Chapter re-edited and updated january 25th, 2016.

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Author's note: The song "Pet" quoted in this chapter belongs to the band "A Perfect Circle".

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Peyton was dead, she knew it. There was only darkness.
It was so quiet, not a sound to hear.
Peyton raised her head, looking up. It was all black and dark, everywhere. Nothing to see. Where was she?

She stood up, trying to see, trying to hear. Slowly and hesitantly, she started walking, with no destination, but hoping she would find something that would tell her where she was. She felt strangely calm. Her hands reached out as if she were blind, checking if her hands could touch something, a wall, a person, anything… but there was nothing.

"Where am I?" Peyton muttered. Then she heard a voice, but it sounded so far away. "Don't be afraid, Peyton…" It echoed through her ears, and then faded away.
"Ellie?" Peyton was sure that was Ellie's voice. "Ellie!" she shouted.
"Be strong, Peyton. I know you can be. You'll get through this."
Peyton didn't understand. "W-where are you? Why can't I see you, Ellie?" she yelled. She just wanted to see her so badly.
"Just promise me… promise me…" The voice was slipping away. "ELLIE!" Peyton frantically looked around, but just like that, it was quiet again, and still nothing but darkness to see.

Then, suddenly there was a flash of light, just for a second, like lightning. In the flash of the light she saw him, standing there, smiling at her with that face that sent chills down her spine. Before she could take in what she had seen, he was gone, and it was dark again. "No…" Peyton said, her fear growing. She turned around, her heart beating rapidly, and started running into the nothingness, praying to get away. She ran and ran, but another sound kept getting louder.

"Don't fret precious, I'm here.
Step away from the window.
Go back to sleep…"

It sounded like music, but Peyton didn't understand where it was coming from.

"Lay your head down child.
I won't let the boogeyman come…"

The music kept getting louder. Peyton tried to run, but it was like the voice was following her, no matter what direction she ran to. She needed to escape, escape the voice, and the face that kept getting clearer and clearer in her vision.

"Pay no mind what other voices say.
They don't care about you like I do."

"No. No!" Peyton screamed. She just wanted to get away from this.

"See, they don't give a fuck about you like I do…"

"STOP IT!" she screamed and desperately pulled at her hair, tears falling down her face.

"Just stay with me, safe and ignorant.
Go back to sleep…"

"NO!" Peyton screamed, and woke up in the blink of an eye, sitting up.
Her whole body was shaking, and she was covered in cold sweat. Her head throbbed, and her vision was a little blurry, struggling to adjust.

Water.

Her throat was sore and dry, and her breathing scratchy.

Breathing heavily, she looked around. She was in a small room with no windows, and only one weak light hanging from the roof, barely lighting up the room. Now she understood where the voice she had heard was coming from. It was music. There was no record player in there with her, but it was coming from somewhere outside the room. It was a male voice, with loud rock music playing in the background.

"Count the bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums!"

Peyton looked at her surroundings, realizing she was in a king sized bed. There was a closet in the far corner, and bed stands on each side of the bed. Peyton then became aware of her clothes; she looked down to find they had been changed in her sleep. She was no longer wearing her cheerleading uniform, but was dressed in a white summer dress that barely went down to her knees. Her stomach tightened into knots at the thought of someone changing her clothes without her knowing. Now that she looked to her legs, her blurry vision captured small bandages covering up the areas on her legs that had been hurt when she tried to escape.

Derek.

Peyton started breathing more heavily, as she now fully remembered what had happened, and who had done this to her. Terror washed over her, as she knew what she was up against. She listened intently, trying to hear any movement, or anything suggesting Derek's whereabouts, but there was only the loud music. She felt sick with worry, she could almost throw up. She needed to get out. Now. Peyton sat up more properly, and placed her feet on the floor as quietly as possible. It was then she noticed the chain locked around her right ankle. The chain went from her ankle to the bed foot, with only a short link between, so she would not be able to move too far away from the bed. "Oh no…"

Peyton felt a lump in her throat, wanting to cry. She placed her foot back up on the bed, and took a hard grip on the chain locked tightly around her ankle. She pulled with all her strength, trying to get it off, but it didn't even budge. A tear of desperation fell down her face, but she paid no attention to it. She continued to try and get free from the chain, with no other thought in her mind. When she realized it was a lost cause, she moved over to the bed foot where the chain was linked to. She pulled hard and long at it, but it was immovable. She hurried, looking in the drawers of both the bed stands, her breathing becoming more and more crazed, but there was nothing. Standing up, she walked as far as the chain would allow her, feeling the walls, searching the floor, under the bed. Nothing, anywhere. She tried getting to the closet in the corner, and just barely reached the closet door when she stretched as long as she could get. She pulled the door open, but was not able to reach anything inside it. There were a bunch of dresses hanging inside, and her eyebrows creased. "Argh!" She pushed the closet door shut again, and fell back to the bed. She was stuck, trapped like a scared animal in bonds.
Tears began falling down her face, and she defiantly dried them away, feeling so weak and hopeless.

God, she hated Derek. She couldn't believe that the sweet guy she had taken for her brother could ever turn into such a monster. It seemed like he had thought of everything, and he was so strong. He was much stronger than she was, bigger than her, quicker, he had all the advantages. She didn't think she could take him in a fight, not without a weapon, he had proven that yesterday. She was helpless against him. "Aaaarghh!" she cried out, and angrily pulled at the chain again, with all her might, but with no result.

Peyton trembled terribly, it almost felt like she was having a fit. She closed her eyes and thought of Lucas. The bare thought of him hurt so much. He was always there for her when she was having the worst of times, he was always there to make it a little better… and all she could think of now, was how she wanted him to be here with her, to comfort her… to make her feel safe. To make her feel like she wasn't alone. To help her. But there was no safety for her here. There was no Lucas, no dad… not even Brooke.

Even though Brooke and Peyton had left things pretty bad the last time they had spoken, Peyton longed to see Brooke too… In thick or thin, Peyton did still consider her to be her best friend… even if Brooke didn't feel the same. Peyton wished she could wake up next to Brooke right now, like in one of their sleepovers, and realizing it had all just been one horrible dream.

But that wouldn't happen.

As Peyton was lying there in her own sorrow and thoughts, she didn't hear the door to the room open, and someone quietly walking in.

"Hi Peyton."
Peyton let out a tiny screech, and turned around on the bed in shock. Her whole body and insides tightened in fear. Derek was standing at the edge of the bed, staring at her with a smile upon his face, as usual. "I'm glad you're up. I hope you had a good night's sleep… It's late morning."

He walked closer to her, and sat down at the edge of the bed, holding a glass of water out to her. Peyton pulled her feet away from him quickly, pushing herself against the wall, only wishing she could blend into it and disappear. Derek raised his eyebrows.
"There is no need to be scared, Peyton. It's only me, Derek," he said in a deceiving, innocent voice. He held out the glass again. She stared suspiciously at it.

He sighed. "It's not drugged Peyton, relax. You can trust me."

She hesitated, but she was so thirsty, she grabbed it from him fast, and drank it all in a few, big sips, and then placed it on the nightstand next to her. She felt the cold liquid moving down her sore throat, making it feel a little better.

Derek stared at her entranced for a moment, and then reached out his hand, moving closer, as if he was about to touch her cheek, but she angrily pushed it out of the way, and pulled farther away from him to the other side of the bed. His smile faded.
"Now look, Peyton. I need you to understand, this was the only way everything could work out. We belong together. And this was the only way for us to be together. There were too many people and situations getting in the way." Peyton couldn't believe her ears, and finally spoke.

"What… what are you even talking about, Derek?!" she said hysterically. "Let me go… please!"
"I can't do that, Peyton… I love you. And I know you love me to," he said calmly and smiled.
"What- No! You're wrong! I do not love you, Derek. I-I hate you. There is nothing I could hate more, than to spend another minute with you!" she furiously spat out.

Before she could do anything to prevent it, he slapped her hard across the face. Peyton cried out in pain and shock, and covered her face with her hands.
"Don't ever take that tone with me," Derek threatened with a trembling, dark voice. Tears fell from Peyton's face as she slowly removed her hands from her face, and dared to look at him. His eyes were on fire.

"What do you want from me?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"I just… need you here Peyton. Until you truly realize it. That you love me too. Once you understand, once I know we are completely on the same page, then I won't have to hold you here by force anymore. You'll want to stay."

"I'll never, never love you. You'll have to hold me here until I die," Peyton hissed in her most venomous voice.

"Don't say that. You don't know that. Things will change. It will just take time. I'm prepared to wait for you, Peyton. Don't you see the arrangements I've made? It's all for you. This house was very old and hasn't been touched for a while, but I've fixed it up, all for you. Because I love you. Because I'm prepared to work for us."

Peyton was beyond disturbed, disgusted to her stomach. "Where are we?" she asked in a choked voice.

"Far away. Away from everyone. That's all that matters. It'll be nice for us here. There's lots of nature, you'll see. Maybe we can take a walk together later, when I know you can behave. There's lots to explore here."

"Derek…" She swallowed, not wanting to make him angry again. "I… I don't want this. I don't want to be here… I just- I just want to go home. Let me go, please." Her bottom lip trembled as she tried not to sob.

"I can't do that, Peyton."

"B-but… If you let me go, I promise, we can see each other back home. Every day! We can hang out, do whatever you want. I won't say anything about this to anyone. I'd like to… to be your friend and get to know you. I just, I can't do that here. I'm scared."

Derek was quiet for a moment. "There isn't any reason to be scared, baby. I'm keeping you safe, from everything. It's going to be great here, I promise. We can't go back. You still think you love Lucas. You won't give us a chance if he's always around. And other people, they will affect your thinking."

Peyton shook her head. "No, I-I promise. I won't see Lucas, I'll stop seeing him. I'll only pay attention to you. I just- we should get to know each other in a normal situation, like normal people. Please Derek, look around… this is completely crazy and wrong, and I'm really scared." Her voice trembled as she tried to hold it together and convince him.

"No…" Derek stared at her absently. "You're lying… You're just saying anything to get out of here, so I'll let you go. You won't see me anymore if we go back to Tree Hill. You tried to make me leave. You tried to get police involved."

Peyton shook her head. "No-"

"The first thing you'll do if I let you go, is to go see Lucas, and you'll tell the police on me…" He sighed. "It's not going to happen. It's best if you let it go and accept the situation, Peyton. This is best for you. You'll realize your love for me eventually… It can only happen here. And it will."

"No, please, listen-"

"Quiet, Peyton. I'm not discussing it. You're staying here. I promise it will be perfect."

Peyton felt like she was talking to a brick wall. It seemed like he wasn't even listening. "No, no, no, please…" she repeated choked, hot tears beginning to fall down her face. "Please- please, don't…"

Derek grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a sickening hug. Peyton felt nauseous from his touch, and tried to get out of his embrace, but he held her too tightly. "Don't fight me, Peyton," he said softly, kissing the top of her head. She cringed from his touchy hands and his lips moving across her face, but she felt so weak, she wasn't able to push him away.

She could feel his strong muscles from under his shirt. He took a passionate sniff of her hair, and she shuddered.
"Don't you know how much I love you?" he whispered in her ear. "We can have a life together here. Eventually, you will realize your feelings for me, Peyton, and we'll be so happy. You'll see."
"No, p-please…" Peyton sobbed. "Derek… let m-me go. Please, please…"

She wanted to get away from him with all her life, but she felt powerless. She could feel the hopelessness overpowering her, and all she could do was cry into his arms, as he stroked her hair tenderly.