Joseph

At first I felt panic rise up within my chest. I hadn't planned for this. It wasn't supposed to happen. However that anxiety was rapidly replaced by anger as I saw Cameron appear at Romanos side. The dirty bastard tricked me. His family.

"You son of a bit-" I started forward but stopped as I felt Jessica cling tightly to my shirt in my arms. I glanced down at her. Her fearful eyes were trained on the men in front of us as well. I could see the hurt and betrayal in her eyes shining just as brightly as it was in mine, despite my best efforts to conceal it. "I swear when I get my hands on you, you will regret this Cameron. I promise you that."

The little wince he made when he heard my words was enough to satisfy me for now.

"Well gentlemen. As much as I would love to let you stay in some of our guest rooms, I can't have you running around in the halls causing a ruckus, so you'll have to stay in the cells we had installed down in the basement." Romano said with a cheerful expression that did not match his tone of voice. He motioned his men forward with a slight nod of his head. We were each grabbed by the arms by two or 3 men depending on our size. I kept my arms securely around Jessica's broken body and shielded her from the people around us pushing and pulling.

I walked from the room calmly, dubbing it not worth it to fight when there were so many of them and so few of us.

"Wait!" I heard a voice call from behind. Everyone went silent at the yell. "Romano we had a deal. You agreed that I could have her if I brought Joseph to you. I've kept up my end of the deal." The voice I now recognized as my dear cousins protested.

"Ah yes, quite right, quite right. Leave the girl here. You can leave the compound together tomorrow morning."

Jessica was ripped roughly from my arms. "No!" I yelled as my now empty arms were restrained against my sides to prevent any dissension. I glanced desperately back toward the woman I had made this crazy plan for. I could see the physical pain standing on her own was causing her, but I also know she would never accept or ask for help from any of them. Before I was shoved down the stairs I locked eyes with Cameron. "If you hurt her I'll kill you." I spoke I a normal voice, but I knew he heard me by the pale sheet that wipe his face. He nodded once confirming that he got the message, then he was out of sight.

********

Jessica

It was quiet now. Everybody had left. It was jut Cameron and me. I stared him in the eye daring him to speak to me. Betrayal burned deep in my chest. He'd lied right to my face, and turned us in. He knew all along. Heck for all I know he could have set the whole plan in motion a week ago.

"Jess, I know your mad but if-..." he tried desperately to calm me.

"Don't!" I snarled. "Don't you dare speak to me, don't even look at me. You lied to Joseph, you lied to me. I trusted you and you betrayed me." I was fuming, but at the same time salty tears were filling my eyes.

"I didn't mean to hurt you I just wanted us to be together!" I his frustration was beginning to show.

"He's your family." I spoke lowly. "All you two had was each other. What do you have now. These people here they don't care about you. You could drop off the face of the earth and no one would notice. I wouldn't notice. You know who would though, Joseph. When you were missing he worried about you everyday. He had people out looking for you 24/7. And to think it was all for nothing." My voice was eerily calm considering my recent outburst. Cameron however was not as nonchalant as I was. I could see his green eyes filling with tears.

"I just wanted you. I couldn't be around you when you were with Joseph. Even I could see the connection the two of you had. So I left. I came here and made a deal with Romano. I just had to get you here, and then Joseph would come and then I could have you. That was the deal. There were some unexpected turns but we're here now. It's all-"

"Wait. This was all your idea." Pieces started fitting together in my head the more he talked. "You did this. You took my father. You had him killed. You blew up the church and kidnapped me. I was tortured because of you!" The anger in my chest had started burning again.

"Like I said there were some unexpected turns. You were never supported to get hurt. I would never want to see you in pain. The same with the nightmare device. If I would have known in time they were testing it on you I would have stopped it. You have to believe me!" He dropped to his knees in front of the bed I was sitting on.

"You're a monster. Whatever you think you feel for me, it's not love! I barley know you. You helped me once at school, and then we kissed. That's not love. Someone that could do this to another person isn't capable of love!!" I was screaming at the end. My voice box was physically not able to express my rage.

Cameron stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry you feel that way Jessica." He swiftly walked to the door. "I'll come get you tomorrow morning and we're leaving."

"I won't leave with you, you can't make me." Said defiantly.

"I can and will. Don't make me. I know I said I'd never hurt you but I'll do whatever it takes before Joseph finds some way to bust out of here and take you with him." And with that he was gone and the door clicked softly closed behind him.

Once he was gone some of the anger faded and was quickly replaced with anxiety and fear. He set all of this up. His crazy genius mind came up with this whole nut job plan. That thought scared me. He was capable of taking me and hiding me so I would never see anyone again. I had to leave tonight.

I searched frantically through my dresser drawers for actual clothes and found a lone pair of sweatpants and 3 t-shirts in the closet. I grabbed one and pulled the outfit on careful to avoid any stitches. I turned the light out so no one could see me as I walked to the window. I paused there for a moment. Joseph was here. How was I supposed to just leave him here when he risked everything to come and save me. That was the thing though. He came to save me. The thought irked me. I didn't want to be a damsel in distress anymore waiting for Prince Charming to come and save me. I would get out on my own. It would be more helpful for me to be away from here then risking getting caught and making Joseph have to come find me and get me.

As I peered out the window i realized just how difficult this was really going to be. I was on the second story. The side of the house was smooth all the way to the bottom, and there were no trees or vines to climb down like there are in movies. It was me, house, ground. After much contemplation I decided on the oldest trick in the book. Tying my sheets and blankets together and lowering myself down that way.

I pulled off all the bedding from the bed and began tying them together. The soft fabric of the sheets wouldn't hold together, so I ran them to the little bathroom connected to my room and ran them under the water so they would stick together better. Once the last of the now wet blankets were tied together I tied the last knot to the bed and threw the rest out the window. I sucked in a breath. I swung one leg over the edge then the other and gripped the wet cloth in my hands. As my fingers clamped around it I wondered if maybe soaking the whole thing was a good idea but brushed it off. It was too late to change anything now.

I adjusted my feet so that they would be able to walk down the wall and then I pushed off the ledge of the window. A sweat broke out across my forehead and I shimmied myself down and tried my best to not look down. The stitches and bruises scattered across my body were stretching painfully, but it was blocked out by the crippling fear of falling.

I was almost to the end of the blanket rope when it lurched downwards. My feet slipped out from under me sending me crashing into the wall. I opened my mouth to scream as my body was over come with the pain of the collision. But it was sucked out soundlessly when the rope dropped again. This time I realized it was the bed sliding towards the window. I swore quietly under my breath and brought my feet back up to the wall so I could get down the rest of it before the bed crashed in to the wall and sent everybody to my room.

When I finally dropped to the ground i felt like collapsing onto the grass. Instead my bare feet sank into the soft grass and I started to run as fast as I could. Which shouldn't really be counted as a run. More of a hop step. But it worked. I was escaping.