A/N: This begins the flashback! Oh and thanks for your reviews!
CHAPTER FOUR
The good old days
She awoke to the sound of screams. At first she thought it was nothing but a dream and swore angrily.
First mice in the walls keeping me up, now nightmares.........
No, there it was again. Coming from downstairs. She lay in the dark, listening.
"I didn't mean to! I didn't! Please! I didn't meannnnnn......." The disembodied male voice broke into another shriek that reached a tortured crescendo before falling silent. The noise disturbed the dogs outside and they began to bark furiously.
Samantha got out of bed, put some clothes on, and crept downstairs. Everything was quiet, the air thick and still in the dark house. For a moment she stood still, eyes straining to see through the gloom.
There. Light seeping underneath the door of a bedroom. She made her way to it, jumping as the decayed wooden floor popped underneath her feet. As she drew closer she could hear two male voices, one labored and terrified, the other low and rasping.
"I'm s...s...sorry," the frightened one sobbed.
"Oh shh shh shh, I know you are," the other one replied, amusement and false sympathy lacing his tone. "I know. But you're not sorry enough. Hm? Not yet. I'll fix that though. Yes I will." It was Jack, of course it was. Who else would be torturing someone at two in the morning?
A grating sound, oddly familiar.
"Nooooo?" the horror stricken plea of someone who has just realized he has no hope.
No response from Jack this time, just a mocking giggle and then a noise like a.....a.......
It hit her then and she clapped a hand over her mouth in horror. An electric carving knife, that's what it was. Her grandparents used to have one, they'd used it to carve the turkey at Thanksgiving and........
The frightened voice rose into yet another scream, this one going on and on in a hellish rhythm until finally stopping short. Then silence.
Against her better judgement Sam put her hand on the doorknob, twisted it. Locked.
"Whoever is out there better, um, find something else to do. And fast." Jack said from the other side of the door. She could hear him breathing hard from exertion. Or excitement.
Heart pounding, she went back to her room.
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The next morning she came downstairs, keeping an eye out for Jack. He'd never come to her room after the electric knife incident, which was strange. One thing she could count on, when Jack was at the house he always came to visit her.
Two of his men were in the kitchen, Glen and another one too new for her to remember. They were sitting at the table drinking convenience store coffee and smoking. At the sight of her the new one looked at the floor. Glen glanced at her and nodded, then looked away. He might have been the closest thing Jack had to a right hand man but he knew better than to look at her too long.
"Got some for me?" Samantha pointed at their coffee and smiled brightly.
"Yeah, we got you some," the new guy mumbled. "On the counter." He was still staring at the floor and she shook her head in dismay. Jack had them petrified of her. If she'd wanted to have a conversation with any of his men (which she didn't) they'd probably take off running.
She lit a cigarette and took a long drink of the coffee. It tasted burnt and was getting cold but caffeine was caffeine.
"Sooo, you guys know where the uh.....boss is?" she asked, leaning easily against the counter.
"In his office," Glen said. "Far as I know anyway."
She nodded. Figured. He spent a lot of time there. In many ways Jack was a twisted version of a workaholic businessman, right down to his suit and the amount of office time he put in. The thought almost made her smile. Almost.
"Ok, thanks," she said and walked away. As she left she could feel the men's eyes on her and she knew they'd start talking about her as soon as they decided she was out of earshot. Sometimes she wondered what they said, then decided she was better off not knowing.
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"So who is she anyway?" the new guy asked.
"His travelling companion," Glen snorted.
"Oh. So does he uh, you know?"
Glen rolled his eyes. "No I don't know. Does he what? Take her bowling? C'mon, be specific."
The new guy lowered his voice. "Does he screw her? Is that why she's here?"
"I don't think so. Hell I don't know, why don't you go ask him yourself?"
The new guy stared at him for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "Uh-uh, I think I'll pass. Live in suspense, you know?"
"Good choice," Glen answered with a humorless smile. "Come on, we got a mess to clean up in one of the bedrooms. The boss got a little happy with some poor fuck-up last night."
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"I think someone was, um, snooping around last night. Know anything about that?" Jack didn't look up from what he was doing.
"It was me," Samantha admitted. She was perched on the edge of his desk, staring at the disorder around her. Jack's "office" used to be a kid's room, judging by the trains and race car motifs on the peeling wallpaper. Wires, tools, diagrams of buildings, old cell phones and God knew what else littered the stained carpet. His desk was an explosion of more of the same items. Samantha wondered how he could be so efficient in the midst of such a mess.
"Mm-hm. I know." He pried the casing off a dvd player and inspected the insides carefully.
"The screams woke me up."
He raised his eyes to hers, a slow grin coming over his lips. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that babe. Work, ya know? It never stops."
She swallowed. "If that's what you call work...."
"Actually work and play. That's what makes it so fun."
"Right." She slid off his desk and started for the door. "I'll leave you alone now. I was just wanting to see how you were doing."
He ran a hand through his greasy hair and leaned forward. "I think you were wondering why I didn't show up at your bedroom door last night. Isn't that right Sam?" His tone of voice was sly.
"No, I wasn't wondering. I know why you didn't. You didn't because you got your kicks from torturing that guy." She smiled at him but her stomach dropped at her words. It was true, of course. She knew how he was, knew what he liked. But still, to say it out loud.....
Those malevolent eyes pinned her down but she stared right back. After a moment he began to laugh.
"Oh don't worry babe. I'll be coming for you. I always do don't I?"
"See that you do," she said softly and turned away. As an afterthought she looked over her shoulder at him. "And this time around don't take so fucking long," she told him, deliberately hardening her tone of voice.
He smacked his lips, tongue flicking out to explore their scarred surface. "Or?"
"You'll find out," she answered. "Who knows, you might like it."
"Ah, now this is getting interesting. I think, Sam, that you're getting as bad as me. Hm?" His tone was challenging. He was always challenging her, seeing how far he could push her. On one hand it bothered her, made her afraid that one day things might go too far. On the other hand it was fun. It really was.
"Like I said.....you might like it," she said and left the room.
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"Damn, almost out of peroxide," Samantha said. She poured it sparingly over the newest bite mark, this one on her left shoulder. She examined the wound in the mirror. "Do you always have to do that when you finish?"
"I don't do it every time. Anyway, don't kid yourself. You like it." He was sprawled out naked on the rickety bed, tossing the switchblade he'd given her from one hand to the other.
"Yeah I do," she admitted, looking at him from the corner of her eye. She'd only put a few scratches on his chest and upper arms tonight. The bleeding had already stopped. She rarely felt any guilt about it nowadays. He enjoyed it, he wanted it. Just like she did.
Sometimes I feel like I should thank him for what he did at Arkham. For "making" me go. But if I did that....well I'd never hear the end of it would I?
"I'm glad I stayed," she told him, turning around to face him. "You know that? I am."
He tossed the knife faster, catching it effortlessly, and she was amazed at just how quick he was.
"Me too," he finally said and he sounded like the old Jack. "So, you gonna stand there all night or are you gonna come over here? We're not done you know."
She smiled and made her way to him slowly. "I guess I'm gonna come. Again."
A/N: Next chapter will be a flashback too. They'll continue on til further notice.
