We're at the end of Saw! But what happens now? How do Larry and Ivy get out of the bathroom? Will Adam get out? What happens when Ivy meets Jigsaw? Heh heh that's right it's time to meet John Kramer!

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Adam's screams could still be heard a few lengths of the hallway away as Ivy continued to haul Lawrence's body through the labyrinth they were currently in. Her hands squelched from the stinking blood on her hands as she tried not to think of Adam alone in the bathroom. At least he had a couple of weapons with him now she thought gripping the bloody knife tightly in her free hand. Lawrence was making small pathetic grunts of pain, his eyes closed against the pain as he fought the urge to black out; Ivy occasionally whispering words of encouragement to him. He was trusting Ivy completely. The bloody stump that was all that was left of one of Lawrence's legs was dripping behind them, leaving a trail of blood behind them. She hated how easy it was for someone to follow them.

"So cold..." Moaned Lawrence from beneath her arm and the panic rose around Ivy like tendrils. If Lawrence's body shut down and he lost any more blood without them finding help, he would undoubtedly die.

"Hang on Lawrence." She urged, wishing she had something to wrap around his leg beside his trouser leg, regretting leaving his over shirt in the bathroom. Ivy was only in a vest top and yoga pants and was shivering herself. She could only imagine what Lawrence was going through. They trudged on in as much silence as they could manage, Ivy peering round every corner to try and find a way out. They saw a flight of stairs and attempted to climb it, but with Lawrence's unstable condition they were forced to give up and continue searching for another way out. Ivy just hoped to God that wasn't the only one. A little while later Ivy slowed down as her eyes fell upon a body lying in a puddle of blood, peering a little closer Lawrence started in her arms.

"Tapp." He stated before his head dropped back down to his chest.

"Tapp?" Ivy repeated wondering if Lawrence was becoming delusional. Then she saw the dark skin and face of the dead man and gasped in surprise. "Detective Tapp, the Detective who had been so obsessed with arresting Lawrence for the Jigsaw murders had been shot fatally in the stomach. She had now seen two dead bodies, Zepp and now Tapp's but neither of them had given her the same horrendous feeling of loss and isolation than Adam's supposedly dead body had thrown her. She trudged on past Tapp with a strong his of detachment; knowing the most important thing was to ensure there wouldn't be a third body a little further on missing one foot.

Time did not seem to matter any more. Ivy had no idea how long it had been since six and her stomach was growling frequently, desperate to be fed. She was also very very thirsty. Trying not to think of food and hydration she switched Lawrence's weight onto her other shoulder as they navigated the network of underground tunnels, her right having gone numb a while ago. She too could feel herself weakening under the effort of nearly dragging a man nearly twice her own weight.

"There." Groaned Lawrence after a bit. He raised a shaky hand to a pipe nearly camouflaged in the gloomy, dark lighting. Steam was issuing from the pipe in menacing hissing noises and Ivy dropped to the ground, the knife falling from her hand and Lawrence rolled onto the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked the Doctor in a fervent whisper, hoping Lawrence's insanity from beforehand wasn't returning to him again. "How is this a way out?"

"It's not." He replied as he began rolling up his bloody trouser leg to reveal his hacked off stump which trembled violently as it was exposed to the air. "But if this goes right, then I might be able to live for a little longer."

Ivy watched wordlessly as Lawrence sized up the pipe before him, putting a hand out and withdrawing it quickly at the heat it was emitting. Ivy admitted it was nice and warm by the piping. Maybe she could leave Lawrence here for a while and try and find help on her own as she was the only one of the three not injured. She abandoned the thought immediately though, she didn't want to abandon Lawrence the way they had Adam. Something in her gut was snarling in agreement. Lawrence lined his stump up with the pipe and brought it gingerly closer to the pipe, before pulling away in fright. "What are you doing?" Ivy asked as she stared open mouthed at him.

"I'm going to cauterise it." The Doctor told her and Ivy's mouth fell open even more.

"On a bloody boiling pipe?" She asked incredulously, "Lawrence you don't need a dodgy repair job you need professional medical attention."

"I am a professional." He bit back at her before softening at the look in her eyes. "I know what must be done. I need to stop the bleeding and this... this is the only way I can. But I need you to help me do it. I'm too much of a coward to make my... um contact the pipe." He finished awkwardly staring at his leg. Ivy shook her head wondering how much more pain she would have to force people through, but came to kneel behind Lawrence ready to push him forward. "Do it when I don't expect it. Then I can't fight..." He let out a scream of pain as Ivy obeyed at once and pushed. The bloody stump hit the pipe and began sizzling against the fiery steam. The stump was indeed quite effectively cauterised. Lawrence pulled his leg away from the pipe and collapsed onto the floor next to Ivy who tapped his chest to try and see if he was awake like the Doctor had instructed earlier. Nothing, Lawrence Gordon had lost consciousness. Realising she was now completely alone in the deadly labyrinth Ivy let out a scream of pure fear as she started shaking Lawrence. What did she do now? Did she go back to Adam? Did she try and get help on her own? Did she drag Lawrence along with her? But before she could make a decision a figure stepped into view from round the corner. Ivy's insides squirmed in absolute dread as she gazed at the man in front of her. A man whose clothes she recognised at once. A man that had been lying on the cold, hard bathroom floor just a few minutes ago. A man who was said to have committed suicide. Ivy grabbed the knife and held it out to the man as he stepped closer out of the shadows. The knife lowered a few inches as she took in his appearance.

"John?" Her voice cracked, not capable of more than a whisper.

"Congratulations Ivy." Her Uncle whispered taking another step towards her. "You passed, and you passed well. Though I am surprised by the end result."

Ivy tightened her grip on the knife again as she stared at him, wondering if she too had finally gone mad. "What the fuck?" She cried in confusion as she stared at the bloody patches on his clothing. Now that she could see his bald head that had been covered with some sort of mask to allude that he had shot himself, she recognised the unmistakable presence and voice of John Kramer. Her Uncle of whom she had seen very little of recently. "You were in there with us. And your not dead, well I knew you weren't. Well that my Uncle wasn't anyway and now you here in front of me while Adam..." He eyes widened as she jumped to her feet. "Where is Adam?" She asked threateningly although the knife was now a bluff. She didn't think she could possibly hurt her old Uncle. Not to mention her Uncle who was suffering badly with cancer.

"I am sorry Ivy. But he failed." Said John after a short while.

Ivy tried to process his words. "Failed." She repeated very slowly, as her brain tried to fight against the impending fatigue that was coursing through every muscle in her body and her Uncle's words. "How could he have failed? I'm so confused? Did you put me in there and where's Jigsaw?"

John chuckled and gently took ahold of my chin and I flinched violently away from him not knowing what he was going to do next. "I will explain everything to you in a while my dear." He cast a glance towards the passed out Doctor next to Ivy and held a hand out to let some drops of water fall into his hands, coming from something Ivy could not see. John now turned from his niece to Lawrence and dripped the water onto his face to try and help him regain consciousness, after propping him up against the wall. Ivy watched him feeling both stupefied and intrigued as Lawrence groaned groggily peering up at our mysterious rescuer. "Congratulations Dr Gordon." John said addressing him professionally in the same tone as he had spoken to Ivy with just before. "You survived."

Lawrence slipped back into the realm of oblivion and John cast an appraising eye over Ivy again. "You must be starved and exhausted. Follow and if you'll assist me with Dr Gordon please." John put an arm around Lawrence as Ivy had done beforehand, but Ivy didn't move at all. John sighed once he had noticed Ivy's lack of exuberance, "Ivy please. I know how confusing and horrifying the experience must have been for you, after all I saw most of it..." Ivy opened her mouth in sheer horror but her Uncle continued quickly, "But that will be explained once we have helped your fellow survivor."

Her Uncle's voice sounded quite weak in his early cancerous state, but the ring of authority was evident right now. Ivy felt it to be very unwise to not help her Uncle, not to mention she didn't know how John would have managed with the heavy Doctor on his own. So deciding not to spend the rest of her dismal life in that corridor, she slung her aching shoulder back under Lawrence and the two began to half-carry him down the dank hall. John seemed to navigate his way around the maze with ease and Ivy's suspicions only began to climax as they eventually reached a very rusty, old door. John slipped a switched as caked in dirt as the bathroom had been and a lightbulb which was swinging above their heads flickered into life. Ivy could see what looked like one of those beds one would see at the dentist, which they placed Lawrence into. Round the room was various crude medial implements all set up in preparation and Ivy grimaced on seeing it all. Lawrence's cauterisation had worked as his massacred stump was no longer bleeding, but Ivy knew enough about medical procedures to know that he was vulnerable to all sorts of infection and other nasty problems. She stared at the passed out Doctor a little of the tension from before lifting from her heart as she saw John limping round the dingy room preparing for some sort of operation. "What are you doing?" She asked him and for the first time in hours her voice was no longer shaking.

"Preparing to clean and disinfect the damage before fitting our good Doctor with a new leg and foot." Answered John as if this was an everyday occurrence.

"And you still haven't explained to me anything about Jigsaw or that bathroom or what the fuck is going to happen to Adam." Repeated Ivy her irritation rising again. She hated being left in the dark.

John paused in his actions and turned very slowly to appraise her. "Still curious aren't you?" He began and she glared at him for bringing up one of her faults that landed her in that place. "Ivy, I am Jigsaw."

She had suspected as much from him, how else could he have apparently risen from the dead knowing so much about their current situation, but her blood still trembled in her veins. "You are the Jigsaw killer?"

"Well there are a few technical faults with that sentence right there, firstly I never publicised the name Jigsaw and secondly and most importantly I've never killed anyone. As you have just witnessed and been a part of, I let my test subjects make the choice as to whether they will live or die. You and Lawrence chose to live." She nodded understanding the whole Jigsaw mantra but found herself stopping to seriously consider what sort of a position this put now put her in. Her Uncle was Jigsaw and depending on how Ivy looked at it had tried to kill her. As if reading her very mind John interrupted her thoughts "I did not try and murder you Ivy. I simply put you in a situation in which you would be forced to try and correct the part that was missing from you."

"And what was that, the survival instinct?" She snapped, throwing some of her blood matted hair over her shoulder.

"In a manner of speaking, you've proved to me that you have that instinct by being here right now. What I meant more is your appreciation of your life."

"I have always appreciated the life I had John. I haven't committed adultery, abused substances or lowered myself to criminal activity..."

"And you rattling off these sins people commit isn't the perfect example of why you were put in that bathroom."

Ivy paused her eyes peering into her Uncles whose tone had turned a little nasty. "I don't follow."

"I put you in that bathroom because of your obsessive compulsive nature when it comes to your work. Ivy do you realise that Jill and I haven't seen you at all in the last two years? And every time we have tried to invite you somewhere or contact you, you say your too busy with the FBI training. Then I discover from some of my police contacts how files are going missing and you are always the last one seen with them. It didn't take long to put the two and two together. Your reckless selfish determination to solve my case has delayed police progress and most likely destroyed many lives."

"Why do you care? Surely you didn't want the police to catch you?" Ivy argued feeling her cheeks flush. She felt like a twelve year old being reprimanded for staying out too late.

"It's not a case of being Jigsaw Ivy!" John's voice rose once again and Ivy flinched horribly. She wasn't used to seeing her normally serene Uncle angry. "This is a case of principals and morals. I'm sure that when you were in that bathroom you would have done anything to get out of there including giving up your career."

Ivy's eyebrows knitted together as she recalled thinking something indeed similar, "Well yes I would have." She admitted after a short while. Lawrence was still unmoving behind them as their heated discussion continued.

"Do you not feel as if your life has a meaning now?" Asked John trying to appeal to me.

"Of course I do. You don't go through something like that without valuing your life after it. I could have been killed so easily."

John gave me a small smirk and nodded a few times, it was a creepy thing to see. "And that is my mantra. I teach people to value their lives and the only way to effectively do it is to put them through a situation that will force them to try and survive. A test or game as I call them."

"And that bathroom was my game?"

"Precisely." Ivy let the information process. She already understood a lot of the information because it was laid out in the files, but having to match John's modus operandi to her own experience in the bathroom was difficult. John turned back towards Lawrence and began hooking him up to an IV as he carried on speaking. "I do not expect you to be able to understand it all yet, it takes a certain amount of healing to reach my frame of mind. But I am confident you will get there eventually."

Ivy didn't reply straight away but moved to lean against one of the tables. "So you have been behind every single Jigsaw murder?" John didn't bother answering my question, making it rhetorical. "The razor wire maze, the reverse bear trap and the roller coaster..."

"My more elaborate games." Smiled John, though he didn't seem to be taking pleasure in his tests. He was busy inserting the IV into Lawrence's slack arm.

"You were behind all of them. You couldn't have done all that by yourself your a cancer patient."

"Well while your lack of faith is endearing my niece," Began John sarcastically "You are correct of course. I have several...apprentices helping me."

"And you are telling me this why? I'm still an FBI member, you've just told me so much that can help us to convict you John." She pointed out crossing her arms.

John glanced up at Ivy again and stopped his attentions on Lawrence to watch her. Very slowly he spoke, "I don't think you are going to tell your allies anything about me."

Ivy blinked as she realised that she wouldn't. "Your my Uncle..." She admitted finally, "And Jill needs you, besides I can't send a family member to prison."

"Don't make that decision based on some benign familial loyalty to me." John waved her words away with a hand, "You haven't been family to me for a while and Jill left me when she discovered what I was doing."

She opened her mouth and then closed it, shocked. "I'm sorry." She started but John shook his head.

"Oh I plan to remedy that soon." Smiled John and Ivy let out a tentative smile. A silence fell and Lawrence moaned loudly making her jump.

"So um what happens now?" She asked her Uncle who had returned his attention back to the severely injured Doctor.

"In a short while you can make your great escape into civilisation and no doubt be rushed straight to hospital."

"And Lawrence?" Ivy asked.

"He will follow suit once I've fitted his new prosthetic and spoken with him."

She stood there not knowing what to do; she had no medical knowledge at all. She felt useless, much like she had done in the bathroom. Then her mind flashed an image of Adam grinning in her mind's eye and she thought about him alone in the bathroom. "You still haven't said about Adam. What it going to happen to him?" She tried to keep her tone nonchalant as she tried to wheedle the information out of John.

John smiled at her but was staring at something over her right shoulder and Ivy rubbed her shoulders self-consciously. "I believe Amanda will tell you all about that now."

Ivy wheeled round quickly as her heat beat rapidly in her chest. The door had opened silently unbeknownst to her and the shadow of a young woman with very spikey, short hair was standing in the doorway. Ivy stared at her for a minute before turning back to John who motioned for Ivy to follow the mysterious young woman. She opened her mouth again to protest but Amanda began to walk out of the doorframe and Ivy felt she had no choice but to wearily follow her, breaking into a run to keep her in sight. Amanda walked briskly through the dark, dank corridors of wherever they were and a flicker of dread made me wonder if she was going to throw me back in that bathroom, with Adam. But at the set of stairs that Lawrence and I had originally tried to climb earlier, Amanda began to climb them taking out a key from her jeans pocket. She reached up towards the ceiling and inserted the key into a tiny padlock and pushed the ceiling open revealing it to be a trapdoor. Ivy shook her head, it would have been completely pointless to have forced Lawrence up those steps. We emerged into some sort of house that looked like it could have been the living room. Having spent so long in semi-darkness again Ivy's eyes squeezed themselves shut again. There were some sofas pushed to the sides of the room, but that was it. The wallpaper was peeling from a hideous floral pattern that was only being improved through age, but Amanda carried on through to the foyer that was just as derelict as the supposed living room and began climbing the foyer's stairs. Ivy hurried to follow loosing pace behind her, but Amanda neither turned nor said anything as she walked down the upstairs hall and pushed her way through one of the doors into a bedroom. It was starkly weird to see white, lacy curtains billowing softly in the light breeze of daylight and like a moth drawn to the light Ivy moved as if in a trance towards the window. The breeze danced across her cheeks and she breathed in one blissful breath of clear air. It tasted better than anything she had ever tasted before. Something was thrown on the bed and Ivy turned to watch it land. Her heart beat quickened as she darted across the room ignoring how it must look to Amanda, who had settled herself in an arm chair opposite the bed, and opened the bottle lid clumsily and drained the bottle of water in one go.

"Feels good doesn't it." Amanda's voice carried a natural harsh tone to it, despite her watching with a half amused and half guarded expression.

Ivy, having a little more control now sank down onto the bed with relish. "Never has water tasted so good."

"I didn't mean the drink." Said Amanda after a short pause, "I meant your freedom."

Ivy frowned at the woman before her and smirked a little, "I suppose you would know more about that than anyone else."

Amanda's eyes never left my face, she was regarding me like a lion watching its prey. "So you and the Doctor survived eh? Have to admit I didn't expect that one, thought the way you and Adam were making eyes at each other it would have been him you escaped with. If I were you I would have taken that knife and got rid of the Doctor while he still threatened your chance to get out." There was an oddly casual tone in her voice as she spoke.

"How do you know anything that went on in the bathroom?" Ivy retorted quickly, staring at Amanda. She felt on guard as well and the survivor's tone was far too normal to comfort Ivy in any way.

Amanda let out a short, bark like laugh and stretched out in her arm chair. "Who do you think was keeping an eye on the three of you?"

Ivy's eyes widened as she stared at the woman in front of her, "You were behind the glass, or plastic, or whatever that was?" She nodded looking satisfied. "And you had to watch us like we were on some sort of reality show?"

"Trust me your much more interesting than reality TV." Snorted Amanda and Ivy glared at her.

"Just answer the question." She instructed pointedly and Amanda held up her hands.

"Well that's the cop in you coming out. That took what three minutes?" She taunted trying to get a rise out of her. Amanda leaned forwards and Ivy felt herself lean in as well, "I had to make sure you were following the rules."

Ivy shook her head and diverted her eyes away from Amanda into the bottom of the empty water bottle. Of course, if John had been inside the bathroom someone would have had to be watching the whole scenario with Zepp. She stared at the woman in front of her. It was incredibly unnerving to see the woman she had watched meticulously over and over on tape before her capture sitting in front of her, staring back without fear. Much different from the frail, mousy looking drug addict who had been interviewed by Tapp and Sing. Amanda Young's hair was spiked up in all different directions, giving her a sort of collected rockstar look and it was dyed nearly black, much darker than before. A grey zip-up jacket covered some sort of band t-shirt she had on underneath and her legs were covered with badly ripped, torn up jeans and converse that had been deliberately spray painted with flecks of red among the black. Her dark eyes were rimmed with thick eyeliner that threw Ivy off realising she couldn't completely discern where the woman's eyes were directly looking. "What happened to you?" She asked quietly. Amanda's eyebrows shot up in alarmed surprise, but was quickly masqueraded with her normal steely gaze. "After you escaped the trap?" Ivy added quickly.

Amanda smirked and folded her arms across her chest. "I spent some time in the hospital getting treated for these," She gestured to the very faint scars on either side of her mouth where the Reverse Bear Trap had clawed at her jaws; "And then the police picked me up for interviewing for a good few months. That fucking Tapp bastard tried to do me for drug use but they overruled it saying I'd been through enough."

"He's dead by the way." Added Ivy, "Shot in the chest I think."

Amanda nodded a devilish smile lighting up her face, "Yeah we'll move him. Eventually."

Ivy decided to put her words to one side for later and plunged on, "But what about after? How the hell did you end up working for my Uncle?"

Her eyes darkened slightly and she leaned in closer to Ivy. "First off I'm not working for him. I'm his apprentice, his assistant and I'm going to be carrying on John's work when he dies." She stated as if they were talking about her duties round the office.

"Your going to carry it on?" Ivy was dumbfounded, the fact that her Uncle got some kind of sick thrill out of this was enough and it certainly seemed like he didn't have much longer to live. She hoped the horrific disappearances and traps would stop when he died and knowing Amanda was going to carry it all on was very disturbing.

"Don't worry your okay now." Amanda laughed, taking Ivy's anxiety to mean she was worried about being targeted again. Ivy hadn't even thought of that before then. "As long as you appreciate your second chance to live then your all good. It's only if you start regressing back that you might have to watch out." She gave Ivy a wink that set off goosebumps on her arms.

"Why?" Ivy frowned trying to comprehend Amanda's decision. "Your going to throw your second chance away doing this? You will get caught, not by me, but they will catch you eventually. And everything you've already been through, prison, the drugs..."

"You know a hell of a lot about me."

"So do you." Ivy retorted and Amanda grinned at her again.

"Some life it was before, trying to balance all that shit." Continued Amanda rubbing her wrists uncomfortably. "John gave me a purpose. He's given me the chance to use my life to help others. He's like a father to me and you and I both know his method works." Amanda's eyes were shining brightly in the dawning daylight, her face the softest Ivy had seen it and she spoke with a caress in her tone.

Ivy decided to change the topic as blue eyes pierced the forefront of her mind. "No one will tell me what happens to Adam now."

Amanda did not say anything for a while, her eyes flickered round the bedroom and wouldn't meet Ivy's now inquisitive gaze. "Nothing happens. He stays in there." She said finally.

"What do you mean he stays in there?" She asked now becoming frustrated with the two killers and their mysterious ways. Maybe she was just missing something. John had completely glossed over the matter when she asked him earlier.

Amanda seemed to be one of those people who had to roll their eyes every time someone was being a little slow and began gesticulating as if speaking to someone with mental issues. Though she still refused to meet her gaze. "He doesn't come out. He failed his test. You should know what happens when its game over."

Ivy's face paled dramatically, "He's going to die?" Her voice quivered tremulously and Amanda finally gave her a quick glance. "You are just going to leave him in there?"

"Yes." Snapped Amanda, her voice rising along with her temper. "He doesn't come out. Don't bother interrogating me about it cause there is nothing either of us can do. He shouldn't have lost."

"Bit hard for him to win when he had that shackle round his ankle don't you think?" Ivy snapped in a bitchy manner and only just remembering her own confinement now her ankle throbbed nastily. She dropped a hand to it as pain seared through the tender muscles and tendons. Footsteps were echoing down the hallway, coming closer and closer to the bedroom.

"He had a key..." Muttered Amanda as John walked very slowly into the bedroom casting an eye over the two.

"Catching up?" He asked ironically his lips curving into a half smile. They didn't say a word, but Ivy shot up off the bed regretting the sudden movement as her head felt as if it could spin off her shoulders. "I won't keep you much longer," Continued John casting a worried eye over Ivy's condition "You are in need of medical care, but I must speak with you about an important matter before you leave us."

Feeling as though her tongue had been glued to the roof of her mouth, Ivy nodded slowly before allowing herself to follow John out of the bedroom and into another room. He shut the door loudly and waited a moment before re-opening the door and setting off at a much quieter pace back down into the house's cellar and through a door just off to the right of the room Lawrence was now resting in. "What was that for?" Ivy asked, her voice a little lower than usual once she had shut the door.

"In case Amanda decides to listen in." Replied John, settling himself with difficulty behind a desk covered in papers. "She is rather fond of catching conversations she shouldn't be overhearing lately." He gestured for Ivy to take a seat in the single chair opposite him, opened a bottle of water next to him and push it towards Ivy. "Your still incredibly weak without nourishment and your body is most likely still functioning under adrenalin so I will have to be brief."

"Please do." Ivy answered, her pale lips covered with the sheen of water as she nearly drained this entire bottle too. "I just want to go home and think my life through, and whats become of it."

"Well maybe my proposition will help you decide." John indicated the papers sprawled out in front of him. Pictures of the same man, all in black and white were spread across the desk all with little notes paper clipped to them in the top left corners. The man looked ever so slightly familiar. "Do you know who he is?"

"I think I may have seen him somewhere but I can't say where." She answered honestly holding a picture of the man in his car closer to the dim light source above their heads.

"The man in these pictures is Detective Mark Hoffman."

Ivy raised an eyebrow as soon as the word Detective hit her. "He works in the same local police station as the late Detective Tapp, the police station you are currently involved with." Explained John, his hands darting over the photographs and arranging them in some sort of order.

"I think I may have seen him in his office once or twice." Said Ivy, handing over the photo she was holding to John. "But he's never spoken to me, not that anyone really has before in there." She studied the man's large, well built frame and the dark scowl he wore in most of the photos. He looked like a man lost in a sea of darkness. "He's your next target?"

"Not mine," Began John his eyes now fully fixed on his niece. "But yours."

"What do you mean?" She asked sharply, pushing some of the pictures away from her.

John chuckled, "Well not in the same intonation as you are thinking." Quickly for a man plagued with as much illness as he was, John leant forward. "What I am going to tell you is completely confidential between you and myself. No one must know the information I am going to tell you or what my proposal is Ivy that is crucially important." She stiffened at the new tone of utter authority in her Uncle's voice. She saw him waiting for some sort of response so she just nodded against, like one of those nodding dog toys. "Mark Hoffman is my other apprentice. After faking his own murder to resemble one of my own he caught my interest, but his test was nothing but a cold killing trap." John eyes had darkened considerably and Ivy shook her head at the level of corruption stewing around her. "There was no escape for the victim who despite playing by all the rules lost his life. So I found Mark and gave him his own chance. The chance for redemption, to see if he could bring a new sense of justice to the people in his traps and to offer them the choice as to whether they live or die. He chose to venture down my path of thinking and has come to find peace while assisting me."

"Did he have much of a choice?" Ivy asked boldly, thinking of the nasty choices she had been forced to make in that bathroom, and Adam's body stiffen as volts of electricity coursed through his body.

"He could have walked out of that building right then and convicted me of every crime I have committed." Nodded John and Ivy leaned back in her chair respectively. "Instead he chose to live again and to do something with his life."

"But he's never been tested, so how can he have any appreciation for his life?"

John laughed out loud, occasionally a cough issuing forth as well, "You sound exactly like Amanda, she feels the exact same way."

Ivy shuddered slightly and rubbed her forearms again, "Please don't connect me to Amanda right now John." She moaned thinking of the maniacal gleam in her eyes.

"You two are the same now, survivors. There are more similarities between the two of you than anyone else right now." John peered at her wisely and Ivy suppressed the need to roll her eyes. "Yet Mark has a tendency to be, rather brutal in his treatments of our test subjects." John approached delicately. "I am worried that he will stray from the path I have set him on and begin a self gratification process of manslaughter." John words were jumbling about in her brain as she struggled to see how and why John could be worried about such a thing when he and his other apprentice were killing frequently themselves, even if they didn't believe they were. John stood up very slowly and Ivy felt herself reach out a hand to help him, he smiled at her efforts and gratefully accepted the help. He deposited the photos in a filing cabinet under the folder 'Hoffman' and locked it securely with a key from round his neck. "The police have informants that go undercover to report for them, well I need my own set of eyes and ears to give me the information I need from the Police Department. And someone watching Mark to make sure he doesn't slip out of line." He added as an afterthought.

Ivy let the information slid round her brain, "You want me to spy on the Police for you while I'm working to bring you down?" She asked very slowly. It was as if every word that was spoken to her was on slow motion in this god forsaken house.

"Think of yourself as a double agent, ironically acting the same role as Mark Hoffman." Smirked her Uncle.

She began to mull the idea over for a while while John just sat patiently in his chair. "What if he finds out what I'm doing?"

John's face turned into a grim line, "I don't know if I can't answer that." He said honestly, "All you can know is that I will do all I can to ensure your safety, and I guarantee you will not be caught up in the bloodshed."

I sighed thinking how this could only end badly. "So I spend my hours spying on this man and the department that I am not even a part of yet, while doing my normal job that might not even have anything to do with the Jigsaw cases at first..."

"Oh believe me, you will be on every case." John's eyes were gleaming in the dark, the creases in his face stretching as he smiled darkly. "You survived."

I knew that he had won the argument and sat back down in my seat. "Then I report back to you here when I have information."

"Exactly and I will ensure that Mark is nowhere near the building when you come, so no awkward interactions will occur."

Ivy sighed, a headache was forming and she wanted nothing more than to escape this prison that was now starting to affect her sanity too. After John's reassurances that she would have her time in hospital to think about his offer along with the promise that she was free to rebuild her life however she wanted, in return for silence about his identity. He laid a gentle, frail hand on her shoulder which Ivy took in her own hand while giving him a small half-hearted smile. "Adam?" She ventured for a final time and John made a shushing noise as Amanda came back through the door. Ivy peered into her Uncle's eyes and saw him very slightly shake his head. Whether it was to ensure her silence or to once again remind her that there was no hope for the young photographer whom was most likely passed out from the bullet wound in his shoulder.

Sooo tell me, did we expect an Amanda appearance so suddenly? Ivy is working for Jigsaw too now, oh he can't stop hiring apprentices can he?

Read and review as always! xoxo