My eyes slowly fluttered open, then squeezed shut again from the light.

Slowly, my senses came back to me. First was the sensation of something tying my wrists together. They were tight and scratchy. The same went for my ankles. Then I noticed my arms were behind my back. I was sitting on a hard chair. My throat felt raspy and my head was pounding.

Opening my eyes again, slowly this time, I looked down at my body. Yup. I was in deep shit.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I hissed without thinking. My voice echoed. I snapped my eyes up and looked around. I was in a warehouse, seemingly abandoned, except the corners were dark. There seemed to be some extra doors around, most likely holding extra rooms. I couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

I kept my breathing even. I wasn't stupid, I knew I was kidnapped. But, by who? Why? I thought all the gang shit was over by now. Surely it couldn't...

I was getting ahead of myself. This could've been anybody. My parents were rich. Maybe I was only being held for ransom. Maybe one of my dad's enemies. He surely had some as a lawyer.

How long had I been out for?

"Well, well, well. If it isn't our princess waking up from her beauty sleep."

My head snapped up toward the source. A bald-headed man was walking up to me in casual strides, his hands behind his back. He looked like he could break out whistling at any second. He was tall, wearing all black, and pretty old. Maybe around fourty. With the gold chain around his neck, he almost looked like a pimp.

He was pretty ugly.

"Arabella, is it?" he asked, kneeling in front of me. If my legs weren't tied, I would've kicked him straight in the face. Just looking at him made me feel grimy.

I stubbornly turned my head to the side.

He whistled lowly. His calloused fingers grabbed my chin and forced me to face him.

"Feisty," he mused. "My, my. I'm being so rude right now. I'm Don, pleased to meet you."

Don? The name struck a familiar chord but I couldn't put my finger on it. Did my dad have a client named Don? Or maybe an opposing client?

He must've seen the conflict in my face because his smile widened to reveal a wide set of missing and yellow teeth. "Come on, Bella. You know who I am, surely!"

My lips stayed sealed. I didn't like not having the upper hand right now.

He sighed and rested his palms against the arms of my chair. "Ouch. I'm offended, really. But if you must know," he paused, his hand trailing up my arm. I shuddered, even though I was wearing a jacket. His hand stopped right at the top of my arm. His finger tapped a spot three times before his grin widened. "I'm the one who gave you this badass scar. You're welcome."

My eyes widened in realization. Fuck fuck fuck! Don! He was the stupid gang leader who caused all this shit in the first place.

"Ah, I see you remember me now." He squeezed my arm before dropping his hand and standing up. "Good. This makes things much easier. Now, you might be wondering, how did I know I shot you? After all, it was an accident."

I wasn't thinking that until now, but with the tone of his voice, something told me this was anything but an accident. My stomach churned at the thought.

He began pacing in front of me, very much so like an evil villain. "You see, my men never miss. Surely you couldn't have thought that shot was an accident." When my lips thinned out, he laughed, making it echo throughout the empty warehouse. "You were out in the open! You were completely exposed! Obviously, you were eavesdropping," he paused and looked at me with a gleam in his eyes. "Naughty naughty. So, I shot you."

My jaw dropped. That was his reasoning? This dude was a psycho.

Upon seeing my shocked face, he scoffed and resumed his pacing. "Oh, come on. You should've seen this coming. Who's stupid enough to intrude on a gang meeting in the middle of a park at night?"

I clenched my jaw. "I didn't know there was going to be a fucking shootout."

His brows raised as he turned to me. Amusement sparkled in his cold, dead eyes. "My, my! She speaks!"

I didn't deign him with an answer.

"Anyway, we weren't aiming to kill any of them. We just needed to scare them a little. You, though," he had a wicked gleam in his eyes. "We wanted to send you a message. After all, snooping is not very polite."

"Fuck you!"

In quick strides, he walked over and kneeled in front of me. Before I knew it, he had a fistful of my hair and was pulling on it. A scream of pain erupted from my lips.

"You do not talk to me like that," he growled before letting go. I whimpered in pain. "Anyways, as I was saying, you somehow knew about the gang meeting, which meant you knew someone from there. I thought a shot was enough to scare you away."

"Well it wasn't," I boldly pointed out. Stupid, stupid girl!

"I know," he said with an annoyed glance before pacing once again. "Who cares? You were just a girl anyway. But then," he let out a laugh, "you continued to stay involved. Boys, bring him out!"

One of the doors opened and out walked three men. Two were roughly holding another by the arms, pushing him in the direction of us. I couldn't see faces at first due to the lighting but my jaw dropped when he came into view.

Ben.

Quickly, I tried to make my face impassive. There was no need to show my relationship with Ben. Something had told me this would help us both out.

They roughly threw Ben at Don's feet, making me wince. He landed face-first on the concrete but didn't make a single noise.

"Silly, silly Bella. You couldn't mind your business, could you? Look where that got us." Don nudged Ben with the toe of his shoe. "Not only did you ruin my attempt at ruining Dean, but you also brainwashed one of my men. Tell me, how did you manage to do it? Is it because you're pretty?" He cocked his head with a menacing smile. "Or did you just fuck them?"

The boys in the back howled with laughter. Ben flinched as he sat up. I didn't meet his eye.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I innocently responded, even though his words made my blood boil.

"Oh, you're hilarious," Don said flatly. "How stupid do you think we are?"

My heart was beating against my ribcage. He knew. He knew everything. What else could I say?

"But Dean was shot. This is all over!" My voice barely masked the franticness I was feeling.

"Uh, uh, uh," Don tsked. "The job was to kill Dean. Newsflash, he's still alive." He turned to Ben with an unamused look. "All because of this fucker."

"What... what are you talking about?" I dared to ask, finally meeting Ben's eye. He gave me a helpless look, silently pleading. For what? I had no idea.

Don slapped the back of Ben's back in a fatherly way, but he did it so hard that Ben flinched. "You see, Benny boy is my best shooter."

My eyes landed on Ben again. My stomach lurched. I didn't like where this was going at all.

"And as I've said earlier, my shooters never miss," Don continued. "I gave Ben a chance to redeem himself and what did he do? Miss! You can't tell me that's a coincidence."

All my resolve crumbled as I stared at Ben in disbelief. "You... you shot him?"

"Bella, please–" Ben begged, his voice cracking.

Don grimaced. "I should've known better than to send a touch-starved boy on a mission. He'd only screw it up."

I wanted to say something, anything at all, but my mind was reeling. Ben did shoot Dean. I knew this was a possibility but I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to consider it, let alone even believe it.

Ben scrambled over to me and clasped his hands in my lap. "Bella, you have to believe me. I–I didn't have a choice! I tried to miss–"

"I knew it," Don growled from behind us. My eyes snapped away from Ben's gray pleading ones to Don's dark ones. "Boys, take him away. We don't need him anymore."

The two men who had escorted Ben out earlier stepped forward and took him by the arms. Ben seemed unfazed, as if he knew this was coming. The thought of that made my stomach drop even lower.

"Wait!" I yelled frantically. No one spared me a second glance. They weren't going to let him go. "Ben, it's okay. I understand," I yelled. The least I could do was offer closure, right?

I gulped. Closure. Was I really just accepting he was going to die like that?

His eyes flashed up to me, relief shining through. He gave me a smile, one that looked grateful. It was all I could see as he disappeared from sight.

"What are you going to do to him?" My voice sounded harsh, even though tears were streaming down my face in rivers. I hated myself for crying. Now?! I didn't cry weeks after I broke up with Dean and now the tears wanted to show up?

Don had the audacity to nonchalantly shrug. "Oh, you know. I'll probably just kill him. Torture him, maybe."

"Leave him alone," I barked.

Something flashed in Don's eyes. He kneeled in front of me and grabbed my hair, but didn't pull this time. "You really like him, don't you?" He cocked his head. "I'd say love, but we both know you chose Dean over him."

I gritted my teeth. How did I always manage to get into these fucked up situations?

"Fine," he sighed, loosening his grip. "I'll let him go on one condition."

"What is it?" I blurted before I could stop myself.

He smirked disgustingly so. "Eager, are we? Let's have a little exchange. I'll let Benny go if you call Dean here."

"No."

"No? Then Ben doesn't get saved."

I wiggled in my chair, trying to see if my wrists could maneuver out of the ropes. No such luck. They remained tight and bound. The coarseness of the rope was burning through my skin to the point where I had to give up before the skin went raw.

I helplessly looked up at Don, who pretended to be interested in his own hands. Stupid bastard! I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Take me instead."

There was silence. Then I felt Don's cold fingers lift my chin up and force me to look at him. As I opened my eyes, I saw his suspicious eyes peering at me.

"What do you have that I could possibly want? You're just a little girl."

"You said it yourself, Dean and I are a team. If you..." I faltered. "If you kill me, it would absolutely crush Dean."

He hummed as he thought out my proposition. "You have a good point. Doing this may cause more emotional trauma..."

"But," I quickly added, "you can't lay a finger on Dean or Ben."

He tensed. "That's asking for too much."

"But it's the same for Ben! He likes me. He already feels guilty enough to go against you! Imagine how he'd be if you got rid of me! He'd be absolutely crushed."

Was I digging a grave – literally – for myself? Yes. Was I acting totally stupid and irrational? Definitely. Was it worth it?

No idea.

"Come on, Don. We both know those boys are wrapped around my finger." I attempted to sound confident and haughty but it came out more as pleading and frustrated. "They'll be crushed. And they'll blame it on themselves, which is even more emotional baggage."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"How two gang members can fall for someone as stupid as you."

"Hey!" I gasped, offended. Then I reminded myself that this wasn't the time. "What do you think about my offer?"

He swished his cheeks around before sighing. "I'm going to make a quick phone call. Stay here... oh wait! You don't have a choice."

"Funny," I sarcastically yelled at his retreating figure. Unfortunately for me, my hands were bound so I couldn't flip him off.

I wanted until he was in the shadows before attempting to escape again. The ropes felt like they were getting tighter every time I moved. Although I could get off of the chair, my ankles were still tied together. It was nicer than throwing me on the floor, I guess.

No. No! I cannot feel happy with the bare minimum. So what that they gave me a chair? It could've been a bed!

Okay, what did they drug me with? What's wrong with my brain right now?

I was awkwardly bouncing in my seat as I tried to get the rope to shift when Don came back, holding his cell to his ear. My movements ceased as I skeptically watched him.

"Your business partner find it a good deal?" I asked when he was within earshot.

He laughed while simultaneously glaring at me. "Did you hear that? That's her," he spoke into the phone.

"Hey!" I yelled so the person on the phone could hear me. "I don't know what made you want to do business with this bastard, but I'm telling you there are better choices out there."

Don rolled his eyes but he took a menacing step closer to me. He paused, looking in the direction of his phone. "Listen, that's what your precious girlfriend is telling me. How do you expect me to not kill her when she has a mouth like that?" There was a pause. "No, I will not... No! Hey, fuck you."

I tensed. Girlfriend?! Was he talking to Dean?

My questions were answered as he walked up to me and put the phone on speaker.

"Speak. She's right here," Don barked.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a dog."

"I was talking to him," Don said through gritted teeth. I could sense his hand twitching to pull my hair again. I swear I'd be bald by the end of this.

"Arabella?" Dean's voice rang through the phone. Relief flooded through me, even though I tried to not let it show.

"Hi, Dean," I awkwardly said instead.

"Fucking hell! What the fuck are you doing? Why am I being told that your life is being traded with mine? Why the fuck are you with Don?!"

"Do I sound like I'm being held here willingly?" I hissed into the phone before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry. Just..." My eyes flitted up to an amused Don. "Just stay where you are, okay?"

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Do I need to–"

"Dean, I'm fine," I lied. "I'm totally fine. Don't worry about me, okay? I love you."

"Arabella, I'm coming to get you. Don't–"

"I love you," I repeated, just in case he didn't hear me the first time. If I actually did die tonight, I needed him to know that.

"No, you're not–"

"Dean!" Don barked into the phone. "That's enough of your precious talk. I see the lady has made her choice. A shame that I'll have to see her body instead of yours, but maybe I could have some fun with it beforehand."

Bile rose up my throat. The deal was the kill me, not...

"Don't you fucking lay a finger on her," Dean growled.

Don rolled his eyes before hanging up. Without hesitation, he dropped his phone to the floor and crushed it under his shoe. He then locked his gaze on me, giving me that same gross smile he always seemed to have ready.

"The deal was to kill me," I said through gritted teeth. "Nothing else."

He shrugged. "We'll see where the night takes us. Speaking of, we have plenty of time. I think I'll up Ben's torture by keeping him with you for a while. But... don't tell him about our deal. I don't want him to get closure."

I felt sick to my stomach. Don was a vile man.

He disappeared into the room where they were keeping Ben. I attempted to wiggle around again but I was hurting myself more in the end. Giving up, I slumped back in the chair and exhaled. A piece of my hair was stuck to my face. I blew it away but it landed in the same spot. "For fuck's sake."

How did I always manage to get myself in these situations? What's more frustrating was that Don was the cause of everything. He always knew about my involvement with Dean. He wasn't going to give up if Ben failed. It was always the plan. He just found better means of it.

God, I was an idiot.

The door swung open and Ben was pushed out before it was snapped shut. He stumbled before catching his footing. When his head whipped toward me, his shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank god."

He made his way over, limping as he walked. My attention was pulled toward his leg. His thigh had a big, red gash.

"Ben," I gasped.

He collapsed right in front of me, lying on his back, "I'm okay."

"You're bleeding!"

"It's just a cut." He struggled to get the words out. His gray eyes were squeezed shut. "Bella, I'm sorry for everything. I had to... they had Maria, my housekeeper. I couldn't let her die. I tried to miss. I thought it would make everything okay, that they'd be okay with him being injured."

"It's okay," I whispered, swallowing my emotions. "I'm just glad I got to see you one last time."

I didn't realize how morbid my words sounded.

He smiled, never opening his eyes. "Me too. I just wish it was in better circumstances." He finally peered up at me. "Is your boyfriend coming? I'm pretty sure Don's going to kill him."

I turned my cheek. "He's... not." No way was I telling Ben about the deal. Not because of Don, but because he would've stopped me if I did.

"Oh."

"Hey, Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"If we're the last two people here, do you want to perform coitus one last time?"

As expected, he was blushing even though this was not the time to get embarrassed.

I breathed out a laugh. "I was kidding. I wanted to see you blush one last time."

He smiled.

"Now come and untie me so we can escape," I said, only half-kidding. If there was a chance, we had to try. There was a high possibility this place was surrounded by gang members, ready to kill, but I was going to die either way. At least I could try to escape.

"I... can't."

I looked at him, bewildered. "After everything this dude did to you, you're still helping him?"

He shook his head, but it was meek. "No. It's just..." He held up his hands. I gasped. Every single finger of his was bent at an awkward angle, some more swollen than others. They broke his fingers. "I'm sorry. I would, trust me, but I can't..."

"Ben," I whispered, tears welling in my eyes. Again with the crying?! God damn it. "I'm so sorry. This was all my fault."

It'll all be over soon, I wanted to add, but didn't. He thought he was going to die and saying that just sounded awful.

He shook his head, getting woozier by the minute. "It's not. It's Don's."

Somehow I found myself smiling. Everyone else would blame it on themselves, but not Ben. He straight up went to the source, and he was right.

"Yup. I don't get how you worked for him."

He hummed in response. When I looked down, I saw him passing out.

"Hey, Ben! Wake up," I whispered.

"I'm awake," he mumbled. "I'm just so tired."

"I know," I whispered, wishing I could hug him. "Hey, you know I love you, right?"

"You do?"

"Of course," I smiled. "I'll always remember you. Your coat's still sitting in my closet. When you get out of here, please grab it."

Salty tears landed on my lips. This was all quite dramatic, if I'm being honest.

Was I really going to die?

Look at me, still being in denial in my last moments. Classic Bella!

"I love you too, Bella. I'm sorry."

"Me too," I replied. "Now, take a nap. I'll wake you up later, okay?"

He didn't respond. He was out. Maybe it was easier this way. He wouldn't witness anything he didn't need to. As for closure, I think that was good enough. We've said goodbye so many times, it was natural to assume we'd never see each other anymore.

I looked at his sleeping figure. He must've been in so much pain. That cut was brutal and his fingers looked terrible.

A shudder ran through me. This was too much.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed when Don came sauntering back in. He hardly glanced at Ben, which pissed me off. It was his member. Did he really not care about him?

"So, do you have a preferred method? I was going to do gun again, but I felt like that was so unoriginal. Maybe knife? Hmm... do you have any kinks? Just because you're going to die doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it."

I seriously racked my brain for ideas. I needed to stall him for as long as possible. Why?

I didn't know. Shouldn't I have wanted to just get it over with?

"What's the most interesting death you caused?" I asked Don, in all seriousness. Yes, I was really doing this. I was going to die regardless, maybe it could be in a cool way.

His eyes lit up as he leaned on a nearby pole and crossed his arms. "Nothing too crazy. Believe it or not, I'm not a fan of gore."

"You don't say?" I faked astonishment.

"I know, right?" He threw up his hands. "It's just so..." He shuddered. "Whatever. I'd say the most excruciating death would be breaking every bone in your body but that takes a long time."

"Don," I frowned. "Come on, man. The least you could do is make it the least painful. You got any bleach around?"

"Do I have any-?! Of course we have bleach! How do you think we clean the blood up? But that would just make you puke your guts out and my men already have to clean Ben's blood."

Was this guy serious? He cared more about cleanup than hurting Ben?

"Okay, bleach is off the table then. What else you got?"

He thoughtfully tapped his chin. "Let's see. Ooh! We could hang you!"

I made a face. "How quickly will I die? I don't want to hang here like a pinata."

"Oh, well it depends. Some lose consciousness within seconds but it can take minutes for your body to actually shut down," he told me.

I puffed out my cheeks as I thought it through. "You know what? Surprise me."

"Ugh, okay. Give me a few hours to decide then," he grumbled. I thought he'd be happy by being allowed to choose. Guess not. He turned in his heel and disappeared through the mysterious door again.

For a second, I laughed. Like, full-on hysterically laughed. What the hell was I doing? Was I really negotiating my execution options with a freaking gang leader like we were deciding on lunch? Why the hell was I so calm about this? Ben was unconscious five feet away from me. This was obviously real.

Don popped his head back out and yelled, "Everything okay out there?"

"Just thinking about how fucked up this is," I answered truthfully. He shrugged and disappeared again. Nice.

Don was a weirdo, that's for sure. He didn't seem the most mentally stable. I was lucky he hadn't killed me yet with my smart mouth. Was I trying to pick a fight?

A very small part of me wished he just got it over with. Ben was unnerving me. I kept glancing down to make sure his chest was rising and falling but it seemed to be getting weaker with each breath. I wish I could help him.

"Hey, Don?" I called out. When I didn't get a response, I tried again. I knew he could hear me. "Don! Don! Dooooon! Donny! Don!"

"What?" he snapped, poking his head out with an annoyed expression.

I innocently smiled at him. What was he going to do, kill me?

"Shouldn't we get Ben some medical attention?"

He blinked in disbelief before looking at the limp body at my feet. "Eh..."

"Don," I tsked. "You're not setting a good example for your other members. If they see how you're treating Ben, imagine how you'd treat them?"

He growled, storming over to me. I winced, knowing damn well I hit a nerve. He squatted in front of me and before I knew it, my cheek stung with a slap.

My hand went up to touch the spot before I remembered I was tied up.

"Listen to me," he roared. "Ben is an example to all my men. If you're unloyal, you deserve no mercy. He's lucky I haven't killed him yet."

If I were free, I'd throw up my hands in surrender. Lucky for both of us, I couldn't. Something told me it wouldn't fare well with him if I did. He seemed to be in his pissier mood.

"That's not very nice," I pouted. Was I referring to Ben or myself? Who knew?

He growled again.

"Look, Don, I mean no offense. It's not like you shot me and tried to kill my boyfriend and broke my friend's fingers." When he gave me a scary look, I grinned at him. "But you don't have to be so rude about it. I'm letting you pick how I die. Doesn't that count for something? My life is literally in your hands."

He stood up and grumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" I asked.

He gave me a look. "I said I'm sorry for slapping you," he repeated through gritted teeth. I heard him the first time, I just hadn't believed it.

I couldn't help but be amused. Wasn't this whole situation amusing?

"Thank you," I responded politely.

He blinked at me before shaking his head and trudging back to his office or whatever the secret room was.

I sighed as I looked at Ben. I really thought Don was going to cave.

His breathing was getting more ragged. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend he wasn't losing blood right in front of me. He wouldn't die. The deal was that I'd die, not him.

That was the deal.

Without any distractions, I felt my eyes getting heavy. I sent Ben an air kiss, hoping somehow it would give him magical powers to survive.

And then the world went dark.

~

Keep an eye out for the next chapter! It'll be up soon.