Post-Mortem Blues

Olivia fought to maintain her composure when, like in her nightmares, Lewis appeared out of the darkness. The only difference was that this time, it was real. As he raised his gun to her, she put her hands up in surrender. Her face throbbed every time her heart beat. She couldn't say anything.

This was the end. She was done living in fear. One or both of them wouldn't walk out alive. That was already through her mind. She fought the flashbacks, biting her tongue painfully. She couldn't lose her grip, or she would pay for it with her life. Lewis smiled at her.

"What do you want?" She kept her voice steady. He continued to approach her. There was no turning back.

"Your gun." He lunged forward and tore her gun from her holster.

She didn't hear what he said after that. It might have been about the girl - young Amelia. She didn't know. Everything, every sound, every beam of light was bent beyond recognition on its way through to her senses. She was using all the energy she had to fend off images from time past.

Olivia did hear him tell her to turn around. Having no other choice, she made herself vulnerable. He yanked her ponytail out, then reaching and tearing her vest off, tossing it where her gun had gone. She felt more exposed, although she knew that the vest was going to do nothing to defend her against him anyway. Then his hands were on her. She breathed slowly as he slid down her legs, missing no square inch of her lower region. He would be taking it all this time - maybe not now, but eventually.

"No drop gun. Good girl." He proceeded to toss her cell, the last connection she had to the people who could save her. She was on her own. He sent chills down her spin when he grabbed another object from her.

"I think I'll keep the radio. This way they can hear you scream while they're looking for you."

The cool metal of cuffs clamped around her wrist as he spun her around. What her mind rapidly imagined was enough to push her blood pressure to dangerous levels. She swayed as her vision came in and out of focus. He backed her toward the car.

"Let's go for a ride."

The odd sense of relief she felt when he shut the door and left her in the backseat seemed to be inexplicable. She wasn't safe, but she didn't want him near to her. She didn't want him to touch her again.

The car moved through the city. She avoided his gaze in the mirror, instead taking in every detail of her surroundings. If she had a chance, she would call her attack in. But she had to know where she was if she wanted help. He began to talk again, like he loved. It was so easy for him to get inside her head.

"You know - I've been waiting a long time for this." He threw a sickened feeling into Olivia's stomach as she tried to block him out. She couldn't.

"I thought about you every night." He didn't mind admitting it, only because he knew she had through about him every night too. Unfortunately, his was by choice. Her frightening nightmares came unwelcomed, unwanted. He established that horrible connection again.

"And when we get there -" she found herself staring into his eyes, gleaming with a smile "- we're going to pick up where we left off."

It was a violent shudder Olivia experienced as she shut her eyes, consciously taking deep breaths as beads of sweat spotted her hairline. This was what she had to do. She was going to save that little girl no matter what it took. Lewis wouldn't ruin another life - especially a life so young. Amelia's was the life she had come to save, not her own.

Olivia's eyes darted between the side windows and the windshield. They were leaving Manhattan's lights for Brooklyn's. Olivia had a moment of hope. Bridge and tunnel cameras would keep the records. When her team discovered her missing, they would know she'd left Manhattan.

When Lewis took an exit off the main road, he smiled back again. "Let's park for a bit, shall we?"

Olivia's heart leapt into her throat and then dropped suddenly to the bottom of her feet. The area was run-down, low-lit. It all scared her to the point where her entire body physically trembled. The car rolled to a stop where a small back parking lot sat. The dim lights of a nearby convenience store mingled in the dead air. He got out, checked her cuffs to make sure she was bound to the door, and gave her a grin.

"Sit tight." Then he was gone.

Where were they going? Was Amelia even still alive?

Olivia shuffled the cuffs. She couldn't reach the door handle. Even if she could, she couldn't attempt overpowering Lewis - not now. If she killed him, she might never find Amelia. If he killed her, she realized, Amelia would be of no use to Lewis. He didn't need leverage to lure a woman who was dead. He would kill her too. Olivia couldn't risk either scenario, so she waited. The light of morning was on its way. It couldn't get there soon enough.

Lewis entered the premises discreetly. The manager at the desk, the only other person in the building, didn't even look up from the magazine he was reading. Lewis, pleased, searched for the items he thought he might need. After grabbing a pocket knife and a couple of lighters, he moved to the other half of the store.

How lucky, he almost spoke out loud when he saw liquor lining the shelves.

He selected a large bottle of vodka from a shelf, and he made his way to the counter, dropping his merchandise in front of the man. Not phased at all, the man began to scan the items.

"Two Marlboro's." Lwis smiled to himself.

Just like old times.

The man finally looked up, seemingly startled. Lewis knew he'd seen his scar, but he didn't want to have any police attention, not when he was ready to spend time with Olivia. He didn't want to rush. Maybe the man hadn't recognized him.

Lewis smiled easily, pointing at his scar. "You should see the other guy."

The man glanced away. "He made it?"

The rhetorical question, humorous as it was, caught Lewis pleasantly off guard. He smiled again as he paid.

"Thanks."

The last look back Lewis took saw the clerk calmly reading again. He had no idea he'd just allowed a criminal to purchase the items he planned to torture his most special victim with.

Olivia was taking slow breaths when Lewis returned. He climbed into the backseat, sitting opposite her. Reaching into his bag that he'd been carrying since she'd met him that night, Lewis retracted a roll of duct tape. Her swallow was audible to him, she was sure. Tears were already threatening to spill from her eyes. One question played over and over in her head as she watched him.

Why? Why had she taken that interrogation, seemingly a lifetime before? Why had he chosen her? So much had changed since that one day, so much she wished she could go back and avoid.

When he looked up and pushed the tape onto her mouth, her eyes changed. They began to show the fire she felt light within her.

Why had it all happened? Because she was the one who could end it - end him. She was the one who was meant to save his future victims their pain. And she would.

With her arms behind her back, Olivia sat up straight. He wasn't going to kill her. He hadn't had his time. She would take whatever pain he inflicted knowing that soon she would have her chance to end his life. He wasn't going to make it out alive. Though her heart pounded against her ribs when she watched him hold the lighter up, she kept her gaze steady. The flame lit the abyss of the car.

"I know you remember the smell of burning flesh." He smiled as he lifted the flame closer to her.

She did remember. That smell never left her. She couldn't stand the smell of fire at all, grilling, stovetop, anything. It all reminded her of her own flesh being seared by him.

He violently thrust the lighter to the inside of her shoulder where her sweater exposed the skin he wanted. As the flame bit into her skin, Olivia didn't move. Her brow shone with the perspiration of her efforts to keep quiet. She held every cry of excruciating pain in, silently staring into Lewis' eyes.

"Well that's no fun." He seemed mildly annoyed as he pulled the alcohol from behind him.

It was then that Olivia prepared for what she hated most. She remembered the feeling - as if she was drowning. She felt the burning in her throat, the lack of air. It was all about to happen again.

Lewis tore the tape off of her mouth. She did the only thing she could. Her spit angered him as it showered his face. After slowly wiping it from his face, he attacked her. With his weight on her legs, he forced the bottle into her mouth. It hit the back of her throat painfully as it poured bitter liquid down her throat. Olivia couldn't make a sound. She couldn't breathe in or out. When her air was long gone, Lewis tore the bottle from her. Olivia coughed so hard that she threw some of the vodka back up. While she tried to get oxygen, Lewis lit a cigarette. Olivia looked up at him through watering eyes.

"You smoke - or I'll burn you. I promise I can still get you to scream - if I hold it on long enough." He put the unlit end at her lips as he threatened her.

She knew he was right, so Olivia took a breath of fresh air and then inhaled the smoke. She was able to suppress the coughs as her lungs dealt with the new intrusion. He watched her blow the smoke out. It made his insides tingle. He took a long drag and did the same. Then, an idea popping into his head, Lewis held it back to her.

"Blow the smoke out facing the ceiling."

She did what he said, unknowingly torturing him as she blew the vile chemicals from her throat, chin lifted to the ceiling. Lewis shivered in delight. Why hadn't he thought of doing it before? To watch her smoke was turning him on like he'd never felt before. Only she could do that. And that's why he'd come back for her. He had to hold himself back from taking her right then.

Soon. He reminded himself. Soon.

He got himself closer to her and made her take another deep drag. Olivia continued her charade, knowing she'd have her chance eventually. She had to wait him out.

"Now into my mouth."

She held the smoke as he opened his mouth inches from her own. Her body shivered with him so close to her. The first light of morning broke the horizon.

She blew the smoke toward him as he closed his eyes. When he opened them, Olivia tried to turn away. It was no good. He captured her lips in a forceful kiss. The feeling was sickeningly familiar. Her air was gone again before he unlatched himself.

"Let's go see Amelia and have some more fun."

A new question had began its assault on her mind: When? When would it end?