I was groggy and my head hung low as Dodge made another trip down to visit me. He would tap the tube and replace the now full vial of deep red blood with an empty one. He was becoming easily greedy.

He didn't say anything, just gave me a pat on the head before leaving and whispering a few words to Archer, who as usual stood on guard. It was not like I was going to be able to go anywhere, but I supposed he was also making sure I remained alive.

I closed my eyes, listening to the silence that now filled my ears.

Archer didn't bother speaking, I guessed he figured I wouldn't or couldn't understand anymore.

I was slowly succumbing to darkness, about to give in when a sudden defining thud above the basement snapped my head up.

It was nightfall and all that lit the basement was the dangling light bulb above my head.

I listened intently as the thudding grew louder and louder. They were mixed with groans and grunts. Archers head snapped upwards towards the stairs. He quickly looked down at me and smiled with a wink.

"Play time" He sung happily before darting up the stairs.

Instantly my attention was on the stairs that led upwards.

What was going on?

My breathing became frantic as I listened to the banging and grunting sounding loudly overhead. I had to do something, I had to use this time to at least try and escape.

With the little strength I had left, I started to wriggle my numb arms from the rope. I struggled, pulling and pushing as the rope only cut into my weak flesh.

Changing tactics, I leaned my head down as far as I could and bit my teeth into the end of the ropes knot, pulling it with all my force, feeling my teeth protest.

I gnawed at it, desperate.

Surprisingly, the knot was coming loose, and I began to pull my arm again, feeling it loosen with more of the force I applied.

I felt a rush of excitement, yanking it with more strength than I thought possible.

Within a minute, it finally budged and I erratically twisted, freeing my arm.

Instantly, I rushed to undo the other rope that was strangulating my bloodied arm.

I ignored the nauseating feeling that formed in the pit of my stomach. The mere sight of the releasing blood, dripping into another vial causing me to feel sick.

My head snapped up to the roof of the basement and the staircase when the thuds slammed against the floor.

It didn't take long for me to conjure up ideas of what was going on. In the back of my mind, I hoped it was Duke, finally coming to my rescue. But I refused to get my hopes up. I couldn't.

I could however, automatically assume that whatever was going on was probably going to end in multiple deaths. To who's side, I had no idea.

I continued pulling at the rope and within seconds it was loose, falling to the floor at my feet. I stared at my arm and decided that I'd just have to pull it, quick. It could either go well enough to let me run free, or simply make me sick enough to pass out.

The booms above me continued, I took a deep inhaled breath and decided that I had to be strong and do something to help myself.

With two fingertips I gripped the needle end, closed my eyes and yanked it out. I bit through my bottom lip to silence the scream that threatened to release. As soon as it was pulled free, I dropped it to the floor and held my other hand over the large wound in my arm. Heavy blood flowed, so I held it tight and applied enough nail biting pressure to stop the bleeding.

I grit my teeth and stood up slowly, wobbling and stumbling. I remained still for a moment, containing my thoughts, controlling my body, and then I began to slowly walk towards the staircase.

It probably wasn't a good idea to be heading straight up towards the battle scene. But it was the only way out, and I had to see what was going on for myself.

As I took on the first few steps, I winced with pain as it shot through my entire body. I forced my body up, using my good arm to guide my body when the door was pushed violently open, falling off its hinges.

I felt a wash of worry run through me, was this my end? Who would be the one to end me?

As my eyes adjusted, a glimmer of hope entered my reality. I could see a man standing at the top of the stairs, a man that I had been hoping it to be. Duke.

I smiled weakly and pushed away whatever pain I felt. His eyes were black, focused as he rushed at me, pulling my weak frame up into a long awaited embrace.

His face dug into the nape of my neck as he gripped me tightly.

His hand brushed over my knotted hair, my arms around his lean body, tightly pressed against his.

This is where I belonged. This was where I felt safe. He was my home, he was where I forever wanted to be.

Despite how much I wanted to stay the way we were, he pulled away, holding me up by my waist. He snapped his head around, looking over his shoulder. I looked where he was, and could see that there was still fighting going on upstairs.

As fast as I could blink, Ryde's aggressive face came rushing towards us. Duke held me behind him as Parry lunged for him in an attempt to stop his imminent attack. I could no longer see what was happening as Duke's broad back was blocking my view.

I could hear and see Dukes arm swing, then within a flash, his fist went forward, punching Ryde straight in the face, sending him flying backwards against Parry.

"Get her out of here!" Parry grunted as another loud bang sounded and vibrated through the floor. Duke instantly turned to me and picked me up like a small child, cradling me against his chest.

"Close your eyes" He told me in a deep commanding voice. I did as I was told and squeezed them shut as the wind whirled around me and made my head dizzy.

After a few minutes, it stopped and Duke was still, placing me gently down on something soft.

I smelt familiarity that I'd craved for the past week and when I opened my eyes I wondered if I had actually died or was dreaming.

I was back in Dukes home, lying against his soft satin bed as he looked down at me.

His hand was suddenly on my face, tracing the lines of dried blood along my nose and mouth. Slowly, his eyes returned to a soft gold, drenched in worry.

He moved to my arm in which I still held immense pressure against.

He lifted my hand and examined it as blood now dripped. It wasn't as heavy as it had been, but it was still leaking. He pushed my hand back against it, getting up and disappearing for a moment before returning.

He had the familiar little cream coloured box that he'd used to fix my neck wounds.

He pulled it open and took out a few small objects. None of which I wanted to see. It made me cringe and I pulled my face away.

"I need to clean it and close it up" He spoke, taking a hold of my hand again, removing it.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Just relax Rosie, I have to fix it before you lose any more blood" He spoke, his voice laced with urgency

"What about the others? What about Riley and Parry?" I asked croakily, rushing out my concerns for their safety

"Don't worry about them, they'll be fine" He flatly told me, dabbing liquid on my wound, something strong and wet.

I winced.

"They could die because of me" I snapped back, turning my head to look at him

"Rosie. Stop" His eyes snapped, taking a strong hold on me before returning to focus on my arm

"You have to go. Go help them before someone dies. I'll keep pressure, this can wait" I demanded as I pushed on his chest with my weak little arms

He seemed taken back as he stared at me

"Fine. But at least let me close this up" He bargained sternly as he returned his hands to my arm, staring intently at me

"Hurry then" I mumbled holding my arm back out freely

He began to wipe the area before warning me, stabbing me with a numbing needle. It took as little as a few seconds to take its toll and I could feel nothing as Duke began to stitch the gash up.

I didn't watch what he was doing, I just stared at him in disbelief that he was real, he was here. I thought for sure that I would have died alone at the bottom of the basement and now, here I was.

When he was done, he began to wrap around a bandage and within five minutes it was over. My arm was numb, and fixed, and I was quickly sitting up, pushing at his chest.

"Go Duke. Help them"

I wanted him to make sure that nobody would die because of his attention and worry over me. I was safe now. The others were not.

He grabbed a hold of my shoulders and stared at me

"Stay here. Do not move Rosie. I will be back, and I will be back with the others, safe" He spoke, moving his hands to hold my face in between his hands.

I just nodded, urging him to hurry.

Suddenly, with a quick forceful kiss to my lips, he was gone, and I was left sitting dumbfounded and sore.

Instead of playing to much into the kiss, all I could think about was being held accountable for anymore deaths, just because Duke was too busy taking care of me.

I sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand over my face, feeling the rip of dried blood pull at my skin.

With my mind racing, I decided that instead of waiting around, pacing and only making myself sick, I'd help myself. I would save Duke from doing it himself when he returned.

I walked out of Duke's room and headed up the stairs, soaking in every detail of the house I'd missed so dearly, every corner, every smell, every wall.

I had realized I'd run out of clothes, and the rest were left at the cabin, so I trailed off in search of something either in Riley's room, or hopefully something of Jaymi's.

I eventually rummaged through Riley's draws and pulled out an oversized t-shirt. I had also found a pair of Jaymi's jeans that would surely fit in a pile in her guest room.

I headed up to the bathroom to take a warm earned shower.

The water was beautiful and I let it soak into my skin as I held my face over the shower head. The warmth washed the blood, turning it soft, dripping down my body, gurgling into the drain. I kept my arms in front of me propped against the wall so my bandage wouldn't get wet, and so I could hold my weak body up without crumpling to the floor.

When I got out, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was a mess. My eyes had light purple bruises underneath them, one more severe than the other. My lip was cut from top to bottom and stung when I stretched it out.

I brushed through my hair, pulling out all the knots. I tried to do it all in a rush, hoping that I wouldn't miss the time my friends would come running back into the house, covered in dust, laughing as they told me they'd successfully taken out every enemy we had.

I walked back down the living room and took it all in. I sat on the sofa, biting my nails impatiently.

I wasn't sure how long I'd taken in the shower, or pulling knots from my hair before throwing it up into a messy bun.

The suspense was killing me. The longer it took, the more it convinced me that someone would come home hurt, or wouldn't come home at all.

When the front door finally did swing open, and the group wasn't laughing or talking about victory, I knew something had indefinitely gone wrong. I stood, my arms by my side as I watched them one by one walk in. First it was Riley as he walked towards me and weakly smiled, pulling me into a gentle hug before letting go.

Then it was Jaymi, who did the same, followed by Darius, Parry, Harris and Grant. The only ones to hug me were Jaymi and Riley, the rest simply gave me a small weak smile, and when Duke stood by the door, closing it, I almost fell to the floor in a heap.

Someone was missing.

I braced myself against the lounge behind me and stared at the group as they stood awkwardly around me. Duke was the first to walk towards me and hold a hand out. I didn't take it. I just looked at the ground and began to fight tears that formed in my eyes.

It was Seth. Seth was gone.

"I'm sorry Rosie" Dukes soft voice spoke as the tears began to fall.

This was what I had feared. I'd been responsible for the death of a friend. He was gone, and it was all because of me.

"Don't" I spoke, as Duke took another step towards me.

I didn't care for the pain that was radiating through my body. Seth was gone, and I held myself responsible.

"Who?" I asked, as I stared at the floor, tears spilling over to drip on the floor. I wanted to know who had killed him. I wanted to know if they were dead.

"Viv and Lyle" Riley answered as he, as well as the others sauntered around the room, looking at the ground.

"Are they-"

"Yes. We took them all out" Darius voiced this time, turning towards the front door, leaving as he rubbed his temples.

"They were too quick, and Seth was too slow" Parry mumbled as he held his hands over his head

"I should have been more careful. I should have watched out for him" Parry continued angrily

Jaymi began to walk towards me this time, and I didn't stop her. She was covered in dust from head to toe.

I looked her up and down. Her eyes were soft and her expression was sympathetic as she smiled at me.

"He didn't die in vain" She whispered as she reached for me, lifting a hand to rest it on my cheek "He died doing what he thought was right" She continued

I stood from the edge of the sofa "It should have been me" I spoke through gritted teeth "I should be dead, not him"

"Do you think he'd want you to say something like that Rosie? Do you think he would have risked himself for you if he didn't want to?" She tried to pull me from my guilt ridden stupor. It wasn't working.

"Don't do this to yourself. He wouldn't have wanted to listen to you talk like this" She continued again, lifting my head with her hand. I looked into her eyes as they pleaded with me.

This was my fault, this was what I hadn't wanted to happen, and if I could take back telling Seth were I was, I would, without thought.

Jaymi ran her hand in circles over my back, soothing me with her words as she led me towards the lounges, sitting down beside me. I rest my head on her shoulder as the tears continued to silently fall for a good hour. Yeah

-

"You okay?" Jaymi asked when my tears finally drained

"Yeah" I mumbled as I fiddled with my hands in front of myself

"I like your shirt by the way" She smiled as she looked me over

I smiled back at her and remembered I was wearing Riley's shirt "Suit me?"

"Does actually" She replied leaning an arm over my shoulders

"I know its hard Rosie. It's hard for all of us" She spoke, the smile vanishing as her face turned serious

"It's my fault" I looked down at my hands in my lap

"It's not. It's Lyle and Viv's fault, not yours at all" She watched me carefully

I gave in, looking up at her with a nod

"You should talk to Duke. He's pretty upset about everything. Like you do, he feels responsible"

"This whole situation is just messed up" I scoffed as I laid my head back against the lounge

"It is" Jaymi agreed before standing up in front of me "Want me to go get him?" She asked

I nodded, waiting as she left the room.

My head turned as Duke began to slowly walk towards me. The dust in his clothes and hair was gone, as his hands were shoved into his jean pockets. He had obviously showered and changed, returning to his perfect appearance.

"Hey" He greeted casually as he stopped beside the lounge, being cautious

"You can sit" I fidgeted, trying to reassure him I wouldn't bite

He walked towards me and sat beside me, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees looking sideways at me. I watched him carefully and the images of his lips forcefully on mine rushed back.

I had to restrain myself, now wasn't the time. I was being selfish.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, looking at me

I looked down at my hands

"Awesome" I replied sarcastically

He turned his body towards me, placing his hands on top of my fidgeting ones

"Rosie, there's something I have to tell you. I was going to wait for the right time but, it seems like there isn't really going to be a right time, and I'd rather get it over and done with now" He continued, watching me carefully as my heart began to thud inside my chest

I just nodded and waited for him to tell me how he really felt about me.

But he didn't.

Instead it was something that once again sent my world crashing down on top of me.

Apparently when Seth had heard my plea's they'd spent the next three days digging deep into the minds of Dodge and Ryde until they finally revealed where they were keeping me.

Once they'd planned the ambush and busted in, Dodge was already gone. They'd only taken out Ryde, Archer, Viv and Lyle.

Dodge was still out there.

He was still alive, and probably raging with anger at my escape.

I figured it wouldn't be long until he was scheming out a new, better idea of plan to take me.

I didn't bother crying. I just nodded and stared at Duke in disbelief.

Just when I thought it was all over, there was more. It was like blow after blow. There was no relief.

"I don't think he will attempt anything for a while, but there's still always the risk" Duke continued as he leaned back and held my hands in his, slowly rubbing circles around my skin with his thumbs

"So, I guess I'll be staying here longer than what I had assumed" I nodded as I watched Duke's thumbs

"Guess I'll have to get someone to clean your room up for you, and get you some new clothes too" He sighed.

I was unsure if it were a happy or a bothered sigh, I couldn't quite tell.

"We could always swap rooms, you can have the upstairs and I'll have the one down here" I half joked

He just smiled "I don't think so"

The one time I had slept in his bed, was the one time I'd woken and not wanted to get up. It was probably the best night's sleep I'd had the entire time I was there. It was safe.

"How about this, you can stay down here until yours is fixed?" He tried

"That's cheating. I know that you will be able to fix it within what, five minutes?" I commented

He seemed defeated as he laughed and stared at me.

"I might have to repeat school after all of this you know?" I told him, thinking about my normal life and wondering if the police had become involved yet.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. If you really want, you can go back. But I'll have no choice but to send Riley or Jaymi with you" He gave me a sideways tilt of his head

"No thanks" I shot back quickly, knowing that it would only cause more problems

"What about my friends, Clora?" I asked, watching him closely

"You can call her if you want. Tell her everything's okay, and you'll be gone for a little longer than expected" He continued as my eyes widened

"Really?" I asked, shocked

He nodded, "You can arrange to go and see her sometime soon too. But I will have to have someone tag along with you, just in case"

"That would be great" I smiled happily

I wanted to be happy, excited about the idea of seeing Clora again, but I couldn't. Not just yet. My wounds of loss were still fresh, stinging.

It was something that I wouldn't easily get over. Seth was far too important to me to be lost in thought.

-

By now it was about three o'clock in the morning and I was extremely exhausted and weak. Duke led me towards his room where I was to sleep. When I woke, I looked forward to having a good hearty meal.