After

Chapter 7

"So you have made no progress?" Ally asks, obviously infuriated.

"Nothing major." Detective Williams responds.

"It's been a week and a half!" Dinah interrupts, "Are you even trying? Every time we come here you are either talking on the phone to your stupid friends, off on another three hour long break, or staring at your computer half asleep. You literally do nothing!" Dinah continues to yell at him as she grows angrier and angrier. Her voice grows louder as her passion grows stronger. Ally and Normani have to drag her away from the station as Camila calls an uber. "No! Let me talk to him or his chief or someone! This man needs to try and find her or else nobody will be able to!" Dinah attempts to run back into the police department, but Normani blocks her path and practically drags her into their uber.

They get back to the apartment and open the door. Once they enter, they notice a figure sitting on the couch. Suddenly the person stands up and faces them. She looks to be about their age; she has curly blonde hair with beautiful blue eyes and looks to be in peak physical condition. She slowly puts her hands up and gives them a nervous smile, "I'm here to help... I know about Lauren."

Normani steps forwards, "How do we know we can trust you?"

"I am a private investigator who happens to be a fan of yours. Here's my card-" She pulls out her wallet and hands Normani a card with her name on it, "Just call me AJ. Anyways, the first number on the back of the card in mine, the next few are the numbers of some of my previous clients. You can call any of them to ask about me and my work." She slowly walks towards the door, "I will leave for now, talk it over with each other if you would like my help." And with that, she exits the apartment.

The girls stand in the middle of the room in shock. Normani pulls out her phone and calls the second number on it. She talks to the person on the phone for a few minutes and then hangs up. She calls two more people and gets the same outcome. Supposedly, AJ is one of the best private investigators out there. She has a loving personality and big heart. But they still aren't sure if they can trust her. How did she find out about Lauren in the first place? How did she even get into their apartment?

"Don't freaking touch me again!" Brad yells.

"No! No! Stop it, please!" James screams immediately afterwards.

All four of them laugh at their impersonation of Lauren who is currently watching them from her cage. About twenty minutes ago, they had decided to bring her upstairs to the den but they didn't want her to be able to roam free. They decided to just carry her in the cage upstairs. It took about ten minutes to get up the stairs because whenever they got frustrated, they would push the cage back down the stairs with her in it. They did eventually make it upstairs though. She doesn't think she will ever be able to grow used to being in this amount of pain.

She hasn't been able to clean herself or change clothes for a while and she feels completely disgusting. There is blood everywhere; her stomach, face, back, arms, legs, and clothes. Even the cage she is in is stained red. Connor brings her a bottle of water and opens it for her. She assumes he's the one who came into her room each day to give her water and tell her the time. At least one of them is making sure she stays alive.

Her thoughts are interrupted by someone opening the cage door. Brad pulls her out and throws her to the ground as she groans. Her dark hair covers her face but Brad quickly sweeps it away. He still hasn't grown tired of seeing her reaction to pain and she doesn't think he ever will. Her life just seems like a constant rotation of abuse now. She knows where it began, but she doesn't know when it will ever end. She doesn't know if it will ever end. She just desperately hopes that it will. A foot meets her stomach and a wail escapes her lips. He kicks her more until her eyes close and she gives in to the darkness that has begun surrounding her.