-Mike's POV-

Vic moped.

I moped.

Mrs. Drew moped.

And Lily... Well she did whatever Lily's do best, she wandered around callously and conceited, pretending to give a shit when really this is exactly what she wanted.

I hated her. Not just because she'd rejected me, I just hated her.

"Hello, Michael" Leda's mom greeted me from the hall. For the first time since I'd been in this house I was sat in the living room watching tv, the news to be precise.

"Hi" I replied flatly, feeling exhausted and lethargic.

"Any news?" She asked as she hung up her jacket.

"Nope." I sighed and turned the tv off. We'd reported a missing person but because Leda was eighteen and legally allowed to leave home and be independent they hadn't really taken the case seriously. In fact I don't even think there was ever a case at all. Leda's mom sashayed into the room, she'd had her hair dyed and neatly permed, a bright smile radiated her face and she looked a million years younger.

Although I did question how she was able to feel so overjoyed when her daughter was missing.

"Um, nice hair" I said half sarcastically and half serious.

"Oh this?" She pointed to her head "Oh that's nothing, just some highlights, lowlights, an all round dye, a trim, feathers, layers and a perm. No big deal." She chuckled with a shrug. I smiled slightly but it turned into a grimace half way through, she was as oblivious to that as she was to my earlier sarcasm.

"Do you know where Vic is? I'd much like to speak to him." She asked, distracted by something in her purse.

"Upstairs, in bed. He never leaves." I couldn't keep the irritation out of my voice.

-Vic's POV-

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Nope, not today" I mumbled from the comfort of beneath my blanket. I heard the small creak of the door as it was opened and I rolled my eyes behind my closed lids.

"Victor, it's me." Leda's mom's - the last person I expected it to be - voice sounded, I was fascinated by how acutely aware I was of so many sounds I usually took for granted, the creak of the door, the sound of her feet on the carpet.

"Oh," I replied idiotically as I sat up in bed and made a failed attempt to fix my bed hair, just so I didn't have to look at her straight away. "Is something wrong?" I hoped it wasn't rude to ask, I just found it odd that she'd come up here to see me, it seemed so out of place and strange. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep until next year, life had become so arduous.

"Actually, yes," she replied, coming over and perching on the edge of the bed, my mouth made the shape to say 'oh' again but no sound came out. I decided to just listen intently as she explained. "You see, my daughter is missing, the worst part of that is the fact that she ran away, it was a decision, a choice," It surprised me that she'd come to that conclusion because last I'd witnessed Mike was telling her we didn't know if she'd ran away or was kidnapped. "Her boyfriend is sat downstairs, watching the news, sitting straight faced, seriously upset," my stomach twisted a little when she emphasized the word 'boyfriend,' I hoped I hadn't shown it on my face though. "And then there is you," my eyes, which were scanning the room awkwardly as I wondered when she'd get to the point, snapped up and looked at her. She had my full attention now. "You sit up here for days on end, clearly affected also." My insides twisted, I was expecting the worst. "So, I'm just going to ask you directly. Are you also seeing my daughter?" Her tone turned sharp. I don't know if my jaw dropped physically but in my head it was on the floor, I struggled to find words.

"What? No Mrs- I-I no- that-" she cut me off.

"I don't care for liars, Vic." She replied matter-of-factly, standing up and taking something from the pocket of her blazer. It was a piece of paper.

-Leda's POV-

It was cold, everywhere was cold, I was cold. To the bone. My breath came out in small foggy puffs, and the end of my nose was numb and probably as red as a tomato. I needed to find a motel, I wouldn't survive living on the streets tonight. I dug in my bra for the money I'd taken from Mr. Dark and Dangerous and counted it. Eleven hundred dollars, that was more than enough. I kept walking, hugging my arms around myself to keep warm, I had trouble confirming if my toes even existed anymore they were that numb.

Someone whistled from behind me, it was distant but quite loud, I snuck a peak over my shoulder and saw three or four hooded figures. I took a deep breath and picked up the pace, mentally giving myself a pep-talk.

It's alright, calm down, just walk faster, they'll never catch up with you, it'll be okay, there's no danger.

"Oi, hey lady!" One of them shouted and by their voice you could tell they were only around fifteen of sixteen the thought made me calm down a little in a way my internal pep talk didn't. However I still sped up even further, my breath slightly catching. I heard the sound of multiple footsteps get loud and I looked over my shoulder and saw them running towards me, I panicked and headed off into a mad sprint, my heart pounding and my body working double time to heat up against the cold. There were more voices and footsteps and my lungs felt like they had caved in, the cold wrapped around them tightly and squeezed, making it feel like there wasn't enough oxygen around me. My legs began to cramp and the backpack began to weigh a ton on my back.

Someone seized my arm and before I could react I was spun around and kicked in the stomach. My hand immediately grasped where it hurt, my lungs filling with air as I gasped. One of them grabbed my hair and pulled me to the floor, another taking my backpack and throwing it far away, I tried not to make a sound as I crashed to the ground but I landed weirdly on my leg and a burning pain stretched through it. I kicked out my uninjured leg at one of the boys, he laughed at my efforts and grabbed my leg, twisting it in a way legs aren't supposed to twist, I screamed out in pain until another boy kicked me in the face and then covered my mouth to muffle my screams. A tear slipped out of my eyes and the only thing I could think was that I needed Vic or Mike. Why did bad things always happen to me?

-Vic's POV-

I gazed at the piece of paper for what felt like a millennium. I had to know its contents, I just had to. I reached out for it, kind of in a trance but before my tanned fingers could grasp it she snatched it away.

"How could you do this?" She exclaimed, her eyes going wide (well as wide as they could go because it seemed she'd recently gotten botox and her face was a little stiff.) I was about to ask what she was talking about, but she threw the note in my lap and rose to her feet, rubbing her forehead back and forth with her thumb and index finger like she was willing a headache to go away.

I slowly picked up the note, my hands shaking and my fingers trembling. Did I really want to know who or what was written in this note? I didn't know if I did or didn't because once you read something, you can't unread it, you're just left in the aftermath to wish you were ignorant when you had the chance to be.

"No," I shook my head "I don't want this." I hadn't even made a decision until I said that out loud.

"Read it." She replied sternly and gave me a look that would make any rose wilt. I bit my lip and forced my attention back to the note that was burning holes in my hand. She headed over to the window, a deep sigh trespassing her lips, she looked distant and fragile, although that contrasted with the way her hair sat perfectly, newly permed and dyed, I eyed her for a moment and then gazed once again at the note. Did I really want to know what it contained?

I sighed and just decided to open it and read it, I unfolded it by its corners and held in front of me.

I know I said I wouldn't leave without you,
but you have to understand this is something I have to do.
I wasn't kidding when I asked you to come with me,
I wanted you to, I still do. But I understand your reason for not doing so, you're a good brother.
Don't miss me, maybe I'll be back someday.

Your Leda.

For a moment or two I was lost in the note, reading each line carefully, 'your' Leda. Yes my Leda. I forgot Leda's mom was even in the room until I heard her footsteps get closer to me, I glanced up at her ashen face, realizing what this meant. She knew.

"I'll ask you again," she said lowly, sitting down on the bed again "Are you also seeing my daughter, Vic?" She looked me dead in the eye when she asked and something inside me told me to lie, but I was holding the evidence in my hand and it would be irrational to lie. I nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact with her, she knew, she knew and she was going to hate me for this.

"How could you do this to your brother, Vic?" My head was hung low and I looked up at her through my lashes, sighing and then shrugging in reply to her question. Her eyes screamed disappointment and her mouth was set in such a grim line I thought the only way she'd ever smile again was if someone ironed her face that way.

"I suppose the quiet ones are always the weird ones." She mumbled, I'm guessing more to herself than to me but I didn't correct her or criticize her for saying it - because she was right.

She continued to voice her thoughts out loud, not really talking to anyone specific, I wondered if she realized she was doing it or if her brain to mouth filter was broken. I didn't say anything though, just listened.

"How could Leda do this to Mike, he's such a nice young man and you can tell he really cares about her," she tutted as if she was mulling it all over in her head. "That girl never knows what is good for her." She shook her head and my head went even lower, my shoulders sagging in defeat. Everything she was saying was correct, Mike was a nice guy, he did really care for her, I wasn't any good for her. But that didn't stop it from hurting.

-Mike's POV-

"You okay?" Lily asked, brushing her hair through with her fingers.

"Eh, yep." I shrugged, which roughly translated to: as good as I can be given the circumstances.

"Come into the kitchen, I'll make you a coffee!" She smiled, it was weird seeing her smile, she always smirked or grimaced, always had that twinkle of danger and sass in her eyes but right now she looked genuinely happy. It was strange. When I didn't get up right away she rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand, attempting to pull me up to follow her, I co-operated and got to my feet, allowing her to pull me towards the kitchen.

"Sit," she commanded, pointing to a barstool and then quickly spinning around to reach for the kettle.

"Tea or coffee?" She asked in a high pitched voice that sounded almost too fake.

"Um, neither." I replied honestly because I hated them both.

"Hot chocolate?" She questioned (after she'd checked the cupboard to see if we had some) without turning around.

"Yeah, why not." I shrugged, if she was going to be nice to me, I was going to be nice back, even though sometimes I couldn't stand her, it just made my life a hell of a lot easier if I was just civil with her (which was hard to do when she's being so sarcastic and obnoxious)

"What's put you in a happy mood anyway?" I asked raising a brow slightly as she poured the boiling hot water into the cup.

She shrugged "It just feels like a really good day, you know?" She smiled stirring the cup briefly and bringing it over to me, still stirring.

"No I don't. Thank you." I replied taking the cup from her hands, it was hot and I wondered how she had even managed to carry it across the room without using the handle.

"She'll come back Mike, you'll see." She almost smelled like optimism, it was leaking from her pores and I just wasn't in a decent enough mood to witness it. I rolled my eyes. She shook her head with a chuckle and came and sat beside me. "I promise she'll come back. This is Leda we're talking about, she wouldn't last two minutes without at least one person there to help her out." She seemed so sure but I didn't know if I could trust her or not.

"How can you be so sure she'll come back?" I asked, genuinely curious and desperate for answers.

"I've known the girl a while, she was ridiculously pathetic when it came to being a prostitute, and that's about as bad as it gets, there's nothing more degrading than that," she spoke like there wasn't a doubt in her mind and it made me begin to believe her. "And she didn't turn to alcohol or meth to get her through her pathetic ways like most do, no, she just trudged on through it, hating every minute of it of course, but no one forced her to do it."

"Well if she just 'trudged on though it' that kind of means she won't come back, doesn't it? Because what if she just trudges on through this? Like you said, being a prostitute is about as bad as it gets, so wherever she is and whatever she's doing can't be as bad as that, right? And if she can get through that, she can get through this, right?" She furrowed her brows as I ended my sentence, either she was seriously confused or she knew I was right.

"Nope, I think you're seriously over thinking this, when she was a prostitute, she had me, I guided her, pointed her in the right direction, you know? Who does she got to do that for her now? Nobody, so how is she going to survive? She'll come running right on back here, of course." A warm smile stretched onto her face again. I took a sip of my hot chocolate, it tasted like hot water and acid but that didn't stop me from sipping it, it was always an easier option to stare into your cup while bearing your soul to someone rather than giving them eye contact.

"Do you think it was me?" I asked, hating the way I'd worded it and how my voice sounded as I said it but needing to know the truth.

"That made her runaway?" She chuckled a little "No way. I think it was all her, really." I wondered what made her laugh, what she knew that I didn't.

It seemed everybody was keeping secrets from me.

-Vic's POV-

We sat in silence for over half an hour, me looking around the room awkwardly and then staring at my fidgeting fingers, just repeating these two actions for what felt like forever. Mrs. Drew kept mumbling to herself about how if she had had a son things would have been easier, or if she'd had an abortion, even more so.

I wanted to yell at her, tell her she was ungrateful for such an amazing daughter, that I cared about her as much as Mike did and then yes maybe I was quiet and a little weird but I did my best to be normal.

I breathed in a ragged breath, running a hand through my awfully tangled hair, the room was full of tension that I didn't have the energy to acknowledge or deal with, so I simply ignored it, pretending everything was just peachy.

"I'm not going to tell Mike." She said after too many dragged out minutes of silence.

"Oh..." I said words failing me, wondering if there was a catch.

"Because," oh here it goes "you're going to tell him..." She said matter-of-factly.

"Er, what?" My voice shook as I spoke, she nodded and began to speak again.

"You're going to explain to him what's been going on," her voice was growing more strangled "...and then you're going to find my daughter and bring her back here, and then you'll leave." My eyes grew wide. Leave? Why? Where would I go?

"But-" she cut me off.

"Don't you think you've ruined enough?" I couldn't decide if that was supposed to be rhetorical or not so I just bit my tongue so hard it made tears prick in my eyes.

"I need my daughter, maybe you'll understand when you have kids - although men are no good for anything - she's my daughter and I love her and I've only just got her back." Her eyes were watery and although I wanted to hate her, I couldn't, she just wanted her daughter back, that wasn't unreasonable was it? Even if she did want me to find Leda and bring her back and then leave, I still couldn't hate her.

-Leda's POV-

"Someone get her tights off." One of them yelled while another crouched down and spat profanities in my face.

"It's okay beautiful, we'll only be a second." He winked, stroking my cheek in the same way the ogre did, I felt bile rise in my throat and my stomach dropped, one of them started tearing viciously at my tights, roughly removing them from my body.

I laid numb. Unmoving. Tears falling from my eyes at their own accord.

My lip was bleeding and my cheek felt swollen to the size of a chipmunk storing a nut in its mouth. One of them yelled something at me but I switched off, my vision blurred with tears and a sore sensation below, my mind blanked over and I felt almost in a coma, I sucked in a breath and let them continue, wishing someone would come to my rescue or that I'd never left home in the first place. One of them knelt by my head and pushed both my wrists into the asphalt, I felt the rough surface cut into my skin but I wasn't even there.

Tyres screeched and a door slammed, there were so many voices and yelling. Lots of fucking yelling, the sore thrusts stopped and I was aware of the cold all of a sudden, I was bleeding, my lips, my head, down there. There was a lot of blood. Someone told me it was going to be okay but my mind was still elsewhere, I had no idea what the words they were saying meant, I was a mechanical robot, absent in my own mind.

Notes

Dundundun, thought I'd throw a curve ball (or two) in there :)
Can poor Leda ever catch break?
What's going on with Mike and Lily?
(Yay Vic finally got the right note)
And do you think Vic will tell Mike and find Leda and then leave just like he's been told he has to?
What happened right at the end there?


Feedback is appreciated :) and if you'd be so kind, please check out The Concrete Night by Clairephernelia because it's wonderful and you'll love it!