SUBMIT.

IX.

"How is she doing?" Luca asked wearily.

"Better than expected." Tyson replied happily, "She's been running really well, especially since she's been starting to regain the strength she lost. I'll get her in the ring tomorrow."

"Good." Luca nodded, "I want to get her out there as soon as possible. We could really use her,"

"I'm trying." Tyson tried to soothe, "She's been progressing nicely, I just don't want to rush her."

"I know," Luca sighed.

I hated the feeling of being alone.

I almost hated it as much as I hated being trapped here, confined to the concrete walls of this building. I was not sure what I was going to do. Escaping did not seem like a viable option, unless I could figure out how Luca even found me in the first place and somehow avoid it. Otherwise, he would keep finding me, and I was pretty sure I had used up all my chances with him. If he had to capture me again to drag me back to this stupid place, he was probably going to beat me to the edge of death for the sake of my own suffering.

I stared up at the plain white ceiling of my room. My room. It felt so weird to call it that. I had never had a bedroom to myself before, or at least I could never remember a time when I did. In the apartment, there were only two bedrooms. Fiona and Simon took one, where they also kept Gia's crib. Me, Evan, Cade and Dax were all sharing the other one. It was a small enough room for one person, let alone 4 adolescents. We filled the room with blow up mattresses to the point where the mattresses practically became the floor.

From there, our room became one huge complex of air mattresses and random blankets and pillows strewn everywhere. There were preferred sleeping spots, and it was a fight to the death to get the "good blanket" in the dead of winter. It was wool and it was long enough to actually cover your feet, unlike the other child sized blankets we had. I smiled at the memory of the boys wrestling each other for the prime sleeping spot, right near the radiator. It was always the warmest there.

Now, I had a bed to myself, and I wasn't even comfortable in it.

Every now and again I would look over the edge, hoping to find Cade or Dax asleep on the floor. But that never happened. It was dreadfully silent in the room, and I couldn't stand it. How did people sleep by themselves anyways? Even if the boys stayed out later than me on nights, Bear always found his way into our room and strung himself over my legs. I missed them. Even Evan, surprisingly enough. I wondered if they were worried about me, or if they thought I was dead. Were Simon and Fiona mad at me for leaving Gia?

I wanted to see everyone so bad, but I knew that wasn't an option. It wasn't safe, and even if it were, Luca would never allow it. I growled lowly to myself at the thought of Luca. He was so infuriating. Since he got me from the holding cell in the basement, I hadn't even seen him. What was the point of tracking me down and dragging me back here if he didn't care to know what I was up to? Why was I even here? Surely his gang was successful enough on its own, I was not a necessary aspect.

I began to get restless and kept squirming under the sheets. No position was comfortable. Every night since I got here had gone similarly. I got little to no sleep so far, and Tyson was starting to notice. He asked me what was wrong, but I was too embarrassed to admit that I hated being by myself like this. It seemed childish. He would only laugh at me if I told him, and then he would probably tell Luca. I don't know what I would do with myself if that happened, so I kept my mouth shut. I could get over this myself, I just needed some time.

~*~

My palms were sweating so bad. I don't know how Luca could throw this on me all at once without even a simple warning.