The now familiar clicking of a lock rang through the shoebox room, exhilarating the drumming of my heart. I hastily shut my eyes while regulating the rising and falling of my chest, feigning sleep. My ears strained to listen to every creak of the hardwood floor, wanting to anticipate Xander's every step.

I could hear him walk towards me, his strides sloppier than usual. I stiffened when he stopped beside my bed, the hair on my arm standing in fear. He proceeded to trace the tip of his finger on the surface of my face, excruciatingly slow while I struggled not to shudder in displeasure.

"I missed you Mel, so much" he whispered, now using his palm to caress my cheek. His breath blew against my face, the stench of alcohol forcing my nose to scrunch up in disgust. I however, didn't make a move to open my eyes. Hoping he would eventually leave.

Horror griped me when his lips suddenly crashed on mine. I winced in pain at the pressure he was putting on my cracked lips, my body furiously jerking away from him. I roughly wiped the back of my hand against my mouth, getting rid of the ghost of his lips.

"Don't...don't do that!" He slurred, swaying slightly.

I dug my back further into the wall at the realisation of his drunken state. His eyes were an uncharacteristic shade of red, a delirious look lacing his flushed features.

He easily stretched over the small distance between us, painfully gripping my jaw before tugging me towards him. His lips crashed on mine again, this time harder. I tried to move my head to the side but his hand on my chin held me firmly. His revoltingly wet lips moved over mine, but I could barely feel them.

It was like I had been transported back to two years ago, the dreadful night making an appearance once again. I remember how he threatened to take advantage of me, how he mercilessly ripped up my clothes in a dark corner. I wasn't going to let him have his way, I'd rather die.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I began to thrush against him, try to fight his intoxicated body off me. I fought past the discomfort in my limbs, flaring my arms at his chest. He only responded by pushing me closer to him, the uncomfortable position causing my abdomen to flare up in excruciating pain.

Thinking fast, I clamped my teeth on his lower lip, biting on it until I tested metallic blood. He groaned against my mouth before roughly shoving me away from him, cursing as he tended to his bleeding lip. I didn't give him time to recover, jumping off the bed and running for the door.

I could only see my destination, everything else fading as I flew up the stairs. My trembling hands reached for the door handle, twisting it multiple times. Tears pricked at my eyes as I continued to tug on the handle, the realization that the door wouldn't open hit me like a truck.

Tears of frustration leaked from my eyes as I furiously rattled the door, not wanting to accept that I was still trapped. My head painfully collided with the hard door, an unbearable splitting occurring on the right side of my skull. My vision blurred momentarily as I yelped in pain, a hand roughly tugging at my hair.

"You want to leave me?!" He shouted, using my hair to turn my body to face him. Veins crawled at the side of his forehead, his eyes doubling in size as his nose flared "I'm not going to let you leave me again!" He slammed the back of my head on the door again, black spots dotting my vision.

I whimpered, shaking my head as my tears continued to roll my down cheeks.

"Its him isn't it? You want to go back to him...huh?!" He pulled my hair harder, forcing my neck to crane at an odd angle. He had to be talking about Holden, he was the only other guy I had ever gotten involved with.

"I- I don't" I shook my head furiously, ignoring the loud ringing in my ears.

"I'm never letting you leave again, Melody. Not again" everything he had been saying made no seance but even in my dizzy state the name sounded familiar. Melody was the girl that died in the accident together with my brother four years ago, Xander's childhood love.

Did he think I was her? He had called me by her name twice now. It would shed light on a lot things, for instance the fact that he claimed he loved me when I knew he despised me. For a second I felt pity for him, the loss of Melody had drove him to insanity.

"I'm not her...I'm not Melody" I tried to get it through to him.

"Stop...just -just stop!" He shouted, cradling his head between his hands while squeezing his eyes shut "why are you doing this? Don't you love me anymore?" His sounded agitated as his eyes bore pleadingly into mine. He was nothing like the Xander in knew, he seamed out of sorts.

"I -I love you" I swallowed the bitterness at the back of my throat, the words slicing through my tongue. The only way I would be able to escape is if I managed to make him lower his guard down. The only way I could do this is by playing along to obscene fantasy and this was by being Melody.

"Really?" He dropped his arms to his side, waiting for my confirmation. I nodded stiffly, not meeting his eyes.

A smile lit up his face as he circled an arm around my waist. I struggled to suppress my immediate response to rip my lips from his when he made a move to kiss me again. I pushed at his chest lightly, swallowing my disgust as I gave him a smile.

"I'm still tired but the bed hear is too uncomfortable" I crossed my fingers in hopes that he would take the bait. My chances of escaping would be higher if I wasn't locked in a basement.

"Oh, you can sleep in our room, the bed there is much more comfortable. You have to promise you won't try to escape again" his face lost its softness as he stared at me seriously, like a warning.

"I promise" I said thickly.

He retrieved a single key from his pocket, inserting it in the door before unlocking it. His arm immediately went around my waist once we stepped into the old kitchen, guiding me through the house before stopping at a stained white door opposite the bathroom.

My eyes traveled around the room, grasping in shock when I took in the peculiar wall beside the window. It was covered with a copious amount of pictures, some familiar other not. The array of pictures consisted of the same brown haired girl I saw in the living room, her age varying in most but Xander was always there. In every single picture.

Horror climbed up my spine when I studied the photos further, noticing how the girls features changed drastically as the wall went on. She still had brown hair but her brown eyes had changed, she now had green eyes. She was me.

My gut wrenched at how up close the pictures were taken, he could have been right beside me and I was unaware. He had cut out Holden in all of them, sticking a cut out of himself beside me. Xander had alined the photos like it was a continuation of his time with Melody, like she never died.

He pulled me by my hand, redirecting my attention towards him. He edged his head closer to mine, his revolting breath invading my nose. I clenched my jaw, allowing him to place a kiss on my lips before I slightly pushed him away.

"Your doing it again" he said while gripping my chin. He would eventually get tired of my rejection and force himself on me, I had to get out of here fast. I had spotted a lamp beside the bed when we enter the room, it was the only weapon I could use seeing as the room was rather empty.

Without warning he pushed my against the wall, attacking my lips with his. His body leaned incredibly close to mine, trapping me between him and the wall. Metallic blood invaded my tongue as he wrenched my lips apart.

"Wait!" I said once I had managed to separate from him "l -let's go to the bed" I hoped he would overlook my panicked stuttering as I struggled not to gag in disgust.

He grinned widely, leading me to word the wooden bed seated in the middle of the room. He helped me on before climbing in behind me, my heart began to fan frantically at the thought of how horribly wrong things could go if my plan didn't work.

Xander settled himself above me, his fingers lifting the hem of my top. Using his distraction to my advantage, I craned to reach for the small lamp on the nightstand. I bit back a pain filled groan as I stretched further, my palm wrapping around the ceramic lamp. Without giving it much thought, I swung it at the side of Xander's head.

He moaned in pain, jumping away from me while gripping his bleeding forehead. Disregarding him, I leaped off the bed. Adrenaline pumping through me as I ran towards the door, this time when I twisted the handle it flew open.

I could still hear him groaning as I sprinted down the hallway towards the living room. The front door easily opened, cold air feeling my lungs as I continued to ran as far from the house as possible.

"Hey! Hey!" A dark haired man abruptly appeared in my line of sight, causing my heart to squeeze in unimaginable fear. I almost had a heart attack when I registered the gun he had in his hand.

His eyes followed my line of sight, quickly tucking the gun in his waistband before raising both of his hands.

"Hey, look I'm not hear to hurt you" he took a small step forward, his hands remaining in the air "I'm Holden's uncle, he sent me to help you" I eyed him worriedly, studding him. He had the trademark steel eyes and dark hair. I had no choice but to believe him. What other option did I have?

I was too exhausted and I could barely see clearly. A lightheadedness had me swaying on my feat as I struggled to hold on to my consciousness, it was useless though. My legs buckled as darkness overcame me, the exhaustion taking over.