After

Chapter 23

"All suspects are in the building." One man says into a radio.

"Everyone in place?" Another asks.

Ally, Dinah, and Normani sit in the safety of a police car with Detective Williams in the front seat. He changed vehicles when he saw them. "Ok, now that we almost have them, I must apologize for my lack of communication and seemingly lack of figuring out this case. I suspected a mole at the police station and was afraid that if I worked this case there, they would warn the captors if I got close to figuring things out. I'm sorry for not being able to tell you until now."

"It's ok. Thank you for working so hard, we really appreciate it." Ally gives a slight smile.

"You have no clue how much we appreciate it, Ally is correct." Normani states.

Dinah, on the other hand is entranced with the scene unfolding before her eyes. She doesn't recognize the outside of the house because she never actually saw the outside of it, but she knows it's the same place she was. It has the same feeling, that same horrible feeling. And somehow Camila has had to live with it for a whole year, and Lauren two months more than that. Dinah fears the worst. Not the death of her friends, that's not the worst to her. The worst possible thing to happen would be that her friends, once so close to her, are completely different and unable to change from the person they had to become while in this horrible house. She knows they're going to be different. Very different. But she hopes they will slowly be able to become the people they once were. Not the exact same people, but someone she would be able to recognize.

"Ok everyone-" The SWAT captain whispers into the radio. "3, 2, 1." SWAT members bust down doors and windows, anything that could lead them inside.

Dinah is unable to just sit by and watch, so she opens the car door and runs out. Ally and Normani realize what she is doing and they chase her, but Dinah is so hyped up on adrenaline that they are unable to catch her. She runs right past the front door now hanging on its hinges and right into the living room. To her right is the kitchen and farther is the hallway that contained the room she and Lauren were in. To her left is a room off the living room. Finally, Normani and Ally catch up to her and stare at their surroundings just as intently as Dinah. Two men are kicking down doors down the hall, one is kicking down the door to the right, and another is kicking down the door to the basement. The basement. That's where they probably are since they weren't in the room Dinah is most familiar with.

She immediately follows the SWAT member down the stairs as another tries to pull her back, but she refuses and Ally and Normani are right behind her. None of them are prepared for what they see. It's Lauren and Camila- but it's not. How could it be? The broken figures they see barely look like actual people. James and Tristan are up against the wall with their hands up after seeing the SWAT member with his firearm in hand. Brad on the other hand is standing with Camila standing directly in front of him with an arm around her throat, holding ht erest of her weak body up, and jet black gun to her head.

Her hair is long and matted, blood covering her face and obvious scratches and bruises underneath. A bra is the only thing that covers her upper half and that too is covered in blood and bruises. Her only visible skin is a sickly yellow. On her legs, shorts only cover up to her upper thighs and sadly the color of her legs match her torso. Brad is obviously holding her upright as her legs are small and shaking under the weight of her body as well as from fear. She looks extremely malnourished. She was already a small person before this incident, but now she looks even smaller. Her eyes are sunken in and every rib is bulging out of her small body.

Brad is sweating but not shaking. He is much too calm in this situation which worries Dinah a lot. She remembers being down here all those months ago. Right near her is the chain hanging from the ceiling in which she was chained to and tortured. Now, there are two chains, and they have been used quite recently since there is not yet dried blood on them and the floor below.