7:07AM

Amanda had gotten maybe 2 hours of sleep. 2 hours of nightmare-plagued sleep. When she walked out of her breakroom she wasn't surprised to see that not many people had come back yet. Well, all except the rest of her squad. Carisi had left at some point to get something to eat; bringing back a box of donuts that sat open, one missing as Carisi sat at his desk, taking small bites gingerly with disinterest apparent on his face. She also guessed that the pile of empty coffee cups sitting on the table belonged to Barba, whom at the moment, had his head down on the table and was snoring softly. She was grateful for a moment, they had been the last two awake when she'd gone to try and rest at 5 in the morning and she wasn't about to disturb him. She honestly didn't think he'd be able to go back to sleep if she woke him then.

Fin walked in behind her, clearing his throat and when she turned around he held out a cup of coffee, "Here, before Barba wakes up and takes it." He gave her a half hearted smiled and she gratefully accepted.

"Anything?" Amanda asked.

"You haven't even been out for 2 hours Amanda. Nothing, I'm sorry." He sighed, "What we know right now is that his regular visitor, Bronwyn Freed, who was the jury forewoman in his trial, brought him cupcakes and that the frosting was spiked with meds. That's how he was able to have that seizure and escape Bellevue."

"No hits on the plate?" Amanda was hopeful but she knew the odds.

"Nothing." Fin knew they couldn't keep sitting around and waiting. There wasn't anything to wait for, it wasn't as if Lewis was going to just hand them the answers on a silver platter and the longer they took they knew the odds of Olivia and Noah surviving were dwindling. "Amanda, they've got Bronwyn held at 1PP. Take a crack at her and see what else she knows." There was a time to play by the rules and there was a time when the rules needed to bent and this was one of those times. Carisi was...too nice, for this sort of thing, Amanda was the only one he could trust.

"Gladly." Amanda turned and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair, but before she got more than a few feet away she heard a loud voice.

"Wait!"

She turned, and there was Barba, looking as unkempt as any of them had ever seen him. His hair was out of place, his shirt was rumpled and his five o'clock shadow was strong, "I'm going with you."

"Looking like that counselor?" She gestured to him and he looked down, running his hands over his shirt as if that would would somehow smooth out the wrinkles before he looked back up at her.

"Yes. I.." He stopped to find his words, "She's got serious charges stacked against her, maybe we can flip her with talk of a deal, but only if you can't get through to her. I just need to get coffee and stop by my office, I have a change of clothing there."

Sure enough, one change of clothing and a coffee cup later Amanda began to see shades of ADA Rafael Barba, save for the five o'clock shadow. Coffee in hand he seemed more coherent now, making small talk as she drove, "Did you get any sleep?"

"Maybe 2 hours. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that you got even less."

He was quiet for a moment before nodding, "I just kept having nightmares…"

"Good to know I'm not the only one." She mumbled, "Hopefully this...nut…" She didn't enjoy speaking ill of the other people but there were plenty worse names she could call her, "can tell us where he has them."

When they arrived Amanda lazily flashed her badge, "Bronwyn Freed." The officer she spoke to looked from her to Barba with skeptically. Amanda didn't care they looked at that moment, they didn't go there to be judged by some rookie, "It's time sensitive, please." She cut the woman out of her thoughts, the 'please' coming out a little more aggravated than she'd anticipated causing her to jump and lead her to the interrogation room.

"What's the plan counselor?" Amanda glanced back at him.

"You go at her first, I won't say anything but if you think she's lying about not knowing then I'm going to tell her how she either helps us or rots in a cell for the rest of her life."

"Sounds fair." And with that Amanda opened the door and strode in with Barba, slamming the door behind her as the woman jumped up in surprise. She remembered her, the woman who had reservations about Olivia's conduct she wore glasses and had curly red hair, kind of heavy-set but it wasn't as if Amanda was going to judge.

"I told you I don't-"

"What else are you not telling us." Amanda deadpanned.

"I've told you everything that I know! I didn't know he was going to escape, and I won't take back the fact that I think he didn't deserve to be there in the first place!" She retorted defensively.

"You need to tell us everything, now! You helped him escape, whether you claim you knew or not, you're an accessory now!" She pulled her wallet out of her pocket and opened it, slamming down a picture of Olivia and Noah, taken by Carisi, in front of Bronwyn purposely avoiding looking at it; She couldn't crack, not now, "He took Lieutenant Benson and her four year old son Noah hostage as soon as he got out, he's had them for over 24-hours!"

Bronwyn picked up the picture and looked at it for a solid minute before looking at Amanda as if she were the crazy one, "William would never hurt a child. He-he must have had a good reason to-" She suddenly stopped, as if she'd made some sort of a shocking revelation.

"What?"

"William was right, you do have a vendetta against him! You imprisoned him on a false accusation, he told me what happened! He told me that he was upset that Lieutenant Benson had lied because she didn't need to lie, that they had been together!" She was about as loud as Amanda now, "I didn't know he was planning to escape, but it makes perfect sense he would! You sentenced an innocent man to life in prison and then his 'victim', if you can even call her that after what she did, got to keep their baby a secret from him!"

Amanda had to count back from ten to keep herself from knocking some sense into Bronwyn as she processed the utter nonsense coming out her mouth. She turned to look at Barba just as Barba turned to look at her.

Was this woman utterly insane?

"What? You think that-" If Olivia and Noah weren't currently missing she would have probably been near tears laughing at the sheer absurdity of the statement, "Let me get this straight, you think that Noah Benson is the biological child of Olivia Benson and William Lewis?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No! It's insane-!" She ran a hand through her hair, "Noah is adopted. Olivia's had him since he was a few months old, he isn't her biological child and he's certainly not the child of William Lewis."

Bronwyn shook her head, setting the picture down, "You're all liars! In fact you probably helped her get away with it! How is that fair? Can you blame him for escaping? He was innocent and you all refused to see that!"

It was Barba's turn to step in; he could practically see the smoke coming out of Amanda's ears and he needed to step in before she knocked this woman clean out, "Okay, well Ms. Freed, we aren't going to breathe further life into something as ridiculous as what you are implying. I'm ADA Rafael Barba, I'm sure you remember me from the trial and I'm here to tell you that what you are being accused of is a serious crime."

She turned to him and was about to speak but he cut her off, sitting down in the chair across from her, "You aided a criminal in escaping from prison, that's a Class C offense Ms. Freed. He has already killed an officer and a civilian. You'd better pray we find him before he does something to Ms. Benson or her son because I will be charging you as an accessory. You're going away for a long, long time."

"You willing to serve life for a man who doesn't give a damn about you?!" Amanda snapped, done with the nice cop routine. It wouldn't get her anywhere and they needed some information.

"You're lying, him and I had something special together and I didn't do anything wrong!"

Amanda rolled her eyes and turned away, giving Barba the floor.

"He used you Ms. Freed! He used you to get out explicitly to go after Lieutenant Benson!" Rafael ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "He's called us twice to taunt us, now, the last time he called he had Noah talk to me, Noah tried to tell me something about a cabin before Lewis cut him off. What do you know about a cabin?"

Bronwyn tried her best to cheek a straight face but her eyes betrayed her. She knew something, that much Amanda and Rafael were certain of.

"You need to tell us, now! He is going to hurt them, once he does that there is no deal to be made, you will be getting the max I'll make sure fo that." Rafael was unbelievably cold towards Bronwyn, he didn't have any sympathy for her anymore. She'd helped a convicted psychopath escape prison and now that same man was doing awful things to his 'family'.

"I don't know anything about cabins, I don't know what you're talking about." Bronwyn shook her head; she didn't believe that Lewis would hurt them. Lewis said he loved Olivia, that they were together, that they were supposed to get married. And she certainly didn't believe any of that 'bs' information about Noah being adopted, it was obvious to her what the real truth was. Looking at the picture she could see Lewis's features in Noah; the fair skin, the shape of his face, light eyes. She really convinced herself of it.

Amanda was done playing by the rules. Being nice wasn't working, and they were running on borrowed time, it was time for her to get some real answers. Before she knew it she was across the table and had yanked Bronwyn up by her shirt, "That's crap and you know it! You need to tell me what you know or so help me god I will make sure that your life in prison is living hell!"

The woman yelped, turning her head to look at Rafael, only to find that he had turned his head away, "Let go of me, this is police brutality!" She snapped, struggling against Amanda.

Amanda just stared at her with cold indifference before letting of his head, "Tell us now or I swear you'll go to central booking bloodied." It was a bone rattling warning, she meant it. Rafael knew it and now hopefully, so did Bronwyn.

"Where did he take them Bronwyn?!" Amanda yelled again, slamming her hands down in front of the shaken woman.

"Okay, okay! Don't yell at me!" The redheaded woman was on the verge of tears, "He had me look at cabins upstate. T-they were never in the same area!" This time they could tell she was starting to tell the truth.

"What cities? We need all of them now." Rafael finally spoke up, turning to stare at her with disinterest.

"Um...Ithaca, Albany, Poughkeepsie. Some small little towns around there that I don't remember the names of." She rattled off the list in hopes of avoiding an injury.

Rafael let out a frustrated sigh, and turned away, walking to the door. Amanda was quiet before nodding and turning to follow him out.

"Wait! Detective!" Bronwyn called, waiting for Amanda to turn around to talk to her, "Everyone is going to know it's police brutality if something happens to him. Your lieutenant is liar and their child is better off with him!"

Rafael was quick to grab Amanda by the shoulder and pull her out. There were only so many ways to explain away injuries. What Amanda was going to do to Bronwyn couldn't be explained away and the last thing they needed at that moment was IAB breathing down their necks trying to wrestle this case out of their hands.

"Don't let it get to you Rollins, she doesn't know what she's talking about." Rafael reassured, trying to tug her away from the door.

"Still doesn't make it right! I mean, come on, really? The big cover up is that Olivia had William Lewis's lovechild!? Is she serious!?" Amanda snapped.

Rafael could hear the people around them go quiet, looking at Amanda in surprise, he cleared his throat, "Rollins, a little quieter please. Let's go back to the precinct, okay? She isn't worth losing your badge over."

Slowly she began to see the world in other colors aside from red, finally able to see Barba with clarity and she hated to admit it but he was right as usual. Giving a nod before walking forward with him falling behind.

"Alright...Ithaca, Albany, and Poughkeepsie…" Carisi said, making marks on the map laid out in front of them.

"Yeah, three places that have probably hundreds of thousands of cabins." Fin added, disheartened, "We're back at square one and we're out of people to question." He hated to admit it, it meant that the past 24 hours had been a complete bust and that they were no closer to finding them.

"No, wait!" Carisi burst out, pinning the map to one of the boards, "Look at this."

Obviously they weren't seeing what he was seeing because Amanda sighed, "Carisi have you gotten any sleep?"

In response he rolled his eyes, "I think it's you guys who haven't gotten enough sleep, you don't see it?" He questioned in surprised.

"Get to the point already, we don't have time for a guessing game." Rafael warned.

In response he turned on his heel and grabbed a red marker, quickly connecting the cities that Bronwyn mentioned before stepping aside for the rest of them to see, "Anyone else think it's not a coincidence that these cities make a perfect triangle?"

Amanda was immediately up and walked over, looking at it for a second before turning to face the rest, "He's somewhere inside this triangle. It's not much but, it's a start."

The clearing of a throat caused them all to turn around to see none other than Chief Dodds standing there, looking at the map with confusion, "What's this? Explain it to me."

A please would have been nice, Amanda thought before stepping forward, "I interviewed the woman who helped him escape, Bronwyn Freed. She said she'd looked at different cabins because he'd asked in these three cities specifically, as you can see by the map it makes up a triangle. We have reason to believe he's somewhere inside that perimeter."

Dodds slowly nodded, "Alright let me take this to 1PP-"

"Chief Dodds, this can't go public." Fin stood, "If there's a chance he's watching the news and he finds out we have him boxed in he won't hesitate to kill the both of them."

"What so we just wait, like sitting ducks?" He sounded frustrated.

"For now. Look, Chief, you need to give us more time. Give us another day and if we aren't any closer then you can tell them but for now we have to keep this here." Amanda began to plead.

"What is a day going to do?" He didn't see the point.

"If we're quiet about this we've got a better chance of gaining the upper hand. We have a better chance of finding Liv and Noah alive." Carisi chimed in.

Reluctantly, Dodds gave in, nodding, "Okay, alright." He sighed, "But any information you come across leading you closer to where that son of a bitch has them comes to me as soon as you know. No going rogue."

That was something they could agree on, finally.

Rafael sat back silently during this entire exchange. In truth he hadn't really been paying attention to Dodds, he had just been staring at the map pinned the board. Staring into that red triangle with a slight uneasiness he pushed down. It seemed so insignificant, that triangle held thousands of miles and probably countless cabins within it. Yet, the appearance of it made it feel so close, they were almost there. Hang in there Liv, we're coming to get you and Noah. Please, hang in there.

7:18AM

Olivia counted 15 minutes exactly since he'd left, and it had been 10 since she'd heard him slam the front door shut. She had a difficult choice to make and after weighing her options it seemed the only choice available to them. Her squad wasn't coming, and she had to accept that. She didn't blame them of course because well, how could they even know where they were, especially that far out of Manhattan, but she had to accept it.

"Noah, sweetie?" She asked softly, not wanting to startle her son. She felt awful asking him to the do this, it shouldn't have involved him in the first place but here they were.

"Yeah?" Noah asked softly and lifted slightly off her chest, she assumed he was probably looking at her, but again, she couldn't tell in the dark.

"I think I know how to get us out of here but I need your help okay? Do you think you could crawl up the stairs and to the door?" She asked quietly, taming the urgency in her voice. If Noah couldn't do it she didn't want to make him feel worse than he already did.

"But I don't want to leave you alone mommy." He whimpered.

"I know sweetie, I know, but it'll only be for a few minutes. I need you to see if you can open the door alright?" She sighed, trying to decipher what was the next best move. If Lewis hadn't locked the door or blocked it with something and Noah was actually able to find it then what? She didn't know how easy it would be for Noah to get to town without getting hurt or caught by Lewis first, plus she wasn't sure Noah would even leave her in the first place, "When you get to the door open it, I need you to find something like...a small knife so I can get get these cuffs off okay?"

"You said I wasn't allowed to touch knives." The comment was so innocent, Olivia gave him a soft smile; always her little rule follower.

"I know what I said sweetie but this is a special situation. Just a small knife, be very careful okay? Don't touch the blade." She warned.

"Okay..."

She heard Noah's tentative voice come before she felt him moving off of her. Suddenly she was gripped by a cold feeling, shaking it off and waiting with bated breaths. She heard a soft shuffling noise from somewhere in the dark, managing to call out softly, "Be careful sweetheart. Hands and knees so you don't trip!"

"I know mama," His voice was farther away now, she could hear the soft slap of his tiny hands against the ground, pawing at the air around him to find the stairs.

"If you can't then it's okay, just follow my voice and come back." It felt an eternity being separated from him when in fact it couldn't have been more than 30 seconds. She didn't receive a response this time, holding her breath.

Finally she heard the sound of a hand on wood, "I found them!" He called excitedly and Olivia found it in herself to exhale with relief.

"That's great Noah! Remember, go up the stairs on your knees so you don't fall." She reminded again, despite knowing that he didn't really need to be reminded. She listened to the sound shuffles up the stairs and when it ceased she waited again.

She knew it was likely premature but when she saw light flood down the stairs from the opened door she felt a wave of relief rush across her.

"Mommy, mommy! I opened it!" Noah sounded so excited and she couldn't help but feel excited herself.

"That's great! Go see if you can find a knife sweetie! Don't take too long and be very careful not to move anything around, alright? If you hear a noise like the car pulling up you run straight back down here!" She couldn't be too careful, especially if he came back, she didn't want Noah to freeze up from fear.

He left her in silence, the only light coming from the door at the top of the stairs. It gave her a moment of clarity, a moment to think. If she was able to pick the cuff lock with the knife she and Noah would likely only have a few minutes to get out of that house and make a break for it before he got back. Then she realized there was another issue presenting itself; he had taken her pants and she wasn't quite sure what he'd done with them. Not that in that situation pants really mattered that much but it did nag at the back of her head. If they were able to get out of the house she knew there was no way they could go out from the way they entered, which meant going into unfamiliar woods and trying to find a way out without a path but she knew he would likely search the surrounding area for them. They would have to be quick and they would have to hope and pray that he gave up or they came across people who could help them first. The sound of skittering across the floor snapped her attention back to the door to see Noah going down the steps, a little too quickly for her liking, especially in the dark before he was in front of her. Luckily the door cast enough light for her just to be able to see what she was doing, she could see Noah's face, his eyes lit up hopefully as he presented a small paring knife in front of her, "Will this work mama?"

She nodded, "Yes...that should work! Noah, I need you to help me now, go to my left arm." She instructed, waiting until he'd shuffled over, "Now, you see where the little lock is?"

It took him a minute before he'd finally found it, "Yeah I see it!" He just wanted to get out of there.

"Okay, this part is very important sweetie. I need you to very carefully put the knife there in the lock and wait until my other hand can grab the handle so that I can try to undo the cuff." She explained, feeling the slight pressure as he maneuvered the knife into the look. She took her right hand and grabbed the handle of the knife, feeling Noah release it. Immediately she set to work wiggling the knife around, desperately trying to push the pin out of place, even if just enough to pull her arm out of the cuff.

"I think it's working, sit tight Noah!" She couldn't believe it, it was actually working, she was starting to feel some give!

SLAM!

Olivia stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of the front door slamming shut, holding a breath as they both turned to look at the door.

Noah had left it open. Olivia felt her heart sink, a constricting feeling tugging at her throat. It was the heavy gasps for air from Noah that caused her to look at her son. She could see the panic apparent on his face, his shoulders heaving with each deep breath, tears in his eyes and very quietly she could hear him whimpering, "No, no, no...no."

She hadn't ever seen her son look so terrified, so despaired. Not even after the worst of the worst nightmares. They had been so close…

"Well, well, well!" His voice cut through the silence in the basement. Noah flinched each time he said it, whimpering, "What do we have here? Someone's been very, very bad!" He chimed in a sing-song voice.

She heard Noah whimper, he was shaking and she quickly whispered to him, "Come here Noah, it's okay." The shaking in her voice gave her lie away. Nonetheless he pressed himself against her, burying his face into her chest whilst little hands clutched her sweater so tightly his knuckles turned white.

She could hear him slowly walking around upstairs, the seconds waiting for something to happen dragged on for what felt like hours before she finally heard him get to the top of the stairs, switching the light on. She closed her eyes almost purely from free, resting her chin on Noah's head. How she wished she could just wrap her arms around Noah and protect him…

"Seems like you two have been busy." Olivia chose to ignore the slight edge to his voice. Perhaps she could even talk him down, she didn't want Noah to get hurt.

"Lewis, I told him-"

"Shut up!" Lewis snapped loudly. She felt Noah's breathing hitch beside her as he, almost impossibly so, tried to pull himself even closer to her.

He composed himself momentarily, kneeling down and leaning over her and Noah and pulling the little knife out of the cuff lock, holding it in front of Olivia's face, his smile seemed to widen but his eyes burned with something dangerous, "Thought you could escape huh? We've barely just begun, you can't leave." He caressed her cheek with the cold blade of the knife.

"I'm sorry." Olivia croaked out, trying not to let the feeling of the blade get to her.

"I know you are." His voice was too quiet for her liking, his tone too endearing, the rage in his eyes had fizzled out leaving her to stare into hollow, almost lifeless, eyes. The knife stop at her left cheek, just below her eyes, digging slightly into her skin before he lightly dragged it down her cheek, past her neck, and dipping it down against her sweater, stopping just in between her breasts.

Olivia held her breath, she could feel Noah go still against her, noticed that his breathing was quick and afraid, warm against her skin.

"Noah say goodbye to mommy, this is the last time you'll see her." His voice didn't hold any emotion, Olivia wasn't sure how he was able to say that with such little feeling. It took a moment for his words to click, the meaning behind them. A crushing feeling gripped her chest, she felt a lump form in her throat as she repeated his words in her head, "Noah say goodbye to mommy, this is the last time you'll see her."

Noah shook his head, turning his face slightly to look at Lewis, "No-"

"You both broke the rules, thus you both need to be punished." And then suddenly a flash of the knife as it sliced, luckily, not too deep, across her chest, ripping her sweater and slicing the skin beneath it before the knife was resting pressed against Noah's cheek. Olivia ignored the sting of the cut, knowing it was likely only superficial, feeling her heart jump to her throat as Noah's breathing stopped from fear, Lewis leaning in a little closer to him, applying just a little more pressure on the knife, "Now, say goodbye to mommy, before I give you both a good reason to cry."

"You have me right where you want me, I'm cuffed. I'm not going anywhere yet you still have to use a child to get what you want!?" Olivia snarled angrily, "You know I told Noah to find that knife for me, he didn't do that on his own, this is my fault Lewis! You don't need Noah to torture me, if you were half the man you were before prison you'd know that!" She was seeing red, in fact, she didn't quite understand the words that she even spewed at him as if they were venom.

His eyes gave away his genuine surprise at her outburst, for a second he stopped as if he wasn't quite sure how to proceed, the knife stilled against Noah's cheek and for a split second there was a suffocating silence that enveloped the basement. Slowly, Lewis lowered the knife, removing it entirely from Noah's cheek and putting it into pocket.

And then just like that, the silence broke with Noah's yelp. Lewis grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him away from Olivia, taking a few steps back with the boy, his eyes never left Olivia though and he nodded, the ghost of a smile twitching at his lips,"You're absolutely right! I don't need Noah anymore."

Before Olivia could blind she saw him yank the gun out of his waistband, click off the safety and shove the barrel against Noah's head. Noah tried to yank away, sobbing so hard at this point his entire body was shaking, but Lewis held his arm, holding him in place, his finger on the trigger.

"Lewis!" Olivia screamed, yanking harshly against the cuffs, ignoring how they sharply bit into her wrists, surely drawing blood. She felt adrenaline burst through her, it felt like someone had knocked the wind out of her.

"What's wrong Olivia? You said I didn't need him anymore!" He laughed, his eyes never leaving her.

It felt as if her world was about to end. She didn't care what he did to her. Hell, he could rape her as many more times as he wanted, he could slice her into little pieces while she was still alive, she didn't care . All she cared about was Noah and she would never be able to live with herself if he killed her son-! A small voice resonated at the back of her head, she assumed it was what was left of her rational thoughts. It spoke softly, calmly, in an almost mothering way but Olivia knew what it was. It was her 'victim' voice, it spoke to her the way that she spoke to frightened or irrational victims. "He won't do it Olivia, he won't pull that trigger." It whispered and at first Olivia found herself not believing it but in the seconds that followed she realized it was right. She knew William Lewis, she knew him in a way that no one else did.

"You won't!" She took a deep breath, "You won't kill him."

He slowly nodded, removing the gun from Noah's head and holding it at his side. "You're right! You called my bluff, very good Olivia." He chuckled, shoving the gun back into his waistband, ignoring as Noah tried to tug himself away, "I won't." Finally he broke his gaze to look at the boy, "Noah I'm going to let go of your arm, when I do you will sit there and you will not move. You won't try to run and you won't go towards your mother, you understand me?"

Noah's sobbing hadn't lessened any it seemed, but he did nod and when Lewis let go of his arm the boy immediately sat down, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his head into them, hiccuping and coughing.

Lewis turned his attention back to Olivia, "Like I was telling your ADA boyfriend over the phone, I never thought about what would happen after me. I guess I did some growing up while in prison y'know? I never thought about who would continue my legacy...It'd be a damn shame to let it turn to ashes like me." He paced around her like a predator stalking prey. "I decided I needed someone to take over for me, someone who I could teach. It's not as if I can have a kid myself though," He chuckled, "and besides, babies can be so...fussy. I'm not looking to do all that baby crap. No, I needed a kid who was a little older, one who's just starting to question the world around them, just starting to become self-sufficient." He glanced back at the boy endearingly, "Noah is perfect. He isn't ours biologically, unfortunately, but I guess in a way, he's a part of the both of us."

Olivia almost wished he had shot her, kicked her, beat her, raped her...done something , it would've hurt much less than this.

"One day your son is going to call me dad, and I plan to teach him everything that I know about this wonderful world around us. I'm going to teach him how to take care of himself, that he can't rely on anyone but himself because everyone else is always looking for an opportunity to get ahead. One day he'll play this same game, the game we are playing right now, the game that his mother lost." Lewis stopped in front of Olivia, staring down at her, "Olivia, say goodbye to Noah, this is the last time you'll ever see him."

Processing that information was easy for Olivia, it seemed such a simply statement. Lewis was going to rip her son from her side, rip him away from the only family he's ever known. But it hurt so much that it couldn't possibly be so simple. She took deep breaths but couldn't seem to actually keep the air in her lungs, it was as if someone had poked holes into them and they were beginning to fill with blood. She felt like she was so suffocating and suddenly- Were those tears that wet her lashes and her cheeks? They must have been because Lewis and smiling ear to ear.

"Noah-" Olivia choked out.

But Lewis wasn't kind enough to let her try and finish. He picked up Noah, side eyeing her silently, before turning around with Noah and walking to the stairs.

"Mommy, mommy!" Noah cried out through sobs, reaching his arms out for Olivia, the fear and the sadness on his face would haunt Olivia for the rest of her life.

"No, no! Noah!" She cried out, yanking again on the cuffs as if somehow she could break them. If she tried hard enough she could miraculously break free, just like she had done before in the beach house!

"Mommy!" Olivia heard Noah scream from the top of the stairs, right before the lights turned off and the door slammed shut.

It felt like the door to her tomb had slammed shut just then, sucking the air out of her momentarily. She could vividly see in her mind all of Noah's features, his little nose, beautiful blue eyes, his adorable dimples when he smiled.

Lewis wasn't bluffing now. If they weren't found by the time he got bored of her then he was right. She would never see her son again.

And the baby she so selfishly(she didn't see it as selfish at the time but now she felt rather stupid, tricking herself into believing she could have a normal life and a happy family) adopted, the baby she would have given the world and more to, would be left in the hands of the Beast.