A/N: Alright, so, this got so long and away from me that I don't actually know if it's any good. There's a lot that happens in this chapter and a lot of things are going on at the same time, so keep that in mind when the perspectives change. I tried to make it clear. In any case, I'm excited I finally finished this. One more chapter after this one and this story is done! Thanks so much for everyone who sticks around. I know I don't update as much as anyone would like, but my life is pretty damn busy sometimes. Anyway, I don't own SVU but I sure love to torture them.
WARNING: It's a little graphic in this chapter. ENJOY.
NIGHT 4
Carisi tripped over his feet and hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. He didn't have time to groan in pain as his hearing was overwhelmed and he felt his mind being pulled in every direction.
There were screams coming from everywhere, leaving him staring towards the open door, the only light source available. It lit up only a fraction of the living room, the blistering cold wind blowing snow onto the hard wood floors. He was only on the ground for a half-second more and he gathered himself, jumping to his unsteady feet, just as larger body slammed into his. He could recognize Fin's cologne almost immediately, as well as the gun shoved roughly into his stomach.
Carisi grunted against the impact but clung to the man, "Don't shoot!" His yell was almost drowned out by the sickly, wet sounds and gargled screams that followed. A thud and a blood splatter followed and Carisi had a second of unimaginable horror as the body slid halfway out the open front door.
It was an instant thought that the body was one of them, it was one of their own, but the khaki pants and black boots didn't belong to one of them and he nearly sobbed in relief. He felt Fin pushing on him, yelling at him in a tone he'd never encountered with him before and he moved, trusting his own instincts to carry his feet where they needed to go.
There was no time to worry about everyone else as he and Fin disappeared down the hallway and into a room, the bathroom, where he almost tipped over and fell into the tub. He belatedly realized his gun was still in his hand and he shoved it into his pants, needing to take a second to calm down. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath.
"Fin," Rita's shaky voice called out and Carisi hadn't even realized she was with him. He reached out blindly into the bathroom, his hand brushing against her neck. She jumped away but he was quick to say her name, his voice a little breathless while he tried to gather himself. His heart beat was thumping wildly in his chest and Fin sounded like he'd ran a marathon.
"C'mere," Fin whispered and cloth rustled against cloth. Rita pressed against Fin, but her back rested against Carisi's chest as they all stood quietly in the dark room, listening outside of the door for noises. The distant sound of a door slamming shut and heavy, thumping footsteps pierced the silence of the house. The sounds were amplified, sounding loud without the low hum of the heat or the background noise of the television.
Their breaths mingled together in the darkness. Carisi could feel Rita shift closer into them and Fin tighten his hold around her waist. They listened until the heavy footsteps stopped, plunging them into total silence once more.
It felt like an eternity before anyone dared to speak.
"Who has their phone?"
The question from Fin prompted Carisi to plunge into his pocket and pull out his forgotten cell phone. He struggled to find the home button, but when he did, the bright light burned his eyes with a picture of Jesse smiling happily in his embrace. Battery on 5%. No signal in the corner. But they could still dial 911.
He did so without question.
The light disappeared as he held the phone to his ear. He took a sharp, shaky breath, waiting for the call to connect. It rang a few times, but dropped the moment he connected to dispatch. He cursed and pulled it away, fingers moving rapidly back across the keyboard.
"Fucking call dropped," he said by way of an explanation. Fin and Rita stayed huddled close to him, watching his fingers fly. He was about to raise the phone to his ear when the phone vibrated and shut off, descending them back into darkness.
"Oh God," Rita whispered and Carisi cursed again. Fin sighed heavily, pulling Rita closer to him. Carisi shoved his dead phone back into his pocket, wondering why this was beginning to look more like a bad, B-rated horror movie by the second. Everything was falling into place.
A separated group…a dead phone...an un-killable stalker trying to tear them limb from limb? Yeah, sounded like one of those low budge killer flicks he used to watch back in high school with girls dumb enough to go on dates with him.
"Calm down, baby," Fin said softly and Rita, who'd been trying not to break out into full on sobs, sniffled but seemed to calm down after. He felt Fin reach a hand out and grab onto his arm, getting his attention.
"Let's all calm down and think."
Easier said than done.
"We need to get to our room. Our phones are charged, we can call from there."
"Yeah, but how do we get passed that fucking giant out there with a pick axe, trying to kill us?"
"Our door is right down there…he won't know if we're very quiet."
Carisi huffed and but stopped when Fin squeezed his arm, almost to the point of pain. "Um, ow!"
"Shut it. We can't stay in here. It's too small of a room and if he finds us, were all dead. Now think!"
Rafael fell back against the wall directly next to the door, bumping into the dresser and landing on Liv's tipped over purse. He groaned lowly in pain and Liv hushed him right away. The moonlight shining in through the open blinds in their room allowed him to see her pressed against the door, gun still in her hand. Amanda stood by her side, breathing harshly, but with a wild look in her eye she only ever reserved for the field.
With gritted teeth, he reached up and poked around blindly for the stab wound in his shoulder, still bleeding, although not as heavily. He could feel the half-stitched wound and followed the string down to the tip of the needle, that lied against his chest. His fingers were slippery with his own blood still oozing from the wound and he hated knowing they were going to have to finish stitching it. He wasn't going to die from blood loss.
None of them were going to die, period. They couldn't.
He accidentally tugged a little too hard on the string, pulling his skin tighter. The sharp stinging pain was almost too much to hold back a groan for, but he bit his tongue in the still silence that fell over the entire house. Heavy footsteps disappeared out of thin air, leaving behind the soft whistle of blowing air.
"Shit…I can't hear anything," Liv whispered, just barely loud enough for Rafael to hear. He breathed heavily, and held onto the needle in his hand. He didn't want to pull her away from the door, but he was losing blood rapidly and he knew the effects of blood loss. He would become dead weight with little to no energy and there was no way he was going to die in a powerless cabin.
He survived that crazy bitch in the basement…he would survive this.
"Should we look?"
"No. No…I don't know…"
"Liv," he called out softly. He could see her shift the slightest in the broken moonlight towards him. He wasn't visible in the light, but she could tell where he was with his presence alone.
"Yeah, honey," she whispered and bent down. Her hand bumped into his shoulder before it landed securely and she pulled herself to him. He brought up his free hand and waved it around, finding her thigh instead of her face. He gripped it anyway, desperate to feel some sort of comfort. He was so tired.
"I'm losing a lot of blood…we have to finish this," he breathed harshly. He didn't want to acknowledge how short of breath he was feeling, but he didn't have to. His voice sounded winded and he could tell Liv was just as worried about that new development.
"I need light," she whispered. Her hand slipped away and he could hear the rustle of fabric, see her shift in the streaked light emanating from outside. They were bathed in light seconds later. He almost jumped when he saw Amanda had moved directly in front of him, just inches from his feet.
"Let me see," Liv whispered and moved a piece of his shirt that had flopped over the open wound. She hissed and shook her head. "Take this, please."
Amanda swooped down and dropped her gun, keeping it strategically placed by her side just in case she had to grab it quickly. The act was mirrored by Liv. Rafael sometimes marveled at how they could possibly have the foresight to place their weapons strategically like that, under dire circumstances, but he supposed it came with being a cop.
He'd witnessed it countless times, but seeing it in a situation where all their lives were on the line, it was a different feeling. It didn't make him feel safe. It made feel like he was danger, oddly enough.
"Grab that pillow from the bed, Manda." The blonde moved swiftly, dragging Liv's pillow and all but flinging it at him. He grabbed it and shoved some of the material into his mouth, just as Liv penetrated his skin with the needle again. He whimpered and breathed harshly, taking some comfort in Amanda's comforting pat on the shoulder.
It stung and it hurt far worse than anything had ever hurt him before, but Liv worked fast and efficiently, sewing his cut up the best she could. She looked down at her handy work and shook her head. It was still bleeding, but not as bad as before. It reminded her that they had to get out of there quickly and to safety, lest he bleed out on the floor of this cabin.
Which was NOT happening to him or her or any of them.
"We have to get out of here," Liv whispered, running her fingers through her hair. Rafael wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he was feeling weak and tired, neither feeling a good thing. They were well and truly stuck, especially since the only sound they could hear through the door was the fucking wind.
"We could jump out the windows…Get help from there?"
"How are we going to get help? Steal the police car outside? We've barely had service out here the past couple of days, which means we haven't been able to use navigation. We can't be driving around a town we don't know looking for help. Carisi, Fin, and Rita are God knows where in this house and Rafael's bleeding out. We can't leave…we have to find a different way."
"How the fuck are we supposed to do that, then? The lights are off and we don't know where that guys is! For all we know, he could be on the other side of the door, ready to kill us! We have to do something and we have to do it now!"
Rafael looked between their two heads as the door to the bathroom opened silently in the striped light from outside. He swallowed heavily, the sound of their argument drowned out by the blood rushing through his veins. He was frozen, back pressed up against the wall and pain from his impromptu stiches dissolving into nothing.
All he could focus on was a dark shadow stepping out into the room and the shining of a blade that pierced his very soul. His lips moved but no words came out. All he could do was sit there and watch it stalk closer to them. He raised a trembling hand and captured Liv's wrist easily, thanks to the phone light that still encompassed him.
"Liv," he was able to mumble out, hand shaking as it gripped her. Both she and Amanda shut up immediately and looked at him, seeing his eyes wide with fear and his whole form shaking.
"Rafi?"
"Liv…Liv!"
She shook her head, trying to understand him. The figure drew closer…close enough to see a large blade appear directly above her head. His breath caught in his throat and he yanked on her wrist, sending her barreling into him. Amanda gasped and reached for her gun just as the blade sliced across Liv's back, shearing he fabric and barely grazing her skin.
The resounding sounds of five rounds of ammo being emptied into the cold air shocked them both. Liv kept her face buried in his chest, knowing better than to raise her head and risk being shot. When it all stopped, Amanda picked up the dropped phone again and aimed it around the room, looking frantically for the person she was just shooting at.
The body lay still on the floor just feet from them, spots of blood loitering the area around it. Liv lifted her head and looked behind her, careful not to lean to far back and risk aggravating Rafael's injury.
"Dead?"
"I think so," Amanda wheezed, trying to catch her breath. Rafael let his head hit the back of the wall, calming his own rapidly beating heart. Liv reached behind her and felt the smear of blood on her back and she cursed. It stung, but it didn't feel like the cut went too deep. She'd had a blade buried deeper than that before, so she wasn't worried. She was more worried about her boyfriend that was wincing in pain just sitting so still.
Their heavy breathing was broken by a rapid thumping from outside the door, growing closer to their location. Liv and Amanda looked at each other for a split second, ready to move. Amanda's gun was empty but Liv had a good few bullets left and loaded in her own side arm.
"Can you stand?" Rafael nodded and, with some difficulty, stood up, using the wall to help him. Liv wrapped an arm around his back and he leaned some of his weight on her, careful not to stretch the shoddy stitches in his shoulder.
The rapid thumping stopped outside, but none of them paid it any attention. They had to move, no matter the consequences. They were sitting ducks in that room and there was more than one person. Four people were behind this, and God knew how many more.
"What's the plan," he groaned, hissing in pain.
"We're going to have to- "
The distant sounds of screaming and gunshots cut them off and Rafael's heart dropped into his chest. Liv and Amanda spent no more talking on the issue. The door to the bedroom was kicked open by Amanda, with so much force he could feel it in his teeth. He pushed Liv forward and ran after them unaided, with great difficulty. She was armed, and she was a good shot. If anyone was going to be able to take them down, it would be her.
"Were those shots fired?"
"Fuck," Fin growled, relinquishing his hold on Carisi's arm. They'd been talking for close to two minutes in the silence of the bathroom when the noises (five short bursts to be exact) tore them from their brainstorming. The footsteps that followed left them little choice than to move.
"We gotta go."
"Go where?"
"I don't know. But wherever Liv and the rest of them are, we gotta go give them backup."
Rita whimpered and Fin shushed her, reminding her they were going to be ok. "You stay behind us. It'll be fine. He can't take on four of us with guns all at once."
"Fin," Carisi interjected, "You sure?"
"You got another idea?"
His silence was enough of an answer. Fin pulled on his arm and Carisi moved behind him, pressed uncomfortably against his back. He pushed Rita behind Carisi's back and the woman gripped his shirt, pulling tight against his chest. He could feel Fin preparing himself and Rita shaking behind him and, almost as an after though, he reached between Rita and his back and pulled the gun out of his jeans.
A cold hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped a little, "Just stay close to us. You'll be fine."
He could feel Rita nod and readjust her grip on his shirt, grabbing two new handfuls of the fabric. That made Carisi stop and freeze. He could hear Fin turning the door knob, but he stopped him. "Why?" Fin sounded intense, even has whispered.
What was more intense was the tightening of the hand on his shoulder and the fact that both of Rita's hands were gripping the back of his shirt. Carisi swallowed hard and reached up, ignoring Fin's questioning again and grazed his fingertips along the hand. The fingers were cold and responded to him by clamping down on him and pulling him backwards.
Rita yelped as she went sailing to the ground and Carisi stumbled over, falling directly into a body that didn't belong to either of his friends. He yelled when his gun went flying out of his hand and clattered on the ground, and a set of teeth sunk into his neck.
He flailed his arms around wildly, managing to land a punch into the person's face behind him. He could hear the low grunt that came from the person when its teeth were removed from his neck, but it was almost drowned out by Rita's screams and Fin's yelling.
Carisi felt the impact of fists against his face as he dropped to the ground, trying in vain to block the heavy hits. The pain was so intense, he could barely think straight, but he was able to gurgle out, "Shoot! Shoot!"
Carisi reached up between the fists and delivered his own unforgiving blow to the man's face. It was enough to knock him back a little. Carisi had the foresight to roll away and cover his face when Fin released a few rounds into the confined space. A body falling over into the tub was enough of a confirmation that Fin had made a hit.
"Shit, Carisi? Carisi!"
Carisi groaned, feeling his head spin and blood seep out from his nose and mouth. He spit blood and a tooth out onto the floor, feeling nearly immobile and close to unconsciousness. Rita was still sobbing somewhere next to him and Fin was doing his best to calm her while trying to find him.
It didn't take long and soon, Carisi was being hauled up by Fin, one arm over the man's shoulders and his legs uselessly trying to help him walk. He wiped a hand across his mouth, feeling blood and saliva wetting his skin. He could feel his eyes swelling up and he was almost positive his nose was broken, but he couldn't focus on his injuries.
The bathroom door was open and Fin was dragging him out of the room.
They met in the middle of the living room, with just enough light to see each other clearly. Carisi was nearly unconscious propped up next to Fin, Rita's eyes were wet and bloodshot, but she was relatively calm. Amanda and Liv assessed them quickly.
"You guys alright?"
"No. We're not. Let's get the fuck out of here," Amanda said and gestured to the door.
"Think we can jack that SUV out there?"
"Worth a shot. I can hotwire a car. Now let's go!"
"You're not leaving."
The booming voice echoed within the room, ricocheting off the walls. Rafael pulled himself closer into the group, back turned to them as he scanned the kitchen area. It was dark and the light from outside only reached as far as the first barstool, but everything else was dark. They needed to move-
The fist came out of nowhere, literally throwing him onto the ground. He could taste his own blood and see the hulking figure standing above him. Liv growled and raised her gun, only for it to be swatted out of her hand. The hand that wrapped around her throat seconds later squeezed painfully tight. Amanda was right next to her, using brass tactics to get her free.
The blonde acted out of instinct and sunk her teeth into his fingers. He growled and dropped his hand away from Liv's neck, delivering a stinging smack across Amanda's face. They were unfazed though. Amanda grabbed for Liv, who was still coughing and yelled unintelligibly at Fin and Carisi.
"Go! Outside! Outside!" Fin practically barreled out of the front door and tripped over his own feet, Carisi landing in a heap next to him and barely moving. Amanda had tugged Liv out, despite the woman all but fighting her to get back to Rafael who had disappeared completely.
Rita had started to follow and tripped over her own feet, falling to the floor in a heap. She curled into a ball and closed her eyes, hyperventilating and going into a near full panic attack. She didn't listen to anything around her, other than the doors slamming shut behind the people who were her only chance of survival.
"Shit. Shit! No!" Liv broke away from Amanda and yanked and turned the handles on the doors aggressively, but they wouldn't budge. Amanda and Fin watched uselessly until Fin pushed her aside and applied more force, but yielded the same result. He winced in pain as the stinging in his arm grew worse and Liv pushed him back aside. Her and Amanda were the only ones least injured at that point and Carisi was nearly unconscious in the snow.
"Help him," she nodded to Carisi and Fin went willingly, helping the younger man to keep his eyes open. He helped wipe some of the blood from his face, seeing for the damage for himself. "Stay awake, kid. Don't close your eyes on me."
Carisi mumbled something and just stayed still, propped up against the house. He jumped when Liv angrily slammed her hands onto the wooden door and didn't stop. Amanda joined a second later, yelling for both Rita and Rafael, who were still in the house. Fin jumped up, ready to join them, when he spotted Skip's body, half buried in the snow that still covered the porch steps.
If he listened carefully, he could hear the faint sounds of a radio coming through, muffled by the snow. Fin had been a cop long enough to know when to act and, even though he wasn't a fan of touching dead bodies, there was no room for hesitation. He went to the edge of the porch and yanked the smaller man out of the snow, carefully avoiding the headless upper body and, instead, pulled from his belt.
It was a clear voice coming through, requesting a check in. It forced Amanda and Liv to turn and look at them, a glimmer of hope blanketing the frantic air around them.
"Skip and the Captain are dead. Shut the fuck up and listen to me."
The radio fell silent but he continued. "254 Cypress Lane. Our cars are buried in the snow and there's some giant mothafucka tryin' to kill us. Get the fuck down here and bring an ambulance."
Carisi groaned and leaned over onto his side, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the porch. Amanda quickly went to his side to keep him from falling face first into it. She grimaced and looked at him.
"Two ambulances. Hurry the fuck up! You got that?!"
Silence, and then, "…Yes, sir."
Fin nodded and set the radio on the porch again. They all looked around at each other for a second before Liv turned back and continued slamming her hands on the door. Fin joined her, doing his best with one hand.
Rita raised her head slowly and looked up, focusing on what little of the ceiling light she could see. The moonlight bounced off it, but it wasn't nearly enough that she could see anything from her vantage point. The lights were still off and everyone was outside. She tried following but she panicked. She fell, she panicked and she froze.
She stood up carefully, and turned towards the door. Uneven, slow breathing greeted her and she could faintly make out the outline of the hulking man near the doorway. Behind it, the handles on the doors were turning and rattling uselessly, and a moment after, incessant pounding set it, shaking the windows in the door.
It didn't move, though. It stayed where it was and Rita, in all her panicked thinking, turned around and faced away from it. She closed her eyes and whispered to herself, bottom lip quivering as she forced herself to stay calm. The chanting in her head was a routine she developed from the time she started ballet when she was seven-years-old, till last week, when she was defending an innocent defendant in a double rape case. It kept her calm, it kept her center.
If only it could keep her from being cut in half with a pick axe.
The power kicked back on suddenly and Rita opened her eyes, and found herself staring at the fireplace. She blinked, dots dancing around her vision as she tried to orient herself. She kept impossibly still, listening to the uneven breathing that stood behind her. A cold shiver ran down her spine, leaving her to shake uncontrollably in her flimsy night clothes.
She jumped when the doors began to rattle and moments later, there was incessant pounding on the door. The faint, familiar voices outside were calling out, but she couldn't make out their words. They were muffled by the door and by her own pounding heart.
"I like your hair."
The gruff voice was unfamiliar and so sinister, it brought instant tears to her eyes. She held back a scared whimper when those familiar heavy, thumping footsteps advanced on the rugged floor. She turned around quickly, not bothering to move the piece of hair hanging in her face as she locked eyes with this giant man. His hair was dirty and thick, like his clothes. He was a large man; he was so large he could tower over even the biggest body builder.
The banging on the door didn't stop and she could faintly hear Fin calling to her from the other side. She wanted to scream back to him but she kept her mouth closed. She wasn't sure it was a wise decision.
Her mouth went dry when he took another step towards her and dropped his pick axe on the couch. She took one back, looking all around at the possible exits she could try and make. She was smaller and quicker than him, but he possessed a strength she saw first-hand. Regardless of how quick she was, she wouldn't make it past him.
"Are you afraid?"
He chuckled and took a few more steps forward, looking happy when she took a few steps away. She moved around the coffee table and sofa, fully aware she had a loveseat couch behind her. She didn't respond to him and, instead, looked away from his cold stare. She jumped and screamed and fell on her backside when he suddenly shouted, "Boo!" He cackled immediately after, finding her reaction amusing. The pounding on the door stopped instantaneously.
He grinned a mouthful of gritty teeth, slowly advancing on her position. She scrambled back, trying to find purchase on the area rug. Her back hit the couch and she turned quickly, using the cushions to stand on shaky legs.
"I think I'll cut your hair…," he grumbled, licking his lips. The glass on the front door rattled again, the continuous pounding from before starting again, even more intense than before. Between the screaming outside, her heavy breathing and the thumping of his heavy feet, she couldn't think straight. Her mind was moving faster than it ever had before.
"I'll wear it. I'll be pretty like you…"
Rita wanted to scream. She wanted her feet to work as fast as her mind was, but they wouldn't. She stumbled and backed into a side table, knocking over a decorative potted plant. The clay pot broke loudly on the ground and before she could stop herself, she stepped onto a sharp edge. It pierced her skin and she cried out, but she yanked the shard from her foot and hopped over it, not missing a beat.
She sniffed back tears and shoved the piece of clay between her fingers, stretching it out towards him. He chuckled, clearly amused by her actions. "I won't hurt you. You can't hurt me."
"Fuck you!" Her voice was steady as she stepped onto the hardwood floor by the kitchen. The blood oozing from her foot caused her to slip and loose her balance, sending her flying back onto the floor. The giant stopped and bellowed laughing, head thrown back towards the ceiling. Rita shivered and crawled back, stopping until she shifted around the corner of the kitchen island.
She stopped when she saw Rafael staring back at her, nose dripping blood and clearly broken. His teeth were lined with blood and his shirt was caked in it, but that wasn't what made her stomach drop in her throat.
He was pointing a gun at her, propped up against the counter that was smeared with blood. He looked terrified and for a few seconds, she thought he was going to shoot her, but he quickly dropped it to the floor when he realized who she was.
"Ri- "
"Shh!" She hushed him quickly and scooted over to his side. She grabbed for the gun and reached out to him, but he waved her off, knowing she was going to assess his wounds. "We have to get out of here, Rafael, but I don't know what to do." Her whisper was breathy and the banging on the door had gone from rapid beating to drawn out, heavy thumps.
"Shoot him," Rafael said heavily, closing his eyes. He was still losing blood rapidly and she didn't want to think about just how much. "Just shoot him."
Rafael opened his eyes again and nodded at her, doing his best to instill some confidence in her. She appreciated it, but her gut was swirling like a tornado at the thought of handling a gun…at the thought of shooting someone…
She'd seen it done countless times. She'd been at crime scenes and she'd seen photos. She'd represented heartless bastards that killed people for just looking at them funny. Rare was it a time that she ever represented someone that killed for the sake of survival. She was about to be one of those people. She-
She was yanked back suddenly, a scream leaving her mouth and the gun falling from her hand in shock. Her stomach hit the rough edge of the wrap around counter that scraped the skin and tore her shirt. She was dragged until she was picked up and thrown against the glass coffee table, her weight breaking it instantly.
She hung limply over the metal frame, in so much pain the only thing she could hear was the blood rushing through her ears. The giant was before her again, smiling down at her bruised form with so much satisfaction it was sickening. Rita stared back up at him, too shocked to move.
It wasn't until he palmed himself through his pants did she even have the willpower to throw herself onto the floor and scramble back up again, albeit on shaky legs. Bloodied cuts littered bare ankles and wrists and her skin was slick with sweat, but she couldn't give up. She couldn't. A sob escaped her lips when she realized she was going the exact same thing she was before. Leading him around in circles, stalling time…doing anything she could to keep him away from her and from Rafael.
She had to get to that gun.
"Your blood smells like flowers."
Rita swallowed, eyes darting back towards the kitchen counters where Rafael and the weapon were. She wasn't sure if he knew Rafael was even behind the counter or not, or if he did, he just didn't care. She licked her lips and moved the stray strands of hair out of her face, doing her best to keep that look of absolute terror he was enjoying on her face. If he knew she was plotting something…
"I want to taste it."
Rita side-stepped the plant this time, her back turning towards the counters. She wouldn't take her eyes off him again. Not for a second. She had to figure out some way to get to that gun…
Their slow walk was stopped suddenly by the breaking glass of the small picture windows in the door, sizeable rocks hitting the hardwood floor. It grabbed his attention, his thick eyebrows furrowing over his cold eyes. His thick hand curled into a fist.
He growled and stalked towards the door, leaving Rita to nearly sprint to the kitchen counter. She knew doing so was going to force him to turn back to her but all she had to do was move faster. Her bloodied foot made her slip again, sending her careening into the granite, but Rafael had popped up on his knees, just enough that his head and his good arm were visible.
He slid the gun over the counter and Rita scrambled to grab it. She had it for a second, but it went flying behind her, along with her body being thrown after it. She landed harshly on the floor, sliding into some of the glass from the coffee table and struggled to catch her breath. Rafael's gut wrenching scream made her heart jump into her throat, but she didn't look up.
She crawled quickly over to the gun, that was leaning against the metal frame of the broken coffee table and secured it in her hand. With what little information she had on guns, she knew enough to double check the safety was off. It felt substantial in her hand, like it could do real damage, which she was about to do.
She didn't have time to think about it, because he had Rafael's hand turned at an odd angle and was cursing so loudly, it almost drowned out the noise of the banging on the door. She straightened up and took a ragged breath, clearing the sweat from her face with a dirty palm. She marched with purpose right up behind him, and with no hesitation, she grabbed a handful of the black, dirty hair and yanked back hard enough, he yelped in pain. She shoved the gun against his right temple, and Rita realized the look on his face was one of shock.
"For a serial killer, you really suck at leaving your bases uncovered." She hissed in his ear.
Rita spit the blood from her mouth, and grit her teeth, the gun held steady in her hand with her finger on the trigger. She yanked harder on his hair, causing him to cry out in pain, but he didn't release his hold on Rafael. He wouldn't let go. Not even as she kicked at the back of his knee roughly and made him collapse to the floor.
She smiled through grit teeth when she felt some of the hairs on his head were pulled from sweaty scalp. For a second, she thought about the consequences of the satisfaction she was feeling. Instant guilt and shame, mixed with the urgency to just end him…it scared her.
It scared her because she was so ready to kill.
"You won't hurt me," he said lowly, finally letting go of Rafael, who fell back behind the counter with a loud thump. A heavy hand fell against the back of her head and grabbed her own hair, that was up in a bun. He yanked roughly, but she didn't bother screaming in pain, because her self-reflection was over and consequence be damned…she had to end this.
"No. You won't hurt me," she whispered roughly, "But I'll hurt you." She pulled the trigger.
The blood splattered back against her half-shielded face. The gun kicked so hard it nearly fell out of her flimsy grasp, but she dropped it on the floor anyway. It clattered against the hard wood floor, hitting the wooden counter just as she dropped to her knees.
She was well and truly exhausted. So exhausted, she didn't even flinch when the front doors were slammed open and cracked against the wall, revealing Amanda and Liv, back to back and breathing heavily. Rafael groaned out in pain just a few feet from her and Fin had Carisi's arm over his shoulder, half-carrying the man who was drenched in snow and whose face was bruised heavily.
Fin nearly shoved Carisi into Amanda's arms, and ran to her side, fear and something else indescribable on his face she hadn't ever seen before. It was incredibly powerful to witness her normally stoic boyfriend near tears as he cradled her face in his hands and wiped the blood away from her cheeks.
Liv looked around frantically, calling out to Rafael, who groaned loud enough that it gave away his position. She went sailing past them and around the corner of the kitchen, disappearing to the ground. Rita sighed heavily, feeling, for the first time in a couple of days, at ease. Even with someone else's blood on her face and a death on her hands…she was at ease.
She leaned against Fin and she closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly to the sound of Fin's rapidly beating heart and sirens growing closer in the distance.
