Still don't own Nightshade…

~Chapter Three: The Past Never Goes Away~

~Mason~

I made my way up to Emile's room after seeing that the boy was comfortable enough in the cramped, tiny cell. As I'd put the shackles on his wrists I had suddenly been very thankful that he was out cold. The jagged scars on his wrists were the type that cried self-made and I cursed myself for not noticing them earlier. My mind was still wandering as to what had happened to the boy in his short life to make him wish for death.

"Hey!" Ansel ran up to my side. His smile was bright and mine seem even duller. His grin slowly faded to concern, "Whoa. You look like you just saw a ghost. You okay?"

I gave a brief nod. I even gave a smile. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, judging from the direction you're walking I'd say you have a hell of a lot of reasons to be not okay," he shoved his hands into his pockets with a slight shrug.

I wrapped an arm around his shoulders pulling him close and ruffled his hair. He grinned and laughed as he tried to pull away. I pulled him into a one-armed hug, "I'm fine, An. I can deal with Emile's shit. I've had years of practice, remember?"

"That still doesn't make it any better," he growled. "Why don't you just bite him?"

I smirked at the boy, "Because if I bite him we're all screwed. Where's the rest of the pack?"

"Most of them went home. Calla's waiting out front for me, but I wanted to find you. They just kind of took you when we arrived and-"

"I know," I squeezed his shoulder.

His eyes were hopeful. "When will you be home?"

"I don't know," I replied truthfully. "Depends on Emile and the Searcher we caught. They'll probably want a guard to watch him. You know Searchers, they're tricky." I winked at him, "Go to your sister. She's probably already pissed that you aren't there."

He gave me a hard look, "Promise you won't let him hurt you."

"An, I think I can handle one Searcher-"

"I'm not talking about him and you know it, Mason," he hissed. "Promise."

I nodded once, reluctantly, "Alright. I promise. Now go home and rest. I'll call you when I can, okay?"

He nodded and bounded off down the hall. I watched him go before walking the opposite way down the hall towards Emile's room. I tapped on the door twice before the Keeper called, "Come in."

I shut the door behind me. Emile sat on the bed smiling at me. He wore a red satin robe and sat perched on his bed reading the only book he ever read: A Tale of Two Cities. His hair hung perfectly even in his lazy state. He set his book aside on the nightstand, "What took you so long?"

"I spoke to Ansel on my way up," I replied. He patted the soft bed beside him and I obeyed his silent command, sitting down beside him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

His fingers did lazy circles on my shoulder and neck. "As long as you're here, I have no complaints. How did the Searcher boy treat you?"

My skin chilled as images of wraiths and Neville flooded into my mind. I forced myself to speak, "He was unconscious."

"As he should be," he scoffed. "With the wraiths Lumine set upon him I suspect he will be out for hours at the least!"

I swallowed but managed to keep it hidden from his eyes. They scrutinized my body as he moved closer to me, letting his lips touch my skin on my neck and collar bone. I let his hand travel under my shirt to run along my skin. He gave a barely audible moan of pleasure. "Emile, you don't really mean to bring him up here if the wraiths don't…work…do you?"

He gave me a sharp look with a wicked grin, "Why? Are you jealous that I'll have two toys, Dear Alpha?"

"No, I just…It seems a bit…unnecessary," I replied carefully, already seeing the scowl on his face.

He spat, "You have no say in the matter nor do you have permission to give your opinions on how we deal with prisoners. Do not speak of it again."

I nodded warily, hoping he wasn't too angry. When he was angry, it always hurt more. "I'm sorry, Emile. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Whatever," he sighed. "Just take your clothes off, I'm tired of waiting."

As always, I obeyed my Keeper.

~Neville~

The shackles didn't do much good to my wrists. The scars, some old, some new, ached under the heavy metal. My body was so tired, so bruised, still stinging and burning from the wraiths. My eyes remained closed even when I attempted to open them. I heard talking around me but didn't have the will to see who it was coming from. Coming out of my unconscious state was hard, but I managed when a gentle calloused hand gripped my shoulder.

"Come on, kid, open your eyes," a strained, quiet voice said. I managed to do as the man had said and through the bars into the next cell I saw a large man who was in dire need of a shave and bath. He was dirty but strong and muscular. His dark brown hair was shaggy as he struggled to reach me through the rusty bars. "Hey, can you hear me, kid?"

I hated that nickname. I always had. I gave a weak nod, keeping my temple on the cool stone floor. The man smiled back at me as if he was overjoyed before his eyes glanced across the small corridor to the cells on the opposite side, "He's awake." His eyes went back to my crumpled body. "Do you think you can move? Make it over here, a bit closer, so I can look at you?"

"Maybe," I breathed. I tried to drag myself over to his side but grimaced and whimpered as my muscles screamed and begged for me to stop. A hand took mine and pulled me the rest of the way to the bars between his cell and mine.

His voice was supportive and soothing, "There you go. You're okay, you're okay. Anything broken?"

"No," I shook my head. "W-Who are you?"

He smiled, "My name is Shay."

"Nev…Thanks," I breathed, closing my eyes again.

He shook my gently, "No, hey, hey, hey. Come on now, keep those eyes open. What is your name again?"

"Nev," I managed.

His eyes were focused and narrowed in concentration. "As in Neville? Monroe's son?"

"Wha-" I looked at him then, "How did you know-"

"I'm a close friend of Monroe. I was on his team until a few months ago. The Keepers had their Guardians ambush us. That's where most of us here came from…That was the day he said you would never go to battle. Yet, here you are." He smiled, "You've grown up a lot in the past few months, Neville. What did you do to convince your father to let you out here?"

I smiled weakly, "It's a long story." Out of habit my fingers brushed over the scars on my wrists. He didn't seem to notice.

"You can tell me all about it—it isn't as if we're leaving any time soon."

I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by the door bursting open than slamming shut. I winced at each click of the Keepers shoes. His sharp laugh rang through the small hall, "Look at this. You don't know what's good for you, Shay. How many of your people have you seen come into these cells and never return? At least a dozen. Why should this boy be any different?"

Shay simply glowered at Efron. I kept my eyes firmly shut as the door to my cell opened and he made his way in. His large hand gripped my hair yanking me into a sitting position. Cold metal clamped around my neck like a collar making me gasp and kick, fighting for air that seemed so hard to reach now.

The Keeper cackled and yanked on the chain connected to my collar—a leash. I was on a leash. The keeper leaned towards me and hissed, "I can't have you getting too close to your cellmates, now, can I? I hope you're comfortable."

My fingers clawed at the metal without success as I gasped and wretched for air. Shay screamed, "Damn it, Efron, he's just a kid!"

"The easiest to break," the Keeper chided as he walked away. "I look forward to seeing you in the morning, Neville! I hear Emile might get his way with you…"

The door slammed, lurid and final, leaving my whimpers unnoticed and forgotten.

Author's Note: This chapter is kind of dark but it fits with most of this story. I didn't write it to be a wonderful fairy tale love story. I wrote it with a kind of darker theme.

This might be the longest chapter I've ever written! What do you guys think of Shay? This is the type of character I think would've been better fit for Shay in the actual Nightshade books.

Please review because I love them and feel free to PM me anytime ;) Thanks for reading!

Oh, and BTW the next chapter is already written so if everyone who reads this reviews I will post it as early as tomorrow *wink, wink*