I opened my eyes and experienced a stinging pain in the back of my head along with the color red shining in my eyes. What the hell? Am I bleeding? I raised up and groaned with the feeling of dizziness. I almost felt as if I had a hangover. Going over last night's events, I probably am on a hangover. I realized that it was the red walls that made me think that I was bleeding. At least I'm not bleeding. I didn't even have time to make it to my feet before someone entered the room. It was the man from last night who I had drinks with; one of the men who took part in kidnapping me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me, looking at me as if he honestly couldn't care less.

"Like shit... and I don't know if it was the M99 you used or the drinks that you bought me." I snapped, quickly reminding myself that I needed to be more polite. Because things got a lot worse for me the first time I was kidnapped and it was because of my snarky remarks.

"Well, I could have used hydrochloride. Would you rather have that? Because if you think you feel like shit right now..." he trailed off with a snide chuckle. I didn't say anything to him, I just gave him the most ill look I could pull of without him noticing.

"Look, let's just get this over with. The bathroom is right there. Take a bath, not a shower. Shadows likes his women extra clean. Here are your clothes, put them on and someone will be here to do your make up soon. Be quick about it." he told me before pointing at the bathroom door and turning on his heel to leave the room. I did just as he said, taking a quick bath and making sure that I was completely clean. I had a hard time cleaning my sore and scraped legs up because I didn't have anything to put on them. Damn, my clumsy ass! I dried myself off with the towel they provided for me and put on the dress they wanted me to wear. To be honest, it wasn't a dress that I wouldn't wear, but I didn't want to wear it for this 'Shadows' guy. I miss Michael. I bet he is looking everywhere for me, poor guy. I stood there awkward and bare foot in the middle of the room until a man I didn't recognize entered the room.

"Uh...These are your shoes and I'm supposed to do your make up....I don't know shit about make up, but we don't have anyone else to do it, so...." he trailed off, giving me a nervous look. He had black hair and bright green eyes, but he was a bit more chubby than the others. Though, this didn't mean that he couldn't be considered attractive.

"Don't you have another bitch in the house that can do it?" I asked, furrowing my brow. He looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

"Uh...no...they're all out dress shopping." he told me nervously.

"Dress shopping?! What kind of...Never mind, gimme those shoes." I said, reaching out. He reluctantly handed me the shoes and I quickly put them on. I didn't like going barefoot in strange places. I don't know what has been on these floors.

"No, I'm going to need a mirror. I can do my own make up, thank you." I told him, pulling the make up bag out of his hand. He looked pretty speechless, so he just turned around and left the room. A second later, he returned with a small, hand held mirror that I could use.

"Thank you." I told him, taking the mirror from him and sitting down in a corner to start on my make up. He stood there and gave me a confused stare for a second, and then he left again. I finished my make up in no time and then I stood up again, hoping to break in the new hills a bit before I had to walk in them for a long time.

"Come on, honey, let's go." 'Syn' said as he entered the room. He grabbed my arm and pulled me along side of him. His grip wasn't too tight, but it didn't seem too careful either. I didn't see anyone as we walked through the house... or mansion, should I say? It was empty as could be...maybe on purpose. Maybe I wasn't supposed to see anyone. Soon, we made it outside to the white limo and he pretty much pushed me into it.

"Look, you're a smart girl and I don't think I need to tell you this, but no funny business. If you try to escape or run away, you will be injured. No, that isn't a threat, that is a promise. But make sure you do everything you're told and do not curse in front of Shadows, he hates that." he explained to me as the car started to roll forward.

"And what if he doesn't like me? You'll just throw me in a room somewhere and let me die?"

"No...We'll just send you back to where you were in England. If Shadows doesn't want you, no one else will either." he told me with a cold glare.

"How can he just send me back? Isn't he afraid I'll tell?" I asked him in a smart-assed tone. He looked at me as if I was stupid and chuckled.

"Shadows isn't afraid of anything, honey... He could kill someone in front of the white house and get away with it. He has connections." he told me, looking out the window. It wasn't dark outside just yet, but it was getting there. Either that or the tinted windows made it seem that way. It took us a little bit longer to get there than I would like and there was an awkward silence in the car that made it even more uncomfortable.

"Okay, we're here. Do not talk to anyone as we go in, there will be pictures taken." he warned me as he opened the car door. He helped me out and put his arm around me, almost as if I was his date. I just went along with everything he did and smiled politely at everyone as I walked by. We entered the dark, tinted room and it was full of people. Everyone had alcoholic beverages and there were lots of good looking people and slutty looking women, barely clothed. I also noticed a stripper dancing on a pole. I went on to check the rest of the room out, but I was distracted by Syn's voice. Is he talking to me? I wondered...The music is so loud that I can't tell.

"THERE IS SHADOWS!" he repeated even louder, realizing that I hadn't heard him the first time.I looked over to where he was pointing. Shadows was sitting on a couch looking all bad ass with the stripper in front of him... I hadn't noticed him before because of the crowd of people in my way. He was very muscular with lots of tattoos and he wore aviator glasses. He looked very intimidating and very dangerous. I was afraid of what would happen when I met him. What if he is very violent towards me. I nodded at Syn and he took my hand, pulling me closer to where he was at.

"Look who decided to fuckin' show up!" Shadows said, noticing Syn's presence. Syn just shrugged and pushed me towards Shadows.

"Had to wrap your birthday present, that's all." he told him with a smirk. I looked back at Syn nervously and scared. He just gave me a shrug and smirked again.

"My birthday present, huh? I have tons of whores already." Shadows told him, eying me, head to toe. I felt very self conscious.

"Yeah, your birthday present from Johnny and I...And she isn't a whore, she's a lady. Her name is Halen." Shadows just chuckled at his reply.

"Yeah, they're all ladies until I get finished with them... Halen, huh? I like that...Like Van Halen?" he asked, finally looking directly at me. I nodded nervously. I guess I was even more nervous because I couldn't look at his eyes and see his reactions to things... His sunglasses were too dark. They made him seem even more distant and intimidating. Cold, even.

"Well, come here, sweetheart. Sit down." he told me, patting beside of him on the red, leather couch. I looked up to see Syn still standing there watching to make sure we got along good enough, I guess.

"What the hell happened to her knees?" he asked, looking at my bare knees. I looked down at them as well and frowned. I hadn't realized that they looked that bad.

"Uh...It wasn't my fault." he said, looking just a little scared.

"Well, I want you to get something on them! And who the hell did her make up?! She looks like she's a hundred fucking years old!" My face turned blood red and I couldn't look up at him.

"Zacky did her make up." Syn mumbled as he left the room, going to get something to put on my scrapes, I assume.

"You, clean that shit off her face. Zacky can't do fucking make up! Who's fuckin' idea was that?!" He had pointed at a Latino maid (I guess), and she left for a moment. No one answered his question, and I wasn't about to tell him that I did my own make up. I didn't think I looked that old.

"How old are you, sweetheart?" he asked me in a more polite voice.

"I'm 26." I said quietly, not looking up at him. He didn't say anything as Syn returned with some type of ointment that he gently applied to my knees.

"This is fucking stupid, it's not my fault she got too fucking drunk and fell!" Syn complained, giving me a glare.

"You were the one who bought me another drink!' I told him, immediately regretting saying anything. Shadows looked over at me quickly, I just couldn't read his expression for those damn glasses.

"Well, Synyster Gates, maybe you should be a little bit more careful with something that potentially belongs to me." Shadows snapped, looking down at Syn. He gave Shadows a glare, but didn't say anything as he got up and left our sight. Then, the Latino lady then stepped in and wiped some of the make up off of my face.

"hay. Bonita como una princesa." the lady mumbled as she left our sight as well.

"You look a lot better." he told me, then taking his attention away from me and back to his woman on the pole. I just watched her as well, not knowing what else to do, but also feeling awkward for being straight and staring at a naked woman as she danced in a suggestive manner. He tipped up his drink and drunk it straight down and someone immediately brought him another. I was just starting to get bored when he decided that he wanted to go greet some of his guests. I started getting a little shaky as he got up and took me by the hand. So, I guess I'm his date for tonight. He introduced me as Halen to a lot of people who I won't remember and really don't care about. I was getting sweaty and even a bit more shaky for some reason and finally, he realized what was going on.

"Here, drink this. It will calm you down." he told me a bit coldly, handing me a Martini, type drink. I downed it and handed the glass back to him. He sat it on a tray and looked back at me.

"Never do that again, I'm not the damned help around here."

"Oh...Sorry..." I apologized, looking down.

"It's okay, learn from your mistakes... And, usually we don't let girls get drunk when they're new, but I'll get you another drink to calm you down..." he said, grabbing some fruity looking drink off of another tray. I took it from him and started sipping on it. In another three hours of chatting to people and sipping on drinks, the party was near ending and Shadows told me that he was ready to just go to bed. He seemed a little disappointed or maybe upset about something. Is it me? Because if it is, he can just send me on back to London. I won't mind at all! He led me through elevators and hallways for a while before we finally made it to his room. Shit, I have to sleep with him too?!

"No birthday sex for me." he grumbled under his breath.

"Oh...I'm sorry. You could've had any of those girls, though. I could tell by the way they were hitting on you." I told him, almost forgetting who I was talking to.

"I know, I could have them even if they didn't want me... But that's not the point, the point is, that it would be an insult to Brian if you didn't come to bed with me. I could make you do anything, but I'm not going to, so don't press your luck, sweetheart." he told me, reminding me that he was in control and that I shouldn't be sorry because I would have to fuck him if he wanted me to.

"Oh." I said, looking away.

"Put one of my fucking shirts on." he told me as he laid down in the middle of his bed. I nodded and went over to his wardrobe and chose one of his band shirts to put on. It was a sleeveless Megadeath shirt.

"Where should I change?" I asked, holding the shirt in my arms.

"Uh, right there. You look like you have a good body, get over it and just change." he told me, looking slightly annoyed. I rolled my eyes, turning away from him and stripping out of my dress. I was left only in my panties and bra and I was about to put the t shirt on before he interrupted me.

"Turn around." he ordered me. My face turned blood red and I was starting to get sort of pissed off, but I guess that it's the least I can do for the poor guy, it is his birthday. So, I turned around slowly, still unable to look at him. Then, he took his sunglasses off. This sort of forced me to look at him. Wow, he isn't as ugly as I expected...but still an asshole! He watched me as I slowly put the t shirt on. He stood back up and undressed himself until he wore only his boxers. He quickly turned off the lamp and hopped in bed, covering himself up.

"So...I'm sleeping in bed with you?" I asked, making sure that he didn't expect me to sleep in the floor or something.

"Uh...yeah...that was the idea." he said in a 'duh' tone. I sighed and just stared for a moment, hesitating to get in the bed. It probably isn't even clean, he probably fucked a hundred girls in here.

"You can sleep in the floor if you want to...But the bed is clean, just so you know." he told me, giving me the courage I needed to climb in beside of him. I made sure not to get too close and I laid down with my back facing him.

"Just don't get too comfortable. Tomorrow will be different for you." he told me right before I dozed off...