AN: This is an AU story looking at one possible way TPTB could start season 8. It may be a fairly dark story, but will not be CD.
The Nightmare begins
"As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape." - John Lancaster Spalding
In the silent darkness she was surrounded by pieces of her oldest nightmare. The smell of death surrounded her, but underneath it she could detect the subtle notes of blood, gin and gardenia that she associated with her mother and the night that had altered her life forever.
The radio was playing softly in the background, as Momma sang and they danced around the kitchen. Sara wished it could always be this way, but knew it wouldn't last, by the time her father got home her mother would have finished the Long Island Iced Teas she sipped during the day and gotten the before dinner Martinis ready.
On a very good night, the drinks mellowed her parents and in soft tones they'd talk about their day. Momma sharing an anecdote about an interesting guest, Daddy talking the case he was working on and then he would ask Sara what she'd learned in school. Very good days didn't happen very often. Most days were filled with yelling and hitting and on bad nights she'd sit with Momma in the emergency room waiting for the Doctor.
Of all the bad nights she'd lived through, this one was the worst. She'd set the table while Momma made the drinks and then together they sat at the table waiting for Daddy, but he was late. So late that the roast and mashed potatoes dried out, but her mother refused to serve dinner until her husband got home.
Lying in the dark Sara tried to ignore when her stomach growled. Even though it was hours past her bedtime she was too hungry to sleep and decided to risk a trip to the kitchen to make a ham and cheese sandwich. Stopping on the stair she listened carefully knowing that if she was caught out of bed the penalty would be severe.
Last time she'd been spanked the welts had made it difficult to sit for days afterward and Mrs. Leary disciplined her for squirming in class. Unconsciously the hand on the banister gripped harder as the other moved to protect her bottom.
Listening to the creak of the wooden rocking chair, Sara bit her lip and considered going back to bed; the sounds made it clear, her mother was still furious and since she'd sent Sara to bed had probably only moved to mix another Gin and Tonic. Frozen on the stair Sara still hadn't decided what to do when the front door open and closed loudly.
"You're late. Who was she?" Her mother slurred as the rocking stopped and she crossed the room to demand an answer. The first loud slap against bare flesh was followed by a feminine whimper; Sara quickly retreated back up the stairs as survival instinct took over.
Lying in her bed Sara pretended to sleep in case someone came in. She listened as the yelling moved into the kitchen. There was a pattern to their fighting as they moved through the house and she knew the fight would wind down when they reached their bedroom. Only then would it be safe for Sara to get up and try for the kitchen again.
When the bedroom door closed she didn't hear the sounds she expected, instead the fight continued. The yelling suddenly stopped and her breathing was loud in the silence. Then her door opened, light filled her room as her mother came closer Sara was frightened by the overwhelming copper scent of fresh blood that smothered her mother's familiar scent of the juniper berries from the gin and her gardenia perfume and knew something terrible had happened.
Opening her eyes Sara tried to control her stomach; there was no room for her to get sick. She could only move about an inch in any direction. There was barely enough room for shallow breathing. Drawing a breath through her nose she smiled trying to suppress her gag reflex. To occupy her mind she studied her cage, she was trapped by the twisted metal of a car. Blinking quickly she tried to remember what had happened to her, but the last thing she could remember was patting Bruno on the head before locking the front door.
As her fingers flexed in the mud, a sob escaped from the back of her throat. Panic set in as she remembered how they'd been minutes away from losing Nick. Unable to do anything more than watch as he raised the gun to his temple, or when the ants swarmed, eating him alive and then Hodges' call alerting them to the explosives.
Grissom was expecting her to be late since she'd been in court all day and since she hadn't called before leaving did they even know she was missing?