Archer's POV

The inside of the cabin was just how I imagined it would look, judging from the state of it on the outside.

Scarce furniture littered the place, an old couch, and a chair that looked like they were older than my grandma Mabel, were all torn apart, broken, and probably home to a raccoon or two.

The wooden floors, just like the wood outside, looked rotten in certain places, and I could see dead roaches and animal droppings covering the floor to give it a little extra flavor.

This place definitely wasn't going to make it on HGTV anytime soon.

Cobwebs and dust thicker than syrup were the dominant features in here. They covered everything.

The kitchen that was right off to my left looked like it was home to a thousand different diseases, both known and unknown, and hadn't been cleaned even when whoever used to live here occupied it.

That very kitchen was the source of something that had to be dead judging by the smell.

As soon as that thought entered my mind, another one followed right after, that made my blood run ice cold in my veins.

Slowly I made my way into the kitchen to see exactly what the source of the smell was, praying harder than I ever had that it really was just a dead animal.

Stepping into the kitchen, the smell got stronger until I had to use my jacket's sleeve to cover my nose to keep from gagging.

It smelled awful.

Something was definitely dead.

Stepping around an upturned, small, wooden dining table that was missing one of its legs, I walked towards the old white fridge that sat in the corner.

The smell got stronger the closer I got to the fridge until I had to do awkward mouth breathing to keep from puking right there on the floor.

Staring at the fridge in front of me like it was a ticking time bomb, I slowly reached one hand out and pulled the door open.

As soon as the door was open, the smell was everywhere, and the contents of my stomach were on the floor.

A fucking possum.

There was a dead possum in the fridge.

How the hell did that even get in there?

After emptying my stomach on the floor, I quickly closed the fridge and exited the kitchen, trying to get away from the stench.

Back in the small living area, I saw that there wasn't much else to the small cabin. There was a hall right off the living room that led to what was left of the cabin.

Looking down the hall, there were four doors. Two on the right and two on the left, and there was a small window at the end of the hall that looked out into the dense forest that surrounded the cabin.

Slowly I made my down the hall and opened the first door on my right.

It was a bedroom.

Or it used to be.

The bed and all other furnishings were long gone. The only thing left was the old metal frame for the bed.

I was pretty sure Gemma wasn't in here, but just for good measure, I checked the small closet towards the back of the room and found nothing but more dust and dead bugs.

Exiting the room and coming back out into the hall I could see that the room across from this one on the left was a bathroom as the door was cracked open slightly and I could see the end of a toilet that just like the rest of the stuff in this damn cabin, had seen better days.

Passing by it I came to the second and last door on the right and found a pad lock on the door.

My heart that had already been beating in my ears picked up its beating.

I placed my ear to the door trying to see if I could hear anything.

There was nothing.

I knocked a few times with my ear still placed on the door.

"Gemma?" I called out as loud as I dared.

Although the cabin was small, and I was pretty sure that jackass wasn't here I didn't want to take my chances. I hadn't exactly been quiet when I entered the cabin and if he had been here, I'm sure he would have made an appearance by now. There was still one more door to check and although the chances were slim, for all I knew he could be behind that one.

But Gemma, I knew she had to be behind this one.

"Gemma?" I called out to her again, a little louder this time.

Still no response.

I cursed before looking down at the pad lock on the door.

I had to get in there.

Turning away, I quickly ran back outside and did a quick look around my surroundings.

Finding what I was looking for I hurried over and picked up the decent sized rock that had caught my eye and hurried back inside.

Back in front of the door I took a deep breath before slamming the rock down onto the lock three times before it broke and gave way.

Dropping the rock, I made quick work of the lock and flung the door open.

Inside the room was pitch black and I couldn't see much.

"Gemma?" I called once again.

Like before there was no answer.

Taking a few steps into the room I started to feel along the wall. I ran my hand up and down until it caught on the light switch.

A single bulb in the center of the ceiling illuminated the room and my heart dropped at the sight in front of me.

There was Gemma, her right foot chained to the bottom post of an old bed, beaten almost beyond recognition. Even from the door I could see the blood and bruises that littered her face and body. Her shirt was missing, leaving her in nothing but her bra and the shorts and flips flops I saw her in before she was taken.

I started to feel sick to my stomach again.

What had he done to her?

Taking the few steps across the room until I was on the side of the bed and in front of her, looking down at her it was so much worse.

He had nearly beat her to death from the looks of it.

I could barely recognize her face.

I felt the telltale stinging behind my eyes and the feeling in my throat like I had swallowed a wad of cotton as I looked down at her.

She had gone through who knows what kind of hell at the hands of that bastard, and she did it all alone.

Alone and terrified.

I knew the type of person he was, knew the type of damage he could do.

The worst part? I wasn't there to do a damn thing about it.

I tried to clear my head of these thoughts that threatened to bring me to my knees.

I had a job to do now.

I may not have been able to stop this from happening to her but I sure as hell was going to get her out of here.

I knelt down and slowly reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder which was ice cold.

I gently shook her.

"Gemma?" I called out to her softly, my voice sounded strained even to my own ears.

No response.

I shook her gently again.

She didn't even budge.

A new type of fear washed over me and froze me to the spot as I looked at her closely.

Was...was she breathing?

Panic and ice-cold fear started to take over as I shook her a little harder this time.

"Gemma. Gemma please."

She wasn't dead. She couldn't be. She just...couldn't be.

When there was still no response, I placed both hands on her shoulders and shook her again.

"Gemma?!"

I don't think I've ever been so happy to hear that small groan of pain that came from her lips just then in my life.

I exhaled heavily and reached up to cup her cheek as she slowly turned her head towards me.

"Gemma can you hear me?"

I watched as she slowly opened her eyes as best she could with the swollen black eyes she was sporting and almost cried when those blue eyes made contact with my own.

My relief was short lived though as I watched complete fear overtake her features.

Gemma instantly tried to move out of my reach and towards the other side of the bed.

"No, please!" she screamed, her voice hoarse like she had been doing nothing but screaming since she was brought here.

I tried to reach out to her.

"Gem-

"Please leave me alone! Don't touch me!"

I watched with my heart feeling like it was shattering as she cowered away from me.

"I'll listen. I- I'll do what you want. Please just... just don't hurt me anymore." the last part was just a broken whisper from her lips as I watched tears fall from her eyes.

Tears that matched my own as I got a glimpse of the extent of the hell she had been put through.

I swallowed hard and reached out to her again, cupping her cheek. I tried to ignore the flinch she gave as she turned away.

"Baby." I began softly.

"I- it's me. Archer."

Slowly, as if it was taking time for the pieces to be put together in her head, she turned back to look at me confusion clear on her face.

"A-Archer?" She questioned quietly.

I nodded.

"It's me."

Recognition and then relief crossed her battered features before she started crying even harder before leaning forward and locking her arms around my neck and burying her head in my shoulder.

I felt the sobs wrack her body.

I wrapped my arms around her, careful not to squeeze her too hard and gently stroked her hair.

"It's okay baby. I'm here." But it wasn't okay. Not really. Whatever he had done to her, the damage was already done. She was going to have a hard time coming back from this, but I was going to make sure that I was there every step of the way.

Gemma pulled back and I felt a pain in my chest as I looked over her face.

The black eyes, the blood, the bruises, the busted lip.

"H-how did you get here? How did you find me?" She asked looking at me like she expected this to all be a dream and that I'd disappear at any second.

I gently ran my thumb over the bruise covering her left cheek before looking her in the eyes.

"I'd go through hell and high water to get to you. Nothing was going to stop me from finding you. Nothing." and I meant it. There was no way I was going to stop until I found her and had her in my arms again.

I watched in despair as more tears fell from her eyes and then my heart broke even more as she attempted to smile at me but couldn't fully because of the pain in her face.

"Thank you." she whispered.

I pulled her back into me and hugged her as tightly as I dared.

I allowed myself a few more seconds to simply relish in the fact that I had found her and that she was alive before I pulled back.

We couldn't waste any more time here. Who knew how long we had until he came back?

"I'm going to get you out of here okay?"

She nodded weakly.

There was only one problem.

I stood up and looked down at her chained foot.

How was I going to get her out of that?

I looked back into the hall at the rock I had used earlier but quickly dismissed the idea.

There was no way I could do that without shattering her ankle.

I needed something sharp.

I turned back to Gemma.

"I'll be right back okay?"

The instant fear that overtook her features nearly broke me.

"Where are you going?" She asked her eyes wide as she started frantically looking around the room.

I quickly knelt back down in front of her and brought her face close to mine.

"I'm not going to leave you. I just need to find something to get that off you." I said gesturing to her shackled ankle.

I leaned in pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I'll be back. Okay?"

I saw her bottom lip tremble before she nodded.

I got to my feet again and made my way over to the door.

Before leaving the room, I looked back at Gemma again, sitting in the middle of the bed looking like a scared child.

"I'll be back. I promise."

She nodded again. "Okay." she responded quietly.

I took a deep breath before exiting the room.

I needed to find something to get her out of those chains, but I didn't exactly have a large selection to choose from in this tiny cabin.

I glanced to my right where the one door I still hadn't checked still sat untouched.

Making my way over I pulled the door open and stopped short.

The door led down into a basement.

I wasn't exactly a fan of going down into dark creepy basements in tiny cabins in the middle of the woods.

I glanced back at the open door of the room that Gemma was waiting in.

I was going to do it anyway.

There was a light switch on the wall to my left as I descended the steps that I flipped on and bathed the steps in creepy yellow glow.

Once I made it to the bottom there was another light switch to my right that I switched on and my blood ran cold for what was probably the third or fourth time in a span of thirty minutes as I looked at what was in front of me.

There was a single metal table, like the ones that medical examiners use on dead bodies, that sat in the middle of the floor directly over a drain.

Attached to each leg of the table were four sets of chains with a shackle at each end.

On the wall behind the table there was an assortment of wicked looking tools.

Various knives, needles, pilers, a saw. Everything you needed to effectively torture someone was here.

I felt bile rise in my throat.

Looking at how clean everything was he hadn't had the chance to use any of it yet, but the fact that he planned to, on Gemma, is what made me want to puke.

We had to get the hell out of here, and fast.

I quickly ran over and snatched the saw from the wall before running back up the steps, taking two at a time.

I ran back into the room and instantly felt bad as Gemma nearly jumped out of her skin as I came rushing back into the room.

She looked at the saw in my hand with confusion.

"Where'd you find that?"

I shook my head as I instantly started making work of the chain.

"It was just laying around." I said, unwilling to let Gemma know exactly what that monster had planned for her.

It took a few minutes of harsh sawing, but I was eventually able to saw through the chain.

The saw was new apparently.

As soon as the chain snapped, I dropped the saw and wiped the sweat covering my forehead.

I turned to Gemma and gave her a small smile.

"Let's get you out of here."

Walking to her end of the bed I quickly discarded my jacket and draped it over her shoulders to cover her.

I leaned forward to gently scoop her up in my arms, knowing there was probably no way she could walk right now, and looked down into her eyes to find her already looking back up at me.

"Archer?" she said, her voice small as I lifted her from the bed and into my arms.

"Hm?" I asked as I adjusted her in my arms.

"I love you."

I froze at those three words, looking into her eyes and knowing she meant them whole heartedly.

I pulled her even closer to my chest.

"I love you too baby."

She gave a small smile before leaning her head against my shoulder.

I exited the room with Gemma in my arms fully prepared to walk her through the woods and back to safety at the hotel but froze in my tracks as soon as I made it out into the hall.

There standing in the doorway and blocking our one and only exit stood Sheep Mask.

He said nothing at first, just stood there silently staring at us through the eye holes in his mask.

We stood there silently staring at each other until he shook his head and raised the knife I had failed to see at first.

"It looks like you're trying to take what's mine."