Diego interrogated Beckett three more times after that, and each time he was brought back he looked worse than before. His once browned skin was becoming paler and paler, making him look like that milk chocolate powder mix, and his dark blue eyes were glazed and empty. The injuries were minimal, just a few bruised ribs, badly scraped wrists, and marks on his face, but there was no way that was enough to seriously affect him the way he obviously was.

Something else was happening. Maybe they were drugging him, or worse, using the same electroshock therapy the Con Rồng used on Demi. That would definitely be enough to screw him up like this. He was always so exhausted now, he would just lean against either Orion or myself and pass out, which of course was scaring the fuck out of us, but we never said anything outright.

We just let Beckett sleep against us and held him so he felt safe. He deserved to feel safe, considering he was letting these fuckers hurt him just so he could protect us. The food wasn't nearly enough, what they gave us was some kind of oatmeal hybrid with salt instead of sugar, it was absolutely disgusting, but it was nutrients and we needed to eat, Beckett needed to eat, so Orion and I would threaten him, saying we wouldn't eat unless he did.

I don't know how long we were there, but if I was counting the tallies that Orion kept making, then we'd been in the cell for maybe five days. The same man would bring us food each time, tall and dressed in a loose white long sleeved t-shirt with a string threaded along the collar, black jeans, boots, fingerless leather gloves, messy black hair tied half up, and a mask covering his eyes the color of blood, with little swirls of black.

He never said anything, but he showed up three times a day to set two or three platters onto the ground so he could slide it in to us. At first, he was kind of a dick, just dropping the bowls down and kicking them, Diego laughing behind him before smacking his back, but I started to notice that when he came alone, he was gentler.

The man would kneel and place the food carefully on the ground before sliding it quietly through the gap in the bars before smiling and leaving. I didn't trust him, even if he did seem like a decent human when the other snakes weren't around. He was just putting on a face, just like everyone else, a literal mask this time.

Beckett was gone again, the fourth time, and I was sitting facing Orion, discussing the whole Cass and Carina relationship that I'd stumbled upon. I think he was in shock to be honest, because he kept asking the same questions, like when did that happen, how much have they done, why didn't they tell me. So far, I haven't had the heart to tell him his baby brother was no longer innocent, but I kind of figured he knew already.

The footsteps had me tensing and turning my head to glare at the bars of the cell where the man in the red mask was kneeling with two bowls of food, looking back and forth before turning to look into the room, speaking for the first time.

"You two. You're part of Phoniks Vidroh?"

He had an accent like the rest of them that I'd heard speak, but it was... different.

"What's it to you?" I asked, and He just pressed his lips together before sliding the platter into the cell and leaving.

"That was odd," Orion noted, and I hummed before moving to grab the food.

I was standing with both bowls in my hands when the usual group showed up, pulling the cell door open and shoving Beckett inside. He looked even worse this time around, stumbling into the cell before hitting the ground with his knees and falling to his hands, head hanging. Diego just chuckled and propped his arm against the open frame of the door, head tilting.

"I think I'm nearly done with my interrogations, aren't you happy?"

I tightened my grip on the bowls before promptly throwing them at his face. One actually hit him, mush first, on the face, and he stayed entirely still and silent as the bowl slipped off his face with a squish before shattering at his feet. The three men who came with him were frozen, staring at him, I think, and he still had a smile frozen on his face, though his pale brown eyes were burning with resentment.

He lifted a hand and wiped the mush from his face before he stalked towards me, grinning with a wild look in his eyes, "Shouldn't have done that," he said, grabbing me by the front of my shirt and lifting me onto my toes, "I think I'd like to change lanes and fuck with you for a bit instead."

"No!" Beckett lunged forward, still on his knees, and grabbed onto Diego's leg, clutching handfuls of his jeans as he dropped his head against the man's thigh, "No le hagas daño, ¡no lo dijo en serio!"

Diego snarled a little, eyes flashing down to Beckett, "¿Por qué no?"

Beckett was silent for a moment before whispering, keeping his head down, "Me quedaré contigo."

Diego's eyes bugged for a moment before he grinned again, dropping me and turning so he could step away from Beckett and throw his leg up unexpectedly, kicking him in the face. I gasped as Beckett fell back, one hand grabbing his mouth as Diego laughed.

"You got a deal!" he snapped, "Bring them another platter! Something a bit more edible this time! We have a lot to celebrate!" he held his arms out, "I'll be back later to collect what's mine."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I demanded, kneeling at Beckett's head with Orion across from me, taking Beckett's wrist so he could see the damage.

Diego just chuckled, "Your friend may have just saved your life. I'd behave if you don't want that sacrifice wasted."

He turned, flicking the gross oatmeal food from his shirt as he stepped into the hall, the door closing behind him. I was close to hyperventilating by then, waiting for Orion to prop Beckett up before I turned to him and started demanding answers.

"I'm done with the secrecy! What the hell is going on?! What just happened?! What did you do?!"

Beckett pulled his hand away from his mouth to reveal a jagged cut crossing his lips and dragging down his chin, with particles of dirt stuck to it from the sole of Diego's boot; it would probably scar, and honestly it looked deep enough to warrant stitches. He stared down at the blood on his hand before speaking.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I just... I just wanted to protect you both."

Orion shook his head and pulled Beckett's arm around his neck, hauling him to his feet and leading him over to the back wall before helping him back down, both of us kneeling with him as he leaned heavily against the wall, closing his eyes, a broken smile on his lips.

"It's alright. I still won't tell them anything."

"Beckett," Orion took his face in his hands, prompting the man to reopen his blue eyes, "What did you do?"

Beckett seemed to visibly hesitate before speaking, "I told him I'd stay here," he said, and my eyes widened in horror, "It's fine, he said he wouldn't hurt you. He even said if you swore not to try and get me back that he'd let you go-."

"No way!" I interrupted him, leaning forward with my hands on his leg so I could get closer, "There's no fucking way we're allowing that! You fucking idiot!"

Beckett cringed and shook his head, "If I don't he'll just hurt you both. He threatened to kill you, he-."

"So what?!" I grabbed the other side of his face where Orion wasn't holding Beckett, "I thought I said everything would be fine if we were together! The three of us will be fine if we don't split up! You fucker!"

Beckett just grit his teeth before speaking, "It's fine, Dakota," his smile was weak, and he looked even more tired than he had been, "Nothing would have gone anywhere with that silly bet. I have nothing left to lose."

I tensed up before snarling and holding his face in a firmer grip before leaning closer and kissing him. He went rigid, if my eyes weren't closed I'd probably be able to see the stunned look on his face, but I was too busy concentrating on kissing him hard to get my point across while simultaneously attempting not to agitate the nasty gash on his lips.

The taste of blood was on his mouth, therefore on mine, but I didn't mind, stroking my thumb along his cheek before pulling back and opening my eyes. His cheeks were a cherry red color as he gaped at me, and I wiped the blood off my lips with the back of my hand as Orion laughed, a tiny embarrassed laugh. My eyes moved to him to see his face was pale and he was rubbing his neck.

"Told you you'd win," he said to Beckett, who gaped at him, and I scoffed.

"Neither of you won that stupid bet," I argued, reaching out to grab Orion by his shirt collar and dragging him down to my lips.

At least he reacted a little more than Beckett, lifting a hand to touch my cheek as I pulled away from him to see his stunned eyes, then sat back on my heels, my hands against my knees as I glared at them both.

"The bet we made was that I'd fall in love with either you or Beckett in three months. Well, you lost. I fell for both of you," I looked directly at Beckett, my hands curling into fists, "Do you get it now?" I choked, "I want both of you. I want us all to stay together. You can't just decide these things on your own! You have me and Orion to think about! Don't be selfish!"

Beckett looked close to tears, lifting a hand and covering his eyes as he grit his teeth, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

I calmed myself and sighed, inching closer and wrapping my arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug and caressing my fingers through his dark hair, "It'll be okay," I said, "We'll get out."

"You don't... get it," Beckett choked out, "Manuela won't just let me... leave. We made a deal, he wouldn't hurt you, he would leave the rebellion alone, as long as I let him do what he wanted with me."

My eyes widened in horror and Orion covered his mouth with a fist, anger blazing in his eyes, but I just tightened my grip, holding Beckett's face against my chest, "You really think he'd keep up with that deal?" I asked, "He's a dishonorable piece of crap, he'd take any chance to screw us over. He wouldn't have kept his end."

Orion dropped his hand and rubbed Beckett's back, his expression grim, "We're getting out of here somehow," he looked up, "That guy from before, the one who brings us food. Maybe we can... manipulate him or something?"

"Yea, maybe," I nodded, looking over at the cell, "Do you think I have enough skills to seduce him?"

"No," Orion deadpanned, and I held my hands up.

"You try, then."

We both jumped at the sudden gunshot, and Beckett clung to me before turning his head away from my chest to stare at the bars, "What-?"

He started to speak, but there were more gunshots. They were muffled, like the gun had a silencer, and I could hear a definite struggle, bodies slamming against the metal bars of the other cells and the open hall, yelling and yelping before it suddenly became eerily quiet. Orion reached out to pull me closer as two sets of boots echoed in the hall.

We were all probably stunned when the man in the red mask showed up again, blood splattered onto his white shirt and another man with him, this one wearing a mask that covered his eyes and half of his lower face, colored with dark orange and yellow. Red mask unlocked the door and let the other man step into the cell before wrenching the mask off.

"Beckett!"

My jaw dropped open in shock as Beckett tensed up, pulling away from Orion and myself and slowly pushing to his feet, eyes wide, "Joseph?"

The man grinned, dark eyes watering, and I leaned my shaking body against the wall, sliding myself to my feet as I whispered, "J-Josie?"

His smile twitched down into a look of irritation before his blue eyes snapped to me and widened considerably, face paling when he seemed to recognize me, turning his head to fully gape in my direction, ".... Dakota...?"

"What?" Beckett looked at me and I looked back at him, pointing a shaking finger at Josie.

"Y-you know h-him?" Beckett opened and closed his mouth.

"Wh... you know him?"

"You know each other?" Josie gaped, and the cell got quiet again until Orion spoke, holding a hand up.

"I'm Orion, nice to meet you."

The last man tugged the red mask away from dark brown eyes, nodding, "Isagani, call me Isa, we need to leave."

"You're helping us?" Orion asked, and Isa just arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"The boss would kill us if we left members of the Phoniks Vidroh to be tortured here."

Orion snorted, standing up and dusting off his jeans, "Buddy, your boss is a psychopath who I plan to kill myself."

"We don't follow Diego Manuela," Josie said, tearing his gaze away from me to glance at Orion, "Right now we can't explain further, we kind of just killed a bunch of people, so we need to leave before that creep comes back, because if he catches us, we will die."

Orion just nodded and stepped closer to Beckett, "Can you walk?"

"Yea...," Beckett mumbled, though he wobbled on his feet when he took a step forward, prompting both Orion and myself to grab one of his arms as he tried to reassure us, "I'm fine."

"Drag him if you have to," Isa said, standing out in the hall and reloading his gun, "Just hurry up. There's an open window down the hall we can get through, but only five minutes to do so before the next shift comes by. We'll kill them if we have to, but I don't really want to."

Orion pulled Beckett's arm around his neck and pulled the man's weight against him before moving forward with me hurrying after. Josie stepped to the side to let us pass, glancing at me but not saying anything, and when we were out in the hall, Isa pulled a smaller gun from the back of his belt, holding it out for me.

"Can you use this?"

"What?" Josie snapped, and I took the gun, checking to make sure it was loaded before pulling the clip back and snapping it.

"Yea."

"Good, let's go," he stalked down the hallway, followed by Orion and Beckett, me behind them and Josie right at the back.

After walking down the hall and turning a corner we came upon a window, open like Isa had said it would be, and he shoved it a little wider before turning to Josie, "You first, help them out, I'll watch the back."

Josie nodded and stuffed his gun into the holster at his side, hopping out of the window and turning to help Beckett. I stood with Isa as he paced the hall looking around the corners, passing the gun between my hands as I turned in a half circle to make sure Beckett was fine. He looked like crap and basically fell against Josie because he slipped off the window sill, but he was alright.

"You next," Orion said, turning and holding his hand for me, and I shook my head.

"Stay with Beckett, I'll go after you."

"What?"

I held up the gun, "Calm down, I'm a better shot than Cass."

He rolled his eyes and seemed to force himself to turn around so he could hop out of the window, and Isa shoved me forward when the window was clear. I was halfway out when I heard a gunshot and the glass shattered just beside my head, sending shard flying at my face. My arms flew up to shield my eyes and I slipped back into the building, grunting as my back collided with the hard concrete and hissing as I clutched at my hip, which was burning.

"Dakota!" I heard all three men outside yell for me, but there was a ring in my ears that made everything seem sluggish.

There were more gunshots, and I felt someone grab my arm before hauling me to my feet and spinning me around so I could see the masked soldiers at the corner of the hall, guns raised and aimed at us. I lifted the small handgun instinctively and shot twice. The first bullet hit someone in the mask, and he staggered back as cracks formed through the green and yellow coloring before it broke in half.

The second bullet missed, but a third fixed that, hitting the man right in the forehead so he simply slumped to the ground. I was going to shoot again when someone grabbed the back of my shirt and basically yanked me out the window and into the snow. Isa hopped out after me and pulled me to my feet before pointing.

"Go!"

We did, we ran, with gunshots echoing behind us, snow and dirt occasionally flying at our feet because we'd just barely missed getting hit, and when we got to a hill off in the distance I dared to look back. I should've known better. The moment I turned back to look, a Bible verse from my childhood came flooding into my ears, in my mother's voice, mocking and cruel.

"... and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt..."

My gaze caught with Diego's from where he stood just outside the window, a mad smile curled his lips, and pain simply exploded in my left shoulder, a burn that was familiar yet confusing at the same time, my body turning from the force of whatever had impacted me, prompting me to push forward and run after the others.

By the time we stopped I felt lightheaded, I didn't even realize I was holding my shoulder as Isa pulled out a radio, talking with someone before looking at Josie, "We're meeting up with them in the next town over, but we'll have to walk."

"It's pretty far," Josie sighed, one hand on his hip as he ruffled his auburn hair and stared up at the trees, "We should find somewhere to hide out beforehand, unless we can walk a bit more," he looked over at Beckett, "Can you walk?"

"Yea, I'm fine," Beckett nodded, his hand raised to rub dry blood from his cheek, "How far is it to the next town?"

"Five miles," Isa answered, tapping at a compass strapped around his wrist like a watch, "I think we can make it. We'll just have to walk zigzagging and cover our tracks. Manuela can't track, but he has people who likely can follow us. We have to be careful."

"We'll be fine," Josie decided, turning fully, "Let's just-," he froze, eyes growing wide in horror when they landed on me, and I frowned, tensing up.

"What?"

"Dakota...," he took a few steps towards me as Orion and Beckett turned, looking just as panicked as Josie did.

I took an uncomfortable step back away from him, gripping my shoulder and wincing before snapping my head to the side, slowly pulling my hand away to see thick blood staining my palm and my fingers, soaking through the shoulder of my shirt.

"Oh fuck," Orion choked as he hurried towards me and grabbed me when my knees buckled.

"Ah... ha-ha," I laughed a little as I stared at my hand, which was blurring in my eyes, unfocused and just a blob of shape and color as my head rested against Orion's chest, "I looked back," I panted dizzily, "I'm turning into salt..."

And just like salt, my vision rapidly turned white, before I promptly fell into darkness.