**Apologies in advance for this being a short chapter, I swear I'm not going to make a habit of it**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter Four: Pushing Your Luck

If her eyes were open, it was impossible to tell. It was pitch dark, wherever she was, and her head was throbbing as bad as the morning after her 21st birthday, it had been a long time since she had gotten drunk enough to induce a hangover, but that made the feeling no less easy to recognize. Kade made one determination…she was really tired of getting drugged.

She shifted, playing for muscle reaction, her elbows bumping against hard confining siding. It was then that she realized her wrists were bound rather painfully, and upon groaning she felt a tightly bound cloth jammed into her mouth. At this point, however, what was worrying her the most was that there was practically no light coming in. Kade reached her hand up slowly, meeting with a cushioned stop barely a foot up.

Fisting her hands together she tapped against the cushion forcefully, hearing a low wooden echo ring out. Movement that slid down from the base of her throat brought her attention to something that fell beside her shoulder. She struggled with her position to retrieve the object, searching the darkness with her hands before her fingers wrapped around something small, metallic, and cylindrical in shape.

Her thumb found the rubbery end of the device and hesitantly pressed down, hearing the distinctive click as suddenly her confines were filled with light. The moment her eyes adjusted, and took in her surroundings, her heart sank and panic surged through her. A white cascade prevented her from seeing anything from the waist down, and the pillowed texture that surrounded her on all sides made one clear verdict…she was in a casket. Kadence's breathing became erratic and she clawed at the piece of cloth jammed in her mouth, pulling it free.

"Hey!...Somebody!" she shouted, beating her hands against the roof of the casket.

Silence followed, save for the beating of her hands.

"Please…somebody help!...Can you hear me!?...Please!"

The desperation in her voice was obvious, but as her breathing accelerated, she felt herself getting dizzy. Panic and fear made it seem like her space was getting smaller by the second. She did what she could to increase the amount of force behind her hands, hitting hard enough to bruise her knuckles.

"Please, somebody help!" she cried, tears starting to stream down the sides of her face.

In an instant the lid was slung back and her eyes stung with the sudden intrusion of light, but there he was, standing over her, looking down with those blue eyes…not so much as a hint of pity. He reached down and grabbed her forearm, yanking her up enough for his other hand to slide a blade across the zip tie binding her wrists, breaking her free and then letting her go.

Kadence kicked and thrashed with the least amount of grace imaginable, but she didn't care, she just wanted out. As she crawled over the side and on to the cold concrete floor, she struggled for air, taking ragged gasps for breath in between choked sobs as tears fell from her cheeks.

"You…asshole…you're…a fucking…asshole!" she spat.

She managed to crawl a few feet away before her body just failed her, laying on the floor, nearly in full fetal, sobbing and gasping. He said nothing as he walked toward her, dropping a small bag wrapped tank next to her and all but jamming an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. She pressed her hand over it and swatted him away, wanting nothing to do with him at all. Kade took deep breaths, her body shivering from the occasional sob.

Kade glared at him, but he glared right back, flexing his jaw and resting his hand on the gun strapped to his side. It took her several minutes before the sobbing ceased and she could breathe normally again. Tossing the mask to the floor, she lifted herself up onto her hip, still bracing herself with shaky arms.

"Please…please don't ever do that again" she whimpered.

He took a step for her and leaned down, taking a fist full of her hair and yanking her head back to look at him. His face was inches from hers, and the gesture alone scared her. Kade winced and sucked in air through her teeth, her hands playing at his in hopes to loosen his grip.

"You pull a stunt like that again…and next time you wake up in that thing, it will be underground" he growled.

She nodded quickly, accepting his threat as genuine. The look in his eyes was nothing to the anger that seemed to be radiating from him. Kade didn't need any more convincing…she was truly pushing her luck.

"Let's go" he hissed, practically dragging her along by her hair.

Her mad scramble to follow along made her feel even less graceful than before, as she tried her best to hold back the pained cries. He dragged her into another room, just as bleak as the last. Concrete floors, grey brick walls and a grungy shower tub along the far wall…clearly a sad excuse for a bathroom. Dragging her all the way up to the tub, he nearly slung her into it, throwing her upper body over the side. Kade didn't have a chance to move before she felt his knee draw over the back of her shoulders, pressing her into the tile siding rather painfully.

She cried out in pain, trying to press her hands into the side and gain a little breathing room before he cracked a rib. Her efforts failed miserably, but that didn't stop her from trying. Suddenly he yanked her hair tie free and she felt a thick liquid pour over the back of her head, soaking through her hair and some of it dripping down into the bottom of the tub with the consistency of old motor oil…and judging by the smell…she wouldn't put it past him if that's exactly what it was.

His hands were back in her hair again, but this time it was as if he was kneading the liquid into her scalp…and being none too gentle about it. She was thankful that at least he was doing this with his human hand, but the roughness made her wonder if he intended on pulling her hair out.

"The hell are you doing!?" she hissed, releasing the tile siding and reaching back to grab his arm.

He ignored her, and her grip on his arm was obviously doing nothing. More liquid got added to the mix, and the smell was making her gag. His hands swept down, scooping up the strands that draped over her face, and rolled them into the mix. His grip returned, once again using her hair to yank her head back. She let out a pained cry, still trying to free herself.

"Leave that in for twenty minutes, then rinse it out" he instructed, throwing her head down.

Kade crumbled to the floor, sloppy, soaking wads of her hair stuck to the side of her face. She picked a matted clump between her fingers, studying the mess.

"Is this hair dye!?...are you fucking kidding me!?" she screamed.

Her only response was him slamming the door shut as he left her curled up next to the tub.