A/N:School is starting next week so I'm super busy trying to get supplies and stuff. Because of this my oneshots haven't been the best recently and I realize this, you have to understand how busy I am at the moment. I promise once school starts they will get much better :)


No! No! This cannot be happening! Ruby thought. The PSF shoved her into the van and drove off the place Ruby dreaded most. Upon arrival a green uniform was thrust in her direction and the PSF walked off, grabbing her wrist hard when she didn't follow. The number 27 was the only thing Ruby saw before being shoved inside the cabin. This is all supposed to be over. We ended it. Ruby kept repeating to herself. She took one step into the cabin, and saw something that silenced her. Ashley was laying in the middle of the floor. It was almost lights out. Why wasn't she leading storytime? Ruby stepped closer hesitantly, until she was kneeling next to her. Her eyes were glossy with death and she was covered in bruises and scrapes, all the way from her face to her feet. She was dead. Ruby looked around, horrified. All the other girls were sitting on their bunks, ignoring the scene in front of them. How could they all just sit there? Ashley was dead and they didn't even care! Suddenly Ashley was joined by a young boy surrounded by a pool of his own blood. his lips almost looked to be forming one single word. HELP. Jude. I'm sorry Jude. Ruby thought. There was another boy too. This one seemed to be older. Almost identical to Liam. Cole. Any bit of skin she could find on him was completely burnt. There were red marks left from rope on his upper arms. He too was drowning in a pool of his own blood. Hey there Gem. Roo! Ruby! HELP! She heard the voices. Waited for the three people in front of her to get up. "I know! I'm sorry okay? I should've saved you but I couldn't. You're all dead because of me!" Ruby shouted, jumping up from her spot on the floor, her eyes burning with the start of tears. She stared down at the three bodies laying at her feet. The people that continued to haunt her. It came then. Ruby threw her hands over her ears and fell to the ground, twisting around as if to escape the noise. The white noise, the terrible noise, was going off, and again, not one girl reacted. The door burst open and two PSFs came storming in. Each grabbed Ruby by an arm, hauling her up and dragging her out. "You know what happens when you break the rules!" One man said. "It's solitary confinement for you!" The other finished. The only thing Ruby saw before the door shut to cabin 27, was one, lone girl look up and watch her go. Sam. Her face looked blank and lacking emotion. Almost as if she was...brainwashed.


Ruby awoke with a start. Her life was finally starting to turn around. She was engaged, had friends who loved her, and she didn't have to live everyday in fear anymore. But every once in awhile, she still had nightmares. Ruby sat up and crawled out of bed, careful not to wake Liam. The clock read 2:09 AM. Ruby brewed some coffee and did the leftover dishes from the previous night's meal to busy herself. Going back to bed was not an option. Everytime she closed her eyes she saw the horrible place she was forced to spend six years of her life. She examined her beautiful ruby red engagement ring as it shimmered under the running water. She had met the boy she was going to spend the rest of her life with. That was more than she had ever hoped for. Ruby flipped through all the photos Liam had taken of their little family. She tried to think of good memories to drown out the bad, but Thurmond was fresh in her memory and it wasn't ready to leave. "Ruby?" She heard Liam call from the bedroom breaking her out of her thoughts of that godforsaken place.


Liam often woke up in the middle of the night. When this happened, he'd always turn to Ruby, checking she was still there. It was an old habit he had never broken, from the days of black betty. This time she wasn't there and that worried him. She was always lying fast asleep right next to him. "Ruby?" Liam called out. Hearing feet shuffling in the next room over, he got out of bed to greet her. "Hey darlin'. Everything okay? he asked. "Yeah." She answered, not taking her eyes off the picture in her hands. Liam came up behind her, putting his arms around her. "I like that one." Liam stated. "Me too." The picture was the first one taken with Liam's camera. Liam, Ruby, Chubs, Vida, and Zu were all posing in front an old Lincoln. It had been Liam's idea. The picture was meant to symbolize the journey they had survived to get to where they were today. "Come back to bed?" Liam asked taking the picture and placing it on the bookshelf. "No, that's okay." Ruby answered, making Liam suspicious. "Nightmare?" He questioned, making her look at him before answering. She gave him a slight nod and Liam pulled her into a hug and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Why didn't you wake me up?" "I didn't want to bother you." She answered sincerely. "Well if you're not going to bed, then neither am I." Liam stated matter-of-factually. He silenced Ruby with a kiss when she tried to argue. He pulled her over to the couch, put on some movies and cooked some oatmeal for an early start.