LX *NOT EDITED*

Karma

"Wake up" A male's voice calls out, one I've never heard before but it feels oddly familiar, I open my eyes and I'm laying in a field of tall purple flowers, the sweet smell of them fills my nose and I feel at ease, at peace... "Am I dead?" I ask more to myself as I look to the sky, it's bright blue, there's not a cloud in sight, the sun warms my body all the way to my bones, absolute perfection. "You need to wake up" The voice calls again, I sit myself up and look to where the sound is coming from, a shadowy figure stands in the distance waving at me, I squint to try and get a better look but it doesn't help so I begin walking to him "I am awake" I call back, where the fuck am I? What the fuck happened?

"You need to wake up baby" The voice becoming more clear, I catch a glimpse of the person causing me to stop in my tracks, this can't be real, "Dad?" I call out, the man smiles causing me to almost fall to my knees "Dad" I call again as I begin to run to him but no matter how fast I run I don't make any distance between us. "Wake up baby, I promise it will be okay, you just need to wake up" He pleads. "What do you mean?" I call out still trying my hardest to run to him, "You need to take care of your child! You need to get back home, you need to wake up! But don't let them know you're awake! I love you my Karma, I'm always with you" He replies and I'm even more confused than I was a minute ago, child? them?

He turns around and starts to walk into the dense forest, "What child? How do I get home? How do I wake up?" I call back as tears flow down my face but his figure disappears leaving me on my own, "Daddy" I call again but there's no answer, only the sound of birds singing to each other. I get light-headed and fall to my knees, gasping for breath, before completely falling to the ground.

My body jolts awake but I try to stay still remembering my father's words 'Don't let them know you're awake'. My head's thumping and my ears are ringing but I try my hardest to lay as still as possible, "When will she be awake? We have to start training as soon as possible, it's been two days I can't wait any longer" The voice questions, it's a man's voice, harsh with his words and a thick German accent. I panic, they got me before I could get them, fuck. "She should be waking up within the next few hours, give her a day before throwing her in the ring if you want any chance of her winning" Another man's voice replies, the ring? Training? What the fuck have they got planned.

I listen as footsteps walk away from me before hearing what sounds like a jail cell door closing and locking, I have to start thinking of a plan and I need to figure it out quick, I need to get home, I need to get back to Vincenzo. The footsteps disappear so I slowly open one eye and scan around the room, it's freezing down here. There's a tiny window that allows me to see if it's night or day, looks like it's either sunset or sunrise at the moment, there's a small wooden desk and chair in one corner with a radio on it. A small cut out in the wall that looks like it's connected to a tiny bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower. Next, I look to the bed I'm laying on it's a thin mattress, an even thinner pillow, and a shitty blanket on a very old metal bed frame, I go to roll onto my side and hiss in pain, my left arm feels like it's on fire as well as one of my ankles being shackled to the bed frame so tight it's almost cutting off all my circulation, I look at my arm and see it poorly wrapped up in bandages, I need to remember what happened.

I close my eyes and think as hard as I can, I remember waking up on the couch with Vin, Hades was nudging my leg so I went outside with him so he could go to the toilet, I sat down on the deck like I did every day and Hades went off to do his thing. Hades began barking at something, I got up and went to look, I got to the grass and the next thing I know I'm on the ground with a burning sensation in my arm. I called out to Hades and told him to go get dad knowing it wouldn't be long before Vincenzo came out to find me, I look to my arm again and watch as the blood begins to pour out before a figure catches my attention, dressed in camo to blend in with the forest surrounding the house and holding a gun with a silencer, he grabbed something out of his pocket and stabbed it into my neck before everything went back, that's all I remember.

I move my fingers on my left hand and notice my wedding rings gone, they've taken them from me, what else have they taken? Is Vin okay? Is my dog okay? Is everyone else okay? God, I won't be able to live with myself if anything happens to anyone else. They can torture me all they want but they can't touch anyone else. A wave of nausea hits and I use all my strength to roll onto my side so I don't choke to death, I throw up onto the floor before laying back on my back, my medication, what happens when I stop taking it? Are they going to pump me full of drugs and make me an addict again? A thousand and one things go through my mind but they all stop when I hear the cell door opening followed by high heels clicking on the concrete ground.

"Karma" The voice speaks and my blood runs fucking cold, "Lei-Diavolo" 'She-Devil' I mumble in reply. She scoff-laughs before walking towards me and slapping me across the face, "That's no way to speak to your mother" I gather all the saliva in my mouth before spitting it at her "That's no way to treat your child" I reply before looking up to the roof "Well maybe if you were as well behaved as your brother I wouldn't of had to do what I did" She replies and all I can do is laugh even though it hurts.

I look her in the eyes and smile, her face turns into confusion "Well behaved? If you believe that then you don't know your son from a pile of shit" I scoff, her face turns to anger as she sits down next to me pinning my shoulders down onto the bed "I know my son better than anyone else in this world" She hisses at me "If it weren't for the fact that you're going to be our most prized fighter I'd beat you black and blue right now". "You must not know him that well then, he's just as much as a junkie as I am" I reply, she tightens her grip and moves closer to my face, her skins full of wrinkles and grey hairs are scattered throughout her hair. "No, he's not, he's been fine every time I've seen him" She smirks, she must read the expression on my face so she continues to explain "He comes and sees me once a week, he's a good boy", of course he does, fucking traitor.

"Drug test him, and then come back and tell me how much of a good boy he is" I reply with a chuckle, she moves one hand off of my shoulder and puts it over my mouth "He's a good boy" She repeats and I take my chance and bite down on the palm of her hand as hard as I can, she screams in pain and I feel a chunk of her flesh break off into my mouth. She pulls her hand back and screams again when she sees the damage that's been done "You stupid little brat" She screeches using her other hand to punch my jaw, she is weak though, Arabella can hit harder than her. She walks to the radio and turns it on putting the volume up, causing the sound to echo around the room and down the hallway, she walks to me again stopping at the end of the bed staring blankly "I'll be sending Henry down here to deal with you, he missed you" She laughs again before walking to the door and slamming it shut behind her.

I spit the chunk of her palm out onto the floor next to me before another wave of nausea hits causing me to empty whatever's left in my stomach out, then my mind goes to Henry, that awful monster from St. Judes, the asshole that killed my child and my innocence. I need to be smart with how I act around him, I'm sure he wouldn't be afraid to do that shit again and I don't know if I'd ever be able to survive the hell that he would rain down on me. Within 5 minutes I hear the door open down the hall, allowing some light in from the room connected to it to brighten up my surroundings, heavy footsteps echo off the walls overpowering the music from the radio and my stomach drops, it's him, but he's not alone, I can hear more than one pair of footsteps.

I turn my head and look to the cell door and there he is, the man that took everything from me. He unlocks the door and opens it, what I assume is his guards come in first before he makes his way inside. The guards come straight to me and begin to unlock the shackles that are keeping me from leaving the bed I'm on, I panic, panic because I'm 99% sure I know what's about to happen, he's going to beat me and rape me again. As soon as the lock on my ankle is gone I start kicking, kicking as hard as I can, the guard tries to fight with me by attempting to pin my legs to the bed but Henry orders them to stop, catching me off guard. The other guard undoes the one around my wrist and I sit up instantly bringing my knees to my chest watching Henry intensely as he moves closer to me.

He sits on the edge of the bed and my heart begins to beat out of my chest, it's happening, and there's nothing I can do to stop it unless I want to die. "Feisty aren't you? You haven't changed a bit" He smirks reaching his hand out to touch my foot, as soon as his skin connects with mine I want to throw up. I move my foot away from him, he pauses before placing his hand back in his lap "You'll be happy to know I'm not here to hurt you, in fact, no ones here to hurt you. I mean why would we want to injure our best fighter?" He laughs, I stare at him, not saying a word, I won't give in to his mind games and I won't believe a word he says. "Actually, if you don't comply we will hurt you, so as long as you're a good girl you won't be punished, but damn I wish you will play up, I'd love to be inside you again".

I want to cry, memories flash through my head, no matter how hard I try to ignore them and push them away they just keep flashing by. I hear another pair of footsteps coming down the hall, a shadowy figure stands at the door silently, I imagine waiting for Henry's next command. "This is your doctor, he will do some tests so we can be sure you'll put on the best performance of your life in the ring, and if you don't, you won't be here to see another sunrise". I continue not to speak but I know my facial expressions are giving off a confused look, what does he mean by that? "Oh your mother didn't tell you?" He questions standing up from the bed and straightening out his suit "If you lose a fight, you die. It's fighting to the death darling. You kill your opponent or they kill you. Only one person leaves the ring breathing. So, you better put in your all, your mother told me you would be the best candidate to make money off, and I don't like losing money".

And with that, he walks out the door but the guards remain, he whispers something to the doctor who nods his head before walking over to me and sitting his bag down on the desk in the corner. He looks to the guards before scoffing "You two can leave, I'm sure she knows better than to try and escape this prison". The guards look at each other before walking out the door and down the hallway. The doctor waits until he can hear the sound of the door at the end of the hallway closing indicating were alone, just because Henry doesn't want to hurt me right now doesn't mean this man won't. He goes to the radio and turns it down so the music is only just hearable before giving me a soft smile and introducing himself "My names Dr. Hoffmann, but you may call me Leon", He takes a step towards me and my adrenaline kicks in causing me to get out of bed and into fight mode, he holds his hands up and shakes his head "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me too, I just want to do my job" Hexplains but I still don't trust him "Do you talk?" He asks taking a step towards me.

I take a step back and nod my head yes, "Can you tell me your name?" He asks again this time not moving, "You don't know how I am?" I question looking him up and down, what kind of shit show are they running here? He smiles at my answer "Ah, nice to hear your voice. And yes I know who you are but they never told me your name, they refer to you as satan, I'd like to call you by your actual name". I look him up and down and it doesn't look like he's carrying any weapons on him but looks can be deceiving "Karma" I reply slowly walking to the bed.

He chuckles as I sit down and I raise an eyebrow at him, "What's so funny?", "I like your name, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and assume that the old saying goes?" He laughs again "Yeah, Karmas a bitch". I don't know why but hearing him laughs calms me down, so I relax my body but I'm still in hawk mode watching him for any suspicious movements. He goes to his bag picking it up before coming to the bed and putting it in front of me. "They want some blood tests done and a pregnancy test, so, I need you to pee in a cup and let me take some samples of blood is that okay?" He asks digging into the bag and pulling out a plastic cup.

I nod my head and take the cup from him "Pee first and then we can do the blood samples", I go to the toilet and pee, I try not to look up because if I do I'm certain I'll be making eye contact with the Dr and I don't think either of us want that. After I'm done I rinse my hands under the water and hand it back to him, he puts the cup on the table and dips three small tests into it before laying them down flat and turning back to me. "You have any issues with needles?" He asks digging around his bag again, "No" I reply watching him pull out the things he needs. He scrunches up his face and shakes his head "Fuck all lighting in here, you'll have to come and sit near the window so I can find a vein".

I hesitantly stand up and walk to the window where a small amount of light is peaking in, he grabs onto my arm and positions it to where he needs it before looking for the vein, "You've gotta calm down or else this is going to hurt ten times worse". I try my hardest to relax my arm but everything in my body is telling me to fight and run, "I need you to trust me" He whispers as he puts the needle into my vein and begins to draw blood "Why should I trust you?" I basically scoff in his face. He doesn't respond until he's got everything he needs done "Because I know your husband, and I know how to get in contact with him" He replies, I say nothing, he could be chatting absolute shit to me. "You're lying" I reply as he puts the vials of blood into his bag.

"I've got no reason to lie, but I know you still don't believe me so I'll tell you something about myself, I have two children and a beautiful wife. My wife was at St Jude's with your husband's mother, and you" He begins and my brain can't comprehend what he's saying. "Henry and your mother told me the only way I could get her out and back into my arms was if I worked for them, so that's what I've been doing for the past 10 years. I can get my wife to contact your husband's mother, so he knows where you are, I can even relay messages to prove myself to you".

"Do you have a phone?" I ask watching as he stares at me with a frown on his face, he nods his head and pulls out the phone unlocking it and handing it to me, I stare at the screen saver on it, it's a picture of what I assume is his family, they all look so happy. "Your family?" I ask looking up to him, he nods, a sweet smile graces his face. I open the voice memo app and clear my throat "Amore mio, prenditi cura di Ade e di te stesso. Ascolta la moglie di Leon, non prendere d'assalto l'edificio in cui mi trovo, penso che le loro persone innocenti qui dentro con me. Vogliono che io combatta, quando saprò dove si trova l'anello passerò le informazioni. dona il mio amore a tutti gli altri. ti amo mio caro marito, male ci vediamo presto", "My love, take care of Hades and yourself. Listen to Leon's wife, do not storm the building I'm in I think theirs innocent people in here with me. They want me to fight, when I know where the ring is I will pass the information on. Give my love to everyone else. I love you, my dear husband, I'll see you soon".

"Pass that message onto him, if he replies I'll believe you, but I want to hear his voice, not a relayed message from you. And if he doesn't reply, I will rip you limb from limb and die trying to take everyone else out including your wife and children, innocent or not", I watch as he nervously nods his head before taking the phone from me putting it back in his pocket "Well Dr you have just made a deed with the devil herself, I hope for your sake that you keep up your end of the bargain" I smirk watching him as he becomes even more uncomfortable. "I told you to call me Leon, I will pass the message to my wife and let her figure out the rest out" He replies but it's not good enough, "I want a response within 24 hours, if no response say bye-bye to your life as you know it" I warn, he nods his head and takes a deep breath "Now, let's finish these tests up I'm sure you want to rest".

He stops talking as he walks to the desk and examines the strips "Negative, negative.... positive" He trails off before turning to me, "How far along in your pregnancy are you?" He questions, all I can do is laugh at him, he looks shocked "you're fucking with me right?" I reply but he just shakes his head no.

"You're fucking with me... Right?"