There Luna was, bound to an old creaky chair in a cold, leaking basement with barely anything in it except five cartel members. Plus a knife that lay atop a stool in front of her. She was breathing so hard that her chest was starting to hurt. All that running for nothing. She could run, but could never really escape the cartel. Luna started to accept the fact that maybe she deserved it after stealing everything this cartel had. She had asked for this fate. "You know why you're here," the man sat down on the stool in front of her after taking the knife and brushing the tip lightly against her jaw. Luna scoffed and shook her head hard to get away from the knife. "Don't you?" He tried to confirm with her in a deliberate tone.

Luna could only breathe. She wanted to take her eyes away from the man, but she was like a deer caught in headlights. "What is the weapon for?" Luna said with a painfully dry throat while trying to adjust herself under his gaze. "You'll find out after," he replied in a dead tone.

After a few seconds of silence, he stepped aside and revealed someone she never thought she’d see here. “Lucas?” Suddenly she felt a hand move over her mouth, her body struggling to move and letting out muffled screams. The man who was talking

to her, Jackson, cleared his throat and said loudly, “You see your girlfriend here, the only way she’ll be let free from our hold on her is if you can satisfy our long list of demands which I know you’re perfectly capable to meet.” 

Asshole, Luna thought to herself. She should have seen this coming, Jackson being the person he is. He continued talking and his words were irritating her.

“I expect your full compliance in this situation or she will meet her death in the next seven days. If she’s fortunate, I’ll give you some time to think about what you are willing to sacrifice for her. Then you’ll hear from us. Got it?”

Jackson stopped talking and the whole room stayed quiet. Meanwhile her boyfriend was getting pulled back by two other cartel members. She saw the desperate look on his face to save her, but she knew he couldn’t do anything. It was five against one, and she didn’t really think he was the fighting type.

There was a disgusting smirk on Jackson’s face as he slowly walked towards her, the knife shining in his hand. His eyes burned through the darkness then grew dull. He brought up the knife to her face. “It’ll hurt the first time.”

Luna’s eyes were stuck on the sharp blade, but the fear inside her grew incredibly strong, and her need to take a breath through the duct tape became too difficult. Her lungs seized up in anxiety, pulsing dots appearing in her sight.

She felt a cold hand on her collarbone. Then it gripped her shirt.

Everything went black.