Finally, after what seemed like forever, the song finished. I put my hands on his chest and pushed as hard as I could, but he didn’t let go, he just held me tighter, laughing.

“You know, you’re so beautiful, Princess,” he breathed in my ear.

“Please, you said one dance, please,” I begged, trying to squirm out of his hold.

“I’ve changed my mind. One’s not enough,” he purred, kissing my neck.

I gasped and pushed him again, panic washing over me as I squirmed, trying to get some distance between us. This time he dug his fingers into my sides roughly. Pain shot through me, making me cry out, but no one could hear because the music was still thumping around us.

“Please! Why are you doing this?” I cried, tears falling down my face.

He ran his tongue up my face, licking my tears away. “Mmm,” he breathed; it was almost a moan of appreciation. He slipped his hand under my dress and rubbed his fingers against my panties.

Immediately I clamped my legs together to try and stop his touch. “No! Please let me go. Jack!” I screamed, thrashing, trying desperately to get out of his hold. No one even batted an eyelid at us.

“Fine, let’s go find your precious Jack,” he sneered, pushing me roughly towards the stairs. I stumbled up the stairs as fast as my legs would carry me. My heart was in my throat the whole time. When I got to the top, my eyes settled on Jack; he was still being held against the wall by the same blond guy. As soon as he saw me, he started to struggle against the restraining hands.

“Let him go, please,” I begged, trying to get to him. I saw Carter nod his head and instantly the other guy let go. As soon as he was free, Jack grabbed me and pushed me behind him protectively.

“Whoa, easy there boy, no harm done,” Carter mused, sneering distastefully. “Although your girlfriend there is sexy as hell.” He looked me over slowly, licking his lips.

I cringed into Jack’s back, my skin crawling because of the way he was looking at me. Suddenly Jack launched himself at him, his fist connecting with Carter’s stomach. Carter doubled over with a groan and the two men he was with grabbed Jack again as he fought and struggled against their hands. I looked around for help, but no one was coming. Why was no one helping us? People weren’t paying even the slightest bit of attention to us as they drank, laughed and danced around us, not even looking in our direction as the music thumped and vibrated off the walls. My hands were shaking; my heart was beating way too fast. I already knew they were going to hurt him. All I could think was that he’d said we could leave, Carter had said we could go, so why did Jack have to do that?

“Please, please!” I screamed as one man held him and the other punched him over and over in the stomach. I grabbed at the one hitting him, trying to pull him away but Carter’s arms wrapped around me, lifting me off my feet and pulling me back a couple of paces.

“Door,” Carter barked angrily.

The blond guy nodded, and suddenly they were dragging Jack away. I jerked out of Carter’s grasp and ran after them, still crying and screaming hysterically. They dragged him through a fire door. As I reached to try and help him again, Carter grabbed hold of my arm roughly and slammed the door behind him so we were outside on some sort of fire escape. He threw me backwards, making me lose my footing and stumble into the wall. The side of my head connected with the rough bricks; the pain and shock of it made my vision cloudy. I could feel the slight trickle of blood down the side of my face. I squeezed my eyes closed, fighting against the pain that was making my legs weak.

I could hear Jack grunting and groaning, so I forced my eyes open against the blackness that was trying to engulf me. He was on the floor and they were taking turns kicking him; his face was covered in blood, his eyes desperate and scared.

I couldn’t breathe. This was like something out of a nightmare, a nightmare that I couldn’t escape from.

I needed to stop this – now. “What do you want? I’ve got money, I can get you money! Please?” I screamed. One of the guys pulled out a metal-looking thing like the police have; he snapped it out and started beating my already broken boyfriend with it. I heard the bones crack in his arm. “PLEASE STOP! I’ll do anything. PLEASE?” I screamed, gasping for breath. I crawled over to Jack and wrapped my arms around his broken body.

“Run,” he croaked, his voice barely above a whisper. He squeezed his eyes shut, his jaw clenching tightly as he groaned.

“Jack, please. You’re okay, it’s okay. I love you. Please,” I begged, sobbing against his bleeding face.

He winced and put his arm around me, digging his fingers into my back. “Run, Anna. Get away, please!”

Carter’s hands clamped around my upper arms, pulling me to my feet and away from Jack. The other two guys both bent and gripped Jack’s arms, pulling him up too. He screamed as they touched him. The sound of his pain made my legs feel weak. Carter wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck while Jack watched with a horrified expression on his face as he gasped for breath. Carter’s hand snaked up my side coming to rest on my breast, squeezing roughly. Before I knew it was going to happen, I bent over and was violently sick.

He laughed wickedly and pulled me back to him roughly, his chest pressing against my back. “I’m going to enjoy f**king your girlfriend and hearing her scream for you,” he said to Jack. Jack’s head snapped up, his eyes filled with hate and rage as he started struggling again even though he was probably in indescribable amounts of pain. The three guys laughed at him as he continued his futile struggle, shouting a string of expletives. “You have anything you want to say to your boyfriend?” Carter whispered in my ear.

Anything I want to say… Please let this be over, please just leave us so I can get some help. “I love you,” I croaked through my sobs.

“I love you too,” Jack whispered.

Carter nodded at his guys, and they lifted Jack off of his feet as if he weighed nothing at all. I tried to jerk forward but Carter had me pinned in place against him. I didn’t even get time to think about what was about to happen next, it all happened so fast that I could barely even comprehend it. The two guys carried Jack back a couple of feet and then threw him off the fire escape.

My heart stopped. Did they just throw him off the… No. No way. This had to be a dream; the worst dream I’d ever had in my life. I needed to wake up, I couldn’t take this. My ears registered his scream as it sounded for a couple of seconds during his fall. I heard a muffled thump and then all that was left was the echo of the music coming from the club behind me.

I couldn’t breathe. My heart was breaking into a million pieces as I replayed the last couple of seconds in my head. In my mind’s eye, I saw Jack’s face as the two guys’ hands left his body and he started falling. I’d never seen anyone look more terrified or helpless.

I threw off Carter’s hold and ran towards the railing, praying that he was somehow okay, praying that this was some kind of joke or dream and that I wasn’t going to see the love of my life when I looked down. I wasn’t that lucky though. As I leant over the railing and squinted through my tears, I saw the worst image I had ever seen in my life. Jack was sprawled out on the floor with a pool of blood seeping out underneath him. His arms and legs were at impossible angles; he wasn’t moving.

The pain in my heart doubled as my whole body seemed to go cold. We were three flights up; he wouldn’t have survived that after the beating he’d just sustained. The way he was lying there, motionless, I could tell there was no hope. He was gone.

I turned away quickly and was sick again. I was hyperventilating, struggling to draw breath as the image refused to leave my mind. My legs wouldn’t support me anymore, so I slumped into the pool of my own vomit. Silent tears fell down my face as my heart shattered into a million pieces.

The love of my life was dead. All our plans that we’d made would never happen. He'd died because of me. I’d wanted to come to this stupid club, and now he was dead. I hadn’t even had the chance to make love to him.

Black spots started to appear in my vision as I heard the rush of my blood pounding through my ears. I was going to pass out; I could feel the nothingness building inside me as my fingers and face started to tingle.

Jack was dead. He’d left me. I didn’t want to live – not without him. I couldn’t. The grief was crushing me.

I grabbed the railing and used the last of my strength to pull myself up onto my feet. I didn’t look down; I couldn’t see him like that again. I kept my eyes straight ahead as I swung my leg over the railing. Please let this kill me, I begged silently. Closing my eyes, I prepared to jump. My ears were ringing. I was numb. I let go of the railing and smiled because I wouldn’t have to feel this heartache any longer.

Just as the air stirred around me and I stepped into the nothingness, I felt something grab my waist.

“Whoa there, Princess. Now that’s just a waste.” I heard just before I passed out.

Chapter Two

~ Ashton Taylor ~

Sweat was running down my back as I stood there, straight as a poker, eyes front, hands down by my sides like I’d been taught. The blistering midday sun was beating down on me while I was decked out in full S.W.A.T uniform, including black, army style pants that have over a dozen pockets, black T-shirt, black tactical vest and jacket. They liked us to look good for these things.

“How long are they gonna make us stand here? I’m f**king dying!” Nate, my partner, hissed at me through his teeth.

“Not long now; Weston’s started to get hungry. See how he’s shifting in his seat? He’ll wrap this up soon and head straight for the buffet,” I whispered back jokingly. Nate grinned and glanced over at our commanding officer. As if on cue, Officer Weston rose to his feet. “Buffet table here we come,” I mumbled. Nate laughed next to me, quickly turning it into a cough when Officer Weston raised one eyebrow in warning.

“Attention, graduates. Training teams are going to be announced. For those of you that graduated top two in the class,” Officer Weston said, glancing at me and Nate proudly, “you will remain behind because you’ve already been assigned to departments.”