My alarm clock went off at five am but I was awake since four. It's officially the first day of college and I was a little nervous. I got up and stumbled my way to the bathroom. As I lathered my body with my favorite vanilla scented body wash I was forced to think of Jackson.

I often get lost in your eyes vanilla bean, his words repeated through my head over, and over, and over again. After that moment I didn't really know how to respond, and he didn't seem to understand why he said that to me, actually he didn't understand why he said that at all. Which -if you haven't guessed already- killed the moment because let's face it Jackson isn't really a romantic guy.

He jumped out of his seat and locked himself in his room after muttering how sorry he was and how he shouldn't have said that. But that's not what had me up until late hours of the night. What had me up was this strange feeling in my heart that shouldn't have been there in the first place. The scary part was I didn't even know what that feeling was.

Why did I feel so...

I don't know...I don't know how I felt.

Which makes it so...freaky.

The hot water turned cold and that was my cue to get out of the shower. I brushed my teeth, blow dried my hair then pulled it up into a sloppy bun before heading to my room and slipping on my black yoga pants and a light blue camisole. Before I left I checked the lace of my running shoes to make sure they're tied and quickly wrote a note to jackson telling him i've gone for a run in case he wakes up and started freaking out.

The morning air was fairly crisps indicating the holiday season coming up shortly. I pressed shuffle on my Ipod and immediately Hello by Adele started playing. It's funny because this song completely relates to my life right now. It honestly feels like Adele just started writing about my pain, how I can't heal because my dad left. How even if I did like Jackson- not saying I do- we're so different, literally complete opposites, that it would never work.

I didn't realise the song was on repeat until I started running and stopped at a run down looking warehouse. It was red and made of bricks, the warehouse leaned abnormally to the left and made a creaking sound everytime the wind blew. Turning my Ipod off I decided to go Inspect the place. It was really creepy looking. There was a thick dark substance on the ground that looked like...blood. My stomach churned at the sight. My eyes traveled to a room directly across from where I was standing there were movements inside.

A gasp escaped my lips when I entered the room. It looked like a torture chamber with chains and some harsh looking weapons that I didn't know existed. The faint smell of something rotting made me nauseous and I was about to leave when another door caught my eye it was burgundy and on it was a note that said,

Disposing chamber...do not enter!

Of course I entered.

There were stairs that led down to a dark and cold basement.

Great, my subconscious snarled at me, go into the creepy room with a sign that say not to go in the creepy room, what next? are we going to follow the guy with the chainsaw and ask him to kill us?!

I probably should've listened to the dang thing. Slowly I made my way down the wooden steps and blinked as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was so cold I could see my own breath when I sighed. I stepped on something solid yet...squishy when I got to the bottom of the stairs and looked down. A loud piercing scream I recognized as my own escaped my mouth and I ran, taking the stairs two at a time. My foot slipped on the edge of one of the steps.

Perfect.

Have you ever seen a scary movie and thought that you would've reacted better if you were in the character's shoes?

I used to. Key word, used to.

As I tumbled down the stairs I could hear loud footsteps shuffling above me. They found me, I thought, the creepy people who own this place found me and now, my fate shall be the same as the others.

I most likely would have broken my neck if it wasn't for the fact that I landed with a gentle thud on the squishy object I stepped on earlier. Except...it wasn't an object it was a person. Two dead bodies were at the end of those stairs and by the wetness of the ground as I crawled away from the bodies shaking uncontrollably, I could tell there were more. I could tell because that wetness...was blood.

This must be the room where they dispose the dead bodies of the people they killed. Hence the sign on the door! my subconscious screamed at me, I told you so. My eyes traveled on the two dead bodies on the floor. One of them had a hole in their chest and the other was...beaten to death it seemed. His face was red and swollen and his eyes -I squinted in the darkness- looks pleading. A sob escaped my lips. This guy was beaten to pulp,

And I was next.

" Who's down there!". A cold voice yelled from the door upstairs.

I couldn't talk, therefore I cried.

The guy's heavy footsteps traveled down the steps and his head snapped towards me. My heart felt like it was about ready to jump out of my chest by the way it was pounding. I heard the click of a gun's safety being removed and my body just shook harder. I wished I could say goodbye to my mom. Although she's been a pain in the butt I know she was just trying to cope, I mean my dad was incredibly handsome and he was the love of her life. I wished I could tell her one last time that money -although helpful at times- can't buy happiness, and that I loved her, with or without dad.

" What the hell are you doing down here bitch?,". A voice snarled. "Who are you?".

I didn't answer. My body just kept shaking uncontrollably. The man walked over to me and slapped me in my face with the back of his gloved hand. A cry of pain escaped my mouth making my throat burn. "I said-". The man began, but never got to finish because then I heard the two words I never thought I would hear again. With a voice I was confused as to why it was here because this place is dangerous.

" Vanilla bean?". A familiar voice said.

" Jackson?,". I asked, my voice cracking. " Jackson run! these-". I lowered my voice. "These people are weird...there's two dead bodies and, and-".

" Shh". He walked over to me and pulled me in his arms. My head rested on his chest as my body shook from my heavy tears.

" You have to run...they might...they might...". My voice trailed off.

Am I losing my mind?

" Shh, shh..". Jackson held me tighter. " It's okay, i'm here now".

Someone coughed behind him.

Without saying a word he got up from his crouching position, walked over to the end of the room, turned on the light and punched the guy that had been pointing the gun at me straight in the face making him fall backwards. "Do you know who this is?,". Jackson snarled grabbing the guy's shirt and slamming him in the wall. " If the boss finds out you pointed a gun at her head he'd have your dick chopped off".

" And,". He continued. " You weren't at your post by the entrance?! Oh the boss is gonna have a field day with that!".

" Jackson please". I whispered. All that yelling was giving me a headache and the look on his face was...deadly. I've never seen him look so aggressive and terrifying, plus his eyes were...like a deep black hole, not the warm luring hazel color they once were. He met my eyes and understanding washed over his face. His warm eyes came back to meet mine.

"Can you walk?". He asked then froze.

" What?". I looked up at him as I tried and failed to even move my legs.

Yeah...no I can't walk.

His hand gently touched my cheek and I realised the man's handprint must've still been there. " I-I'm fine". I managed to get out.

In one quick motion he picked me up, with one hand underneath my knees and another placed firmly on my back. Instinctively I wrapped my arms around his neck. " Do you trust me?". He asked.

It took a while but I finally said. "Yes".

I could see about a dozen men all dressed in black with weapons in their hands pointed to the ground. Jackson was wearing the same thing almost as if it was some form of uniform. This must be some of his group members, no, his famiglia.

" Good,". He whispered in my ear which - even in the situation i'm in now- sent shivers down my spine. He smiled. " Hold on tight and kick your legs out as hard as you can when I say go, okay?".

I nodded and he walked over to the guy who slapped me, which is also the guy who pointed the gun at me. " Oh and Jimmy?". Jackson said, a deadly smirk appeared on his face.

" Y-Yes sir?". The guy -Jimmy- looked up.

" Go". He whispered sharply in my ear, but his anger wasn't towards me. At least that's what I found out after it happened.

I kicked my legs out, like he said, as hard as I possibly could and he turned his body making my leg connect firmly with Jimmy's chest, making him fall on his butt.

" That, was for slapping her in the face". He glared at him. " Too bad you didn't earn your bullet proof vest yet, I bet it would have taken away some of the pain...".

I couldn't hide the smile on my face at that moment because believe it or not,

There is nothing sexier than a pissed of Jackson, especially when he's pissed off about me.

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