Stuck in a state of confusion, I find myself staring at Frank as my brows crease together and frown lines deepen. All the while panic involuntarily takes over Peggy. I'm not sure that she's entirely aware of her current behavior.

"What's wrong? What about Steven? What happened?"  

Her grip on me tightens. 

"He's been shot. It was that li-" Frank begins, but shuts his trap as soon as his eyes land on mine, fighting the urge to continue. I crane my neck sideways to gain a clear view of Peggy's features. I have never seen a wider pair of stormy blue orbs in all my life. 

"He's been shot!?" She repeats in pure horror. 

It's quite clear that she doesn't believe what has just been said. Either that or Frank's notorious for being a pathological liar. Although I believe it to be the former.

From the relationship I've witnessed shared between Peggy and Steven, I would never have guessed this to be her reaction. It surely isn't as horrid as the one Steven and I share, but it's not exactly loving nor caring either. She's always in a foul mood whenever he's around only to end up yelling, arguing, or simply frustrated and demanding his presence to be removed from the room.

Before I could even begin to stop myself from responding to the news, the following words slipped out of my mouth; "It's about damn time!".

Peggy's head rotates so drastically in my direction, I swear I heard a bone crack. She stares at me as if I've gone insane. Well, the answer to that is yes, however, not in this situation. I shrug my shoulders and make my way out of Peggy's hold before deciding to continue my outburst.

She was right after all. I am able to stand on my own. Either that or the hatred seeping through my veins is giving me a new profound strength. "Steven's been a vampire for long enough. A throbbing pain in my damn neck that has drained the life out of me countless times. Every form of torture and abuse I endured because of him, freshly embedded in my mind. So yes, I'm glad that monster's finally getting a taste of his own medicine," I spit furiously, the resentment clear in my voice.

"You know nothing about him Vivian! For Christ's sake, stop acting like you do!" Peggy yells at me as her arms swing wildly in the air and my jaw drops to the ground.

I find myself taken aback that she's suddenly defending him. I would apologize and say sorry, but I'm really not. I meant every word I said and I'm not about to take it back. 

"Peggy, leave Christ out of this and I think it's best we talk outside." Frank hastily speaks up after his brain accumulated some form of logic. It's obvious that he doesn't want me to know anymore than what he thinks I should.

I retrieve my jaw from where it hung and return it to the rest of my face as Frank's words echo through the room. Peggy hesitates at first as her glaring eyes linger on mine. It's not the evil glare one would naturally assume it to be. It was more of a glare of dissapoint. After a few unsettling seconds, she spins on her heels and storms out of the room.

"Sit down and stay here!" Frank yells at me before turning around to follow Peggy. 

"You make as if I actually have a choice in this hell hole!" I call out after him. 

I know that this will only add fuel to the fire, but I'm cold in this bottomless pit of the condemned and I've heard that a fire is a great source of heat.

"Fucking hell! I don't have time for you! Just shut up and stay here!" he laments and I know that he has had enough of me. He slams the door shut behind him, followed by a clicking sound that's easily recognised as the locking of a door. 

"Well, thanks for completely ruining my plans!" I call out not caring if he can still hear me or not, "I was so looking forward to hanging out with dj Pillow at club Duvet." 

Against my better judgement, I find myself obeying Frank and backing up until my thighs hit the bed. I then hop on and sit down, making myself comfortable in the process. A few hours ago I realised that I hadn't eaten anything in a while. My stomach growled loudly and from it came the not-so-subtle undertone of pain. 

Now it is silent. 

The growling stage has long dissapeared. All I feel is a sinking emptiness in the pit of my stomach.

When I'm hungry, it hits me hard. It comes in waves and seems as though my stomach is beginning to digest itself. I rotate my head and scan the room in hopes of finding something to eat. Sadly here's none. Since here's nothing to obliterate my hunger or to keep myself preoccupied with, I allow my mind to wander off to the conversations Peggy and I had during my lazer treatment.

-₹៛₹៛¤៛₹៛₹-

*4 hours ago*

"Remove your clothing, your underwear can stay, and lay flat on the bed. You're scheduled for a full body lazer treatment" Peggy says and I decide to do as told. There's no use in fighting the system. Peggy goes to collect whatever machinery it is that she's suppose to while I drop my clothing in a neat pile on the floor. Once that's done, I climb onto the bed. 

"Won't it hurt?" I ask as my head lands on the pillow beneath me. 

My naked body tingles from the cold air brushing against it.

"Only a little, but you'll barely feel it. So don't stress yourself out about it." she reassures me. "We'll begin from the top and work our way down. Seeing as the lazer can cause vision impairment and permanent blindness, I need you to put these goggles on and keep your eyes shut at all times."

Seeing no room for argument, I take the goggles from Peggy and slip them onto my head. My arms once again rest at my sides and I patiently await for what's to follow. 

"Ouch! No stop!" I hiss in agony as the lazer zaps at my skin. 

The pressure of a hand on my upper arm gets released as the squeeks of a chair can be heard, indicating Peggy shifting around in her seat.

"Vivian that's the 54th time you've said ouch and we've barely began. Yes I've been counting. Now lay still and relax." Peggy informs me. Honestly, if I were her I would have given up on me a long time ago.

We've gotten through doing my upperlip, cheeks, chin, chest, both arms and are currently at my armpits. But this is where I draw the line. The pain is so much worse than before. I admit at times I overreacted immensely, but it's overall still a terrible experience.

"But it hurts!" I try to reason. 

A sigh can be heard and I know that Peggy is starting to grow impatient with me. "It doesn't. At least not as much as you make it out to seem." 

"And how exactly would you know that?" I question seeking valid answers because it sure as hell does.

"Because- goodness Vivian, just take a deep breath, calm down and let's finish this," she says after changing her mind in telling me and I frown at her sudden abruptness. I decide to remain quiet and lay still as requested. Peggy's hand repositions itself on my upper arm and I inhale as much air as my lungs would possibly gather. Another zap at my sensitive skin can be felt and I squeeze my eyes even tighter as my toes curl inwards. My entire body tenses up once again and I can feel my muscles aching.

Don't move, don't breathe, don't scream. Just keep still... I mentally remind myself.

Another zap.

Ouch! Don't move, don't breathe, don't scream. Just keep still...

Another zap.

Ouch! Don't freaking move!... I swear I'm changing colours.

"Vivian you're going to pass out if you continue to keep your breath in like that." Peggy states the obvious and not long after a few chuckles errupt from her chest. Is she really laughing at me?... I release my breath and try to bring my breathing back to a regular pace. "You honestly know how to dramatize a situation," she continues while chuckling. "I had the exact same procedure as you, so I know for a fact that it's not as bad as you're making it out to be."

"Where? Here?" I ask and an 'uhm' can be heard. My mind starts racing with curiosity and I cannot stop myself from interrogating her. "Were you forced to do it?" I question.

Another zap... Ouch!

"No, I asked if I could," she responds and it catches me off guard. I wouldn't for the life of me volunteer to participate in this. 

Apparently, she's different. 

"Why would you do that?" I question wanting to know her motives behind her decisions. If playing detective is how I get to pass time, then so be it.

Another zap.

"It was to surprise my boyfriend."

Her what!?... My eyes grow in my head and my mouth hangs wide open. The shock evident in my features.

"You have a boyfriend!?" I ask in disbelief. 

"Yes," she says laughing loudly, "Why do you looked so shocked?" 

Her amusement visible. 

"Because you never mentioned having a boyfriend before."

Another zap... Oh, sweet mother Mary that hurt!

"I think we can both agree that our circumstances then and now doesn't really inspire us to share our personal lives with each other," she reasons and I find what she's saying to be quiet true. 

"That's true, but since this became my new life and I won't be trying to escape anytime soon or ever again, we might aswell share away. So let's begin with you, what's his name?" I question and for a few moments, the room goes silent. Peggy's most likely shocked by my choice of words and allowing it to sink in.

"Blake." she responds after a while. "His name is Blake."

"You do know that I heard you the first time right?" I say in between my laughs. I honestly don't understand why people do that. Repeat the name as if your hearing was disabled the first time they spoke. It's ridiculous to say the least.

"Right," she agrees as a few more chuckles errupt from her. "Well good news is that we're almost done. It's just your stomach, bikini lines and legs that are left." 

'Just' as if the worst is over.

"Does Steven know?" I blurt out before I can stop myself. Where that question came from heaven alone knows, but there's no use crying over spilled milk. I just hope it doesn't upset her too much.

"Let's be honest. Does it really matter?"

Peggy keeps on surprising me with her responses. I guess I really don't know her as well as I thought I did. I'll have to change that soon. She's the only one I can rely on around here and I cannot rely on someone I don't fully know. "But yes, Steven does know." she ends and I nod my head to indicate attentiveness. I guess the one thing we both have in common is our dislike towards Steven.

-₹៛₹៛¤៛₹៛₹-

*back to present*

I guess the one thing we both have in common is our dislike towards Steven... Or so I thought. Peggy practically fled out of here to his aid all because he got shot. So what? I'm not usually this heartless, but Steven brought my hatred towards him upon himself.

I get pulled out of my thoughts as the door swings open. By this time I was already laying on the bed as sitting in one spot for all eternity drove me mad. "Get up. It's time to go." a voice announces and my head shoots up in surprise. I don't recognize this voice at all.

"Who are you?" I ask the muscular brunette that decides to step further inside of the room as I sit up in the bed. "I'm Michael. Known by all as Mike. You, however, will refer to me as Sir. Understood subject 016?"

I swear they just keep getting worse and worse...

-₹៛₹៛¤៛₹៛₹-

A/N:

Thank you so much to everyone who continues to read this little book of mine. It's honestly my baby at this point and I wouldn't have gotten this far without you guys. 

Love
-AmberLee