Cold.

Wherever I was had no source of heat whatsoever. It was dark too. My heart started to race and I looked everywhere for any signs that I was back in the warehouse Colton held me a few weeks ago.

"Hello?" My voice croaked and I realized my head felt like it waa splitting open. I pushed away pain long enough for me to stand up. "Is anyone there?" My hand slid up and down the wall searching for a light switch.

Slowly, I took a step to my left and kept my hand on the wall. I kept heading that way and eventually the tip of my boot hit something solid.

Stairs.

There were stairs here wherever I was. I climbed them as quickly as I could, trying not to pass out from the pain in my head. "You can make it Daytona. Just. A bit. Farther." Finally I reached the top of stairs and turned the knob.

Please let it be unlocked.

By the blessing of the gods it was unlocked, but it was jammed. I shoved my shoulder against it and it moved a bit. I did it again and black spots crossed across my vision. I don't know how that was possible considering it was dark down here but I didn't question the science behind it.

I shoved one more time and it popped open. My eyes were assaulted by the bright lights on the other side of the door . It felt again like my skull was splitting open, this time it was a lot more painful and I crumbled to the ground moaning.

"Daytona!" A disembodied voice called out to me. My ears started to ring shortly after. "Hey, Daytona. Look at me!" The voice was closer now, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes.

I tried to back away but it was almost like I was moving through molasses. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." My voice was scratchy.

"Sorry. Sorry for what? It's me. Jordan. Makayla and I have been looking for you all night long."

I cracked my eyes open, but the light ignited my headache again. "Turn the lights off please." When I heard the switch flip, I opened my eyes.

Natural light still streamed in through the millions of windows surrounding me, but it was better than the bright led lights that were on a second ago.

"Jordan? What do you mean all night long?" I looked around and barely remembered where I was. "Is this Makayla's place? What happened last night?"

"What do you mean what happened? Do you not remember?" He offered me his hand and pulled me up, but I crumpled again so he scooped me up bridal style.

"I, I remember there being a surprise party and I vaguely remember doing body shots, but after that it's all blank. What I do know, is that I have a massive hangover."

I moved to rest my head against his chest, but thought against it and stayed where I was. "Care to inform me on the events of what happened last night?" I asked.

"Well you forgave me for the other night, we beat Mason and Jake at beer pong, you slept on the couch for about an hour, you ate a cupcake and then disappeared. No one knows what happened to you." He carried me to his car and carefully set me in the seat.

I watched as he walked over to his side and climbed in. "Here. Take some Advil." He tossed me a bottle and I shook two out dry swallowing them.

"How did no one see where I went?" I slipped a pair of sunglasses on and closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the head rest.

"According to everyone in the kitchen, you took off. Which I don't know how considering right before hand you could hardly even walk without my help." His black hair was messy like he had been running his fingers through it all night long.

"Can I put some music on?" I asked but didn't really wait for an answer. I grabbed his phone, which was conveniently sitting in a cup holder, and plugged in the aux cord. I swiped through his Spotify until I found something I liked and hit play.

"Black Veil Brides? Really?" He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"Have a problem with it?"

"Nope."

"You know-"

"I sound like the main guy?" A smirk was visible on his face and I rolled my eyes.

"No. I was going to say you missed the exit for the highway." I pointed my finger back to where the exit slowly faded into the distance.

"Dammit." He pounded his hands on the steering wheel. "We'll just get the next one."

As we continued driving, we started to near a Sonic. "Wait!" I yelled, "pull in here."

"What? The Sonic?" He turned his right blinker on and moved over into the right lane.

"Yes. Sonic." I realized yelling just a second ago might not have been the greatest idea. My head started to pound even more. "Please."

He turned in and pulled into a spot. "Alright. What do you want?"

"Just a cherry slush. With Nerds. Where's my bag? I have my wallet and phone in it." I looked around the car but didn't see it.

"Bag?" His blue eyes studied mine. "When I found you this morning you didn't have a bag with you. Matter of fact, you didn't have a bag with you for most of the night."

"Does that mean that someone has my phone and wallet? Jordan, my wallet has my license in it and my phone has everything on it." I held my head in my hands. "We have to get it back Jordan."

"Okay, we will Daytona, we will. But for now, let's get you your slush. You need to rest properly. I'll take you back to my place and then we can go look for your bag." He placed a hand on my shoulder and I started to calm down.

"Okay. I'll pay you back when we have my bag back." I closed my eyes and laid my head back again.

"Sounds good."

~~~~🌸~~~~

"Hey Mom, I'm home! Daytona is also with me." We were at Jordan's place and he carried into the house.

"Oh dear! Are you okay honey? What happened?" Jordan's mom regarded me with a worried mom's eye.

"She's fine Mom. Just a little, uh, hungover? I'm just going to take her upstairs. Alright?" He carefully walked upstairs with me in his arms. He set me down on his bed. "Alright here you go."

"Thanks." I turned on my side and snuggled into the blankets in his bed. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. I fell slowly at first, but once I had got a bit of it, I was out like a light.

I was back in a dark place again, but I had never been here before. It was cold, and wet. Maybe it was drizzling? I turned around but it was dark everywhere. No source of light at all.

'Why do you think no one realized you went missing? They don't care about what happens to you. It was pretty convenient that Jordan left right before you disappeared, don't you think?' It was a female voice and it seemed to come from no where but everywhere all at once too.

"Who are you?" I called out into the void.

'Who do you think I am Daytona? '

"I don't know!" I sat on the floor and cradled my head in my hands. "I don't know who you are."

'You better start thinking because as you're sleeping, everyone is conspiring against you. Jordan is probably going to hand you over to Colton himself. Logan is going behind you're back, and Makayla is getting ready to stab you in the back. Mason hates you for putting his sister in danger and Jake hates you too because he loves Mason.'

I shook my head back and forth. "No. They would never do that to me. They are like my family."

A person manifested in front of me. A hand reached out an touched my forehead. 'If you really believe that they wouldn't betray you, remember last night.' It pushed harder and all the fuzziness in my head dissipated.

It felt like a million knives were stabbing my head and a painful scream tore out of my throat.

"Daytona! Wake up!" Jordan kneeled above me and was shaking my shoulders. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

I threw myself at him and cried into his shirt. "I remember.I know what happened last night Jordan."

He sat next to me, moving as little as possible so I could stay holding onto him. "Well that's good news right?"

"No. It's horrible Jordan." Balling my fists into his shirt I cried even harder. My head and body felt a lot better, like my hangover was completely gone.

Well I didn't have a hangover in the first place.

"Well do you want to talk about it? I know it helps to talk about things." He rubbed my back in circles, and this time it comforted me instead of making my skin crawl.

"I," breathe in, "I don't think I'm completely ready to say it out loud yet."

"Well that's okay too. I'll be waiting for you, whenever you're ready." He gave me a soft smile that made my stomach calm.

"Thanks Jordan. That means more to me than you know right now." I leaned my head on his shoulder and took deep breathes.

"No problem Daytona. I will always be here for you." He moved his hand up from my back and started to gently stroke my hair. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"Honestly, can we just go to the beach?" I closed my eyes and imagined how it would feel: the sun hitting my back as I laid against the warm sand, the sound of waves crashing against the shore. Seagulls cawing as they swooped down from the sky to snatch up any food they could find. Because if things went the way she said they were going to tomorrow, it might be my last time at the beach for awhile.

Jordan looked really confused for a minute. "May I ask why? Sure it is a little warmer then it has been the past few days, but it's still really cold for the beach."

"Please, Jordan. Even if you just drop me off, I just really want to go to the beach." I played with my tights.

Jordan studied me. His blue eyes gazing into the deepest parts of my soul. "Okay. Let's go, but we are not getting in the water."

"Deal!" I jumped off his bed and tripped, falling onto the floor with a thud.

"Um," Jordan peered over the edge of the bed at me. "you okay down there?"

My nose was squished painfully on the floor. "Peachy." I rolled over so I was laying on my back now. "Can I borrow some clothes? I don't think this is exactly appropriate apparel for beaching."

With a chuckle, he swung his legs over the edge and helped me up. "Sure thing Daytona."

I followed him to his closet. "Anything in particular you would like to wear? I've got it all."

"Maybe a sweatshirt and joggers?"

"Help yourself to whatever you want." He walked out of the room, whistling to the tune of an unknown song.

Focusing my attention back onto the clothes in front of me, I looked through what he had and picked just a plain gray hoodie and black Adidas joggers. We're both so basic, I thought to myself. Once I was changed I walked out of his room and into the kitchen.

His mom sat at the dining room table, drinking coffee and eating breakfast. "Uh, hey Linda, sorry to bother you while you are eating." For some reason I couldn't meet her eyes and I kept playing with the sleeves of Jordan's hoodie.

Linda took one look at me and switched into Mom™ mode. "Sit down Dear. What's wrong?"

"I," my throat got scratchy and I could tell I was getting ready to cry, "I just am so tired." I placed my head in my hands again and started to cry. "I hate crying in front of people."

"It's okay to cry my Dear. It's not healthy to bottle so much up." She ran her hand up and down my back in a soothing manner. "Now, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you what was going on in my life right now." A dry laugh came from somewhere in the kitchen and I realized it was from me. "My life is so screwed up."

"You can never know if I would believe you until you tell me."

A few more tears slipped out and I quickly wiped them away with my, or really Jordan's, sleeve. "I made friends with this guy in my school and he has rocked my world. I was head over heels for him, but it seems like ever since we ran into each other, literally I might add, my life did a complete 180. I've been raced over, almost raped, I've started drinking again, I was kidnapped, and the cherry on top is this girl who I bullied into attempted suicide visited me last night to let me know that my friend Jake, who I trusted by the way, drugged me last night so I wouldn't remember our conversation, and the only reason I do is because while I was dreaming, some person wrapped in shadows visited me and basically used some type of magic to clear all the side effects of the drugs out of my system.

"And my boyfriend has been acting really shady since I caught him in his dead parents room with another girl. I've tried to contact him but he hasn't read any of my texts or returned any of my calls. Hell, on Christmas I got a text from his brother saying 'Merry Christmas' but nothing from him. What am I supposed to make of his silence?" Tears were flowing freely now and I couldn't bring myself to look at her face.

She let out a sigh,"Twenty-five years ago I married the love of my life. I first met him when I was dating his best friend. Together we broke into a Target and stole over $1,000 worth of stuff. He was supposed to be our getaway driver, and, well, he and my boyfriend at the time got away. I, on the other hand, was left standing in front of the store, with a couple hundred dollars of stolen stuff in my hands while the police pulled up."

I stared slack jawed at her. "Well did either one bail you out?"

"Nope. My older sister bailed me out." She had the ghost of a smile on her face as she remembered meeting her husband.

"Well what happened next?" I realized my tears had stopped now and I waited in awe of what was going to happen.

"The car that was used to make their escape was my boyfriends, so I keyed into the side the words, 'WE'RE THROUGH'. After that I headed down the street to my now husbands house, knocked on the door, and when he opened it I socked him in the face." She now had a full blown smile on her face. "I broke his jaw too."

"That's crazy Linda! Now I know where Jordan and Marissa get their spunk from."

"Really Mom? Out of all the stories you have, you had to tell her that one? Now Daytona probably thinks she's living in a house full of criminals." Jordan rolled his eyes and grabbed a banana off the counter.

Linda stuck her tongue out at Jordan and hugged me tightly. "You can always talk to me you know Dear? I may be an adult, but I'm a cool adult."

"Thanks Ms. Linda. For that and for always being so welcoming and open to me." I hugged her back and stood up facing Jordan. "Well are you ready or what?"

He threw an apple at me. "Let's hit the road."

And we did just that.

~~~~🌸~~~~

Together, we sat on the beach huddled in our own little blankets. The sun was out and shining, but the air surrounding us was still cold and dry. Today, the ocean was calm. Little waves would crash up on the shore, but there weren't a million crashing at once. Maybe one or two, then a break for a few seconds, then a couple more. Only a few seagulls were out today and they would hover over Jordan and I almost as if we would magically have food we didn't have five minutes ago.

Overall it was nice.

But of course, I had to shatter the serenity that had been engulfing us.

"How much of my conversation with your mom did you hear?" I held my gaze on the water in front of me.

Jordan let out a troubled sigh. "I walked in on the part about us racing over you. And I heard every word after that too."

I refocused my gaze on to the sand right near my feet. "According to Sophia, Jake spiked my drink with some type of depressant. That's why I was acting the way I was last night at the party."

"Guess I gave the wrong guy a broken nose." he paused for a brief second before continuing, "Do you at least know why he did what he did?"

I nodded my head. "A few years ago he ran into some trouble with some kids here and so Colton seeked him out. Told Jake he would clear everything up, only if he would join his gang though. Apparently, whatever kind of trouble Jake had found himself in was bad enough that he had accepted Colton's offer without a second thought."

"And he's threatening Tyler's life. That's why he can't leave and why he had to spike your drink. If he didn't Tyler would most likely be dead."

Again, I just stared off into the distance.

"And the part about Logan?" I could tell Jordan was walking on eggshells right now. "Has he really not, you know, talked to you at all?"

"I haven't heard a single thing from him. Gods I hate him! All of this has happened since he ran into me and he can't be bothered to give me a straight answer on anything I ask him. It's always, 'Oh I'll tell you later Daytona' or 'Soon Daytona, soon'. Do you have any idea how irritating to not get a straight answer out of someone?" I turned to face Jordan for the first time since I got to the beach.

"I'll tell you the answer soon. Once I think over if I should be honest or lie."

"Not funny idiot." But even as I said it, I found myself smiling.

He turned to look at me with a smirk on his face. "Yet you're smiling. Like I said before Daytona. You have a contagious smile. I love it."

My cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Um, thanks. Do you know what time it is?"

"Almost noon, why?" Where the sun, hit his hair made it shine perfectly. His blue eyes studied me intensely again.

"Do you think you can run me by my house real quick?" I crossed my fingers under the blanket.

He started to stand up, shaking the sand off from his blanket. "Sure. What do you need?"

"I just need to grab a few things." I stood up with him, watching as the grains of sand fell back done onto the beach. Last night Sophia told me something really important to their plans, and I dont think she intended on me remembering it. Hopefully it would be helpful "I shouldn't be very long."

We packed the blankets into the back of his car and headed over to my house.

As we pulled up into the driveway, something felt off right away, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. Noticing my unease, Jordan asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"

I set aside my weariness for now and put my brave mask back on. "No. I'm fine, i literally am just running in and running right back out. If I'm not back in five minutes though, come searching."

Jordan's face remained deadly still.

"It was a joke. I'll be fine. Don't worry." I turned to walk into my house, amd then turned around again real quick. Bending down into his car, I placed a quick kiss on Jordan's cheek. "Thanks for being there Jordan."

Walking towards the house, I shoved my hands into my pockets to keep them from falling off. I grabbed the spare from the plant pot and walked in.

The air was different right now, then it had been the last time I was here. It was more still. More dangerous.

Quickly, I headed into the kitchen and grabbed a notepad and Sharpie.

'Dear Mom,

I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but I had to leave the city. I don't know when it will be okay for me to come back. It may never be. I'm taking Mason and Ashton with me and we are leaving the city tonight. Whoever else wants to come can come, but it's safer for everyone if I leave now. It's also safer for you if I don't tell you where I am going.

There's so much you don't know and I'm sorry for keeping so many secrets from you, but you have to believe me when I say it was in your best interest that I did so. I love you with all my heart and that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. Promise me you'll