Somewhere in the middle:

The shock of cold water jolted Penryn awake.

Not water. It tasted too sharp. Vodka. Ice cold vodka.

Penryn freaking hated vodka.

God. Her head was pounding so hard. She blinked, trying to focus on the blurry hand in front of her. She knew it was moving, but the snap snap snap seemed to be coming from somewhere far away.

She couldn't see the other hand.

The slap sent her head reeling. She could have sworn that she felt her teeth rattling and the ringing in her ears only intensified.

But the backhanding had jolted her back into reality. She was sitting, hands tied painfully tight behind her chair. She was in an office. A man stood before her, his suit immaculate and blindingly white.

His lips was moving but it took several seconds before she could make out the words.

"-quite a delight to discover you. I never thought that Raphael-"

"Uriel," she breathed. The name flew out of her mouth as all the air left her lungs. Terror seized her chest like a vice.

"She speaks!" Uriel beamed. "I'd been looking forward to meeting you, pet. Although…"

A knife skimmed over her cheek, skimming lightly over the bruises given to her earlier that day...or was it night? She wasn't sure, but she didn't think it would matter for very long as the steel curved over her neck.

"...You will not interrupt when I'm talking." Uriel was still smiling at Penryn like she was a long lost friend. He pressed the knife down on the skin above her collarbone. The cut was shallow, but it seeped crimson down to her already bloodstained shirt. "I really would not like to lose my temper with you, not when we're just making our acquaintance. I would like us to be friends."

He tapped her lips with his knife. "Don't you want us to friends, pet?"

Penryn jerked her head up and down.

She tried not to tremble. It hurt too much do so. Her body still ached from the earlier beating at the hands of Beliel and his thugs. With every breath, there was a pain in her side-an almost sure sign of a broken rib.

Uriel's eyes crawled over her body like two fat greedy spiders. She was completely covered with jeans and shirt, dirty and stained they might be, but she felt stripped by his gaze. She couldn't decide if it was better or worse that he seemed to linger on and relish the bruises on her pale skin.

"Now, you have me at a disadvantage," Uriel said. "You know my name but I don't know yours. What do I call you?"

They didn't know who she was. She silently thanked whatever angel had been smiling down on her for that minor miracle. It meant that she could still protect Paige and Mom.

"Phoebe...Phoebe Moon." Her mother's maiden name. Stupid because they might be able to trace it back, but it was the first name that popped up into her head and it was so hard to think with all the throbbing in her head…

"Phoebe Moon. Pretty name for a pretty girl." Uriel brushed a lock of black hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Although, I thought I told you I wanted her face unblemished, Beliel."

"Accident in pickup." Penryn flinched at Beliel's voice. The hulking skinhead grinned as she craned her neck to look at him. He was off to the side in the shadows. Two more of his goons lurked by the door. "She didn't come willingly."

"That's disappointing, but a good lesson of what comes when you misbehave." Uriel tapped Penryn's chin with the knife and forced her to turn her gaze back at him. "And Beliel says that you haven't been answering any of our questions. But we're friends, aren't we, pet? Friends help each other out, don't they?"

Penryn forced herself to nod once more.

"Now, why don't you tell us where we can find Raphael?"

She closed her eyes and swallowed. Her mouth was so dry. She would kill for a glass of water.

Before the torture commenced once more.

"I don't know who you're talking-"

Uriel backhanded her. This time she was sure her teeth rattled. She licked her lips and tasted blood mixed with vodka.

"You're little games might have amused Beliel, but they won't work for me." He grabbed her hair, twisting a fistful of black strands around his hand to get a tighter grip. He leaned down and yanked hard, forcing her to look at him in the eye.

"I have no idea who Raphael is-"

Uriel's grip on her tightened. Penryn bit back a whimper, trying to hold onto the last thin threads of her pride.

"You have his ring." Uriel clicked the silver band on Penryn's right forefinger with his knife. "He loves that cheap piece of shit. I've never seen him go a day without it until I saw him give it to you. So tell me, little slut. Where. Is. Raphael?"

Penryn stared at the black and white carpet. There were flecks of red on it. Her blood. Undoubtedly, there'd be plenty more to stain it once Uriel was through.

She had gone through the same charade with Beliel. How do you know him? What are you to him? Where is he, where is he, where is Raphael goddammit, you little bitch?

She only had one response, clinging to it even have they struck her over and over again, trying to beat the answer out of her.

I don't know I don't know please please I don't know.

She wished she was a better liar, though it probably would not have been much help anyway. She really didn't know where Raffe was. She could've told the truth about the little she did know, and maybe it would have earned her a reprieve.

But Penryn couldn't bring herself to betray Raffe.

So she lied, desperately and poorly and repeating the same line over and over again because she didn't know what else to say. All of them knew she was lying and her captors beat her for it. Then they would try again, she'd lie again, and they'd beat her again. Around and around everyone went in this twisted game.

Uriel raised her head up and laid the flat plane of the knife against her neck.

Whether or not she gave up Raffe, Uriel would kill her. She only had to look at the cruel gleam in Uriel's eyes to figure out that much. If not Uriel, then it would be Beliel.

She was going to die tonight.

With that thought, Penryn started to cry. She was in eighteen. She was in high school. She didn't want to die. Not like this. Not in the hands of a sadistic crime lord.

"Where is he?"

I'm so sorry, Paige.

She looked Uriel in the eye as he held a blade to her throat.

"I don't know."


Soooo, I hope you like this little taste of my first AU. As always, feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome.