Chapter 4

The jump wasn’t very good. The pain spread in the footsteps, but the fact that there was ground and grass instead of concrete made it at least somewhat better.

But it was worth the freedom.

Looking around to make sure no one was around, I shook my legs, trying to shake off the effects of hitting the ground. And then I walked along the wall of the building, trying to appear unnoticed. When I reached the end of the wall, I peeked out carefully, and what was my surprise when I saw a smoking girl standing next to me.

The brunette took a drag and a couple seconds later exhaled the smoke out. "Where did you come from?" The girl asked, still staring off into the distance.

"I..." I don’t know what to say, falling into a slight stupor.

I don’t know if she’ll turn me over to them. Who is she anyway? Is she part of the "Darkness" gang, too? Or is she, as the guys put it, just another girl of easy virtue?

"Well?" The girl threw the cigarette on the floor and tapped it with her heel, putting it out. The brunette folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall, continuing to examine me. "You're new? Uh, I think it’s Hailey, right?"

"Yes," how does she know me?

Looking around, I spotted the guard. He was walking the perimeter, but as he got closer to us, my pulse quickened. My palms were sweating with tension. I thought the girl was going to call a man and my escape plan would be ruined, but fortunately the guard passed us and disappeared behind the building.

"Are you someone’s girlfriend? I doubt it, though. You're too tense," the brunette muttered, looking me over.

"Help me get out of here, please," I whispered quietly, looking around.

The girl narrowed her eyes, listening to me intently. She was really thinking about my request. "No. They’ll kill me if I help you escape. So you were brought here by force, weren’t you?"

"Please," I asked again, ignoring the question because the answer was obvious.

"Come on, I'll take you to Jay," the stranger reached for my hand, but I stepped back. "Let's go!"

"No, I’m not going anywhere with you," I rushed out, running away from the girl.

There didn’t seem to be any guards in this place, which was the only good thing. I ran wherever my eyes led me. I don't know where the exit was. But I had to act according to the circumstances. Constantly hiding in some bushes, I ran from one to another. In my head I was building some maps of places I had already studied. A cloud with lightning suddenly descended over me when I got to that point of the terrain where the guards were very numerous. I was in big trouble. Because of that, I had to sit in one secluded place, hiding from them, for who knows how long. Two of the guards came into my view as they began to approach my location and I fearfully ran the other way, but to my misfortune, they had spotted me and were now running after me.

"Stop, bitch!" Shouted the armed man, but I kept running.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe and I started to take deep breaths with my mouth. My strength was draining away, but I kept fighting for freedom. I ran out into the square next to the left wing. A guy came out of the torture building and when he turned around, I was terrified.

Dean was standing right in front of me. His curly hair was messed up, and his face was covered in bruises. Bruises mixed with tattoos all over his body. I stopped and started to turn around.

What do I do? Dean was up ahead, and there were guards behind me. To hell with it! I ran toward the cars. Dean frowned, but later a smirk appeared on his face and he confidently followed me. What's going on? Am I at a dead end? Did I choose the wrong path?

Dean waved to the men and they stopped. I ran faster, trying to hide or try to find a way out. There were only cars around. I stopped, catching my breath. My heart was pounding frantically and I couldn’t run anymore. It was a parking lot that turned into a parking garage. I went to the car and tried to open the door, but it was locked. I'm at a dead end. There are cars all around and nothing else. I heard footsteps approaching, and I got hot and anxious just thinking that it might be Dean. I quietly walked to the very end so that he wouldn’t hear me.

"Your escape plan failed, didn’t it?" The guy mumbled, entering the parking lot.

I crouched behind the car. His footsteps were cautious and his voice was incredibly hoarse. I covered my mouth with my palm, trying to calm my breathing.

"You wouldn’t run away. You know that, don’t you?" His footsteps became clearer, which meant  he was somewhere very close.

I'm scared. My body burn up one moment and freeze the next. My skin is covered in goosebumps and my hands are shaking. If he finds me, he’ll do something he hasn’t had time to finish. He’ll do it and he doesn’t seem to care about the left wing.

"You want to play hide and seek?" The guy was exactly behind the car I was sitting behind.

My frightened eyes examined the pavement and finding rocks, I picked up one rock and threw it in the opposite direction at my own risk. A small rock hit the car, and its alarm went off. The sound echoed across the entire parking lot.

"All right. One, two, three. I'm coming to find for you," the guy grinned too much sarcasm in his voice.

He stepped out from behind the car and looked in the direction I’d thrown the rock. His back was to me and, I prayed he wouldn’t turn around. Dean was silent, but he was still standing there. The alarm had gone silent, and now I could hear every rustle.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Growled a voice behind me.

I was so carried away by Dean that I didn’t even hear the footsteps. The guy quickly turned around, and without even looking at me, walked over to the man behind me.

"She wanted to escape. You have to watch out," the guy said indifferently and walked away.

I turned around and got to my feet, stepping back. One less problem, one more. It doesn’t matter.

"Remember. If you try to run away, you’re going to get hurt badly," Jay snapped, his eyes taking on a dark blue tint.

I took a step back, thinkung of my next move. I wasn’t going to give up, not now. I pulled as fast as I could and ran. As I ran past the cars, I looked back, praying that the guy wouldn’t run after me. But I was wrong again. Jay was right on my heels, and in an instant he had me by the waist and threw me onto his shoulder.

"Let me go!" I screamed and slapped him on the back with the foolish hope that he’d let me go and I’d be gone forever.

"Shut up!" Jay raised his voice and dragged me away from the parking lot.

“Let go! Put me on the ground! I'm not going anywhere with you!" I kept fighting back, but I guess that only made the man angrier.

"Shut your mouth, bitch!" Jay put me on the ground and before I could react, he hit me.

My cheek was instantly on fire, and I put my cold palm on it. Tears appeared in my eyes, but I tried not to cry in front of him. He stood opposite me, hands clenched into fists. His breathing was heavy, and the muscles in his body tensed. Jay quickly turned away from me, running his fingers through his hair. We were standing near the left wing, and there were screams coming from there, but I paid not attention to it. My gaze focused on James, but I also caught a glimpse of another silhouette behind the guy. Dean was standing outside the building, a cigarette between his fingers and he was smoking relaxedly. He looked up at us and his favorite smirk appeared on his face. He realized what had happened.

The brown-haired man walked past us, shouting out on the way: "When you take her to Rose, don’t forget to knock! She's not dressed yet! Louis was with her!"

“Come on,“ the blond walked forward without turning to me.

I had no choice but to follow him. I was done for the day. We went into the house, and he led me to the second floor. When he reached the room, he opened it without knocking and stepped inside, pulling me in with him.