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Somewhere between the night, I jolted awake once again, looking around me. It took me seconds to remember where I was and the churning feeling in my stomach came again. My throat felt dried up and I felt so thirsty, maybe even scared. But nothing changed.

At least that's what I thought.

Until I checked up on Jack and Alice and realized that there was only Jack in here with me.

"Alice?" I spoke up in a groggy voice but got no response.

I slowly rose up my hand along the wall behind me, looking for the light switch. I flipped it twice and the bulb flickered for a few seconds, enough for me to realize that Jack and I were really the only ones here in this cell.

Alice wasn't where I had last seen her.

I tried to see if the metal bars were opened, but they weren't; they were still locked. I heard muffled sounds along some distance and I curled up beside Jack, sudden dread and fear clawing my insides.

Alice wasn't here. They took her.

Between the time I was sleeping, they must've taken Alice and I didn't even notice.

I closed my eyes shut after that, gripping my hair and pressing my forehead against my pulled up knees. I didn't know where she was, I didn't even know if it was morning yet. This place was creeping me out so much more than that white room.

I inhaled deeply, wanting to scream out loud, but my throat felt too dry and scratchy to do that. I looked up once again, hoping that Alice would somehow be there. But she wasn't. Her spot was still empty.

I found myself crawling over towards the grill door, curling my fingers around the rusty metal bars. I reached out with my fingers to touch the lock, resting them on the keyhole.

I tried searching around for anything small and sharp, to open that lock. But there was absolutely nothing in here. I even had no bobby pins stuck up in my real hair, or my wig.

Pulling my hands away in defeat, I slid back beside Jack and looked around the eerie darkness.

"Jack." I whispered, gripping his hand and giving it a shake. "Jack, Jack please open your eyes."

I was freaking out and anybody could've seen that. I didn't even know how Jack managed to stay in here, in this dark empty place for more than two years. It wasn't even the next day and it was starting to drive me insane.

"Jack, please." I sounded too desperate and I felt horrible. "Please talk to me."

I wanted so desperately to know that I wasn't alone in here. Even Alice wasn't here anymore.

"Jack." I gripped his forearm and gave it a shake. When he didn't respond at all, I ended up leaning my forehead down on his shoulder. "Jack, I'm so scared."

And that wasn't even a lie.

What if they killed Alice?

I didn't even know if I was just imagining those muffled screams down the narrow hallway outside. Maybe I wasn't imagining them. They sounded so familiar to Alice's muffled sounds.

I licked my chapped lips and didn't pull away from Jack, even though my back was starting to ache a little. I just sat there once again, waiting for him to respond in any way. And slowly, my eyelids fluttered shut the second time this night.

The next time I woke up, I found myself leaning back against the wall, still hugging Jack in a way that didn't pull onto the cuffs around his wrists too much. That, however, wasn't what made me freeze in my spot.

It was the third presence in the room that made my blood run cold.

"Alice?" I spoke up, really hoping that it was her.

Maybe I had totally imagined her disappearing and she was still here.

I had to blink several times to make out the silhouette, especially since the bulb on the ceiling was giving out absolutely no light now. The person was, just like Alice, leaning back against the opposite wall.

"Alice?" I spoke up again and heard a small shuffle in response.

"It's me, Rose."

My eyes widened at that, and for some unknown reason, I pressed myself further back against the wall. "Luca?"

There was only one person I knew who called me by that name.

"Yeah." He answered, and I didn't even bother to look away from his silhouette, scared that he might just vanish like Alice. Or maybe I was going crazy. Luca couldn't be here; he was gone. Cynthia said that he left.

I blinked again and noticed his legs outstretched in front of him. "What...are you doing here? How did you get in here?"

He was silent at that and I almost convinced myself this time that I was definitely imagining this.

I was going insane.

"I don't know. I don't remember...what happened." He sounded a bit strange. "Somebody just threw me in here."

He fell quiet after that and all I could hear was my rapid breathing.

"You're not supposed to be here." I said, furrowing my brows. "You...left. How in the hell did you get back here when you left me?"

I heard him intake a sharp breath. "Why would I leave you?"

I felt angry then and it was no surprise. I had been feeling that emotion since I got trapped in this cell. "Don't lie to me. You're a fucking liar. She told me everything that you never told me."

Even though I wished I could see his face, I still remained frozen at my spot, not wanting to go anywhere near him. I was just too angry.

"And what is that? The things that she told you?" He sounded so calm and that just made me feel angrier.

What was wrong with him?

"You knew Burner before me." I didn't even try hiding the accusation from my voice. "You knew and you were just trying to help him all this time!"

He was silent at that and even in the darkness, I felt his gaze fixated on my face. Something itched inside me to just go near him. At least I wasn't alone anymore. At least someone was here.

"How could you give her that necklace?" I voiced out the only question that broke me from the inside. "I trusted you with it. I trusted you."

He was still silent and I stifled the urge to just scream at him.

"Were you trying to get back at me just because I left you two years ago?" I asked him, feeling my eyes tear up and my nose getting runny. "But this isn't just about me! You even put Alice's and Jack's life at stake."

There was no escape from here.

"I trusted you and you promised me!" I added, my voice lacing with heavy accusation. "You didn't even try."

He didn't say anything and I fell quiet after that. I felt too choked up on words and I didn't want to start panicking again. I didn't want to feel any more stupid than I already felt.

"I..." I saw him shift a bit as he trailed off.

I eyed him in disbelief. "Are you not even going to say anything?"

He didn't reply for the next few seconds and I almost gave up trying to even ask him for a reason.

"I fucked up those two years ago." He spoke up. "You can't really blame me."

I wrapped my arms around myself, leaning slightly against Jack's shoulder just so that I'd know he was here.

"You told me that you loved me that night and left me just after that. I was messed up, Grace. You were the only person who kept me sane." He continued and I heard the tinge of sadness in his voice—something that made my heart lurch involuntarily. "Things started fucking up with Dad. I didn't...I didn't want him to leave too."

Jack's shoulder brushed against mine but then I realized that it was just me trembling for some reason.

"His liver wasn't functioning properly, and then he got in that car accident. They needed a lot of money to fix him up." He said, shifting a little and a small unnoticeable groan escaped his lips. "That's when Burner came in. I'm guessing he didn't know where your family disappeared all of a sudden and since I was supposed to be your closest friend, he made me a deal. To tell him your whereabouts and he'd help my dad."

I almost felt like I might throw up, my gaze not moving even a little from his face.

"I told him what he needed to know and he didn't help my dad." He stated. "Dad died and I-I got into fights. One of those fights were with some of Burner's men. I would've probably died too if it wouldn't have been for...Ryder."

He fell silent again but I could still hear his voice ringing in my ears.

"That's why I owe Ryder...a lot actually." He said after a while and for some reason, he sounded even stranger now. It almost seemed like something was wrong. "He's helped me so many times."

I kept looking at him and felt him stare back at me.

"I don't break promises, Rose." His voice dropped down to a whisper. "I would never do that to you."

I pushed back my sweaty hair away from my face, shaking my head in disbelief. "Why did you give her that necklace?"

He shifted again and this time the painful grunt didn't go unnoticed by me. "I had to."

I bit the inside of my cheek, my eyes trailing lower down his face. But it was hard to see him when everything was so dark around us. I could barely even make out the outlines of his face.

"Are you...okay?" I asked in a small whisper, hoping that he heard it. A part of me realized that he wasn't telling me something. The way he leaned back against the wall behind him, the way I could almost see his clenched fists. I found myself forgetting that we were talking about that necklace.

"I'm fine." He said, then waited for a few seconds before speaking up. "They've drugged him." He jerked his head towards Jack and I heard his voice softening a bit.

"I know." I whispered, my eyes still on Luca, realizing that he was indeed breathing heavily. Between my thudding heart and my trembling state, I hadn't even noticed these small things about him.

Luca sighed deeply. "You need to get out of here. You need to get them all out of here."

The you didn't go unnoticed by me.

"What's wrong with you coming with us?" I voiced out the question and for some reason, I was dreading the answer. There was definitely something that he was hiding.

"I can't." He whispered and I heard the slight pain in his voice.

That's pretty much why I pulled away from Jack and scrambled over towards him.

"Rose—"

A small gasp escaped my lips when I stopped inches away from him and saw the huge bloody wound, the size of my fist, just below his abdomen. "What the hell, Luca?"

"Don't—"

"Don't what?" My voice cracked a bit and this time, I could see his brown eyes a bit more clearly. "How did this happen? Wait, don't tell me. I can't believe you didn't tell me. How can you be so fucking stupid?"

He leaned his head back against the wall and stared at me. "I'm sorry."

I wiped my tears furiously with both of my palms, telling myself this was not the time to panic. "It's bleeding really badly." I noticed the way his shirt was sticking with blood and it was almost everywhere; the blood was everywhere. "How do we stop the bleeding? I can shout for help but I don't think—"

"It's fine, Rose. It isn't going to work anyway." Now that I was near him, I could see how hard it was for him to even form words. "You need to go."

"I'm not fucking leaving without you!" I snapped at him, feeling my vision clouding over with more tears. "Stop fucking saying things like you're some sort of a stupid freaking hero. You're not dying and we'll get out of here."

I looked around for something and picked up my discarded white coat. I bunched it up in my hand and went closer towards him, slowly and carefully pressing the cloth over the wound. He scrunched up his forehead in pain and I almost pulled away.

"It's...kind of burning." He sounded like he was doing his best not to show the pain in his voice and I truly hated him for that. "Besides...I don't think I can walk. You should really leave—"

"Shut up, Luca." I tried snapping at him again but my voice broke and the tears gave it away. "You need to shut up before I seriously injure you."

He breathed out a small laugh. "I don't think I can get more injured than this." He scrunched up his forehead again. "But you can try."

I blocked out his words, trying to think of a way to stop the excessive bleeding. It definitely needed stitches but I knew there was no one here who'd help him.

I looked around once again and all of a sudden, heard faint footsteps outside, in the narrow hallway. I looked back at Luca, my eyes widening a bit. "I think—"

He cut me off by snaking an arm around my waist and pulling me back towards him, with my hand still pressed onto his wound. I could almost see my white coat, that was pressed onto his wound, turning the exact same shade as his blood.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at him, horrified. "Are you stupid? Let me call out for help!"

He shook his head slightly and leaned closer towards me. "You don't have time, Grace. They'll be coming here any minute now. They won't help you."

"What?" I could feel myself tremble as I clutched onto his shoulder with my other hand. He was scaring me so much.

"There's...in my jacket. Just take out—" He stopped almost immediately and leaned his forehead against my shoulder, another small groan escaping his lips.

"Luca, please." I was definitely panicking now, especially when I felt his shoulders slumping against me. "Please, don't do this. I know how to help you. Please!"

He made a small sound of protest, his grip on my waist tightening a bit. "I'll be fine, Grace. Nothing's happening to me."

"You'd leave me!" I cried, pulling away my hands from him and placing them on either side of his face, just so that he'd look at me. "If you don't let me help you right now, you'd leave me!"

"I won't." He murmured, blinking rapidly until I saw his eyelids drooping slightly. "I promise."

"Don't promise me." I wrapped one arm around his neck, full on crying by now. I was so much scared. "You always break your promises." I sobbed, clinging onto him.

I heard him sigh deeply, his lips against my neck. Even his forehead felt too hot, he was definitely nowhere near fine right now. "I don't. I won't leave you."

And when I felt his grip loosening a bit around me, I pulled him more closer. "I hate you." I pressed my whole face against his shoulder, the sudden heaviness taking over my heart. "Why would you do this to me?"

"You love me too much, Rose." I heard the smile in his voice, but the pain was more evident.

"Luca, please—"

"It's in my jacket." He cut me off.

"Luca—"

"I'm not...leaving you." He repeated, his whisper barely audible as his grip loosened around me. I didn't let go of him, I couldn't. Not even when his forehead slumped against my shoulder blade. Not even when I called out his name and he replied with nothing. Not even when he failed to move, just like Jack.

I don't know how long I sat there, clutching onto him and crying silently. I knew how the pain of losing someone felt like, but this was just too much. Because this was Luca, and he meant so much to me.

And now he wasn't here.

Jack wasn't here. Luca wasn't here. No one was here with me.

I was so lost.

When my cries turned into small hiccups, I slowly pulled away from him and searched around in his jacket's pockets.

My fingers met a small, rectangular device and I pulled it out. I didn't know what it was, way smaller than a normal cellphone. I tried my best to ignore the blood covering my fingers and pressed a small red button at one side of it.

The only thing that happened was the sound of static filling up the entire room. I almost pressed the button again when I heard a voice speak from the device,

"Hello?"

I stared at the device in my hands with a small sniff. I didn't know whose voice it was but it sounded a bit familiar.

"I-It's me, Grace." I sounded too hoarse to even be recognizable. "I need help. Please."

There was some more static. "Where's Lucius?" That's when it clicked in my head who he sounded like.

Ryder.

"Luca...he's injured." I answered and my voice wavered. Was I lying to myself? Luca wasn't even breathing anymore. "We're trapped. Please, I need quick help."

I knew I wasn't exactly making sense but Ryder seemed to understand and he reassured me—in a way a total stranger would reassure you. I still didn't know how he would even help us, there was no way his men were more powerful than Burner's. But I pushed away that thought from my head and the device was filled with static again.

All I had to do was wait now.

I pushed the device back in Luca's jacket and was about to push the jacket away too, when I felt another small bulge in one of the pockets.

I slowly took it out, wiping my tears with my sleeve, and noticed the folded black cloth in my hand. Something tugged in my gut as I continued to unfold it, opening it up in my hand. And then my breath hitched in my throat when I saw the small red stone inside.

The same red stone that I had seen in that necklace with Cynthia. Except that it was here, with me right now.

The sudden realization almost made me feel like someone was squeezing my throat, way too tightly.

Luca hadn't given Cynthia the real red seed.

She got the fake one.

Because the real one was in my hands.

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I really thought I could end this book with total 60 chaps. Who was I kidding?

Crystal 🌿