Chapter 1

Kate woke up to the sound of running water. She could feel her head pounding, and felt something sticky on her forehead. She tried to reach up, but found that she was restricted. After blinking her eyes a few times, Kate looked around her. She was in a bare room that had a window facing a brick wall and a door that she immediately assumed was locked. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her legs were taped to a wooden chair. There was a faint odor of what was suspiciously like urine, and it was making her feel sick. The headache behind her eyes wasn't helping, and she was starting to feel pain in her shoulders and wrists. She could hear footsteps on the other side of the door, and she hoped they were friendly, not that she actually believed they were. So she was surprised when the door opened to reveal Ryan and Esposito.

"Kate! Are you alright?" asked Esposito as both he and Ryan rushed over to her.

"I don't know Javi. Just get me out of here, please." Kate watched and waited as her team untied her hands and freed her. "Thank you."

"There's an ambulance outside Kate, they need to check you out," said Ryan. He gently lifted her up and held her steady when her legs buckled under her. "They definitely need to look at you."

"I'm fine guys."

"No you aren't. You can't even stand up without help."

Kate opened her mouth to argue, but stopped herself. Ryan was right, she couldn't stay straight when he let go of her arm. "Fine."


Twenty Four Hours Earlier

Kate was getting sick of seeing the same words over and over. For the last hour, she had been reading the same paragraph, trying to make sense of it. But she was so tired that she found herself constantly falling asleep at her desk. She wanted nothing more than to go home, but until she could sign the paperwork, she wasn't going anywhere. All noise around her had ceased ages ago, so the loud thump caught her attention. She stood up, stretching her arms above her head, and then walked towards the break room to see what had made the noise. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but before she turned around, Kate felt something hit her head, and she fell to the floor.


Kate opened her eyes but everything was blurry. Her head was spinning, and she felt sick. She couldn't remember what had happened to her, or how she had gotten to wherever she currently was. The last thing she knew, she had been at her desk at the NYPD, going over paperwork so she could go home.

"Good morning Detective Beckett."

Kate jumped. The voice was loud, but there was nobody in the room with her. Confusion lit her face as she tried to figure out who was speaking to her.

"Now that I have you here, we're going to play a game. You are the pawn, and I am the master. I will tell you what to do, and you will do it, not that you have a choice in the matter. If you disobey an order, you will pay dearly. Now, your first order is to free yourself. If you succeed, you will find a door at the end of the wall facing you. It leads to another room, where I am waiting for you. Good luck." The creepy voice stopped as suddenly as it started.

Kate moved her arms, finding that they were tied behind her. The rope was loose, and she easily slipped her hands out.

"That was easy," she said as she stood up.

Thinking that the door would be a fake, she looked around. There was nothing in the room that could be used as a weapon though, so she just reached for the door handle. It turned easily, and Kate walked through, feeling a cold draught hit her seconds before something poked her neck and she fell.


When she woke up again, she was alone, tied to a chair. The creepy voice was talking to her again.

"You did well there. But change of plans. We have some unexpected visitors, and they cannot know you are here. Before I fix that problem, however, I have a surprise for you. A reward, I guess. And here it is..."

Kate looked up when she heard a scratching sound. Something with claws was crawling around in this room. She tried to move her legs, but they were stuck to the chair just like her arms. Fear shot through her as something huge came bounding towards her. The animal, that looked suspiciously like a lion, bit into her left leg, and she screamed in pain.