my head and opening my eyes, I force the tears back.

00:27:43

Kailen can do whatever the hell he likes with me, but I will give him as little satisfaction about it as possible. I have to be strong.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounds from downstairs, followed by some muffled shouting.

Kailen must be back, I realise, and take a deep breath to keep myself as calm as possible. My time really is almost up...

Another loud crash sounds and I frown in confusion.

What's going on down there?

Two more crashes and three loud bangs later, everything falls silent again.

00:23:47

The sound of footsteps running up the stairs causes me to freeze, and I stare at the door with the most paralyzing feeling of dread inside of me.

He's back. He's here. He's going to kill me. I'm going to die!

No. No, no, no, no! Please, god, please just let me wake up! This isn't real, this can't be happening!

The sound of the door from the room next to mine opening has my ears pricking as I sit here frozen in place.

What's he doing? Oh, god. What if he's going to torture me for a bit first? Maybe that's him getting some gruesome torture utensils right now?

I think I'm going to be sick.

How can he get away with something like this? How can he live with himself?! Does he not have a fucking conscience?!

The footsteps sound again before the door to my room begins to open.

I close my eyes fast, not wanting to look at him as my heart pounds in my chest.

Mummy, daddy, help me!

"Shorty?" Beck says, relief clear in his voice, and my eyes immediately snap open. I let out the breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding.

"Beck...?" I ask unsurely, my voice thick and croaky from crying nonstop for the past two hours.

He's here? Beck's here! But... how did he know? How did he find me?

Relief quickly floods through me for the first time in what feels like forever... but it quickly dies down again when I look over at the silver timer.

00:21:57

"Justin, I've found her!" Beck calls out, heading straight over to me.

"Untie me, untie the ropes!" I say quickly, my eyes trained on the numbers in front of me as I strain my wrists against the restraints. Tears fill my eyes again as the friction from the ropes literally make my hands feel like they're being set on fire. "Get them off me!"

"I am, I am," Beck says, going behind me and swiftly untying the knots just as Justin enters the room. The second I feel my arms are released, I set to work on the one around my right ankle. Justin quickly moves towards me and sets to work on the left one and, the second my legs are free I stand up, trying to ignore the trembling in my knees as I take a deep breath to try and steady myself.

Both Beck and Justin come to stand in front of me, the worry clear in their faces.

"Are you okay?" Justin asks, and I'm not really sure how to answer. Am I okay?

"I-I thought..." I trail off, biting down hard on my bottom lip as it begins to tremble. "I'm fine," I reply, although it would probably have been a lot more convincing if I hadn't burst into tears straight after.

Jesus Christ, what's wrong with me? They're here, I've been rescued, and I'm going to be fine!

"Hey, it's okay," Beck says, his voice soothing as he pulls me into a hug. "You're okay, you're safe."

"You're here," I mumble into his chest, talking more to myself than to him. "You're both here."

"Yes, we're both here, and Dean's downstairs on lookout. We're going to get you out of here, okay?"

I nod, pulling away from him slightly. "Okay."

"Shit, Luce, your arms!" Justin exclaims suddenly, and I pull away from Beck completely to survey the damage. My wrists are bright red, even bleeding in some places from where the ropes have rubbed away the skin. No wonder they were hurting so much.

"Ouch," I mutter, turning my hands over to look at the backs of them, the damage on this side is equally as bad.

There's no time to worry about that now! My rational thought begins to come back to me, and I don't dare look over at the timer to see how long we have left.

"We have to get out of here. Right now," I say to both of them. "He-Kailen, Kailen's going to come back any minute now. We-we have to go."

"Right," Justin agrees with a nod, heading towards the door to hold it open for us as Beck all but drags me from the room.

My knees feel like they're going to give way any second and, having not slept for over twenty four hours, I'm pretty sure I'm going to collapse at any given moment. The adrenaline pumping through my system is the only thing keeping me on my feet as the three of us head downstairs.

Once we hit the bottom, we continue at a fast pace towards the front door, but I don't miss the motionless body slumped against the wall in the living room as we pass. Oh, god, is he...? I don't recognise his face, so he must be one of the rogues keeping guard. Oh, god, he's... dead.

"Don't look," Beck murmurs, pulling me even closer to him so that I can bury my face into his chest. I don't want to see the body any longer.

A few seconds later we reach the front door and find Dean stood there on guard.

Slight surprise runs through me when I notice the look of relief that passes through his features the second he sees me.

"You're okay," he says, and I give him a small nod in reply.

"We have to get out of here," I then tell him; escape, being the only coherent thought that's running through my mind right now. We can't stay here. Kailen could come back at any second and the thought of us still being here when he does... well, it's not even something I can think about right now.

Dean doesn't hesitate, he quickly pulls open the front door and heads out as we all follow him. The second I'm over the threshold to the house of nightmares, I quicken my pace as much as my shaky knees will let me, wanting to put as much distance between me and it by the time Kailen returns.

After ten minutes of walking in silence, I finally begin to feel myself relaxing. With Beck's arm protectively around my shoulders and Justin's scent invading my senses, I actually begin to feel safe.

I'm okay. I'm actually okay!

Holy shit. That was... close. Very close.

"Lucy..." Justin says quietly from beside me, and I slowly look over at him. "What happened?"

I shake my head and lean further into Beck for support, not wanting to talk about it just yet. Not sure if I'm even able to. Kailen's words run through my head, 'I wanted his family to suffer, just as mine had.'

He's never going to leave me alone, not until he gets what he wants...

The Pack is in danger because of me... This is all because of me! What am I supposed to do? The second the others find out, they're going to want me gone, especially people like Baldwin. If I'm gone then... they can just live out their lives in peace. They won't have to worry about surprise rogue attacks or patrols or training; they could just go on with their extremely domesticated lives, no longer having to phase all the time to go on hunts or follow leads. Things could just go back to how they used to be when I was just a non-existent omega that very few people cared about.

"Where are we going?" I ask suddenly, looking around at our surroundings.

This isn't the direction of my house...

"Back to mine," Justin explains. "Dad called an emergency Pack meeting when we realised you were missing."

I stop dead in my tracks, causing the other three to stop with me.

Please tell me he's kidding...

A Pack meeting? With everyone there? Everyone in the Pack knows that I got kidnapped by the rogues?! Oh, god... they probably all think I'm so weak and defenceless. Well, there goes the scrap of respect I'd managed to scrape back from those few Pack members... Looks like I'm about to get kicked back down to the title of pathetic little omega again.

"Luce, what's wrong?" Justin asks, his voice filling with concern once again.

"I want to go home," I reply, looking over at him and not even caring that my voice just sounds desperate.

I don't want to go and deal with the Pack and all their judging faces, and I definitely don't want to go and deal with the fact that the monster who killed my parents is now after me too; what I want is to just go home, take a shower, have something to eat and then crawl into bed and sleep. That's it. I'm too exhausted to deal with any more stress today.

"Luce..." Justin says, obviously torn on what to do. On one hand, he has his pack duties to uphold, duties like getting back to the meeting and helping his dad figure out what to do next. On the other hand, he has me, an emotionally drained girl who has just been kidnapped and threatened by a Pack of rogues, and who also happens to be his ex-best friend and predestined mate who he's apparently falling for.

"Please Justin," I sigh. "I can't go back and deal with them right now. I just want to go home."

"Okay," he agrees, not needing an elaboration on who 'them' is. "I'll call my dad and tell him that we're going to yours for a little while but, Luce, we can't be too long. We have to go back at some point today."

I nod to show that I understand.

"I think I'll head back now," Dean speaks up. "I can start to fill your dad in on what happened."

"Okay," Justin agrees. "Thanks, man."

"No problem, see you guys back at the meeting," Dean replies, giving me a small smile before continuing on his way.

Then, with that, the three of us turn around and spend the rest of the journey to my house in silence.

I go round to the back door to grab the spare key from under the plant pot before letting us into the house. When I turn around to look at them I find Justin on his phone, pressing a few buttons before putting it to his ear. Calling his dad, I assume.

When he notices me watching he gives me a quick reassuring smile before turning his attention back to the phone and heading back outside to relay the situation to David.

"So... this is where you live, huh?" Beck asks casually, looking around at the kitchen before following me into the living room.

"Yeah," I reply with a shrug.

This is the first time he's ever been inside my house.

"Shorty, are you okay?" he asks, his voice serious as he turns me around to face him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I try to assure him, attempting to plaster on a smile.

It doesn't fool him. Of course it doesn't.

"You know, you don't have to pretend around me," he reminds me. "If you need to talk then I'm right here."

"I know," I reply, feeling somewhat guilty. I never hide things from Beck but this time I don't really feel like talking. "I'm going to go and take a shower," I then announce before heading upstairs to go and find a change of clothes.

In the end, I settle for a pair of black skinny jeans, a black T-shirt and a green hoodie to pull over the top. When I've got everything I need, I head for the bathroom, feeling grimy and disgusting. When was the last time I even had a shower? How long have I been gone for exactly?

Once I'm in the bathroom with the door locked safely behind me, I chuck the clothes I'm holding on the floor carelessly before heading over to look at my reflection in the mirror.

I look like death warmed up.

My hair resembles something closer to a birds nest than my usual red waves, my eyes are still red and puffy from crying, and my skin is ghostly white. Great.

I quickly lick my lips, attempting to get some moisture back to them so they don't look so dry and chapped. After that, I grab the hair bobble from the sink and tame my hair back into it before turning on the tap and splashing some water onto my face. Next order of business: brushing my teeth. My mouth tastes disgusting, and I want to change that immediately.

Once my teeth are done, I pull the hair bobble out and return it to where I found it before walking over to the shower and turning it on. As I wait for the water to get to the right temperature, I peel off my clothes and leave them in a heap by the door.

I then step into the shower, trying to keep my mind focussed on trivial things so I avoid thinking about everything else.

I set to work on my hair first, running my fingers through it to remove as many knots as I can before setting to work with the shampoo. Then, I grab the soap and flannel and set to work on washing the rest of my body, wanting nothing more than to just be able to scrub away the past forty-eight hours of my life.

Once satisfied that I've done enough to get rid of the grimy feeling, I put the soap back and lean my head back, letting the water fall against my closed eyelids as I get rid of any excess shampoo.

Okay, I can't stay in here forever.

Sighing, I shut off the water and climb out, grabbing a towel to wrap around myself and another to dry my hair with. Once dry, I change into the new set of clothes before moving back to stand in front of the mirror.

I don't look quite so bad anymore, and I eventually decide that it's probably about as good as I'm going to get so I just throw the towels and old clothes for the wash. As I'm about to chuck everything into the linen basket, I notice something strange.

My phone is still in my jeans pocket. Huh.

Surely that would've been taken off me when I was kidnapped? Was I not searched or anything?

Grabbing the phone, I quickly shove it in my new jeans before dumping the old ones and heading back to my room.

I quickly run a brush through my hair, removing the rest of the knots before deciding to let it dry naturally and heading back downstairs. It's only when I get back into the living room that I realise that Beck and Justin both seem to be in the middle of a very big argument.

"What do you mean my fault?" Beck hisses, clearly pissed off. "If it weren't for you then she wouldn't have been running through the unclaimed territory to begin with!"

Justin looks surprised for a minute before speaking up. "Maybe so, but you let her go home alone!"

It would seem their brief truce is now over.

Clearing my throat, I gain the attention of both of them as I stand in the doorway awkwardly.

"Lucy," Justin says, visibly forcing himself to relax and let the argument go for now. "You okay? Are you hungry?"

"Um... a little," I admit. Actually, the kitchen had been my next order of business. "What did David say?"

"He said to take as long as you need," he replies quickly, a little too quickly for me to believe.

"Okay, what did he really say?" I ask, causing him to sigh slightly.

"He wants us back as soon as possible," he admits. "But if you're hungry then eat something first, yeah?"

"Okay," I sigh, still not all too fond of the idea of facing the rest of the pack yet.

I make my way towards the kitchen, not missing the way that both the guys follow after me.

I'm not really sure what I want to eat, or if I'm really even hungry, so I just settle for a bowl of cereal. Grabbing a bowl, I then retrieve the milk from the fridge before searching through the cupboards and pulling out the box of frosted flakes. After pouring myself the cereal, I put everything back and sit down at the kitchen table in the corner of the room to eat.

Beck and Justin both pull up a chair opposite me and sit down.

Jeez, can they act any more worried?!

Although, I have to admit, it's a comforting thought to know that they don't seem to be planning on letting me leave their sight any time in the near future.

We sit in silence for a few minutes as I take a few mouthfuls of my cereal.

"What day is it?" I eventually ask, still not sure how long I was gone for.

"Monday," Justin replies. "You were missing for a day and a half."

I nod at that before shovelling some more cereal into my mouth.

A day and a half; not brilliant but it could have been a lot worse.

"How did you know where to find me?" I ask after swallowing the cereal without actually tasting it.

"One of the rogues turned himself in," he explains, grabbing my attention immediately. "Helen and Max found him and brought him into the meeting."

It doesn't take me long to figure out the rogue he's talking about.

"Devlin?" I ask, a genuine smile tugging at my lips for the first time in what feels like forever, my cereal momentarily forgotten about as I place the spoon in the bowl and look at Justin.

"Yeah," he replies, looking surprised. "You know him?"

"Yeah," I say, before remembering that neither of them know about the whole Jess situation, and I'm supposed to keep it that way. "Well, I mean, we talked. He told me he'd help me escape and it looks like he stuck to his word."

"That doesn't make any sense," Beck says with a slight frown. "Why would he just randomly help you like that?"

"He has his reasons," I say with a shrug, still smiling slightly as I look back down at the half eaten cereal.

"Funny. That's exactly what he said," Justin says.

I just shrug again.

"Do you think we can trust him?" he then asks.

"Yeah, I do," I reply with a nod. "I mean... he saved my life, right?"

"Yeah, but... he is still a rogue."

"You can't choose your parents," I reply, using the same words Devlin said to me. "I just think he's a guy who's had a rough life and is in need of a break. No more, no less."

Justin seemingly thinks this over for a few seconds before nodding and sitting back in his chair.

Glancing over at Beck, I find him watching me with an unreadable emotion behind his eyes. I frown at him slightly, trying to figure out what he's thinking, but he quickly pushes the emotion away before I get the chance to.

"You okay?" he asks me. I slowly nod and look back down at the cereal, taking another mouthful and practically forcing it down my throat. I'm not really that hungry anymore.

Am I okay? No, definitely not. I just met the man that killed my parents... before he tried to kill me as well.

Every now and again I have the images of my parents' death pop up into my mind, despite my best efforts to force them away.

How could he do that? How could he murder them like that?

Because your father killed first... a small voice in the back of my mind says.

My appetite's completely gone now.

Slowly, I push the soggy cereal around in the bowl as my thoughts begin to run free.

Did my dad really kill Kailen's mate first?

No. He... he wasn't like that. He was a good man. He only ever wanted to protect his Pack and family. He'd never just kill like that.

Maybe she attacked him first? The idea seems plausible... I mean, if he killed her to protect the others, to protect my mum, then that would seem more like something my father would do...

The thought of my poor mother, weak and defenceless as she tries to fight off all these rogues, pops into my head. Then, the image of Kailen attacking bounces around my mind and I have to quickly blink back the tears.

Had she died instantly? I hope so. I can't stand the thought of Kailen dragging out her suffering for longer than those first few seconds...

Dropping my spoon back in the bowl, I slowly push the cereal away from me.

I don't feel so good.

"Luce, you alright?" Justin asks, concern filling his voice for what seems to be the thousandth time today.

No.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I reply honestly before standing up and racing towards the downstairs toilet.

The second I enter the room I close the door, not having time to lock it before I can feel my insides churning. Stumbling towards the toilet, I then begin to empty out the entire contents of my stomach into it.

I didn't hear the door open, apparently unable to hear much other than the sound of my own vomiting but, suddenly, there's someone stood over me holding my hair back as my body continues to expel the remainder of the frosted flakes out of my system and into the toilet.

Gross.

"Shh, it's okay," Beck murmurs, kneeling down at my side and using his other hands to rub soothing circles into my back. It's only then that I realise I'm crying.

"G-go away, Beck. You d-don't need to see this," I tell him, my stomach now apparently empty as the dry heaves begin to take over, wracking through my body with such force that I genuinely believe I'm about to feint.

"I'll admit this isn't exactly the nicest of sights," he admits, causing me to laugh slightly through my pain. "But I'm not leaving you like this, okay? So consider it a favour from me."

"B-but I'm the one who owes you all the favours now, remember?" I reply before another dry heave takes over. "I d-don't think we should add another to the list. I'll be in d-debt to you forever."

"Well then, consider this a freebie," he murmurs, his hand still rubbing my back and causing me to calm down slightly.

"B-but you never give out freebie's," I say, trying to calm down when I realise that the sooner I stop crying so hard, the sooner the dry heaves will back off.

His hand momentarily stills on the small of my back and I feel him shift slightly next to me so he can rest his cheek against my side.

"I'd do anything for you..." he whispers before continuing to rub circles into my back.

The dry heaves only last for about another five minutes, leaving me feeling even more emotionally and physically drained than before.

I reach up to flush the toilet before resting my forehead against the cool toilet seat, not even caring about the grossness of the situation right now.

"He killed my parents," I mumble, my voice raw and croaky.

"What?" Beck asks, his hand pausing once more on my back.

"K-Kailen. He k-killed them."

"How do you know?" he asks, reaching over to grab some toilet paper and giving it to me.

"He told me," I reply, wiping my mouth with the tissue quickly before dropping into the toilet and sitting up.

"Did he tell you anything else?" Justin asks, and I quickly glance over in surprise to find him leaning against the doorway holding a glass of water.

Great. So they both saw me spew my guts up. Wonderful.

Leaning back against the wall, I look back and forth between the two of them. They're both watching me with identical expressions of concern, curiosity and sympathy.

"He wants me dead," I whisper, my voice still hoarse. "Me specifically."

"Here," Justin says, handing me the glass of water. "Why just you?"

I take a small sip of water before replying, wanting to wash the disgusting taste out of my mouth.

"Because he hated my dad."

Silence falls over the room as they both process this.

"Why?" Justin eventually asks.

"Because my dad apparently killed his mate."

Another silence falls. A longer one this time.

"Shit," Justin eventually mutters.

"My thoughts exactly," Beck agrees.

"Luce, we need to go back and tell my dad."

I sigh but nod. "Okay, just give me a minute."

I use the wall to help me stand up before heading upstairs to brush my teeth again. Once I'm satisfied that my breath doesn't stink of puke, I pull on my converse and head back downstairs.

"Ready?" Justin asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I reply, my nerves skyrocketing at the thought of having to face the rest of the Pack.

"It'll be fine," Beck promises, giving me a wink.

"You're coming, right?" I ask hopefully, knowing that I'll feel a lot more confident with him there.

"Of course," he replies, before we all head out of the door and towards Justin's house.

(Hey Guys!!! So... not sure if this was what you were expecting to happen or not but I hope you enjoyed chapter 27 :) It actually took a lot longer to write than I was expecting, and it didn't help that I've started back at college now so I had even less time to write.
What did you think of the chapter? And do you have any idea what might happen next?

Next chapter is going to be another Lucy POV but I think the one after I might do in Justin's again. Not sure when 28 will get posted, hopefully sometime in the next week or so? I'll try and make it as early as possible :)

Sorry for any mistakes, I've quickly gone through the chapter and corrected the main ones that I could see.

So, yeah, I'm trying to keep this as short as possible because honestly I have nothing to say and want to get this posted ASAP. Erm... yeah, thanks for reading! Go ahead and leave a Vote/Comment/Add if you think the story's worth it, I always love knowing that people genuinely do enjoy reading OMEGA. Anyways, I think that's all I have to say right now :) Byee!)