This was labelled as "trigger warning" by EmptySighsAndWine. Contains whipping. Please skip to "Night had fallen..." if you want to avoid the triggering scene.

-Alex's Point of View-

"Why the fuck did you leave the house?!" Dan screamed at me swinging his belt in front of my face. He had me cuffed to the bed, on my stomach. I knew he was going to whip me and I was preparing myself for the pain.

"I-I had to get out. I needed to be free. This house is just too quiet when I'm here by myself," I cried, tears running down my face in fear. I knew that the tears showed weakness, but I didn't care. I wanted my freedom. I wanted to get away from him, from here. "I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry. I saw you with that Barakat. You were trying to get away from me. Don't you want me, Alex? Am I not enough for you, darling? What am I to you, Alex? I know I'm not no Jack, but guess what? You're not getting that boy back every again!" He screamed and that's when he slapped me with the belt, my back stinging as I hissed out in pain.

He hit me once, twice, three times, and just continued until I lost count. I knew the wounds that were on my back had already ripped open and I'm sure that there were a few more to join them. I just wanted it to stop, wanted it to quit. I knew what would happen when he was done. He got off to see me in pain. God, this guy was fucked up.

"You're a fucking whore, you know that?" Dan whispered in my ear as he wrapped his thumbs in the loops of my pants, tugging them down, exposing my boxers. He tore my boxers down with the jeans and that's when I heard the zipper go down on his pants and I felt him press his erection against my ass.

"You're gonna love this, you slut," he said before pushing himself in.

~~~

Night had fallen and I laid in bed. Dan was curled up against me, faint snores falling from his parted lips. I was still cuffed in the same postion, stark naked and just wanting to take a long hot shower and possibly never come out. I needed to get the feeling of Dan out of my system. I wanted to feel clean, like I had been with Jack, but I knew that'd I'd probably never that again.

Tears fell down my cheeks as I pressed my face against my pillow, trying to muffle my cries so I wouldn't wake Dan up. Thoughts of Jack ran over and over in my mind and I began to wonder if I'd ever see the spiky haired male ever again. I mean, he did say that he was coming to save me in two days, but would that be soon enough? I don't think I could take another night of torment from Dan and if I did, God, there must be an angel watching over me.

I glanced over at Dan and I saw a small silver chain around his neck. I knew that he wore the key around his neck, but usually he took it off before going to bed, just so I wouldn't be able to get it. I felt a small spark of hope as I saw the key laying on the pillow and I smiled. All I had to do was get that from around his neck and it'd be all mine.

I reached over with my closest hand, but quickly realized that I was only inches away from it. I reached my fingers out, but I knew that it was useless. If I wanted to get this key, I was going to have to use my teeth. Again, I reached over, wrapping my lips around the key and I gently tugged it over Dan's chin, hoping that I wouldn't wake him.

He let out a small sigh and shut his mouth, slightly rolling over, but not enough to have the necklace choke him. I continued to pull the key away from him slowly and when it was finally free, I thought I was going to cry. Quickly I unlocked my wrists and held the key tight in my hand.

I walked over to one of the locked drawers in the cabinet and put the key, looking over at Dan before turning the lock. I opened the drawer and I saw nothing but a few papers and a pencil. I glanced over at them in the dark, but when I realized that they were nothing, I shut the drawer and continued on.

Eventually, I found my phone, my wallet, and a couple hundred dollars. I handcuffed one of Dan's wrists to the headboard and pulled on my clothes and a jacket before sneaking out the door. Here was freedom. Here was my escape. Now only if I could stay free until Jack came back to Baltimore.

~~~

It took a half an hour before I ended up at the Barakat's large house. There was one dim light lit in the house, but I was hoping that whoever it was would hear me this late at night. I rang the doorbell and a few heartbeats later, I heard the locks being undone on the door and May was standing there in a nightgown, hair a mess, and makeup smeared on her cheeks.

"Alex, what are you doing here?" She asked me and I looked behind me before stepping into the house and looking at her.

"I escaped from Dan. I stole the key, got my things, and came over here as soon as I could. I had to get out of there. After I saw Leeyh today, he dragged me home, handcuffed me, and... and..." Tears welled up in my eyes before I could finish my sentence. I couldn't even talk about what he did to me it bothered me that much. I hadn't felt so used in my life before Dan.

"Shh, it's fine. You got out of there. Here, let me take you upstairs and show you where you can stay for the night. I'll let my mother know that you're here," she said softly, taking my hand and leading me of the nice staircase.

I had never gotten a real good look at the inside of the Barakat's home. I mean, I had been inside once, but that was to save May when her father was attacking her for leaving Baltimore. Now I saw it as a safe haven.

She led me into a bedroom and I pulled her into a tight hug without warning. May seemed a bit shocked at first, but quickly she melted into the hug and held me tightly.

"I don't know what you've been through, Alex, but I had a feeling that it hasn't been good. You know you're safe here. We won't let Dan hurt you, no matter what. I promise you that," she whispered softly and I nodded my head.

"Thank you," I said softly and she smiled.

"There's no reason to thank me."

~~~

-Dan's Point of View-

Sunlight streamed through the window and I rubbed my eyes, ready to face whatever the day had set for me. I looked over beside me, expecting to see Alex's messy hair, but I noticed that the bed was empty. I sat up quickly, but was quickly pulled back by one set of handcuffs that was on my left wrist. It held me to the headboard of the bed and I hissed before leaning over towards the bedside table to pull out the spare set of keys that I had.

Alex must have gotten out last night after our little rendezvous. I had forgotten to take off my key and he had taken advantage of that. There was no telling where he was at right now.

I let off a soft sigh as I grabbed my phone off the table and scrolled down to Josh's contact information. I knew I had to call him about this and I also knew that he was going to be extremely pissed off at me for it. I was supposed to keep my prisoner under my close watch and he was with his. Though, he allowed Jack more freedom, he still hadn't gotten out yet.

Without much of though I hit his contact and I heard it ring, hoping that he'd pick it up within a matter of minutes.

"Franceschi speaking," Josh's voice rang from the other end and I sighed.

"Hey, Josh, I've got some bad news," I said softly.

"What is it, Dan?"

"Um... Well... Alex got out last night and he's not here anymore. I've got no idea where he's at," I said softly, trying to get it all out and I could feel Josh's anger grow from the other end of the line. He was trying to keep from yelling at me right now.

"How could you be so stupid, Daniel? I told you, watch him. Now he's gone and what are we going to do? What if he comes back to Essex? What if he takes Jack away from me? You want to know what I'm going to do then?" He said, anger holding his tone.

"I'm going to go find him, Josh. I've got a small idea of where he went, but I'm not too sure. I'll let you know when I find him," I said softly, hoping that he wouldn't yell at me anymore.

"You better find him. I'll check up on you in a few hours. I've got to attend to Jack now," he said and he hung up without warning.

I let out another sigh and put the phone next to me.

What am I going to do?

Notes

Title Credit: Running From Lions by All Time Low

EmptySighsAndWine