I came across an image of a girl who I think could make a really good Daisy! It's how I've been envisioning her basically. The hazel eyes, skin tone and hair color shade are perfect for Daisy.

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DAISY

Hey Daisy! I'll be inside of the grill downtown by 2pm if you still want to meet up before I leave. I'm so excited to see you. Text me if you're still coming- Cass

I read Cassandra's message with a smile. Today was the day. The day that I would meet up with Cassandra for the first time in six months, and the last day that I would ever see her. She had gotten everything that she needed to move during the months time that she last messaged me about her whereabouts.

I was excited to see her, and absolutely glad that she had gotten her life together. I viewed her profile photo and she seemed so clean and much happier. She wore conservative clothes and the piercings in her face were gone. Her hair was back to its original honey colour, unlike when it was dyed black back when I still knew her. She looked like a different person all together.

I've convinced Jason to drop me off at the grill to meet her. He agreed reluctantly, and told me to promise that I would be safe and careful at all times. He mentioned something about a business meeting related to the gang, so he wouldn't be home all day. I wasn't happy about it one bit and I hoped that he would be okay. Mr Black had reminded me in secret before we left his home about the dangers of Jason's life. I promised him that I would be careful.

I had classes today, my last few classes before exams. Most students didn't show up to the last few, as Jason put it. I was going to attend them but meeting Cassandra and seeing her for the last time seemed way more important. I dressed in a long maxy dress and my denim jacket to keep me warm.

Jason's car came to a stop outside of the grill. He didn't turn the engine off but turned to look at me instead.

"Have a nice time, Sweetheart." He leaned over the console to kiss me on the cheek.

"Thank you, and thanks for bringing me here." I said in appreciation.

"Anytime."

I unbuckled my seatbelt and unlocked my door. In the midst of getting out, I felt Jason's hand latch onto my wrist.

"Be safe, babe. And please call me when you're done. If I don't answer call Ace or Mavis or anyone. I don't want you to take a cab back. I don't trust."

"I'll be fine." I laughed. He was always way too worried about me. "Won't Ace be at the meeting as well?"

"Not this one. He has other matters to deal with, but you can call him if you need to."

"Okay." I agreed. He was so protective in a charming kind of way. "Good luck with your meeting."

"Thanks, Daise."

I got out of the car and shut the door. Jason waited till I was securely inside before he drove away. My eyes scanned the inside and I found no evidence of Cassandra anywhere.

Disappointment filled me and the smile left my face. With a sigh, I sat down at a two person's table and placed my bag down in front of me. I retrieved my phone to see if I had any messages from her since she sent her last one early this morning. There were none, so I texted her once again.

I'm here, at the grill.- Daisy

She didn't respond immediately, but a big part of me was hoping that she would soon. I was wrong. Minutes passed and I still didn't get a response. Did she leave without saying goodbye? My heart hurt at the thought. I ordered me something to eat and scarfed down every last bit out of boredom. When an hour passed, I bought myself a milkshake as well. Another hour passed, and having have bought the whole damn menu she still wasn't here. Disappointment filled me to the brim. Why had it felt like her text messages were lies? Maybe she couldn't make it?

I looked at my phone one last time in hope, hoping to see a message from Cass telling me that she was held up two and a half hours but would be here any second. However, none came. My phone beeped signalling that it was fifteen percentage on battery. To make it worst, I've just used all my data credit and couldn't send text messages anymore or receive any. I groaned and stood up from my seat, taking my bag with me towards the counter.

I saw a women cleaning the counter and approached her with a smile.

"Hi, do you perhaps have wifi here?" I asked hopefully, resting my crossed arms on the counter.

"Sure, I can put the password in your phone?"

I nodded gratefully and handed her my phone. I proceeded to wait as she typed in the code. I rested on my elbows and let my focus scan the area. It landed on the flat screen TV in the corner that was perched against the ceiling.

I watched curiously as the daily news appeared on the screen. The headlines scrolling at the bottom, from where I was sitting, said 'Dead body found in lake.' I frowned as the cameras took us through a forest kind of environment and then towards a large lake. There was yellow tape put up surrounding the crime scene, and police cars and men all over the show. It zoomed in on the ground where a plastic covering covered the outline of a body.

"Oh my god," the women in front of me said. "They found a dead body down at lake Lynch."

My head turned towards her in surprise. "Who is it?"

"The headlines says it some young girl named Cassandra Chang. Oh dear, she was only nineteen."

I stepped back immediately and my eyes flew to the screen. She was right. The screen did say Cassandra Chang indeed. But I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. There was absolutely no way that it was Cassandra. She was okay. She texted me about eight hours ago to tell me that she would meet me here before she left. She's on her way to meet me and there was a big misunderstanding of the identity of the body.

I so badly wanted to believe that it was one big lie, but she never showed up to meet me and she hadn't answered my text messages in the past eight hours. I looked towards the screen one last time and when I saw the honey blonde hair sprawled on the ground and out from under the covers my breathing hitched. I suddenly couldn't breathe. I grabbed my phone from the lady's hand unexpectedly and rushed to walk out of the shop. I needed fresh air urgently.

This was a sick joke, it had to be.

I tried my luck by messaging Cassandra's phone once again, using the grill's wifi. Minutes passed of me anxiously waiting for a reply, my hand tightly clenching my phone. No response came. Oh god. My heart clenched tightly in my chest in anguish. This wasn't happening. Especially not after she redeemed herself and was so proud of her good change. She was lost and hoping to find a better life by moving from this place and living with her sister. There's no way that the world could be so cruel as to take it away from her.

But that was just it. The world was a bad place, a miserable place filled with tears and pain. I wanted to sag to the floor and cry, she was my friend for so long and she rescued me in the cold and dark streets when I had no one. She was my hero. She couldn't be gone. I willed my tears at bay as anger grew inside me rapidly. I knew who did this. It was Lucien. He always called her names and he never really liked her. He did this to her. It was bad to jump to conclusions, but my judgement was clouded by my emotions.

On a last minute debate, I decided it was time that I finally paid Lucien Santiago a visit.

***

It took me roughly three minutes to hail a cab on the busy main road. I let it take me to Declyn Drive, the opposite side of town, or as people like to put it the town next to our resident one. I was beavering the entire way there. I was absolutely afraid. A part of me felt as if I was going home, since it had been my home for three years. My subconscious knew that the news was telling the truth, but I stubbornly refused to accept it. I was imagining Cassandra on her way to the airport now, leaving this horrid place to start over.

The drive there was fourty five minutes of fidgeting and anxiously shaking my leg up and down in my seat. My hands were playing with eachother, as a sign of my obvious anxiety. The roads grew so familiar and that was when I knew that I was here, by my old home. I paid the cab driver a respected fee before slamming the door and watching the yellow cab drive away. My phone was dead at this point and I had no way to call Jason or anyone else for that matter if things went wrong. I was anxious and my heart wouldn't stop racing a mile a minute. So many thoughts were racing through my head. What would happen now? How mad would Jason be if I didn't call him? Three hours passed since he dropped me off at the grill. He would be absolutely mad if I was missing in action and didn't answer my phone. But this was important.

I stared at the huge double story house with wide eyes. It looked just as it did about six months ago. A bit broken with weeds growing out at the sides, a half fresh lawn and a brick pathway towards the front door. It wasn't in perfect shape but it was comfortable, and at the time it was a nice place to live in. The people in it were the problem. Unlike Jason's gang, Lucien stayed with almost half of his gang's members in once house. I used to live with them, and I had no idea how I survived there consistent cruelty and violence. It was utter torture.

In my three inch heel ankle boots, I basically wobbled towards the front door in the cold. I had no idea what I was going to do, and if Lucien decided to attack I would be absolutely useless against them. I was so sure he would do no harm.

I raised a hand when I reached and knocked on the chipping wooden door. I used to have a key to this place, but that key was as lost as the wind when I threw it away six months ago. I waited and waited but no body answered. I proceeded to knock again when the door flew open. There stood a guy, one of the members that I used to know.

He stared at me in surprise, probably trying to remember who I even was.

"Well, well well. If it isn't Daisy McKenway. I almost couldn't recognize you over all the shit you caught from the town over."

"I don't have time for games, Elliot." I glared at him. "I need to speak to Lucien."

"He's busy right now, but I'm sure he could squeeze you in later. Are you here for a visit, or did you finally come to your senses and you're going to beg Lucien to take you back?"

"Get out of my way." I wanted to barge past him but his hand gripped my arm tightly. I winced.

"You're exactly the same as that bitch Cassandra, you know? But you used to be different. Some of us used to like you." He snarled.

Feeling clouded with anger, I raised my hand and slapped him hard. His hand flew to his cheek in surprise when he let go of my arm. I took the opportunity to slip past him. I ignored all the pairs of eyes that snapped towards me in surprise when I passed the lounging area. I coughed when I caught the strong smell of weed. That was another downside of living here. We had resident drug addicts and alcoholics. I pushed through and passed a pink haired girl when I reached Luciens office. I had no idea why I even knew where that was. This corridor was always off limits to minor residents like me.

Without knocking, I barged straight through the wooden doors and into his office. I caught sight of Lucien for the first time since the time he drenched me in petrol at that party. He looked relatively the same, and it brought back those horrible memories I wanted to forget. At the sound of my arrival his head turned from the position it was in, looking down at some paperwork on his desk. When he saw me, the most cunning smile appeared on his face. His eyes twinkled in excitement.

"Daisy." He said simply. "What a pleasure it is to see you again."

"You bastard," I hissed out, my emotions coming back at full force. "Where the hell is she?"

"I have no idea who you're talking about." He scoffed.

"Cassandra. I'm talking about Cassandra, you nutcase." My patience was running so thin.

"Oh, her. Such a tragedy it was right? Her death."

He did do this. Of course he did.

"You fucking asshole!" I swore, feeling my eyes wet from tears. "You killed her! How could you? I knew you were sick but I thought you atleast had an ounce of care for her." Tears began to slide down my cheeks. I wiped them away hastily.

"Oh, please. You come here after so long and you accuse me of killing Cassandra? Get your damn facts straight. I didn't kill her. In fact, before she left she came and asked me for money so that she could sort out her life. I gave her the money. I did fucking care. I cared about your ungrateful ass too."

I heaved a breath and said nothing in response. He was right. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. He did keep a roof over both my and Cassandra's head for three years. Why would he suddenly kill Cassandra like that?

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have came." I murmured, wiping the last of my tears away. This was such a bad idea. I turned to leave the room without sparing him a glance, but two huge guys blocked my way. Panic filled me instantly.

"Now now, Daisy. I have a present for you. Wait and see what it is." Lucien said, a smirk on his face. I didn't like that look one bit, it held bad promises.

"I don't care what you have to give. Leave me alone." I wanted to push past them but my arms got caught by their hands.

"He left to go get some agreement on paper, but he'll be back any second."

"What are you talking about?" I asked in confusion. Then, realization hit me like a ton of bricks. He said he will be away all day at a business meeting. Oh god.

Just then, the second door on the left side of the office decided to open. I saw Jason before he saw me and I swore I could have fainted right then. No, please. My heart dropped out of my chest. This was what severe anxiety felt like, severe panic. I wasn't unaware of what a panic attack felt like. And I could have gotten one right then and there.

Jason seemed so different. He didn't seem like the Jason I knew, but rather the cold hearted gang leader that everyone viewed him as. His eyes were so dark and cold and his shoulders were tensed. I could recognize all these small things about him. I felt the two men behind me let go of my arms and push me forward. I stumbled towards Lucien's desk, catching the attention of my boyfriend. The man that I love.

When his eyes landed on me he froze. Recognition filled them and his expression grew into the most gruesome glare, which he directed straight towards Lucien.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" He hissed, his fists clenching. I stared at him, my heart breaking to pieces at the confusion on his face.

"Ask her yourself." Lucien said calmly, resting back in his seat as if this were his monthly entertainment.

"Daisy?" He looked at me in question and came forward to stand in front of me. I stepped back in shame.

"Please don't hate me." I whispered, words not being able to leave my mouth. My throat felt clogged up.

"What are you talking about?" He looked beyond confused, and if I knew him as much as I did I'd know that it would only be minutes before he was raging with anger.

"What is she talking about?" He looked towards Lucien. "Fucking tell me before the deal is off."

Lucien let out an exaggerated sigh, as if he was forcing himself to do this. We all knew that he would be more than happy to tell. I was a coward, a crying mess and a horrible person. I couldn't believe that I would let Lucien tell him my biggest secret, but my mind wasn't itself. It was overwhelmed and completely guilty. I couldn't think clearly.

"I swear, Lucien, if you did anything to hurt her I'm going to fucking kill you." Jason threatened.

Lucien laughed loudly. "You were the one who wanted to sign a peace agreement with me, and now you want to kill me?" He chuckled as if he couldn't believe it. "Look what she's done to you. She's made you weak and pathetic. If I knew you'd become this weakling because of her, I would have sent her to you way before six months ago."

Oh god. I was finding it hard to breathe, as the room became suffocating.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jason growled, his resolve slowly slipping. He looked towards me in question, but my cowardice and unwillingness to get hurt again rendered me speechless.

"I knew she wouldn't tell you that she was under my wing for the better parts of her life."

"What?" Jason asked lowly.

"Daisy didn't tell you that she ran away from the orphanage, right? That she came to live with me for three years. God, how does one forget to tell you that?" Lucien chuckled maniacally.

Jason sucked in a sharp breath and looked at me. "Is that true?"

"Yes." I whispered pathetically.

"Must be a shocker that your innocent little girlfriend forgot to mention her whereabouts and encounters with me. What a fucking liar? She's not so sweet after all now is she?" Lucien glared at me. "She never was. She led people on and then left, like she's going to do with you. You think she's this innocent little girl, but rather a wolf in sheep's clothing, right Daisy? You're going to leave him the second you sense danger. Like you left me."

He was demented.

"What? I was never yours!" I exclaimed. I turned to look at Jason. "Please don't listen to him. He's lying."

Jason breathed heavily, his jaw and fists clenching in anger. "About what part?"

"I will never leave you. Please, don't believe that. I never planned on leaving you."

"Fuck you, Daisy." My heart crumbled to pieces by the animosity and malice in his tone. "I fucking loved you. I trusted you, and now I find out that you were with my fucking enemy for so long? I asked you so many times to trust me, to tell me everything but you didn't. You lied to my face instead. Every. Fucking. Time." He hissed, hurt shining in his eyes. "I defended you against my own father, but you never deserved any of it. What else were you lying about? You told me when we met that you come from London, and then you said the orphanage. How many more fucking lies?" He yelled, shoving a wooden chair out of his way in anger. The chair crashed to the ground causing me to flinch.

"You were fucking around with him too, right?" I shook my head in protest, tears continuously sliding down my face. "You were leading him on as well, and then when things got too much you left to go find the next person you found suitable to fuck around with!"

"No, please! That's not true. I love you so much please let me explain." I begged.

"You told him you came from London?" Lucien laughed. "What the fuck?"

"Stay out of this." Jason said calmly.

"Please, Jason. I love you." I was so pathetic .

"Well, I should have listened to my father when he told me to leave you. You're a fucking liar."

He marched straight towards the door and kicked the chair out of the way. The two men standing in the doorway immediately moved aside before he threw the door open. He turned to look at my frozen form.

"I hope that you're happy. You can stay here, where you belong." With that said, he left with the bang of the door.

Realization set in and I began sobbing.

"Jason!" I yelled, rushing towards the door.

"Bye, flower." Lucien sang.

I couldn't even be mad at him. He wasn't in the wrong, I was. I didn't spare him another glance before I barged out of the suffocating room to go find Jason. I ran all the way downstairs and passed the other members who were silent. I stumbled in my step and made it to the door. I was about to grab the handle when a hand stopped me.

"You're not going anywhere, you bitch." It was Elliot who I remembered slapping. I forced myself out of his grip but he was too strong.

"Let go, you asshole." I struggled.

I gasped when his hand came down forcefully on my cheek. I yelped in pain and fell to the ground on my hands and knees. The pain was excruciating and shot all throughout my face.

"You think you can just come here and hit me? Who gives you the right, you fucking slut!"

I gasped in pain and tried to crawl away when his hand gripped my hair. I shut my eyes tightly and waited for the impact of another hit but it never came. I felt like it was my way of repaying for what I've done and to how I've hurt Jason. I wanted, needed Elliot to hit me again so that I could feel better about my emotional pain by relishing in physical pain.

"Motherfucker!" I was relieved by the sound of Jason's voice. He hadn't left.

I turned around and sat on the ground, feeling exhausted. I was met with the sight of Jason forcefully pushing Elliot to the wall. He raised a fist and punched him in the face. He didn't stop and threw him to the ground instead, before he began punching him continuously in the face once again. Elliot tried to fight back but was rendered weak. I so badly wanted to stop Jason but he was letting out all of his anger which was mainly directed towards me. Other gang members just watched and made no move to help their friend. Were they serious? I raised to my feet shakily, ready to put an end to this but Jason surprisingly stopped on his own.

He breathed heavily and stood up, not before kicking Elliot straight in the stomach. Elliot weezed in pain as he writhed on the ground. Jason turned around and stormed towards the exit before he pulled the door open. I had half the mind thinking he would leave me in a house full of gang members of his rivalry gang, but his hand gripped my arm instead. His face was clouded with anger as he roughly pulled me towards his car. I wanted to protest in pain but remained silent. I let him push me into the passenger seat and waited anxiously for him to round the car and get in.

With the slam of the car door he began the engine and pulled out of the driveway. I gripped the seat besides me and waited anxiously for him to talk. His remained silent, but his bruised fists were tightly clenching the steering wheel.

"Jason?" I whispered in question. "Please talk to me."

He remained silent, hitting the gas pedal forcefully causing the car to lurch forward. My body moved forcefully but I quickly grabbed onto the seatbelt and pulled it over my body. The car was gradually picking up speed, going faster that he usually drove and it was scaring me.

"Jason," I said again. "You have to believe me when I say that not all of what Lucien was saying is true. Yes, I've lived with him before I went to college but that was it. I have no involvement in his gang. I swear-"

"Stop fucking talking!" He suddenly yelled. The car sped up as a result of his anger. I held tightly onto my seatbelt in fear, but also because my hands were shaking. Another tear left my eye, causing my throbbing cheek to hurt even futher at the saltiness of my tears.

"I gave you so many chances to tell me about your past! I'm mostly mad because I trusted you and you lied to my face! You were never gonna fucking tell me were you? Why the hell where you at Lucien's anyway? Were you going back to him? Were you going to leave me? Fucking answer me, Daisy!"

"No!" I suddenly yelled. "It's not what you're thinking. Lucien and I were never together, Jason. He was lying. I only came there to confront him about my friend Cassandra. I told you about her, remember? She was the friend that I was going to meet today at the grill. But she never showed up! The news said that she's dead and that her body was found in lake Lynch." I sobbed, at the loss of my friend and what felt like the loss of. . . Jason.

"You didn't have to come here alone, Daisy. You could have called me! You make me so angry at your stupid fucking actions. Why would you come here unless you wanted to see him! Were you fucking him too? I bet you were. You're a lying slut. I thought I was the fucked up one but you're just as fucked."

I closed my ears at his crude words and cried. He was doing this to hurt me, and it was working.

"God, I should have never trusted you." He said lowly, but my resolve was slowly slipping. My eyes felt droopy and numb from all the crying, my chest was paining from the heartache and my warm cheek was throbbing. I breathed in and out slowly and rested my head softly against the headrest. I shut my eyes lightly.

"I knew something was up from the beginning, but I was too rapt by you to see it. To mesmerized by you. I should have known that nothing is ever as good as it seems. Something is always wrong. That's just the way life is. And you were far too fucking perfect to be real."

My head was spinning, and soon I knew by the heaviness of my eyelids that I would slip away and fall asleep. I was weak and pathetic, and I could only handle so much at a time. Cassandra's death was making me feel so much worst.

"I love you, Daisy."

My heart ached.

"But that has to change."

***

I woke up startled, shooting up from what seemed to be my own bed. I was sweating after having had a nightmare, and my face was still sore from the blow that Elliot had given me. The room was dark so I felt with my hand the other side of the bed.

Jason's sleeping form wasn't there as I expected.

I reached over and turned on the night lamp. Jason must have carried me in from the car. How could be have even touched me without wanting to throw me off a cliff? I would have hated me too. I sat with my legs hanging off the bed and only then did I take note of the hypertension in my head. I moaned in pain and rubbed my head. I was feeling nauseous and my whole face was paining.

I slipped on my slippers and stood up, my standing position not doing anything to help the pain. I needed pain medication right now. I was still dressed in my clothes so I shrugged it off and left it on the floor before throwing over my robe. About to leave the room, I noticed a small piece of paper standing upright on the desk. I grew curious and grabbed the paper before unfolding it.

Don't look for me. I need some space away from you. Be safe xx -Jason

I stepped back as if it physically hurt me and dropped the note. Oh god, please don't let him leave me. I gasped for breath as more tears slid down my face.

***

Three more chapters left!❤️