Fic : Demons Part 9
Title: When Demons Come a Calling - Part 9
Author: Kimmi
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Catherine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I only wished I owned Sara and Catherine. Unfortunately CBS does, I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: When Sara’s past comes back to haunt her it arrives with a vengeance.
Spoilers: Up to Nesting Dolls, after that it takes a sharp left turn.
Authors Notes: This is dark, full of angst and deals with themes of rape and torture, although I don’t think I got too graphic. I also do not have a beta so there will be errors.
Extra warning : I’m a sick twisted puppy. This is where the torture begins.
Chapters | 1 | 2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Part 9
Sara was mentally kicking herself. How fucking stupid could she be? Sure she had checked the peep hole in the door. Sure she’d recognized the cop Brass had sent home with her, but she still should have thought twice about opening the door. If she just hadn’t had that forth beer or had noticed the look of fear in the officer’s eyes. If she had fought back harder, forget the fact he had the uniform’s gun. Hell, if she had just taken her own gun with her to the door. If if if. She hadn’t and now she was in deep shit.
The second she had opened the door Thomas had appeared from behind the cop and kicked her. The force of the blow had sent Sara flying backward and her head had impacted the floor, hard. She had remained conscious, although she wished that she hadn’t. She’d only been able to watch through a painful haze as Michael had slit the man’s throat, she didn’t even know his name because she had been to upset to even bother to ask. She would never forget the frightened and pleading look on his face though as he grabbed his neck, trying to keep his life from spraying all over her walls. Something else to haunt her dreams, provided she survived.
Sara was just glad she had insisted that Catherine take a uniform with her. The last thing she needed was more guilt over getting someone else hurt or killed, especially the blonde. It wasn’t even the fact that she had meant what she said about caring about the older woman. It was because Catherine had a child, a daughter that no longer had a father. She still felt incredibly guilty about not being able to find Eddie’s murderer, but if that little girl was made an orphan because of her… there was no way she would be able to live with herself.
The thought that she probably wouldn’t live long enough to find out, much less feel guilty, entered her mind even though she tried to keep it at bay. She was strapped to a cot in a cold little room with no windows and no way out. The single door was bolted from the outside with a heavy steel bar. Even if she could get herself free of her bindings, there was no way she could get out of the room.
What she hadn’t figured out yet was why he hadn’t even touched her yet. He had left her alone in her tiny cell for what had to be hours. When he’d all he had done was stroke her cheek. He had been gentle, reverent even. It scared the hell out of her. She had expected to be dragged into her bedroom, raped and murdered. This strange turn of events had thrown her and left her completely unbalanced, she didn’t know what to expect next.
Sara jumped as much as her bonds would allow as the thick metal door was thrown open to reveal Thomas. She felt her heart speed up at the insane glint in his dark eyes as he slowly came toward her. This was it. Now she was going to be raped and killed. He had brought her here just so he could take his time. Well even with her hands tied she wasn’t going to go quietly
Michael gazed down at Sara. He could see the fear in her eyes but there was a core of iron there as well. She was glaring back at him, challenging him despite her fear. He knew that once she was completely his they would be unstoppable.
Sara held her breath as Thomas sat down on the tiny cot next to her, hands in his lap. He hadn’t spoken a word to her since he had dragged her out her front door. She had expected him to rant and rave, to tell her in detail what he was going to do, but he had been quiet thus far. His silence only made her that much more frightened of him.
“I’m sorry I was gone so long my dear Sara but I had to pick up a very important package.” He reached out and ran his hand through her hair, fanning it out on the thin dirty pillow. He chose to ignore the way she recoiled from his touch, she would learn to accept him soon. “You have questions. I can see them in those beautifully expressive eyes of yours.”
Sara did indeed have questions but she was loath to ask them lest they provoke him. She wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
He waited for a minute until it was obvious that she wouldn’t speak. She was the strong silent type, so dark and enigmatic; it was one of the first things that had drawn him to her. “You are wondering why you are still alive, why you are untouched. If I had escaped from prison five years ago I would have claimed you and you would have died. But I understand so much better now. It took me many years to figure it out why you were allowed to live.
It came to me one night in a dream, a vision. I was never meant to kill you. I was meant to help you realize your full potential. You see we’re the same you and me, two sides of the same coin. You just need a little push in the right direction. I started you on the path and now it’s time for you to complete your journey.”
“The same?” Sara spit at him, too surprised and repulsed to keep her tongue. “You’re a murderer and a rapist. I am nothing like you; I put people like you away.”
“You say that now but trust me. By the time I’m finished, you will not only be like me, you will *be* me my love. I grew up in a house just like yours. Almost a day didn’t go by that I didn’t feel my father’s hatred, usually in the form of his fists beating me black and blue. I’d had six broken bones before I even started kindergarten. I often went hungry because he told me I didn’t deserve food. Of course my mother was no better. She would just watch as he hit me. But then one night he killed my mother, beat her to death. She was weak, unlike your mother. Do you remember what the knife looked like as she plunged it into him over and over? Do you remember the way the blood looked on the walls, on your clothes, on your skin? Do you remember how it smelled?” Thomas asked her eagerly. All his information was second hand, he wanted to hear it directly from her, every little detail. He wanted to absorb it, make it a part of himself, just like he wanted to do with her.
“How do you know about my parents?” Sara’s voice sounded small to her ears as she recalled her question to Grissom the night she got suspended. ‘Do you think there’s a murder gene?’ He had of course assured her that there wasn’t but here was this monster telling her that they had the same upbringing. She shook her head vehemently trying to deny that they were anything alike. They couldn’t be.
Michael pushed a lock of stray hair out of her face. He knew she hated it when it fell into her eyes. “I followed you for much longer than the others you know. You were the first to get my attention but I waited to take you because you intrigued me. You tried so hard to fit in, to be just like the rest of the sheep but you stood out like a cut diamond surrounded by dirt.
I broke into the Registrar’s office and made a copy of your file, found out where you were from. I visited your hometown, talked to people, went to the library and dug up old newspaper articles. I managed to get a copy of the trial transcript from the Modesto Courthouse and then I went to see your mother.” He could see the disbelief in her eyes. He didn’t blame her. She was only beginning to find out just how important to him she was, how special she had been to him even before he knew why. “She was still quite angry at you and very very bitter. She really didn’t have nice things to say. She talked about you the way my mother used to talk about me.”
It was surreal. He was talking as if they were having a leisurely conversation about the weather or the next big blockbuster coming out. It was hard for Sara to comprehend just how much this man knew about her, the lengths he had gone through. She didn’t know what to say or even if there was anything to say. How could someone she had never even seen before the night he had raped her fixate on her so completely?
“You’re very intelligent Sara, so I want you to answer a question for me. How long can a person go with food, water and oxygen?” Michael asked sweetly. He of course already knew the answer but he wanted to see if she would tell him the truth.
Sara thought about not answering but figured she should try to keep him calm for as long as possible, hopefully she could give the lab more time to find her before he killed her. “Three weeks without food, three days without water and three minutes without air as a general rule.”
She was putting on a brave face for him, he could tell. She was scared but she was trying to hide it. He felt a welling of pride that she had such spirit and he couldn’t wait to twist it, pull it and reshape it. “Well let’s start with air shall we?”
He moved so quickly that she didn’t even have time to blink before he was squeezing her neck so hard she though her head might pop off. She wanted to struggle, fight back, but could only move a few inches. She wanted to scream but the only sound that escaped was a sick, wet gurgle. The pain made the seconds stretch into hours until at last she had to close her eyes. The feel of his large hands around her throat, the burning in her lungs and pounding of her blood through her veins were the last things Sara felt before darkness claimed her. She really didn’t want to die.
I’m not dead, was the first thing her mind grasped as consciousness returned. The meager light in the room nearly blinded her as Sara opened her eyes. She wished she hadn’t as she saw her captor smiling down at her.
“Now wasn’t that fun?” Her struggles had sent happy happy joy joy feelings through him. “You know the look on your face reminded me of the time we spent together all those years ago. I wish we could have a repeat performance but unfortunately that’s not part of the program.”
Sara tried to take several deep breaths even though the pain in her throat was excruciating. She didn’t know if he was going to repeat the process. The strip strangler had choked his victims over and over before finally killing them. She wondered for a brief second how many times a person could be denied oxygen to the point of passing out before brain damage began to occur.
Michael watched as Sara struggled to breathe. There was such a heady feeling of power in taking someone to the very edge of death and then bringing them back. It was almost as good as pushing them over that cliff and watching the light dim as it was snuffed permanently from their eyes. He would have to repeat this little exercise later but for now he had other plans. He smiled down at her and raised his hand over his head.
Sara knew what was coming and tried to brace herself as Thomas’ fist went up. She was a little surprised though that the blown landed to her mid-section instead of her face but the pain was exactly what she had expected. She tried not to scream but as each blow landed the pain increased until she couldn’t hold back.
She didn’t know how long the beating went on, she wasn’t even sure when it stopped, all she knew was that when she finally forced herself to open her eyes she was alone once again. The attack had been brutal but for some reason he had avoided her head. Sara tried to take stock of her injuries moving as much as her restraints would allow. She didn’t think he had broken any bones but her entire body felt as if she had been hit by a truck, backed over and hit again. The brunette wished she could just pass out.
***
The second the screaming started Catherine began to cry. They were bloodcurdling and filled with so much pain, she was sure they would haunt her for the rest of her life. She knew without a doubt who it was and the longer it went on the harder the tears fell. She didn’t know exactly what Michael Thomas was doing to Sara but she knew it had to be horrible. The most she had ever heard out of the brunette when she was injured was a grunt and some light swearing, for her to scream that way the lanky woman must be in unimaginable agony.
She had no real concept of time as she lay there. The only other sounds besides Sara’s cries were her own body-wracking sobs. During her years as a CSI Cath had seen so many of the horrible things one human being could inflict upon another, but she’d never had a front row seat to it. She wasn’t even sure if the monster that had them was actually human any more.
Catherine felt a knife-like fear cut through her heart as the screams stopped. She didn’t know what was worse, the screams or the lack of them. The silence could mean Thomas had stopped whatever it was he had been doing to hurt the brunette or it could mean that nothing else would ever be able to harm her again. That thought brought on a new torrent of tears. She could only hope that the younger woman was still alive even if it meant that she would most likely suffer further at the hands of this madman. Bones healed and emotional traumas could be dealt with, there was no cure for death. The sound of a key turning in the lock of her prison door snapped Catherine into focus.
Michael looked down at the reclining beauty. She really was nearly perfect. A few flaws here and there due to the passage of time but he thought it only made her all the more alluring. Her body was still in excellent shape, no doubt from her time spent as a dancer. He could understand why she had captured his Sara’s interest. Their exchange in the parking lot had been very enlightening for him. Having ensconced himself nearby, he had heard everything. The passionate way they spoke to each other, the way they stood so close, they way Sara had held her had told him that the blonde was exactly the one he needed.
He released the straps holding her down and checked to make sure she hadn’t damaged her wrists. He didn’t want her marred; she needed to be pristine for Sara. “I thought you might be hungry and thirsty.”
Catherine sat up slowly and glanced down at the end of the bunk at the plain brown paper bag. She had seen it when he entered the room but assumed that no matter what he had said before she was about to find out exactly what he had done to Sara. She watched as he pulled out a jug of water from another bag. She was in fact extremely hungry and her throat felt she had been walking in the desert for days, in July. She trusted this guy about as far as she could throw him but she needed to keep up her strength.
She grabbed for the water first, needing to sooth her dry throat. Opening the bag next she saw an egg salad sandwich from the very same deli she had been walking to when Thomas had grabbed her. He certainly seemed to have a twisted sense of humor. As she chewed quickly Catherine kept a nervous eye on the man as he moved back to the door. She wondered if that was going to be it, if he was just going to leave her alone again. Her hopes were dashed as he came right back in with a large plastic bucket.
“There are no facilities in here and I’m not going to come running every time you need to go.” Michael informed the blonde as he followed her gaze. Normally he wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if she soiled herself but he wanted her to stay as immaculate as possible given the accommodations. “I’m going to leave you untied, there’s no way out of here. You might as well be comfortable while you wait.”
“I want to see Sara.” Catherine said around a bite of food. She needed to see for herself that the brunette was still alive even though she was afraid of what shape she might find her in.
“Oh no it’s much too soon, we’ve only just started. She’s no where near ready for that and I want it to be a surprise. You should feel very honored though. You’re going to be her first.” Michael could see confusion cloud the blonde’s face. He thought about not elaborating but just couldn’t contain himself. Didn’t all parents who loved their children enjoy bragging about them? And he felt like he was Sara’s father, after all he was going to be responsible for her rebirth.
“She will be my crowning achievement and you will be the final piece of the puzzle in her evolution. She just needs a little push, a tiny shove to become what she was always meant to be. Oh my beautiful Sara. When I’m finished creating her she will be like nothing this world has ever seen. I will remake her in my image but she will be better than me. Who would suspect her? Who would be afraid of her until it is too late? She will strike terror in her victims unlike any before because until the moment she strikes they will believe themselves safe. She will be perfection. My perfection.”
He was clearly insane. Catherine had known that before but it was different when you could see it and hear it. He thought he could turn Sara into a rapist? A murderer? No. No way. Not Sara, she was too good a person. She was almost noble in her pursuit of justice for the victims’ sake. There was no way he could break her like that. She refused to believe it could happen, that the brunette would allow it to happen.
“You should get some rest. You’re going to need your strength and I don’t want you to have bags under your eyes when Sara sees you. Now be a good girl and finish your dinner. I’ll check on you tomorrow and bring you something else to eat. I have to get back to my work.” He reached out and gently stroking her cheek before quickly leaving the room.
Catherine could only watch him leave the room, his conversational tone creeped her out as much as his touch made her skin crawl. She hadn’t expected him to let her see the brunette but she was disappointed none the less. Her mind had been running circles around itself thinking of every conceivable torture Sara might be going through. She needed to get out of there, get them some help, before it was too late.
TBC
Author: Kimmi
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Catherine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I only wished I owned Sara and Catherine. Unfortunately CBS does, I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: When Sara’s past comes back to haunt her it arrives with a vengeance.
Spoilers: Up to Nesting Dolls, after that it takes a sharp left turn.
Authors Notes: This is dark, full of angst and deals with themes of rape and torture, although I don’t think I got too graphic. I also do not have a beta so there will be errors.
Extra warning : I’m a sick twisted puppy. This is where the torture begins.
Chapters | 1 | 2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Part 9
Sara was mentally kicking herself. How fucking stupid could she be? Sure she had checked the peep hole in the door. Sure she’d recognized the cop Brass had sent home with her, but she still should have thought twice about opening the door. If she just hadn’t had that forth beer or had noticed the look of fear in the officer’s eyes. If she had fought back harder, forget the fact he had the uniform’s gun. Hell, if she had just taken her own gun with her to the door. If if if. She hadn’t and now she was in deep shit.
The second she had opened the door Thomas had appeared from behind the cop and kicked her. The force of the blow had sent Sara flying backward and her head had impacted the floor, hard. She had remained conscious, although she wished that she hadn’t. She’d only been able to watch through a painful haze as Michael had slit the man’s throat, she didn’t even know his name because she had been to upset to even bother to ask. She would never forget the frightened and pleading look on his face though as he grabbed his neck, trying to keep his life from spraying all over her walls. Something else to haunt her dreams, provided she survived.
Sara was just glad she had insisted that Catherine take a uniform with her. The last thing she needed was more guilt over getting someone else hurt or killed, especially the blonde. It wasn’t even the fact that she had meant what she said about caring about the older woman. It was because Catherine had a child, a daughter that no longer had a father. She still felt incredibly guilty about not being able to find Eddie’s murderer, but if that little girl was made an orphan because of her… there was no way she would be able to live with herself.
The thought that she probably wouldn’t live long enough to find out, much less feel guilty, entered her mind even though she tried to keep it at bay. She was strapped to a cot in a cold little room with no windows and no way out. The single door was bolted from the outside with a heavy steel bar. Even if she could get herself free of her bindings, there was no way she could get out of the room.
What she hadn’t figured out yet was why he hadn’t even touched her yet. He had left her alone in her tiny cell for what had to be hours. When he’d all he had done was stroke her cheek. He had been gentle, reverent even. It scared the hell out of her. She had expected to be dragged into her bedroom, raped and murdered. This strange turn of events had thrown her and left her completely unbalanced, she didn’t know what to expect next.
Sara jumped as much as her bonds would allow as the thick metal door was thrown open to reveal Thomas. She felt her heart speed up at the insane glint in his dark eyes as he slowly came toward her. This was it. Now she was going to be raped and killed. He had brought her here just so he could take his time. Well even with her hands tied she wasn’t going to go quietly
Michael gazed down at Sara. He could see the fear in her eyes but there was a core of iron there as well. She was glaring back at him, challenging him despite her fear. He knew that once she was completely his they would be unstoppable.
Sara held her breath as Thomas sat down on the tiny cot next to her, hands in his lap. He hadn’t spoken a word to her since he had dragged her out her front door. She had expected him to rant and rave, to tell her in detail what he was going to do, but he had been quiet thus far. His silence only made her that much more frightened of him.
“I’m sorry I was gone so long my dear Sara but I had to pick up a very important package.” He reached out and ran his hand through her hair, fanning it out on the thin dirty pillow. He chose to ignore the way she recoiled from his touch, she would learn to accept him soon. “You have questions. I can see them in those beautifully expressive eyes of yours.”
Sara did indeed have questions but she was loath to ask them lest they provoke him. She wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
He waited for a minute until it was obvious that she wouldn’t speak. She was the strong silent type, so dark and enigmatic; it was one of the first things that had drawn him to her. “You are wondering why you are still alive, why you are untouched. If I had escaped from prison five years ago I would have claimed you and you would have died. But I understand so much better now. It took me many years to figure it out why you were allowed to live.
It came to me one night in a dream, a vision. I was never meant to kill you. I was meant to help you realize your full potential. You see we’re the same you and me, two sides of the same coin. You just need a little push in the right direction. I started you on the path and now it’s time for you to complete your journey.”
“The same?” Sara spit at him, too surprised and repulsed to keep her tongue. “You’re a murderer and a rapist. I am nothing like you; I put people like you away.”
“You say that now but trust me. By the time I’m finished, you will not only be like me, you will *be* me my love. I grew up in a house just like yours. Almost a day didn’t go by that I didn’t feel my father’s hatred, usually in the form of his fists beating me black and blue. I’d had six broken bones before I even started kindergarten. I often went hungry because he told me I didn’t deserve food. Of course my mother was no better. She would just watch as he hit me. But then one night he killed my mother, beat her to death. She was weak, unlike your mother. Do you remember what the knife looked like as she plunged it into him over and over? Do you remember the way the blood looked on the walls, on your clothes, on your skin? Do you remember how it smelled?” Thomas asked her eagerly. All his information was second hand, he wanted to hear it directly from her, every little detail. He wanted to absorb it, make it a part of himself, just like he wanted to do with her.
“How do you know about my parents?” Sara’s voice sounded small to her ears as she recalled her question to Grissom the night she got suspended. ‘Do you think there’s a murder gene?’ He had of course assured her that there wasn’t but here was this monster telling her that they had the same upbringing. She shook her head vehemently trying to deny that they were anything alike. They couldn’t be.
Michael pushed a lock of stray hair out of her face. He knew she hated it when it fell into her eyes. “I followed you for much longer than the others you know. You were the first to get my attention but I waited to take you because you intrigued me. You tried so hard to fit in, to be just like the rest of the sheep but you stood out like a cut diamond surrounded by dirt.
I broke into the Registrar’s office and made a copy of your file, found out where you were from. I visited your hometown, talked to people, went to the library and dug up old newspaper articles. I managed to get a copy of the trial transcript from the Modesto Courthouse and then I went to see your mother.” He could see the disbelief in her eyes. He didn’t blame her. She was only beginning to find out just how important to him she was, how special she had been to him even before he knew why. “She was still quite angry at you and very very bitter. She really didn’t have nice things to say. She talked about you the way my mother used to talk about me.”
It was surreal. He was talking as if they were having a leisurely conversation about the weather or the next big blockbuster coming out. It was hard for Sara to comprehend just how much this man knew about her, the lengths he had gone through. She didn’t know what to say or even if there was anything to say. How could someone she had never even seen before the night he had raped her fixate on her so completely?
“You’re very intelligent Sara, so I want you to answer a question for me. How long can a person go with food, water and oxygen?” Michael asked sweetly. He of course already knew the answer but he wanted to see if she would tell him the truth.
Sara thought about not answering but figured she should try to keep him calm for as long as possible, hopefully she could give the lab more time to find her before he killed her. “Three weeks without food, three days without water and three minutes without air as a general rule.”
She was putting on a brave face for him, he could tell. She was scared but she was trying to hide it. He felt a welling of pride that she had such spirit and he couldn’t wait to twist it, pull it and reshape it. “Well let’s start with air shall we?”
He moved so quickly that she didn’t even have time to blink before he was squeezing her neck so hard she though her head might pop off. She wanted to struggle, fight back, but could only move a few inches. She wanted to scream but the only sound that escaped was a sick, wet gurgle. The pain made the seconds stretch into hours until at last she had to close her eyes. The feel of his large hands around her throat, the burning in her lungs and pounding of her blood through her veins were the last things Sara felt before darkness claimed her. She really didn’t want to die.
I’m not dead, was the first thing her mind grasped as consciousness returned. The meager light in the room nearly blinded her as Sara opened her eyes. She wished she hadn’t as she saw her captor smiling down at her.
“Now wasn’t that fun?” Her struggles had sent happy happy joy joy feelings through him. “You know the look on your face reminded me of the time we spent together all those years ago. I wish we could have a repeat performance but unfortunately that’s not part of the program.”
Sara tried to take several deep breaths even though the pain in her throat was excruciating. She didn’t know if he was going to repeat the process. The strip strangler had choked his victims over and over before finally killing them. She wondered for a brief second how many times a person could be denied oxygen to the point of passing out before brain damage began to occur.
Michael watched as Sara struggled to breathe. There was such a heady feeling of power in taking someone to the very edge of death and then bringing them back. It was almost as good as pushing them over that cliff and watching the light dim as it was snuffed permanently from their eyes. He would have to repeat this little exercise later but for now he had other plans. He smiled down at her and raised his hand over his head.
Sara knew what was coming and tried to brace herself as Thomas’ fist went up. She was a little surprised though that the blown landed to her mid-section instead of her face but the pain was exactly what she had expected. She tried not to scream but as each blow landed the pain increased until she couldn’t hold back.
She didn’t know how long the beating went on, she wasn’t even sure when it stopped, all she knew was that when she finally forced herself to open her eyes she was alone once again. The attack had been brutal but for some reason he had avoided her head. Sara tried to take stock of her injuries moving as much as her restraints would allow. She didn’t think he had broken any bones but her entire body felt as if she had been hit by a truck, backed over and hit again. The brunette wished she could just pass out.
***
The second the screaming started Catherine began to cry. They were bloodcurdling and filled with so much pain, she was sure they would haunt her for the rest of her life. She knew without a doubt who it was and the longer it went on the harder the tears fell. She didn’t know exactly what Michael Thomas was doing to Sara but she knew it had to be horrible. The most she had ever heard out of the brunette when she was injured was a grunt and some light swearing, for her to scream that way the lanky woman must be in unimaginable agony.
She had no real concept of time as she lay there. The only other sounds besides Sara’s cries were her own body-wracking sobs. During her years as a CSI Cath had seen so many of the horrible things one human being could inflict upon another, but she’d never had a front row seat to it. She wasn’t even sure if the monster that had them was actually human any more.
Catherine felt a knife-like fear cut through her heart as the screams stopped. She didn’t know what was worse, the screams or the lack of them. The silence could mean Thomas had stopped whatever it was he had been doing to hurt the brunette or it could mean that nothing else would ever be able to harm her again. That thought brought on a new torrent of tears. She could only hope that the younger woman was still alive even if it meant that she would most likely suffer further at the hands of this madman. Bones healed and emotional traumas could be dealt with, there was no cure for death. The sound of a key turning in the lock of her prison door snapped Catherine into focus.
Michael looked down at the reclining beauty. She really was nearly perfect. A few flaws here and there due to the passage of time but he thought it only made her all the more alluring. Her body was still in excellent shape, no doubt from her time spent as a dancer. He could understand why she had captured his Sara’s interest. Their exchange in the parking lot had been very enlightening for him. Having ensconced himself nearby, he had heard everything. The passionate way they spoke to each other, the way they stood so close, they way Sara had held her had told him that the blonde was exactly the one he needed.
He released the straps holding her down and checked to make sure she hadn’t damaged her wrists. He didn’t want her marred; she needed to be pristine for Sara. “I thought you might be hungry and thirsty.”
Catherine sat up slowly and glanced down at the end of the bunk at the plain brown paper bag. She had seen it when he entered the room but assumed that no matter what he had said before she was about to find out exactly what he had done to Sara. She watched as he pulled out a jug of water from another bag. She was in fact extremely hungry and her throat felt she had been walking in the desert for days, in July. She trusted this guy about as far as she could throw him but she needed to keep up her strength.
She grabbed for the water first, needing to sooth her dry throat. Opening the bag next she saw an egg salad sandwich from the very same deli she had been walking to when Thomas had grabbed her. He certainly seemed to have a twisted sense of humor. As she chewed quickly Catherine kept a nervous eye on the man as he moved back to the door. She wondered if that was going to be it, if he was just going to leave her alone again. Her hopes were dashed as he came right back in with a large plastic bucket.
“There are no facilities in here and I’m not going to come running every time you need to go.” Michael informed the blonde as he followed her gaze. Normally he wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if she soiled herself but he wanted her to stay as immaculate as possible given the accommodations. “I’m going to leave you untied, there’s no way out of here. You might as well be comfortable while you wait.”
“I want to see Sara.” Catherine said around a bite of food. She needed to see for herself that the brunette was still alive even though she was afraid of what shape she might find her in.
“Oh no it’s much too soon, we’ve only just started. She’s no where near ready for that and I want it to be a surprise. You should feel very honored though. You’re going to be her first.” Michael could see confusion cloud the blonde’s face. He thought about not elaborating but just couldn’t contain himself. Didn’t all parents who loved their children enjoy bragging about them? And he felt like he was Sara’s father, after all he was going to be responsible for her rebirth.
“She will be my crowning achievement and you will be the final piece of the puzzle in her evolution. She just needs a little push, a tiny shove to become what she was always meant to be. Oh my beautiful Sara. When I’m finished creating her she will be like nothing this world has ever seen. I will remake her in my image but she will be better than me. Who would suspect her? Who would be afraid of her until it is too late? She will strike terror in her victims unlike any before because until the moment she strikes they will believe themselves safe. She will be perfection. My perfection.”
He was clearly insane. Catherine had known that before but it was different when you could see it and hear it. He thought he could turn Sara into a rapist? A murderer? No. No way. Not Sara, she was too good a person. She was almost noble in her pursuit of justice for the victims’ sake. There was no way he could break her like that. She refused to believe it could happen, that the brunette would allow it to happen.
“You should get some rest. You’re going to need your strength and I don’t want you to have bags under your eyes when Sara sees you. Now be a good girl and finish your dinner. I’ll check on you tomorrow and bring you something else to eat. I have to get back to my work.” He reached out and gently stroking her cheek before quickly leaving the room.
Catherine could only watch him leave the room, his conversational tone creeped her out as much as his touch made her skin crawl. She hadn’t expected him to let her see the brunette but she was disappointed none the less. Her mind had been running circles around itself thinking of every conceivable torture Sara might be going through. She needed to get out of there, get them some help, before it was too late.
TBC