Blood Rites
By Teoryn
Disclaimer: I do not own the Turtles and this story is not making any money.
Summery: Times have changed for the turtles and not for the better. Time is cruel and unforgiving thing that has no mercy on any living thing. For those who cannot flow with this change they will find themselves lost in their own misfortune. Only the love of those around us can save us from ourselves and no one knows this better than Raphael but of all his brothers he is the least likely to ask for help. So the question is; will his brothers be able to reach him in time before he drowns or is he lost forever?
A/N: This is just a beginning, it is what it is entitled, a prologue and sets the mood for the rest of the story. Please stay with me and if you like you can skip this first part as the turtles make their debut in the following chapter. Anyway, love to hear what everyone thinks.
Prologue
The pain was incredible, that is if she could really feel pain anymore then, perhaps, it would have been incredible. There was a time not so long ago when she would have screamed in terror at what was happening to her, but that time had also passed. There was a time before all of this that she knew peace and happiness with her family but as each day crawled by, it became nothing more than a passing memory till she wasn't even sure if she had ever been happy. It was like a fleeting dream that teased her conscious mind in the swirling mist of her dreadful present. These moments of happiness were what she was trying to focus on when the tired bulb, leaking dirty light, reflected off the needle that was coming towards her again. The cold steel pierced the skin of her lips again and she grasped desperately at her memories. She could hear a slight popping sound as the needle broke its way through her skin. The girl didn't flinch - she knew better - but that did not stop her from feeling the sting or stop the lurch in her stomach at the feeling of the thread as it scraped its way into her mouth. She unfocused her eyes as she continued to stare at nothing, trying to remember just what her mother had looked like.
"Now, Ally," a soft but harsh sounding voice, whispered into her ear. "You brought this upon yourself. After all, you should know by now that I don't like to hurt you but I will if you leave me no choice. Remember, Daddy loves you."
Her stomach lurched again as the she fought the urge to throw up, however, she did not outwardly respond to him. She had nothing to say to the beast that was in the process of sewing her mouth shut. Alex wasn't even sure what she had done to earn her mouth being sewn shut. She hadn't spoken to the monster since that day he had taken her and proclaimed to be her father; but then again, she really didn't ever have to do anything for him to want to cause her pain. She was little more to him than a living doll for him to play with. He liked to call himself her father, but he was nothing of the sort, just a twisted freak that got pleasure from the pain of others. He didn't even know her name but that really didn't bother her, as Alex never wanted to hear her name on his lips. It was the last part of herself that he couldn't touch, couldn't have. How many had she watched him kill? If she tried Alex knew that she could remember each and everyone of them, names and faces, she could never forget them. One day she would escape and when she did she would see that he would pay for each and every one of them. However, as each year passed she lost a little more hope and a little more of herself as her attempts at escape kept meeting a dismal fate. The man never threatened her life but he would find another that looked like her and he would make her scream in pain and fear till blissful death would finally claim her broken soul. Alex gave no outward sign of life in these moments, she played the part of a dutiful doll, made of porcelain, but this did not mean she was not screaming with the girl in front of her. Each death weighed heavy on her but she had to get away or she would also perish, or worse, lose the last bit of sanity that she still possessed. However, with each failed attempt it became harder for her to find the will to defy him. The cost of her failure was becoming far too high a burden to bear, so much so that a year and a half had passed since her last attempt.
Alex was torn away from her thoughts as the needle pierced her skin once more. She could feel the thread drag along her flesh and she suppressed a whimper. It would only make matters worse if she were to make any sound. She knew that it would only encourage the man, as he would then know it was hurting her. Alex would not allow him that pleasure. Her parents had always raised her to be strong and independent and she wondered what they would say if they had survived. Once again Alex forced the present to fade away to remember the past. If only they had stayed on the main road, if only they had stopped for gas instead of continuing down the road, if only, if only. Those words stung her ears more than the needle and thread. It caused her more dread than the knowledge that the man in front of her was growing tired of her and would most likely kill her soon. She could think of a thousand things her family and she could have done and they would have all lived instead of driving right into this horror story she was now living. More than once she had wished that she had died with them, as that would have been a far kinder fate. Again the present drifted away and she was living that fateful day again.
It had been a beautiful day when they all piled into the car for their road trip. Actually Dad had lost his job and they were out of money again so they were going to drive off into the sunset to find a new beginning. Not everyone would be suited for the life that they led but they were still a happy family. They were a close family, who was happy just to be with each other. This time they were headed to Winnemucca to some obscure family member that was holding a job open for Alex's father, as a miner. For Alex and her little brother Justin it was just a new adventure with him being nine and Alex ten. The trip started out like countless others as they left Los Angeles and crossed the state line, swinging by Las Vegas for a bit of fun. Their parents wanted to make the move a bit of a vacation for the children as it looked like the only way they were going to get one any time soon with the lack of money and all, which had been fine by the children.
Alex smiled fondly at the memory, or at least she would have if she could but the beast had a death grip on her lips as he continued sewing, muttering more to himself than to her. She knew that he didn't expect her to answer so she really didn't pay him any mind and so let the world fade away to the dream that had once been a part of her reality.
They had only spent two days in Vegas before they all piled into the old sedan and headed out again. Civilization slowly gave way to open desert and barren roads. In retrospect they should have never taken highway fifty. There was simply nothing there; the odd ghost town was the most exciting thing that they came across.
Alex gazed out of her window as they approached a new town that seemed to consist of a hotel that was falling apart, a few run down homes and a single gas station that boasted the sign that it was the last for the next two hundred miles. They all laughed at the obvious ploy to get people to buy their gas. Nothing more was said as they drove past and kept going further into the desert, out into nothing but sand and sun.
It didn't take long for the small family to realize their mistake but there was nothing that they could do. It was too far away to walk back and the cell phone would pick up no signal. They were stranded in the dry heat with a vehicle that was useless and very little water. The only thing left for them to do was to start walking and hope another traveller would find them. Her father and mother were worried but they kept the children laughing with the odd joke as they marched on; and it had seemed that they were in luck as an old Ford truck came down the road to great them. A middle-aged man leaned out the window with, what Alex thought to be, a fake smile. She never had said anything to her parents, only her brother, but she could read people and what she saw when she looked upon this man was a dark shadow surrounding him. It was an inky sludge that dripped off his words as he spoke and Alex was instantly mistrusting. She looked to her brother and she knew that he was feeling uneasy as well. However, the man seemed charming to their parents and, despite Justin and Alex's argument, they found themselves in the bed of the old truck. Supposedly the man, who called himself Sam, was going to take them back to his house to get some gas and then he would take them back to their old sedan.
The truck ground its gears as it clunked its way off the main road and onto an old dirt one that was not well traveled. Alex and Justin both watched as the black tar from the main road became a dot and then a speck before it disappeared completely from sight. They clasped their hands together as the feeling of wrongness grew with each passing second; it was obvious that their parents still did not see anything wrong as they talked and joked with the man in the cab. Sam was charming them into a false since of security and doing it quite well.
"Look at all of the abandoned cars." Justin stated softly as he looked off to the side of the old road. There were a lot of them, all different kinds and a few of them did not look like they had been there for very long. One car they passed, Alex was sure she could see red splattered on the windshield. All the old horror films her mom didn't want her to watch but their dad let them anyway started to run through her mind. The whole area was secluded from the main road by stone that jutted out of the ground. With the old cars nestled in between only someone who knew they were there would ever find them and the only way that Alex could figure that the cars got there was because someone put them there. The bad feeling in her gut was worse.
"Justin, maybe we should bale?"
"But what about mom and dad, we can't just leave them?"
Justin was right. As much as they disliked this whole situation, perhaps they were just being paranoid and so they stayed quiet for the rest of the trip until the voices in the cab suddenly became quiet. The children couldn't hear what was being said but they could hear the tone. Their mother had gone from happy to panic sounding in less then a beat of a heart. As the truck slowed to a stop outside an old run down little house Alex could hear her father suddenly become angry and she turned to look through the filthy window to see the man called Sam pull a long knife from somewhere between the seats and her father brought up his arm to stop the blow but the knife went clean through and where once their was an arm, there was now a bleeding stump. Alex was transfixed as her mother started to scream and Sam brought the knife up again but this time the blade sliced through the soft, giving flesh of her father's throat. That was all she could see as the red blood that pumped through her father's veins, giving him life, now flowed with great force through the gaping hole in his neck. Alex suddenly thought back to the other cars and she knew that their fate would now be the same as all of the other travelers before them.
It was suddenly as if all time had slowed but yet yielded nothing to the children in the back of the truck other than a horror show. Alex watched as her mother jumped from the cab of the truck and turned towards them. Never before had Alex seen true fear and terror in her mother's eyes and she knew that she had the same look reflecting in her own eyes. In that moment her mother knew that she was going to die but she wanted her children to live, she just needed to give them time to get away.
"Run!!" was all that she was able to shout at them before Sam was coming around the truck towards her and she picked up a stone and tossed it at the man.
That one word was all that was needed to break the spell Alex was under and she grabbed her brother's hand as they jumped from the truck. Yet even as they ran Alex couldn't help the feeling of dread that was chilling her heart. There wasn't enough time for them and she could hear her mother screaming but she didn't look back. Perhaps if they made it back to the mini canyon that they had driven through her brother and she could hide for a bit. They could hide in one of the abandoned cars that littered the desert. Alex tried hard to not be affected by her mother's sudden scream and then, just as suddenly, her silence, behind them, as they ran on.
It seemed like they had been running forever till they reached the first old car. Justin didn't argue as his sister pulled him over to a beat up 57 Chevy. Alex kept watch as her brother opened the door and then gave a shriek and jumped back. It took her only a second to see what had caused her brother to jump back. In the car were two corpses and by the looks of them they were about as old as the car itself. The dry heat of the desert had managed to preserve them quite well and the car had kept predators away from the tempting meal. Their hair and clothes were still intact if not a little faded by the fierce and unforgiving sun. The passenger had worn a soft blue sundress while the driver seemed to have on what was left of a tacky Hawaiian shirt and slacks. Their skin had long ago collapsed against the bones on both driver and passenger and they both sported gaping wounds, or more like holes, on their necks, which was obviously how they had died.
Alex could see the bones that lay beneath those wounds and, along the rest of the bodies that were not draped in sun-faded clothing, she could see other bones protruding from other wounds. However, the most disturbing thing about the bodies were the eyes, or to be more accurate, the lack of eyes. Both heads faced the way that the children had come from with empty sockets and sun bleached teeth that still seemed to echo out a scream that was just as dead as the two before them yet still just as powerful. For a moment, Alex felt their last moments of fear and she knew them. To her, it felt that if she looked at them hard enough she would know their names, like a whisper at the back of her mind. Perhaps it was the fear pumping in her veins but she could have sworn she saw one head turn towards her and heard a whispered warning, wanting them to hide. But as soon as she felt it, the feeling and connection were gone.
Justin grabbed her hand, suddenly breaking the spell as he pointed to the road. The sound of a boot against stone was unmistakable. As quietly as she could she closed the door of the front seat and gestured for her brother to get into the back. The rear door made a soft click and a groan as it opened and closed. Simple noises that most ignore in their day to day lives, certainly not a sound that either had paid attention to before but now it was painfully loud and it echoed seemingly forever against the surrounding stone as if to shout to the world where they were hiding.
"Alex," Justin started in a soft, uncertain voice. "What about mom?"
Brother and sister simply looked at each other as neither had an answer. There was no answer to give and they didn't have time to consider it as Sam came up the little hill. Both held their breath as the man walked about a bit as if undecided before slowly walking off.
"Come on Alex. We have to get back out to the main road." Justin was already pushing the door open on the car as he whispered to her. Alex hesitated for a moment as she felt the warning to stay hidden was repeated. She looked to the front seat and was once again disturbed by the blank empty sockets seeming to look right at her. "Come on!! He is going to come back!" her brother urged her. She looked back once more before she followed her brother out of the car but she knew even without the dead warning that they would never make it. There was simply no cover and they were going to be running in the wide open from a man that lived in the desert and knew every knoll and crevasse that it offered, or didn't.
"There you two are!" It was said with such joy that it sounded much like a little boy who just found a favorite toy that he had misplaced.
Both screamed as they redoubled their speed but they had little hope of getting very far as the man charged after them like a raging bull. In three goliath strides he had caught up to them and grabbed at the collars of their shirts. Alex watched in growing horror as Sam threw Justin down onto the rocks hitting his head with a hard thud. She could see blood spill forth as he fell terrifyingly silent. In that moment Alex lost what control she had as her pain and fear turned to anger and with everything that she had in her, she turned on her captor with the anger of a lioness.
Sam's eyes, for a moment, grew wide as he looked at the wild fire in front of him lash out with sharp nails and teeth. He felt blood on his face after he felt the sting of her nails digging into his flesh. It brought a smile to his face, very few ever fought back- ran, screamed, hid, pleaded, and begged for death but very few fought with such anger and determination. Most were like dumb animals awaiting slaughter. They simply accepted their fate, sensing that they were going to die but hoping that if they were compliant they just might get the chance to see another day. Only in the last moments do they know for sure that it is over, there was no hope of anything but the pain and fear that he would offer them. There was nothing more to look forward to and he loved to see that look in their eyes at that last moment when all hope was gone. Sam wanted to see how much it would take him to break someone's will, to have them surrender completely to him in death. It was the ultimate rush and this one would be fun. Perhaps he would keep her as a pet? After all, his current pet was no fun anymore: she was broken.
In the blur of a moment he had her subdued in his arms and he leaned into her ear and whispered to her. "Now little girl, if you keep this up I will leave your brother for the vultures. You don't want that, do you? Besides, your mother is waiting for us at the cabin and we don't want to disappoint her now do we?"
Alex fought the urge to throw up at the honey sweetness of his tone but stopped her struggles for Justin's sake and that of her mother. Nothing more was said as the man grabbed her brother by his ankle and her by the wrist dragging both of them back to the cabin at the end of the road. Alex watched with a heavy heart as her brother's head wound seemed to grow as he scrapped along the ground unconscious still. She pleaded Sam to pick him up so that he wouldn't be hurt any further but her cries fell on deaf ears and so she stopped.
It did not take long before the cabin was in sight and soon they were walking inside. Sam let go of Justin and just left him inside the door but he walked Alex over to what must had sufficed as a couch although the thing looked like it had been dumped in the desert for years before Sam decided to put it in his home.
"Now honey, I want you to stay here while your mommy and I play for a bit." With that he shoved her down and pulled out some duck tape from the table next to the sofa securing her arms down and with that he left her and her brother. As soon as the beast was out of sight she took in her surroundings. It was dark and dingy and she couldn't really see any details as the only light that was coming in was through an old, dirt -stained window in the adjoining kitchen. There seemed to be stains everywhere and Alex was sure that they were from blood. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness rather quickly and she became aware that there was someone else in the room besides her and Justin. In the far corner was another girl sitting quietly in a chair. Alex figured she looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. Alex's heart leapt as she noticed that she wasn't restrained in any way.
"Hey!" she shouted as softly as she could not wanting to alert Sam that she was up to anything. "Hey you over there! You have to help me." There was no response and she was beginning to wonder if the girl was even alive. "Hey!" she tried again but still there was no response. Alex looked harder at the girl and realized that the girl was indeed alive or at the very least she was breathing. Something was seriously wrong. The eyes of this girl were deader than the gaping holes on the corpses that were sitting in the Chevy. Scars littered the girl and her mouth had been sewn shut. She was living but dead and no matter what Alex said or did the girl would never be able to help her or her brother. Alex's heart went out to the girl as she could only imagine what had happened to her and she said a silent prayer for her unlucky soul.
"Oh God please no!! No!!" The last was a scream in a voice that had always been there for Alex and that would never be there for her or her brother again. She could see nothing of what was happening but she didn't need to, as she knew the moment her mother drew her last breath and was gone. She wanted to panic, wanted to scream, wanted to fight, but she simply sat still, lost. Movement out of the corner of her eye made her look up to see Sam wiping what she was sure was blood off his hands and onto a towel.
"Well, it looks like your mother didn't want to join us. So I guess that I will have to be your daddy now." Alex was glaring all the hate and anger that she could muster at the man. She knew he held her life in his hands but what did she really have to live for? But then she couldn't leave Justin like that so she didn't move as the man continued prattling on. "I see you have met my other daughter, Sara," he said as he absently patted the girl on the head. She gave no response to him or his touch but continued to stare out at nothing. "She is getting older, she doesn't need me as much anymore and I think it is time that she moves on." He gave Alex a terrifying smile that stabbed her like a knife. "You will replace her quite well. You see, we were getting ready to move until we came across you and your family. Sara told me that she really liked it here and she wanted to stay but I didn't want to leave her. It is always hard to let go of your children once they get older but we have to let go at some point. So it is decided! You will come with me and I will leave all of this," he turned in a circle gesturing to the run down building, "to Sara and since you are an orphan, I will be your daddy."
"What about Justin?" She asked, hesitant. It was starting to really bother her that he seemed to be only talking about her.
"Sara wants a boyfriend. So he will stay to keep her company."
"You sick monster…" and she exploded again and all she could see was white fury as she became a wild beast. She was still tied to the couch but her body was pumping so much adrenalin that the couch moved with her as she charged the man. Again the man was overjoyed with her response but he would not tolerate disobedience either. He pulled a knife and just as quickly as she had moved to attack him he had her pushed down on the couch with the blade to her throat.
"Now, now love, keep this up and I might just have to punish you." The blade at her throat was more convincing than his voice and she became somewhat subdued. "I don't care what your life was like before because now you are with me and that is all that matters. I will call you Ally. I think that is also what your mother called you."
Ally was a nickname that her mother called her and hearing it from him was nightmarish. Alex closed her eyes a moment as she took a deep breath trying to find some form of calm.
"You may have command of my body but you will not and cannot ever touch my mind. I will never be Sara because I will never be broken."
"Big words for such a little girl."
"But they are true and I will escape you and you will die and when you do the souls of all of those you have killed will seek their own revenge. I have nothing more to say to you." And those were the last words that she ever spoke to the man or to anyone else for that matter. For three years she had lived in silence and fought to keep her sanity. He had dragged her away from that place and stuffed her in a car that was ready to travel, packed to the hilt with food and supplies. It was obvious that he was used to time on the road with no or little stops. She watched as they pulled away from the little house and she hoped but doubted that anyone would find her brother. He was as good as dead, as was everyone else. She never had time to cry for any of them and just lived with a numb pain that never seemed to fade.
So her life continued for two years and he taught her how not to cry out in pain and she learned how to live inside her head. They travelled from place to place. He killed others and Alex learned how to block it out. Actually, blocking it out was something she couldn't do but she learned how not to respond. If she responded or pleaded for their lives then their death came that much slower. So Alex continued to disappear within her-self and she watched the world happen around her but as if she were looking through a foggy glass. The image was always distorted - just enough so that she knew what was happening but she didn't have to deal with it, at least not in that moment.
The only thing that kept her somewhat sane was the television. He had it on almost all of the time and it was almost always turned to the news. It reminded her that there were other people out there besides herself and Sam. They had lives and one day she would be with them again. Even being a victim of a drive-by shooting seemed preferable to this hell she lived. At least then she wouldn't have to think about her pending death, just -boom, and that would be it. Alex didn't want to die, not really, she just wanted more than anything else to just be free and to be able to feel again. She wanted to feel something other than constant pain.
"There we go!" Sam exclaimed with a smile. "You look beautiful. I am going have to leave you for a little while. I trust you to be a good girl while I am gone."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him leave, heard the sharp click of the door as he closed it. Slowly she reached up, the movement stiff and seemingly impossible. She wondered absently how long it had been since she had last tried to move at all. Too long and she knew it.
Her fingertips brushed her lips and she felt the cross stitches holding her mouth shut. There didn't seem to be that much blood. Experimentally she tried to open her mouth and found that she could barely part her lips before she felt the sharp resistance. Alex knew that if she were going to escape she would have to do it soon. It wouldn't be long before she was weak from lack of food and water. Sam was more or less done with her, he was going to let her die. Alex heard him mumbling on more than one occasion about how his little doll was growing up too fast. He had thought he would have more time but she had broken too fast. She knew he was talking about her willingness to resist him, however, little did he realize that she just played along - she wasn't that far gone…yet.
All of her movements seemed painfully slow to her as she was simply not used to it anymore. Yet, that didn't stop her from turning her head towards the door and she gasped. He had finally slipped up. The door was left ajar, it must have bounced in its frame when he closed it and the latch didn't take. This was her last chance and she knew it. Slowly and painfully she stood from her chair. Her bones popped and creaked as she lifted herself and moved tired, old muscles. One step in front of the other is what she kept telling herself as she moved forward. The more she moved the easier it got and soon she was walking at what she hopped was a more normal pace.
Her heart felt like it was beating in her throat as she stepped out of the door. There was a cool breeze that caressed her face and she tilted her head back to enjoy the sensation. Sam had checked them in to some old hotel that had seen better days. It was dark and dingy but that was fine by Alex as it made it easier to sneak out. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. She didn't think she could handle it if she wasn't. There was light flickering from the city street lamp just out of the front gate. Further beyond that she could hear the faint roar of traffic. She knew that they were in a city but she wasn't sure which one. When Alex was with Sam she only saw what was in front of her, she didn't have the luxury of looking about herself but now she was wiping the thick sleep from her eyes and seeing for the first time in almost a year.
It was a large city with lights so bright that it blocked out the light of the heavens. That was okay to her; even the dirty light flooding the street was like the light of God shinning down. As she stepped into the street its warm glow bathed her with its soft wonderful whispers. For some time she forgot that she was supposed to be running for her life, so swept up in the moment but there were other noises that slowly brought her back to reality. Somewhere down the street someone was arguing and coming closer was a car. Her eyes snapped open with a start: was it Sam coming back? Alex couldn't wait to find out and she found her feet and will again in a heartbeat and she started to run. It was awkward, as her feet didn't seem to want to move well. Yet, she persisted and the rhythm of running was coming back to her. No matter how fast she wanted to go she knew it still wasn't fast enough, she simply had spent too much time sitting. Alex would have to rely on hiding and hopefully she would be able to find the police. Someone would help her, she was sure, as long as she got help before he caught her.
As she moved on a car drove past her and then stopped, panic seized her heart. In a huge effort she pushed herself to move faster: it was Sam. There was no time to waste but she knew that she was doomed before it began. If Alex was completely honest with her-self it was over that fateful day that her parents' car broke down. Her life was going to meet a deadly end.
No words were said as Sam jumped out of the car grabbing a large knife and he started to give chase. He was slightly disappointed in his little girl for this last streak of misbehaviour. Sam would simply have to end it tonight in a more violent manner than he originally had planned. She wasn't able to run very fast so catching her wouldn't be all the difficult. He watched pleased as she turned down a dark alley, little did she know that she was making this rather easy on him.
Alex ducked down a dark alley in the hopes she would at the very least be able to hide from Sam. She would never out run him and they both knew it. Ahead of her was an old dumpster, it was a gamble but it was the only hope that she had. With strength she thought she no longer had she jumped up balancing her weight on the edge of the canister. It would only take her a second to let herself fall in and close the lid behind her. Only a second, but it was a second she didn't have.
Sam was on her and he had a strong hold on her shirt. With little grace or care he pulled on her, throwing her down to the soggy filth of the alley floor. Alex hit the ground hard and looked back up at the man who had been her captor for the past three agonizing years. Moonlight glistened off the blade of the knife he pulled out of his belt. She was tired, tired of fighting and there was a part of her that was glad to see the knife. However, there was the other part that wanted to live, the part of her that decided it was time to run, the part of her that fought back when the man in front of her killed her family. That was the part of her that opened her mouth causing the stitches to tear, and she screamed. It was not a scream of fear but one of fury and if it could have been used as a weapon than Sam would have been shattered like a glass of wine at the opera. Sam, for his part, was undaunted and knelt down over her with the knife and she knew that her life was over. Silently, she closed her eyes.
There was a weight holding her down and it was crushing her ability to breath but then it was suddenly gone. Alex opened her eyes to see two figures in the shadows, fighting. She could hear the sound of metal clashing together but while the small shadow she knew was Sam fought back, it was obvious that he was losing fast. After all, Sam was nothing more than a bully and like most he didn't like it when his prey fought back. He knew he was losing and suddenly he tried to turn and run but the other, larger figure pulled him back and onto his own weapon. A soft gurgling sound came from Sam before he fell and was silent.
"Are you alright kid?" said a gruff voice. It took Alex a second to realize who was talking to her. It was the large shadow. Alex wanted to answer but no sound came from her. She moved her lips and realized that she was bleeding again and so she stopped. There was nothing that she could say and she collapsed back onto the paved ground.
Feet shuffled closer to her and she thought she felt a hand on her shoulder but she wasn't sure. She simply couldn't see anymore. Perhaps she was going into shock? The reality that she was safe and free was simply too much for her to take and everything was blurring. Perhaps she was dead and seeing Sam die and being rescued were just part of her dreams?
"Don't worry kid," the voice said again but it seemed to have moved off again. "Help is on its way." As if on cue, Alex could hear the sound of sirens and she knew the voice wasn't lying. Again she tried to look to the voice but all she could see was a large shadow but she didn't need to see him. His voice, alone, brought her hope and she relished it. Gently, she raised an arm towards him but the shadow was fading. Like a wispy wind in the winter he was slipping through her grasp.
That is how the paramedics found her. Frozen in a reaching pose but none of them could find what it was that she was reaching for. They simply shrugged and tried to ask her what had happened but they just as quickly discovered that no matter what they said or did they could get no answer from her and it had nothing to do with her mouth being sewn shut. They started talking over her as they ran test after test and the ambulance rolled out with a gentle rocking.
Alex was aware of everything around her, yet detached. The only voice that mattered to her was that of the tall stranger. She was alive and he had saved her but everything else was numb. It had been so long since she had felt any kind of joy that she was not sure how to deal with it so she shut down and allowed a warm feeling of peace to sweep over her. She relaxed herself and simply let everything go, she was free and nothing felt better than that.