Chapter 1 Just Another Misfortune.

"HELP!" I screamed in desperation. Again.

I've been trying to call for help for the last four hours. But I don't think there's anyone that can hear me now. I sighed and tried to climb out of the pit, but I only slid back down.

"Fuck!" I cursed under my breath. I slumped back down and looked at the sky... way above the opening of the pit.

Now, you might be asking: How did you even get there?

Well, my life- as I can remember it, has been a series of bad luck. To the extent that a day won't end without me tripping over something, missing a bus, and other events to name a few. Today's not an exemption; just more extreme than usual.

Long story short, I went on a camping trip organized by our class. Then, I tried looking for a phone service, which led me to be separated from the rest of my colleagues. I was too focused on finding a signal, and didn't notice a pit ahead.

And here I am.

I know, it's a stupid thing to try finding a phone service in the middle of the woods, but- come on! I grew up in a generation where checking the internet became stuck to our routine. Can you blame me?

I mean... if there's someone to blame, shouldn't it be my mother? If she hadn't given me my name, all this bad luck wouldn't happen to me in the first place!

Another sigh came out of my mouth as I smacked my forehead. "No... You're just really stupid."

I stopped for a second when a realization hit me. I looked up and let out a sarcastic laugh.

"And now you're talking to yourself!" Pathetic. I scoffed.

I shook my head and stood up again. No, this won't do. Someone might've noticed by now that I'm missing. I should just keep on shouting for help. Right?

Wrong.

Much more time has passed and I'm still here.

No food.

No water.

No nothing. Not even the cell phone service that I was trying to look for earlier. Even my voice left me. I'm alone to myself in complete silence.

I looked at the sky once again. It's almost pitch black outside, which lowers the chances that I could ever be found. Hell... I don't think anyone's gonna come for me anyway.

This day couldn't get any worse, right?

And once again, my misfortunes proved me wrong.

I started to chuckle as I soon felt drops of water on my face. Those little drops soon turned into a strong fall of rain. Muffling my cries and covering my tears.

I want to go. Anywhere but here.

"Help me... please..." I called out again. I don't think anyone would hear the faint sound of my voice, but I kept on hoping somebody would.

I could feel my eyes slowly shutting close. It may be due to exhaustion, or maybe I really am giving up. As I was about to lose consciousness, I saw it. A hand reached out to me as if a light had come to take me away from the darkness.

I held that hand. I held it tightly as the dark enveloped me.

When I woke up, darkness was the first thing that met my eyes. It felt like I'm in a void of emptiness.

I closed my eyes shut as I felt immense pain rushing to my head. I tried to sit up, but was confused when I realized that I'm laying down on a soft mattress. I looked around again and found myself in a dark room. It's not completely dark though. There were candles that lit up the place, but seeing the color black and red in almost every corner of the room only made it darker.

I scanned the room and my eyes landed on a guy who is casually leaning his back on a wall. When he noticed that I was looking at him, a smirk formed on his lips, "You're finally awake, damned woman."

At a loss for words, I kept retreating away from him. But that only made him walk closer.

"Who are you?" was the first question that came out when I finally found the courage to talk, "Where are we?"

He stopped walking when he reached the corner of the bed. I could feel my heart beating so loud. As if it's trying to pound out of my chest from the nervousness that I could feel right now.

"I should be the one asking questions. First of all... why are you in my bed?"

His bed?

I wasn't able to answer immediately. How could I if I don't know how I got here either?

The bed sunk at the part where he sat down. He looked at me again, and with his head tilted said, "Answer me, woman."

His voice was calm, but there's a certain coldness in it that made me shiver. I looked at his now more visible face because of the lighting and felt my heart skip a beat.

No!

How could I even think of that at a time like this?! Mallory, you're with a stranger for hell's sake! Not because he's good looking, you're going to keep your guard down.

I looked away from him, in hopes that I could distract my mind from what I saw.

"You're really not gonna talk?"

I shut my eyes. God... even his voice sounds attractive.

Nope! I'm not going to fall for attractive faces anymore. Especially in situations like these!

I tried to compose my words in my mind. I stood up and kept my head low, "I'm sorry. I'm just going to leave–"

I started walking towards the door, picking up my pace when he stood up. I said I was going to leave, why is he still following me?!

"I said I'm going to leave, okay?! Sorry for suddenly waking up in your room!"

"On my bed, specifically- Did I hear it right?"

"What?" I stopped to face him, and almost regretted it instantly. He was already in front of me... with a seriously confused look on his face.

He kept walking towards me, so I kept walking backwards. What is he trying to do?

"It's racing again." He whispered to himself. At this point, I'm starting to rethink how attractive he looked earlier. Right now, he's doing and saying very questionable things.

I saw his eyes land on my chest- on my chest?!

My mouth gaped at how bold he is. He's peeking at my chest right in front of me! The nerve?!

"Pervert!" I was about to slap his face but he caught it just in time. "Let go!"

He tightened his grip on my hand while he looked at me in a perplexed manner. "You're still alive?"

"Huh?"

His question caught me off guard. I was about to answer him when the door suddenly swung open. Six guys rushed in with the same baffled look on their faces.

"ALIVE?!"