A/N: Hi! Wow, I got a lot of reviews! Especially for a story as new as this one... goodness. Thank you all so much! I saw them while I was in rehearsal and they made me really happy. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Will P.O.V

I laid there for a while after Ryan finished and left. My entire body ached and burned and throbbed, but none of it could compare to the pain emanating from my rear. Blood and a gooey white substance that I didn't want to think about coated the bed sheets and my body.

I shakily inhaled and my ribs screamed in protest. But I didn't have the energy to cry any more. In fact, I was so malnourished and dehydrated that it probably wasn't even possible.

I was exhausted, but too terrified to sleep. What if he came back and... did things to me in my sleep? I was so exhausted that I probably wouldn't be able to wake up and try to stop him...

But then again, what was the point in trying to stop him? He always got what he wanted in the end, one way or another.

My eyes grew heavy and kept closing against my will, but I stubbornly tried to stay awake, snapping them open every time they closed. I had been doing that for about three minutes and my energy was ever so slowly running out...

Eventually I became so exhausted that I couldn't open them any more, and I was dragged into the dark, nightmarish land of unconsciousness.

Several Hours Later...

I woke up to quiet voices whispering things that I wasn't awake enough to understand. One pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and gently shook me, while another seemed to be trying to free my hands from their bonds.

"Come on, Will, we need you to wake up..."

They had taken the gag out at some point, but that didn't mean I could talk. My throat was all torn up and raw. I could make a few small noises, but probably no more than that.

...And I wasn't willing to test that theory.

I whimpered quietly and tried to move away when the hands patted at my cheeks. I knew it was just Ryan fooling around with me. He probably injected me with a poison while I was asleep to make me hallucinate about Halt coming to rescue me.

I wasn't really surprised, mostly just tired of everything. He had done this several times before, so now I was used to it and knew it wasn't real. What Ryan has said so many times before is probably true...

No one is going to come save me. Because no one cares. And they shouldn't... because I'm just a disgusting little whore. I completely understand their reluctance to save me from getting what I deserve...

A rough, calloused hand patted at my cheeks again and I wished Ryan would just leave me alone. Hasn't he done enough damage yet? I hesitantly opened my eyes, looking up at the blurry, yet disturbingly familiar faces above me.

Wow, Ryan's really done it this time... He added Gilan to the game. Great. Suddenly the rope securing my hands to the headboard was cut, and my arms fell.

They had been stuck in the same position for 5 or 6 hours, so they were terribly cramped. My wrists were raw and caked with dried blood that made me regret having hands when I moved too much. So when my arms abruptly fell, it was sheer agony and I shrieked in pain.

Gilan cursed and quickly put a hand over my mouth to silence me. I started hyperventilating and tears formed in my eyes. I was so done with this. I just wanted to die, if only so the pain would go away.

"Shhh, Will, it's alright. Just calm down, we're gonna get you out of here, I promise. But we need you to stay quiet, alright?" Gilan whispered, running a comforting hand through my hair.

I shied away from it, bracing myself for a punch. I was surprised at the gentle action and he must've seen my shock, because he sighed sadly and pulled his hand back.

I vaguely felt Halt begin to cut at the ropes that held my legs down. My vision began to darken, and my hearing faded out shortly after. I couldn't see that well in the first place because Ryan had kept a blindfold on me most of the time, so my eyes weren't used to being used again yet.

But it was kind of hard to miss when the blurry faces of Halt and Gilan above me disappeared and darkness slowly replaced them.

Shortly after that, I passed out...

Will P.O.V

I tried to wake up, but every time I was almost there, I was pulled under again. It was frustrating. But when I finally managed to wake up, I slowly opened my eyes to see an extremely blurry Gilan... who very quickly turned into Ryan.

I wasn't expecting him to be there. I jumped back and tried to yelp in alarm, but it came out sounding more like a frog having an asthma attack.

My throat burned in protest and for the first time, I realized there was a dull throb pulsing throughout my body. That must mean I have medicine in me... I looked down at my arm and saw an IV in it.

No wonder I felt so drowsy and everything was a bit foggy... But I hate needles. Not to mention the fact that if Ryan had me hooked up to this, it couldn't be good. I didn't notice him sit up and reach for my hand to stop me.

"No, Will, don't-"

I yanked it out, hopping off the bed and running for the door. I almost ran right into someone who looked vaguely familiar, but I didn't bother stopping to figure out who it was. They were probably just one of the guards who dragged me to my torture sessions with Ryan anyways.

I could feel my wounds pulling and burning and itching. In fact, I thought I felt the stitched wound in my thigh rip open... I know for sure that I felt warm blood run down my leg, which brought back really bad memories...

But I didn't stop. I wouldn't. I was so tired of being hurt every day. Tired of Ryan using me as his personal play toy. Just tired of everything. And I would do whatever it took to make it stop.

I somehow managed to evade his hands when he reached for me, and I ran down the hall. I could hear their footsteps echoing behind me.

"Will, please stop!"

I hurriedly skidded around a corner, thinking I had found an exit. My panic soared when I realized it was another bedroom. I was trapped.

No no no no NO! This can't be happening...

I quickly scanned the room as I ran in, frantically trying to find a good hiding place. There were none. The room consisted of a bed and a dresser, and the latter had a vase on top of it that held a bouquet of dead flowers.

I did the only thing I could think of- I ran to the farthest corner of the room, slid to the floor, pulled my knees up to my chest, and cried. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest, and I thought for sure it was going to explode.

I couldn't breathe. I heard the footsteps stop a few feet in front of me, and I was so scared and I was crying so hard that I couldn't breathe. My lungs and ribs flared with pain, my erratic breathing irritating both of them.

But they weren't my biggest problem at this point. Ryan was. The last time he had gotten to me, he... he touched me and... did things to me that I literally can't think about.

I can't go through that again. I just can't.

"Will, you need to calm down. Everything's going to be okay..." Ryan said, carefully inching closer to me.

I cried harder when I heard a third person enter the room.

God, if he needs two people to help hold me down, he must be planning to do something terrible to me...

"Will, you're going to hyperventilate if you don't calm down..." One of the others warned.

I couldn't hear what they were saying when they started talking in low voices. After a moment, one of them nodded and I heard his quick footsteps leaving the room.

He's probably going to get more people... Oh no...

I started shaking and black spots danced across my already blurry vision. My lungs burned, screaming at me to give them the oxygen they craved. But I couldn't. I couldn't calm down even if I cared enough to try.

I was so out of it that I didn't hear the person re-enter the room. Nor did I notice them closing in on me. That is- until one of them grabbed my wrists with a firm but gentle grip, keeping them in place with one hand while the other ran through my hair in a comforting manner.

Tears were still flooding down my cheeks and I weakly struggled against him, not wanting to be hurt again.

But I was also thoroughly confused. Ryan had never treated me nice, and he had made it strictly forbidden for the guards to do so. He had never been gentle with me, as this person was.

I know for a fact that Ryan wouldn't be this gentle with me. But... he looks like Ryan. He's the same height and has the same hair color... but I can't see clearly enough to know the eye color. Still, though- this doesn't make sense. Nothing makes sense! That fact made it all the more stressful.

"Shhh... Will, we're not gonna hurt you. Don't cry, everything's going to be okay." He murmured soothingly.

I flinched violently when I felt the prick of a needle in my arm. I tried to pull away, but he had too good of a grip on my arm for me to escape.

"Easy, easy, you're okay. It's just something to help you calm down, I promise."

After a few moments, the syringe was gone and I felt really tired. I could feel my pulse slowing back down to a normal pace, as well as my breathing.

"That's it..." he said quietly, pulling my limp body into a careful hug, "Just relax."

I tried to stay awake, but the drug was strong and insistent. It didn't help that I was already exhausted to begin with.

After about a minute, I gave in and closed my eyes, letting myself be pulled back into the dark land of unconsciousness.

A/N: Sooo, how was it? Good? Bad? Terrible? AMAZING?! I hope it's the last one... I literally had to rewrite this chapter like three times to get it right. It was definitely a difficult chapter for me, but I think I did okay! Btw, I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you guys this now- I'm like 90% sure this story is gonna have a Will/Gilan pairing.

...Don't give me that look! I wanted to have it in The Assassin, but most of you guys were like, "Nooo! Don't do it!" So I didn't. But in this story, I want to have it. I think they're adorable together, plus Gilan is really gonna help Will get through this. So please don't yell at me...

But please review and tell me what you thought! I worked really hard on this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it. ;)