Everything hurt.

He wanted to go back to sleep but he needed to find out something first.

There was so much pain. What was so important that he needed to find out?

He shifted slightly, uncomfortable, pain shooting through his entire body in pangs. What was going on? Was he in a bed? It felt like it. His whole right arm felt dead.

Alfendi slowly became aware of his surroundings. There was a strap across his ankles and one across his waist. His right arm was tightly wrapped in a sling and his shoulder and chest were heavily wrapped in bandages.

Was he in a hospital?

He should just open his eyes. Then he would know for sure where he was.

...Why was he so frightened to do that?

Alfendi took a deep breath, which made his chest ache, and slowly opened his eyes. The room was bright and blurry, it came into focus slowly. He was lying in an old, beaten up looking hospital bed which was propped up slightly. Those were definitely straps on his legs. He was being restrained.

Panic flooded him. He tried to sit up straight but his shoulder screamed in protest. Or maybe that was him who screamed. Alfendi's eyes cleared with the adrenaline and he took in his surroundings. The room he was in was small and looked like it was once a storage room of some sort. There were beaten up shelves lining the walls full of empty boxes. From what he could see, he assumed this must be an abandoned factory or warehouse or something along those lines.

Which meant…

"I'll take you home and everything will be alright, son."

Alfendi flinched, expecting to see the older man to still be standing over him. He was hyperventilating again. Makepeace wasn't there. He glanced around the room. No cameras. Injury or no injury, he needed to get out of here. Alfendi tried to sit up again but squeezed his eyes shut and dropped back as the pain in his shoulder doubled with movement. It was then he noticed his left arm was handcuffed, with his handcuffs he might add, to the bedframe. How was he going to get out of this?

Alfendi froze at the sound of footsteps coming from behind the door. Alfendi got a grip on his breathing. Don't show fear. Do not show fear.

The door opened and a young girl, humming stepped in carrying a tray of various things.

"Oh! You're awake!" She exclaimed excitedly, shutting the door behind her. Her voice was so young… this girl couldn't be older than fifteen. Alfendi was very confused, had Makepeace not taken him? Or was she a captive too? What was going on?

"Papa said you wouldn't wake up for a few more days!" She walked in and placed the tray next to his bed. Upon closer inspection, he noticed bandages, food, and a few other objects on it. He stopped paying attention after the food, though. He suddenly realized he was ravenous.

"Uh-Who…?" Alfendi's head was so fuzzy. He was having trouble forming words. He had too many questions.

"Where are my manners?" The girl shook her head, disappointed in herself. "My name is Diane! I am you sister! Well… half sister, but it's the same thing really."

"Wh-what?!" Alfendi's head started spinning again.

"Exciting isn't it? I've been dying to meet you." Diane said cutting the slice of bread on the tray into small pieces. "Papa has told me all about you. I'm sorry you got roped into such a bad crowd, but Papa will be able to fix everything for you."

"Pa-"

"Here! Eat some of this." She shoved a piece of bread into his mouth, cutting him off. "He's gonna teach you all about how to join the family business. I'm gonna have a sibling! This is gonna be so much fun!" Alfendi was trying to take everything in.

"Anyway, I guess this means papa can start classes again! I can't wait to finally have a classmate like they do in books!"

"Classe-?" He tried to asked but was cut off by Diane shoving more food to him.

"This is going to be so so much fun." She dusted off her hands of crumbs, all of the bread now gone. Alfendi was still famished. If anything, that small piece of bread had only made him hungrier. His expression must've been plain on his face.

"I'm sorry, big brother, but that's all for now." The girl explained, looking genuinely upset. "Papa says if you're good you can have more and if you're really good he'll even give you some pain medicine! That's really generous of him. He must like you a lot to even consider that. He doesn't give me pain medicine for anything."

"Good behavior?" He finally was able to get one of the hundreds of questions dancing through his mind out. So Makepeace was planning on twisting him this way. Good to know.

"Papa should be back soon and he'll come in and explain the rules of the house and such." Diane picked up something else from the tray and walked over to his bedside. "Now, this is just something papa asked me to do, I don't know why you'd want to run away, but just in case…" She was holding another strap much like the ones on his ankles and around his waist and wrapped it around his shoulders to the bed.

"Ouch! Watch it!" He hissed as she bumped into his wound. Alfendi wanted to say more, to ask more questions while he had the opportunity, but he found he couldn't. His throat was too dry and his head still too fuzzy. This was frustrating. Who knew if he would ever be alone with this so called "sister" again after Makepeace came back?

"No need to be rude, brother." Diane frowned at this. Alfendi gave her an odd look. If she considered this rude she clearly had no idea what was in store after he started getting better. "I would watch the attitude once papa comes home. He hates it when people talk back."

Alfendi didn't reply to that. Diane picked up the tray and left the room, leaving Alfendi alone to dread what might be coming next.

Footsteps again.

Alfendi snapped awake.

He had drifted off again, he wasn't sure for how long. It was late. There was no light coming in from outside, only the old fluorescent light, giving the room an eerie tone. He felt more alert after the unintentional nap. He glanced around the room again, hoping to discover something that could be of use.

He noticed a line of objects on the shelf at the far side of the room. His phone, wallet, car keys, and gun were laid out in a line. If only he could just get to his phone he could call for help.

Oh God.

At the thought of calling for help, his friend's and family's faces crossed through his mind. What had they thought happened to him? How long had he been here? How worried was everyone about him?

He glanced down at the mess of bandages on his shoulder again. Maybe he could move just a little-

PAIN.

He winced and threw his head back trying not to groan. Okay maybe not so soon. The footsteps were louder now, nearly outside the door. Now that they were closer he was pretty sure that it was two sets… Diane and Makepeace he assumed. He took a deep breath bracing himself for the upcoming confrontation.

The door opened.

Diane stepped in first with another tray of objects. Before he could try to focus on what was there, Keelan Makepeace stepped in and shut the door behind him. Alfendi felt rage bubble up at the sight of the man and he narrowed his eyes.

"You-" Alfendi had so much rage he didn't even know where to begin. He sat up, only to wince and lay back as his shoulder exploded with pain. The man chuckled and shook his head.

"Save your energy, kid." Makepeace chided as he walked over to the shelf full of Alfendi's things. "We're going to have a long talk later. Right now, I'm not here to talk to you."

"Is that so?" Alfendi spat out as Makepeace carefully picked Alfendi's phone up off of the shelf and walked back.

"Now, son-"

"Quit callin' me tha'!" Alfendi cut him off. The combination of fear, rage, and hunger was making him very irritable. "I don' believe you. I am not your son."

Makepeace was silent for a moment. Diane looked back and forth between them, listening intently.

"You are, as you will find out for sure soon enough." The man said quietly. "I will review the rules you will follow later, but I will warn you now I do not tolerate backtalk."

He opened up Alfendi's phone and flipped through the contacts. Diane set the tray on the same table as last time and pulled up two chairs to the side of his bed, looking grim. Alfendi glanced down at the objects on the tray and felt a rock settle in his stomach.

"Time to make a phone call." Makepeace brought the phone to his ear chuckling.