The only thing he could perceive at the moment was black.

He couldn't see anything, and whether that was because the room he was in was completely dark or because something was obscuring his vision, he didn't know. He couldn't hear anything, the utter quietness making his head hurt. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was tied up to a chair, the wood digging into his back sharply and thick ropes binding his arms and legs together.

And he was panicking.

Breathing had suddenly become impossible, scraping past throat painfully and constricting his chest. He had no idea where he was or what was going to happen to him, but it could, in no way, be anything good.

After another painful five minutes, he'd calmed down enough to try and assess exactly the situation he was in. He had to be inside somewhere, otherwise he'd be freezing; the room was cold, but not enough to resemble the chill of outside. He was shirtless, he realized, and his shoes were gone too. And he had a blindfold on, depriving him of actually seeing where he was being held hostage.

Fuck my life, he thought miserably, tugging at his restraints uselessly. This was just his luck, wasn't it? Being kidnapped right off of the street, and him being too love dazed to to prevent it. What did they want with him, anyway? Did he seriously look like he had any money, anything of value, to offer them?

He groaned, leaning his head back and trying to relax. Freaking out wouldn't do him any good, would probably get him killed. Maybe when they found out he wasn't of any worth to them, they'd let him go. That was the best he could hope for. Of course, they could just be crazy serial killers that got off on snatching teenagers from the streets and slicing into them. Yeah, now was not the time for Phil's vivid imagination.

But just as the quietness of the place was starting to calm him down, he tensed up at the sound of a large crash and heavy footsteps sounding from not too far away. His heart was racing in his chest as they got closer, and he flinched when they paused somewhere in front of him, outside of whatever room he was in. But nobody came in, and a second later, he heard angry whispers, seemingly arguing with each other. He could just make out what was being said.

"...don't care about the fact that he's human, you know damn well he has info that we need!" The voice was male, sounding absolutely furious about whatever the topic of discussion was.

"That doesn't mean you fucking barge in their, ready to cut him open." Another male said frantically, obviously trying to dissuade the other person. "You need to calm down and actually think about this. I know you have some... unresolved tension with-"

"Oh that's what you call it?" The first guy interrupted. "They killed my entire family, that's 'unresolved tension'?"

"Okay, well, he doesn't have anything to do with that."

"Like hell he doesn't! You and I both know he's been consorting with those bastards."

"Look, he may not even know what-"

"Shove it up your ass, PJ, I'm talking to him."

There was a loud bang as the door was slammed open and Phil had only a second to build up any self confidence before there was a hand wrapped around his throat, making him choke pathetically.

"I will give you five seconds exactly to answer me, or I'll rip your fucking balls off. Where are they?" The grip was released from his neck and Phil wheezed painfully. He still couldn't see, but he felt the guy standing right in front of him.

"I, I don't.... I don't know what you're talking about." Phil spluttered. He was terrified out of his mind right now, not knowing what was going to happen to him, and confused. If these people didn't take him to rob him or kill him, what did they want? Who were 'they', and why would he be expected to know? He just.... he just really wanted to go home.

"Don't act stupid." The guy snarled. The blindfold was suddenly ripped from his face and Phil blinked a few times to clear his vision. The room was dark and mainly empty from what he could see. The only source of light was from the open door behind the guy who was glaring at him. He couldn't be much older than Phil himself, maybe nineteen or twenty, and he was wearing all black. He didn't have much more time to process anything else because then the guy had grabbed his face again, forcing him to make eye contact. "Look, I really don't want to hurt you, because I'm sure you didn't mean to get dragged into this. But those monsters are no good, and getting involved with them will only get you killed."

Oh shit.

Okay, now Phil was entirely fucked. He'd had the though in the back of his mind, that these were the people that wanted Dan and his family dead. He'd been replaying the few conversations about them he'd had with Dan, but he really hadn't thought they were an immediate threat. Honestly, he'd been hoping they wouldn't ever be a problem, hoped they never found what they wanted, and just left the whole thing alone. And now here he was, strapped to a chair and being interrogated by them.

And now he was left with the decision of what to do.

Because on one hand, while he hated succumbing to his feelings, he liked Dan. Way too much to be normal. The very thought of selling him and his family out to these hunters, of possibly getting him killed, made him sick. Dan wasn't bad. He didn't deserve anything like that just because he wasn't.... human.

But on the other, he knew what the hunters would do if he held back. He knew they were bloodthirsty and would do just about anything to get what they wanted. And that didn't exclude killing Phil, just because he wasn't a threat to them.

"I..." Phil muttered, visibly shaking as he stared at the guy still glaring down at him. "I can't. I don't know where they are." He hoped that he sounded scared and desperate, and not like he was lying through his teeth.

"That's bullshit and you know it." The guy growled, and before Phil could blink, there was a knife pressed to this throat, digging in almost to the point of breaking skin.

"Stop it, Chris." The second guy said from the doorway, walking forwards and pulling the guy, Chris, away from Phil. Phil sighed in relief, watching the two of them cautiously. The second guy seemed to trying to calm Chris down, whispering to him and gripping his arms.

He felt like he was going to vomit. This was a huge mess, something he'd brought on himself and now couldn't cope with. He'd been warned. Countless times, by Dan and Zoe alike, and he hadn't listened, hadn't at all taken any caution about his surroundings. His head hurt and his throat was dry, and he felt really dirty.

"I'm sorry about that." The guys who's name he still didn't know said, making Phil focus on him again. "He gets a bit out of line sometimes. I'm PJ."

Phil stared at him warily, not sure yet if he could trust him at all. He didn't seem to be any more violent than Chris, but Phil didn't want to let his guard down and end up regretting it.

"We really don't want to hurt you." PJ continued and Phil had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "We're just trying to find some... people. I don't know if you know anything about them, or us, but-"

"I know who you are." Phil said quietly, staring down at his lap timidly. "Hunters?" He said it as more of a question. He looked up, noting PJ's almost surprised look; so he had been right about his assumption.

"And do you know what- who we're looking for?" PJ questioned.

Phil nodded shakily. "But I can't tell you where they are."

"Can't or won't?"

Phil closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't feel like answering anymore questions from them, especially now with the volatile Chris still in the room.

There was another few moments of tense silence before he heard PJ sigh heavily. "I'm not gonna push you. I just want you to know that they can't possibly be worth this." He paused. "If you have anything else to tell us, just shout."

There were footsteps and a slam, and when Phil opened his eyes again, the room was empty again. Completely dark, not even a window to keep him company. He didn't even know what time it was.

"Fuck." He muttered dryly, shifting slightly in the chair. His arms were staring to hurt from being tied up like this.

His family was probably worried about him, depending on how long he'd actually been here. Maybe they'd called the police; they probably wouldn't be able to find him though. And Dan, well... he didn't want to think about Dan right now.

He didn't want to think about anything.

***

a/n: sorry if this took a bit longer to update, the details were really iffy for me; I spent like two days editing it majorly.

But oh yeah, it's getting good now. What do you think is gonna happen next? It's gonna be crazy. I don't know if you guys are ready.

Also wanted to say thank you guys for all the support, I don't know if I do that enough. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about this story and it motivates me greatly. Seriously, you all are the the main reason I even keep going with this story.

But anyway, hope this was a good chapter, and prepare....

Love you, peace :3