When I woke up I was naked and I was lying on the cold, metal floor of a cage. An alarming amount of blood had pooled on the floor near my head and my black hair had turned a rusty red-brown where it had dried and matted. I blinked repeatedly, but no matter how many times I tried to focus the room seemed to spin and wobble in front of my eyes. My aching head throbbed with every beat of my heart and the pain and dizziness had begun to overwhelm me to the point I felt nauseated.

Taking several deep breaths, I tried focusing on something small in an attempt to steady myself. I stared hard at my bloody and bruised fingers silently willing them to stop blurring and multiplying.

After several minutes of attempting to focus without any success I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was lie back down and pretend none of this ever happened. It would be easy. I hadn't had any food in three days and I had had very little water. My body had already been shutting down even before I got injured and now with my head wound it wouldn't take much for me to slip into a coma and die peacefully.

But if I didn't find a way out Roran's life was in danger. He was the only true friend I had ever had and he had always protected me. It was only fair that I returned the favor.

With a groan I shoved myself up off the floor and stumbled forward until I collapsed against the cage bars. As I peered out of my cell I noticed I was somewhat suspended above the ground, my cage being carved into the rock wall. It wasn't too high though: nothing that would permanently cripple me if I jumped. Or at least I hoped not. My depth perception was probably way off due to my concussion.

Below me two – or maybe four - shape-shifters sat playing cards at a table. They weren't watching me, but I had the feeling they could sense I was awake. With their super enhanced hearing they probably knew the second I started stumbling around up here.

My heart sank a little bit in my chest when I realized how impossible it would be to escape. I had no idea what to do. I was injured, naked, and human: not much of a threat against monsters with super strength, hearing, and speed.

I let my head fall back down against the cage bars with a thunk. Surprisingly the sound drew the attention of one of my guards, his eyes flicking over to me for mere seconds, but it was long enough for me to figure out two things.

One, he was just a kid – eighteen at most. Or at least he looked like a teenager. Who knew how old these shape-shifters were when they could look like anyone. But the second thing I noticed, and the most important thing, was that he blushed. His eyes had only glanced over me for a moment, but his cheeks had flamed brighter than the sun.

If I could get and keep his attention, it was possible I could use my being naked as an advantage and flirt my way out. The only problem was I had never flirted with anyone. Ever. And I wasn't exactly supermodel material. My stomach wasn't trim and flat and my hips were a bit too wide. Not to mention I still had the other guards to worry about. Or guard. I still couldn't be sure if I was seeing double or if there really were four of them.

Focus, I reminded myself. Just try to worry about one thing at a time.

I cleared my throat and stood up to my full height, a pretty impressive five feet ten inches, trying to portray a confidence I didn't feel. I had bloody matted hair, multiple bruises, and I hadn't had a real bath since I arrived here. I was a mess and the chances of my plan working were slim to none. But I had to try. For Roran.

"E-excuse me?" I managed to croak. My words were a bit slurred, but I hoped they wouldn't notice. 

The young guard looked up for a moment, but quickly dropped his eyes. He shifted his weight in the chair as if he wanted to stand, but the guard across from him shot him a look and he stilled.

"Excuse me," I repeated. "Can I have some water?"

"You don't need water," the older guard grunted without looking at me. "You're dying, remember?"

The younger guard looked a bit guilty, so I decided to press the issue.

"Please?" I whispered, widening my eyes and trying to look sweet and innocent. "I know you're mad because of the deaths of your friends, but I didn't kill them. That was Roran. I've never killed anyone!"

"Darren, it's just water. What harm could it do?" the younger guard argued. "Besides didn't Oliver ask us to try and keep her alive for a while?"

The older guard, Darren, frowned at him but shrugged in response.  "If you want her to have water, fine. But you can get up and get it for her. I'm not wasting my time."

By this point I had realized that there were only two guards. Despite the fact I was seeing four blurry guards it was obvious that two of them were only duplicates created by my delirious brain.

The younger guard scrambled up from his chair awkwardly and I couldn't help but smile. He didn't seem that bad at all – scared and mixed in with the wrong crowd, maybe - but not bad. Maybe Roran was wrong when he said there were no good people here.

As he made his way over with the water he kept his eyes locked onto the floor, never once raising them to look at me. His hands shook as he handed the cup through the bars, making the water spill over the side and onto my dirty feet.

"Thanks," I whispered, intentionally brushing my fingers across his as I took the cup. I had to force down a smile when his eyes snapped up to stare at my hand as if it had shocked him.

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to keep his attention.

"Dav-David and that's my brother, Darren," he stuttered, pointing toward the older guard at the table.

"So how long have you been in purgatory, David?" I asked, cringing when I realized just how lame it sounded out loud.

What the hell kind of question is that? I berated myself. That's about as lame as 'do you come here often?'

"Darren and I have been here about a year," he replied, his voice quiet and his eyes staring at the floor again. "We were attacked by hunters outside of Little Rock."

"Sorry to hear that," I said, and for the most part I was sincere. He didn't deserve to be hunted down and killed whether he was a monster or not. "I was killed by hunters too, or at least that's what Moroi told me."

For the first time since David brought me the water his eyes rose from the floor and met mine.  He looked equally confused and curious, as if he had been wanting to ask me something for ages but had been too afraid.

I huffed out a laugh and said, "If you have something you want to ask, just ask. You don't have to stare at me with those big adorable puppy eyes."

He grinned in response and his cheeks blushed a soft pink.  I held my breath and mentally crossed my fingers for luck. It seemed like my plan was working so far, but I could tell his brother wasn't too happy about our little interaction. Darren had been glaring at me for several minutes and I got the feeling he was seconds away from ending the conversation between David and I.

"I was just wondering..." he began, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Well, we all are, really. If you were a vampire when you arrived here, how exactly did you change back to human?"

I frowned, realizing they didn't know as much as Oliver had claimed. How could I explain things to David without causing more harm to Roran?

David seemed to notice my reluctance to discuss it and mumbled, "Sorry. I was just curious."

I took a few deep breaths and lied to the best of my ability, "No, it's okay, David. I'm just still trying to figure it all out myself. It's been like something out of a nightmare to be honest."

His face became sympathetic and sweet and I felt my confidence grow.

You can do this, I reassured myself. Just keep things as close to the facts as possible and they won't be able to tell what is true and what isn't.

"When I first got here I was still transitioning between vampire and human. I hadn't completely turned. I was technically undead, but what remained of my soul was trapped in some type of monster/mortal combination.

"I didn't know anything about this place or the creatures in it until Roran found me. All I wanted was to hide out in the catacombs and be left alone, but he drug me back to his cave against my will. I tried escaping several times and got caught by your kind and goblins. Both times Roran was enraged, going on a killing rampage until I agreed to return with him."

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Darren was paying just as much attention as his brother. If I managed to pull this off I deserved a freaking Oscar.

I paused and rubbed my palms against my eyes. "It was awful. When we finally returned to his cave Roran was furious, screaming at me and throwing things. His skin caught fire and his eyes were glowing blue. I was scared out of my mind! I did the only thing I could think of; I attacked him.

"As soon as his blood entered my system it felt like fire in my veins. I felt like I was dying, but it was actually the opposite. Roran's blood burned the vampiric infection from what human blood remained in my body. Now I'm human again, but I'm dying."

I peered up at them to gauge their reactions. Both of them looked stunned, and I was unsure how to proceed. If they believed me there was a small chance I could convince them I didn't want anything to do with Roran and they might let me out.

"You really expect us to believe all that?" Darren asked, standing up and walking over to lean against the bars.

"It's true!" I argued. "Look at me. Do you know of any other ways to go from vampire back to human?"

"She's got a point, Dar," David chimed in. "Besides if her story wasn't at least partly true why would Oliver come up with this elaborate plan to have someone pretend to be her? I have a feeling if the phoenix knew she was missing again he would go on another rampage."

Darren shrugged. "Either way it doesn't matter. The phoenix will soon be dead and so will she," he said, nodding to me, "and that will be the end of it."

I pretended to let out a sob and whispered, "You don't get it do you?"

"Get what?" Darren snapped.

I looked up at him through my eyelashes and put on my best teary-eyed expression. "He's going to know she isn't me. You're all fooling yourselves if you think he won't realize she is a shape-shifter. And once he figures out what's going on he will hunt you all down, just like he's done before."

David's eyes widened in fear, but Darren's confidence never wavered. "I don't know what you have to be worried about. If we are killed you go back with him and then die, if we let you go you go back to him and then die, and if our plan succeeds you stay here until you die. Whatever way this turns out your fate remains the same. So why worry about it?"

I huffed in aggravation. This wasn't going as well as I had hoped.

"I worry about it because I don't want to see anyone else killed!" I snapped at him in reply. "I just thought I should warn you before Roran figures everything out."

Darren scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Sure, I believe you."

David tried to pretend he was as cool as his brother by shrugging and feigning indifference. I gave him a small, weak smile, letting him know he wasn't fooling me, and his half-hearted smirk wobbled a bit and he rubbed his palms against his jeans nervously.  His eyes flitted over to the far wall and I caught a glimpse of shiny metal in the low light.  I assumed that was where they were keeping the keys to my cell.

"Stop being so fidgety, kid," Darren said, nudging his little brother with his shoulder as he passed. "The phoenix isn't going to hunt us down. She's bluffing to try and convince us to let her out."

"Shouldn't we tell Oliver what she said, just in case?" David asked him, trailing behind his brother like a duckling follows its mother.

Darren shook his head and returned to his seat at the table. "Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure Oliver knows everything he needs to know."

I wanted to scream. Not only did I fail at my plan; it crashed and burned before it ever got off the ground. Sinking to the floor of my cell, I let my head fall onto my knees and took several deep breaths through my nose. I had to figure a way out. I had to!

I awoke to an eerie silence. I couldn't remember falling asleep, and I was pretty sure that wasn't a good sign with a head wound. It seemed like quite a bit of time had passed, although I couldn't say why I thought that. 

I peered around toward the front of my cage, only to find the room occupied by only one other person. A young woman sat at the table with her feet up and her chair propped up on two legs. I wasn't sure what to make of her. She seemed bored, if anything, and was passing the time by tossing keys into the air and catching them.

I turned completely around to get a better look at her and the sound seemed to catch her attention. Her head tilted in my direction, but she didn't make a move to get up.

"Could I get some water?" I rasped. My throat felt dehydrated and sore. 

 She shrugged. "Sure."

The chair slammed back onto the ground and she pushed it back from the table with a screech. I winced as the sound caused my head to throb more intensely. Her clunky boots thudded against the rock loudly with every step she took and I really, really wanted to ask her to be more quiet.

"Here," she said, holding out a cup for me.

As I reached for the cup I couldn't help but notice how heavy my arms felt as I lifted them and how much my hands shook.

"Thanks," I said in between sips of water.

She shrugged.

"What's your name?" I asked, tying to figure her out.

"Mara."

"I'm Thea," I replied, sticking my shaking hand through the bars for her to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Mara stared at my hand for several minutes before looking back up at me. "You're kind of weird. Has anyone ever told you that?"

I couldn't help the giggles that escaped my throat. She stared at me like I had lost my mind, and truthfully I probably had, but once I started laughing it was like I couldn't stop.

When I eventually regained my composure I breathed, "Yeah, yeah they do. Often."

"Listen, I think you may have post-concussion syndrome. Or maybe even some brain swelling. Are you feeling dizzy, nauseated, or seeing double?" she asked, peering in the cage at me.

"I've been feeling all of that for hours – or days. However long I've been in here, I guess," I replied, shrugging.

"You can't remember how long you've been here?"

"I was asleep for some of it. I think. Are you a nurse?"

"I used to be. Listen, if I come in there to examine you are you going to attack me?

"Why would I want to do that? You're nice. I like you. What did you say your name was?"

"Mara. You don't remember? I just told you."

"Told me what?"

"My name. Look, I'm coming in, okay? Just stay where you are."

I laid my head back against the bars and closed my eyes. "Okie dokie."

The keys turned in the lock with a loud grinding sound and I covered my ears. Everything seemed to keep amplifying – sounds, the light, my pain. The feeling of Mara's fingers against my face startled me and I jumped back away from her.

"Easy," she whispered, holding out her hands to show me she wasn't trying to hurt me. "I'm just going to take a look at your head, okay?"

When she reached for me the second time I didn't shy away. Her hands were warm and I could tell she was trying to be gentle.

"Jesus," I heard her whisper under her breath.

Louder she explained, "You have a small compound fracture on the left side of your skull. It's been bleeding pretty bad. It needs to be bandaged at the very least. Hold still."

"Am I going to die?" I whispered, staring at her with wide eyes.

As if she wasn't sure how I would react to her words, Mara answered slowly, "Thea, you were already dying. Don't you remember?"

I shook my head, but somehow her words made sense. I didn't feel scared.

"Why am I in this cage? Did I hurt someone? Is that why I have this head wound?"

Mara shook her head. "No, Thea. You haven't done anything wrong. Just relax, okay?"

I nodded and tried to do as she said, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that there was something more important I was forgetting – something I hadn't done?

"Are we friends?" I asked her.

"We are now," she replied, her voice breaking on the last word. 

I watched tiredly as she stood up and went to refill my water glass. She didn't shut the cage door as she walked away and I wondered what would happen if someone else happened to walk in the room. She would probably get in trouble. I frowned.

"Do I have any other friends? Will anyone else be visiting me?" I asked as she returned with my water.

She sat down beside me and leaned back against the bars. "Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see."

...

 So sorry it took me so long to post. Work has been crazy busy and this chapter was a monster to write. I still don't like it, but it's better than the original. Please leave comments if you see areas where I can improve. And vote please, if you have time.