Sadly I do not own Gallagher Girls! By far my favorite series and I CANNOT wait for the next (and sadly last) book! I hope you enjoy this story. Reviews? It is going to start here and then the other chapters will go back and explain everything leading up to this chapter and then there will be ones following what happens here. (:

Drip…drip…drip.

The leaky faucet across the room that had initially drove her crazy now only tortured Cammie with the fact that she was still alive. She struggled to open her swollen eyes but there really wasn't a point, the basement was so dark that she wouldn't have even been able to see her own hands in front of her face if they hadn't been tied behind her back.

Her left foot throbbed painfully and the dried blood that caked it made her want to scratch so badly. Her head lay against the ice cold basement floor, her cheek frozen from the cold cement and ice cold water the bitch had thrown on her earlier.

The bitch of course was Caroline Goode.

Cammie shivered and coughed again, the overpowering smell of mold and mildew made her gag. Her wet hair plastered against her face and she itched to push it back off of her cheek but knew she couldn't reach up to do so.

At least the pain from the burned 'C' on her arm was beginning to turn numb. Whether that was a good or bad thing though, she wasn't too sure.

Drip…drip…drip.

When were they going to just come in and kill her?

That was what they had been trying to do all along. Of course now that they had her, Caroline decided she had different plans for her. Torture. Again. Cammie didn't remember anything from the first time the psychotic woman tortured her, only wounds had let her know that it had in fact happened. This time, however, she didn't think it would be possible to forget. No matter how much she might pray for it.

It had started out with just hair pulling and slapping but quickly turned more dark and sickening. Caroline usually came down accompanied by two others, one with a small flip video. Initially she had been strapped to a chair but when she had managed to get a leg free and kicked Caroline in the face (big mistake but at the time it was so worth it) they broke the chair by slamming her against the concrete wall and then taped and tied her before tossing her roughly to the hard floor.

Cammie couldn't even remember how long she had been down here… days, weeks, months? It was so hard to tell. Mr. Solomon would be so disappointed in her.

The door that led down to the basement opened and the light from upstairs swept over her. She gave an involuntary shudder and wondered what Caroline was going to do now. Cut off another toe? Break her other hand?

She couldn't control the small whimper that escaped between her lips when she heard the sound of heavy footsteps thundering down the stairs behind her. She should have recognized that they didn't belong to Caroline or either one of her accomplices, she should have...but she didn't. She was so tired.

The person was speaking, shouting up at someone. She recognized that it was a man's deep voice but she couldn't make out his words. Cammie didn't flinch as he knelt down beside her and pulled out a knife (she heard him flip it open) instead she sighed in relief. Finally, they were going to kill her. She knew he would probably make a few punctures and let her bleed to death in agony but soon…soon she would be free from the pain.

The ropes and tape around her arms fell away, followed by her legs. They were going to make her fight them again, but she didn't have the strength…she couldn't do it. Why wouldn't they just kill her and be done with it?

"Cameron." The man's voice murmured, it sounded so…sad.

That was when she realized she was already dead, she had to be. When she forced herself to open her eyes again and looked up at him she saw an angel. He carefully pulled her into his arms and stood, being so careful not to hurt her as he made his way back up the stairs and into the too-bright light. He didn't have to worry so much, her entire body was now numb.

Her broken wrist rested on her chest but she no longer felt the searing agony that she was so use to feeling now. She struggled to see the man's face but her vision was so blurred that it was an impossible feat.

She didn't know why but she had a feeling that it was extremely important to see his face. Cammie could hear his heart racing and feel him shaking (from anger or fear, she wasn't sure). There were others there. There were a lot of people actually, talking and moving around the house but the only thing Cammie could focus on was the man holding her.

He kissed her forehead and whispered softly to her, his voice rough with fury and tears, "It's going to be ok Cammie, I have you now."

It was in that moment that she knew who the man was; she closed her eyes and shuddered against him, burying her face into his chest. "Daddy…I'm so scared."

Water splashed on her cheek and rolled into her mouth, it was salty. Her dad was crying as he held her, "I know baby, but you don't have to be scared anymore."

Cameron felt the darkness closing around her, she was finally warm again. The last thing she heard before she passed out was his voice.

"I'm here."