***Trigger Warning***

The initial shock wears off and I find my voice again. "Ryan? The Ryan? Harper's brother Ryan?"

He laughs coldly. "Not to sound rude but who are you? People in this house haven't exactly been trustworthy so, I'm sure you can understand my hesitation here."

I scan the room for any means of escape. I'm disheartened to see there are none. The only way out is to go up the stairs. We have to get out of here before Harper or Jeremiah realize where I am.

I bend down, look directly into his dark eyes and whisper. "I am the girl who's going to save you. Now, we have to go."

I walk to the staircase. He stays back, eyeing me.

His eyebrow lifts in confusion. "Save me? Why would you want to do that?"

I groan in frustration. "Inara. Brexton."

I adjust my hair as I mumble. "Also, I'm not a terrible person. Seeing people suffer isn't exactly my thing."

He gives me a knowing look as he starts to make his way to me. "You know them?"

"We're well aquatinted, yes. I'll explain it all once we get out of here. We don't have much time."

He runs a shaky hand through his hair and rasps. "Please tell me you're not Lyra."

Time seems to slow around me. I don't know how to handle this amount of fear. If he knows who I am, that means they've been talking about me. There's no scenario where that's a good thing.

Ryan grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. "It's a trap. You have to get out of here."

As if on cue, the basement door creaks open.

The voice I hear is comparable to nails on a chalkboard. "Lyra? You down here?"

My brain switches into action mode and I pull Ryan into a darkened corner behind a steel barrel, the best option for a hiding spot.

Loud footsteps make a trail down the stairs, the owner's voice repeatedly asking for me. Even though I know this should terrify me, it doesn't. Something unexplainable takes over me and I become a different, stronger person. I decide to never let anyone that I don't respect scare me again.

I'm no longer that lonely girl who was afraid to leave her abusive ex because she didn't think she deserved better. I deserve better. I have better and I will not loose it.

I'm keeping these people I love or I'll die trying.

Ryan and I quit breathing as we wait for Harper to fully descend the steps. It takes a painful amount of time for her to reach the chair Ryan used to be tied to.

She curses under her breath. "Lyra, don't make this harder than it has to be. Just come out here and we'll talk."

I stand still, letting her come to me. The time for talking is over.

The second Harper is close enough, I hit her upside the head with my gun. "Looking for me?" I say as I sit on top of her, retraining her the way I was taught to restrain a dangerous patient. It takes all my strength to keep her down.

I watch as her eyes flicker, going in and out of consciousness. Good, maybe she'll pass out and we'll be able to run.

Ryan tries to step out of the darkness to help me, but I wave him away. I point upstairs, emphasizing someone else is still in the house. That someone may be Jeremiah.

The last thing Harper says before she passes out is, "Brant."

Ryan looks worriedly at Harper. "Is she okay?"

I got so caught up in the moment that I forgot she's his sister. He just watched me render his sister unconscious. Her blood is quite literally on my hands. I feel awful.

I examine her head. She's bleeding a lot, but her breathing is steady and her pupils are reactive. She's okay, but not for long.

I don't want to freak him out so I downplay the severity of her injures. "She'll need to go to the hospital, but she's okay."

I sigh and add. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I didn't know what else to do."

He scuffs. "She locked me in the basement so she and her boyfriend could torture me. Somebody had to do it. I just, ummm couldn't."

I really wish I had more time to ask questions but I can't afford to. Every second we're in here our risk of something very bad happening increases. "You're a good brother."

Ryan smiles at me. "Thank you. Now, you need to go."

"I'm not leaving you here with these monsters." I can't believe he thinks I would.

His eyes drift back to his sister. "I'll carry her, you start running."

I don't move. "Let me help you."

He laughs. "Go ahead, I'll be fine."

My escape is halted. "Babe, you came!"

I clench my fist. "Here I am."

The man I loathe more than anything stands in front of me. He looks so proud of himself. It makes me sick.

My hand goes up, urging him to step back. "Can you please get out of my face? Your breath is making me nauseous."

He practically growls at me. "You're brave, I'll give you that. It's such a shame, you could've been very useful to me."

When a man who has nothing to loose tells you you're not useful anymore it can only mean one thing. He wants to kill you.

I place my hand on my gun, ready to defend myself and Ryan at all costs. "Dang it. I was really hoping I could be of service to you."

There's a pure evil within Jeremiah's eyes that I've never noticed before. "Don't worry, there's still one last thing I need from you babe."

My worst fear is confirmed when he holds up a gun and points it directly at me. "You could die and let your new boyfriend take the fall for it."

Ryan puts Harper into a chokehold, holding one of the tools that was used to torture him to her throat. "If you want to keep her alive, I wouldn't."

Oh, poor Ryan doesn't know Jeremiah. He doesn't care about Harper, she's just a means to an end the way Jessica was. Jessica. I need to find out what happened to her.

Jeremiah's eyes narrow into snake-like slits. "You're going to kill your sister?"

Ryan puts on a brave face, but he and I both know he could never do that. "If I have to."

A memory of Brexton yelling that nobody was going to die flashes through my mind, inspiring me. Just seeing his face, even if only in a flashback, makes me feel strong.

Thinking it through, I don't draw my gun. Instead, I stay statue still. My mind is locked in a sort of card game and I don't want to play my ace quite yet.

I do my best to display calmness despite the hurricane happening within me. "Ah, so this is the part of the movie where the villain gives away their plan? Go on, I'm dying to see how you try to make this make sense."

One thing Jeremiah can't resist is talking about himself. I'm trying to use his ego against him. My hope is he'll be distracted enough that I'll be able to surprise attack him and get his gun.

Ryan's eyes question me, but he doesn't loosen his hold on his sister.

A look of disappointment crosses my antagonist's face. "I'm not a villain! I'm actually the good guy here!"

I can't help but roll my eyes at the fool. "How exactly are you saving the world babe?"

His eyes twitch, a mischievous look crossing over his face. "Brexton isn't a good guy. He deserves to be in prison! He killed nine..." His eyes drift to Harper. "I mean eight women."

My gag reflex is automatically triggered. "You raped those women and forced him to kill them! I'd hardly call you heroic."

"I didn't think he'd actually do it."

I take minuscule steps towards him, praying Ryan keeps Harper from interfering with what I'm about to do. "What are you talking about?"

He shakes his hair out of his eyes. "I figured he'd let Inara die. She's the one I wanted gone. She was such a mouthy little thing. She constantly refused to do her job and always threatened to get me in trouble. I still can't believe he'd take nine lives to save one."

Hearing him talk about my best friend, who's currently in the hospital because of him, makes me want to choke him.

He stares off into the distance. "Harper was always my favorite. I couldn't let her die. She was so loyal, so beautiful, so obsessed with me. I had to save her. She actually helped me come up with the idea to kill you and frame Brexton. She really doesn't like you."

The feeling is mutual. "Sorry to burst your bubble lover boy, but she's obsessed with Brexton."

Jeremiah laughs. "That's what we wanted you to think. He shot her. Would you forgive him for that?"

Yes, considering the circumstances. "So your mastermind plan was to get me here and kill me so that you could frame Brexton?"

He nods. "Yep."

His laughter sends goosebumps down my spine. "You were so jealous when she said she loved your little plaything. You did exactly what I knew you would. Then again, you've always been insecure."

My glare stops his laughing. He sighs as he continues.
"We were going to use Ryan as bate, that's why Harper was asking you about him at the club. I knew you'd try to find him. It was just good luck that you came here earlier than planned. The goal was before the trial."

The puzzle pieces start to fall into place. "Oh, and since the police still think Brexton tried to poison me, it wouldn't be hard to convince them, right?"

"You're good at this babe! You, Ryan, Inara and your boy toy know too much. Harper and I want to live in peace. We can't do that with you guys running around."

How did I date such a gross human being? I'm embarrassed. "There's only one thing wrong with your plan."

He tilts his head. "Do tell."

The whole time we were talking, I was slowly inching towards him and now I am close enough to kick him in the balls and grab his gun. "Nobody's going to die."

I hold both his gun and my own, directing them both at my despicable ex.

He says that I'm not capable of shooting him right before I shoot him in the foot.

I see Harper stirring out of the corner of my eyes. Luckily Ryan has her trapped against him. He looks impressed.

Seeing the fear in Jeremiah's eyes gets me high. "You don't understand Lyra! I have to do this, I don't want to! I didn't have a choice! I love you."

"Got you!" Brexton walks down the steps holding a phone in one hand and a gun in the other. "That's a confession if I've ever heard one."

My smile takes up my whole face. I knew he'd come through.