Truth or Dare? [REWRITTEN]

¤Chapter 39¤

¤Chapter Thirty-Nine¤ 

I glance at Jace behind me. I know he says he'll be fine but he's been cut so bad his shirt just looks like rags now. Based on his heavy breathing and the way he keeps wincing, I'm sure he's in a lot of pain as well. Asking him for help is like a suicide mission. He needs just as much medical attention as Owen does but it seems his training or sheer willpower is keeping him upright. 

I focus my attention on the guys in front of me again. They wore all black just like everyone else in this room —except for the two captives. The tall burly one with red hair pulls off his gloves as the shorter guys next to him shamelessly rakes their eyes across my body. You'd think they've never seen a seventeen year old girl before. Behind both of them is another guy that looks like he's about ready to end this so he can go back to doing CrossFit. At least he's not acting deprived like the others.

"Go ahead, boys" Todd commands the group. "Restrain her."

My knives have been collected so I have nothing to fight with but I don't need them. Not for these guys at least. The redhead lunges at me and I sidestep him just as a powerful leg swings towards my head in another direction. I manage to catch it and yank the guy so he falls with a loud thump. His eyes close as his skull connects with the hard floor. The CrossFit dude walks past me and instead starts fighting Jace who takes a few punches to the abdomen that he could've dodged in better circumstances.

"Hey!" I yell over my shoulder. "I'm your target, leave him alone"

Brown eyes follow me as I dodge and swing at the two people in front of me before lazily saying, "I don't fight girls."

"What—!"

The big guy grabs and flips me on the ground, making sure my back slams forcefully onto the surface. I squirm as a wave of pain travels along my spine. I was too worried about Jace to notice that Red's last attack was just a feign and his real one would be to pin me down. This is why having emotions in battle is detrimental. It's better to be heartless and win than worry and fail anyway.

"Bring the rope, Paul!" Redhead screams at the remaining guy. His rough voice resembles that of a chain smoker. I'm no doctor but I can sense the lung cancer from here.

Instead of fighting, I remain still as he aggressively pins my arms above my head. When Paul gets back with the rope he'll think I've given up which will give me one opportunity to make a move before I'm utterly screwed. Red is big so I'll need force strong enough to take him down. My ears pick up on footwork from Jace and CrossFit's fight but I refrain from turning to look. I can't. The sound of someone landing steady punches begins shaking my resolve because I have an idea who's on the receiving end of those.

"How does it feel Madison?" Todd taunts from the bed where he sits. "Knowing two people that mean a lot to you will die tonight? You do know this is all your fault, right? I might've pulled a few strings here and there but whatever you touch gets poisoned"

I bite my lip so I don't speak. Although half of what he's saying is true, I know he's just trying to get to me. The moment I let him do that is the moment he wins. Jace hollers out close to me before a body drops to the ground. It's not CrossFit because he would cause a tremor so it must be—

"Madi," Jace wheezes, sounding worse than before. "Don't listen to him. None of that stuff is true. Just keep—"

"Shut him up!" Todd growls. "I'll deal with that traitor after I reclaim my woman"

A loud grunt echoes before the room goes silent again. My fists clench in anger.

"Here's the rope, Mike" Paul reenters and hands a coil of rope to my aggressor.