I woke up to a small beam of sunlight that trailed over my face.
There was no suck thing as confusion over where I was or how I came in the dark, though strangely warm and clean room. The memories were perfectly clear as I took in my surroundings, scanning it for danger before my primary instinct took over: Jay.
I was currently completely supporting her chained body. Her face more open then I had ever seen it. And I saw the pain that she could normally so perfectly hide.
Her jaw was clenched, her teeth bared and ragged pants hit my throat, her head resting on my shoulder.
apparently she hadn't woken up yet, the cuts, marks and bruises still visibly there.
I pulled her closer, my arms encircling her body as I softly kissed the top of her head, now that she was asleep anyway. After which I rested my head on hers.

Knowing that she was somewhat okay, I continued to scan the room, though there wasn't really much to scan. The dark wooden door, the small window, black walls and a bed in the opposite corner. Nothing that could help me take care of Jay, the bed not even an option, since she was chained to the freaking wall.
You'd think that a seemingly modern would at least have something like…

A sink! In the other corner! I hadn't seen it before because my eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness yet, due to the beam of sunlight.

Softly, but easily, lifting her unconscious body, I slipped from underneath her. Immediately feeling my abused muscles react to the movement. What had that bastard done to me?
Steadying myself by grabbing the polished black sink, I ran one hand through my hair, messing it up even more before I looked up into the square mirror.
I was looking like a ghost, pale-white in the darkness. My hair all over the place and a worried haze in my eyes.
I didn't care, I looked amazing in comparison to most of the faces I had seen in this place, assuming this was the building I had previously ran from.
I averted my eyes, down to my white shirt, tugging at the fabric until a piece of cloth ripped off.
I held it under the cold water, splashing some of it in my face, before I stumbled back to the other side of the room. Sitting down against the wall again next to the red-haired girl.

"Jay." I called. Softly dapping her face with the wet piece of shirt. "C'mon, wake up."

I wasn't sure if it was the coolness of the water on her feverish skin or the sound of my voice, but soon enough, her eyes fluttered open, revealing the pretty emerald colour.
The chains clanked as she moved her arms in discomfort.

"Hey." I whispered, smiling relieved. Her eyes staring at me in disbelieve.

"I was really hoping you being here was a dream." She muttered, trying to sit up straight.

"I constantly hope the same, you know?"

That made her softly smile, before asking: "How did he get you?" Not doubting who did this for a second.

"He attacked me and my brothers, did something weird to my body and knocked me down." I shortly answered, distracted by the thought of my brothers, lying in that alley. I prayed for them to be okay.

"Hey." Jay now whispered soothingly, as something soft nudged my cheek.

I realized it was her nose, since the wasn't able to reach me with anything else.

"Cheer up, curly head, they're your brothers. They're strong. Your family, friends, they'll be searching for you and find them. As long as Matt didn't got his paws on them, they'll be just fine."

The words were a little strained, but it was clear what she was saying: My brothers would be fine. We, on the other hand, were screwed.
Once again something soft touched my cheek, when Jay placed a soft kiss on my jaw.
I turned around surprised, to find a guilty look in her eyes.

"You know, through it all and wrong as it may be, I'm still kind of glad you're here."

I smiled in response, continuing to dab her face, neck and shoulders with the wet cloth.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, the fabric quickly turning to red.
The reply was, as could be expected, blunt.

"Beat." She said. " Bleeding. In pain."

"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault."

Our eyes met. Broken green an apologetic brown.

"Look underneath the pillow." She suddenly said. Pulling away from my hand on her cheek. "Please, I am not really liking the 'chained up' thing."

I frowned and reached for the pillow, quickly pulling my hand back as it touched something sharp.
My eyes widened as I reached back an pulled out a shiny, sharp looking knife.

"Give it to me." She ordered. Wiggling her hands in the cuffs.

A sigh escaped her lips when I just sat and stared at her. My eyes widening even further as she, in a sudden movement, bucked her hips and back upwards, turned around and moved her feet in an upright position so that she was, wobbly, standing.
The girl was really flexible.

"Nick, give me the knife."

Dazed, I handed the requested object to her and she immediately put it into the locks on her restrains and twisted.
After three tries, there was a satisfying click and the chains fell from her wrists. The skin there not blossom-pale, like it should be, but a burning red.

"That's better." Jay said, towering above me now, massaging her wrists.

"You've got to learn me how to do that." I whispered, making a cocky smirk appear on her face.

I was amazed by how okay she was with the whole situation

"Maybe." She finally answered, before putting the knife back where I found it and carefully sitting down on the bed, closing her eyes.
I stood up too, body still trembling as I walked over and fell down too.

"You might want to be careful." Jay told me, opening one eye. "You're still nerve-knocked."
I questionably raised my eyebrow. Cocking my head sideways to look at her.

"He pushed your buttons, so to say. Some muscles and points that knocked out your nerve-system." She explained, tugging on one of the white carves she was wearing. Now revealing she did wear shorts and a top, equally red-white. Shadows o her rips visible, but not because she was skinny. She naturally slim.
As my brain made the connection, I asked surprised: "He doesn't starve you?"

Which was a strange question, but it was an awfully plausible thing to do for the monster that held her.

"Like I said, he likes my fight…" Jay shrugged, before her head snapped up and another voice finished her sentence:
"Wouldn't want her to lose the power to do so, would we? That would be unfair, don't you think?"

Instinctively, I moved my body so it was in front of Jays', a dangerous growl forming in my chest.
Jay, however, was the one that hissed: "Matt." Her voice like venom. "Don't you dare hurt him."
Indeed, the tall form of Matt towered in the doorframe, blue eyes piercingly fixed on me.

"Getting comfy, I see?" He said, striding towards us, to look down at the two of us, making me feel annoyingly small on the bed. "I bet you like the company I brought you, Jay, don't you?"

"No."

He raised an eyebrow. "So you don't like him, then?"

"I care more for him more then I have ever cared for someone, so no, I don't like him being here." Jay answered, coolly, though with a certain desperation, as I stared at her. Lovingly, I hoped, though fear rippled through my body.
She told the truth, to help me mentally, to let me know that she cared about me just as much I cared for her.
We both knew that confession would have nasty consequences for one of us, or maybe both of us. That power lay with the man towering over us. His leather jacket, as it was the first time, open to reveal the naked upper half of his body. Low riding pants on his hips. As far as I could tell, he was wearing shoes. Unlike us.

Matt smirked, eying me with renewed interest, he had made his choice, but I'd take it. This confession meant more to me then whatever he would do to me. Jay had taken it, I could certainly too. He wouldn't break me, I would be strong, both for myself as for Jay and my brothers.

Suddenly, he dragged me up by my shirt, roughly pulling me from the bed. My feet dangling above the ground, me pulling at his chocking hands around my throat.

"Stay. There. Please!" Were the last words I could mutter with the breath that was left. I knew Jay was about to do something. I knew she wouldn't want to take my pain along with hers. But I didn't wanted her to go through more then she had already been through today, with special thanks to me.

When I was about to black out, Matt released his hold on me and I painfully dropped to the ground, receiving a neatly pointed kick in my abdomen.

"Maybe we should change something about that pretty face then, don't you think? Maybe she won't like you that much when I'm done with it." Mat smiled, kindly, pulling me up once again and this time dragging me out of the room. He kicked the door shut and I gasped for breath as he shoved me against the wall, before pulling me further away without any struggle from my side.
You needed breath for struggle and I had the vague idea I would be needing it.

"Let's see if we can break you, in order with breaking her." Matt whispered, his voice dangerous, but filled with pleasure. He was going to enjoy this, hurting me and thus at the same time hurting Jay along with me.
Two for the price of one. I was the one to pay.

Kevin PoV

I couldn't move, I couldn't blink, I couldn't do anything, even though I was fully aware of was going on. Something extremely important, something essential, was missing.
I was drowning in something dark, not water, not anything I knew, I just knew it was black and very, very painful.
My head was pounding, as well as my whole body was aching… But that wasn't the worst, something wasn't here when it should be.
I did feel something, something warm and familiar, a hand, an arm. I think. I thought.

I had to remember, something was wrong. Something was missing, but what? Where was I, why couldn't I move and why, why was there such an aching pain in my chest, of knowing I had failed at protecting something. Something I had sworn to protect.

A rush of what felt like blood spread through my body in a sudden wave of warmth and I remembered: Nick, he took Nick! I had to get out of here, I needed to find Nick!

Groaning, I opened my eyes, only to find the slightest beams of sunlight that fell into the alley and even though they were weak, exactly as I felt, they still hurt my eyes.

"Joe!" I hissed, the pounding in my head getting worse, but I needed to know the other of those I protected was still here. If he wasn't, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

"K-Kevin?" Came my reply. The hand, that I now felt was lying on my back, stirring in response to my voice.

"Joe, thank god you are okay!"

I forgot about the pounding and instead pulled Joe into a hug. He was dazedly returning it, his body limp.

"Nick…" He muttered, probably remembering himself. "Where is he?"

I couldn't bare answer, partly because I didn't wanted to say it out loud, confirming the fact that we lost him, partly because of the panicked, begging for mercy look in Joe's eyes. He was ghostly pale and there were several bruises on his face and exposed neck and shoulders. He looked a mess, but the mess behind his eyes was much worse. It reflected mine.

He muttered under his breath, unbelieving as I pulled him into the hug tighter, knowing that beneath his outgoing and self-assured surface, there was still that shy boy with the glasses and his brothers for best friends, spilling hot-coco all over his tee. "No, no! He doesn't, he didn't… He can't, have you seen what he did to Jay? He can't do that to him!"

"I know, shh, calm down, panicking is not going to help him!"

"Then what is!?"

We both fell silent and I saw that Joe was on the verge of tears, me myself already having trails of salt-water running over both my cheeks. Everything in my body trying to get myself to recover, from both the shock and the injuries. Adrenaline was making it's way into my blood-stream, but I couldn't act. It was like it had frozen me. My mouth gaping for air.

"They're here! I found them, o god. Macy!"

"Macy, what? Oh my, they're. Joe! Kevin! Are you…"

"They're not reacting. They're…"

"I noticed. Joe, c'mon, it's me. Joe?"

"I meant they're just like how we found Nick that one night."

I felt someone shake me, arms surrounding my shoulders. "Kevin, Kevin?" I knew the voice, but recognised Macy by her soft smell of fresh leaves, the flavour of Stella's flowery scent a few feet next to her. I felt Joe shaking slightly too, as Stella nudged him again. Her blonde curls waving in the wind that sped through the alley. This godforgotten alley.

"Macy. He took him." I blurted out, needing her to know as I finally averted my eyes from Joe. Felling utterly guilty as I did so.

"What? What do you mean?" Macy urged, looking into my eyes now, her brown orbs concerned and… frightened. She seemed to shrink, become even smaller then she already was.
I just shook my head and urged again. "He took him."

"Who took who, Kev? Tell me." Her hair was all over her face and I realised they must've been looking for us. Why weren't they looking for Nick?

"Kev, who was taken?" Macy asked, this time softly touching my face, wiping away the tear that rolled over it.

"Macy?" Stella suddenly gasped. I knew she had realised by the horror in her voice.

"What? What is it?"

"Nick. He's not with them."

The petite brunette opened her mouth, but there were no words behind her parted lips. The dark ally throwing shadows on her face, more then there already were. Shadows of worry, shadows of pain as she realised who had taken our beloved song-writer.

"Bruises." She whispered, "Hurt. Kevin!" She turned to me, grasping my hands. From the corners of my eyes I saw Stella do the same, with Joe's tanned hands.

I nodded, knowing she would understand.

Then we hugged, all four of us, missing the fifth. And maybe the sixth, in that hug.

"We have to save him!" Joe suddenly said, startling all of us. "We have to get him out of that man's hands, along with Jay. We're going to stop him, before he can hurt Nick." The beams of sunlight fell upon his skin. Making it glow, like his face did. I beamed along with them, yes, naturally we were going to free our younger brother. Right his instant.

"How?" My best friend interfered.

My brain immediately, in a shockwave of brotherly feelings, started working, putting things together, puzzling pieces into their place, in the way Nick usually did, trying to figure out how to get us out of things.
But now, we had to do what he always did for us to save him, now, like he had gotten us smoothly out of things so many times before.

"I know how." I told them. Their faces lighting up. Expectantly and hopeful. Joe beaming, feeling my confidence and the shared feelings for our missing brother.
What power blood could have. "I know how."
The urge to protect, to recover, to take back what was ours, it was stronger then the sense of danger and fear.

Three mouths immediately replied: "We're with you."

Stella PoV

So here we were, after the blunt and meant 'we're with you' we all promised Kevin. Agreeing on not telling anyone, we knew Matt. The demon, that monster that had hurt small, yet so though Jay and had now gotten his filthy paws on Nick.
I was sure Nick would survive, at least for now, he was strong, he was brave. I had known him for most of my life and even though he was usually silent and sensitive, he was strong of mind. As all of the three brothers were.

I could feel Joe's and Kevin's pain. I felt their hurt, the missing thing that was supposed to close the triangle. And I knew they wouldn't stop at a thing to retrieve that missing point.
And so be it. I wasn't going to hesitate, nothing would stop me from helping them and get me back my brother. Because he was my brother too. Always understanding, smart and supportive. Wise and responsible, even though the youngest. I loved Nick more then I could say. We all did, we weren't complete without him.

So here we were, after following Kevin and Macy to a hideous building. We were watching it, Joe and Kevin in front, winged by me and Macy. We knew the plan, or parts of it and knew the risk. Nothing was going to stop us.

There was nothing cool about how we emerged from the shadows. We knew it was on and that what we were doing was incredibly ridiculously risky. But it was the only plan we had.
We were saving Nick, or going down with him and Jay.

Nick PoV

I stared into ice, I felt like I had been turned into ice myself. I was freezing, deathly cold. I could see my lips turning blue in the icy eyes. My arms tied above me, my eyes half closed. My already dark hair looking a deep shade of black against my pale skin. A trail of another dark running from underneath it.

"You're such a brave boy." The hated voice complimented me. "And so pretty when being strong. You're very pretty indeed."

Matt tugged up my head, his fingers folding around my chin. I wanted to bite, to slap, to tug my chin out of his hands, but I simply didn't have the power to do so. The only things keeping me upright were his hands and the rope.

"Well then, this must hurt her quite enough, don't you think. You're eyes look so beautiful when they're broken."

All things that supported me left me at exactly the same moment as he untied the rope and released my head. My skin burning at both places.

I shivered, I felt like an ice-cube inside of a 5 star restaurant freezer, but preferred this icy-coldness over the sharp heat I had felt just moments before. The hot steel that had left it's marks on my arms, legs and torso.
Breathing was hard, each gulp of oxygen hurting my tormented skin. It was scratched open at the places his extremely sharp nails had trailed over the skin.

My breath was now laboured, though the cold helped against the sting of the burn. My muscles yelling in protest as he dragged me along again.

"Go show off your new accessories." He whispered against my throat, inhaling deeply. "You even smell good when you're broken."

A shudder of disgust ran through me and upside around my spine as he proceeded to lick the trail of blood off my neck. He purred, moaned in delight, before opening the mahogany door and throwing me into a pair of soft arms. Not strong enough to support me, but strong enough to hold me. My head now buried into her shoulder.

"Monster." Was the only thing she said, before I heard the menacing laugh for the last time, the door slamming closed.

Her fingers ran through my hair, knowing I wasn't hurt there. She didn't say a thing. Only hugged me.

I didn't cry, I didn't wanted to give him the satisfaction of my tears and her arms were enough to keep me from that.

Then, she started singing, her voice like an enchantment. In a language I thought to recognise, but couldn't place.

The pain lessened, my shivering stopping, only to feel her body tremble. I could breathe again, but I felt hers speed up. What was happening.

Her lips released her song and I felt the sting of the marks one more time before those, also, seemed to fade.

I looked up, horror probably evident in my eyes.

Her body was now carrying my earlier wounds. Her face in agony, before they faded and she returned to normal, just a vague hint of red on her pale skin.

I opened my mouth to ask, but she stopped me.

"Not now."

I agreed and once again, we searched comfort in each other, once again praying. That my brothers were safe and that somehow, this would turn out good for us.
But at the moment, the vivid pain gone, but my body still throbbing from what I had been through the last couple of hours, that didn't seem very likely.