The pain didn’t make sense. It was the first thing Olivia noticed when she slowly climbed through grogginess to be somewhat aware. The sounds stopped her from doing anything more than breathing.

My head. It pounded like she had held her breath for far too long. Breathe in, breathe out. It helped regulate the pounding as she took stock of the situation. Despite the pain in her neck, she continued to hang her head in front so the strange men didn’t suspect she was awake.

My arms are tied behind my back and to the chair. Each leg is tied to a chair leg. They didn’t fuck around with the rope—it’s all tight. Too tight. Even my skinny wrists aren’t getting out of this.

Fuck.

At least they had done the courtesy of putting one of Talon’s shirts on her, though the thought of them handling her naked body made her nauseous. Who were they? Why is this happen—

“Theodore Alan Lawrence.” That was Talon’s voice!

Smack!

Olivia couldn’t help it—she jumped ever so slightly, but it didn’t seem like anyone had noticed. Were they beating Talon? She cracked her eyes open under her long lashes. Thankfully her hair was also hanging in front of her face, hiding her open eyes even more.

The floor was cement and she could see an iron drain, with blood—blood?! She couldn’t quite look up far enough to see where the blood was coming from, but she could only assume it was Talon. She could hear a faint drip, drip, drip.

Fuck! She shivered, which strained her arms and legs painfully against the ropes. What the fuck was going on? Were they in his basement, or had they been dragged somewhere else?

Breathe in, breathe out. Think, Olivia. Think! Had she been in this room before? Despite keeping her locked up for most of their time together, he had shown her around the house a few times…

No, she hadn’t seen this room…but it could be the utility room. That would make the most sense if they were still at Talon’s house.

“Who’s the girl?” one of the men asked. She tried not to react.

Someone spit, a goopy splat hitting the cement. Talon?

Smack. This time she heard a groan after. That was definitely Talon.

“She your girlfriend, T? Hm?” A couple of the men mumbled something to each other that she couldn’t quite hear. Then, she didn’t have time to react to the sound of a few heavy strides toward her before a rough hand grabbed her chin and forced her face upward. “Good morning, beautiful.”

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Fuck!

The man had buzzed hair and brown eyes, but his skin looked jaundiced. She only spared him a glance before looking behind him to see Talon tied to a chair, his face bloody and swollen, with several long cuts on his body. Her stomach dropped.

“Who are you?” she asked, “Why are you doing this?”

The man smiled, then raised his hand to strike her. He swung his hand back—Olivia braced for impact, but he stopped an inch from her face and cradled her cheek instead.

“You don’t know the rules yet, so you get one free pass, sweetheart,” he said, stroking her cheek with a thumb. She couldn’t help it as a tear escaped and ran down her face. “We ask the questions, yeah? If you talk out of turn…well, we discourage that. Don’t we, T?”

Olivia looked at Talon and met his intense blue gaze. “Yes,” Talon said, eyes still on her.

More tears slid down Olivia’s face. If Talon, who she’d only ever thought of as strong and invincible, was in such bad shape, there was no way they were getting out of this. Talon…

He still held her gaze. She focused on him—ever so slightly, she saw him nod, breathe in, breathe out. Ah. He was telling her to remain calm. Breathe in, breathe out. Her limbs still shook, but she tried her best. Maybe he had a trick up his sleeve. Maybe he was just waiting for the right moment.

“Well, T? Who’s the girl?” This time it was the man holding a knife that asked him. Blonde hair, about an inch long.

Talon looked to his left then back at Olivia and nodded slightly before answering. “She’s my fiance.” Fiance?! Well, whatever.

Olivia glanced to her right and noticed a black bag on the counter, with a few knives and other…instruments laid out. Her stomach churned. Was he trying to tell her what to expect? Or what to grab if she could get free?

I’m not getting free anytime soon, dummy!

“Oh ho! T thinks he can get married!” The man holding the knife calls her attention back to Talon, just in time to see him get sliced along his kneecap. Olivia can’t help it—a strangled shriek of protest escapes before she can stop it.

Smack!

Black and magenta. Shooting stars and lightning. Pain! It takes Olivia a few seconds to realize she’s been struck across the face, and not gently, either. Slowly, she brings her head down and moves it side to side until the weird colors and flashes fade and the ringing in her ear stops. But it does nothing for the pain. Her face burns and throbs on the entire right side—she’s crying from both eyes, but her right eye is swelling and blurred with tears.

When she looks up, Talon’s eyes are murderous. “Until the Villainess Saintess is Mine, season two finale, Wolfhart. One minute.”

His words earn him another smack to the face, but Olivia immediately understands what he means. Wolfhart’s breakdown was infamous in the online yandere community.

“What the fuck does that mean, T? A secret message for your fiance?” the man at the computer called across the room. He had wavy brown hair a few inches long.

“Just telling her how much I love her,” Talon says. “How I’m willing to die for her.”

“Awww…who the fuck knew you were such a romantic?” the knife man said, as he took the knife and placed the point of it under Talon’s chin.

Olivia watched as Talon shifted his gaze up to the man’s eyes. “She did,” he said.

Then, all hell broke loose.