Two updates in one day! However there's no much action in this chapter.
Thank you for the lovely reviews - tigpop and pinkswallowsun - this update is for you!
World Domination Update: I have converted two of my friends into avid harry/nikki fans! I forced them too watch all the silent witness DVD's I could find! :D
Please review after reading this, it makes me update quicker when I know people are reading this... :)
Disclaimer: It pains me to say that I still don't own silent witness nor any of it's characters. I pray that one day I will take over and create a world where Harry and Nikki are together and married with lots of little pathologist babies!
Enjoy,
Much love x
Chapter Seven
She ran. Pushing her way through brambles and past branches. The dense woodland crept up around her, pulling her right into the heart of it. The sepia world around her blurred, as chocolate, chestnut and copper all merged together. Rough bark caressed her skin, thorns and long spindly braches reached out a scratched at ivory. Tawny owls, tan rodents and other taupe creatures ran riot around her slowly scattering into the vast darkness.
The mess of moss coloured objects were unrecognisable almost as she sped on, no idea where she was heading. The celadon and pistachio leaves formed a canopy overhead guarding the foreboding inklike sky. The starless canvas hung above her head predicting eminent distress. The below zero temperatures had cause goose bumps to erupt along her arms whilst the fierce arctic wind ripped at her frozen face.
Daring to glance behind her she let out a relieved sigh at the fact she was alone. She had escaped. However part of her felt disturbed by this snippet of information. She was alone. The thin hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and no longer were the goosebumps simply there because of the vicious threats of the cold conditions. Fear had come out to play.
Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't bitten his arm causing him to relinquish his hold on her. Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't fled into the forest her house backed on to. Maybe she shouldn't have kept running, fleeing the scene behind her. She should have stopped when the suggestion that he was no longer following her came into her head. That way she wouldn't be in the rayless creepy situation she current found herself in.
The forest, like a phantom, crept behind her. It watched her every move. She was unsure of whether it was seeking to endanger her or protect her. It was there. The idea of being trapped, unable to escape, in the heart of this black hole shook the terrified young girl to her core, both metaphorically and physically, or so it felt.
Suddenly she felt a surge of despair race through her veins. What was she going to do? It was starting to rain and the petite droplets were quickly becoming small vapidly falling oceans. The water seeped through her thin clothing and cascaded down her back making her shiver involuntarily. Anyone who saw her now would find it impossible to decipher where the rain stopped and the tears began, and whether or not she was shaking because she was crying, or because it was beyond freezing outside and the distressed teenager was wearing nothing but a thin grey cardigan over a cream colour vest top with her short black pleated school skirt and laddered tights. Though it was clear the tights hadn't simply laddered. They were shredded, as if someone had clawed through them in a fit of rage.
The girl's sobs had soon become hysterical and as she whipped around frantically trying to remember which way she had come she fell to her knees, the fallen leaves and dusty gravel scrapping at her skin through the holes in her tights. Her voice was broken and quiet as she managed to choke out a few words.
"Please, anyone, help me".
The door to his house was painted a glossy shade of midnight blue and as he clambered out of the car and made his way up the garden path Leo saw the hallway light flicker on.
Janet had seen him coming.
The door swung open just as he stepped through it, behind it Janet peered up towards him carefully studying his face. He learnt down and gave her a tender kiss.
"Sorry about that" he muttered.
She sighed. "It's not a problem Leo. I just wish we spent more time together."
He nodded at her, "I know, so do I."
She sighed again betraying her thoughts. He knew she didn't think he meant that. He was never here, whenever he was given the choice to work or stay home, he chose to work. She hated it about him but she always let him go anyway. She knew just how dedicated he was to his job. How much he felt he owed his job for keeping him sane over the years before he had met her, since he'd lost his family.
When she looked up at him again she wore a hurt expression upon her face.
"You went back to work," she whispered.
He sighed. He knew he had to tell her. She would only get suspicious and worried otherwise, like any other women would. She would begin to wonder why the man who claimed to love her so much was spending so much time at the office. He would loose her, just like he'd lost Theresa.
"Let's go and sit down." He said softly.
As he turned around and pulled off his coat, placing it on one of the hooks behind the door he heard her take a sharp breath. He didn't want to even think about what she had assumed he was about to say. He slipped his shows off his feet and made his way into the front room where he took a seat on the cappuccino leather sofa that he and Janet had bought just a few months previous.
She sat beside him cautiously; her body tense, clearly worried about what he was about to tell her.
Looking her in the eye he smiled, hoping he looked reassuring. He placed his hand on her upper arm and squeezed gently.
"Someone came to see me the other day" He started, "Someone I thought I'd never see again…"
She looked up at him, her eyes questioning, but she said nothing.
He took a deep breath and carried on. " The phone call… it was… the case…" He stumbled over his words.
"Leo" Her voice was soft, "Leo what's wrong?"
"Cassie." He said quickly.
A puzzled expression ran swiftly across her face before a concerned one took its place.
"Leo, she's gone. She's…" Her eyes were pleading with him, desperate for him to see sense.
"No. She's not, and neither is Theresa. They've been living here in London for six years… six whole years and they never thought to tell me! Well, Cassie did, but Theresa wouldn't let her contact me in any way…"
Janet simply looked shocked.
"The case, it was domestic violence case, at their house…" he looked into her eyes, not missing the spark of worry that had settled there, the insecurity he knew she was feeling. He needed to put her mind at ease. He wasn't going to leave her. "Janet, Theresa doesn't want me around, she doesn't even want me to see my own daughter, her new boyfriend, he tried to attack her by the looks of things, he lashed out and killed the neighbour who came across to make sure they were alright…"
He paused taking in his girlfriend's appearance. The insecurity still showed, but she seemed to be more at ease than she had when he'd first mentioned Theresa.
"Are they both alright?" She whispered.
Leo gulped, the tears stinging his eyes again, threatening to fall, something that didn't go unnoticed by Janet. She placed her hand inside his gently and held on.
"Cassie… She's missing' he sobbed before letting the tears fall.
