I followed after Corey, stepping in time beside him as he hastily descended the stairs.

"Can't what?" I inquired. "Can't tell me?"

"Exactly." He kept his eyes in front of him.

"Well...can you try?"

"No."

He reached the front door; I had to stop the door from closing after he went out.

"Really, Arabelle, it doesn't matter." He suddenly stopped on the front porch, making me almost collide with him but I caught myself in time.

"It does and if you don't tell me I'll just get Drake to so either way I'm going to find out." I replied.

He sighed, reaching into his pocket; he pulled out a carton of cigarettes.

"Where'd you get those?" I questioned, sidetracked for a moment.

"Drake." He stated, placing a cigarette between his lips.

I nodded, watching him light it. My guess was going to be Drake so I was correct.

"So, are you going to tell me or do I have to get Drake to?"

He exhaled smoke. "I don't want you to get upset."

"Well, I'm already upset that you won't tell me."

"Trust me, you're gonna get a lot more upset if I tell you." He claimed firmly.

My stomach was in tense knots.

I exhaled heavily. "Just please, tell me. The anxiety is killing me."

"Fine." He tossed the cigarette. "Yesterday when Drake and I came back, I...I had a confrontation with Nick..."

I bit my lip. "Is that it?"

"No. He, uh-Ah, God, I can't do this."

"No, please, continue." My muscles were tense.

"I didn't know you had a basement." He stated.

That sent a feeling of dread through me. We never used the basement anymore but my parents use to use it back when they had slaves.

They used it to torture the slaves.

But that was back before I was born, I'd only been down there once and I didn't go back.

My throat was tight. "Did he hurt you?"

He nodded.

I swallowed, feeling my eyes get wet.

"Why didn't you do something?"

"You damn well know I couldn't have done anything. If I'd fought back it would've been a hundred times worse. You know that."

"How badly did he hurt you?" I questioned, dreading the answer.

"You really wanna know?"

I nodded.

He lifted up his shirt to reveal his stomach that was covered in deep horrible looking gashes and bruises.

I closed my eyes, putting my face in my hands; I felt like I was going to breakdown and start hysterically crying. I wanted to that's for sure.

I felt Corey place his hands on my shoulders. "This wasn't your fault."

I looked up at him with tears streaming down my face. "How was it not?"

"You were in a coma." He smiled.

"How did Drake find out?"

"He was looking for me, he found me in the basement. He actually stopped Nick. So I could've been a lot more hurt or..."

"Remind me to hug Drake the next time I see him."

He breathed a laugh but his expression darkened a bit, his eyes scanning over mine with concern.

"I'm okay, Arabelle, really, don't cry."

"It would be impossible for me not to cry. I feel so..." I closed my eyes against the wave of emotions.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you." He sighed, letting go of my shoulders. "I don't want you to be upset."

I inhaled deeply, tucking away my emotions and gaining composure. I opened my eyes. "I'm fine."

"No you're not." He stated, looking directly at me.

I wiped the tears from my face as I saw a car pull into the driveway; it was Nick's.

I smiled. "Just in time."

Corey looked apprehensive as he glanced over at the car.

Nick walked up to the porch, Trey by his side. "Oh, hey, Arabelle. I thought you'd still be in the hospital." Nick said, twirling his car keys.

"Nope, I'm all better." I replied, smiling brightly.

"That's good." He smiled.

"Yeah, can I talk to you, inside?"

"Uh, sure."

He followed me inside and I turned with my hand on the door and met Corey's gaze.

"Can I listen to your conversation?" He inquired.

I shook my head. "You should stay here."

"You sure? Maybe I should be there."

"No, we're going down to the basement." I shut the door, turning to face Nick.

Nick gave me a tired look. "I'm guessing you know?"

I started towards the basement door, down the hall.

"If you're referring to what you did to Corey then yes, I know."

"So...what? You're gonna take me down to the basement and torture me?" His voice was mocking.

"No." I opened the door, gesturing for him to go down first.

He looked at me for a moment then started down the wooden steps.

I closed the door and followed him down.

It was dark and musty, a small metal overhead light swung lightly from the low ceiling casting glow in the middle of the room.

The floor was splattered with blood, as were the walls.

"Why did you do it?" I questioned, honestly curious.

He stood by the wooden table filled with knifes and other sharp utensils.

"He deserved it." Nick stated simply.

"And why's that?"

"There's too many reasons to list besides the fact that he's a vile type of monster that you call a person."

"At this point, I'd be calling you the monster." I responded, walking over to him.

He breathed a laugh. "Hardly. Arabelle, I'm the one that loves you."

"So does he."

"He can't love."

"Says who? You? You're opinions worthless."

"It's better than his."

I picked up one of the knives from the table, looking up at Nick as he stood with one hand on the wood table, his eyes cast down.

I didn't think he'd noticed.

"Nick, I am seriously stopping myself from killing you. I'm not sure why because I don't think anyone would miss you."

He glanced up at me. "You'd regret it."

"Probably." I could almost taste the anger on my tongue; it was so strong it was tangible.

"But if you ever hurt him again I will kill you." The knife in my hand slammed down into something solid and Nick's expression reflected pain.

I glanced down and pulled the knife out of his hand. I'd actually hadn't been aiming to hit anything, I was just so mad I ended up stabbing the knife into what I thought was the table.

"I...actually didn't mean to hurt you but now you get my point." I said.

He cradled his bleeding hand. "What the fuck, Arabelle. You really care that much about your stupid slave?"

"He's not my slave and yes, in case you haven't noticed I do care about him."

"He broke up with you; he doesn't want to be with you."

"You don't even know him." I threw the knife across the room. "Just leave, Nick. Before I get even more pissed off."

He inhaled deeply. "This isn't over. The laws on my side, he's a slave, he means nothing."

"Leave."

He bent down and kissed me. "I love you, Arabelle. I'm just waiting for you to come to your senses."

Before I got the chance to hit him he walked away, sprinting back upstairs.

I sighed, still feeling a mixture of frustration, anger and heart-wrenching sadness for Corey.

I irately knocked over the table, the bloodied tools scattering over the cold floor.

I wish more than anything that I could've been here to stop Nick.

This wasn't fair. Why did Corey have to go through this?

After a moment more I couldn't hold it in and I fell to my knees crying.

I failed. I failed to keep Corey safe, which had been my goal since I first got him.

I didn't ever, ever want him to have to go through that again but he did.

And god, that tore me apart inside.

I stood up when I heard someone walking down the stairs after what only seemed like a few minutes and wiped my face off, sniffling.

I saw Drake in the dim light from above, looking at me skeptically from the bottom of the steps. "What are you doing down here?" He questioned curiously.

He got closer and must've realized I'd been crying. "Oh no, you know don't you? About what Nick did to Corey? And please tell me you do after I just said that."

I nodded.

"Oh, Bells...god, I'm sorry. I know you must be so upset." He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug.

I hugged him back tightly. "Thanks, Drake, for what you did."

"Like I would've just left him there to be tortured by that bastard, yeah right. I know how much he means to you, Bells. I care about him too; I wouldn't want him to get hurt either."

I felt tears glide down my cheeks again. "I'm so glad I have you, Drake."

"Same here. I love you, Arabelle." For once his voice actually sounded serious.

I pulled back to look at him with a small smile. "You never call me my full name."

"There's something I want to tell you. It's not like bad or anything; well...actually it depends on how you look at it."

"What is it?"

He looked at me apprehensively for a few minutes before sighing and shaking his head. "Nevermind, now's not a good time."

I tilted my head curiously. What could he have to tell me?

He let go of me, linking his fingers with mine. "C'mon, lets get out of this place, it smells like death."

Drake and I walked back upstairs, hands intertwined snuggly.

"I can't believe you actually hurt Nick." He said, glancing at me.

"You saw?" I questioned.

"Oh yeah, he was dripping blood all over the place."

"It was actually an accident." I admitted.

"Bad accident. Corey looked pretty shocked when he saw Nick bleeding."

"How did he see Nick? I told him to stay outside."

"Oh, well, I went out to smoke and he was out there with Trey and we started talking and then we came inside. We were standing in the hall when Nick came out of the kitchen with a bloody towel around his hand. Nick looked pretty pissed when he saw Corey; he pushed him pretty hard and called him something you probably don't want to hear then went upstairs. I offered to help Corey up but he didn't want me to. He seemed a little depressed. I feel bad for him."

I bit my lip, feeling tears sting my eyes. "Maybe I should've hurt Nick more."

Drake breathed a laugh. "He still wouldn't have been nice to Corey."

We entered the main room and I saw Corey sitting on the floor, staring at the floor bleakly.

"You still haven't got up?" Drake questioned.

"I didn't feel like it." Corey replied, not moving his eyes from the ground.

Drake and I exchanged a glance. "Hey, who wants ice cream?" Drake grinned.

I smiled faintly and Corey looked up at as.

Drake let go of my hand and offered it to Corey with a cheerful smile.

Corey gazed at him blankly for a moment before grabbing a hold of Drake's hand and letting him pull him up.

Drake wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Alright, ice cream here we come! You know they got blood there as well, so perks for you two."