A/N: This fic contains potentially triggering subject matter including but not limited to: suicidal references, gun violence, sexual trauma, homelessness, drug abuse, depression, homophobia, and cancer. It may contain inaccuracies. No copyright infringement intended. Thanks for reading!

BOOK THREE - PART TWO- CHAPTER NINETY-NINE

Sam blinked her eyes open—it was still dark. Across the room, Cat's phone was ringing incessantly. Sam gave her a nudge. "Cat." She didn't budge. "Cat, wake up." She remained motionless, breathing steadily. Sam groaned and dragged herself out of bed, going over to pick up the phone. She didn't recognize the number. It was 2:33 am. This was the eleventh call in a row. Sam picked up the call and demanded, "What do you want?"

"Hello, Sam."

The voice that spoke was mechanical and had obviously been distorted. Sam fought her urge to hang up and stammered, "Um, who is this?" And how did they know that it was her that was using Cat's phone?

"My identity is irrelevant. I was just calling to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"Yes. Yesterday I leaked Catarina's private photos."

Sam didn't say anything. She felt scared and didn't know if she should wake Cat up.

"Well, I have your photos as well," the voice continued. "I'll be posting them tomorrow afternoon."

Sam felt sick. "Is… is there anything I can do?"

"I'm glad you asked. Yes, there is. Meet me under the bridge down the block from your home. Bring $5,000."

"When?"

"You have one hour. And Catarina can't know about it, or the photos go up immediately."

Sam was trying not to panic. "Fine. I'll be there." As quietly as she could, she changed into some clothes, then clipped her pocketknife to her belt. Her hands were shaking as she silently extracted Cat's wallet from her purse and grabbed her debit card. She was halfway to the door when she heard Cat move suddenly. She froze and held her breath.

Cat lifted her head up, blinking blearily at her. "Sam? What are you doing?"

"Just getting some water. Go back to sleep," Sam tried to respond calmly. She was glad the room was too dark for Cat to have noticed her change of clothes. Cat seemed to believe the response, as she laid back down and resumed lightly snoring. Sam's heart was in her throat as she left the room, then left the house. There was an ATM a block away. She wasn't sure how much time she had, so she jogged the whole way there.

Once she arrived, she inserted Cat's card. It needed a 5-digit pin. "Fuck!" It'd been so long that she'd forgotten how these things worked. She tried 12345. It didn't work. She tried their zip code. That also didn't work. She tried a modified version of Cat's birthday. Still nothing. She was seriously starting to freak out. Then she remembered something—Cat couldn't count without forgetting three. So, going out on a limb, she tried 12456. It was wrong. The screen was now blinking at her—she had only one more attempt before her bank account locked down. She felt like throwing up. What could it possibly be? She thought back to when she'd gotten lucky with the safe in their bedroom forever ago. She told herself that maybe that could happen again. So, holding her breath, she slowly typed in 7-4-7-3-9. The screen now displayed, Welcome!

Sam exhaled with relief and navigated to the Withdraw option—Cat had a platinum-plus debit card with an ATM withdrawal limit of $5,000, which Sam just now realized was pretty rare. She couldn't believe her luck. She quickly pressed the buttons, and the machine started spitting out hundred-dollar bills. When it was done, she had a thick stack of money, which she immediately folded over and shoved in her pocket. Then she mustered up her courage and headed to the bridge.

When Sam arrived there, she was surprised to see a group of six or seven large men. She had only been expecting one, and was getting nervous. They were all dressed in dark clothing, wearing hoods and hats and sunglasses. "Hey, Puckett," the leader said. "You come alone?"

Sam tried not to let her voice shake. "Yeah. It's just me. Do you guys want your cash or not? That was the deal, right? Then you'll delete my pictures?"

The man put his hand out. "Let's see it."

Sam pulled out the wad of bills and handed it to him.

He immediately handed it to another man and said, "Count this."

They all stood there in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. Finally, he barked, "Forty-nine hundred."

"What?" Sam spluttered out, "I just withdrew that! There was five!"

"Looks like you're a hundred short, Puckett," the main guy growled out.

"Recount! Gimme a recount," Sam begged, "Please."

So, they did. And once again, "Yep, forty-nine."

"Fuck." Sam was starting to get that 'need to get the fuck out of here' feeling, but knew it was too late to run.

The men were crowding in around her, looking at her with disgusting smirks on their faces. "Hey, I know how she can pay off the last hundred."

One man laughed. "You ever been with a man, Puckett?"

Sam's body was surging with adrenaline. "Delete my photos and let me go. Or else you'll regret it." They were completely circling her.

"Y'know, maybe we should take some photos of our own," one guy suggested. "Right, guys?"

"I'm serious. I could beat your guys' asses," Sam growled. But the reality of the situation was that, at 7-1, she wasn't quite sure.

The first guy jumped on her. Everything was a blur as they each pinned down one of her limbs, and she was completely helpless. She was beyond freaking out by this point, so she resorted to her last option—screaming and kicking and punching until she got away. Except she didn't get away. They tied a gag over her mouth instead.

The first guy stepped up. "Someone cut her shirt off."

Another man went to Sam with a knife. She could do nothing to defend herself as they cut her shirt completely off. She cried quietly and tried not to resist.

"Mmmm, yeah."

"That's what I'm talking about."

"Get her bra."

Someone did.

"Ha! Bitch is missing a titty."

"Nah, it's still there, man, under the padding and stuff."

"Ah, she's fine. I'd still fuck her," someone said. "I just might."

"Someone get her pants."

The next several minutes were a blur for Sam as the articles of her clothing were removed one by one. It truly seemed like there was no way out of this one. She was lying there, naked on the cold ground, when she started to wonder if she would ever see Cat again. The thought made her sob harder. The man above her was dressed in all black—his pants were undone, revealing his straining erection. He forced her thighs apart and settled between them.

Sam's screams were muffled as she fought with all her strength. She could smell his breath as he leaned down over her and felt him align his member with her entrance.

Suddenly, the world was bright, and Sam was in bed, wrapped in blankets, crying and screaming Cat's name. Her body was covered in a cold sweat as she caught her breath. She heard Cat murmuring, "Shhhh…" and the realization hit her. She slowly started calming down.