I was wrong. I was so wrong.

All alone

I remember only seeing Dylan that once, Jenny would every so often bring me down food and Lynn only came to visit every other day because it was hard for her to waddle down all those stairs. The baby was due any day now and I might not even be there to see it. Jared would never trust me, ever again. There was no way to get out of here, I'm sure Dylan and Lynn possibly Jenny we're coming up with a plan to get us out of here. It was getting easier to breathe, my throat didn't hurt as much. I would only cough blood up every time I would get worked up. It had to of been over a week now, I wanted to feel Dylan here next to me. I would hear shouts and sometimes footsteps clicking around upstairs. The ropes were beginning to cut into my skin. I heard the basement door and click it had to be Jenny bringing me down food. But as the footsteps got closer they were louder, heavier. It was Jared.

---

Dylan's pov; the days would drag on, I hadn't eaten as much as I had the day I saw Ava. I hoped she was doing alright. I would every so often go downstairs, only when the guys were outside. I only say Chris and Jared when they would first come in, then I would go back up to my room or drag my feet over to the living room. It had to have been two weeks, Lynn said they left her down there for three or four weeks. And Chris's mom would bring her down food everyday just like my mom dose with Ava. Apparently Chris's family, mom, and dad I should say died because of my uncle Taylor. My dads brother. Chris and my dad were like brothers now, Chris never had a sibling, my dad had Taylor but then killed him after he killed most of my family. I hated it here It has been less than a month. But it felt like forever, I sat in the living room, my eyes locked on the burning fire. Jared walked in and rested his hand on my shoulder, I moved it away.

" lets go get Ava."

"Really?!"

I stood up,

" yes, but"

"But?"

" when you take her upstairs you have to let her shower, and then punish her."

"But didn't you punish her enough when you left her down there for all those days completely undressed! Not to mention you shot her!"

" don't raise your voice Dylan. Be glad I didn't shoot her dead. If there is no marks on her by the time you are down for dinner, she will get put down in the basement longer, without food. "

A lump formed in my throat as dad handed me a key, the basement key. He walked over to the basement door and had me unlock it, he pushed me behind him as he walked slowly in front of me. We reached the bottom of the steps, he made me stay on the last step so Ava couldn't see me. Tears started to fall down my cheeks, I couldn't hurt her, I would have to come up with a punishment that wouldn't leave a mark. But would still be enough for dad to be happy. I heard mumbles, dad pulled me down next to Ava, her eyes widened. Her skin was pale, blood was still splashed against her skin, but it was now flaking. I quickly undid all of the ropes, she shot up and wrapped her arms around me, I unzipped my hoodie and wrapped it around her, I didn't want anyone to see her body. Dad started to clean up the basement, I through the key on the ground and held Ava's hand as we went upstairs. Lynn's eyes shot up, she smiled and jumped up from her seat. She waddled over to Ava and gave her a gentle hug, Chris pulled Lynns shoulder and sat her back down.

" Lynn, I heard Jared say Dylan has some punishments to take care of, leave him to it."

"What?" Ava's voice was raspy and soft, I shook my head,

" yeah I have to."

Moms eyes widened as she turned pale, she thought I was really going to do it, Ava started to cry. I didn't want her to cry, I grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs. We walked into the room, Ava dropped my red hoodie to the floor,

" you have to take a shower first, but I'm not going to hurt you."

Ava nodded her head , I pulled out a black T-shirt of mine and a pair of leggings. I handed them to her, this would be the first time she would be taking a shower here. I watched as she quietly walked out of the room.

Ava's pov; I started to shake as Jared spoke. His voice was deep, his foot was wrapped, he limped everywhere he walked.

" don't you ever pull something like that again. You're lucky I didn't kill you. I should have, you are a mistake. "

"Yes."

" good."

Dylan stepped out behind Jared. I started to cry, but not a lot. I didn't want to cry in front of Jared. I let a few tears fall down my cheeks. Dylan unlaced the rope that had dug into my pale skin. My body was uncovered. I was cold, and I was greasy. Dylan saw my body and quickly unzipped his hoodie and wrapped it around me as we embraced in a hug, finally. Finally, I could be with Dylan. I laced my hand through Dylan's and we walked up the cold steps and Jared stayed in the basement. He started to clean, as we walked into the kitchen I saw Lynn, her eyes widened. She stood up and waddled over to me. Her stomach was bigger now, I can't believe she had been here for more than 3 years. How did she do it, we weren't even here for a whole month yet. The days seemed to drag on. Lynn hugged me, I tried to hug her back as there was a giant gap in between us. Chris broke our hug, he pushed Lynn back down into the stool. Her glasses slid off of her face as she put them back on.

" Lynn, I heard Jared say Dylan has some punishments to take care of, leave him to it." Chris voice rang through my ears. Dylan was going to hurt me, I took a few steps away from him. I managed to croak out a word from my dry throat.

"What?" I could feel a lump form in my throat.

"Yeah I have too." I saw Lynn's eyes start to tear up, she wanted to say something but before she did I shook my head so she wouldn't get punished herself. I couldn't control it, the tears ran down my cheeks, dylan grabbed my hand. I didn't want him touching me, I tried to pull away as he tightened his grip. He pulled me up the stairs. We walked into the room, I dropped Dylan's red hoodie to the ground,

" you have to take a shower first, but I'm not going to hurt you." I nodded my head. I didn't want to say anything. I really didn't have the strength to say anything. I just wanted the warm water to finally hit my back, I was so tired of this dirty feeling. Dylan dug through our dresser and handed me some clothes. I grabbed them and quietly made my way to the bathroom. As I got there I shut the door, I realized there was a lock, I quickly twisted it, and turned the handle. It locked, I smiled. This was a safe place. Even if I couldn't stay in here forever, or Jared could easily break down the door. This was my safe place, away from all of them. Jared, Chris, Dylan, Lynn, Jenny, everyone. I walked over to the mirror, my hair had grown out a bit past my shoulders now. I hated it, i didn't know if I would get in trouble or not but I didn't care anymore. I looked through all the cupboards and found a pair of dull scissors. I grabbed handfuls of my hair and cut away at it. I cut and cut and cut. I cut away at the front and the back, I threw all of the hair into the sink and turned on the water, all the hair ran down the drain. My hair was now choppy but this was the shortest I ever had it, i almost cut it all off. I had my hair almost like Dylan's now. Mine curled more and mine was a blonde brown. Sat down on the edge of the tub, I started the shower to make it seem like I had just got in, but before I did I dug the scissors into my thigh. Jared would think Dylan did it. I continued to slice away at my skin. When I was done, blood ran down my leg, I put the scissors away and got into the shower. My hair was so short now that it didn't take much to wash it. I cleaned up my body, I was careful of the bullet wound. It stung as the hot water ran down it. I got out and dried off. My hair curled close to my head. Strands of it were choppy and wavy. I slipped on the clothes Dylan had handed to me, I walked into the room. Dylan was sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes widened when he saw me. I lowered my gaze to the floor, he walked over to me,

" wow you're, beautiful "

"Thank you,"

He tilted my head upward and kissed me gently, I kissed back, just then an idea struck my head.

"Dylan!"

"What?"

"You have to pretend to rape me."

"W-what?"

" you have to punish me without leaving a mark, tell them you raped me. Tell them cutting me obviously wasn't working. "

A smile ran across Dylan's face,

"Ok."

" we have to make this seam real."