A/N: This chapter might be little bit boring, but I promise that the next chapter well be good and maybe long. So please read and don't forget to tell me what you thought! Thanks!

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"Skyler, please." Heath said, moving slowly forward, his hands lightly in front of himself as he kept his eyes on the gun that I held on my temple.

Unlike last time, Heath was dressed in a nice suit, a white dress shirt visible under the suit. But the one thing that hurt was the pain in his eyes as he had them on the gun, his body shaking more than I'm sure I was.

"Heath, go." I said, my voice barely breaking a whisper as I looked at him, his eyes killing me.

But Heath didn't move, his eyes finally meting mine. "Please, Skyler. Just put the gun down." he begged, his feet staying in the same place. I only swallowed as I heard harsh feet coming before the devil's voice spoke himself.

"What in-oh by the name of my mother." Hill said, stopping in the doorway, his eyes locked on me as my eyes landed on him, the room seeming to drop negative forty degrees..

Heath didn't even turn around, he was too focused on me and I'm sure he was thinking the worst. Hill moved his eyes from the gun to me, doing that many times before he moved forward, causing me to take a step back, my finger going on the trigger, Heath quickly speaking up.

"Sky, please." He said, his voice soft, his eyes never leaving mine as he tried to break through, but I didn't let that stop me, this had to end.

"Miss. Oaks. Set down the gun." Hill said, no moving from behind Heath as he watched me.

"Just-please go." I whispered, my voice coming in a soft quiver, Heath just shaking his head. I knew he wasn't going to stop until he get the gun away.

I just took another step back, my breathing a little faster than it should of been, tears starting to fill my eyes, I didn't even notice Heath look past me for a second before looking back at me. Hill just kept his eyes on me, not breaking the powerful glare he had on me, like it was going to cause me to drop the gun but I know that it was going to never happen.

"I'm sorry." I spoke, closing my eyes as I went to pull my figure, everything seeming to move slow.

"No!" Heath yelled, moving forward fast.

I felt something knock my hand holding the gun away from me, causing the gun to fire at the wall before strong arms wrapped around me, trapping my arms to my sides, their warm breath on my neck as they held me towards their body.

"Not today." Deadlock's low, calm voice spoke into my ear. I let the tears fall as I tried to get out of his arms, the tears falling like a waterfall that had no end.

"Let me go!" I screamed, squirming like it was the end of the world, Deadlock only held me harder until I kicked my leg back, nailing him right on his right kneecap did he curse, he grip loosening a little as it seemed his leg gave out, but that didn't fully break his hold.

Still trying to get free, I soon felt one of Deadlock's hands on my neck, holding down on a pressure point. His face was in pain as everything in my body seemed to stop, the world getting dark before I let out a whimper, my eyes falling shut as my body went limp into Deadlock's arms, the world around me going dark and quiet.

Deadlock's POV

As soon as Skyler was limp, Deadlock slowly set her body down, before his face grew with pain, his hands going up and lightly touching his knee. He never thought a girl could be so strong at kicking. Looking up, he watching as Hill came towards him, looking down at him.

"You okay, Day?" He asked, Deadlock looked up at him, trying really hard to not yell out in pain.

"She knocked out my knee." He said, looking down at his jeans, only to see the dark red start to appear.

"Crap." he cursed, Hill quickly saw what was wrong.

"Heath, go get South and one of the other boys so you can help move Day here downstairs." Hill ordered, glancing behind him to make sure the boy was going, but Heath just stood there, his eyes looking down at Skyler, who remained out cold. Clearing his throat, Hill yelled. "Now!" He said, Heath slowly took a few steps back before he turned around and rushed out of the room.

Moving over to Skyler, Hill knelt down, brushing her hair out of her face, his eyes looking over her, making sure no scraps were visible before he moved his attention towards the gun inches away from her hand.

"How did you even get a hold of the gun in the first place?" He said, speaking to himself as he picked up the gun looking over it before Heath came walking in, South and Brett right behind him.

He hid the gun behind his back as he turned to face all three of them, South looked past Hill towards the past out Skyler behind him, his eyes darting between Hill and Skyler.

"Alright, Heath and Brett move-" Hill went to say more, but Deadlock cut him off, grimacing before he spoke.

"It's alright Ryan, have the boy do it here, I'll stay with Skyler until she wakes up." Deadlock said, Hill only grumbled something before answering. "Very well, Heath and Brett, please return to what you were doing, South, do what you do best." Hill said, all three boys only nodding before they split up, South walked over to Deadlock, kneeling down and looking over his knee.

"Hey, kid." Deadlock said, South glancing at him.

"You know what you're doing, right?" He said, watching as South pressed his knee down lightly, a smile forming across his lips, a voice speaking that was unknown in much of the house.

"Of course."

Puzzled, Deadlock opened his mouth, but with one movement, South put Deadlock's knee back into place, a yell of pain feeling the silent house.

****

As I slowly opened my eyes, everything was a dancing blur, and I tried to move, but my arms seem to stay in front of me, together. Droll seemed to run down my cheek, going across the floor as I soon started remembering what took place that lead me here. It was like a nightmare coming back to life, but only your own eyes could see it, and it made me choke. Closing my eyes, I let out an easy breath through my nose, before opening my eyes once again, the cloud of blur gone.

As I got a better look around, I moved my head to look at my hands, black rope holding my wrist together in front of my stomach, keeping me from using them at all. I could swallow before hearing a groan, my attention now towards the other side of the room where a figure sat, one leg bent while the other was extended out word, leaving them to sit weird in the chair.

"You sure do kick hard." A voice said, the direction from it coming from the figure.

Deadlock.

Slowly, I used my elbows to push myself up, my tied wrist resting in between my legs, my hair falling in front of my face, I swear, it was like a family of rats were living in it because how bad it was.

"Why-" I went to say, but Deadlock only moved, his hands grabbing at something before he pulled himself up, and from what I could make out, I saw a Deadlock using a crouch.

"Miss. Oaks." He said calmly, slowly walking forward, his right leg barely even touching the ground at all or bending as he moved out from the corner of darkness into the light, his blue eyes cast down before me.

I only looked up at him, his eyes almost like ice, if you were to drop a pebble, they would shatter. Slowly bring my arms up, I kept the eye contact. "Untie me, please." I said, watching as his eyes only moved away from mine, a hint of pity.

"Out of everyone in this place, you were the last I would of thought to be placed on suicide watch" His voice not even raising as he seemed to look at one spot on the ground.

"You don't understand!" I yelled, not even caring if everyone else heard us, he didn't understand, nobody would unless they know how I was feeling.

As my words were said, he looked at me, his lips staying in a straight line before he looked away, back towards the ground, his breathing seeming to go slower before he spoke.

"Miss Oaks, I once felt the way you do now, that hope is lost, no one is going to jump through those windows and take you out of this nightmare, that you'll never wake up. I've lived nearly the past five years like this, knowing that I have no one to turn to for help, my own parents don't have anything to do with me anymore, they hid all their pictures of me, I've lost things that I know you feel like you have lost, and trust me, I've wanted to pull that trigger many times, believing that I am the one who got my wife and my own daughter killed." He said, his voice almost like a soft breeze as he turned towards me, those icy eyes showing something that I had never seen before.

"I want more than anything to go back into time, try to stop want happened and-and just live a normal life." He said, his eyes moving up and looking past me, out the window. "But somehow, somehow I'm still pulling myself through this nightmare, and I know that this nightmare will end. It just won't be tomorrow." He said, his gentle eyes looking down at me once again.

"But why?" I asked, leaning forward, my words quivered as I just looked at him. "Why did you stop me? I have nothing left. I'm broken, I'm done fighting." I said, the last words coming out as a whisper as I looked towards the ground, closing my eyes to help stop the tears from falling.

"Cherry." He spoke lightly. "We all have our own time to leave, but that bullet didn't have your name on it, you have larger steps to complete. You may think your broken, but you're not, most slaves like you are already a dark shadow, lost in the forest along with many others, who just gave up, thinking that hope was gone. But it's not."

A small smile took place on his lips as he looked at me, his eyes sparkling. "You are hope to many others, Skyler, and I've seen it, you are the large stone for many people here, if you were gone, everything, and everyone, would just crumble into small pieces."

I only looked up at him, tears lining the edge of my eyes. "But Miss. Oaks, for me, and for everyone, stay strong." He finally said, slowly walking over to me and reaching out and taking hold of the ropes. Slowly, he undid the knot, the black rope falling into my lap, Deadlock took a step back, keeping most of his weight on his left leg.

"Now, if you would like, you can go and help in the kitchen." he said, a smile across his lips as I slowly stood up, not meting his eyes as I walked past him, holding my arm as I opened the door, walking out into the hallway.

I found that almost everyone looked at me as I went down the stairs, especially Heath as he looked up towards me, his eyes watching me until I got into the kitchen, where Keene leaned against the counter, Lucy fast at getting other foods ready.

"Hey." She said lightly, looking up at me, her hazel eyes showing the mix of emotions that danced inside of her.

I only nodded at her, walking over and looking at the empty cups of glass. I blinked before I picked up a class, starting to feel it up with water, ice coming in last as I set it off to the side, doing the same with the others.

I had maybe gotten twenty glasses filled before a loud knock on the door caused me to stop, seeing Hill walk down the stairs really quickly and opening the door, a voice ringing throughout the house.

"Welcome!" He called out, both Lucy and I quickly returning to what we were doing as the guest entered, their greeting meeting Hill's and I glanced toward the living room to see Chase entering, and for that moment, it was almost like a twin of Ayden, just cross out the blonde hair and they could play with you all day.

Glancing away, I slowly lifted up the glass, watching as the water poured into the cup, my eyes just watching as the water fell freely, nothing blocking its path as it built up inside.

"Skyler." A voice said, my head snapping up towards the voice, only seeing it was Chase, his eyes staying with me.

"Wh-Yes?" I said, clearing my throat.

"Maddox is upstairs with Ayden, if you would please take a glass to him, he would like that." He said, his pale lips staying in a straight line as he spoke.

Only nodding, I picked up one of the glasses, heading towards the stairs. I walked around some of the people the best I could, many looking at me as I did so. I kept my eyes down and away, knowing how Hill acted when you looked at him straight on, I didn't want to risk right now, maybe not ever again after Hill knew what I had tried to do.

Reaching the top of the stairs felt like forever, but I could only move on, slowly making my down the hall, hearing the sound of a TV up ahead. The sound only got louder before I was standing right in front of the door, my hands slightly shaking as I knocked on it. Hearing the sound from the TV go down before the door opened, Maddox looked down at me with question.

"I-um-here." I said, showing him that glass, the question in his eyes quickly disappearing.

He only nodded before taking it from me, his eyes looking at me for a second before he turned around, the door closing in my face. I only let out an easy breath, turning around to head back towards the kitchen, but as I went to do so, I stopped, hearing what was being spoken by the TV.

"An emotional time for a large city today as was the 18th birthday of Skyler Oaks, who is still missing, police around the world still looking, hoping to bring Skyler and many of the other missing teens back home." The man's voice said, more words coming but I just blocked them out as I looked down at the ground, the words repeating throughout my head.

My 18th birthday?

I slowly moved down the hall, all the noise seeming to be gone as I got to the stairs, slowly going down it as I kept my eyes on the ground, not noticing that someone was watching me. Not even half way into the kitchen, I felt someone grab me, their hand quickly going over my mouth, my scream of surprise muffled as they kept one arm around me.

My breathing went faster as the person pulled me back a little more into the kitchen, my eyes looking around to see that both Lucy and Keene were gone. But as I looked around, the person leaned over a little, their shaky voice speaking into my ear.

"Please don't scream, Sky." The voice said, their words shaky as I realized who it was, his arms lightly keeping me close to his body before he slowly let go, giving me a chance to turn around to make sure I wasn't going crazy.

Standing before me, his once brown hair blonde, his brown eyes locked onto me like he thought I was going to disappear if he dared blink. But as I looked at him more, I felt myself overcome at the sight of him before I realized where we were.

"Luke-you-you can't be here." I said, looking towards the outside of the kitchen, just waiting for someone to see us and call for Hill.

"Sky, just listen." He said, holding his hands up, his eyes looking as scared as I felt, but his voice remained soft as he tried to pull my attention back towards him.

I only shook my head, taking a few steps back. "Luke, you have to go! If he sees you, you'll be dead meat!" I brought my hands up, running them through my hair before I felt Luke lightly grab at one, at paying any attention towards my broken right wrist.

"Sky, please-"

"No Luke, you have to go, you can't even talk to me-" but my words were mixed as Luke pressed his lips against mine, shutting me up real quick for those few seconds before he pulled away, his warm hand no longer touching me.

"I can't be in here for long, just, we'll get you out of this." He said, slowly moving towards the door, my eyes just barely noticing he was wearing a suit, his blonde hair seeming so real as he slowly backed up.

"The last battle is almost here." He said, his charming eyes looking at me for only seconds before he turned around, heading into the crowd of masters, leaving me standing there, fighting against the tears as I swallowed.

My mind raced as I tried to figure out what Luke was saying, he seemed so far, almost like that wasn't even him speaking, the Luke I knew was not the Luke I talked too, that one was scared.

It had to be at least 12 in the morning as I watched the party slowly come to an end, almost all of us servants looking like zombies as the last Master left the house, Hill closing the door right behind with a loud slam.

"Everyone, in the living room right now!" He yelled out, his hair messed up, his dress shirt was unbuttoned three more than it was before.

I was one of the first to be in the room as I entered, ignoring Deadlock who sat in a chair, an ice pack on his right knee, Chase leaning against the wall. Lucy came in right behind Brett, a towel in her hand as she stopped next to me, glancing at me before looking at Hill who waited to speak until everyone was in the room.

"Before I have all of you sent to your room tonight, I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow, we will be leaving this place in the afternoon and each of you will be placed under a drug for at least 12 hours. Those who resist will be punished with up most of consequences." He said, the warning in his voice letting us all know he wasn't playing games.

"Alright, you can all go now." He said, turning to Deadlock and talking to him in a whisper, Deadlock looking at him.

We all turned around, Pitney looked at Brett with his brows furrowed in confusion, only for Brett to shrug his shoulders at him, moving up the stairs fast. As I got into the room, I saw Pitney already in the place that was his spot, flat on his stomach. Brett ran his hands through his hair before he started undoing the dress shirt he was forced to wear, all of us not saying a word as we changed, Lucy and I just sat and looked towards the ground as the boys did so.

After everyone had got changed, everyone was in their spots, many out cold as I looked out the window, twirling a piece of my hair around my finger over and over again, watching the dark sky, that for once, had stars dancing. Leaning my head against the window, I slowly closed my eyes, letting the world shut out, before I was pulled under the blanket of sleep, I murmured my last words.

"Happy birthday to me."