I lost track of how long I was in here after the medic and other dude left.

Hours maybe?

Days?

The only constant in this metal prison was the plastic water bottle a foot out of my reach, and the apple that complimented it. My stomach yearned for both.

"What do you want from me?!" I yelled aloud, but no one answered.

I felt like sobbing but I had already cried myself dry. All that was left was a tight constricting in my throat. Like someone had it in their hand and was squeezing the life out of me.

Slumping back against the wall I was chained to, I felt my eyes get heavy with sleep.

No, no, no, you can't fall asleep Daytona! Stay awake! Stay awake.

I fought with everything I had, but it wasn't enough, in a matter of seconds I was out.

Large hands grabbed my shoulders and slammed me back into the wall. "For a minute I thought you'd actually starved. Which would be way easier on me, but not as fun."

For however long I was in here, no one came to see me. It didn't matter how loud I screamed, how much I begged, or even how much I threatened Colton, it did no good. Who knew falling asleep was the key to getting him in here.

With rugged blonde hair and stupid green eyes, he could be handsome; that is if handsome also came with sides of psychotic and terrifying. The stupid tattoo is what really tied the whole package together. Only crazy people would tattoo a gun under their eye.

"What do you want from me?" My voice was quiet. Too quiet. It sounded like I had lost all hope. All fight.

"We've been down this path before Daytona." Colton gripped my face tightly in his hand. "I'm going to make you hurt just like I hurt, and then some more of course." He pushed my face away violently causing my head to smack back into the metal wall.

Fuzzy black dots danced across my vision for a minute, but once it was clear, I turned my eyes on him and managed as much strength as I could into my next words, "Once I get out of here, I'm going to kill you."

"That is if you get out of here Daytona." Colton sat down infront of me, drumming his fingers on the floor. "Let's play a little game of would you rather to pass the time okay?"

"Typically people like you don't play games with their prisoners." I forced my voice to remain even all though every fiber in my body was telling me to just let it crack.

"That's where you messed up Daytona. There is no one else like me." In this light, I could finally see him for what he truly was, a disastrous fire. Everything about him was made to lure you in. His eyes, his hair, but when you got to close, he became the most dangerous thing you've ever played with.

"Fine," I gulped, "let's play."

He wore a sinister smirk as he spoke, "Me first. Would you rather not sleep for the next seven days, or not eat."

My heart dropped.

He didn't want to 'play a game' to pass time. He was planning out how he was going to torture me.

"I'm not going to answer." My voice was soft and I cursed myself for seeming weak again.

The smirk never left his face. "Wrong answer."

"What are you going to do to me?" An unknown level of terror washed over me.

"Nothing right now. When the time comes though," he let the end of his sentence hang in the air. "So. Again Daytona. Not eat or not sleep."

"Eat." I whispered.

I hated how quickly he broke the fight in me.

I was supposed to be stronger than this.

Giving up should not be this easy. But as the questions kept firing at me that's all it seemed I was capable of doing.

"Alright Daytona. Last question. Would you rather you die, or live with the guilt of knowing someone else died so you could live."

"I would rather die."

"That can be arranged." He looked up at the ceiling, seeming to contemplate something. "I have a deal for you."

~~~~🌸~~~~

It seemed like during the game of would you rather, Colton tortured me by doing the opposite of my answer.

For example, I would rather not eat than not sleep. So anytime I would start to doze off, something would happen to keep me up. It would range from a bucket of cold water to the face, to horrible mental torture, to physical hits.

The worst part was probably the constant pain at the nape of my neck. But for the sake of my Jiminy Cricket, I ignored it. Where my foot got shot, became a bothersome throbbing sensation. I must've repeated the phrase 'pain is just a state of mind' so often, that the pain completely dissolved.

'You realize no one is coming for you.'

"Who's there?" The sudden voice caught me of guard and I looked around for the source of the voice frantically.

' If they were really going to come for you, they would've been here by now. Don't you think?'

The voice sounded creepily familiar. "Liar! They will come for me!" My voice was strong, but wobbly.

'Well why haven't they so far? You've been here for a week and a half now. Stuck in this box, not allowed to sleep, not allowed to eat and Logan is probably out there hooking up with that blonde chick.'

"Shut up." I growled, fighting back tears. Where do I know that voice from?

'You can keep running away from the truth Daytona, but face it. Everyone will have a better life with you gone. You've caused so much pain around you. The least you could do to help them is take away the source of all that pain.

'Just think of Cooper for example. The night he died was because of you. You killed Cooper.

'You constantly put Ashton's life in danger by just living in the same house as her. Mason is constantly worried about her. If you were going to disappear, you would take the stress out of Masons life.'

"SHUT UP!" I screamed out, tears falling rapidly down my cheeks. "Stop talking please."

'I can't stop talking Daytona, because I am you. As long as you exist, I will too. The only way to get rid of me is to get rid of you too.'

"Make it stop. Please make it stop." I pulled my knees in to my chest as best as I could. Having my hands restrained made it hard, but it would have to do.

The scrapping of metal on metal snapped my out of my daze and my wild eyes shot up to see Colton standing in the doorway. "I didn't think you could look any worse, but you surprise me every day."

"Who was that girl talking to me?!" I yelled at him.

Colton took a step back, clearly not expecting my outburst.

"You were all by yourself in here and I can tell you, the only other girl in my gang wasn't here to talk to you." He tapped his head, "You're going bonkers Daytona."

"No." My voice was hardly even loud enough for me to hear, but apparently Colton heard me.

"Oh yes." He walked in closing the door behind him. "Here's a few crackers. I don't want you dying on me just yet." He raised one of them to my mouth and I cautiously took a bite.

They were probably poisoned.

"There not poisoned Daytona." I squinted my eyes at him. Did he just read my thoughts? Or did I say that out loud?

"Eat up. I'll also allow you to sleep. You'll need your strength very soon for the final show." He winked at me but I didn't care.

I ate the rest of the crackers he hand fed me and as soon as the door was closed I hung my head and slept.

If I thought I had bad nightmares before, I was wrong. They were nothing compared to the ones I had now.

For most of the time I was constantly in this black void, surrounded by people screaming. There were no words to them, just screams. When I thought my eardrums were finally about to burst, it all stopped.

I looked up and saw Cooper standing several feet away from me. His face was contorted in pain. "I'm sorry Day. I love you."

Then his eyes widened and he fell backwards.

That's when I realized I wasn't in a black void. I was in a bowl of black water and I was drowning.

I whipped my head up suddenly, causing me to once again smack it on the hard metal wall. This time, I seriously thought that I was going to pass out. One more hit to my head and I was in trouble.

For the first time since I had been kept hold up in here, I almost felt a little bit better. The power nap really helped and the few crackers Colton had fed me seemed to almost help too.

"Just because you gave me food and let me sleep doesn't mean you're off the hook. Got that you prick?" I yelled hoping he could hear me again.

"I told you, your pretty mouth shouldn't have such nasty words coming from it." Colton stood in the doorway, the second door open now too.

Twisting my face into a sneer, I responded, "And why should I care what you say?"

"Because," he started, "I have the keys to those chains keeping you sitting there uncomfortably." Patting his pocket, I could confirm that he did have a set of keys with him. Whether or not they were the ones for my chains continued to remain a mystery.

Several vile comebacks sat at the tip of my tongue, waiting to be released, but I bit them back. I couldn't save Cooper if I was sitting chained to this stupid metal wall.

"Nothing to say?" Colton taunted. His emerald eyes gleamed wide with amusement. He watched me, starring, probably trying to scare me into submission, but I didn't back down either.

I hardened my eyes like I had done plenty of times before with the gang leader in front of me, casting all emotions, aside from my rage, to the farthest parts of my mind. "Don't test me. I'm just holding it all back. Truthfully, I can't tell whether you're lucky that I am, or if it would be more beneficial to your health that I let loose now. The more I hold back, the more dangerous I become."

For the most part he kept his composure, but his hand that rested on the keys twitched slightly.

"Let's go." His smile dropped, sealing away any chance of his true emotions peaking through. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and unlocked my chains, yanking me by my arm up on to my feet.

For being down here for several days, my legs weren't as weary as I had expected. A surge of adrenaline coursed through my veins and once Colton had let go of my arm, I swung with all I had.

My fist connected with his jaw, sending his head whipping around. I didn't even bother to look back. The minute his head snapped to the side, I took off up the stairs. Climbing and crawling to get away from all of this.

I could hear Colton cursing behind me. It only made me run faster.

But Colton was a lot faster and taller than me. He took the stairs two at a time, grabbing my ankle just as I was about to break free, yanking me down closer to him.

The side of my face crashed onto the top step awkwardly, slicing my forehead open. "No! Get off of me!" I flipped onto my back and kicked Colton's gut, pushing him back.

"If you move I will have your brother killed. Got that? He will die for good Daytona and it will all be your fault!"

I struggled as best as I could for a few minutes, but eventually I caved in, ceasing my thrashing.

"Good girl. I swear, you're such a pain sometimes." This time instead of grabbing me by the arm, he grabbed me by the hood and dragged me up the stairs not even giving me a chance to stand.

My mind was at a war with itself. Half of me was screaming to fight back with all I had. I was the champion of fighting. Not only at The Undergrounder, but also at High Rise too. I beat Colton once, I could do it again.

But the other, rational, side of me was screaming back that if I fought back, I risked the chance of Colton harming Cooper, and I was not going to let that happen.

I lost him once, I was not going to loose him again.

"Where are you taking me? Why not just leave me down there to rot?" I asked Colton.

He continued to drag me by the hood even though I was standing up now.

I kept a close eye on the hallways I passed, marking certain objects so I knew my way back from wherever I was going.

"You know Daytona, you have angered quite the number of people, and most of them would give up everything at the chance to get back at you." As we walked to my next place, the lights got darker, casting dark shadows over Colton's face. "Let's see how many I can name. There is my own second in command, Micah, obviously, Jared Lucas, Brody Davidson, that one kid from your high school, oh and how could I forget your father: Danny Adam Lyn."

I remained silent.

Five people I had managed to piss off just this year. I had hurt countless more during my reign of terror, and I'm sure a lot of them still hold a grudge on me to this day.

I was truly a terrible person and I deserved everything I had coming to me.

"So to answer your question Daytona, I offered all of those people a chance to get back at you. Only two of them declined my offer, would you like to know who?"

Did I want to know? Or would I rather just face the consequences of my actions bindly?

"Who declined?" I gave up in trying to seem strong in front of Colton. He knows how weak he makes me, why keep up the front?

"Micah and your father."

Caught off guard, I stopped walking, which wasn't a wise decision on my part. Colton let go of the hood and yanked my hair.

Seriously, what was this dudes obsession with my hair? He was constantly messing and pulling it.

"If you stop walking again, I'll drag you across the floor by your hair. You are seriously testing my patience here." Colton's tone was sharp and hard.

We neared a metal door like the one that was in my room. The only difference was that this one was open. Anyone could freely walk out or in. Something I didn't have the pleasure of having.

"Well, here we are." Colton shoved me into the room and stood in the doorway, blocking my exit.

This room was almost identical to the room I had been held in. Same metal floors, same metal walls. But instead of having four metal walls, this room, had a sheet of reflective glass on two opposite walls, leaving the back and front walls the only ones fully metal. What those two mirrors held behind them, I had no clue. Maybe it was another room Colton used for torturing people, or maybe they weren't rooms at all. Perhaps the mirrors were really just mirrors.

I took one look at myself and almost laughed.

My hair was knotted and ratty looking. My blue eyes were puffy and baggy, a window into the hell I had to endure the past few days. Jordan's hoody and sweats hung off my shoulders and hips more than they had the day he gave them to me. My skin was paler, and my hair was darker. Dirt was caked beneath my nails which were cracked and chipped. The spot where I had cut my forehead had bled down to my temple.

I was a hot mess. Minus the hot and double the mess.

"What's so funny Daytona?" Caught up in my how messy my appearance was, I had forgotten that Colton still stood in the doorway, his emerald gaze scrutinizing everything I did.

I turned towards him, a rare smile still on my face. "Nothing."

His eyes narrowed. "Fine."

The smile fell off my face and I pushed all emotions I had to the back of my mind again, willing myself to become the stone cold emotionless girl I am when I'm around him. "So. What am I doing in here?"

His trademark smile was back on his face as he explained what I was going to do in this room. "Remember the first time we met? Not at the race, but at the Undergrounder. We fought in the ring and you beat me,"

"By the way, how did I do that? Did you go easy on me, or are you really that weak?" It was almost like entering this room gave me a new surge of confidence and strength. I didn't feel like scared or weak like I had been the whole time I've been here. My bite was back and it was stronger than ever.

"Glad to see you're back to your usual self Daytona. You were pretty boring while you were sulking. But to answer your latest question, I didn't hold back, but I'm not that weak either. You caught me off guard is all, and by the time I had recovered, I couldn't catch back up. You should give yourself a pat on the back and consider your fighting advanced.

"Now you are going to put that fighting to good use. I'm going to be sending in the three that accepted my offer one at a time, and you're going to fight them. If you win, well, you win. But if you loose, well then your brother gets a bullet between his eyes."

Cooper.

If I was going to save him, I needed to fight the hardest I had ever fought. Who knows what advantage Colton might give them. He'd do anything to make me pay for hurting his sister.

I might just be fighting for my life soon.

"You should've given me something challenging Colton," I mocked.

He wore a satisfied smirk like a medal. "Don't worry. It will be." Colton walked out and left the door wide open.

It was like he was trying to challenge me. Challenging me to try and escape.

Not that I would have had time. A mere minute had passed before the first person crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him.

My first challenger of the day (night? I honestly had no clue, we never passed a window in our way here) was the pig himself, Brody Davidson.

"So, I'm fighting with you first huh?" I popped my knuckles and shook my hands out. It would be better if I stretched first, but I doubt Brody would let me do so.

"Guess Colton wanted to get the main challenge out of the way first." Brody flexed his muscle as if he actually had some.

I laughed.

A head back, eyes closed, hooting and hollering type of laugh, "Sorry, sorry, but did you just refer to yourself as the main challenge? That door can probably put up more of a fight then you can."

My words angered him. He balled up his fists and let out quick breaths.

"You don't have Logan to hide behind now, so what are you going to do now Daytona?" I could see that Brody believed that the only reason I had been so tough before was because I had a guy to protect me.

Oh boy was he wrong.

"Logan was never the one who protected me. I protected myself. Do you want to know why? Because girls don't need to hide behind guys." I took a daunting step forward, starting to close the space between us. "Girls don't need guys to fight their battles." Another step. "Do you want to know how I know how to fight? I was taught by my brother." Yet another step. "Not because I needed to protect myself, but because I wanted to know how to fight. Because I loved the feeling of people like you cowering beneath me.

"Logan should have never been the one you were worried about. It should have been me all along." I was a few feet away from him now.

The whites of Brody's eyes grew large.

"Are you ready to fight or what?"

His adam apple bobbed up and down and he wiped his palms on his pants. "I- I'm still certain that I can beat you. In- in your current state, you aren't as strong."