Tawny found herself handcuffed to a bar attached to a wall in the basement of Westinghouse Manor.

She was locked up in a little closet within the wine cellar, a single bulb hanging from the ceiling as the solitary light illuminating the dim space. Tawny tapped her wrist laconically against the cool metal of the bar, making a clanging sound.

"Can you cut out that damn clanging?"

Tawny immediately stopped. Across from her sat two of the mansion's security cronies on a bench. Tawny was moderately annoyed that neither of them thought to offer her a seat.

She noted that although all the security duty wore the same outfit, these two in particular seemed different. For one, they seemed a bit younger than the other men, perhaps just a year or two out of their teens from the way they interacted with each other. They also seemed less professional; they both had stripped their outer uniform blazer and rolled up their sleeves, displaying arms completely covered in tattoos. One had numerous piercings decorating their left ear. The other had a raised scar over their right eye and vibrant red tattoo that snaked all the way up to the back of his shaved skull.

It was the one with the skull tattoo that had snapped at her. She didn't know why, but these men gave her a sense of unease. With Dylan's other security, she felt intimidated but never felt unsafe. With these two, however...

She noticed the one with the piercings leering at her a bit too intensely. To Tawny, it felt invasive and threatening, and she involuntarily gripped the bar she was handcuffed to just a little bit tighter.

Scar lolled his head back and let out a groan. "How much longer must we babysit this brat?"

"The old bag told us to keep her down here for a few hours and then she'd call the authorities," said Pierced Ear. "She doesn't want to disturb their fancy dinner party."

Shit, Tawny inwardly swore to herself. She was missing the one event she had spent months preparing for. She was looking forward to meeting the elusive Bryce and to finally see him and Dylan reconcile as father and son. Instead, she was likely going to spend the night in a jail cell several miles away from the manor.

In a few moments, however, that was to be the least of Tawny's worries.

"I'm so bored," said Scar, rubbing his face with his hands. "I don't know why you talked me into taking this stupid gig..."

"I know how we can pass the time..." said Pierced Ear. As he said it, he was looking right at Tawny.

Instantly, she felt her blood run cold.

He stood up and approached her. "This one's apparently a bad seed and won't be back. Might as well have a little fun while she's here with us."

"Anything happens to this girl on our watch and we'll be out of a job, too," said Scar, who also stood up to approach Tawny.

"Well, it's our word against hers," replied Pierced Ear. "Besides, even if they believe her, we'll be paid and long gone by then."

A sense of dread overtook Tawny as she realized she was in danger. Desperately, she pulled against the pipe with all her might, praying that either it or her handcuffs would give way. "Somebody help!" she screamed.

"Scream all you want, Sweet Cheeks," said Pierced Ear. "No one can hear you. No one's going to bother to help you."

But Tawny wouldn't relent; she wouldn't give up. She used her legs to kick at them, and successfully connected with Scar's stomach, knocking him to the floor.

In the next instant, Tawny saw stars as the other man punched her over the head with the full force of his fist. She crumpled to the ground, disoriented and her vision blurry.

"That was a bad move, Girlie," Pierced Ear said calmly. "Now I'm definitely going to make sure this is unpleasant for you."

Scar had recovered almost immediately and lifted Tawny back to her feet so she was face to face with Pierced Ear. She looked away as his face came so close to hers she could feel his hot, hungry breath steaming on her neck.

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"Help..." Tawny said, not as a scream, but as a pathetic whimper. For she knew in her heart he was right: if everyone believed she was a pauper and a petty thief, why would they ever bother to come save her?

Tawny closed her eyes, resigned to her horrible fate...

"What the f--!" exclaimed Scar.

Tawny opened her eyes, but was surprised to still see nothing. The single hanging light in the room had been cut off.

She felt the movement of air and the sounds of grunts as fists met with flesh in the darkness. In the confusion, she thought the two men had turned on each other in a fit of primal rage.

Then Tawny heard the sickening sound of something solid connecting with skull and a body collapsing to the ground. She tensed as she prepared for the victor of the two assailants to proceed to claim her as their ill-gotten, unwilling prize...

The lights turned back on, ending the blackout. To Tawny's surprise, both security men were on the ground, unconscious.

Standing above them, hair tousled, suit ripped, and firmly grasping a bottle of vintage 1961 Château Lumière Éternelle was none other than Professor McCurdy.

"Miss Matthews," he gasped, dropping the bottle to the ground (miraculously, it didn't shatter). "Are you alright? Did those ruffians harm you?"

He went for the ring of keys attached to the belt buckle of Scar and proceeded to unlock the handcuffs to free Tawny from her shackles. As soon as the handcuffs were open, Tawny collapsed into Professor McCurdy and broke down in a fit of hysterical sobs.

"Professor, I'....m so glad you're here!" sobbed Tawny uncontrollably. "Those two men, they were gonna....there were gonna!"

"Shh, it's alright," Professor McCurdy said in a soothing voice, rubbing her head gently and in a consoling matter. "I'm here now."

"Yeah, but how?" Tawny asked, taking a brief pause from crying to wipe her running nose and look McCurdy in the face quizzically. "How did you know I was even down here?"

"I inquired to some of other staff in the household," explained Professor McCurdy. "They told me they saw a maid taken forcefully away by Madame Fraus for a crime permitted on premises. You didn't--?"

"No!" Tawny said, indignantly shaking her head. "You have to believe me, I was framed."

"Right," nodded Professor McCurdy. "That's what I suspected. Well, then, now that you've been retrieved, I suppose we'll rejoin the surface world."

"Okay, but what about...?" she gestured to the pair of unconscious thugs on the ground.

"Oh heavens, you're right," said McCurdy. He proceeded to grab the handcuffs off the floor and, after unlocking the other half, reshackled them onto the wrist of each man.

This wasn't at all what Tawny had meant with her concern, but the random act caught Tawny so off-guard that she let out a quick giddy laugh in response.

"They're big boys, Miss Matthews; I'm sure they'll figure out their predicament when they come to. Shall we?"

Professor McCurdy extended his hand and Tawny eagerly took it, and the two of them exited the closet and ran through the wine cellar. When she was initially brought by the security goons, her head was down, so she marvelled at the surreal vastness of the cellar, and being surrounded by massive kegs upon kegs of alcohol stacked on top of one another. For her, it evoked images of the final scene from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, only much more upscale.

"This is incredible," marveled Tawny. "Is there anything these people DON'T have?"

"Did you say something, Miss Matthews?" Professor McCurdy stopped jogging. Tawny was about to repeat herself when suddenly she felt herself being grabbed by him and thrust between the gap of a row of barrels.

Professor McCurdy clasped a hand over the startled Tawny's mouth and pressed his body against her so that she was sandwiched between him and the barrel. His head turned to the side to listen to his surroundings.

Seconds later, two more security detail appeared in the corridor they had just occupied. Both McCurdy and Tawny stayed silent as the men passed them by unknowingly as they made their way to the wine closet. When they arrived, it was obvious, as the two men suddenly ran back in the other direction with more urgency.

"Go tell the team lead," said the first man. As Man 1 nodded and ran to leave the cellar, Man 2 stopped right across from the hidden student and teacher.

He didn't look in their direction; however. Instead, he pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Fraus, we've got a situation. The suspect has escaped detention and has injured two of our men. Over."

There was a pause, as an excited voice came through muffled through the speaker of the walkie-talkie.

"Affirmative," responded the man shakily (obviously unnerved by Madame Fraus' response). We'll make sure she's apprehended so this can be resolved as soon as possible. I'll bring her to the Main Hall with the others as soon as we find her. Over."

The man lowered the walkie-talke and swore under his breath before following after his colleague.

"I wonder what's happened...?" asked McCurdy absentmindedly. "What do you suppose, Miss Matthews?...Miss Matthews...?

But Tawny was catatonic. Perhaps it was a combination of the traumatic experience she had just experienced, the possible concussion, or the daring rescue. Or...maybe it was the intimately close proximity to her professor; with his body so close to hers, his hand over her face, her nostrils were assailed with a heady mix of sweat, blood, adrenaline and that damned sandlewood that encapsulated McCurdy's signature olfactory aroma. In any case, all of these factors combined caused Tawny to lose her faculties.

She was about to slip to the floor but Professor McCurdy broke her fall. It was then he noticed the bruise on the side of her head. "Miss Matthews...can you walk?"

Tawny shook her head before her eyes rolled back and she began to slip out of consciousness.

"No, no...you musn't fall asleep," urged Professor Mccurdy. "Here, put your arms around me..."

Tawny obeyed and willed her dwindling strength to grab hold of McCurdy tightly. Then, he scooped her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way out of the cellar.