𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐌𝐄

─ ❝ act xliii ❞

⎡ act xliii - secrecy⎦

┊❝ I'm so glad you're safe... ❞┊

── "SHIT!" (Y/N) hissed quietly under her breath due to the rawness of her wrists after consistently sawing her handcuffs against the wooden beam it was connected to, trying to whittle the wood away enough to break free.

Unfortunately, the process was slow going.

Gritting her teeth and pushing through the pain, her eye twitching from the burning feeling that arced it's way up her arms, she continued the sawing actions with her hands until she felt as if they were about to fall off her body. Thankfully, her determination paid off when the wooden beam snapped, allowing her to slide the handcuff's chain out, freeing her. Not wasting even a second, she scrambled off of the bed and awkwardly ran towards the door, cursing the handcuffs that limited her movements.

Cautiously opening the door so the hinges wouldn't shriek out, (Y/N) poked her head out of the room and swallowed thickly in relief when finding no one. Creeping out into the silent hall, she tried to quiet her breathing the best she could, albeit struggling when feeling her heart pounding rapidly against her chest due to a confounding mix of both fear and absolute adrenaline.

This is not fucking real.

This is not fucking real.

Feeling a bead of cold sweat drip down her temple, she stiffened when hearing Dylan's and Ian's voices drifted from a room not too far away. Since she needed to travel that way to exit the house anyways, she faltered at the door so she could listen in, her brows furrowed from what she was hearing.

"We finally have her, yet why does it still feel as if she isn't ours?" Dylan uttered with a rather psychotic edge to his tone, tapping his fingers against his arms due to the way they were currently folded over his chest.

"What do you expect?" Ian scoffed, sitting opposite Dylan. "All we need to do is wait."

"Fuck that," Dylan snapped as he stood up and began pacing in agitation, unknowingly making (Y/N) flinch from the sudden movement however the boy ending up staring out of the large floor to ceiling windows, watching the shadows racing across the sky in an eerie sunset. "Shouldn't we show her what we've done for her? Not only did we get Carmen, but we have that fucker Sawyer as well. We can use them—if not Carmen, Sawyer—for her compliance."

(Y/N) jolted at that.

They have Sawyer... here.

And they'll hurt him.

Knowing that she couldn't just leave the boy who had helped her so much with those who would no doubt revel in torturing him or whatever else that had planned to do to him, she glanced down the long hallway before deciding on quickly searching the room just to see if she could find him. If she couldn't in the next five minutes, she would have no choice but to leave him and hopefully return with the police in time to save him. Breathing in deeply, she began to quietly open doors and close them when finding nothing within the rooms.

That is, until she came to the final door at the very end of the hall.

Opening the door and glancing around the room, she found herself in an office of some sort with a wooden desk in the center with a beautifully woven carpet underneath, the dark drapes on the wall pulled back to reveal another set of floor to ceiling windows whilst multiple books sat on shelves with potted plants below dotting the space. Just when she thought nothing was strange about the room, she halted when noticing a strange bulge to the carpet that she knew was unnatural.

Maybe a trapdoor?

Only one way to find out.

Just as she was about to pull the carpet back, she flinched when hearing something crash just a couple rooms away, waiting in tense silence for a few seconds for the alarm that would raise due to her disappearance. Yet, nothing came—no shouting, no pounding footsteps, nothing. In hindsight, she presumed Dylan was lashing out once more, and had thrown something expensive or other. Letting out a breath, she threw back the carpet, and like she thought, was awarded with the sight of a small door.

Sawyer might be here...

But what if he's not?

What if it's something... worse?

Shuddering, however steeling her nerves, she turned the handle to pull open the small door open, finding stone steps that descended further into the room. Trying to quell the fear that bubbled up inside her, she followed the steps down until hitting a cement-like floor. Almost immediately, muffled screams hit her ears since, sitting slouched against the opposite wall, were a tied up Carmen and Sawyer. Both looked at her with pleading eyes, and from the looks of it, both had been subjected to extreme abuse to be dragged down into this pit.

Placing a finger over her mouth in a 'shh' motion to get the two to quiet down, she fearfully glanced above her, yet still, no footsteps were heard.

"Be quiet!" She whispered hastily as she knelt by Sawyer's side to begin untying him, struggling due to the handcuffs that still wrapped around her wrists and bound her hands together out in front of her. "Dylan and Ian might hear you! I don't know how long we can stay out until they notice I'm gone, so we need to hurry!"

Once the tape was ripped off of his mouth, Swayer exclaimed, "(Y/N)! When I woke up here after Dylan and Ian kidnapped me, I could only imagine the worst. I'm so glad you're safe."

"We're not safe yet," (Y/N) shook her head, finishing untying him and allowing him to stand.

He flicked his gaze down to Carmen.

(Y/N) did the same.

"Are you... going to free her?" Sawyer asked after a moment, looking away from the girl who looked up at them with a desperate gaze, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and smearing the mascara she wore when they ran down her face. "She was horrible to you, so I get it if you want to leave her. When we call the police, they'll save her, but... there's also a chance she could be hurt, or worse, killed beforehand."

(Y/N) squeezed her eyes shut.

She wanted to leave Carmen.

She really did.

The burn scars on her arm seemed to sizzle upon remembrance of what Carmen did, her condescending laughter ringing in her ears.

She hated Carmen.

There was no doubt.

But, she hated Dylan and Ian more.

And she didn't know if she wanted to give them the satisfaction of corrupting her.

Kneeling down to untie Carmen, knowing she would probably regret it, (Y/N) didn't notice the way Sawyer smiled down softly at her before he too began helping with unbinding the rope. When the tape was taken off of Carmen's mouth, (Y/N) expected insults or slurs, but all she received was a single nod of gratitude. She turned away from Carmen, bitterness welling up inside of her, but she willed herself to be the better person.

She had to.

If not, she would be just like Carmen—more so, she would be just like Dylan and Ian.

__________________________________

To be continued...