She wasn't sure if Nike understood the message to distract him. She could only hope for the best. She had to get these ropes untied and warn Theo or do something to get them to stop. She also didn't want her life in danger. That was important too.

So she shut out Nike's mocking of the man and went to cutting, She cut a little faster now but still careful to not draw attention to it. The ropes were what was keeping his hold on her and preventing her from turning around. She cut faster. She was drawn back to conversation when she heard Nike discuss what would happen once she was dead.

How Nike was keeping a level head and taunting the man at the same time, surprised her. She would be freaking out at this point if she wasn't trying to stay focused on escaping.

"She'll be dead, that's all there is to it," The brute laughed again,"I find it satisfying when women die. Men were meant to rule humankind anyway. We're the protectors."

"Is that what you are doing now? trying to protect her?" He taunted, smirking,"Too bad you're doing a terrible job."

With that, the brute sucker punched her right in the stomach. She immediately dropped the knife and haunched over, grabbing her stomach. When she haunched, the man grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her back to standing. She let out a small noise of pain, tears in her eyes. But they didn't fall. And she didn't do much else.

She had dropped the knife but the rope was almost completely cut. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the pain she was about to feel. She was going to have to rip the rope all the way. After a moment, she yanked her hands away from each other as hard as she could. She bit her lip, feeling the rope cut her extremely tight and then...nothing. She was free.

Immediately she sprung into action. She twisted her hair out of his grasp and kicked him in the 'nads with the amount of force that only hulk could dream of. He immediately fell to his knees, grunting in extreme pain. She grabbed the knife and jumped onto his back, holding the knife to his neck.

"I suggest you tell me why the hell you and your friends are here before you meet the devil," Her voice was extremely low and threatening, her eyes full of anger and yes, adrenaline.

With her action, the gang unfroze. They split into three groups and found his friends. There was screaming and chanting and war crimes, giving away that the groups had found them and was fighting them.

Okay Alleya is kind of bad ass. I need to make her a regular character around here-)))

She felt Nike's hand on her back and grinned at him. At first it didn't seem like he liked her too much but now, it seemed like a different story. Maybe all she needed to do was do something impressive in his eyes for her to grow on him. Either way it worked.

"To warn you, we will not tolerate this desrespect much longer!" The man spat at the floor,"Join us or lose your gang members one by one."

Alleya wrinkled her nose with disgust at his comments but it was over. He was the one on the ground and not her. She just snorted and unlooped her belt from her pant loops, trying his hands behind his back and dragging the man to a pole and tying him against it. She wasn't sure what to do with the big brute. Theo would decide that.

"You're absolutely revolting. Nobody would even consider joining you," She spat on his shoes and jumped in to help the gang members with the other three. She had lost sight of Nike but that was okay. She figured he was helping the gang take on the rest of them.

----

"Please, God, make it stop!" Theo begged, everywhere in his body was burning hot.

Soon after he had cleaned up the supplies from the stitches, he had heard the sound of footsteps. He had stepped outside the room and had checked the back side area when two guys ambushed him from a different gang. He had not gone down with a fight but nonetheless, they had beaten him and then dragged him to his room. They tied him to the bed post and then that's when the torture began.

"What did I tell you about keeping your mouth shut!" One of the men lit the metal part of the blade on fire and then pressed it against the crook of Theo's neck. He bit back a scream of pain, his fists clenching. This had been happening every 5 minutes since who knows when. He had burn marks all over his skin at this point. He was naked, they had stripped him of all his clothing and had put a little towel over him for "modesty". Not that it mattered, by now his blood was covering him more than that towel.

"What the fuck type of leader are you?!"

The door swung open and there was the newbie gang leader. Oh god, the gang. He hoped somebody had warned them somehow and they weren't endanger. He did hear screams and cries when they door opened but they sounded like war cries.

"Go. Get. Help," He ordered, his order not rising above a whisper at this point. He was in so much pain, his vision was blurry and he was covered in sweat.

"Aww, somebody talked again," The man heated the blade up again and did it again, the pain in his ribs this time. He grunted, squeezing his eyes shut. His fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white,"Get the man, Alex."

His torture turned to Nike and pulled out a knife. He looked thrilled to have something to do.

Theo's unsteady gaze meant Nike's. He was definitely fighting unconsciousness and the pain he was in. Everywhere in his body hurt, every part of his skin burned where the knife had burned him. He was barely paying attention to anything around him, except Nike's eyes. They were kind of pretty.

He noticed something else in his vision. It looked like a gun. Was it a gun? My god, where did the man get a gun?

He could hear what they were saying but it was kind of a blur, sounding loud and distant in his ears. He didn't like how he couldn't hear. His ears had always been his tool to help him through anything. But then his ears got him in this situation to start with.

The sound of the gang in the background settled down or at least he couldn't hear them. He kept on staring at Nike. Why does the man have a gun.

"Uh Paul, girl-boy has a gun," Alex had frozen, turning to look at his partner.

A flash of red appeared behind Nike and put her hand on the man's shoulder. He couldn't tell what she said but her gaze was of absolute horror.

---------

The gang had finished taking care of the friends. They were now all tied up waiting for Theo. Alleya had decided to see if she could find him. She was very worried that he hadn't made an appearance yet. Theo was the first to know when something was off. Always.

She walked toward the gang leader's room and when she saw there was something that she had to wrap her head around. Nike was there, at the entrance of the room, holding a gun. When she got closer, she could see two more gang leaders and a man tied up looking like someone had just painted him in red paint. It took a moment to comprehend who that man was.

"Oh my god! Theo!" She gasped, her hand going to to Nike's shoulder to lean against the newbie to get a better look.

"Well two can play that game," One of the members said. He lit the blade of a knife, even with Nike holding a gun and then...he jabbed the dull end of it toward Theo's groin area. She looked away with an audible gasp and wince. That's what they had been doing to him, that's why he didn't come out to warn them. Theo made a groan but he didn't do much else.

"I said no talking," He lit it again and moved to place it on Theo's neck. Alleya looked up in horror and pulled the knife that she had used to cut her ropes. She didn't think anything but saving Theo. She threw the knife over Nicke's shoulder and then there was a massive scream. She had been aiming toward his hand, trying to stop him from torturing Theo but instead, her knife went through his chest, dangerously close to his heart.

"Garrett!" The other man that Nicke had at gunpoint screamed. His leg twitched like he was about to run to the man but thought better of it with the gun in perfect range. His eyes turned back to him and then pleaded,"Let me go save him! Let us go, we won't be here again! Promise!"

She looked at Nicke, now the choice was in his hands. She wouldn't know what to do in his situation, who to trust, but they didn't have long. She needed to get in there to save Theo and Garrett didn't have much time either. Garrett needed a hospital and the other man needed to get the fuck away from her gang leader.

She hadn't meant to aim in such a life-threatening spot. The man had just moved just right. In a way, she was kind of glad it did hit him. It caused the man to become less of a threat to them. Now he appeared helpless, begging Nicke for forgiveness.

This gang followed a no kills except when necessary rule so she hoped Niche didn't kill the trembling man. Hers had been accidental and definitely deemed necessary. The other man who had the knife wouldn't be necessary. He already looked at if he was going to pee his pants. He must care about the other guy, the guy that had been torturing Theo.

She stood still as Nicke stepped closer, looking rather threatening and as if he changed his mind. She let of a sigh of relief when Nicke said they could go. The man raced to his friend, feeling for a pulse and then grabbed him.

"Get him out of here...Alleya help Theo..."

She didn't even hear the rest. She ran to Theo's side, practically throwing herself at him in a giant hug. He was still conscious and was staring at them with wide frightful eyes. It was the first time she had seen any emotion on the man's face. She took the knife that the brute had been using to burn Theo and cut the rope that had him tied back, freeing him.

The other guy grabbed his friend and began to drag him out. The man didn't say anything but give a groan. He was only staying alive and conscious because the knife was still inside the wound and not pulled out. She knew that if it was pulled out, the guy wouldn't have any time at all to stay alive.

"Let's get you cleaned up," She whispered in a caring compassionate voice, moving to stand up and going to help him up. He groaned again, obviously fighting against going unconscious. He didn't look good at all. She almost had him up and walking but she couldn't support his weight. She ended up stumbling and hitting her head on the wall trying. He fell back down on the floor with another grunt.

"Nicke! I need your help!" She called. She looked at Theo and ripped a part of her shirt to press on a place that was still bleeding. Of course there were lots of spots still bleeding. She could barely recognize him underneath everything that was happening.

"Keep fighting it Theo, you're doing great. Stay with me now," She didn't want him to be knocked unconscious. Not before she could see exactly where he was hurt or if he was seriously hurt.

"Nicke!" She shouted for him again. Forget about the other gang members, they were no threat now. Theo was her main concern. They couldn't lose him.

She couldn't completely assess him and her mind went to the worst thoughts she could think of. She wasn't sure what was underneath the blood or how bad Theo was hurt. She wasn't skilled in medical stuff either, that was Theo's speciality.

She heard footsteps return and looked at Nike. They had to get him up somehow. Of course Nike wasn't the strongest member of the gang but it was the first person she had thought of to help her. The showers were more preferable so she could wash the blood off him but she knew that wasn't reasonable. They couldn't carry Theo to the nearest shower or stream or anything. So her main goal was to move him to a place a bit more comfortable.

Niche returned and started to try to lift Theo, clearly understanding that it was what she wanted. She had frozen for a little, her mind wondering over how this had happened. Theo wasn't helpless but now he appeared that way. She could feel his gaze on her but he didn't speak or anything. His eyes looked hazy, like he was in a trance or something.

"A little help wouldn't hurt."

She jumped at Nicke's voice, snapping out of her thoughts and rushing to help him. Theo weighed a ton but between the two of them, they were able to struggle together and get Theo on the bed. The man let out another noise that sounded like a cry to her but she couldn't be too sure. She had never heard Theo cry. But he was there, he was on the bed. She pulled back, huffing to catch her breath, casting a sidelong look at Nicke to find he was staring at the leader.

She followed his gaze and exclaimed,"Oh!" She wasn't embarrassed by seeing him like that. The gang was mostly consisting of guys, she had seen plenty of them in the nude. She reached for the towel right when Nicke did but pulled back to let him do it.

"I don't know much. I just know what infected wounds look like and deep wounds. I know that Peroxide saves lives," She shrugged, looking at Nike. The two were helpless but she hesitated on getting somebody else, she had a feeling that this moment was one that Theo wanted to remain quiet. She would get somebody if she found serious wounds.

She headed to the bathroom and grabbed a bucket that was with the medical supplies. She filled it up with water, theo had a rusty small sink in his own personal bathroom. Just a sink. The toilet was just a hole in the ground like everyone else. She filled it up with some water and grabbed some rags.

She returned and sat down on the corner of the bed. She had returned to hear what Nike said to the leader and to see him shake him. The leaders gaze became a bit more focused but not by much. It hurt her to see him like this.

"I'm going to try to help you feel better, just hang tight," She told him, reaching for his hand briefly. Whenever she touched it, she felt Theo squeeze her own. It was so light but she felt it. He was coming back to focus. Right now, that hand squeeze met the world to him.

She dipped the rag in the water and looked. She wasn't sure where to start so she just started to clean his chest off. There were so many burn marks but also bruises appearing on his skin. She looked at it and frowned. Did they try to beat Theo to death?

"You'll be okay," She promised, turning to glance at Nike. She didn't know what else to say. Everything was a bit much for her. Her own wrists were stained in her own blood and rope burn from fighting the rope but that meant nothing to her right now, seeing Theo the way he is.

"What did they do to you...." The more she cleaned, the more bruises and gashes she found upon his skin. Some were regular knife cuts, some were burns, and some were clearly made by hand-to-hand combat.