When the Clock Strikes Midnight

6:15 pm

A/N: WARNING. THIS CHAPTER IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF HEART. There are other chapters that are worse than this, but this chapter took a long time to write because of how ghastly it is. It is also very long, so I will take some time to work on my other story before continuing on this one again. Thank you guys for reading. And if you want to skip this chapter, please go ahead and do so.

A jolt shakes through me and I startle awake, my memory quickly coming back to me. I try to move my hands but they are still handcuffed together. I pull gently and feel some resistance, letting me know that I am still attached to Elizabeth. I can also feel the cloth over my eyes, letting me know that my blindfold is still on. I can hear other groans throughout the van before I hear a door slide open. I pull Elizabeth to me, hoping that she is also awake. I hear her whispering but I ignore it, instead forcing my other senses to figure out what's going on. Before I can identify anything I feel someone grab my arm and start to drag me from the car. I quickly pull Elizabeth along but not as roughly as I am pulled out of the vehicle. I find my balance and balance Elizabeth out before getting pulled along. I can feel some grass brushing against my ankles, and a cool but fresh breeze gently moving my hair. We walk for a couple of minutes, letting me know that we are parked fairly far from our actual destination. We finally get inside and the warm air engulfs me, the air smelling sweetly of bread. We shuffle along until I hear a door open and close. After a couple of seconds the doors open and close again then a voice can be heard ringing through the room.

"You guys have successfully made it back to where you need to be! There are keys in the center of the room to remove your handcuffs. Please remove your cuffs and blindfolds, then sit on the couches. Thank you." The voice cuts off quickly and I realize that it must be a recording. I bring my hands up, being careful not to pull on Elizabeth's arm too much, and bring down my blindfold. I blink, the brightness of the room making my eyes sting. After a couple of seconds my vision adjusts and I gasp. We are in the exact same room. The couches, the floor, the library walls, the curtains. They are all exactly the same. I start taking deep breaths, focusing on freeing myself and Elizabeth instead of freaking out. I gently bring down Elizabeth's blindfold and give her a couple of seconds to adjust before turning her to face me.

"Elizabeth, we need to go to the center of the room so that we can get these handcuffs off. Can you do that?" She nods, her breathing starting to quicken but determination burning in her eyes. We move to the center of the room, where everyone else has already started unlocking their cuffs. We get there and Jackson sees me. He quickly comes over and uncuffs Elizabeth first, making it so that she can get up and run over to Veronica. Veronica wraps her arms around her and looks over at me, tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. Jackson uncuffs me and quickly wraps me up into a hug. I instantly break down, knowing that I don't need to be strong for him. He hugs me tighter, whispering into my ear while I cry. After a couple of minutes I calm down enough to pull away from him. He looks into my eyes, a couple tears escaping his.

"I missed you so much Peach. Are you okay? What did that fucker do to you?" My eyes widen, not expecting him to call Micheal that. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes before speaking again.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so mad at him. It wasn't even a part of their plan what he did to you. And I just want to know. So that I can make it better." I look down at my hands, knowing that he can't make it better. He gently lifts my chin up and I flinch, but let him do it anyway. He gently rubs my bottom lip, the warmth of his touch filling up the cracks that Micheal created.

"It was so bad, Jackson. So bad. He tortured us. All of us. For days on end. I don't know how long we were all gone, but it felt like years that we were down there. He did so many awful things to us. I don't even wanna talk about it. It was awful. And I want to forget about it. So bad. But he left so many scars Jackson. So many scars. He made sure that we will never forget him. There were so many times down there when I wanted to die. I didn't want to keep going. But I had to. And then there's Elizabeth. She has been there for years. Quite literally. And I don't think that he ever actually hurt her. But she was still locked up there. For years. So I stayed strong. I stayed strong for her. I stayed strong for the others. But I don't want to have to be strong anymore. Hell, I don't want to even be here anymore. He hurt me, Jackson." Jackson pulls me into another hug and I start crying again, fear and hurt and pain coursing through me. Jackson starts rubbing my back when suddenly he gasps. I pull away from him, looking at him curiously. A tear runs down his face as he swallows, looking pale.