My wound had healed nicely overnight, a small scabbed scratch remaining, although a nasty purple bruise was left behind, covering almost the entirety of my thigh.

I let out a big breath, resting my head up against the cold and wet cell wall, closing my eyes. My entire body had given up screaming at me whenever I moved, everything was now just numb, leaving me feeling like a floating ghost of a former human figure.

My mind was fuzzy, and it was becoming increasingly harder to think and make sense of the situation happening around me, meaning I spent the majority of my time slipping in and out of consciousness, waiting for Rosalina to reappear.

"How do you think she's planning on getting you out of here?" asked Emily, rubbing her dirt covered hand down her face tiredly.

I shrugged, letting out a big sigh. "I don't know what to think anymore, but there's nothing we can do but wait."

"I've been waiting a long time Eliza," mumbled Emily, leaning back until her back was flat against the cold cell floor.

Suddenly, the sound of heels echoing caused my eardrums to ring, and I turned my head towards the entrance of the room to see Joanna striding in, a morose expression plastered on her face.

"Well, don't you two look rather glum today," she teased, smirking at Emily and I as she tightened the laces of her knee high boots.

I shook my head, no longer having the energy to answer, and not wanting to give Joanna any satisfaction, so I ignored her, and was glad when Emily did the same.

Joanna rolled her eyes, her smirk dropping as she moved closer to me. "Oh, how I'm going to enjoy killing your sorry ass," she laughed, rubbing her hands together.

After a few seconds of glaring into Joanna's stone cold eyes, I noticed Rosalina's small head peeking out from behind the tunnel entrance, and she awkwardly cleared her throat.

Joanna turned and raised her eyebrows at Rosalina, crossing her arms over her chest questionably. "Any news on Logan's plan then?"

Rosalina nodded, stepping into the room. "I've been told a few more things that may give you the upper hand."

"Perfect, Spill it," ordered Joanna, taking a seat on the iron chair in the corner of the room, leaning back and crossing her legs, her body language coming across very relaxed.

Rosalina gazed at me for a second, before cutting off eye contact and turning her attention back to Joanna. "I don't think I should be telling you in front of Eliza, just in case. It's probably better to do it in private."

Joanna huffed, pulling herself to her feet as she grumbled. "Fine."

Just as Joanna was about to make her way through the tunnel to leave the room, Rosalina stepped back, pulling a knife out from her pocket, launching it towards Joanna's back.

Joanna inhaled sharply, turning slowly to glare at Rosalina, her eyebrows raised. Joanna reached around her waist, quickly pulling the knife from her skin, causing blood to trickle down her lower back.

Rosalina's eyes widened, and she stepped backwards, biting her lip in anticipation of Joanna's next move.

I watched in horror as Joanna threw the knife towards Rosalina, causing it to scrape her shoulder before clattering against the wall.

Blood poured from Rosalina as she launched herself towards Joanna, jumping on top of her, sending them both flying across the room, hitting the cold stone wall.

Rosalina latched onto Joanna's belt, tugging at her keys as Joanna twisted Rosalina's free arm backwards, causing her to yell out in pain.

Joanna grabbed Rosalina by the neck, lifting her up and pushing her up against the wall, causing Rosalina's face to turn a bright shade of red.

"You really are an idiot aren't you? Do you really think you can win against me and all of my men on your own?" laughed Joanna, shoving Rosalina into the wall once again.

Rosalina attempted to shake her head, her eyes watering. "No, I don't think I can win on my own, but I can win with the help of Eliza's old pack," she spluttered.

I gasped, my eyes widening at the mention of my old pack, causing my heart to start to race even more.

"They distracted the guards up top whilst I got the rest of your men on the same side of this underground hell hole, then I set it on fire. You're on your own Joanna," coughed Rosalina as Joanna dropped her to the ground, breathing heavily.

Joanna screamed and lunged at Rosalina, but Rosalina ducked, grabbing Joanna's leg and pulling her down onto the floor with her, yet again, fiddling with the keys on her belt.

Joanna pulled on Rosalina's braids, causing her neck to bend in a painful looking position, leaving her having to feel blindly for the hook the keys were attached to.

Finally, Rosalina unhooked the keys, flinging them across the room towards me, causing them to land just in front of my cell wall, meaning I had to stretch out to grab them.

Joanna pulled herself to her feet, running towards the set of keys, but I snatched them off the ground first.

I shakily unlocked my cell door, my numb body becoming very hard to move as I used every ounce of strength I had to push the heavy iron cell door open just enough for my small frame to squeeze out. Joanna lunged for me.

But, Rosalina grabbed the knife, throwing it towards Joanna's leg, causing it to buckle underneath her, crumbling to the floor as she growled out in frustration.

Eventually, Joanna stood up, clearly having had enough, and attempted to morph into her large black wolf, but looked confused when her human figure remained.

Joanna looked down at her thigh to see a small blue syringe sticking out from her black denim shorts. She painfully pulled it out, studying it with a furious expression.

"Wolfsbane," she growled, throwing the syringe down on the floor and yelling out in anger, knowing that shifting would now be merely impossible.

I made my way over to Emily's cell, frantically unlocking it and pulling her out of the cell, causing Joanna to growl loudly at us. We turned, running through the tunnel and down the dirt trail leading towards the trap door exit.

My muscles wailed out at me, begging me to stop running, but the adrenaline soaring through my body allowed me to continue on, only thinking about finally getting out of here and seeing Logan, knowing I was not ready for death yet.

As Emily and I ran, I could feel the heat of the nearby underground fire roaring through the tunnel, turning to see the start of fiery flames down at the other end, knowing they would be quickly making their way over to us in minutes, trapping us at the end.

Joanna followed us, with Rosalina, who had now shifted into her wolf, following closely behind. Joanna grabbed my arm, yanking me backwards, causing me to tumble over, but Rosalina pounced on Joanna, biting harshly into her flesh, causing her to scream out in pain.

My body was sweating and shaking and I could see the fire approaching quickly, the humidity getting higher by the second, smoke wafting through the small tunnel, making it significantly harder to breath.

We turned the corner, reaching the stairs to the trap door, suddenly feeling joy circulate throughout my body at finally seeing the exit, knowing there was hope we would make it out alive.

I pushed Emily upwards, urging her to start climbing, but she was slow, barely able to support her own weight due to the years of malnutrition.

Rosalina pinned Joanna up against the wall, who pulled out the knife from her leg, burying it deeply into Rosalina's back, causing her to whine and pull away, releasing Joanna.

I gazed upwards at Emily as she climbed the stairs, finally high enough so there was room for me to join. I pulled myself up onto the bars, clambering up them as quickly as I could, practically carrying Emily up them as she fell limp in my arms, her body giving up.

I heard Rosalina whine loudly underneath me, and I gazed down to see Joanna kicking Rosalina against the wall, sending her flying through the air and hitting the dirt wall on the other side of the tunnel, the flames now trapping them.

"Come on Rosalina!" I yelled as I continued to make my way up the iron stairs, eventually reaching the top and being quickly yanked out by someone, the bright sunshine blinding my temporarily as I squinted, hitting the grass beside the trap door and just lying there, breathing heavily.

Once my vision had cleared, I vigorously rubbed my eyes to see someone standing in front of me, just over the trap door, looking down.

Theo.

"Rosalina, hurry up!" he boomed, furrowing his brows.

"Theo!" I yelled, covering my mouth in shock as I continued to shake, tears dribbling down my cheeks at the joy of seeing my best friend alive.

"Hi Bennett," Theo smiled at me, but soon turned his attention towards Rosalina, urging her to shift start climbing up the stairs.

"What is that?" I asked, pointing at the large barrel Theo was balancing on the edge of the trap door.

"Liquid wolfsbane. Rosalina needs to get out now so I can pour this down. It's the only way to kill Joanna," said Theo worriedly, shaking his head.

I peeked over the edge of the trap door to see Rosalina fighting off Joanna, pushing her backwards, narrowly avoiding the roaring flames that were now meters away from them, smoke wafting upwards, making it hard for us to see.

Suddenly, Rosalina shifted back to human form, yanking Joanna down from the first bar of the stairs, pulling her down to the floor. "Do it Theo!"

Theo shook his head, furrowing his brows. "There's no way I'm doing it whilst you're still down there Rosalina!"

"Theo, do it now!" yelled Rosalina as she attempted to pull herself up the stairs, but was dragged down my Joanna, who clambered over her, making her way up the iron steps with speed. "Theo, now!"

Theo held onto the barrel tighter, refusing to pour it unless Rosalina was out, causing Rosalina to growl out in frustration, scanning the dirt tunnel around her for anything that could help her.

Then, Rosalina stepped towards the roaring flames, grabbing a red hot stone that was engulfed in the flames, and spinning around quickly, her face contoured with pain from the burning hot rock. Rosalina launched the rock upwards, aiming for the

barrel Theo was balancing on the edge of the trap door.

I gasped as the red hot rock flew through the air, hitting the thin wood of the barrel, causing it to split open from the heat and pressure, the gallons of liquid wolfsbane pouring out, raining down, covering Joanna, Rosalina and the flames until nothing was visible.

"No!" I yelled, grabbing onto the trap door, attempting to lower myself down into it, but Theo wrapped his arms around my waist, yanking me away.

"Do not go down there Eliza! You'll die!"

"Theo, we need to save Rosalina!" I screamed, wriggling around in Theo's arms as tears dribbled down his cheeks.

"Eliza, listen to me, there's no way she would have survived that. She gave herself up," whispered Theo, gazing into my eyes, his brows furrowed.

Tears poured from my eyes as I shook my head, refusing to believe that Rosalina gave up her life for mine. "No, she's still down there. Theo, I need to get her."

"I'll get her," announced Theo, shaking his head.

"You'll burn," I said worriedly.

"Not if I'm fast," he replied, descending the stairs as fast as he could, hissing in pain as the liquid wolfsbane remaining burnt his skin, causing tiny blisters to emerge.

I waited, hugging my knees to my chest as I cracked my knuckles and chewed my nails in anticipation, hearing Theo's hisses of pain as he started to climb the stairs again, gently placing the lifeless body of Rosalina on the soft green grass.

I studied Rosalina's burnt body, her face almost unrecognisable due to the third degree burns. Tears dribbled down my cheeks as I softly caressed the cheek of the young girl in front of me.

"You were only fifteen," I sobbed, my heart feeling as if it was about to beat out of my chest. "What am I supposed to tell your Mom?"

"It should have been me," I cried, resting my forehead on her chest.

Theo watched me painfully, tears dribbling down his cheeks as he dropped his gaze, running his hands through his light brown hair in angst.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, sniffling as I tried to control my breathing.

I longed for a heartbeat to suddenly start, but I knew she was gone. I pulled back, gazing at the small body in front of me; the body which once belonged to a vibrant and brave young girl, who had her whole life ahead of her.

But, Rosalina Flores was gone.

......................................................

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