|Prologue|

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Dedicated to every and anyone who stumbles upon this book, and decides to read.
You have my immense appreciation.

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Brynn screamed her lungs out.

Her scream like a banshee's in the dead hours of the night, the alcohol fueling her system with a false sense of control over what though, she didn't know.

The music reverberated over the large hall, and it seemed to ring in her soul as her body swayed to the beats of the song. Her dress clung to all the wrong places; but at that moment, she couldn't care less. How often did she get to wear a dress, especially one as revealing as what she had on? What with the chilliness of Crymont.

It was the middle of August, the end of summer was drawing near and she would spend every last minute of it getting tanned in the day and partying hard at night. What else was there to live for?

As she danced, she could see Sasha and Lionel shoving their faces into each other, in what others would call a kiss. Lionel wrapped his buffy hands around Sasha, drawing her so close to him that Brynn wondered if there was any room left to breathe.

She turned her eyes away from them suddenly feeling like an intruder. The music changed to a slow one and as several couples began to dance to the music, she left the dance floor to one of the lounges in the club, there she found one of Crymont's model couple making out, they scrambled away in fear when they saw her; leaving the lounge empty.

Brynn scoffed and sat on one of the couches, lighting a cigarette, she began to smoke. The high of it exhilarated her and she slowly relaxed into the feeling. If only her mother could see her now, could see the sixteen year old she had turned into, she would be appalled.

She let out a puff of smoke, her mother would probably recite one of those lines that say "smoking is bad for ones lungs". She let out a laugh, she could just imagine it, her mother with her wavy blonde hair and striking grey eyes looking down at her with disapproval etched on them, she would have...

A sudden presence beside her stopped her train of thoughts, she turned to see a waiter with a tray of drink in his hand, the dim light of the club kept his face out of view. He stretched the tray out to her and she took the glass from it.

"I didn't order a drink." Brynn said as she took a sip of the whiskey, it went down her throat with a burning sensation.

"It's on the house." was all he said as he dropped the tray on the couch beside her then walked away from the lounge.

Brynn was too high to wonder why she would receive a drink on the house and why he would leave the tray with her, or that the waiter didn't seem familiar to her—considering the fact that she knew all the workers at the club. She instead, enjoyed the drink and smoked her lungs out.

Few minutes after she had gobbled down the contents of the glass, she dropped it back on the tray only to notice the piece of paper that lay there folded. Dropping her cigarettes, she pried the paper open but the light was too dim to read the words written on it. So she retrieved her phone from her purse and turned on the flashlight.

Meet me outside if you want to know your father's secret.

Brynn reread the note countless times, still she couldn't make sense of it. It was no surprise to her that her father had a secret, he was a politician and they all kept secrets. What did it have to do with her? Feeling a little dizzy, she walked out of the lounge, everything suddenly began to go blurry and a thought began to brew in her mind.

She climbed up the lone staircase to the manager's office, the light in the office shone brighter than the club but to Brynn, it was hazy.

Craig got to his feet immediately, "Brynn." he called out.

Her breath came out short and uneven and she could feel an intense pounding on her chest, that thought started to take more shape.

"Did you recently employ a waiter?" she asked, her head began to spin.

"What?"

"Answer the question!" her voice came out louder than she wanted , the pressure on her chest building.

"No, no I didn't. I have no right to employ anyone without your permission." Craig said, he moved round the table to stand beside her.

"I see."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

But Brynn was already walking out the door, the thought had taken full shape.

She had been drugged by the so called waiter.

She stumbled down the stairs, barely able to keep her foot on the ground. There was a loud ringing in her ears and everything was a haze. Just as she thought she would fall, a hand caught her. Brynn looked up to see the eyes of the waiter who had given her the drink.

Panic filled her, she struggled against his hold but his hands held her in a firm grip.

"Don't be scared, you're only a means to an end." he leaned closer, "maybe if you behave well, he'll let you live."

"Why?" was all she said before the darkness took her.

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