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Sorry if it feels like this chapter moves fast. There is lots more of this story to go yet though.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Chapter 9
Jack stood there feeling sick to the pit of his stomach. He couldn't pull his eyes away from the unmarked grave. He couldn't help but feel out here in the forest was such a lonely place to die. The grave was clearly a shallow one, it was a large dark mound of wet earth that towered over it.
Dark, wet earth...
Jack looked around. Around him the earth was lighter coloured, dryer. He turned back to look at the grave. Dark, wet earth... It suddenly occurred to him, the grave had not long been dug.
"They could still be alive!" Jack said out loud as he ran over to the grave, fell to his hands and knees, and began digging through the dirt with his bare hands. Ben had followed, confused by his actions.
"Jack, this is a crime scene!" the younger detective reminded him, "What are you doing?" he asked.
"They could still be alive!" Jack said, "The dirt here is still wet from the rain yesterday, the rest has dried out. This hasn't long been dug." he pointed out.
Ben wanted to argue, but if Jack was even slightly right, Ben had hope that they were about to find Beth, and hopefully alive. He too fell to his knees and began digging. Both men worked fast and frantically. Praying that they weren't too late.
Both men froze when Jack's attempts suddenly revealed some flesh, part of a forearm. The pause lasted for just a second before they both continued digging. This time in a spot where they knew they would find someones face.
Jack didn't know whether to be relieved or not when he say the face of Perry Whitley looking up at him. He hesitated for a second, just staring at the battered, bloodied face of Perry before he reached down to his neck, and checked for a pulse. He almost jumped out of his skin when Perry partly opened his swollen eyes.
"Pull him out!" Jack yelled.
Ben and Jack manged to dig away enough at his arms to be able to heave Perry's body from the grave. They had barley laid Perry down on the ground beside the grave when Jack began asking, "Perry, where is Beth?Perry!"
He didn't get a reply. Perry just rolled his head slowly from side to side, groaning and whimpering in pain. Jack noticed he was about to fall into unconsciousness so he gently slapped his palm against his cheek, "Perry, please! Please, tell me where Beth is. Is she alive?"
"Ray..." Perry mumbled, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth as he spoke, "...with...Ray..."
"Where?!" Jack yelled at him, but Perry wasn't going to answer, he was unconscious again.
~0~0~0~0~
Beth forced her eyes open and tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry, almost sticking shut. Sunlight poured through a small rectangle window that she lay facing, staring up at. She was in a different room, a basement type room...but where?
In a fash of images she remembered what had happened. The fight between Ray and Perry. Ray slamming her head against the car, then nothing for sure except for a bumpy car ride...and screams, hers, somebody else's too.
Remembering the screams more clearly made her jolt awake. No longer concerned by her dry mouth, her confusion as to where she was, or the pain her body was in. She slowly rolled over on the bed she was on. She couldn't stop the scream that burst from her throat as she rolled over onto her other side, only to become face to face with the pale face of an old woman. He womans pale skin, glassy eyes and blank stare told her the woman was dead, and had been for a few hours.
Beth felt sick to think she had been lay beside this woman. With what little strength she had she shuffled across the bed to the edge. She forced herself to sit up, whimpering in pain as she did so. Once sat upright she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She prepared herself for the pain that would come when she stood upright, but what choice did she have.
"You can do this, Beth..." she told herself out loud, "You're strong, you can do this." She silently counted to three before she rocked herself up into a standing position.
The pain that shot through her feet, up her legs and exploded behind her eyes made her fall to the floor in front of her. This caused her pain too but it was frustration she felt the most. She rolled onto her back, looking up at the window, she wold never reach it.
She looked around, and saw a set of stairs, she could see a line of light underneath it. Daylight. She crawled on her belly across the floor and over to the stairs. She began an agonizing climb up them, crying out in pain more than once. She couldn't hold it in. She was almost at the top when the door to the basement opened. She sighed and dropped her head down onto a step when she saw Ray, glaring angrily down at her.
Ray sighed and moved to sit down on the stairs, his feet resting right by Beth's head. "Nice to see you awake. I would, however, like to know where you think you're going?"
"I'm late for work," she replied sarcastically.
Ray laughed, "Sweetheart you're never going back to work again!" he told her. There was a long pause before he reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair. "Now we have things we need to discuss..." Ray said as she stood up, dragging Beth up the last few stairs by her hair, slamming the basement door shut behind them.
~0~0~0~0~
Perry was lay in a bed in a private room on the ICU ward. He was hooked up to numerous machines, all doing different things to support his beaten body. He was in a bad way and had been put into a coma to reduce some of the stress on his body.
Mr Whitley was in the room too, along with Jack, who had hoped to get information out of Perry, but his condition had seriously deteriorated on the way from the cabin to the hospital,and now there was no telling if jack would ever get the vital information he needed from Perry.
"This is all your fault!" Mr Whitley yelled in Jack's face, his pointed finger just a few inches away from actually touching Jack's face. "I trusted you when you said you would protect my boy! You promised!"
"I saved your boys life! If it wasn't for me and Detective Caldwell then Perry would have died in the grave that Ray left him in. Ray - the man that Perry freed to help him
on his quest to hurt Lieutenant Davies!"
"That whore targeted my boy first!" Mr Whitley yelled.
For a moment Jack wanted to launch forward and beat the shit out of Mr Whitley, but he didn't. He couldn't afford to put himself off this case for one outburst. Beth needed him. So, he took a deep breath and said, "I'd love to kick your ass for that comment, but I'll just pass it on to Beth and let her kick you sorry smug ass when I get her back. Then she will tell us everything that Perry did to her, and your son will go to prison for a very, very long time. I think the men in prison are going to love a little punk like your boy! Now if you'll excuse me I have to find Lieutenant Davies!"
Jack stormed out of Perry's room so fast that he almost knocked Ben, who was waiting outside, off his feet. "What's going on, Ben?" he asked as he moved down the corridor, Ben following him.
"I just got off the phone to CSU who are still working at the cabin," Ben said.
"What did they say?" Jack asked.
Ben stopped suddenly. Jack took a few more steps before he stopped and turned to face Ben. He knew that Ben had froze because the words he had to say were so bad. "Tell me!" Jack said.
"The bloods they found in the bedroom matched Beth's...they found semen on the bed too, they also found it, and more blood matching Beth's, in the kitchen."
Jack knew what this meant, he said the words he was thinking out loud, "They raped her," he had hoped they would find her before Beth would be subjected to this. That he had failed made him angry. He turned and punched the wall, hard. "I should go in there and put that prick back in the ground!" Jack yelled.
"I would happily do the same, Jack, but he may be the only one who can tell us where Beth is now!"
"We are running out of time!" Jack reminded him.
"We have teams up in the forest still searching other properties. Ray won't have risked moving Beth far. We are starting with searching cabins, or any other structures, near by. We have a team of dogs out there. We will find her, Jack!"
"Good, because we are running out of time. Ray has already removed the first obstacle in front of Michelle and that was Perry...Beth will be next," Jack said.
~0~0~0~0~
Beth had a few stray tears rolling down her face as she looked around the room she was in. It was one big room. There was a small kitchen area, an wood fired oven. In another corner was a dining table. There was a couch, a large log fire, and a long side board that ran along the one wall. There were other various pieces of furniture and off in the corner some stairs that led to the upstairs part of the cabin.
She had woke to find herself sat in a hard wooden chair. Her arms lay along the arms of it and secured to it by cable ties. Her ankles were tied to either front leg of the chair, again by thick cable ties that bit into her flesh.
She watched as Ray walked over to her, pulled up another chair and sat directly in front of her. He studied her for a moment, noticing the deep bloodied and bruised gash on her forehead.
"Hows your head?" Ray asked as he reached up and prodded the gash, caused by the impact of her head hitting the body of the car, thanks to him..
"Feels like its been slammed against a car!" she spat back at him.
"Funny!" Ray scoffed, "So tell me...Beth...tell me something about yourself, anything at all...hobbies, family, lovers?"
Beth just smiled and then shook her head. "No. You don't get to know anything about me!"
It was Ray's turn to smile and shake his head now. He then turned to face Beth and said, "You don't have a choice! I want to know the person you are pretending to be, Michelle. I need to know how to banish her from your body so that there is only Michelle again." he said as he reached up and caressed her cheek.
Beth jerked her face away from his touch and then inched her face closer to his, firmly and confidently, but with tears in her eyes, she told him. "Michelle is gone, dead, and never coming back. You killed her the same night you killed her family, and destroyed her world!"
For a moment Ray just looked her directly in the eyes. Beth could practically see the anger boiling behind his eyes. In a flash he was stood up, leaning into her, his hands gripping her wrists and the arms of the chair. God his hands were so damn big and strong! He was right in her face when he said, "For your sake, Beth, I really hope you're wrong. Beth, if you killed Michelle then I'll kill you, and then I will have my Michelle back! Fire took her away from me once, and I will make fire take you away and leave me with Michelle again."
Beth could only look at him. She didn't doubt his words for a moment.
"Little log cabin like this," Ray said as they both quickly scanned it. "I don't think it would take long to turn to ash." he continued.
Beth shook her head. Truth was, and she would never tell anyone so, but fire scared the hell out of her, and had done ever since her family had been consumed by it. "No!" she begged, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Then give me my Michelle back!" Ray growled at her before he pushed away from her and walked off, leaving Beth shaking, hoping help would find her soon.
~0~0~0~0~
Jack and Ben had joined the team searching other cabins in the wood. Jack was stood over looking a large lake as Ben finished thanking the cabins owners for their co-operation. They had allowed both men to search their cabin, even though it was obvious outright that Ray and Beth were not there.
Jack scanned the area around him, he could see mountains opposite him, see cabins dotted all over them. Around the lake where two more large cabin and off in the distance he could see another small one hidden among the trees. He could see there was a small boat tied up on the dock by the cabin.
"Lets head to the next cabin along the road," Ben said as he walked over to Jack, "Ray took the car, that much we know from the tire tracks. Even if he dumped it along the way the only way out of here is on the roads, he can't have driven into the forest off road. We will find more tracks."
"See that cabin over there," Jack said, pointing to the smallest cabin that had caught his attention, the one with the boat in the dock.
"We'll get to it." Ben said, "But there are others first,"
"No. I wanna search that cabin." Jack said.
"Jack, we're better sticking to the road." Ben said.
"These bigger cabins have security systems. If Ray had broke into one of them we would have been informed by now. These older cabins don't have these security systems. Ray is more likely to have gone to one of them."
"Maybe so, but what if he has broken into one where the alarm wasn't set. Jack we can't afford to jump from place to place."
"Then we split up!" Jack snapped, "You follow the road. I can head through the woods, off road."
"Ray is dangerous, we should stick together."
"Beth doesn't have time for that," Jack said.
"Jack, this isn't a good idea!"
"Maybe not, but I am your superior here, and this isn't a request. Take the car and keep searching the others, but be careful."
"Jack, you can't go walking through the woods!" Ben said, having to yell as Jack began heading towards the trees that surrounded the lake. It would take him a good few hours to walk to the small cabin on the lake edge, but he was determined. Realising he could cut that time if he moved faster he began running. Leaving Ben calling out to him.
~0~0~0~0~
Beth had tried to remember how to act like Michelle, but truth was her mind wasn't letting her think back. The night her family had died because of what Ray had done, she had gone into shock, her mind barely registering what she was knew. She had stopped being Michelle that night for her own safety. Michelle had gone in the blink of an eye, and Beth had been born.
Beth had been so focused on the new person she had had to become that she had used it as a distraction to get over what had happened to her family, to not feel the guilt that threatened to eat away at her. Had she stayed Michelle there would have been no distraction, she would have had to deal with what had happened to her, had to suffer the guilt, but she hadn't, and the thought of having to suddenly go through those emotions now by becoming Michelle again terrified her. She didn't think she was strong enough.
Still, Ray wanted Michelle, not Beth. She didn't know what she could do, try to make him fall in love with Beth...no that would never work. Ray was a one woman man, and that woman was Michelle.
Ray suddenly appeared, walking over to her with a plate of food. "What are you thinking about?" Ray asked her, seeing the slight smile on her face.
"Zeus," Beth replied with a smile.
"Your families dog?" he asked.
"Yeah. Remember that night when my family was out of town and you came over. We were so busy making out that we didn't hear Zeus barking because he wanted to go out, and he peed all over my mums new rug. I was freaking out because I knew she would kick my ass for ruining the rug. Then you came round the next morning with an identical brand new one."
Ray smiled with her, "I didn't want you to get into trouble when she go back."
"You were always so sweet. Always thinking about me."
"You're my girl," Ray replied.
"Yeah, always will be" Beth agreed. "The Ray I know wouldn't have me tied to a chair. He would be driving me around in his car whilst we sang badly along to the radio. Taking me to the drive-thru for a milkshake."
Ray smiled at her and stepped closer to her so he could reach out and tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Beth couldn't believe her plan could actually be working, she couldn't believe that she might be softening Ray up. Her joy was short lived when Ray gripped her hair, yanked her head back and moved his face right in hers. "Nice try Beth, but I'm not fucking stupid. It will take more than you reminiscing to convince me that Michelle is back!"
Ray released his grip on her hair and stormed off up the stairs, leaving Beth angry, frustrated, and frightened that that had been her only plan and it had failed.
~0~0~0~0~
Jack was worried that he had somehow got turned around. He was sure he was going in circles. Every tree looked the same. It was starting to get dark and it only made it harder to work his way through the thick woods which were already dark due to how the thick cover of leaves blocked out the light. He had wandered from the waters edge, and now wished he could find his way back to it, hoping it would be a clearer path, but he just couldn't see through the trees.
"Damn-it!" he cursed before he took off running, praying he was heading in the right direction.
~0~0~0~0~
Beth sat there, trying to work her wrists free, she was leant over trying to gnaw through the cable ties. She wasn't sure where Ray had gone but she worked fast, worried he would come back. She could taste her own blood in her mouth, blood that rubbed into her mouth from the wounds on her wrists as she continued her attempts to remove the ties from her flesh where they had dug into.
She almost cried out in joy when the tie on her left wrist finally snapped open. She wasted no time in using the end of the broken cable tie to pick open the other cable tie. She had to pick the plastic from the deep wound on her wrist but she didn't care. She was just thankful that her wrists were free. She used the same broken cable tie to free her ankles.
She knew it would be hell to try and walk but she was determined to do it, run even if she could force herself to. She would have to use all her strength to think about anything but the pain her body would be in. She knew her injured leg would offer slightly more support than her foot so she would put most of her weight on this. If she could get in to the woods she could find a small broken branch or something that she could use as a crutch to help her walk.
She prepared herself and then took a deep breath and pushed herself up to her feet. The pain was excruciating and she fell forward but was able to catch herself on the dusty sideboard. She quickly forced herself to stand upright, resting her weight on her leg, forcing her body to accept and get used to the pain. She wanted to scream in pain but she swallowed the sound deep inside and slowly took a step forward, still using the sideboard to help her.
She used different pieces of furniture in the room to make her way over to the front door. To her amazement the door opened and she was able to make her way right out of the cabin and onto the porch. The fresh late evening air felt amazing against her skin, it felt like freedom, but she knew she didn't have that yet.
Like magic had put it there Beth spotted the very item she needed, a wood carved hikers stick. She reached out and grabbed the thick cane and used it to support her body as she made her way off the porch. She was confused, unable to see the car that had brought her and Ray to the cabin. He'd hidden it, but where?
She looked around, wondering which way was best to go. She headed away from the porch, wondering it she should make her way through the forest, but she knew that would not be the easiest route for her to take in this condition. She turned and noticed the lake, the small dock and the small dingy boat that was tied up to it. Although they were injured and in pain she knew her arms would allow her the means to escape, like she knew her legs and feet would not hold out for long.
She began making her way towards the dock, moving as fast as she could, surprising herself how quickly she could move, she presumed this was due to the adrenaline pumping through her body. God her heart was pounding so fast.
"Beth!" she heard from behind her.
She turned to look over her shoulder and saw Ray standing there. That he had called her Beth she knew was a bad thing. "Your taking my Michelle away, and I can't let you do that.
It terrified her that he saw her and Michelle as two different people, like he could somehow separate them from one body. Knowing she was now in very serious danger she took off, moving as fast as she could along the dock, hoping to reach the boat and push off away from the dock before Ray caught up to her.
Her efforts were in vain., and she could hear Ray running up behind her. She tried to move quicker but it was no good.
Ray tackled her hard from behind, his heavy body crashing down on top of hers. He quickly rolled her onto her back and allowed his body to pin hers to the dock. He grabbed her wrists in one iron grasp. She cried out in pain as blood oozed onto his hands from the wounds caused by the cable ties.
"I don't mean to be rude, but you're a complete fucking bitch Beth Davies, not to mention stupid, you think I would let you get away from me, and take Michelle?! MY MICHELLE!" Ray screamed at her before his other fist buried itself into Beth's stomach, knocking the wind right from her.
"I have to admit Beth, your feisty personalty is a turn on. Michelle was always so much easier to control, but I like that you fight me. Gets me off, as you're about to find out." Ray said before he grabbed Beth's shirt and pulled on it, riping it across the front, exposing her breast which he grabbed hold of, squeezing it in his grip as he moved himself against her.
Beth struggled against him, not about to lay there and let him rape her on the dock. She wanted to reach down and try to push his hand away when he grabbed at her crotch but he still had her wrist caught in his grasp. "Get off me!" she screamed.
"Shut-up!" Ray spat at her as he thrust himself against her.
"HELP!" Beth screamed to anyone who may be able to hear her. "Help!"
"Keep screaming!" Ray told her, "Just don't use up all of your energy, I want you to fight me!" he said as he grabbed her breast again.
Beth wanted to swat his arm away. Using all the strength she had she managed to squirm one arm free from his grasp, and she wasted no time punching Ray as hard as she could in the face. She wasn't sure if she had injured him or herself more but her hand felt like it might explode with burning pain.
"You hit like a girl, Beth!" Ray told her before he punched her in the face, his blow much stronger than hers.
Ray moved against her, making himself grow harder and harder. He began kissing her neck, nipping and sucking at her flesh. Beth closed her eyes to his attack. She wanted for the world to open and swallow her up, take her away from this nightmare. This would be it. She knew if Ray were to rape her again now she wouldn't come back from it. She couldn't take it again. Beth would be broken, and just a shell would remain.
She fell into silence, nothing around her seemed to be there. She blocked out all sounds around her, blocked out all feelings. The feeling of Ray on top of her, his heavy body causing her injured one pain, the feel of his kisses. She blocked out the feel of the damp wooden dock beneath her. For a moment she was at peace, it was blissful and threatened to take her away completely...but then she felt cold splashed on her face, her body, icy cold water.
She bolted upright, moving away from the cold. It hit her immediately that she had been able to sit upright, Ray was off her. She turned just in time to see Jack being dragged off the edge of the dock by Ray who had already fallen into the water.
"Jack!" she screamed as he was pulled under by Ray.
She quickly rolled onto her side and pulled herself to the edge of the dock. She scanned the water for Jack but all she saw were bubbles and ripples. The water was dark, deep and she couldn't see a thing.
"JACK!" she screamed again and she clawed through the water. "JACK!"
Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she continued clawing through the icy cold water. She kept expecting Ray to pop up above the waters surface but he didn't. The water seemed to have gone steady, like there was no movement below it.
Beth wanted to cry, she hated that Jack had arrived to save her only to sacrifice himself. She lowered her head and allowed her tears to fall, mixing with the lake water. She suddenly screamed when the water burst beside her. To her relief it was Jack who threw himself up onto the dock, clawing at the wood to pull his body from the water. Beth attempted to help but knew her efforts made no real difference.
"Are you okay?" she asked him, "Where's Ray?" she asked.
"I hit him with something, a rock I think. I lost him in the water," Jack said between choking on water.
Forgetting his own injuries from his fight, and almost drowning, he reached up and gently cupped Beth's face. He wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.
Beth didn't know what to say either. She just burst into tears. "Get me away from here, please," she begged as she crawled forward, moving her body into his, burying her face against his chest.
Jack wrapped his arms around her. "I've got you, you're safe now!" he told her.
Beth wished she could believe him, but all she could think was that Ray was gone. Until she was looking at his dead body on a cold slab she would never feel like she was safe...because as long as he was alive she knew Ray would be coming after her.
TBC
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