PROLOGUE. By what right did God
earn his thrown?

Drip.Drip.Drip.

Drip.Drip.Drip.

Drip.Drip.Drip.

The sound is coming from a leak in the roof. The roof is made of wood and it's so old that it's caving in. She only knows that because when the light is shining out side, it peaks through the wood, but it's never bright enough for her to tell where she is. She can't see when it rains, she can only hear the sound. She can't see when it snows, she only hears it and feels the cold air. The dripping sound continues for hours, the single sound vibrating your ears until you feel numb to the sound.

It smells awful in the room where she's in. It resembles rotting meat. It's putrid, hot and lingering — she wonders if an animal wondered in and died. But it couldn't be. The doors were always locked. Nothing could get in without a key which he had. It was just them trapped inside. Perhaps they were the dogs. Four sad kicked puppies forced away into isolation, whining and trying to claw their way out. Or perhaps they were like birds crying to get out. Her nails are broken and bloody from scratching, her wrists raw and red from struggling, her skin smudged with filth. She doesn't look or feel like a person.

Drip.Drip.Drip.

The sound continues and the horrid smell gets worse. Lacy's lost track of time, track of light and dark. It all blends together into one big blur but she remembers that day like it happened yesterday. It keeps her up at night when she desperately wants to sleep. She sees it when her eyes are open and closed. She thinks about randomly when she doesn't want to. It's always there. He's always there.

Mommy's out on a business dinner tonight, girlies. We have the whole house to get ready, she remembers Daphne telling them while holding up her car keys, jingling them with excitement. Ooh, Lacy, you should wear that red top. Y'know, just in case Danny's at the party.

She remembers hearing Kayla's laugh. Daphne, Danny's gay.

Daphne's smile falls. He is? How did I not know that? She asks as her friends laugh at her.

If anything, she should wear it in case Scott McCall's there, Kayla teased her and Lacy remembers hitting her shoulder.

Don't say that! I don't even like him like that.

Oh please, you guys talk all the time.

Because I love his mom.

They were just girls being girls. Lacy can still hear all of their laughter. They're huddled together, sweaty clothes sticking to each other, and Daphne's car is a few feet away from them. Just a few more steps. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Lacy's neck stand up. Then, she hears the clicking of a gun. Don't move. Don't scream. I'll shoot all three of you, his haunting voice threatens and Lacy feels her body lock up.

The last thing she thought of before she was taken was her father. She never got to tell him how they won their game and were on their way to be state champions. She never got to go home and have dinner with him. Lacy wonders if he thinks that she's dead. Does everyone think they're dead? Does anyone even care?

It's been so quiet recently even when they're all in the same room together. Lacy's quiet, Kayla's quiet, Hannah's quiet, Daphne's quiet. It wasn't always so quiet, not in the beginning, but now they've become used to it. The only sound is the rain dripping onto the floor. The only thing they smell is whatever is rotting in the room. There's the occasional sound of clinking like metal but Lacy zones out a lot. Her mind tries taking her to other places but she stares into the darkness like she's trying to greet a friend, but she can't. She can't talk. Her words are stuck in her throat like a cough she can't let out.

He comes into the room occasionally throughout the day, maybe every other day, to check on them. He doesn't ask them how they are or if they know what day it is. He's never told them his name. Lacy tries to avoid him by zoning out but it's hard when each of them are screaming at him to let them go. He never lets them go. They're under his control. They're his girls, his dogs, his puppets. He controls them.

To distract herself, Lacy thinks about her life back in Beacon Hills. She was popular. Not Lydia's level of popular of course but she was liked by many. Everybody loved her father. She was apart of the best volleyball team in the state. She was kind. People like kind people. She loved her friends. She loved the girls on her team, even the ones she wasn't close to. They won every game they played in. Lacy always loved to run. She had legs for days and they could carry her for hours. She would have done track and field if she wasn't a volleyball player. Maybe she could have done both someday. She thinks about her father, her best friend, and if he's going insane over her disappearing and she wonders if he's looking for her, if Noah's looking for her, if any of the police officers are looking for them. Where would they even start?

Everything she was before seems to slip away the longer she's trapped inside the cage she's in, no longer a girl but a poor animal begging to be released. She's not Lacy Austin right now. She's trapped, on the verge of death. She's only fifteen-years-old.

The dripping continues. Lady stares into the darkness, her body as stiff as board. She's tired. She can't fight anymore. She's been fighting for god knows how long. How long has it been? Weeks? Months? Longer? She remembers how crazy she was becoming the first few days she was trapped inside the room but now it was like she wasn't inside of her body. It's like she's a ghost. But her mind is all over the place and she can't steady it. She can't breathe right with the rotting smell choking her. Her muscles ache and she feels like crying but she can't. She can't physically feel anything.

In that moment, Lacy was okay with death if it meant putting an end to the suffering she'd endured for so long. Her mind had become a torture chamber. She can't remember the last time she said anything to the girls or when they spoke to her. They know they're there but they can't speak. It doesn't comfort them. Lucy imagines that Daphne is crying to herself and that Kayla's trying to keep strong. She imagines Hannah desperately trying to escape. They weren't close. Hannah liked to venture off alone. She was quiet but observant. She was feisty when she wanted to be. She was a hell of a runner. She was the best damn libero she knew.

Drip.Drip.Drip.

Drip.Drip.Drip.

Drip.Drip.Drip.

Please save me, daddy.

Police, open up! There's a voice from the other side of the door. Open up! Noah Stilinski breaks the door down. It's a shed in the middle of nowhere, the wooden walls peeling and rotting. He's taken them somewhere where nobody would find them. Noah raises his gun and his flashlight, immediately being hit with the putrid smell. He gags as do the other officers. It's nearly pitch black in the shed until he raises his flashlight and then he feels sick to his stomach. Oh my god.

A pool of dried blood stained dark carmine in the middle of the floor. Daphne Torres's body hangs from a crane, her arms raised above her head and her wrists shackled together. Her head is propped against her left arm, her eyes missing from her head, revealing blood caverns. Her lips are almost torn off, trails of blood streaked down her face and chin. Her ears were mangled and nearly torn off her face. Her pants removed leaving her in her underwear, streaks of dry blood stained her legs and caused the puddle below her. The smell is more visible now. The blood and carnage leaking from her permeated the shed.

One of the officers does throw up, the smell and sight of the teenage girl too much to handle.

Samuel Austin comes running through the door, his flashlight shining on Daphne, his jaw dropping, and then the device is lowered and he thinks he might scream. Oh my god! Lined up on either side of Daphne is Lacy, Hannah, and Kayla, their arms raised above them in Daphne's position and they were handcuffed to a set of poles.

Sam, I need you to get back, Noah yells at the deputy sheriff. When Samuel doesn't listen, he yells at the other officers, god dammit, get him out of here now! He now hears muffled sounds and the officers that weren't trying to hold back Sam make a move to the girls. Officer Dunlap kneels in front of Hannah. Her mouth and ears were stitches closed and it wasn't until she saw the officer that her eyes widened. She didn't hear them but she sees them and she starts to freak out.

Officer Vertez kneels in front of Kayla. He sees that her mouth and eyes has been seen shut and he covers his mouth and nose with his arm. Holy shit. She's not moving. She's not screaming. She's so still that it's unnerving. Kayla, can you hear me? Kayla? He yells but she doesn't respond. Vertez leans forward and presses his ear to her chest. Her heart's not beating. He's on the verge of vomiting. She's not breathing. I think she's dead!

Noah pushes Sam back before he could get to Lacy. Sam, no, let me handle this! He tries to say to keep his friend from losing whatever sanity he had left.

Lacy! Lacy! The father screams and gets past Noah. The sheriff's shine their flashlights on Lacy and Sam kneels in front of her, his eyes immediately filling with tears and his jaw drops. Lacy, baby. I'm here. I'm here, baby girl. I found you.

But she can't respond no matter how hard she was trying to. Her mouth had been sewn shut.