WHAT DOES SHE MEAN, YOU'RE THE TRAITOR?" Drew asked Jess, who was still slowly applauding Nancy.

"What, upset you didn't figure it out, Detective Drew?" Jess taunted. "Bad-boy-psychologist over here knew it but he was too much of a wuss to come right out and say it. His dumb little girlfriend had to do it for him."

Nancy looked over at Gunnar, who seemed to still be in too much of an initial shock to say anything.

"You all were so stupid to trust me," Jess grinned maliciously, easily opening her cell door and stepping out. "I was so tired of pretending to know nothing and be a mindless teenager like the rest of you clearly are. Didn't any of you find it the least bit suspicious that I moved to Moonlarkville two days after the last murder? But, then again, Damian had moved here the day before I did, so that made him look like the untrustworthy choice. I used to live up here in the compound, which was incredibly boring. I had to wait like thirty days before I actually got any action. So then I started thinking... what if I became part of the action? Thus, I moved down to the town and became part of the next fated five. Honestly, your trust was so easy to gain. All I had to do was act like a sassy, stuck up teen and get hit in the head with a rock. And then, BOOM!! No one ever suspected poor, almost-comatose Jess Phillips.

"But, I like you guys, probably because you're the first four I've ever gotten to talk to in tones other than threatening - so I'm going to strike you a deal. At the strike of midnight, I'm going to bring you down to the hanging tree, and I'm going to execute you. So you have until then to create an escape plan. And if you make it out of those gates, you're free. I won't run after you and take you back. But know this, they will be guarded, and if we even catch a glimpse of you, you shall be shot on the spot. Especially you, Damian. You killed my father. And you too, Nancy, for putting my mother out of commission.

"Also, part of the deal is that you do not turn me in. If you do, I will see to it that everyone you love and care about will be killed before your eyes - and then I will kill you. That is all. May the odds be ever in your favor, and let the games begin." Jess exited the room, leaving Nancy infuriated that Jess had used quotes from The Hunger Games in her speech, and that she hadn't figured this out sooner. If she had, she might've been able to save them all.

"What time is it now?" Nancy asked the others, who shrugged in response. "Jess!" She yelled.

"WHAT NOW?" Jess shouted through the door in annoyance.

"Can you at least tell us the time?" Drew requested.

"10:45. Any other questions before I leave?" She asked sarcastically.

"Why?" Gunnar's voice was quiet, and Nancy doubted Jess could even hear him through the door, but she did.

"Everybody has things that they do in their free time," Jess replied. "You steal stuff, I kill people. Our after-school activities just happen to be slightly different, that's all."

"Gunnar, she has a very twisted mind," Damian said. "In which she thinks that what she's doing is justice."

"Thanks, Dr. Phil," Gunnar muttered. "Now how about you analyze this situation and tell us how to get out?"

"Actually, Nancy and I have a sort-of half-formed plan," Damian confided, and turned to Nancy. "Go ahead, show them."

Nancy got up off her cot to pull the electric whip out from under. "It all starts with this."

"Where the hell did you get that?" Drew asked, surprised that they had managed to get their hands on a weapon.

"I stole it," Nancy said simply. "No need to go into the gory details."

"Let's just say it hurts," Damian added. "Really, really badly."

"Wait, they used that on you?"

"Yeah, and then Nancy went all badass and used it on Jess's mom." Damian boasted for her, and she wanted to blush even though it seemed stupid to do so.

"Awe, Nancy's blushing!" Drew grinned, and Nancy wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment.

"Can you all just stop acting like dumb teens for a second and actually think?" Gunnar snapped. "We only have an hour to get out of here before she comes back here to kill us all, and here we are, sitting here laughing at Nancy and her petty crush on Damian!"

"Please just chill, Gunnar," Damian ignored his accusations. "I get that you're upset about Jess, but-"

"No, I'm not! Please stop trying to read into my actions because you're wrong, and you're not Oprah, and you can't help me!"

"Okay, Gunnar, you're the one who needs to stop," Damian stated calmly. "You need to stop lashing out at everyone to try to make your anger go away. This is going to sound pretty High School Musical, but we're all in this together. We need to work as a team in order to get out of here, and for that to happen, we're going to need to get along so we can form a plan. Now who's with me?"

"All the way man," Drew nodded appreciatively.

"Same!" Nancy agreed.

"I guess," Gunnar said, although he didn't sound very reluctant at all. Nancy figured that he was just trying to conceal his childlike excitement that they were getting out - and that wasn't working very well. She could see it in his eyes. But she couldn't blame him. They were all extremely pumped that they were provided a chance to escape. The other thirty teens didn't get that. Nancy guessed that in that sense, they were the lucky ones.

"Alright," Damian said, taking charge - and Nancy figured he had that he had that right since he was, after all, technically a legal adult. "Like I was saying earlier, we're going to need a major distraction. I don't know what yet-"

"Someone needs to stay back and get hung voluntarily." Gunnar suggested.

"No one's getting hung," Damian said vehemently. "We just need them to think that."

"So who'll do it?" Drew looked around to the rest of the group skeptically.

"I'll do it." Nancy volunteered - she didn't really want to go home after all this and face her sister.

"No way," Damian cut in automatically. "I'll do it."

"You have your whole life ahead of you! You're going to Stanford. You're going to prove to yourself what you're worth," Nancy smiled sadly. "I'm doing it, and no arguments. I'll give my sister what she wants."

"But-"

"Cut the whole Romeo & Juliet crap, Damian," Gunnar interjected. "Just be glad someone actually stepped up. Now we can get on with the plan. Somebody should scout the way out so the three of us can get out on our first try."

"I'll go." Damian got to his feet.

"No, you're injured." Nancy objected.

"Have you guys forgotten that we're locked in?" Drew interrupted.

"Pass me a bobby pin and I'll get myself out," Damian offered up, and they all looked to Nancy. "Well?"

"What?" She asked.

"Do you have a bobby pin or not?" Gunnar questioned, ever the impatient one.

"I might," Nancy thought back to four days before, trying to remember her hairstyle. She had worn her hair pinned back. "If it didn't fall out." She searched the rat's nest that was her hair, feeling around for something metal.

"Here, let me look," Damian suggested, turning to see her, and she put her head against the bars so he could reach. She shivered as his cold hands brushed against her scalp. "Ooh, girl, your hair is nasty."

"And yours isn't?" She challenged.

"Touché," He said. "I think I found something!" There was a slight tugging sensation on her hair as he pulled whatever he discovered out. "Yes! It's a bobby pin! Everybody give a round of applause for Nance and her fashion-forward choices!"

Nancy bit back a smile as the other two boys clapped loudly. She turned around to see how Damian was faring with the lock. He was leaned over, concentrating intensely. There was a soft click, and he pumped his fist triumphantly. "Yes! Okay, wish me luck, guys!"

"You got this!" Drew held his hand out through the bars for a high-five, and Damian obliged.

"Now go," Gunnar shooed him off. "We don't have much time."

And then he was gone.

DAMIAN SLIPPED OUT THE DOOR AND INTO the dark hallway. His whole body ached, but he had to have something to do. He couldn't just sit in his cell and wait for whatever that was going to happen go down. He hugged the walls, not wanting to be seen. He wasn't sure of what would occur if he was caught - he just knew that he didn't want that to take place.

 Happening upon a doorway, he decided to go in. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked, so he threw it open and barged into the room, not wanting to waste time. "Oh my god," He muttered, taking everything in. Covering the walls were pictures of what he was sure was every teen who attended Moonlark High. There were big red X's across the faces of the ones he figured they must've already killed. Having moved to town only a month ago, he didn't know any of their names.

He began rummaging through the filing cabinets, soon realizing that they were organized alphabetically. Finding 'P', he searched for his own folder. He pulled it out, and a bunch of papers fell to the ground. After picking them up, he saw that they weren't papers, but pictures.

Pictures of him doing all the stupid dares Jason had come up with. Proof that he had committed crimes, however small they were. Damian thought that if he actually got out of here, he didn't want those out there. So he started to shred them into tiny fragments - so small that you could never possible fit them back together. And he would feel guilty if he didn't do the same for the others', so he pulled out their files and proceeded to rip them up, just the same as he had done to his.

When he got to Nancy's folder, there was nothing inside, which was a big relief to him. He didn't know what he would do if she wasn't who she said she was. He didn't want anyone else he cared about to let him down. Just once, he wanted to be able to trust. Once. That was all he was asking for.

Damian got back to his feet, ready to head back out. Turning around, he spotted a cluster of computers stored in the right-hand corner. He ran over and wiggled the mouse, which caused the screens to come to life. Looking closer, he saw that they were monitors of the four captors. There was footage of the holding room that the other three were contained in now.

And... was that his bedroom?

Yes, it definitely was - which was just plain creepy. Why (and how) were there cameras in his room? Either Jess was a pervert or she needed it to prove something.

He was guessing it was the first option, since he didn't see any of the other's bedrooms on screen. Although, he did see what looked like Drew's case-solving room. It was covered in photographs connected by different colored threads. He scoured the grainy picture, looking for anything that was related to himself.

Unsurprisingly, he soon found his own face staring back at him - but Mini-Damian had a large red question mark drawn over him. Well, He thought. At least he's got nothing on me.

And then he started to feel like a stalker, which weirded him out, so he set about his search for something that he could destroy the computers with. Seeing the bottle of water on top of a desk a few feet away, he picked it up and poured it over the cords, monitors, keyboards - everything that he could find that was somehow connected to the electronic device.

That was when he heard the footsteps. He closed the door as quietly as he could, and shoved himself into the tiny space behind the filing cabinets, hoping that he wouldn't get caught.

The door creaked on its hinges as the unknown person pushed it open. Damian held his breath as a silence overtook the space. Then, "Dammit!" as they saw the wreckage he caused. A satisfactory smile crept its way onto Damian's face.

"Who the hell is in here?" It was then that Damian recognized the voice as Jess's. Of course it was her in the room; she was the mastermind of this whole thing. Which, now that Damian thought about it, was kind of strange. How did she rope her whole family into doing this for her? Did she have dirt on them too?

"I know someone's in here!" Jess yelled, her voice echoing around the room. Damian peered around the side of the cabinet, and saw her at the computers, aggressively pushing the power button repeatedly - trying to get them to turn on. But Damian had completely fried the wires. "What the hell did you do to my computers?"

Damian almost laughed, but he clapped his hand over his mouth just in time. Unfortunately, even that made the tiniest fraction of a noise, which Jess somehow managed to hear. She came stomping over, and he prepared himself to make a run for it. When she came around the corner, he splashed the remaining contents of the water bottle in her face, and proceeded to grab her by her hair, knocking her into the wall.

Then he sprinted for his cell - something he thought he would never do. By the time he reached it, he was out of breath and he had side stitches - which had never happened before.

And that frustrated him. A lot.

"Damian, where have you been?" Drew asked. "It's been half an hour!"

"I was almost caught," He managed to get out through his gasps for air. "I don't think it's safe to go back out there."

"Well, how much did you cover?" Gunnar wondered.

"I only got to one room," He admitted. "But, guys, it was freaky as fuck. She had pictures up on the wall of everyone and x's over the ones she killed. And, she had video surveillance of us. Well, our houses - mine and Drew's were the ones I recognized. There was one in Drew's crime fighting room or whatever, and there was one in my room. I dunno about you guys, but that seems a little pervy to me. Oh, and I almost forgot. She had pictures of us committing crimes. I wonder if she takes those, or makes someone to do it for her. Like... when Ezra had Mona do that."

"So you do watch Pretty Little Liars!" Nancy called him out on his reference, a knowing smile on her face.

"Okay, let's be honest, who doesn't?" Damian shrugged.

"I don't." Drew frowned.

"Loser." Gunnar snickered.

"Loser Mona," Damian corrected with a wink. "But getting back on topic, I should probably go back out. We can't waste time. I know I said we shouldn't earlier, but I think it should be okay now."

"I'm coming with," Drew announced, tapping on his cage. "Let's open this baby up!"

"Wouldn't it make more sense if just one of you went?" Gunnar questioned the newly-made plan.

"If we come to a fork in the hall, we'll just go opposite ways," Damian reason, looking to Drew, who nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, we got this."

DREW WOULD NEVER ADMIT THIS TO ANYONE, but he was scared. As in, on-the-verge-of-wetting-his-pants scared. But Damian looked calm, not betraying a trace of emotion, so Drew sucked it up and continued to trail behind him.

"This is the room," Damian whispered, pointing to a closed door. "Do not go in there. Ever. But on the bright side, at least I destroyed everything related to us."

"Thanks," Drew muttered. "But shut up. I can hear someone in there." Damian turned around, giving him the 'ok' sign with his hand.

They continued along the shadow-filled hallway until they came to a point where they would head their separate ways. "I'll take left," Damian offered.

"Okay, I'll go right." Drew answered, and then they were off.

Drew wasn't sure he liked being alone. At least, not when he was caught in a death trap. Back at home, he was fine with operating alone because he could be certain that he was, on some level, safe. Here, not so much.

Opening the first door on the right, he saw four body-sized wooden boxes, just waiting for him and the others. He quickly shut the door and continued on to the next, which was locked. He peered in through the small slot that was the window and saw a staircase. He jiggled the doorknob, trying to get it to open.

It didn't.

 He walked further down the hallway, seeing if he could find another way out. When he found a doorway that was unlocked, he barged into the room, only to find it was completely dark.

He tripped over something hard, which he realized was a table. He looked closer and saw photographs strung up along the walls. Coming to the conclusion that this was a darkroom, he began to examine the pictures.

A lot of them were closeups of faces. Whose faces, he couldn't figure out. Until he recognized one as his own. And the next one as Damian's. Now that he knew this, he started to connect the dots. This was the evidence. Damian hadn't destroyed it all. He scrambled back towards the exit, feeling along the wall for a light switch.

Did darkrooms have those?

He was so concentrated on attempting to find the switch, he almost didn't hear the heavy footsteps echoing down the hall.

Then he was grateful that there was no light. Drew cowered behind the door, and when the person got close enough, he swung his fist at whoever it was.

Who, in turn, swatted it away easily. "Drew, chill out, it's me," Damian grinned. "I found a way out. Let's go."

GUNNAR WAS GETTING TIRED OF WAITING. He didn't know why he couldn't go out with the two older boys, if he was going to do so eventually. But, then again, he was the one who suggested someone to go scout out and didn't offer to go himself.

"What's taking them so long?" He asked Nancy.

"I don't know." She responded in a monotone - probably because he'd been asking her that same question for the past fifteen minutes. He couldn't help it. He was just so anxious to get out of this place.

"When do you think they'll be back?"

"I don't know."

It wouldn't be long before Gunnar started to bang his head against the wall. "What-"

"I don't know."

"But-"

"I don't know."

"Wait-"

"I don't know."

Gunnar bit his lip to keep from yelling in frustration. Nancy was being impossible. Girls, he thought, getting up from his cot to pace back and forth.

After five more minutes, the wait was getting to be unbearable. He wanted to be out there, scouting pathways to freedom, not stuck in his cell with nothing but a cot to keep him company. And Nancy.

But at this point, he was almost wishing it was only the cot. Sometimes, Nancy could be a pain. He didn't know how the other two dealt. Or maybe it was just the pre-death jitters killing the mood. Gunnar didn't have a clue as to why anyone in their right mind would volunteer to be hung.

Or maybe she was just comforted by how confident Damian seemed that all of them were going to make it out of here.

Speaking of Damian, the door crashed open, and he stumbled in with Drew close behind him. "Who's ready to kick some ass?"

"Oh, I was born ready," Gunnar grinned, relieved that they had made it back safely. He was getting out.

"OKAY," NANCY SAID, TWIRLING THE WHIP AROUND. "I'm going to give this to Damian because he knows how it works, plus he needs to get his revenge."

She handed it to Damian, who tucked it into his belt loop and carried on with trying to pick the lock on Gunnar's cell. He had gotten Nancy out of hers a minute before she could say goodbye.

"Free at last," Gunnar beamed as the lock clicked and he could walk out to join the rest of the group.

"Damian knows the way out," Drew reported. "He'll lead the way, Gunnar will go next, and I'll take the back. Nancy will stay here to cause a distraction."

"Sounds like a plan," Nancy said. "Good luck, guys."

Gunnar shook her hand and headed out of the room. "It was nice working with you," Drew smiled. "You were a nice Nancy to my Drew."

"I'll see you soon," She gave him her most confident grin - even though she was starting to feel pusillanimous.

And then it was just her and Damian.

"Okay, go lead the others while I, um... distract the Phillips' and my sister," Nancy was trying to hold back the tears. She had to stay strong. "I'll be fine."

"I promised to stay with you, remember? I'm not about to break that promise." He responded with utmost sincerity.

"Please, Damian, just go. You're making this harder than it already is." Nancy's plan to not cry wasn't working out so well.

"I'll come back for you, Nancy Swan. And that's a promise I can keep." Damian held her gaze for longer than necessary, and then headed for the door.

"Damian, wait!" She called, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him into a tight hug. She buried her face into his chest, falling into the embrace. She felt his arms wrap around her, bringing her even closer to him. In that moment, she wished that she could stay like that forever. In his strong arms, on top of the world.

But then he was gone, and she was left all alone, waiting for imminent death.

a/n: *cries bc this is the second-to-last chapter*

*and that #dancy moment*

*and this story*