“Wow.” Was all Chad could say, a single tear staining his cheek.

“When Taylor knew she couldn’t come after me anymore, she ran back to her house. Picked up the phone, called the police, called my…” Tasha paused. “Mum.” She finally whispered.

“What happened to you?” Chad asked. Tasha shook her head.

“You know. I don’t want to tell you.” Chad sighed.

“I can handle it Tash. I know it hurts, but these guys are back and we have to put a stop to this. I’m going to help you Tash, but I need to know everything they’ve done.” Chad said softly.

“Okay. And thank you, Chad.” Tasha strained a mile, then began her story once more…

Flashback #4

“What the hell are you doing?!” Gabriella screamed, trying to get out of the car.

“Tie her up.” A cold voice spoke.

“Don’t you dare touch me.” Gabriella spat at the hooded figure beside her. He grabbed her arms and pulled them back roughly, tightly tying the rope around them.

“Get off me you b-” Her sentence was cut off by a dirty piece of rag being stuffed into her mouth. She screamed, furious at this man. She huffed, and sat reluctantly, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get out. She stared at the man next to her. He looked nervous under her gaze, he as fidgeting and biting his nails, and he kept glancing over his shoulder. Gabriella shuffled over a bit, so she was right next to him, and stared up at his masked face. She recognised his eyes. They were so strange, a light shade of green, ringed with dark brown. But, somehow, she couldn’t figure out how she knew them…

“We’re here.” The cold voice spoke again.

A different man opened the door next to Gabriella and pulled a bag over her head. Gabriella growled in protest, but her actions were only met with her being lifted out of the car. She tried desperately to fall out of his grasp, but he only held on to her tighter. Her head bashed into something she could only presume was a doorframe, and shortly after she felt herself being pushed down into a chair. The hood was pulled from her eyes and the gag removed from her mouth. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the change in light, but it soon became clear she wasn’t anywhere familiar. The room was bare, apart from the thick layers of dirt and dust. She also spotted a blood stain on the wall, sending shivers down her spine.

“Tie her legs.” The cold voice instructed. Two masked men came over and pushed her ankles to the legs of the chair, tying them tightly.

“Now, tell me, does your father have my money?” The cold voice came from a man in a leather jacket and black trousers. Unlike the rest, he was without a hood... She recognised him instantly.

“Why should I tell you, James?” She spat. A whipping noise and a scream of pain filled the room, Gabriella’s back arching as pain overtook her.

“Every time you give me the wrong answer, that happens.” James came closer to her, his face thrust in hers.

“Now, where’s my money?”

“What money!?” Gabriella shrieked. Another whip, another scream.

“It seems your father has forgotten to tell you about our little… agreement.” the hooded men laughed. “Well, guess we’ll just have to keep you until he pays up.” Gabriella’s breathing was shallow, the pain was overwhelming, but she looked him right in the eyes, and spoke.

“You make me sick.” She spat in his face, resulting in 2 cracks of the whip. She sucked the air in through her teeth instead of screaming, feeling the blood trickling down her back and her thin top sticking to her skin.

“Take her top off. “ He instructed.

“What?!” Gabriella shrieked. She felt scissor blades sliding across her back, the edge of which caught one of her cuts. She screamed as a surge of pain filled her, the top was now removed. James looked her up and down, a gleam in his eye Gabriella didn’t like.

“Now, will you answer my question? Where is my money?”

“I’m not telling you anything.” She flinched as the leather made contact with her back, but her back was numb with pain.

“Really?” James chuckled. “Then let’s play a little game…”

End of Flashback #4

“I still have the scars.” Tasha said, and she climbed off Chad’s lap, and lifted her top at the back. Chad gasped as he saw a dozen straight-lined scars across the whole of Tasha’s back. She pulled her top back down, and resumed her place on Chad’s lap. Tasha had stopped crying, yet Chad had started, not understanding how Tasha had lived through the amount of pain she had been through, and they were only half way through.

“That night, he came down the stairs. I had been tied to the really uncomfortable bed, my back was covered in blood and I was in agony. I had been given food, but I refused to eat, so I was low on energy. It was late at night, so I hadn’t had any sleep. I was lying there, and I felt this weight on me. He said he had wanted to do this ever since he met me, and it was then I know what he was going to do. Through the night I had managed to loosen the knot on my left leg, and when he went down to undo my trousers, I kneed him. He fell off me, I screamed, and I heard a lot of cars pulling up. I knew James didn‘t have good hearing, and he didn‘t make any reaction to the noise, so I took it as my advantage.”

Flashback #5

“Fine. Have it your way.” Gabriella growled. James paused, not understanding why she had given in so easily, but he undid her jeans and pushed them down to her ankles, taking her knickers with them. Gabriella closed her eyes, praying her plan would work, and when she opened them, she saw James had taken off his own pants and boxers and he was hovering over her.

“Wait!” Gabriella said. “Undo my hands.” She instructed.

“No way.” He growled.

“But I can make it more… fun.” She whispered into his ear. He reluctantly untied her hands.

“Fine then. Go.” she took a deep breathe, praying to God to forgive her, and took her right hand and began to pump. Her other hand, however, stayed where it was. She looked at him, and as he closed his eyes, she let her hand slip and go to his trousers. She fumbled as quietly as she could for her desired object, and smiled slightly as her hands came into contact with the cold metal. She pulled it gently from the pocket, her eyes never leaving James’ face. He was moaning, and she was disgusted, but she carried on, knowing it was the only way to save her own skin. She pulled her hand up, and let her eyes leave James’ face for a second to check the gun was facing the right way. She took a deep breathe, stopped pumping, and smirked at James.

“Go to hell James. Rest in fucking peace.” She spat, and the air was filled with the noise of two gun shots.

End of Flashback #5

“You shot someone?!” Chad said in amaze.

“I’m not proud of it, but I’d do it again if I had to.” Tasha sighed. “He didn’t die though. He survived by the skin of his teeth. I only shot him in the leg. It was the only place I could get a good aim at without risking shooting myself.”

“So then what happened?” Chad said like a little child.

I knew the cars that pulled up outside were the police. Don’t ask me how, but I knew. As the gun went off, I heard a door crash open. “

Flashback #6

“HELP! I’M DOWN HERE! IT’S GABRIELLA! I’M HERE!” Gabriella screamed. She pushed James’ body off her, so it landed with a thud on the floor, and tried desperately to undo the knots on her ankles, all the while screaming for the police to find her. Finally, Gabriella managed to undo the knots, and she quickly pulled up her trousers. She looked around ,trying to find her top, but couldn’t see it, so pulled the leather jacket off James’ body and did it up. She ran up the wooden, creaking stairs, and tried to open the door. It was locked.

“Help! Help1 I’m in here!” Gabriella banged on the door, but then spotted smoke coming from the bottom of the door.

“Fuck! She muttered, and she scrambled down the stairs, and began running around the small room, desperately trying to find a window. Then she saw it, a door hidden by many boxes. Just as she was about to go over to it, an explosion was heard. Gabriella screamed and put her hands over her head, and when she looked up, she saw the stairs were alight. She panicked, trying to remember what she was told to do in the case of a fire.

“Get down low!” She got onto her hands and knees and crawled the rest of the way to the boxes. She began picking up the boxes and throwing them behind her, coughing as the smoke began to fill her lungs.

“Almost there Gabriella. Keep going.” She muttered. Finally, the last box was thrown. Then she remember the gun, she ran over to the bed, keeping low, grabbed the gun, and ran to the door.

It opened.

“Yes!” She cried. She ran through it, closing the door as another explosion was heard, and she found herself in front of some stairs. She climbed the stairs two at a time, opened the second door, and squinted as bright light flooded over her. She took a few steps forward, her arm shielding the light from her eyes, and saw a black figure coming towards her.

“Elle! Oh my god Elle!” She heard a voice scream.

“Taylor.” Gabriella whispered, before falling with a thump to the floor.

End of Flashback #6