Blake and I were trapped. Blake kept yanking against the ropes that tied him down but to no avail. I had already collapsed on the floor from bashing the restrains that bound me around so much but they wouldn't break loose. Blood was dripping down my wrists from the gashes I had scraped into my skin from trying to break off the handcuffs.

"I wonder if we will die down here," I wondered hopelessly, looking down to my broken looking hands. I knew now that Lisa was capable of murder. "Or get eaten alive by cockroaches." I kicked at a cockroach that scurried along the basement floor.

"I think I would refer to get eaten alive by cockroaches then stay another night tied to this chair," Blake replied, his head was bowed and his black hair was falling over his eyes. His back was stiff and his right shoulder was sitting at an unnatural angle, his muscles must be in agony from being tied down to that position for so long.

"I can't believe this is happening, I can't believe they did that to you," I growled, beyond incensed. I sat backwards collapsing my back onto the floor and held my hands over my eyes.

"Everything will work out Rose, I just know it will," Blake vowed optimistically. I sighed but listened to his words, I was just glad that he was here and I wasn't in this alone and he wasn't alone anymore.

We spent another half an hour chained to the basement floor. I had retreated into the darkness of my own mind and I heard Blake grunt and huff every once in a while. But our moping silence ended when I heard footsteps trot down the stairs towards the basement. My chest leapt and suffocated me with panic when the door to the basement clanked open. I was expecting Lisa to come in gloating about how much money she had stolen from the bank but it wasn't Lisa. It was someone much smaller.

It was the little girl that was hanging onto Lisa earlier in the night. She peaked her head through the basement door warily.

"Rose?" She asked in her small voice tentatively. Instantly I sat upright from the ground.

"Yes, I am Rose," I responded softly, to not scare her away. "What is your name?" I asked, standing up to my feet slowly.

The girl twisted her hands into the fraying old dress she wore that was too long for her and had dirt scattered over the patterns.

"Mia," she answered, looking up from under her eyelashes like she didn't know if she was allowed to tell me that.

"I recognise you," Mia commented looking at Blake.

"You know me?" Blake replied softly.

"Sometimes I get hungry and I go down for food with all the homeless. You gave me food many times when I was hungry and I don't think someone as nice as you should be kept down here." Mia explained with her eyes pointed at the floor.

"Mia, you shouldn't ever have to be hungry," Blake replied with conviction. My heart went out to this little girl, who has been abused and shut away from a real life.

"I heard what Lisa was talking about. I don't think Lisa is doing the right thing keeping both of you down here." Mia looked over her shoulder at the door she just came through as she explained her doubts.

"No, what Lisa is doing is against the law," I confirmed, taking a cautious step towards her. Mia looked back to me, her brown eyes were wide with anxiety that she might be caught out. It made my heart ache for her; she shouldn't fear doing the right thing.

Suddenly her wide eyes hardened with determination. "That's why I brought you these," Mia held up a chain with multiple keys clanging together.

I gasped, my eyebrows rising in disbelief. Blake's chair scraped against the floors; I think he nearly fell off his chair. Mia was here to free us. My tight shoulders relaxed as Blake and I locked eyes, sharing a look filled with pure relief.

Mia timidly tiptoed over to me and inserted the key into the lock that held my handcuffs together. With a flick of her wrist the chains dropped to the floor and I was released.

"Thank you, Mia." I smiled honestly at her; she was so brave. She looked back at me with sad eyes and handed me the keys. I wanted to hug her but I didn't dare, instead I rose my hand to her in a handshake. She looked down to my hand and then to my face multiple times before placing her little hand into mine and shaking it.

I smiled at her and then moved to release Blake. I started trying to untie the knot that bound his hands together, I needed to use the keys to dig apart the rope it was so tightly bound. But eventually the knot gave way and slipped out of Blake's hands and to the floor.

As soon as Blake was free, he stood up abruptly, turning around and wrapping his hands around my waist. He hauled me up into the air and into his chest, spinning me around. I dug my head into his neck, breathing in his scent deeply and my tightly coiled insides became lax just from being in his arms again. Blake slowly slid me down his body and my feet touched the floor.

Blake ran his hands up my back, one wounding into my hair and cradling me to him. The other hand pulling me into his body from around my waist. He was holding me so tightly it felt like he was the one who thought he would never see me again, not the other way around. Blake's hands gradually loosened their grip on me and he cupped both of my cheeks, looking into my eyes.

"I told you everything would work out," he commented, smirking and running his thumb over my lower lip. I gasped into his hand, still reeling that I was looking into his blue eyes once again. How many times am I going to have to go through believing that I would never see him again?

"Don't you ever get kidnapped and let me think you are dead ever again," I scolded and punched him in the shoulder. He laughed a sound of pure relief.

"Promise." Blake smiled, placing his hand onto his heart.

"We are not in the clear yet. We need to stop Lisa," I declared seriously, my eyebrows lowering, disconcerted at her plans.

"Agreed." Blake took my hand into his and began to walk us towards the basement door.

"Please don't hurt Lisa," Mia piped up. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to her, giving her my full attention. She was cowering, hiding behind her hands that were wrapped around her mouth. She looked terrified. I released Blake's hand to place both of my hands onto her small shoulders.

"I promise you Mia, I won't hurt Lisa. We are going to do what is right," I promised vehemently. The tiny girl with dirt stained cheeks nodded at me and loosened her hands around her body. I gave her a reassuring smile before returning to Blake and taking his hand.

Blake opened the basement door and we began running up the steps into the orphanage ground floor. We emerged from underneath the staircase into the dark ballroom. The orphanage was empty, all I could hear was the muted sounds of the fundraiser outside. I stalked towards the front entrance and with a yank the door opened and we emerged into the midst of the fundraiser that was still going on in full swing.

A performance was occurring at the stage so most people were congregated around the area but there were still many people walking around the stalls. Blake was still holding my hand tightly and I used him as support and direction as we emerged out into the orphanage gardens. I didn't know where Lisa had gone or what I had to do to stop her manic plans.

Blake started towards the stage and I realised what his plan was, expose Lisa's plans to everyone here. I followed suit and we made our way through the crowds around the stage hurriedly. But as we made our way through the crowds, people started turning their heads and noticing us. They started noticing Blake. The whole town knew that there was a major search going on right now to find Blake, he was presumed dead. And yet here he was in the flesh at a fundraiser.

"Is that Blake?" A teenage girl gasped and upon further observation I recognised her as Sarah. There was a lot of people from our school here and those that saw him were recognising Blake in shocked whispers.

"Oh my god, is that Blake Huxley?" Jack, Sarah's boyfriend observed, his mouth was falling open and then closed again.

"I thought he killed himself," Sarah continued as she gaped at Blake. But Blake had no interest in their revelations. He was barging his way through the people while towing me behind him.

Moments before we reached the front of the stage someone appeared in my peripheral vision. Cameron materialised out of nowhere and flew into Blake, tackling him to the ground. My hand fell from Blake's as he went tumbling to the ground. Cameron jumped on to of Blake and began punching him. Blake retaliated ducking Cameron's onslaught and punching him in return. The kids and Lisa knew we were free.

Adrenaline spiked through my blood when I saw Billy jump at me to my right. I managed to evade his grasp, his fingers gripping at my ankles but his grip didn't stick as I sprinted away. With my heart hammering in my chest I made it to the stairs leading up to the stage. Without looking behind me at my pursuer I ran up the stairs and onto the stage.

There was a performance proceeding, a young boy was singing with a beautiful voice. I caused disarray to his performance when I barged onto the stage right in the middle of his singing. I heard yells of outrage that expanded through the crowd from my interruption. I didn't care through; in my anger I yanked the microphone out of his hands so his voice stopped mid song. The crowds gasped and fists were thrown into the air at me and yells of outrage sounded through the audience.

"Everyone, shut up and listen," I shouted into the microphone and my voice resounded throughout the entire gardens. The horde became quiet and an eerie hush settled over the masses. I glanced into the throng of people to see that Cameron had Blake restrained and Blake was lying on the floor with his hands behind his back. It was up to me now.

"This whole fundraiser is a ruse, you were all just lured here so the organisers of this could obtain your credit card details and steal your money," I declared, my words being heard by everyone that attended this ghastly event. Sharp inhales of shock and horror resounded from the congregation and I noticed multiple people pull out their phones to check their bank accounts.

"The organiser is Lisa and she is a murderer. She murdered my sister; she kidnapped Blake and orchestrated his pretend suicide when he found out the truth." I saw my school principle in the horde of onlookers and one of the officers that arrested Blake and brought him to our house was there off duty.

Along with them most of the faces that I saw in the crowd where filled with shock, their mouths wide open or their eyebrows pinched in consternation. They were all still and soundless, not objecting to what I had to say, just listening and absorbing this horrible scandal.

"Blake isn't dead, he is here and alive. He is right there," I denounced pointing to the ground where Cameron had Blake pinned down. Everyone's heads turned to stare and when they caught sight of Blake, they started yelling at Cameron to release him. I noticed the off-duty police officer stormed over towards where Cameron had Blake restrained. Cameron glared at me before letting Blake go, he had no other choice. Blake made his way through the crowds towards the stage, towards me.

With a jolt of adrenaline my eyes landed onto Lisa right at the back of the crowd. She had made herself visible but only to me in the throng of tightly packed people. I could see her dark brown eyes were pleading as she held her front fringe away from her face with both hands. She knew what I was going to reveal next.

"The kids at this orphanage are," I began explaining but my words stopped mid-sentence when I saw Lisa's next move. My mouth fell open and my heart stopped in fear. Lisa raised the gun she had pointed at Blake's head earlier in the night and directed it right at me. I saw her manic eyes clearly down the barrel of the gun. Billy and Cameron's distressed faces were beside Lisa, they were imbued with as much fear and dread for me speaking my next words as Lisa was. How had she brainwashed them? She had ruined their lives, now they will all go to prison because of her lies. This needed to end.

I opened my mouth to speak again and Lisa clicked off the safety on the gun and I was left with my mouth gaping in fright. Lisa's familiar brown eyes were brimming with determination, she was willing to do whatever it took to save her kids. But I was also willing to do whatever it took to put an end to her madness, she killed my sister, she deserves retribution. We stared at each other for a long moment, seeing who would back down first. I refused, I was so inundated with so much pain at what she had done to my family, to me.

Lisa's brown eyes were looking deep into mine and after a beat she lowered the gun. Tears began falling down her cheeks and her face set in defeat. I breathed out deeply, my shoulders sagging and my chest deflating. My heart felt like it was continually missing beats from the terror of being faced with death but in the end, Lisa still had a soul.

Blake had reached the bottom of the stage and was walked up the stairs to reach me. I reached my hand out for him but my eyes were still glued to Lisa and the gun she had hanging from her grip. So, I saw every movement as Billy grabbed the gun out of Lisa's hands and aimed it right at me again.

Billy didn't hesitate like Lisa had and he fired the gun right at my head. An ear-splitting bang exploded from within the crowd and a second later excruciating pain struck my chest. The oxygen was knocked out of my lungs and my body slammed backwards collapsing onto the floor of the stage.

The screaming started, the crowds bellowing with horror but I only partially heard it beyond the haze of pain that engulfed me and my own screams of agony.

As I fell my eyes flickered towards Blake and I watched his features contort into horror and pure fear. That was my last sight before everything became black and the agony consumed me. But beyond the pain and torture and screaming I heard a voice, I would hear this voice anywhere, the voice that was filled with so much pain, Blake.

"Rose," he screamed and I forced open my heavy eyes. Blackness swirled around his head but I could see the horror on his face as he flung his body at me. He collapsed to his knees beside me and through the agony I felt his warm hands hold onto my wound. He brought one hand up to his mouth which was covered in my blood.

My ears pierced with more screams and my eyes flickered out into the crowd to see Lisa and Billy being restrained by police officers. I saw her eyes, she was looking at me, and they were burdened with shock and regret before obsidian clouded my sight.

My head collapsed onto the stage, the muscles in my neck giving out. Blake cupped his hand softly around my head, holding me. He wrapped his other hand around my body, curling my body into his as tightly as possible.

"Someone call an ambulance," a male voice yelled into the masses.

Chaos was breaking loose in the crowd but I could only see Blake's eyes staring horrified back into mine. I felt his soft loving hand on my cheeks.

"Stay with me, my love," Blake pleaded and the pain in his eyes was so deep and profound it made me fight to keep my eyes open just so he wasn't in that agony anymore.

"Fight Rose, you need to fight to stay with me." Blake's hands tightened on my cheeks and it gave me something to hang onto. But ever so gradually the numbness was seeping into my vision, taking away the pain and I couldn't hold on anymore. Insentience had overcome my body; the pain was too monumental for my body to handle.

Black spots dotted my vision and Blake's form fluttered in and out of my sight. And every time I lost sight of his face; fear took root in my heart. I didn't want this to be the last time I ever saw him; I didn't want to be alone when I died. Through the haze of pain and lethargy I managed to speak.

"Don't leave me, Blake please don't leave me," I spluttered through spits of blood that gushed from my mouth. Blake's eyes hardened with determination and promise as he cradled my breaking body to his.

"I promise, I won't leave you," he vowed with desperate sincerity. HIs words relaxed my panic and I sat back just allowing my vision to shutter in and out of seeing his face, knowing no matter what he would be the last thing I saw.

The ground underneath me banged with footsteps as paramedics rushed over to me. Blake was pushed out of the way as my body was lifted up onto a stretcher. I turned my face to the side so I could keep my eyes on Blake. His features were frantic, he was trying to reach for me. I tried to smile at him but I couldn't.

Obsidian darkness clouded my vision but I felt through the pain Blakes warm hand holding onto mine as my body was heaved around. My vision cleared for a moment and I saw that I was in the back of an ambulance, two paramedics were working over me but my eyes fixated on Blake who was sitting in the back of the ambulance. He was still here and in that relief my vision darkened over again.

The pain was excruciating, like my chest had been torn apart by a wild animal, I didn't want to open my eyes and feel the agony. But there was screaming and commotion and my body was being jolted and moved. I inched my eyes open for a moment, using all my strength because I felt his warmth leave my hand and I heard his desperate pleading voice.

"Let me stay with her, I promised her I would stay with her," Blake beseeched.

"She needs to go into surgery," a woman replied sternly, matter of fact.

My vision landed on him, on his wild black hair that was sticking up around his face at odd angles from running his hands through his hair so much. He was standing there defeated with his hands hanging by his side and his blue eyes not moving from me.

"Blake," I whimpered, why did he let go of me?

I was awake enough to reach my hand towards his. He was still in reaching distance and he took a hold of my reaching fingers. He wrapped it into his chest before my stretcher was rolled out of his reach. Our hands unclasped and Blake ran his fingers over mine as he let me go.

"Rose," he cried after me, his blue eyes swarming with agony. The last thing I saw was Blake falling to his knees and his bloody hand that was reaching for me smearing onto the closing glass doors that shut between us before darkness engulfed me.

***

Hello my fellow readers! I hope you are all spectacular on the fantastic day.

What did we all think of the chapter? A few twists and turns again, they were saved but then Rose was shot!!! What do you think will happen next? I love hearing your thoughts!

I'm so excited this chapter is done, I had a bit of writers block on this one but it's done!! And now there is only two chapters left of the story which makes me so happy :)

I am so looking forward for this story to be completed, I actually really struggled with motivation to write this story whereas with Beloved Murderer it was so easy to write. I think I will stick with the darker stories from here out, this will be my last teenage high school story I write. And I am so excited to write my next story, literally so excited, it's called The Blood Queen and it's going to be amazing!

Anyway I hope you are all well and enjoyed the chapter.

Much love, Elaine Xx