When my dad first started bringing Isabella and Alex around, I couldn't stand Alex. We hated each other. He was the typical edgy, pre-teen jerk who would constantly bully me. My dad tried to get us to do things together as a 'family' in hopes that he would get us to become friends but it usually ended up in him yelling at Alex and then Isabella yelling at my dad in return. After a while, my dad gave up.

One of Alex's favorite ways to torture me in the beginning was by locking me in his closet with his pet snake. I hate snakes. I can still picture the stupid psychotic smile he wore as he was closing the door in my face. I would be stuck in the small, dark space for what felt like hours, crying while the reptile slithered somewhere around me in the darkness. Because Alex loved doing this so much, I eventually learned how to pick locks. A skill I never thought I'd have to use again.

Declan, Paul and Noah had left earlier this morning leaving me here with Ben. He made coffee shortly after they left, I could smell it wafting in from under the door. It had my mouth watering. But after that, I haven't heard a single peep from him. Not even him moving around in the apartment. He's barely slept the last 48 hours, so in my mind, he must have fallen asleep.

Now was my time.

By the grace of whatever God is up there, when Declan let me out to use the bathroom last night I found a bobby pin in the cabinet. I'd hid it in the band of my bra along with the flash drive. I was so nervous that they would fall out in front of him that I had to wrap my arms around myself to keep them in place. Again, I thank the powers that be that he didn't notice my weird behavior and question why I was hugging myself.

Sliding the pin into the other side of the lock, I jiggled it around until I heard the familiar click of the lock echo in the room. I quickly took the pin from the lock and hid it in my hair then ran for the bed. Crashing onto it, I laid there and tried to control my breathing while I listened for Ben. I had to make sure he didn't hear the lock turning. When I didn't hear any movement, I went back to the door and opened it.

The hallway was empty. The only sound in the apartment was the light snoring coming from the room across from me. The corner of my mouth turned up into a half smile at my luck.

I hurried to the kitchen, through the hole in the wall and into Declan's room. I had to get this flash drive to Anatoli before anything else happened, before anymore innocent lives were taken. I'd give him the drive, sign over my dad's company in return for him calling off whatever hits or threats or whatever they have against Declan and the boys.

His room was in even more disarray from the other day. Looking over at the monitors in the corner of the room I noticed there was new images on the screens. Rapid movement on one of the screens had me walking closer to investigate. It was a bowling alley. Three masked men were storming around the place, destroying it.

I scoffed. "So that's where you went."

I slumped down onto the folding hair in front of the table and started to go through the boxes that were stacked around it. I was hoping to find car keys to one of their vehicles or maybe a phone that I could call Alex and plan a location to meet up.

By the third box I'd finally found what I was looking for. There was half a dozen burner phones buried under fake ID's and linens plates. I took them all out and started to hold down the power buttons to see which ones still worked. When I found one that turned on, I tucked it into the pocket of my hoodie and booked it out of his room to the front door.

I was almost there when Nux had jumped in front of me making me scream. Quickly slapping my hands over my mouth, I started to panic. Ben would have heard that. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Dodging around Nux, I tried for the door again but he must have thought we were playing. He jumped in front of me again, his tail wagging even faster.

"No, Nux! Go lay down!" I whisper yelled.

Nux dropped down onto his front legs, his bum still up in the air. Again I went to walk around him but he pounced in front of me and let out a loud, yappy bark.

"No!" I pushed the dog out of my way and ran past him. I heard him crying behind me the moment I swung the door open making me stop. Looking back to see how sad he was had my heart breaking but I couldn't wait around. Ben probably heard all of this. "Sorry," I whispered as I closed the door behind me.

The sun burned my eyes the moment I was outside of the building. I tugged my hood over my head to help shield my eyes while I ran for the woods, adrenaline coursing through my veins. The beat up converse on my feet did little to shield my feet from all of the rocks and sticks on the forest floor. I could feel them all through the thin layer of rubber. The passing branches from the trees were catching and tearing at my clothes. After a few yards, I had to put my arms up to guard my face when a branch cut my cheek.

I am severely out of shape from being locked in the asylum for months and then held captive by Declan. I'd barely made it half a mile before I had to stop running and rest. My chest was heaving up and down and it felt like I was breathing in fire. Falling to the ground, I laid out on my back and tried to calm my breathing; in through my nose, out through my mouth. My anxiety kicked into overdrive though. I kept telling myself I can't stop. What if Ben heard me leave? Or what if Nux ran to him and woke him up and their both running after me?

Rolling onto my side I got to my feet and pushed forward, despite my body telling me no. Now I was being driven by my anxiety. I jogged for as long as I could. My body flinching at every sound I heard, expecting to see Ben or Declan or worse, Alex coming for me when I slowed to look behind me. The branches continued to cut away at my clothes and the rocks on the ground had managed to tear a whole in my converse.

The trees started to become spaced out and the brush on the ground wasn't as thick. I could hear cars off in the distance. Pushing myself to continue on, I came to the edge of the woods and saw I was at the back of the development I grew up in. I was about four blocks from my old house.

Running my hands through my now damp hair, I breathed out a sigh. I could go to the house, I'm sure Isabella is no longer there. She has no reason to be. I can go there, call Alex and go from there.

The sliding glass door at the back of the house was still unlocked from months ago. When I had found the flash drive. When Alex found me, chased me. Shot at me. I quickly brushed those thoughts aside and slid in through the door. I don't have time to dwell on that. I've made it this far but I'm still not sure how much time I have before Ben notices I'm gone. Or if he was minutes away from catching up. Or, god forbid, he called Declan.

I kept telling myself I was doing the right thing. That I have to do this. I have to end all of this mindless killing.

The house was left exactly how it was the last time I was here except now there was a thick layer of dust coating everything. Flies were buzzing around the trash bin and the rotted fruit that was turning into a disgusting soup in the fruit bowl on the counter. I had to cover my nose from the vile smell and hurried into the living room where the smell wasn't nearly as bad.

Sinking down onto the couch, a cloud of dust plumed up into the air around me. I could see all of the particles dancing in the air in the beams of sunlight that were peaking in between the opening in the curtains that were half drawn.

Pulling out the phone that was in my pocket, I sighed. "I have to do this." I said, trying to quiet the many voices in my head that were telling me to go back to Declan. My fingers hovered over the physical buttons of the old candy bar phone. Pulling my bottom lip in-between my teeth, I dialed his number then put the phone up to my ear.

Ring.

Crushing doubt sunk in the moment I heard the first ringback.

Ring.

My hands started to become sweaty. This is stupid.

Ring.

What if this makes things worse?

Ring.

What if-

"Hello?"

Shit.

"A-Alex?" I stammered

His chuckle from the other end made my skin covered in goosebumps. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you, Scarlett."

I hated the way my name sounded coming from him. Willing my heart to stop pounding in my chest, I took in a shaky breath.

"I want to speak to Anatoli." I said, trying my best to sound firm and demanding.

Alex let out a disbelieving laugh followed by a scoff. "What makes you think you are in any position to be making demands?"

"I have what he wants." I snapped back, gaining a small semblance of confidence.

He started to degrade me, going on to say that I have nothing he could possibly want. That I had my chance to comply but I refused and now must live with the consequences. Looking across the room, at the mantle above the fireplace I saw a picture of Alex and I when we were younger. When we had finally become friends. We were playing up in the clubhouse of our swing set when my dad had come out. He'd snapped a picture of us smiling down at him from the top of the slide.

His voice came back into focus but I still wasn't listening. It was all a lie. He and his mother were only here to take from my dad and I. Their sole purpose was to rip us apart. And they did.

"I have it." I said, cutting him off. I didn't want to hear his venomous words anymore. "I have the flash drive."

This shut him up.

"I have the flash drive containing everything. I'll give it to him and sign over the company but I have demands." I ripped my eyes from the picture.

"Right, right." He said, his tone completely different than earlier. "Where should we meet? Where are you?"

"No. You tell me where Anatoli is, I will come to him." I wasn't going to tell him where I am. This might be the stupidest thing I've ever done, calling him. But I wasn't going to give up my position.

"That's not really how it works, Scars."

"Do you want the flash drive or not?" I retorted.

I could hear him let out an agitated sigh. "Are you in the city? Why could we meet up somewhere. Like, Uncle Mike's lot. I'll come get you and then take you to him."

"I'm hanging up."

"No, no!" Alex begged. "I just wanted to uh, prepare you. You know? Anatoli is kind of a stickler for rules and you're breaking a few. I just didn't want you to be blindsided."

"How caring." I scoffed. "Just tell me where he is."

There was silence for a few moments. I swore I could hear a ticking on the other end but I wasn't able to focus on it to discern what it could have been. "Fine. He'll be at The Atlantic tonight at eight."

"If anything happens to me or them, I swear to God I will crush it." I threatened but was met by silence. He'd hung up on me.

I threw the phone across the room and let out a scream. My tears came soon after. I slid from the couch onto the floor and brought my knees up into my chest. What did I just do? I'd tried to convince myself that this was the right thing but now I have this crushing weight on me. Like I've just signed my own death sentence.

The back door slid open with such force that it crashed against the wall making the glass shatter. I scrambled to my feet, getting ready to run to the front door when I heard my name being called.

"Scarlett!" It was Ben.

I stopped, unable to decided if I should run or stay. I know where Anatoli will be. I can go to him tonight and end this all. If I try and explain my reasoning to Ben he could either agree with me or drag me back to Declan. And how would that play out? That would only piss off Anatoli even more. He'd retaliate. My choice was made for me, though, when he came around the corner and saw me frozen in the middle of the room.

Ben stood there in the threshold between the kitchen and the living room. He was breathing heavily. His face red, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. His eyes glanced down and saw the phone on the floor by the fireplace and his face paled.

"What did you do?"

"I... I,"

"Never mind, that." He huffed, waving his hand at the phone. "Come on we have to get back. Anatoli's guys have been patrolling the neighborhood in hopes that you'd come back here. It's not safe."

"No, Ben listen I..." closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath and forced out the words. "I called Alex."

"What!?" He exploded. "Scarlett what the fuck?!"

"Please, listen! I have the flash drive! I have everything Anatoli wants. I'm going to him tonight. He'll be at the Atlantic and I'm giving him everything, in return I'm demanding that he stops all of this! That he lets Noah's brother go, stops hunting your sister... stops trying to kill you and Declan and-"

"You really think that's how that's going to go down?" He spat. "You think that when you give him everything that his heart will grow three sizes? He'll become some benevolent crime boss and let us all walk away?"

"Ben, I have to do something! I can't just sit around and let you all suffer." I yelled, my tears blinding me.

"He's going to kill you or worse!"

Before I could argue back, the front door of the house was kicked open followed by the familiar sounds of gunshots. Ben dove towards me and tackled me to the ground. The air was knocked from my lungs the moment I hit the floor making me cough as I tried to catch my breath.

Ben had rolled over and was taking his gun from his holster on his belt when a shot tore through his shoulder. His scream echoed through the house. Crawling to him as fast as I could, I pushed my fingers against the wound to help stop the bleeding.

He lifted his other arm and aimed his gun towards the sound of the running footsteps that were coming towards us. More shots were fired. Some hit the couch making the stuffing from the cushions shoot into the air. Glass from the picture frames and pieces of brick from the fireplace exploded around us.

I buried my face in Ben's chest to shield myself from the ricocheting materials while trying to keep my hands pressed against his skin. The moment the shooting stopped I felt arms wrap around my stomach and pull me from him.

"NO!" I screamed. I started hammering my fists against the arms that were around me to try and get out of their hold but it only made their grip tighter.

Ben got up on his feet, swaying for a moment before he lunged towards me and whoever was dragging me out of the living room. A masked figure appeared behind Ben and hit him in the back of the head with his firearm. Ben grunted from the blow and crumbled to the ground in a heap.

"No, no, no!" I cried, trying to reach out to Ben. I could see the blood from his wound starting to spread out around him on the carpet. I was dragged out of the living room and in to the front hall of the house, a few feet from the door. Thrashing as violently as I could, their vice like grip still wouldn't loosen.

"Relax, Scars." Alex's panting voice said in my ear. My body went ramrod making his grip loosen slightly. "Thanks for the call earlier. We were able to track where you were. Good thing we were on patrol this afternoon."

In one swift move, I flung my head back as hard as I could. The back of my skull collided with Alex's nose causing stars to erupt in my vision. The familiar sound of cartilage snapping filled the air. He yanked his arms from around me and clutched his nose while he yelled out in agony.

I fell to the tile floor and quickly rolled onto my back. Alex was bent over in pain in front of me. Crimson was started to leak between his fingers and roll down the back of his hands. He sucked in air through gritted teeth and gave another pained groan.

Thinking fast, I kicked my foot up into his groin as hard as I could. Alex toppled over onto the ground. The side of his face hitting off of the floor. Getting to my feet, I glance down at him curled up and clutching between his legs. I couldn't help the smile this brought to my face, seeing this asshole in so much pain.

Turning to run back to the living room, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the masked man from before. My scream echoed off of the walls making my ears ring. He stood in the entry to the living room, his arms crossed over his chest glaring down at me. My heart was caught in my throat and I could feel myself shaking from the fear and adrenaline that was coursing through me.

The lower half of their face was covered with a black, carbon fiber mask. He wore a black beanie to cover the top half of his head leaving only his green eyes showing. He tutted, shaking his head slowly.

"Declan's not here to save you now." Despite his struggling to pronounce some of the words, his voice sounded oddly familiar.

"You don't remember me?" He chuckles. His hand reaches out towards me but I slapped it away, taking a step back.

"Stay away from me!" I screamed. Alex grunts from somewhere behind me making me look back in his direction. He was using the entry table to help get up off of the floor all while he was looking up at me through the greasy black hair that had fallen in front of his face.

A hand tangled into my hair at the back of my head and forced me to look back at the masked man. With his other hand he took off his beanie to reveal his sandy blond hair. My eyes narrowed up at him. "Nick."

He must have been smiling behind his mask. "I like how you say my name."

My closed fist hit the mask on his face as hard as I could. Pain exploded in my knuckles but I fought back the tears that formed in my eyes. His head snapped in the direction of the blow, his mask flying off of his face. It landed somewhere on the ground and skidded across the floor. The moment my tears cleared from my vision and I saw Nick's face or what was left of it, I gasped in absolute horror. I tried to move away from him but his hand gripped my hair tighter, keeping me in place.

"You like what Declan did to me, huh?" He pulled me closer still until I was right up against his chest. I tried to get my arms up in-between us but he pushed them away with his free hand. I turned to look away from the horrific sight but he grabbed a hold of my jaw and forced my face back so that I had to look at him.

The skin around the right side of his mouth looked like it had been burned off. It was almost completely gone. Only thin strips of puckered skin and muscle here and there connecting the skin from just under his eye to the skin at his jaw. Saliva was dripping down between the openings, trailing down his jaw down to his neck. His teeth, the ones he still had anyways, were visible through the open holes. They were jagged and filled with holes, like acid had dissolved them. He looked like the real life Two-face.

"I'm not sure if he's seen his work, yet. Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets a good view in a video of me fucking you. He can enjoy his work then."

I tried to punch him again but he moved back in time and then the back of his hand hit me across the face, sending me half across the room. I landed on the floor on my stomach, the side of my head hitting off of the carpeted floor. Clutching the side of my face I could feel my skin heating up where he hit me. I refused to scream and I tried my damnedest to keep my tears at bay. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

I could feel the warm blood starting to trickle down from my nostrils. Wiping the back of my hand across my mouth, I saw the small trails of blood.

"Lets go." Alex said behind me. Nick came to me and knelt down behind me, pulling me up so that I was on my knees.

Looking over at Ben who was still laying face down on the carpet, my heart sank. "I... I'll stop fighting but please, don't let him die."

The sound of unraveling duct tape made me flinch and before I could think about what was about to happen, Nick pressed it against my mouth. He leans down, pressing his front into my back. His arms snake around me so that he can grope my chest. I buck under him and try to hit my head against his face like I did Alex.

"You don't want Ben to die, do you?" Nick's lips were against my ear.

"Enough!" Alex yells making me flinch and go still. Nick's hands are roaming my body making my empty stomach churn. I can feel the stomach bile rising in the back of my throat and I have to fight it back down before I throw up.

"Wait," Alex says and grabs his phone from his pants pocket. He crouches down and shoves the phone in my face. "Smile," he laughs in a sing song voice, snapping a picture of Nick molesting me. "Declan's gonna love that one."

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Thoughts? :)