Rory looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing her old clothes. They were baggy and as she looked at herself, she realised how much weight she had lost from being in captivity. The fabric seemed to swallow her.

Her stomach wound had healed, she could move easily now with ease. Her arm still burned from Jerome's carving, the bandage keeping the letters covered and out of sight. Rory couldn't look at herself for long, or else she would start to panic. Thoughts of her father, of the curse, of what she had done to herself would come flooding back if she stared herself in the eye. She only stood in the mirror to make sure she was still there, not to look at herself. The girl that looked back, all though strange and unfamiliar was still a comfort to see. She was glad to know she hadn't faded out of existence.

She looked at Lola through the mirror who was looking at herself nervously, she too had lost weight. The two women were ghosts of themselves. Rory knew what she was thinking. Now that Rory has healed, Lola was no longer needed by Jerome.

"I don't think I'm going to get out of here, Rory," she said.

Rory turned from the mirror sharply with a frown. Both of them knew deep down that Lola's time was running out, but neither of them wanted to let go of the possibility of escaping. Rory walked over to the nurse and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get through this Lola, we'll look back on this in ten years and know that everything was okay in the end." Rory comforted.

Lola turned to look at her, tears in her eyes.

"God I hope that happens." She said, her voice wavering as she started to cry.

"So do I," Rory responded.

The two of them embraced and held each other. Rory knew that she wouldn't escape Jerome. That hope had left her when he had carved his initials into her. She had made her bed with him and now she must lie with him. But she hoped that Lola could get out of this, at least one of them would get that chance of leading a normal life again.

Their hug was cut short when the door of the small, dank room opened. One of Jerome's henchmen stood in the doorway. He had bright blue hair that was spiked up in a long mohawk. Rory could see the faint glow of insanity around him.

"You need to come with me," he said bluntly.

The two women let go of each other. Rory hadn't been outside of that small room and as she stepped through the door, a wave of anxiety crashed over her. She was completely exposed now, Jerome could do anything to her.

They followed the blue-haired henchman through a maze of corridors. All of them were dark and grey. Every now and then they would walk past an iron door, that looked like a prison cell. All around them they could hear yelling and laughter, the echos of madness were everywhere. The further away from the room they got, the more afraid Rory grew.

Rory's heart was in her throat.

Then the henchman stopped. They were standing outside a wide door. Unlike the others that they had passed this one was wooden and painted purple.

"He's waiting for you in there," the blue-haired boy giggled before opening the door.

Rory and Lola were hesitant to enter, both of them terrified as to what was going to happen. From the back of the room, the two could hear chatter. Jerome's voice cackling louder over the rest of the men that were surrounding him.

"They're here sir," the blue-haired man announced.

The room fell silent as the inhabitants of the room turned to look at Lola and Rory. Lola took the first step into the room, finding a small rush of courage for the two of them. Neon lights decorated the walls and the men surrounding Jerome were all dressed in white labcoats. It was a very peculiar image and Rory couldn't tell if she was dreaming or not. Jerome was sitting at a desk in the centre of the room. There was a chair next to him and a chair facing him.

"Sit," he commanded.

The blue-haired henchman guided the girls to the seats. Lola sat on the chair facing Jerome. Rory stood next to her and watched Jerome stand up and pull out the chair next to him. He had a terrifying smile on his face as he did this. Rory didn't even bother to fight against it and just sat next to the psychopath. This smile grew wider at Rory's compliance and Jerome sat back down next to Rory.

On the desk in front of them was an intricately designed metal box.

"I must say," Jerome started as he looked at Lola, "you've been very good to my girl over this past month."

Lola looked pale, queasy.

She didn't respond, only gave a weak, forced smile at Jerome's words.

"I mean you practically saved Rory's life, which is something that I am very grateful for!" He said through a laugh, leaning towards the table as he said this.

Again, Lola didn't respond.

Jerome looked at her face for a moment, his smile had dropped. Lola shivered as she met his gaze, his expression was terrifying. Then this scary face cracked and he let out a low, menacing chuckle. He leaned back and put his arm back around Rory.

"So, as a sign of my gratitude, this is a gift, for you....er....?"

"L-Lola," she stuttered out in response to his confusion.

"Lola, yes!" He laughed.

"Think of it as a thank you for keeping Rory here alive." He said with a smile.

Lola looked at the box cautiously, then up at Rory. Both of the girls had an overwhelming feeling of dread in their stomachs. Rory knew that the box was not good news.

"Well go on!" Jerome spoke again, breaking a tense moment of silence.

"Open it!" He commanded with a smile.

Lola drew the box close to her.

Slowly she unlatched the lid. It fell back and as Lola peered into the content of the box, the body of a clown doll popped up making both Lola and Rory jump. A terrifying recorded chuckle came from the box.

Suddenly the men surrounding them quickly placed gas masks over their faces and Jerome roughly pulled Rory into him to stop her from running to her friend.

"Lola!" She screamed but she was silenced by Jerome, who placed his hand over her mouth and pinched her nose.

"I'd hold ur breath, love," Jerome murmured as he held her close to him.

"Rory!" Lola yelled as she quickly stood from her seat.

The sound of a light hissing filled the room and a purple gas was breathed out from the mouth of the jack-in-the-box. The smoke curled around Lola as she watched in horror.

Lola started to cough, quickly collapsing to the floor as she tried to catch her breath.

"R-ror-y" she spluttered as she tried to reach for her friend for help.

Rory was struggling against Jerome, trying to get to Lola but his grip on her was too tight and she was growing weaker from Jerome suffocating her. She was sobbing as she watched Lola splutter and gasp on the ground.

This couldn't be happening, Lola was going to get out, Lola was going to get a second chance.

A white foam started to form from Lola's mouth as she struggled for breath and her body started to convulse from the poison. Then in an instant, Lola stilled and all that Rory could see through her tears was the blurry outline of her friend's body.