Walking seemed like a foreign concept to me when I finally gathered the energy and bravery to leave the bed. Standing on my feet I could feel pain swell in my ankle before it gave out causing me to fall backwards onto the bed. I vividly remembered rolling my ankle when I was trying to escape from these maniacs.

Looking down at it, I could see it was swollen and black and blue. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the journey to the bathroom before I stood up again, leaning more on my good leg so I wouldn't fall again.

It felt like it took an eternity to shuffle my way to the bathroom after Declan had left my room. I stood braced against the porcelain sink, my legs trembling as they struggled to keep me from crashing to the tiled floor.

Looking up at my reflection staring back at me I let out a small gasp. I looked awful, like I hadn't slept in weeks. Trails of mascara stained my face from crying, leaving thick black circles under my eyes. There was a scabbed over cut near my hairline from hitting my head off of the window of the truck. My hair was matted at the back of my head from laying on the pillow for however long I was asleep while the ends were a tangled mess. Dirt was smeared over my cheeks and down my neck.

Turning on the faucet, I waited for the water to warm up before cupping my hand and splashing it over my face and down my neck to try and scrub the grime off with my fingers. The harder I rubbed at my neck the more I started to realize that it wasn't dirt but bruises from being choked.

While I continued to wash myself our conversation replayed in my head. I didn't know which part sounded more absurd, my step Uncle being a part of the mafia and pushing drugs overseas or that the psychopath that kidnapped me thinks Alex and I were somehow involved?

"They would never find your body." That sentence kept playing on repeat, each time making me feel even more sick. Was he bluffing? Was he just trying to scare me into talking? How many people has he killed? My mind was racing, trying to come up with some type of escape plan but nothing viable came to mind. It's not like I could run very far anyways with my ankle. It was hopeless, I was stuck here with them for now.

Hobbling back to the bed, I collapsed on the uncomfortable mattress and brought the thin blanket up, wrapping it around me. It didn't do much to shield me from the draft that was blowing in through the hole in the ceiling.

The mafia? I was really being accused of being a part of the mafia? I mean, I know that there is a huge presence here in the city but my family being involved? This just seems too impossible to me.

Then something clicked. Declan called Uncle Mike "Mikhail". I've never heard him be called that before except for the other day when someone had called the dealership yelling at me in broken English to talk to "Mikhail". When I paged Uncle Mike he snapped at me and told me to keep everyone off of his line. Was he hiding something?

No, that's absurd.

And he thinks Alex is involved. No, no way. I just can't see Alex being involved in anything shady. The image of him coming into work that same day all messed up, smelling like smoke and gasoline. He said he got into an accident on his bike but it was pouring down rain. He's never rode his bike in the rain. And then I remembered thinking how if he was in an accident in the rain, why wasn't he soaking wet?

"No, stop it." I scolded myself out lout. Now I'm just putting things together to try and fit Declan's narrative. I'm not thinking clearly.

That didn't help. More instances started to flood my mind. How Alex freaked out about the police being at the lot, how he ran as soon as he heard Uncle Mike's door open. How Nick made a point to ask if I was related to Patrick Murphy and how he smiled when I said he was my dad. Then there was the whole thing about Nick asking me to get coffee with him on a Sunday night.

"Oh god," I slapped my hand to my face.

I heard the lock of my door click open followed by the handle turning. Declan stepped inside the room, closing the door behind himself. I moved fast, pulling my legs up into my chest as if they would somehow keep me safe. He stood by the entrance to the room for a moment, a blank expression painted on his face as he studied me playing with the corner of the blanket nervously. Finally he looked away, walking towards the chair where he was sitting earlier while interrogating me. Just before he sat down he handed me a bottle of water and a sealed cup of pineapple chunks.

I took it from him greedily, tearing open the foil of the fruit cup, juice spilling onto my lap and downed the food as fast as I could. I hadn't noticed how hungry I had been until I was handed food. The acid from the pineapple stung my throat while it went down but I ignored the pain, slurping up the last bit of the fruit before I opened the bottle and gulped down the water, trying to make a conscious effort to leave some for later. Taking the bottle reluctantly from my lips, I used the back of my hand to wipe the water droplets from my lips and chin.

"Are you going to kill me?" The words slipped out of my mouth before I even thought it through.

Heavy laughter escaped his lips and filled the room in response to my question. "Maybe," Declan responded between slowing laughs causing my stomach churn at his answer. "Or maybe, we could come to an arrangement?"

"What kind of an arrangement? Who are you, how do you know about Mike and Alex?" The questions came blurting out of my mouth in rapid succession.

Declan rubbed the hairs on his chin, his eyes traveling down to his boots. He looked like he was trying to decide which question to answer first.

"I work with people who want to bring down the Russians and every piece of shit that is involved with them and their tainted drugs. That just so happens to include you and your dad. As far as our arrangement..." He paused for a moment before finally looking back up to me.

"I was planning on using Alex to get to your Uncle but since Nick learned that Patrick has a daughter, I was thinking about using you." Still looking at me, he licked his lips as they curled into a smile "If you choose not to help, then I'll kill you. Not just to send a message but because now you know too much." He winked.

I could feel the tears forming behind my eyes again, threatening to fall. It was clear to me that there was no escaping this, no walking away promising not to say a word to anyone. I was a part of this now, either play the part or die. That insane smile on his face, like he was enjoying the thought of getting to kill me had me shivering.

There was a long silence between the both of us. Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I sighed. "What do I have to do?" I asked reluctantly.

Declan slapped his hand down on his knee enthusiastically causing me to flinch again. "That's the spirit!"

Hugging my arms tighter around my legs I braced myself for the answer. I felt like I just handed myself over to the Devil.

"You do all of the clerical work for him so you'll have access to all of the information we need. You'll go in and do whatever it is you normally do and you'll send back the requested information to me." Declan's phone started to ring in his pocket causing him to reach in and pull it out. I watched him look at the screen before he thumbed a button on the side of his phone to cause the ringtone to stop.

"Speak of the devil, Alex is trying to get a hold of you. This must be the hundredth time today. He must actually care about you," He said mockingly as he turned the screen towards me so I could read what was displayed on the screen, 'Alex Murphy calling Scarlett Murphy'.

"How can you see that from your phone?"

He shoved his phone back in his pocket before answering. "I've had his phone tapped."

"You must have made some mistake, there is no way Alex is involved. My step Uncle, yea maybe, I guess, but Alex... he's innocent." I pleaded.

"Don't be so sure about that, sweetheart." Declan had a slight threatening tone as he spoke. "I've been listening to his calls, reading all of his text messages. Trust me when I say that he is very much involved."

"Trust you? You kidnapped me, threatened to kill me, how do you expect me to trust you?!" I snapped.

"Let me remind you that I really don't need you, so you either cooperate or I'll send your severed head to your uncle." He snarled back in response.

I let out a defeated sigh. I was under his control whether I liked it or not. Not just to keep myself alive, but to keep Alex alive and prove his innocence. He has to be bluffing about Alex though, there is no way he could be involved in this. His biological dad overdosed on drugs in front of him when he was six. He always told me how he'd never get involved with that stuff.

"What exactly am I supposed to be looking for?" I asked meekly, afraid of the response.

He leaned forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees as he looked up at me through his shaggy hair. "Your Uncle is managing to get his hands on Zenalyn, a lot of it and I want to know how."

"Zenalyn? Like Zennies, Z?" I repeated, furrowing my brow. Thinking back to the other night, sitting around Joe's fire pit with the guys. Wasn't that the name of the pill that Jay was handing out?

"You know it?"

"Kind of, it's been going around New Hope."

"Alex." Declan responded, his tone dripping with disgust.

I felt myself starting to glare at him again accusing Alex of being a drug dealer. "No," I snapped. Declan's expression hardened, a reminder of who was in charge and that my life really didn't mean much to him. He still had his in, his way of getting the information he needed, I was just a bonus. "My neighbors' friend, Jay, he brought it to our apartment."

"Isn't that the one who tried to rape you?"

My heart sank into my stomach causing the pineapple chunks to start to rise to the back of my throat, threatening to come back out. Slow motion images of that night flashed behind my eyes. How the fuck would he know that? "H-how do you-?"

He cut me off before I could finish my sentence, "I told you, I've had his phone tapped for a while. That Joe kid texted your brother and told him what happened when you didn't show up at your apartment the other night. Alex played the protective older brother part." He mocked.

I felt embarrassed for some reason that he knew what happened. The feeling of helplessness came over me in spades, my current situation not helping the matter. Jay was a piece of shit, he deserved so much worse than Joe and the guys just kicking his ass when they saw what he was doing.

He remained silent for a moment making the air in the room go from threatening to awkward as he just sat there, watching me squirm from the topic of Jay. It looked like he was trying to think of something to say but kept coming up with nothing.

"Other night?" I repeated. "How long have I been here?"

"Jesus Christ," Declan sighed angrily, reaching into his pocket to grab his phone again. "Alex just wont fucking quit!"

"Can I speak with him?" I asked hurriedly, forgetting my question. I just wanted to hear a familiar voice, something I can use as an anchor to help get myself mentally through this ordeal.

Declan shot me a glare in response to my question. Silencing his phone he stood up and slid it back into his pocket, his free hand smoothing down his black sweatshirt.

"What about my stuff? I saw you had my purse in the truck when you... when I was..."

"If you want to know about your phone, I smashed it. Don't want anyone pinging your location while you're here." As soon as he said it, I remembered watching him stomp on my phone. He was starting to walk over to the door before he stopped and looked back. "Get some sleep, Scarlett. I'm taking you back home tomorrow."

I was pacing back and forth across the small room I was locked in, waiting impatiently for someone to come and get me. Exhaustion mixed with adrenaline consumed me. I felt like I was in a different world from the lack of sleep but I was way too anxious to even entertain the idea of sleep. Instead, I just kept moving.

My ankle was feeling much better today, it was barely swollen and I was able to put almost all of my weight on it. If I had to, I'm sure I would be able to run without it holding me back. Declan had told me that he was taking me home and that's all that I could think about. Going home, sleeping in my bed and being far the fuck away from these psychopaths.

There was a constant nagging at the back of my head repeating that it was just a lie, that I would be trapped here until I'm killed. Even if that was the case, I would put up a fight. The first chance I get, I'm running. Running as fast as I can and not looking back until I'm home.

Home. When I get home, I'm planning on telling Alex about everything. The potential of our Uncle being involved with a crime syndicate, pushing drugs, trafficking. How I was kidnapped by some guy who was supposed to be a detective with the Portland PD and some other asshole who plans to use me to spy on my "drug pushing Uncle". Alex will know what to do, how to get me out of this mess. He always managed to get me out of trouble when we were growing up together.

The more I thought about everything Declan told me the more confused I got. So my step mother and her brother are blood relatives to some high-up guy in a crime syndicate and somehow my father was dragged into it. Mike is using my dad's Shipping company, Ocean State Shipping, to distribute the drugs, all with the help of my step brother, Alex?

Every time I repeated the narrative of Declan's story in my head the more surreal it sounded, making me feel like I was in some type of gangster crime drama.

"Ugh!" I groaned out loud, throwing myself down on the hospital bed.

My stomach started to growl, pulling me from my thoughts. Honestly, the only thing I wanted more than to be in my apartment was a cheese burger from Tony's, the pizza shop back home. It put every other cheese burger to shame, it had the perfect amount of grease and cheese. My stomach made another audible growl making me stop in my tracks. I looked over to the window in the door of my room hoping that I would find Declan looking in but saw no one. I sighed dramatically before I flung myself back onto the hard mattress and looked up at the deteriorating acoustical panels on the ceiling.

"How does this place still have electricity?" I questioned out loud, breaking the silence of the room.

Cold air moved through the room causing me to pull my arms over my chest in an attempt to keep me warm.

"Too bad it doesn't have heat..."

My thoughts were interrupted by the door handle turning. I shot up to a sitting position, my gaze shooting to the door to see who was there.

Nick stood in the doorway, the same toothy grin from the other night painted on his face. He was out of his uniform, instead dressed in jeans and an olive green short sleeve shirt. His hair was styled into the same disheveled mess.

"Sorry we never got to go on our date. Maybe I can make it up to you?"

"Fuck off." I scoffed.

"Oh come on, I saw the way you were looking at me. You sure you're not just a little disappointed our date got canceled?" He feigned sadness.

I glared at him. "The only reason I agreed to meet with you is because I thought you found something regarding the case. Are you even a real detective?"

As he walked further into the room he threw a plastic shopping bag into my chest with force. "Get dressed, you're going on a road trip." Nick ordered.

"I don't have anything to change into-"

"What the fuck do you think is in the bag?" Nick leered.

Fighting back another glare I took the bag from my chest and reached in. I pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants that looked to be three times too big and a black t-shirt which also looked way too big. Letting the clothes rest on my lap I looked back up at Nick, waiting for him to leave so I could get changed.

"Let's go, we don't have all day." He barked.

"Then can you please leave so I can get dressed?" My voice was dripping with attitude to match his. Did he really think I was going to get undressed in front of him?

"You don't give the orders around here," Nick's face twisted into a smile as he slunk closer towards me on the bed. My heart started to race in my chest with every step he took. Stopping a few feet from me, he brought his hands up in front of his chest and cracked the knuckles in both of his hands. His smile deepened as he saw that his actions had fully intimidated me. "Need help taking this off?"

Nick's hand came up to my shoulder where the snaps of the hospital gown were, his fingers trailing across the fabric. My mouth went dry as soon as I felt the pressure of his touch on me, my heart pounding faster still. Slapping his hand from my shoulder I looked up at him and saw a crazed, animalistic expression painted on his face at my physical rejection.

His lips turned down into a scowl, both of his hands shot up to my shoulders, his fingers grabbing the fabric of the gown and pulled hard, tearing it open. My hands shot up to my collarbones, grabbing for the fabric to try and keep myself covered from this sick pig.

"Stop!" I yelled, my eyes welling with tears.

Nick's only response was a growl as he grabbed my wrists, trying to pry them away from my body.

"No! Stop!" My voice was frantic, demanding he stop his assault. I struggled with all of my might to keep him from pulling my arms away but he was far stronger.

"Get away!" I brought my knee up in between his legs with as much force as I could muster until I connected with his groin. I could hear the breath being forced out of his lungs while he crumbled onto the floor. He took a step back, clutching his crotch trying to take in deep breaths of air.

Frantically, I pushed myself from the bed and raced for the open door of the room.

"You bitch," Nick snarled behind me between gasps of air. I heard his body shift behind me, no doubt turning to run after me.

Stepping out of the dim room into the bright lights of the hallway my eyes instinctively wanted to close but I forced them to stay open and began racing as fast as I could down the hall.

I heard hurried footsteps echoing from behind me. Adrenaline was coursing through my body. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. My eyes finally adjusted to the lights just in time for me to see that I was running straight into a big, black mass.

My momentum was stopped abruptly when I crashed into what was blocking my escape. Strong arms wrapped around me, rough fingers digging into my ribs keeping me from falling backwards onto the ground.

I looked up and was met by familiar hazel eyes. Declan was staring down at me with the same sly grin that seemed to always adorn his face. His left cheek had a deep laceration across it, dried blood was smeared around the wound staining this skin a rusty brown color. His hair was matted down from sweat that was still dripping down from his hairline onto his forehead.

I was ripped out of the trance I was being held in by the sound of Nick's footsteps stopping behind us. My body seemed to betray me, clutching onto his sweatshirt I buried my face into Declan's chest, hoping that this psychopath who threatened to kill me would keep me safe from the other psychopath who was trying to tear my clothes off.

"What's this?" Declan's voice was low, I could feel it resinate from inside his chest as I pressed my face further into his sweatshirt.

"Stupid bitch kicked me in the dick and then started running!" Nick huffed, still trying to catch his breath.

The words wouldn't come to me to try and explain that that was a lie so I shook my head from side to side frantically while my face was still hidden. Tears spilled from my closed eyes soaking into the fabric.

What if Declan didn't believe me? His words from earlier rang in my ears causing my tears to come faster now. Would he just kill me and be done with it?

"Is this true, Scars?" His use of my nickname took me by surprise, calming my rising hysterics enough for me to be able to whisper 'no' in response. His grip loosened around me, going from a possessive hold to more of a comforting hug. This small gesture was the most comfort I had had in days. Relaxing into him, I took my head from his chest, taking in a deep breath to try and calm myself the rest of the way.

"Are you lying to me?" Declan questioned again, his tone dark and threatening.

Craning my neck back to look him in the eyes. "No," My voice cracked as I responded, making it sound more like a squeak.

Declan's eyes slowly drifted up to Nick who was standing behind me. Nick puffed out an angry breath of air before he exploded, "What the fuck is wrong with you, D? Since we snagged the girl you've been acting like she's some sort of fucking princess! If this was any other bitch you'd be-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Declan growled in anger, a moan escaped from my lips as his fingers dug back into my skin further and further with every word he spoke.

"If this was any other girl you would have no problem with me fucking her,"

Before Nick's statement could even sink in I was shoved harshly from Declan's body and into the wall to the right of us. The back of my skull crashed into the drywall causing me to see stars as I slumped onto the floor, grabbing my head as if it would somehow take away the pain.

The sounds of a fist repeatedly slamming into skin filled the hallway while I sat there willing my vision back.

"Fuck!" Nick yelped out, the slamming sounds continued on until there was a loud crack followed by a gasp and then gurgled choking.

My vision cleared just in time to see Declan who was standing over Nick, holding him by the collar of his shirt just before he let go. Nick's body fell to the ground, his face beaten to a bloody pulp. Blood was pouring from his nose like a faucet into his mouth. His mouth gaped open, he tried to breathe but only a gurgling noise came out. He was choking on his own blood. I sat there paralyzed as my brain took in the sight.

Declan stood up, wiping the blood from his knuckles down his shirt. Declan's attention swiftly turned back to me, cowering against the wall as I watched someone who I thought was his friend choking on his own blood, half conscious from being beaten.

"Get up." He ordered with a growl just loud enough for me to hear. I obeyed in fear that I would share Nick's fate. I rose to my feet, keeping my gaze down on the floor, not wanting to look at him wrong. My heart was racing in my chest, my palms sweaty while I held the torn fabric to my chest. I had greatly underestimated my captor and what he was capable of doing. "Come here,"

My stomach dropped and I could feel fresh tears stream down my cheeks. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't will myself towards him.

A growl rose in his throat as his body burst forward at me, his hand grabbing my shoulder and yanked me into his chest. My hand rested against his ribcage trying to push myself away but it only made his grip around me tighter. "Please," I sobbed, no longer pushing against him but instead resting against him in hopes that that's what he wanted. "Please, God don't hurt me, I'll do what you want!"

"I'm not going to hurt you." He loosened his grip on me. "Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head no in response.

Declan sighed. "Get changed." He said, pushing me gently towards the room I had been kept in.

Looking back at him, I was so confused but so grateful he saved me from Nick. Declan's bloodied hand shot up to his hair, running his fingers through it while breathing out furiously.

"Hurry up!" He barked making me jump.

I jogged into the room and searched for the plastic shopping bag. Grabbing it, I turned it upside down over the bed letting its contents fall onto the mattress. All thoughts of modesty left my mind, the only thoughts left were to do as I was told to stay alive. I quickly slipped off my clothes and worked to put on the new ones.

The black shirt must have belonged to Declan. It was massive on me, reaching down to just below my butt. The sweat pants weren't much better, I had to tie the string around my hips as tight as I could in hopes of keeping them up on me. Grabbing my converse, I dropped onto the floor and started to push my feet into them when I felt Declan's presence come up behind me. I hadn't even had the chance to tie them before I felt Declan's hand grip my forearm and was being tugged up on my feet.

Within seconds I was forced out of the room and into the hall. Nick was still on the floor spitting blood onto the dingy tiled floor. He was crowded by men I hadn't seen before asking if he was okay and trying to help him to sit up against the wall. One of the men looked up as Declan and I passed, the guy had a frightened look while he watched every step we took, the other two mumbled to each other under their breath.

Declan could care less as he continued on down the hall, his grip tightening every time my pace slowed. Finally reaching the elevator doors he spun me so that my back was resting against the wall next to the up and down buttons for the elevator. I cast my gaze down to the floor, frightened that just looking at him wrong would cause an outburst. I was so close to getting out of here that I didn't want to fuck anything up.

His hand reached next to my arm as he thumbed the down button angrily half a dozen times when it didn't light up the first time. Once the button was lit up he took half a step back and let out a slow deep breath, flaring his nostrils.

The wait for the elevator was agony. Every second that ticked by felt like an hour as I felt the man who was towering over me stare at my shaking form.

The ding of the elevator broke the silence between us. The doors creaked open to my right letting the light from inside the cab spill into the dim hallway.

"In," Declan commanded, his voice deeper than I have ever heard.

On shaky legs, I hurried myself into the cab and stood against the wall, my hands gripping the rail behind me for support. Declan pressed the button for the ground floor followed by the button to close the doors once he was inside the elevator. The doors closed with the same loud creaking noise as when they opened, locking me inside with my captor.

Looking up at the line of numbers above the door I saw that I was being held on the seventh floor. Under the lit up number read "Psych Ward" and suddenly it all made sense as to why the door to my room had a lock on the outside as well as the bed having restraints.

Two floors into the descent Declan hit the side of his fist against the emergency stop button causing the elevator to come to an abrupt stop between two floors. He turned sharply to face me and closed the already small space between us. Pressing his chest into mine he brought his arms up, resting his hands against the wall next to my shoulders effectively trapping me against the wall.

Every inch of my personal space was completely invaded by this seemingly unstoppable force of a man. Looking up I was met by his oppressive stare. Fresh spatters of blood decorated his cheeks and chin from his assault on Nick earlier. The gash on his cheek was starting to scab over and the dried blood that dripped from the wound was now starting to flake from his skin.

As Declan stood there I watched his eyes move around my face, taking in my features. His expression softened a bit, turning more towards a neutral look instead of a scowl. His eyes drifted back to mine before he spoke.

"I'm getting really tired of having to chase after you, Scarlett." His voice was low and even as he spoke. "When we get outside, if you so much as think of trying to run from me, I'll shoot you." Declan grabbed my chin possessively with his thumb and forefinger, jerking my head up. "Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes." I stammered. My heart was racing in my chest.

"Good," He responded, taking his fingers from my chin before giving my cheek a light tap. My head turned slightly in the direction of the tap as I watched that smirk spread across his face. He turned to the control panel and thumbed one of the buttons to make the elevator spring back to life and continue on its descent.

When we emerged from the hospital into the freezing cold night, Declan placed his hand at the small of my back, directing me down the front walk way of the building towards a black two door sports car, its windows tinted to match the black paint. The lights of the car flashed twice while an audible clicking noise signaled that the doors were now unlocked. Reaching the car, Declan grabbed the handle to the door opening it and then quickly pushing me inside.

Declan slid into the car as he ran a hand over the top half of the steering wheel, gripping it once his hand reached the three o'clock position. Shutting the door once he was fully inside I heard the click of the doors being locked, trapping me again.

He couldn't help himself but look over and smirk at me making me roll my eyes in response.

Looking at the steering wheel I saw a metallic silver cat emblem affixed the car horn. I racked my brain trying to think of what kind of car this was, not having any knowledge of cars whatsoever didn't really help.

The engine roared to life seconds before Declan's hand slid to the shifting knob and forced the car into gear, speeding off into the night.

___________________________________________

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