{TRIGGER WARNING! EXPLICIT/TRIGGERING CONTENT! DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT, THANK YOU! Otherwise, enjoy!}

Neveah Aurora North:

'Don't you like it?' The old man purs, his voice deep and dark and absolutely disgusting. He slowly traces his hand down my arm, making sure I feel his wrinkly fingers everywhere while he tilts my face to meet his gaze.

Those blue eyes. The same blue eyes as Hunter's.

Sick fucking bastard.

'Don't touch me.' I spit, trying to move again. But it's no use. I'm still chained to the wall, still laying on the ground, still not able to run anywhere because of this small space.

He tilts his head a little and slowly traces his hand to my neck.

The look in his eyes makes me want to puke, it's absolutely disgusting.

He wants me. He wants me in the most disgusting ways. And he doesn't feel like hiding it, hiding his desire to take me.

'It'll be fun,' He purs, leaning closer, 'just like last time.' No.

I freeze, unable to breathe or move at all, and stare at the wall behind him. Last time. Last fucking time.

That was before I went to sleep. Before I cried myself to sleep. That bastard-

'You'll enjoy it.' He pulls me closer, close enough for my back to be off the wall, and I groan because of all the movement. His hands go to my underwear, or what's left of it, and something inside of me switches.

I can't let him do this. I can't let him touch me. Not again. So I move my legs, trying to crawl away from him, but he pushes them down.

I'm tired. Too exhausted to move. But I can't let him do this to me. Not again.

'Let go of me.' He does the exact opposite. He leans in closer, moving his lips to my neck. I move away, or at least try to, and try kicking at him.

He's old. I should be able to push him off. But I can't. I'm too tired and I hate my body for giving up on me.

I wish I saved my energy a bit more instead of wasting it on screaming for someone to let me go.

'Stay still.' He pulls down his pants and lowers one of his hands into his boxers. I turn away and close my eyes, not wanting to see him.

Because if I do, I'll dream about him. His face will pop up in my nightmares and I don't want to relive the moment. I don't want to relive whatever it is he's planning on doing to me.

'We'll take the next step today.' His old, scratchy hands move to my waist, slowly moving my panties to the side. And I panic.

It takes over my entire body, swallowing me entirely, making me shake and scream at him.

I jolt up, feeling the sweat drip down my back and face, and- just my entire body is drenched in sweat. I try to breathe while looking around the room.

It's too dark to see anything past the little light that's shining on me. Even when I squint my eyes, I can't see shit.

I press my back against the cold wall and take a deep breath.

I'm alone. Alone in the dark room that they locked me in.

It was just a dream. A stupid nightmare. Meaning it wouldn't matter if I looked at Adrian Steel now. His face is already imprinted in my mind. But how could I forget?

It was just a nightmare. A stupid nightmare that makes me want to vomit.

I wouldn't be surprised if something like that might happen in the future, because Adrian said that he wasn't done with me yet after I bit his tongue and he hit me.

He said that this would just be the beginning and that I would make him beg to continue at some point. No.

I know I'll never beg him to do anything to me. Never.

The cold wall is the only thing keeping me sane. I try not to think about Adrian. Or Hunter. Or Celine and Kai. Or the fact that I'm not with Leya and Tiago.

But I can't. I can't stop thinking about his filthy hands on me, the way his mouth pressed against mine. It makes my stomach twist in ways it shouldn't and before I know it, all that's left in my stomach comes out.

I try to puke in the corner of the room and feel like I shouldn't be puking. They'll find a way to punish me for it. The sick fuckers.

My throat burns because I'm gagging but nothing comes out. There's nothing left for me to throw up.

I drop to my knees and press my face against the stone wall. It's cold. So cold.

My eyes feel heavy and I feel like I'm about to pass out any second now. I barely slept, haven't eaten, threw up the last nutrition in my body, and I feel absolutely disgusting.

I slowly sit down again, trying to stay calm. Throwing up will only weaken me more. And I know the Steel's aren't going to bring me something to eat any time soon. So I need to save my energy, or what's left of it.

The room is silent. Too silent and dark. But I hear someone breathing. So soft that I think that I'm imagining it.

I can't even see the other wall. That's where he was standing first. Adrian.

He was standing in the dark, so I wouldn't see him when we got in. And if he was standing there right now, I wouldn't be able to see him.

So what if he's standing there? What if he's watching me, knowing I won't be able to go anywhere?

My stomach turns again, but I don't dare move this time. Not an inch. Afraid that if I move, if I turn my back to the darkness on the other side, I'll be damned.

I wouldn't see him coming if he is standing there. At least this way I would be prepared.

But prepared for what?

Prepared for him to touch me again? Prepared for him to hurt me? Prepared for him to threaten me? Prepared for him to rape me?

Or what about all of it?

Shit. I can't let that happen. But I won't be able to defend myself if I have these stupid chains around my wrists.

I look at my wrists and try to see if there's even a tiny fracture because of my stupid idea last night.

I tried breaking the chains by slamming my wrists into the wall. It hurt like crazy, and my wrists are probably are bruised underneath the metal, but I needed to try.

There was no way I was just going to sit here and do nothing. Especially with Adrian in the corner of the room, whispering the thoughts that were roaming through his disgusting mind.

I hear commotion coming from up the stairs and look at the door, waiting for it to open. Waiting for anyone to come in and see the mess I made. Shit.

But the door doesn't open. There's some shouting, but I can't make up what's happening exactly, and I feel relief rush through me when I hear some thuds against the door. 'Neveah?!'

Who- My heart starts racing. Someone is calling my name. Someone else, someone new. A new voice.

Someone that's going to save me. 'I'm in here.' I creak, unable to shout it louder because of the pain in my throat.

'Where the fuck are you keeping-' The voice fades and I groan, trying to prop myself up. 'In here.' I try again, but the footsteps fade. 'She's in here you idiot.' The door opens and I squint my eyes against the bright light coming from down the hall.

Just when I want to glance around the room, to see if there's anyone else, the door closes again. Two different sets of footsteps walk down the stairs and stop right on the edge of the light.

'Hello princess.' It's Hunter. No.

My heart shatters and I drop to the ground again. 'I can see you enjoyed my father's present.'

Present? Does he call what his father did a present?

'You're sick.' I grunt, leaning back against the cold wall. I'm wasting energy again. Hunter steps into the light and bows down a little, mocking me because I'm on the ground again.

'You're the one throwing up in your humble abode, are you not?' Humble. I want to shout at him, spit in his face to let me go, but it won't be any use. He won't listen and will only find ways to taunt me with it later.

He looks at the vomit and chuckles. 'Is this your way of getting us to give you food?' What?

'Because you could've just asked, princess.' Princess. He's been calling me that the entire time. And I hate it. I hate it more than his torture of putting me in this dark room.

He tilts his head a little, waiting for me to say something, but I keep my mouth shut. Not wasting any more air on him.

'Not so talkative now, huh?' I simply stare into his blue eyes. The exact same blue eyes as Adrian's. Dark and bright at the same time. A reminder of the ocean, deeper than anything you could ever imagine.

But with the ocean it's different. The deeper you get, the darker it gets. With Hunter, it's not like that at all. He's dark. Dark everywhere. There's no light. There's no above or under. Just dark water.

'Should I ask my father to take it a step further?' He asks, looking at the darkness behind him. No.

'I would gladly take it to the next step, my son.' He was standing there. Adrian Steel was standing there the entire time.

He watched while I had a nightmare, he watched as I tried calming down, he watched while I puked my remaining food out, he watched all of it in the darkness.

Total fucking darkness.

He steps forward, almost close enough to step into the light entirely, and grins at me. 'Wouldn't you love that-' 'What the fuck are you talking about?'

The new voice. It wasn't Tiago, Rio, Brandon, Marco, or anyone I thought was going to save me. It wasn't a new voice. It was a voice I didn't want to be reminded of right now.

Drew? Hunter must notice the shock on my face and chuckles again. 'Andrew Kane, you're abusive ex, right princess?'

I turn my gaze to Drew and try to fathom that he's here. He's actually standing in the room, looking at me with a weird look on his face. 'What is she doing here?' He asks bitterly.

His voice makes my skin crawl. The last time I saw him was at Marcello's party. Which was months ago.

'That's none of your business, Kane.' Adrian sneers, slowly stepping closer. I watch as the light touches his face, his disgusting face, and almost puke again. He rushes over to me and shoves my face back, slowly placing his hand on my thigh, 'Don't puke again, darling.'

I take a deep breath and swallow the bile forming in my throat. 'You locked her up here?' Drew asks a little shocked.

He didn't know. But it should be obvious. I'm chained to the fucking wall, what the fuck did he think the chains were for?

'Yes, now go take a seat while my father enjoys her.' No. I crawl away, as far as I can, and ready myself to kick anyone that tries to touch me. 'You're sick-' 'As if you didn't force her once or twice.'

I look at Drew who chuckles darkly. He did. He wanted me when I told him I didn't. He wanted me whenever he could, even if I begged him to stop. Just like Adrian.

But I loved Drew at some point, so I would let him. I would end up enjoying it... Sometimes.

I would never be able to love Adrian. He's too old and too disgusting to be around. And to think that he was standing there the entire time-

Adrian's hand pushes my leg down as he climbs on top of me. I didn't realize he was that close again.

'Now, where were we?' He pulls my face closer, almost kissing me with those crusty lips of his. 'Don't you dare.' And then the pressure of Adrian's body pressing against mine is gone.

It's Drew. He pulled him off. He had to since Adrian is crawling at the other side of the room.

'Kitten, are you okay?' Kitten. He still keeps calling me kitten. 'What are you-' Another woosh and he slams onto me, his huge and heavy body crushing me against the wall before he's gone again.

My back hurts and I feel like the world is spinning. And maybe it is.

'See, you aren't going to stop us.' Hunter chuckles, pressing something against Drew's head. Something shiny, something metal.

A gun. What is he-

'Let's make a deal, princess.' Hunter sneers, stoping his father from killing Drew right on the spot. 'You won't throw a fit and I'll keep that precious doctor of yours, and your so-called savior, alive.'

I shouldn't care about Drew. I should be glad that he's going to die. But I can't. He saved me, not only from Adrian but from the darkness that consumed me when I left Tiago. He saved me in the only way he could because he's nothing but a broken man.

His broken soul tore through mine in ways that made me unfixable. Or so I thought. Because Tiago healed me again. He healed me, made sure that every piece of me would stick together until the day I die.

I have Tiago now. I shouldn't care about Drew. I should be happy that he's going to die, especially after all the shit he put me through, but I can't. He saved me.

And I feel obligated to save him too.

'Please-' I try, the world still shaking as I try focusing on Hunter. He's moving too much, even though he's probably standing still. 'Will you behave yourself and not attack us when we come closer?'

The look in Drew's eyes says enough. I've never seen him this way. But he's scared. He's fearing for his life. All because of Hunter Steel.

It's not like I have any energy left to fight, so I don't get why he's even asking. He can see the exhausted state I'm in.

'I won't, just don't-' I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a second, begging the spinning to stop, 'don't kill him.'

Hunter smirks again and slowly lowers the gun. 'If you behave, they'll all be alive.'

'I'll- I'll behave.' He kicks Drew to the side and crouches down, to meet my gaze again. 'Promise?'

Promise? He wants me to promise?

'Princess-' The gun is still in his hand, slowly inching closer to my face. 'I don't have all-' 'I promise.'

He nods and smiles at me, a bright smile that makes me wonder what could make him so dark. What made him so fucked up? 'Good.'

And then they all leave, even Adrian leaves this time, grunting some things as they walk back up the stairs.

The door slams shut and I hear the lock fall in its place, before slumping down against the wall again.

My head feels like it's about to explode and I can't help but let a tear escape my eye.

Just as I'm about to pull myself together the door opens again and a new set of footsteps comes down the stairs. I keep my eyes on the ground and ready myself for Adrian's disgusting touch, but the hands don't move to my body.

They simply turn to the chains around my wrist, slowly unhooking me from the wall and pulling me to my feet. 'Put this on.' A man hands me a disgusting shirt and some shorts that are ripped all the way up.

I put on the clothes and try not to stumble forward, almost grabbing his arm to keep me in place, but instead go for the wall behind me. 'Can you walk?' I look up into brown eyes and try to stay still. 'Well?'

The man is getting impatient and shoves me forward, almost making me fall. My legs feel sore from all the sitting and I don't think I'll be able to walk up the stairs.

'Get up, we don't have all day.' I take the first step, feeling my body scream underneath my skin. I almost fall to my knees when I'm barely at the second step. 'Do you want to say goodbye to your friend or not?'

My friend?

I know it's not Drew he's talking about, Hunter knows my past with him, so he must be talking about Celine. Are they letting her go? Excitement and hope rush through me again, but I instantly lower my expectations.

The last time I thought something good was happening, I was wrong. So terribly wrong.

'I can't walk.' 'For fuck's sake.' The man huffs and throws me over his shoulder before he heads up the stairs.

My hands are still chained, but now I can at least move a bit more.

Hitting the man won't work. He either wouldn't care or drop me and hit me back. It would also be a waste of energy.

As soon as we're up the stairs, he walks up another set of stairs, before ending in an old-looking hallway.

'Neveah!' It's Celine. She's standing at the door leading outside and wants to run over to me. But someone stops her.

Kai.

He's looking at the person outside and sighs deeply. 'Celine you can't-' 'Move out of the fucking way now.'

She pushes him away and rushes over to me, helping me stand when the man puts me on the ground.

'Are you okay?' Her fingers feel strange. Different than Adrian's. They're soft and gentle. And I wish she would keep her hands on me so I can wash away the way Adrian feels, but she slowly lets go of me to scan my body real quick.

'I'm okay.' I lie, looking into her eyes, hoping that she sees that I'm not. And she does. The guy that carried me up here, shoves us to the door, making Kai glare at him.

It's dark outside, but not completely dark just yet. The sun just set and the sky is ready to be filled with stars, the sparkling dots that I would love to watch.

Everyone is jumping into a bunch of cars when we get outside, everyone except for Hunter.

'Okay, so here's the plan.' He turns around to face us and smiles. 'Princess will come with us, while doc goes with Kai to wherever she desires to go.' What?

'One sound from either of you and I'll kill you both.' The cheer in his voice fades within seconds. As if he has two entirely different personalities.

Darkness. He's dark again.

'Understood?' Celine wants to say something, but I grab her hand and nod.

'Let them at least say their goodbyes.' Kai says, moving closer to his friend.

I wouldn't say they were friends. Ever since we got here, Hunter has been treating Kai like shit.

'Fine. You have two minutes.' But Hunter listens to Kai. Sometimes.

Hunter heads to one of the cars, a van, while Kai looks at his watch, probably timing our two minutes.

'You can't be serious-' 'Go back to the Curzio's and tell them where I'm headed.' I look at Kai as well, begging him to give Tiago and Leya the information they need to get me out of here.

I know he knows where Hunter is taking me.

'I'm not leaving you, are you insane?!' Celine shouts at me, her loud voice makes me flinch. 'Please, Celine.' I beg.

I know there's no way they'll let us both go. And there's no way we'll be able to run right now, so if there's a chance of her getting back safely to send help to get me out of the place wherever we're going, I'll take it.

Celine's eyes fill with tears as she realizes what I'm actually asking her to do. 'Neveah, there might be a chance that you won't ever get out alive.'

I nod, knowing that she's right. I'll risk it. I'll fucking risk it if it meant she would be able to get help, to be free.

'Tell Leya I'll stay strong and that I love her. Tell Tiago that I love him more than anything in the world and that I'll be waiting.' She nods and grabs my hands, slowly pulling me closer. 'I will.' She mumbles as she wraps her arms around me.

'I will.' Celine's whispers make me want to cry. But it's better than the doubt in her eyes.

We both know that there will be a slight chance of me making it out alive, but I'm willing to take that chance.

'It's time.' Kai mumbles from behind us. Celine flinches and slowly lets go of me. 'Stay strong. We'll get you back.'

I nod, feeling my eyes burn like hell. There's a small chance, but I'll risk it.

'Get in the van.' Another grumpy guy sneers, pushing me towards the van Hunter got in. I stumble to the car and look over my shoulder, feeling like I'm in a dramatic show or something.

The pain the characters share in those moments is so fucking real. Pain washes over me as I see Celine and Kai heading to another car, not looking back at all.

And I don't know if I'm happy that she's not looking back or that it makes the pain worse.

But as I turn around to get into the van, I feel something sharp puncture my shoulder, straight trough the shirt I'm wearing. Just when I'm about to look what it is, everything starts turning.

I know exactly what this is. I felt it before, the floating sensation and the darkness blurring my sight.

They're drugging me.

When I wake up, not knowing how long I was out for, I feel something cold underneath me. I'm sitting on a stone-ground again, with chains keeping me in place. But this time they're not on a normal level, they're not loose, they're tight, hanging my arms up in the air to keep them in place.

I glance around the room to see that it's dark again. Complete darkness this time.

Fear takes over as I think about Adrian sitting there. But there's nothing, no breathing. Nothing.

Please tell me I'm alone... Please tell me I'm alone...

My head is pounding like crazy and it takes me a while to get used to the rough wall behind me, but I manage. I'll have to if this is where they're keeping me.

A metal door opens, granting a sliver of light to glimpse inside, before turning to total darkness again.

'My spy told me you made Rafael's life a living hell.' It's Hunter. I recognize his voice by now.

He moves around the room before flipping a switch. A bright LED light slowly lights the entire room, granting me time to look around.

It's a small room, with a crooked bed on one side of the room, and a single bucket on the other. Nothing else.

'Your spy? You mean Kai?'

'He said that you should be happy Leonardo is alive, otherwise Rafael would've killed you months ago.' Kai has been really observant, that's for sure.

To think that I'm the only one who wanted him to roam around freely in the first place. And then he betrays us like this.

'Go to hell.' I try moving, but my body feels like a bag of bricks and everything hurts like hell. 'Silly girl, can't you see the truth right in front of you?'

I stare into his blue eyes, the eyes I almost drowned in the first time we met.

Hunter's blue eyes had more darkness than any brown eyes I had ever seen before.

'This is not Curzio's kingdom anymore.' He smirks, stepping closer a bit. Even though he's in the dark, I can see his eyes and I can feel him smirk at me.

'This is my kingdom. And you are not the queen anymore.' What?

'Go to hell!' I sneer, regretting to let him get to me. 'I never was the-'

'Do you know what my favorite color is?' He asks, smiling to himself as I try to break free from the chains around my wrists.

'Go to hell!' I repeat, before spitting at him.

He doesn't seem fazed at all and simply wipes it off his face. Out of nowhere, his hand slaps across my face. The impact is so strong that my head shoots to the right, making me hit the wall.

I feel the rough edges cut through my skin as I turn back to him. Blood drips down my cheek, just a little, making him stare at it for a second.

'It's purple..' He groans, standing up straight again. 'Want to know why?'

I swear I can see stars playing around his vague frame.

'I'll tell you anyways,' he bows down again, placing his foot on mine and putting all his weight on it.

I scream out in pain, but no one can hear. Or, if they can, they just don't care enough to do something about it.

'Because when I hit you, your beautiful skin will turn purple.' He says grabbing my chin firmly, forcing me to look at him, 'So when Leon finds your dead body, he can see what I've done.'

His lips curl up into a smirk. Hunter knows what he's doing and if this continues he'll win. I just hope that Celine got back safely and that there's still a way for them to find me.

To save me.

'My skin won't turn purple-' 'Trust me,' he stands up again, removing his foot from my, now twisted, ankle, 'When I'm done with you, it will.'

I try pulling my legs as close to my body as possible, but they're too heavy. 'It's no use, Aurora. The drugs still need to wear out, so I'll tell you something.' Aurora... Why is he calling me Aurora?

'Don't call me that.' His eyes light up a little. As if it's strange that I don't want him calling me Aurora. 'Why not? That's what you're father screamed before he got murdered.'

Instant tears form in my eyes and I want to hit him. But my body still feels like stone. 'I have a video of it if you want to see it?' What?

He nods at my reaction and grins even wider. 'See, I wanted to give it to you as a present back then. But then I heard you left and I didn't want to just give it to the Curzio's, so I kept it. For an occasion like this one.'

'You're a psychopath.' He tilts his head from side to side, before shrugging. 'That's not what your family screamed before we slit their throats.'

He's doing this on purpose, trying to mentally break me so that he can get into my head. And I can't let him, even though I want to kill him so bad right now.

'What do you want?' 'Answers.' He states, swiftly turning back to me. His foot is on my leg again and I wince. 'Fucking answers.'

He puts more pressure on his foot, making me wince with my last energy. It feels like my ankle is about to snap.

Hunter smirks as I scream out of pain and try to move away from him, but it's no use. He's quicker and stronger than I'll ever be. Especially in this state.

'Give me answers, princess.' 'Answers to what!?' I scream, waiting for him to lift his foot from my leg. And he does.

'What did they say about Downridge?' Downridge? I stare at him, clear confusion on my face, but he doesn't care and pulls me up by my shirt. 'Tell me-' 'I don't know anything.'

'Lies.' He throws me to the ground like I'm nothing more but a bag of trash, and puts his foot on my leg again, making me wince as I try to move. 'I don't know anything!'

'You do!' Tears escape my eyes and I watch as the door opens again. 'Yes, you fucking do.' 'I don't know anything about Downridge!'

He lifts his foot and sighs deeply, making me pull my legs in just in case he tries that again. Not that that'll stop him, but I can at least try.

I noticed that the door opened, but I didn't focus on what was happening. 'You're not going to talk, are you?'

Why is it so hard for him to believe that I don't know what he's talking about? 'I don't-'

I freeze when I see who entered the room. 'Neveah?'

The sweet old woman that took care of me when I was sick, the sweet woman when I had a nightmare, the sweet woman that reminded me of my mother and grandma. That sweet Italian woman.

Manuela.

'What's going on?' She asks, being confused by all of this. It's clear that she has no clue about what's going on.

Hunter forces her on her knees and turns back to me. 'Let me ask again.' He says, pulling something from his back pocket.

I expect him to pull out his gun again, but it's not a gun. It's smaller and stealthier.

A knife. He has a knife, ready to end Manuela if I don't answer.

'What did they say about Downridge?' Manuela flinches at the name, so she must know something. But Hunter's too busy looking at me to care about Manuela's reaction.

'I already told you, I don't know!' I shout as he lowers the knife to her neck.

He's going to kill her. He's going to kill her because I don't know what he's talking about. He's going to kill her because he thinks I'm keeping things from him, but I'm not. 'I swear I don't know!'

'Five.' Manuela moves her head to the side and tries to escape, but it's too late. Hunter's too strong for her and we both know that. 'Please-'

'Four.' I panic, not knowing what to do. There's not much I can do right now. 'I don't know!' 'Three.'

'Hunter don't you-' 'All that talking, but no answer to my question princess... Two.' He smiles as he presses the knife deeper into her skin, making it burst a little.

I single bead of blood drips down her neck, into her black shirt.

'Kill me! I'm the one- Just please!' He chuckles and lowers his knife, before shoving Manuela to the ground.

He walks over to me and forces me to look up at him. 'As tempting as it sounds,' no. no. no. 'That would mean war. And I'm not ready to risk that yet.'

It takes him four seconds. Four seconds to let go of me, kick Manuela so she'll turn around, and stab her in her stomach.

The scream that comes out of her, hurts more than Hunter stepping on my leg.

I don't have time to react, because he turns to me and smiles brightly, pulling my face up again.

'Her death is on you.' I break, break entirely, and look at Manuela who pulls the knife out and starts bleeding to death. 'Manuela!'

I want to reach for her, but these stupid chains and Hunter are stopping me.

'Please let me help her, she'll die-' 'That's the point.' He chuckles, stepping away from me a little. 'I told you to take me!'

'And I said I'm not risking a war by killing you!' He sneers, hitting me again. My body hurts, but I push it away again. I need to get to Manuela. She's bleeding and- 'But I never said anything about hurting you.'

He crouches down again, pulling my face to meet his. 'So I'll hurt you. I'll break you piece by piece until you wish you would be dead. Until you beg me to kill you and maybe then, just maybe, I'll kill you.'

Fear and pain take over my body as I hear Manuela gasping for air behind him. 'Please-' He shoves me against the wall and chuckles. 'Good luck surviving this one, princess.'

He walks towards the door, letting Manuela bleed to death right in front of me. 'Why?' I manage to whisper, but he hears me.

'Because of your King.' Tiago. He said that he killed Hunter's mother. So this must be revenge. Revenge on all the years that passed. 'Can't wait to hear you beg again.'

And with those words, he shuts the door.

'Neveah-' Manuela reaches out for me, but she's too faint to move. 'Please stay still and put pressure on the wound, please-' I beg, trying to move closer to her. But it's no use.

The chains cut through my skin but I bite through the pain. I need to get to her. Now.

She tries to move, but she's too tired, too weary to move, and slumps down, looking at me with those pained eyes. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

This is all my fault. If I knew what he was talking about, if I didn't get sick, if I didn't- 'It's okay. Tell-' She coughs and blood sputters out of her mouth. No. 'Tell my son that I- Love hi-him.'

'You can tell him yourself, just try not to move. Please, Manuela!' I beg her to keep pushing, to keep fighting for her life. 'It's okay.'

She's giving up. 'No don't-''I'll be okay.'

Her breathing becomes slower and heavier, almost making me stop breathing at all. As if she'll have more air if I don't breathe. 'Manuela, you can't die.'

'Take care of them for- for me.' She mumbles before coughing up blood again. Please...

Suddenly the chains go loose, not all the way just granting me a bit more space. Just enough for me to get to her.

I lunge at her and press my hands on her wound, hearing her wince with the last energy left. 'Stay with me. You'll be okay. I-' Shit.

What do I do know? There's no way Manuela will make it. She lost too much blood. 'It's okay.' She repeats, reaching out for my hand.

I grab her hand and squeeze it tightly, wishing that I could give her the strength to keep fighting. But she's too weak. 'Stay wi-with me.'

Tears stream down my face, onto hers and I'm barely able to nod, finally giving in as well. She won't make it and we both know it. 'I will.'

Her lips curl up into that warm smile that made her, her. The smile that made you warm up even in the coldest times. That precious smile of hers.

'I'm sorry.' I repeat time and time again, just so she knows how sorry I am before she goes.

'I wish-' 'It's ok-oka-' Her eyes are glued to mine and I watch as the life slowly drips out of them, her hand slowly falling out of mine.

'No...' I cry with all I have left and grab her hand, trying to see if there's still something left. But nothing.

No pulse, no heat, no life. Just death. Pure, raw, and dark death.

My heart shatters into a billion pieces and just when I reach for her face to close her eyes, the lights turn off, stunning me for a second.

The darkness swallows me whole and I take my time reaching out to her again. But I can't see anything.

The only thing that is clear in my view are her eyes. Manuela's lifeless eyes stare at me before the chains shorten again.

I'm pulled back to the wall and try to search for Manuela's body. But the only thing I find, are her eyes.

Her lifeless eyes, staring at me, begging to help her, to say something, do something. Anything.

But she's gone. It's too late.

And it's all because I couldn't answer Hunter's question.

Torture. Pure torture.

Hunter warned me.

He said that he would hurt me, pain me until I break. And he's already tearing me apart without even trying.

The dark room seems to close in on me as if the walls are ready to squish me to death as if Manuela's eyes weren't enough yet.

Torture. He's going to break me. And this is just the beginning.

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A/N: So... What do you think happened to Celine and Kai? Will they get back to the Curzio's to give her the information they need to save Neveah? Will they even be able to save Neveah at all?

Tell me what you thought about this chapter and make sure to vote if you liked it! You're eagerness for the story still makes me smile every day! So thank you so much for all the love this story is getting!

Anyways, hope you have a nice day and until the next chapter!