Taking my pen in both hands, I snapped it in half. Pieces of plastic, the spring, the ink chamber all flung up in the air and landed on the bed around me. I glared down at the pages with my words scribbled on them. My breathing was becoming ragged.

I didn't want to do it. He made me do it. It was all his fault.

Balling my hands into fists, I pressed them against my closed eyes, those mental images flashing behind my lids. The gun in my hands. His body dropping to the ground. The blood coating my hands. Those hazel eyes.

"FUCK!" I screamed, feeling the panic attack kicking in. I reached for the book and started to rip out the pages then ripping them into tiny pieces, throwing them up in the air. The paper that held my life rained down, a visual representation of my life falling apart around me as I sobbed.

The room was starting to close in around me. I went to fall onto my bed but I missed and fell to the floor. Wrapping my arms around my legs I rested my forehead on my knees. I needed to calm down before they saw me on the monitors. They were quick to medicate here and I hated being given an extra Lorazepam. It already left me feeling drowsy and weak. A second one left me in catatonic state.

I can't let them see me.

Hell, they could be giving me a whole lot more than just Lorazepam. Warner, the orderly, makes me open my mouth so he can place the pills on my tongue making me stay like that for longer than necessary before he gives me the white cup filled with water. Fucking pervert.

I've been in here by myself for weeks now, ever since the meeting with that DA guy. Alex was my first visitor but that was yesterday? No wait... I was given medicine after that visit to calm me down. Two days ago? Fuck. I can't remember.

I sniff, rubbing my knuckles against my wet nose.

"Five things I can see," I look around the barren room. "Bed, side table, door, broken pen, confetti." I chuckle bitterly looking down at the pieces of ripped up paper.

"Four things I can touch." I take my hospital pants in between my index finger and thumb and rub the fabric. "Pants, hair, blanket, tile floor."

"Three things I can hear. Air conditioning, nurses outside the door," My mind betrayed me and made me hear the gunshot in my head. I threw my head back against my bed, trying to calm my breathing.

Maybe I do belong in here...

I'd been allowed to eat in the dining hall for the first this evening. Usually my food was brought to me in my room on a styrofoam tray. Not sure what the occasion was but I'm not complaining. Though I sat alone, it was nice to be around other humans. Particularly ones who were not threatening my life.

When I was finished trying to choke down the vile food, I walked my plastic tray up to the trash can, dumping out what food was left then walked it over to the counter where an employee took it. Warner was by my side the moment I turned around.

"Time to get you back." He said with smirk, grabbing my arm and forcing me towards the doors. I bit back the snarky comment that was on the tip of my tongue. I rather enjoyed this small bit of 'freedom', I didn't want to go back to being entirely alone.

Reaching my room, he walked us inside and turned me so that I was facing him. His hand was wrapped tightly around my forearm that he pulled to his chest so I was uncomfortably close to him. We stayed locked in an awkward stare, I could feel his breath fanning across my face.

"Stick out that tongue, sweetheart." His lips curled, revealing his crooked teeth.

"What?"

"You heard me." He held up the paper cup and shook it so I could hear the pill rattling around.

"But I already had my medicine."

"You know I don't make the rules." Warner was annoyed he had to argue with me. "They saw your little temper tantrum this afternoon and decided you need another candy. Now come on and open that mouth."

I narrowed my eyes up at him, opening my mouth and sticking out my tongue. He was depraved, demanding me to do this every time he was in charge of administering my medication. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, enjoying the image of me open mouthed and waiting for him.

He took the pill between his thumb and index finger and slowly placed it on my tongue. "Now swallow." He commanded, handing me the cup of water.

I moved the pill as inconspicuously as possible under my tongue and drank the water then stuck my tongue out to show the pill was gone.

Warners' hand moved to cup my face. He placed the pad of his thumb on my tongue and swirled it. "I'll be back later tonight." He said with a wink, shutting the door behind him.

When I knew he was away from the door, I move the pill out from under my tongue and pretended to cough into the crook of my arm, spitting out the pill. Now I know why he wanted to medicate me. Alex was so kind to inform me about the abuse that unfolds here in the asylum. These meds always make me feel tired and at times unresponsive to the world around me. He wanted to make it so I wouldn't put up a fight.

I guess he's in for a surprise tonight.

The lights in my room flicked off, signaling bed time. My stomach churned, Warner would be coming soon. I rolled over in bed to look at the window of my door. The longer I stared, the more anxious I was becoming but I wasn't about to fall asleep and be unprepared.

The longer I laid here, I started to think of ways of escaping. Maybe I could knock him out, steal his ID badge and keys and make a run for it. I had no clue where I was in this building, how many floors it had, how big it is. Every time I was taken anywhere it was from a different direction. I assume that was protocol, so patients wouldn't memorize the building. But if I could find a stairwell, I could find an exit. And if this place in one level, maybe I could get to the security room, look at the cameras and try to figure out the layout?

My eyes were starting to become heavy in the low light of the room and I was finding it harder to stay awake, even with all of the escape plans I was formulating. Giving in, I let my eyes close for a minute, loving the relief.

Stay awake, I repeated. You can't fall asleep. Stay awake.

I could fell myself start to drift, my mind getting hazy and the muscles in my body starting to relax into the hard mattress. I was just about asleep when an ear piercing alarm rang out in my room, jolting me awake.

I shot up in bed, grabbing at my ears to try and shield them from the shrill sound of the alarm that was repeating every few seconds. A dim red light came from the fire alarm that was at the corner of my room, lighting the space in a crimson color.

Motion from the window of my door caught my attention. Jumping from the bed, I peered out to see the staff members were panicked, running in different directions and shouting.

There must be a fire, or maybe there's a storm happening and the power went out?

Warners' face appeared behind the glass making me jump back, grabbing my chest. He worked fast to unlock my door and hurried inside, using his ID badge to lock it from the inside.

"What's happening? Is there a fire?" I questioned, my voice sounding anxious. I was expecting him to handcuff me so I could be taken out of the building and away from whatever danger.

Instead, Warner turned to me and pocketed his ID badge. "Playtime came early tonight."

"No, there's something happening, we have to leave!" I retorted, my hands starting to shake from the adrenaline that the alarm was causing.

"Then you should get me off fast so we can get out of here." Warner replied, playing into my growing hysteria. He stepped closer while he dipped his thumbs into the hem of his scrub pants, getting ready to push them down.

"Fuck you!" I pulled my closed fist back then rammed it into his face, colliding with his jaw. Warners' head snapped to the side from the blow. Pain erupted in my knuckles from hitting his jawbone. I quickly cradled my hand and brought it to my chest, sucking in air through gritted teeth. Groaning, he quick grabbed his jaw with one hand while he caught himself on the bed with his other one.

He straightened up, his head snapped back at me. Opening and closing his mouth a few times to try and shake the pain I'd caused him, a small line of red dripped from the corner of his mouth. His expression darkened. "And to think I was going to go easy on you for the first time."

Warner took two large steps towards me but froze when we heard gunshots from out in the hall. With my attention on the door, Warner grabbed me, trapping my arms against my sides and threw me onto the bed. He was on top of me within seconds. I thrashed under him, trying to get my arms out so I could punch him and trying to bring my legs up so I could kick him in his pathetic balls but he was putting all of his weight on me, pinning me.

Another gunshot rang out and simultaneously the handle and lock of my door exploded making the door swing open into my room. A black gloved hand grabbed the hair at the op of Warners head, jerking his head back violently and ripped him off of me.

My adrenaline was burning through me and I felt like I was moving in slow motion but I managed to roll over the side of the bed to hide. Peaking up over the side, I saw a tall figure in an all black military type outfit with a full face covering and ballistic helmet. They were holding their rifle to Warners' forehead while he started to cry, screaming to spare his life, that he was just trying to get me restrained o he could get me out of the building.

Whoever it was didn't seem to care what Warner was saying because they shot him. The back of his skull exploded, spraying blood, brain matter and bits of his skull all over the wall while Warners' dead body crumbled to the floor with a thud.

I clasped my hands against my mouth to try and silence my scream. I screwed my eyes shut, trying to rid myself of what I just saw but I knew that it would be another thing to haunt my dreams. When I opened my eyes, I saw the figure standing in front of me at the edge of the bed, gun held at their side.

"No, please," I begged, choking back a sob. I scrambled up and over the bed to the door but a bullet landed in the wall between me and the door stopped me in my tracks.

I screamed, pulling my arms into my chest and collapsing on to the floor. Turning, I saw the figure slowly rounding the end of the bed towards me. No, no, no, no! I used my feet to kick me back to put space between us until my back hit the wall.

A sob raked through me, filling the space with my cries. I pulled my legs up into my chest to try and make a barrier between me and the masked man as he slowly closed the space between us.

When he got in front of me, he dropped to one knee, his knee pads making a loud thud when it connected with the tile floor. He leaned over me, resting his free hand on the wall next to my head, caging me in front of him.

"Please, please d-don't kill m-me," I begged, finding it hard to breathe. My heart felt like it was in my throat. Looking up, I could see the reflection of my tear stained face in the glass of his eye protection.

"Shh, don't cry, little one." A familiar distorted voice spoke.

And just like that, the oxygen was ripped from the room leaving me gasping for air. His hand moved to the tinted eye protection he was wearing and pushed it up enough so his hazel eyes could meet my blue ones.

It was like my mind had finally snapped. The longer I looked into his eyes the more the events of that night rushed back. My mind was sent into overdrive and at the same time I was starting to disassociate, feeling like I was miles away from what was in front of me.

A quiet, eerie calm took over, my tears stopping. Declan got to his feet, fixing his face covering and held out his gloved hand for me to take.

I shook my head.

"We don't have time for this, Scars." His distorted voice spoke.

I remained defiant, keeping my eyes focused on the wall behind him. There was no way I was going with him. If I kept telling them I didn't know anything about Declan they would eventually leave me alone, that's what Alex said. I'm safer in here, forgotten about instead of out on the streets where the Irish or Russian families could find me.

The alarm had finally stopped and with it the pulsing in my head making me feel even more numb.

"I'm sorry, baby." Declan sighed. He bent down and grabbed me behind my knees and forced his hand under my arm and around my ribs, hauling me up into his arms bridal style. I thrashed against him, trying to claw at him, kicking my legs anything so he would lose his grip but it only made him hold me tighter.

Automatic gunfire rang out in the halls making my body go stiff in his arms. He gently let me slide down to my feet when I stopped resisting. Another gunshot sounded and I clutched onto his body armor that protected his chest.

"Baby-"

"No! Don't you dare!" I hissed over the intense ringing in my ears from the gunshots.

I could hear him taking in a deep breath. "We need to get you out of here. Don't fight me on this, do as I say."

Bringing his firearm up to the side of his head, he looked out from behind the doorframe, holding out his hand for me to take. With great trepidation, I placed my hand in his and was pulled out into the hall and pushed so my body was behind him. Dead bodies of the security guards littered the floors.

"Why... why are you killing them?" My voice was trembling as I spoke. A new wave of fear washed over me and I had to use every bit of self control in me to not grab ahold of Declan.

"They work for Anatoli, sent here to guard you for when we came." His distorted voice answered.

"Hey Cap, we gotta go!" Someone called, coming around the corner dressed in similar armor to Declan. Despite his clothes being black, I could clearly see the wet blood splatters across his torso and on his face covering making my stomach churn. "There's guys headed our way."

"Is he with him?" Declan snarled, pulling me to follow them down the hall.

"Tough to say, they're all masked." He answered. "But they're coming up the East side of the building, hustle up!"

Declan kicked open an unmarked door, moving through it and into the stairwell with his riffle held out in front of him. He aimed it up the stairs and then down to make sure we were alone. When Declan nodded back at us his goon put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me into the stairwell, letting the door close behind us.

I jerked my shoulder away from him. "Don't touch me!"

The three of us hurried down the first flight of stairs, stopping on the last step when Declan put his arm up. He moved so he could see around the corner before we started down the next flight of stairs.

"Where are the others?" He asked hastily.

"Crash is destroying security footage and Stupid Cherub is raiding the doctors office." He answered before he looked back at me, tilting his head to the left. "Hey Scars."

"Not the time." Declan snapped. He started down the third flight, his gun still aimed in front of him.

We went down three more flights of stairs before we got to the bottom floor. Declan reached up to his ear, pressing against it. "Crash, Cherub, we gotta go!"

Gunshots erupted from somewhere above us and then the crashing sound of a door slamming into a wall. Declan snatched me back, pushing me against the cinderblock wall and stepped in front of me. He and his friend stood shoulder to shoulder, their firearms trained up the steps at whoever was running down.

"Cerberus!" Another distorted voice called out.

Declan took a small step forward and answered "Heal!"

"Don't shoot, Captain, it's us!" Two more armored men rounded the corner, their riffles gripped in their hands but pointed down at the ground.

I scoffed at their verbal failsafe; these three being Cerberus, Hades loyal three headed hound.

"The police are on their way too, saw it on the street cams. We're gonna be outnumbered on both ends real fast." This one must have been Crash.

"Well it took you long enough, Jesus!" The soldier next to Declan snapped.

"Shut the fuck up, Lowlife. Did you remember to bring the explosives?"

Explosives? My brows pinched together. What they hell were they planning to do?

The one named Lowlife took a backpack from his shoulder and tossed it to the quiet one next to him who grabbed it mid air and shouldered it. The three of them checked their firearms and then went for the door.

Declan grabbed my wrist to pull me back by his side, igniting sparks under my skin. He let the others go ahead of us out of the door to clear the exit. One of them declared it was safe and the three of them hurried out of the stairwell, two headed to the right and the other to the left. Declan held onto my wrist for a moment longer until we were alone. I could tell he was staring at me from behind the tinted glass. I could feel his eyes burning into me.

Before either of us could say anything shots sounded from behind the door making me flinch. At first it was one, then three and then it was automatic fire.

"Cap, let's go!" One of his men yelled, smashing his fist against the door that had closed.

Declan pushed me towards the door and the moment we were out in the hall, I was sandwiched between Declan and his soldier. I had my hands held up around my head, as if my arms would somehow stop bullets from landing in my skull as we ran.

This must have been the main floor of the building because this hall was much different, colorful. The floors were a patterned tile and the walls were painted a light tan color, much different than the colorless, sterile halls of the floor I was kept on.

Another gunshot sounded from behind us making my heart hammer so hard it felt like it would burst inside my chest. My legs were starting to feel like jelly. In the months I have been here this is most physical activity I've had, that mixed with the adrenaline from being shot at, it was amazing I even made it this far.

A bullet landed in the wall a few feet from us, taking me by surprise. I tumbled to the ground hard, landing on my knees. My wrist bent in an unnatural position making me yelp out in pain but before I could even process what happened, hands gripped my bicep and tugged me up to my feet, forcing me forward.

Declan turned, aimed his riffle and fired off a three shots. They must have landed because there were two dull thuds from somewhere behind us.

At the end of the hall were tinted glass doors, our exit. My heart skipped a beat, this time from excitement. Holy shit, I'm actually getting out of here! But my excitement was short lived. Masked men came from the hall to the right of the doors, their guns aimed directly at us.

In one swift movement, Declan used his arm to force me behind him and then brought it around to his rifle. I screwed my eyes shut, waiting to feel the bullets tear through me.

They had managed to get a few shots off before Declan and his soldier returned fire, dropping them almost instantly. Over the ringing in my ears I could hear the sounds of their bodies and the glass of the doors falling to the ground.

"Hurry up!" Declan yelled, grabbing my arm again.

The three of us raced out into the humid night air. The humidity fucked with my brain, last time I was outside it was November and there was at least a foot of snow on the ground. I know I've been locked away for months but for some reason I was still expecting it to be freezing outside. Now it was a muggy and wet spring night making me realize just how long I'd been locked up.

Tires screeched from the other end of the parking lot making me snap my head in that direction. A familiar blacked out SUV was speeding towards us until it skidded to a stop. Declan pulled open the door and pushed me inside, moving inside behind me followed by his soldier.

"Where's the Stupid fucking Cherub?" Declan questioned between gulps of air. I could tell his jaw was clenched.

"Taking care of something." The driver answered.

A second later an explosion rocked the vehicle making the glass windows vibrate. A large plume of smoke rose from the other end of the building. Tips of the flames could be seen over the roof of the building. Car alarms were blaring from the other side of the building followed by painful screams.

"Oh shit!" the driver scoffed, laughing while ducking his head down so he could see higher up through the windshield.

The passenger door to the vehicle opened and instantly they all aimed their guns.

"It's me, Cherub! Cerberus or whatever!" He yelled, hopping in and slamming the door.

"Heal, buddy!" The driver laughed out then floored it, thrusting us back in our seats.

"Fuuuuck," Cherub signed, sinking back into the passenger seat.

The three of them took of their helmets and face coverings revealing Ben, Paul and Noah. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Their reference of Cerberus made sense to me now and it had me laughing lightly. That night at Wyndham tower when they rescued me, I had called them Declan's lap dogs. Man was I happy to see them. I should have known by their bickering it was them.

"So your Lowlife?" I questioned, leaning over to look at Noah.

"One and only," He winked back.

"And your-"

"Yes, it's because I fucked up his truck." Ben answered, trying to hide his smirk.

"And this here is Stupid Cherub, or as the Cap said moments ago Stupid Fucking Cherub, which I like much better." Noah laughed, grabbing Paul's shoulders from the backseat.

"I save the fuckers life and I get the dumb ass call sign of Stupid Cherub. Some thanks." Paul grumbled then used his teeth to help tie a tourniquet around his upper arm. The sleeve of his shirt was ripped open revealing a nasty looking weeping cut.

"It's cause of that baby face, man." Ben laughed, grabbing Paul's chin and shaking his head.

I couldn't help but smile, listening to them start to bicker amongst themselves. I'd missed them. But I could feel the weight of his stare.

Declan sat next to me, his head turned just enough to know that he was looking down at me from behind his mask. My smile dropped and so did my stomach. I kept my eyes forward, not wanting to acknowledge him. And besides, I needed to focus and memorize where they're taking me so I know how to escape what will be my new prison.

We had pulled up to an abandoned factory in the woods a little north of the city along the queens river. I could still see the lights from the city through the fog that was rolling up the river. The fog was spreading through the woods too because by the time Ben had parked the truck and we all got out, the fog had consumed the warehouse making it look like a large, ominous mass in the woods.

For the first time in months, I could smell the damp earth which was causing the grippy hospital socks on my feet to become instantly soaked. I wrapped my arms around myself, not because of the dropping temperature but because I knew that I would soon have to face Declan.

"Welcome to casa de la outcasts!" Noah exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air and waving them to show off the factory like he was Vanna White.

"You all live here?" What the hell happened since I was locked up?

"I mean, with the current housing market this place was a steal." Paul answered. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me in through a heavy metal door that scraped against the concrete slab when Ben opened it.

The inside of the building was huge open space, lit by industrial lights that hung from the roof every few feet. Whatever machinery that was once in here was long gone but the marks on the concrete floor from where they once stood were still present. All of the windows were bricked up tight and the garage doors were closed up with cinderblocks covered in graffiti.

There were couches and a table set up around a massive TV that was hanging on the back wall. A few mini fridges and a table with an electric griddle and coffee maker were to the left of that. To the right were dozens of computer screens, all of them displaying surveillance footage.

Above their living area was a second floor where I imagine offices once were. There was metal steps over by the couches that led to the upstairs. The rest of the factory was left dark making it look kind of creepy. I could hear the faint dripping of water from somewhere in the void.

A jingling sound came from the couches drawing my attention away from the scary side of the building. Nux came running over to us, his tail wagging uncontrollably while he jumped up on Ben then ran to me.

I couldn't help but smile at seeing how happy he was to see me. I bent down on one knee and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tight. "Hey Nux."

The three of them moved out of the way and all worked to take off their armor, throwing it on the ground near the surveillance computers. They placed all of their weapons on the table and got to work unloading their rifles.

"Scarlett," Declan's voice was low behind me.

My stomach somersaulted. I slowly closed my eyes, letting out a trembling breath. Deep down, I knew he would come for me at some point. I knew no matter where I was I wouldn't be able to hide from him forever. I was just hoping I would have my head together before he did. I turned to him with my head down, my fingers squeezing together from nerves.

"Scarlett, please can we talk?"

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