Ariel's eyes darted around, scanning the restaurant in search of him. She hoped he'd show up. She had texted him the address last night. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes rolled into hours. She glanced at the door in expectation, hoping he'd walk in any moment, but there was no sign of him. She decided to be a bit more patient. The previous incident traumatized Khan; he was doing great, the killings had ceased, and the psycho was probably behind bars.

Joan reached out after a week and told her she had gone on a vacation. Ariel was relieved. Sighing, she glanced at the oblique aesthetic clock on the wall. He was already an hour late. Disappointment began to creep in; he was not coming. The realization left a sinking feeling in her stomach; it was like her heart had been ripped in two. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back with difficulty. Expecting Axel to like her back was hopeless; he didn't even have the decency to show up or decline her treat. That was how lowly he thought of her. He had agreed, why was he backing off at the last minute?.

Disappointed, she picked up her purse and left the restaurant; she had a shoot tomorrow. Her new job was the only comfort she enjoyed now.

Joan peered through the tiny crack in the wall, wondering if anyone would ever come. She had been stuck in an abandoned basement at the outskirts of town for weeks. Her brothers had emailed her workplace and informed everyone she was on vacation. No one questioned the text because it looked like something she'd do. She was never going to be free until she signed off her inheritance to her brothers and her stepfather. But there was no way on earth she was ever going to allow them to take what her father worked for. Her mother had hidden it carefully so that only she had access. Even if she lost her life, the money would belong to charity.

These shameless, money-hungry vampires she called her brothers were out for blood. She peered through the crack in the wall; there was no one in sight. The crack had probably slipped unnoticed by the goons. If she wanted to escape, she knew she had to be cautious. The approaching footsteps alerted her senses, and she quickly scrambled around and searched for something to cover the crack. She ended up settling for the unused Grey floorboard leaning on the wall, and sat by the corner of the room like she was helpless.

The four men walked in holding some papers and slammed the door. Carlos, the eldest; strides towards the enraged Joan. She had an intense glare in her eyes. She was going to protect her parents' wealth, even if it’d cost her life. “Last chance, tell us how to get in.” He demanded in a low menacing voice.

“I'd rather die.”

Enraged, he grabs a fistful of her hair and slaps her hard across the face.

“You ungrateful urchin, I raised you alongside my sons after your miserable mother passed.”

“You shameless man, you should work alongside your sons to make a living for yourselves.”

He drew a tensed heavy breath and exhaled.

“If you don't tell us all you know and hand us all we need to use, you'll be dead by sunrise tomorrow.

“Good luck on becoming runaway murderers.” She replied fiercely.

“We won't run away, we will make sure no one ever finds you. We're your only family, you have no friends, no one would notice you're gone, and your resignation was emailed to your workplace last night. You have no friends either, no one thinks about you, nor do they care whether you exist or not.” Scott, her younger brother analyzed her life through his own shallow lens.

Joan cracked a smile and broke into a subtle laugh.

“Is that what you think?.”

The room grew silent, even a pin drop could be heard.

“You have twenty-four hours to make up your mind and stop being difficult, Joan. There is no harm if your brothers inherit your late father's inheritance and hand you a piece of the pie. Don't be greedy, twelve estates and large cash are too much money for you to handle.”

“I'd decide that.” She replied defiantly.

Joan was anything but scared; she'd rather die than let these goons have their way.

“Remember, you have until sunrise.”

Her father says as he walks away with his four redhead sons.

Once they were out, Joan broke down sobbing. The tears she had been restraining flowed freely. She remembered all the flower years with her real father, how he'd take her golfing, but put her in the nicest dress, take her to fancy parties, and look at her like she was the best thing in the world. She missed him terribly. She listened for the sound of their voice or footsteps. She stood up when she heard the sound of their cars, screeching through the driveway. She immediately shot up on her feet. The cars unmistakably belonged to Carlos and Scott. Lucius and Lucien usually hitched a ride in their brothers' cars. They had crashed her favorite red Ford Mustang the previous week. Unable to ascertain if all of them had left, she went back to the crack in the wall and removed its covering. She had to flee before they returned.

Axel watched the crack he had created on the double-cemented wall that housed the captive. He looked at his watch, wondering when his airhead best friend was going to show up. He had a lunch to honor. He looked at his Sapphire Turbillon watch and sighed. Dean was a hard dude to deal with. He had managed to convince him to save Ariel's friend in place of him. Dean had consented, even though he tried so hard to live like a human and convince himself he was one of them. Axel didn't try to convince him otherwise, his decision was from a place of trauma.

Axel watched the clueless girl make her way out of the crack. She had limited time to escape, or else she was going to get caught. Thankfully, her mission was successful, she scaled a fence with little difficulty and ran. Axel heaved a sigh of relief. Dean was going to take it up from that point. For now, he had Ariel to get back to.