My best friend's brother and my brother's best friend (2016)

Clean Breaks

"Dani ... will you please give it a rest?" Josh exhales deeply as he desperately cradles his head in his hands.

I take another deep breath as I gather all my strength one last time and rattle the cold bars as vigorously as I can.

"We can't just do nothing!" I insist, ignoring my own stupidity as I change my tactic and persist in trying to prise our way out with my own hands. "How long have we even been here? It's got to be midday now at least, they have to be looking for us!"

"And where are they going to look?" Josh sighs, fiddling with his hands as he stares down at the floor.

"They'll have to know something. Mason will have to know something ..." I stop as soon as I think of him, feeling instantly betrayed. How much does he know? Why didn't he tell his family about the type of people he's got involved with? Why did he even need to borrow money in the first place?

His only response is to look up and straight in my eye with that pained expression. The silence between us is deafening and all I can hear is a distant dripping sound echoing throughout the damp room. I creep towards him and carefully scrunch up my dress as I  kneel down in front of him.

"It's - I mean - we're going to be ok Josh. I promise." I state firmly through gritted teeth.

He nods back, doing a good job at hiding his quivering lip. Suddenly his eyes shoot down to my stomach, to where the delicate fabric has been torn from the cattle prod. I swallow the lump that's beginning to form in my throat and with a few rapid blinks, the flashback's gone.

"Dani ..." he trails off as I see tears brimming in his eyes. "Did they ..."

"It doesn't matter ..." I reply, continuing to brush off any more impending emotion. "Look I need to scope out this place, work out how we can get out of here. If we can just ..."

I'm cut off by the door swinging open and slamming hard against the wall. An ominous looking man stomps inside in a sturdy fashion, glaring harshly at us. He seems so familiar ...

"You!" I blurt out without filtering my words as I realise it's the very same guy I caught arguing with Mason during his club's opening night now so long ago.

He doesn't respond, simply gives me a harsh glare as I flash Josh an apologetic eye when he prods me warningly in my spine. The nameless guard simply shoves a bottle of water through the bars and a lukewarm paper bag.

"Well that's lunch sorted I suppose," I say flatly as I retrieve a stale ham sandwich and carefully tear it in two.

"Dani! You can't talk like that ... he heard what you were saying," Josh hisses, glancing with paranoia at the door.

Wow, he doesn't even seem like Josh anymore. The cute but cockily flirtatious boy is now practically a ghost of himself.

"Just promise me you'll keep quiet and to yourself and we will get out of here," he insists further before refusing my offer to share our designated food and laying back with a groan.

I give him a small nod before stretching out and shuffling down to lay on the floor next to him. We lay like sardines on our backs next to each other, doing our best to get comfortable on the uneven, damp floor. My eyelids begin to fall heavily as I realise that other than being knocked into unconsciousness, I've not slept since the night before Cara's birthday over a day ago. I'm beginning to nod off into a proper sleep when I feel Josh's hand gently reach out between us and carefully take mine. Even in the dire situation we're in, I almost feel a smile forming on my lips yet again from him.

***

Whatever amount of kip I do manage to get is cruelly cut short with the sound of the door banging open again and the chaotic sound of men raging into the room.