As they dragged the man away, he smiled at Kiera. He knew her and she knew him. They were from the same time and he knew what he had done had scarred her. He had almost destroyed her.
Carlos puts a hand on Kiera's shoulder. "You okay?"
Kiera shakes her head. "What's wrong?"
"I know him."
Carlos raises his eyebrows and leads her to the car. "You know him?"
"He was a serial killer in my time too."
"Yeah, but this isn't your time. It's 2013."
"I know. He must have been sent back like I was." A tear slipped down her cheek.
Carlos put his arm around her shoulders. "Did he kidnap someone you knew or something?"
Her voice was tearful. "No, he kidnapped me."
Carlos froze. "He kidnapped you?"
Kiera nodded. "I was the last one. He was known for taking his victims and using their psyche against them. He forced drugs into their system and made them think that they were hurting people they cared about. I got away and he got arrested."
"He hurt you?"
Kiera nodded and broke down. Alec heard all of the conversation and that night when Kiera went through everything that had happened, he recorded and saved the images she remembered.
Later that week, Kiera spent the weekend in her apartment, going over memories of her life with Sam and Greg. She didn't leave, barely ate. Carlos worried so he called Alec.
"I'm worried, Kid. Kiera's locked herself up in her apartment and nothing I say will get her to come out."
"You need to let her be for a little while. I saw what happened to her because of the killer. She needs to take a break before she snaps."
Carlos paused. "You saw?"
"Yeah, she was reliving the whole thing and I recorded it."
"Can you show it to me?"
"I don't know, that's kind of invading her privacy."
"It'll help me know how to help her."
"Fine."
At the lab, Alec pulled up recording.
She came to on a stretcher. She was wearing only a white nightgown and she choked down a sob. The numbers killer had gotten her. Her mother warned her. Said that someone was killing people who looked like her and she needed to be careful. She was going for a walk after leaving Greg's place and he got her.
Kiera rolled off the stretcher, the drugs in her system making everything so much harder. She pushed down the people pushing the stretcher and ran down the hall. She couldn't move right. She kept bumping into the walls and tripping over her feet.
She shook her head to clear it and burst through the door she was certain led to freedom. The floor dropped away and she landed on a hard metal grate and when she looked up she was in a cage. She banged against the fence. "Let me out of here! Let me go!"
A man laughed in a corner. "You're stronger than I thought, number twelve. None of the others made it this far. You're the strong one. The one that will pass the tests. I can feel it. You will be the one that makes it."
Kiera threw herself against the fence, knowing it was useless, but needing to do something all the same. He came into the light and Kiera backed away in fear. He clucked His disapproval. "Now, now, Twelve, that is no way to treat the person that will save you. Save you from the corporations."
Kiera finally found her voice. "You're not saving me from anyone."
He shook His head. "You haven't seen what I've seen. The corruption, the decadence. You don't know how our society works."
Kiera's lower lip trembled. "No, but I know that it works to get rid of people like you."
Anger flashes on His face and He rips open the door to the cage. His fist connects with her cheekbone and she falls. He kicks her in the stomach and takes a syringe out of his pocket. When she is still recovering, He injects her with the serum and Kiera screams. "Be quiet, Twelve. The noise will only make it hurt more and we don't want to damage that beautiful voice of yours."
Her eyes are unfocused when she stares at the ceiling and He smiles. "You are a danger to society. You will kill everyone you love."
He pulls a marker from His back pocket and writes a 12 on her forehead. "Now, you will be mine forever."
Kiera struggles as He ties her hands and feet together. Hours pass and she cries and He doesn't do more than wipe her hair away from her face. When she blinks for the first time in hours, her eyes are focused and she looks to Him. "I couldn't save them."
He shakes His head. "I know, Twelve, but you never can save those you love. You will never be able to. You will understand. You have passed the test."
"How?"
"You do not attack me over their deaths. You do not turn your anger to yourself. You keep it inside and you hold it."
Kiera nodded. "Can I go home now?"
He frowns. "You may never go home, Twelve. You are to stay here with me forever."
Kiera scoots away from Him, edging towards the door. He growls and throws a knife at her. It lodges in her shoulder. She cries out and He leaves. When He is out of sight, Kiera pulls the knife from her shoulder and saws at the ropes that He had tied her up with. When she is free, she digs the knife into the lock on the door, forcing it open.
She finds the room He is in and when His back is turned, she steals His keys and barricades the door from the outside, doing everything to ensure that He doesn't escape.
She finds a phone and calls for help. They come and arrest him and Kiera is taken to the hospital.
Carlos watched with wide eyes. She had gone through that? He had wondered why the killer had started at 13. He sits back and Alec frowns at him. "See? You have to let her have some time to herself. Don't tell her either. We don't want to lose her trust."
Carlos nodded and made mental note to give Kiera a hug or take her out to lunch next time he saw her.
