I hope you liked Chapter 13 and thank you those of you who reviewed it. I wanted to make that chapter longer but I guess I didn't have enough. So I hope you like Chapter 14 and/or review it.

'Love'

Chapter 14

Mai stayed in that corner all night, shivering. She was colder than normal. She was so frightened of what had happened just a few minutes before. But those minutes turned into hours and night fell in the cell. Mai was still shivering.

She hadn't doubted what Hunter had said to her before. She knew he would be back.

When Mai was just seconds away from death, when Hunter was choking her, she would have rather died than ever do that again. She still felt the same way. Life didn't feel that precious when it came at such a price.

Mai laid her head down on the cold stones of the cell floor, her golden hair, she let fall on her face. She wished she were in her own bed. She wished this were all a bad dream. But it wasn't it. It was the reality that life was cruel or perhaps that it was just fair. Mai wasn't exactly a saint and maybe this was life's way of paying her back.

Mai was almost asleep when she heard Hunter's footsteps coming down the stone hall. By this time she had memorized the sound of his footsteps to someone else's like Rick's. The heaviness of the steps, the force and weight placed on the heels, and the speed of the strides all gave her the same message.

She lifted her head but she dare not move her body. Like before she wanted to run somewhere, anywhere. And even though she knew by heart the walls she was confined in, she looked around for somewhere to run, somewhere to hide, or at least someplace to find shelter.

Mai rose up, but she did not stand. She curled in a tiny ball letting her hair drape around her like a protective shield. She began to shiver, but she was sweating, was she sick? The footsteps were closer now, slowing down, nearing her cell. In agony she waited for what felt like the coming of her death.

"Look at you, you sorry, worthless bitch. You deserve to die, but I should give it to you that you were the most rebellious person we've ever had, too bad you wouldn't be around to tell about it."

Mai was starting to sweat more now, breathing harder. She was fighting back tears. Any fool could tell that he was planning on killing her right now.

"But once again, you're the lucky one. No, I'm not going to kill you today,"

Mai drew in a deep breath.

"But your friend Rick is most helpful when he wants to be."

Mai heard Hunter flick the cigarette lighter on and light his cigarette.

"He told me that twisted your ankle not long ago, too bad for me I found out after it had mostly healed. Of course I can't live with failure."

Mai looked up from her small little ball, "What?" she said so quietly she was barely heard.

Hunter looked at her with a spiteful and hateful look in his eyes. Without removing his gaze he took out his gun and pointed it at her.

"I would stand up unless you want to just end this right now."

Mai was confused, she didn't know he planned to do, but what perplexed her more was her choice. After everything she had gone through and after all the times she wanted out and over with this horrible nightmare, she still chose to stand and not die so easily. Like she had done some many times before she obeyed him with fear in her eyes and stood.

"Good. Now stand still this wouldn't hurt a bit."

Still confused Mai closed her eyes trying to escape whatever sinister thing he was going to do next.

A gunshot was fired. Something ripped into Mai's ankle and burned the very marrow in her bones. She heard herself scream in terror-struck and painful scream. Her bad ankle was now gushing blood and spilling on to the stone floor.

"You had better hurry up and stop that bleeding, we wouldn't want to lose you."

Joey awoke in an alley unknown to him. It was so dark he could barely see his own hand and foot. It didn't take long for him to notice the piercing headache throbbing at his head.

Joey clenched his temples and groaned.

What time is it?

Forget that, why am I here? How am I supposed to get back to… to…Tea's apartment? Oh my God for a second a thought I was losing my mind. Am I losing my memory?

NO! I can remember.

Joey got up from the ground and looked at his surroundings. Though it was pitch black he could make out the makings of an alleyway. He stumbled into the street to find light. The street lights gave plenty of light once he came to one.

Once Joey was out in fresh air and lit streets he looked himself over and was a bit alarmed to find dried blood on his knuckles.

What the hell was I doing? Who was I punching? I can remember being restrained, and…and…trying to fight off someone.

It suddenly hit Joey like brick. He remembered it all. He was trying desperately to get to Mai she was going to die, he saw from the window in the alley. Was she already dead? Did she survive? He didn't know. He began to sweat.

Joey shook his head trying to fight off the headache. He began to walk in no particular direction. With his eyes closed he didn't notice he was walking in street. Cars in other lanes honked and honked at him. Finally he looked up and noticed he was walking in the middle of a busy street. Joey turned around and ran off the street to the sidewalk.

When Joey looked up he noticed he was standing in front of another alleyway. This wouldn't have meant anything to him except the fact that something was drawing him in. Because of the pain in his head and shock of almost being hit by a car Joey decided there wouldn't be any harm in trusting his instinct and obeying it.

This alley wasn't as dark as the one he woke up in. There was a streetlight closer to it that provided enough light to see. Once he entered the alley he found it was darker than it had appeared.

Coming back to his senses he wondered why he had stumbled in to this place to begin with. Turning around to leave he brushed up against the brick wall. Suddenly he stubbed his toe on something cylinder shaped. Then his memory returned and told him exactly what it was he hit, the same bar on which he had felt before the one in which he saw Mai being choked by that bastard.

Joey couldn't see a thing, unlike before when he had a weak flashlight to shine in. Of course Joey didn't know but something told him that Mai was in there, she had to be, he could feel it.

He couldn't think of anything to do he had to wait until it was bright enough to see inside. Joey kicked aside the trash piled up, to make a place to sit down. His stomach was in his throat; he knew Mai was in there, waiting to be taken away.

It hadn't accrued to Joey to call out to her or that she was loosing ounces of blood by the second. Joey had a concussion and all he could do was simply closed his eyes and he drift off to sleep.

But Mai was loosing blood, a lot of it. She pulled her dress down to try and stop the bleeding; she was past trying to save her dress at this point.

Tears began to stream down her soft cheeks, she knew even without professional help she could very well still live but it was the shock. That gun could have killed her. She could have died. And now what felt like a taste of death was taking its toll on her.

Hunter smirked at her and began to walk away quite pleased with himself. He'd won the match.

The blood began to soak through the once beautiful dress, staining it, now Mai weeping for the dress. Everything had gone wrong. The only thing left was her death. Which she knew would not be from the shot in her ankle, but escaping it seemed inevitable.

Soon the blood began leaking through her dress and on to the stone floor.

Please stop bleeding God damn it! Mai's tears began stronger and soon she was sobbing.

A strong woman doesn't cry like this. But she was no longer such a strong woman; she was a broken woman and knowing that made her cry even more.

Suddenly she heard running down the stone hall. She knew well that it was not Hunter, for he never ran and the footsteps were too light; therefore she wasn't alarmed.

The running didn't stop at another cell before hers they continued until Mai began to have hope again that Joey would come and take her away from this place. However her hope was crushed when Mai saw Rick stop in front of her cell.

"What are you doing here?" Mai asked malignantly, still in tears.

Rick didn't answer. Without saying a word he opened the cell door with a key he seemed to pull out of his shirt. When Mai saw him near her she wanted to somehow scoot away; she didn't want him to touch her.

"What do want?"

Rick looked at her and Mai saw his face. He was sad for her. He looked down at her as if he was going to cry, then he came down to her level.

Mai hated it when people felt sorry for her even now, but it surprised her when her throat began to throb and she wanted to cry more. Mai turned her head away so Rick's face wouldn't upset her.

"I can't stand to see you like this; you aren't yourself." Rick said to her, ever comfortingly.

"Then leave me! Leave me to die here!"

"I can't let you die. I won't let you die."

She didn't like this; she didn't like it when anyone did this to her. But she could feel the tears coming back to take her.

"Then let me out; let me go. I hate it here! I'm going to die here!

"I can't let you out." Rick said very regretfully

"Yes you can you have the key!"

"You and I would both be killed trying to run out of the building, for my life I am not afraid, but for you life, I wouldn't forgive myself for loosing."

Mai looked at him, not wanting to say that what he said was beautiful or sweet, he didn't like him and she never would, that she knew, but she looked at him saying with her eyes he was sweet and caring person.

Without saying more Rick took a roll of bandages out of his pocket and began to pry Mai's fingers off of her ankle.

Mai infuriated, but didn't say a word. Rick wanted to help, he only wanted to help, and so she let him.

She watched him carefully put the bandages around her without saying a word. When he had finished he stood looked down at her the same way he had when he walked in, and began to turn and walk out the door before Mai stopped him

"Why? Why would you do that for me?"

"I couldn't stand to see you so miserable."

"But you didn't see me when I had gotten shot before."

"I could hear the gun shot, Mai, I knew you were in trouble, so I came to help you and what I saw was worse than I thought and I had to help you. I couldn't stand to see you like that."

Mai looked at him searching for what to say.

"I hope you know this doesn't change the way a feel about you!" She finally said quite proud she had justified herself.

"That's a shame," Rick said over his shoulder "I hoped we could have been friends after this."

With that Rick left the cell. Mai didn't stop him this time she was too stumped on what he said.

Rick was deserving of her trust and respect, and Mai hated that. But soon she would have to get over herself and thank him for what he did.

She did feel better knowing he cared.

OMG! I am soooooo sorry for the wait. School is a bitch! (Excuse my language). I know some of you if not a lot of you if not all you are mad at me for taking so long to write Chapter 14 then giving you this weeny little chapter. So if you angry which I assume someone must be, hate me in the review but say something constructive so I don't kill myself.

'Love'