(A/N: I just want to thank those of you who reviewed my story!)
GodlyJewel (It just might happen that way... I really think Strickland is a foul piece of garbage but he's pretty interesting to write! lol)
Dr. Serpico (Thanks so much for leaving positive comments! Your feedback is very much appreciated and motivates me to continue writing! As a thank you, I decided to post this chapter early~ Enjoy!)
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Chapter two
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Her alarm rings, and Elisa feels for the clock's stopper. It isn't there. That's odd. The ringing suddenly stops and she can hear a man's voice somewhere. A movie must be playing in the theater downstairs. It sure was awful loud.
There's a dull throbbing in her skull and it takes more strength than it should have just to open her eyes. She knits her brows together. Where was the cracked, muddy coloured ceiling she knew so well?
The ceiling overhead was a crisp white with some kind of textured pattern. These walls were foreign to her as well. Her living room certainly never had floral printed wallpaper. It didn't take her long to realize this was not her apartment. There was a simple toilet in the corner, a shower and a sink topped with tiny soaps wrapped in paper.
How on Earth did she get in this place?
Slowly, piece by piece, it all came back to her. Elisa grips the front of her housecoat and feels for her undergarments. She breaths a sigh of relief to find her clothes intact, and starts to wipe the sweat beading on her brow. She stops, turning her hand over. Red covers her palm. She looks down at her chest. Half dried blood is smeared and crusted below her collarbone.
The cattle prod flashes into her mind, and so does he.
That monster..
Her heart aches remembering what had happened to her beloved. All she could hope for was that Giles was still okay.
Her eyes dart in every direction, scanning the small room for any sign of an escape. Not too far above the toilet is a small storm window. It was about two feet wide and a foot and a half tall. Her legs are like jelly beneath her when she attempts to stand. She uses the sink to prop herself up, and moves along the wall for support. One foot in front of the other, slowly, carefully, like a fawn learning to walk.
Climbing onto the toilet proves to be much more difficult. Her entire body aches and she can't keep her balance well- but that won't stop her. She spots the metal crank on the window pane. It's covered in a thick coat of rust, making it nearly impossible to twist.
Just then, the voice outside stops. Foot steps are coming toward the door. In a panic, she jerks the crank as hard as she can. To her horror, it snaps off completely. There was no other choice left but to push the window open.
She has to stretch on the tips of her toes to pound her fist against the glass, uncaring about the level of noise she was making by this point. The panel pushes outward agonizingly slow. It opens about an inch with every strike, but he gap is only big enough to reach her arm through. Keys jingle and the door handle starts to rattle.
The toilet wobbles under her weight, and a can of air freshener falls onto the floor. It rolls into the corner of the room and dangerous idea flashes in her mind. In an instant she is diving down from the toilet and flattens herself against the wall just as it bursts open.
Strickland pokes his face through the opening. "You're pretty damn noisy for bein' mute. The hell you doin' in he-" his words trail off at the sight of the empty room.
Elisa holds her breath. She's hidden behind the door, but not well.
His attention shoots straight to the open window and his blood starts to boil. The pain in his hand begins pulsing, and he turns on the sink to down a fistful of pain killers. He swallows them with a sigh and stares into the mirror. God he looked like shit. Just as he begins to think of how to start tracking her down, he spots her frightened reflection in the mirror.
He whips around catching her by the arm. In her panic she seems to forget her plan completely. Elisa fumbles with the can of air freshener and clamps her thumb on the nozzle. The contents shoot out, and she aims for his eyes, nose and mouth as if she were wielding mace.
"Mother fucking hell!"
Strickland hacks and wheezes, rubbing at his face with his bandaged hand, curse after curse spill from his mouth.
Elisa is able to free her arm from his hold and bolts out of the bathroom. Something trips her and she hits the carpeted floor in the next room. She's fallen right over Strickland's briefcase. There's paperwork scattered across a queen sized bed and files are strewn about over the small dining table. She realizes she is in a motel. It seemed like cruel irony that her first time being in one would be under such circumstances. She and Giles could never afford to take a vacation and stay in a place this nice.
Enough looking. Get to the door!
Back in the bathroom, Strickland had thrown himself into the shower, letting the water spray down over his head. He gasps in relief as the stinging pain in his eyes finally recedes.
Elisa gets to the door as fast as she can and twists the handle. It's locked from the inside. Keys, keys! They had to be in here somewhere! She looks everywhere. Behind, around and underneath anything as fast as she can.
A hand grips her shoulder and twists her around. Strickland is dripping wet and beat red with anger. He backs her into the wall and holds up his grotesque hand. A set of keys hangs from one of his remaining fingers. He promptly pockets them and reaches into a dresser drawer beside her. Elisa is horrified as he pulls out a roll of duct tape, stretching it out about a foot and ripping it with his teeth.
He doesn't bother covering her mouth. It's not like she can scream. Her wrists are wrapped together, then her ankles, and she is carried her back to the bathroom where he dumps her onto the floor. He clears the room of any object that could be used as a weapon or help her get the tape loose. When you've been in the military, you've seen just about every trick in the book that a hostage will use to get away. Admittedly, he kind of admired her effort. At the same time, it seriously pissed him off. He could still see that look in her eyes, just like when he'd interrogated her and the negro woman back at OCCAM. She wouldn't get the best of him again. She was the prisoner, and he was in charge. He would make sure she knew that.
Elisa eyes him with caution as he steps over her and back to the sink, twisting the handle just enough to let a steady stream of water run down the drain.
"You know.. During the war over in Japan, the soldiers would put a tube down a prisoner's throat. They'd fasten it to a water spigot.. kept it runnin' until water leaked from their noses. Drowned em' alive."
He stares down at her, expecting to see her scared out of her wits- but in that moment he's the one left feeling weak. The sight of her tied up and half dressed was insanely erotic. Right away, he tries to shake those thoughts out of his head. He has so much work to do. With the amount of pain killers he's ingested, it's hard to think clearly. He just wants to fucking sleep, but General Hoyt won't stop calling. He pinches the bridge of his nose, and lets out a deep sigh, shutting off the water.
"Don't make me have to come in here a second time."
His vague threat leaves an awful silence lingering in the air long after he's closed the door.
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Back at his apartment, Giles paces the floor, wracking his brain for a plan. The asset jumps to attention even before a knock sounds at the door. Giles motions for him to be silent. The two of them exchange the same cautionary glace. The knock sounds again, this time it's much louder.
"Hello?! It's Zelda Fuller! I know somebody gotta be in there! Come open this door, now!"
Giles relaxes knowing it's not the police, or someone worse. He unlocks the door, but keeps the chain hooked.
"Are you alone?" He whispers, craning his neck to see over her head.
Zelda's hands fly out to the side. "Does it look like anybody else is here? For god's sake, open this damn door already! Elisa ain't at home and her front door look like somebody kicked it in real good! Her stuff is thrown all over the place inside." She places her fist up to her mouth, trying to calm herself down.
"She in there?" Zelda asks, pushing against the door. "Elisa! You in there!?"
Giles quickly unlatches the chain and lets her inside. "No, no she's not! Honest to god. The last place I saw her was down by the canal. I took her there to let the creature go into the sea. Somebody clocked me good from behind, and I was out. When I finally came to, she was gone." He feels guilty just by retelling the events from earlier. Somehow, it feels like this is all his fault.
"We gotta get the police after her." Zelda states, walking toward his telephone. "That crazy son of a bitch that works security at the lab.. He musta done somethin' I just know it." Zelda picks up the reciever, emphasizing her next words. "He threw his dead fingers on my throw rug."
Giles wore a disgusted expression for a moment, and quickly shook his head in disagreement. "No, no! We cannot bring any police into this! Don't you know what we did!?" He points a finger straight at the asset. "That is what we did! We stole him from a top secret government facility! They'll find her for us alright, and then we're all going right to the electric chair. People who interfere with the stuff they do in there don't get to just walk away scott free!"
The weight of his words seem to reach Zelda. Her shoulders slump, as she hangs up the phone and she shakes her head. "Just why did she have to go and get herself into all of this trouble? I tried to tell her! 'Leave that thing where you found it!' If she'd just listened to me, we wouldn't be in this mess!" She glares hard at the asset, who doesn't seem to understand.
Giles can feel the tension in the room, and tries to come up with a solution as fast as he can. He takes out the hard candy he'd stashed away in his coat pocket, rolling it between his fingers.
"This man, the one who works security.. He's bound to show up at OCCAM for work, right? If we watch him leave, we can follow him, see where he goes. Maybe it'll give us a lead on where Elisa might have been taken."
It's a bit of a stretch, he knows. But it's all he's got. Zelda is hesitant to agree. Her friendship with Elisa is being tested to its very limit. She wants to run home, lock her doors and never come out. But she knows the only right thing to do is to try to find her.
"His car ain't hard to miss. It's mighty expensive, and green. We all seen him park it right out and center in the lot. Duane talked about hot wirin' it. He wasn't the only one." She waves her hand, bringing herself back to the topic at hand. "You'll see what I mean once we find it."
Giles rubs a hand through his patchy hair with a nod. "So tomorrow night, just be ready to meet me at the front entrance."
Zelda agrees, and awkwardly bids him goodbye. She soon disappears into the hall, cursing into the air about how much trouble they would be in if they get caught.
The asset coos softly, signing to Giles. "Egg."
He realizes what he's trying to convey, he's hungry. Not only that, he can see how much he's missing Elisa. The creature's going to be left on his own while he's gone. He doesn't want to come back to find another one of his cats with their head chewed off, or find out he's run off into town somewhere. Giles prepares the bathtub and boils an entire pot of eggs before he retires for the night.
