Claire POV-

There was a loud discussion that seemed to be going on miles away from her, it was very faint. She tried to open her eyes but. Her exhaustion was preventing her from even getting up. It was cold. She was sitting down on a hard floor, her hands felt as thought they were wrapped around with rope, she couldn't move them. She felt a hot liquid fall from her head, slowly spreading through her face. It was then she remembered what had happened.

Josh.

That mean this was blood on her face, probably caused by her head injury. She was tied down somewhere, trapped. She forced her eyes open to find a way out. When she did, she was at Tom's house.

No way Tom would do this to her. Not her Tom.

The thought of him doing this to her brought tears to her eyes that stung as they fell down her face, mixing with the already existing blood there.

She quickly stopped, reminding herself that she wasnt alone. Her friends would come for her. That is if they could find her. Claire wasnt a very optimistic person, she calculates and analyzes, faith and instinct aren't things she exercises much. But a small part of her believed that they would at least try, and that spoke levels of the kind of people that they were.

Her head ached. Her hands felt like they were losing circulation, and she felt bruises all over. Only till she opened her eyes did she see that her nose was also bleeding. It looks like someone took out their frustrations on her face.

The door to the empty room opened slowly. Josh walked in with a bruise on his face and a less that victorious grin. I thought i was about to get beat up, but then she heard someone else come in.

Great. Both the mode step brothers are here to kick my ass.

It wasnt who she thought it was. It was Tom.

When Josh didnt say anything she decided to speak up.

"Nice face. Well, here we are. Are you gonna kick my face some more. What's that gonna get you guys? Huh? Tom, I never though you would ever allow something like this you bastard, i still believed in you. I thought we could still be friends. But this...you guys are cowards"

Josh laughed uncontrollably. Tom kicked him and spoke up.

"I didn't do this. I didnt even know where Josh was, I'm sorry Sparkles. He was out of line and I guarantee that he will regret it."

"So does that mean you will set me free then?"

"I cant sparkly pants. This is our secret base. If I let you go you will just tell the others and we will have to relocate. Problem now is, what to do about this mess?"

"'This isnt your house. Hmm I guess you built it since this is you building design. How about this, Josh can kill me to take out his frustrations, ill spawn in the end so I won't ever know where your base is. Ill get back to my friends, Josh gets revenge, and you keep your secret base a secret."

"Hmm. You really do belong to the God of balance. I cant take the chance that you may figure this out. For now you stay locked up here. Ill try to keep Josh in line."

"Try!!! He just wants to beat the crap out of me for no good reason! You want to leave me here in this base with crazy people. I promise you Tom, I will escape, and when I do you'll regret it"

"Woah the flower has thorns! You know, I expected capturing you would be much harder given your performance in the purge. Turns out your just another pretty face dear flower" said Josh.

"We'll see about that."

"Sparkles I'm sorry. I want to let you go, but there is so much at risk here. Now you Josh, just wait till Dianite hears you captured an Ianitee." Screamed Tom.

"Oh dont bother Tom. He would probably give him a medal, like follower like God. Ianite and I will make you and Dianite pay Josh!" Said Jordan.

With that Tom left the room confused. Josh was making his way out when he suddenly stopped, turned back, and kicked Jordan in the stomach. She felt the full blow of the kick struggling to grasp air. The pain was unbearable, if she could have screamed she would have.

Instead she just looked right into Josh's eyes, she wouldnt give him the satisfaction of watching her cry in pain.

Josh smiled and said. "By the way, Nade has your best tools, good luck ever getting those back"

"Worry...about...your...own well being...from..now on" Jordan said trying to make it seem as painless as possible.

"You as well. I'm not done yet, you will feel the wrath of Dianite. There is nothing even Tom can do to stop me."

With that he left the room satisfied. She rubbed her face on her shirt to get rid of some of the blood on her face. Never in a million years did she think she would be in this position. She tried to untie the ropes for what seemed like hours, no luck. She tried to look for a small weapon, a way to escape, but this was an underground room with nothing but her and a fence where her rope was tied.

"Ianite.... I hope your not suffering as much as I am. Its kinda funny that we ended up in the same situation."

She thought of Tucker and Sonja. Had they noticed her absence? How long had she been here for?

The blood from her head kept coming down on her face. It got to the point that she had to wipe her face often so she could see. She turned her head as much as she could to take a look at her hands, she could barely feel them. Sure enough they looked gray.

She needed to find a way out, where would she even be though? How could she find her way back?

She needed to focus an think. She was good at using her brain, finding answers for the unsolvable. Unfortunately all of her years of school hadn't given her anything useful for this situation. Or maybe they had...

If she couldnt use her own hands maybe she could use the wooden fence to create friction and tear the rope. Afterwards, she could use some of the wood slabs that were a bit lose on the ground to build weapons.

The water dripping from the ceiling indicated that they might be under a lake or even the ocean, if things got crazy she could make a whole on the roof and sink this place. That would be her back up plan, she would get some of the wooden slabs and stab them through the ceiling, then she could use the rope to tie them together. If someone shows up she merely pulls the rope and the slabs fall, flooding the place.

If there wasnt a room next door she could also place a whole there, bigger than the others. She could use the current from the ceiling wholes to escape. Even if she didn't escape, it would ruin a lot of their supplies and it would be one hell of a mess to clean up.

Before she began cutting through the rope she had to figure out what the outside of this room looked like. She had to know if there were was anyone guarding outside.

"Hello, anyone! Its an emergency!" She screamed.

Josh came in to the room almost instantly looking very annoyed.

"What do you want!?"

"Listen, i know that im not allowed to go outside. Thats fine. But I need to go to the restroom. I have....lady things to take care of. It's very important trust me"

He looked almost embarrassed, after assessing the situation he spoke up, looking more annoyed then before.

"Ok fine. But you will still be tied and ill be right outside. If you try to escape or attack i will make you regret it, got it"

"Does it look like im in a state to fight? I have blood on my eyes so i can't see all that well. I dont even feel my hands or arms. Also my legs might be giving out, so trust me, even if I wanted to I cant."

He seemed to agree with her statement. He released the rope from the fence and pushed me out. She only had a few seconds to take it all in, see all the doors, pathways, and most likely exists. This place was mostly deserted, at least the left side, there were noises coming from her right. So her best bet was following this long straight pathway and going left.

He shoved her in the bathroom and before he closed the door he screamed at her face.

"You have 10 minutes"

She quickly did the best she could with her hands tied back to wash out most of the blood from her face. She got him to temporarily untie the rope, his condition was that he needed to be there. She felt the relief of her hands getting their circulation back. It was hard to make them move but she had to be quick.

Jordan ripped a strand of her red shirt Sonja had given her. She tied it up like a bandana in her head to cover up the wound after washing it. She got another strand and placed it on her arm, which she just noticed was also bleeding for some reason.

After that she washed her face and neck properly, pulled up her hair, and put her leather jacket back on.

Josh put the rope back on and led her back to her room. She got one last glimpse of the halls and tried to come up with a mental map.

She saw Tom on her way back, he just stood there staring at her. She must have looked awful because he looked terrified, wouldn't even move. She coughed up blood his direction and kept going.

Once established back in the room, Josh tied the rope back to the fence and laughed.

"You look absolutely awful, I hadn't realized how bad because of the lighting."

"Wonder who's fault that is"

He laughed once more and close the door behind him.

"Just wait till I escape. Justice will be painful"

She waited a few seconds and then began to cut the rope. Then once free, she carried out her plan.

****

Making up for not posting for a while. Thank you for your comments. Enjoy the story!

Love,

LadyClaire