A/N - So I promised Kates89 I would update quickly so you have her to thank, (though I can't promise I will do the same after this chapter...) and also for actually making me even put this chapter up cos I was almost too scared to and then you'd have no more story to read!

WARNING – Last warning here, this chapter is upsetting, rather graphic and not very pleasant. If you read on then you've had two warnings now so it's up to you. Though I can tell you this, if you feel depressed at the end, it won't be half as depressed as I felt writing it.

Israel - Chapter Eleven

Mac slowly began to wake up from the darkness that he was so comfortably bathed in. It had been secure and warm and the harsh reality of the past few hours suddenly slammed into him like a truck on the highway. Pain erupted in the back of his head from where he'd been hit and he blinked once...twice before he could make out some blurry images. He tried to move but realised he couldn't. Looking down he blinked again and saw that he was tied to a chair, arms fastened to the rests and duct tape wound round his body and the chair numerous times. He struggled against the bindings but they stuck fast and he gave up his futile attempts to get free. Looking up the blurry shapes slowly started to come into focus. The sight before him made him sick to his stomach and he retched. There, in front of him, were Danny and Don knelt side by side on the filthy ground, their arms behind their backs, presumably bound in some way and a piece of tape covering their mouths. Mac felt fear grip at his heart, his breath coming in short sharp gasps. As far as he'd been aware, Don should have been back at their apartment and Danny had been on his way to a scene. What the hell had happened to them? He noticed both men were looking straight at him in concern.

"Don, are you okay?" Mac asked worriedly, looking the tall detective over for any sign of injury.

Don slowly nodded, speaking with his blue eyes that Mac knew so well. The older man could tell the detective was nervous but otherwise alright, despite the fact his forehead was caked with dried blood, most likely from a wound he received in order for him to have been transported here.

"Good." Mac looked over at Danny who had dried blood down the side of his head and neck. Mac felt anger erupt within him as he realised both his loved ones had been injured for them to be brought here. Mac knew then that he would kill whoever had done this to them.

"Danny, are you okay?" Mac asked and Danny too, nodded his head though his blue eyes glistened with something that might have been fear crossed with anger.

"I'll get us out of here," Mac told them. "I promise you..."

A noise behind him made him quickly stop his talking and then a voice spoke to him over his shoulder.

"Mac Taylor. So you're awake."

Mac didn't need to see the man to know exactly who he was.

"Andy."

"Right again, Mac. Is there anything you ever get wrong?"

Andy came fully into Mac's line of vision and the tied detective could see he was holding a gun in one hand. The room they were in was most likely a small basement of a house, there were no windows and the only light shone down at them from a small bulb in the centre of the room. It made a constant buzzing sound and flickered every so often. Behind Don and Danny was a small table on which some sort of metal instruments were set out, but Mac couldn't see clearly what they were.

"By the way, I'm not expecting you to answer that, Mac. We both know you get things wrong...a lot!" shouted Andy.

Mac stared at the young man before him. Prison had clearly not suited him. Gone was the clean cut, intelligent, calculating and patient man he'd last met. Instead stood a crazed, maniacal man whose eyes gleamed with power, with thirst for revenge. Last time they'd met Mac had seen a small hope of talking Andy down, of perhaps saving him from becoming a murderer. Mac could see immediately that this time there was no hope of that. Whomever he had met during his time inside had convinced him otherwise and now Andy had the chance to kill again, revenge well within his grasp. Mac knew that if he wasn't careful, all three of them would be leaving the place in body bags.

"Andy, what do you want?" he asked slowly. If he couldn't talk Andy down then his only chance was to delay whatever plans he had until they were rescued.

"What do I...what do I want?" laughed Andy and waved the gun he was holding around. "I'll tell you what I want, Mac. I want to prove to the world once and for all that you aren't the hero that everyone thinks you are. I want to get revenge for the deaths of my brothers. I want you to pay for destroying my family!"

Andy was insane. He screamed his words out in twisted pain. His mind closed off to logic and reason. He paced wildly up and down behind the two kneeling men and Mac tried hard not to flinch every time the gun came close to one of their heads. Suddenly the word Andy had used came to the forefront of Mac's mind. Brothers... What had happened to Jimmie? He'd been alive as far as he'd known? But then he'd never tried to find him after Andy had gone away, never tried to contact him. But Sinclair had said...he'd said that they were watching Jimmie Davis. Mac frowned as Sinclair's actual words hit him with full impact. No, Sinclair had said they were watching his known associates, no mention of a brother.

"Brothers?" Mac asked, frowning slightly.

"Oh that's right. You don't know, do you?" Andy laughed. "Jimmie's dead. Hung himself after I was sentenced to life."

Mac's eyes widened in shock. "Jimmie killed himself?"

"That's right. In his note he said he felt he was to blame for Will's death and subsequently for me going to jail. But we all know who's really to blame here, don't we, Mac?"

Mac glanced down as he tried to take in this information. Jimmie had killed himself over the guilt of one brother dying and the other going to jail. All of this over what happened with Bobby Toole that fateful night in Chicago, all those years ago."

"I'm sorry Jimmie is dead. He was a friend..."

"No he wasn't!" screamed Andy before Mac could finish his sentence. "Don't you dare say that to me. Don't you dare say Jimmie was your friend...that you cared about him. If you'd cared about either of my brothers you would have pulled the trigger!"

"Andy, I was a kid. We all were. That whole situation was way out of our depths!"

"You should have pulled the trigger, Mac," Andy wheezed, his eyes glistening with tears. "I've lost everything because of you. Everyone I ever loved."

Mac swallowed as he finally understood what they were all doing there, not that he'd really been in any doubt beforehand.

"Andy, these two men have nothing to do with what happened that night. Just let them go, they've done nothing to hurt you."

Andy glanced briefly at Danny and Don and then started laughing maniacally. That laughter pierced straight to Mac's soul and he knew then that there was no way they'd all be getting out of this alive. Andy was no longer himself, the little boy he'd known back in Chicago...even the man he'd met a few years ago...they were both gone, dead. Instead he was facing a lunatic who would never be at peace until he'd felt he'd avenged his brothers' deaths.

"On the contrary, Mac. These two are guilty of committing the worst crime imaginable. They believe you're a hero. They've been taken in by your lies. And now they will pay for loving you, Mac Taylor!"

Andy slowly stroked the tip of his gun along Danny's cheek and Mac saw the younger man flinch. He locked eyes with Don and could see the detective was planning to jump at Andy, hoping to knock the weapon from his hands before anyone was killed. Mac slowly shook his head at Don, looking him firmly in the eye. None of them had their hands free and even if Don could knock Andy to the ground, the crazed man would soon be able to overpower a bound Don and most likely kill him.

"You're argument is with me, Andy. I was the one there that night, the one who was unable to pull the trigger, so just let them go."

Mac hated to admit defeat, he knew that the deaths of Jimmie and Will weren't his fault, that even if he had pulled the trigger there was still a large chance that Will would have died anyway. But he needed to try something...anything otherwise Andy would kill both Danny and Don.

Andy grinned at Mac and then went over to Don, stroking over his head with a hand before suddenly yanking it back by his hair.

"I've never found men attractive, Mac," Andy said, suddenly serious, all the crazed laughter from earlier gone. "Unfortunately when you're in jail you don't really get a choice." Andy ghosted the tip of his gun across Don's stretched neck. "You see I've done my research, Mac. I know all about whom and what you find dear in life."

Mac's brain began to race into action. Andy must have been watching him, or had someone else watching for him. He obviously knew about him and Don, knew they were lovers and that scared Mac more than anything.

"I know that this one..." he yanked Don's head still back further and the tall detective let out a muffled cry. "You love this one."

Andy looked up at Mac and the detective saw the maniacal pleasure in Andy's eyes. The crazed man knew he was right and it excited him somehow. He dropped Don's head and went back over to Danny, grabbing his head and forcing it back in the same fashion as he'd done to Don.

"And this one...well, he's the son you always wanted, isn't he?"

Once again, Andy smiled with pleasure at knowing he was right. Mac felt sick in his stomach, Andy knew things about him, had been watching him and most likely Don and Danny too. They were going to die because of something he'd done, or hadn't done as the case may be, long before he'd ever met either of them. He was going to get them killed and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Andy, please. These men are innocent. I'm the one responsible. You're right, I should have just pulled the trigger but I was scared!"

Andy let go of Danny's head and blinked at Mac, almost surprised that the detective had finally admitted he was to blame. And then his face turned into a snarl.

"It's too little, too late, Mac. Jimmie and Will are dead. You need to learn that your actions have consequences. Because of you, I lost my family. So now, you'll lose yours too...an eye for an eye!" he shouted. He pointed the gun to the back of Danny's head and his finger started to squeeze the trigger.

"Wait, stop!" shouted Mac , blinded by panic. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't shoot Bobby Toole. But don't you think I haven't replayed that moment over and over again in my mind? Wishing to God that I'd just pulled the damn trigger? If I could go back in time, I would. I'd do it a thousand times because Will was my friend and so was Jimmie. And I'm sorry that they're dead but killing these men won't bring them back, Andy!"

Andy released the trigger but didn't move the gun away from the back of Danny's head. He slowly mulled over what Mac had said.

"You're right, Mac," he finally said and Mac blew a sigh of relief. "It won't bring either of my brothers back, but it will sure as hell make me feel better...and right now that's all I've got left!"

"Please, Andy. Please don't kill them," Mac begged desperately.

Andy grinned at Mac's desperation. "I have to, Mac. They need to die. One for Will, one for Jimmie. I mean, one of them has already been living on borrowed time, hasn't he? After all, which one of your team was it who was first through that door six years ago? If Jimmie hadn't been there...which one of your family would have taken that bullet?"

Mac's eyes glazed over as he was transported back into that desolate tube station he'd been trapped in. He remembered Andy on the phone with Jimmie...and then suddenly he could hear Jimmie's voice too. Jimmie had been there in the station, he'd come through that door and been shot at point blank range. He would have died instantly if it hadn't been for the vest he'd been wearing and even then he'd been lucky. Mac remembered he'd used the momentary distraction to shoot Andy, disabling him enough for him to be taken down and cuffed. By the time he'd refocused on the other people in the room, Stella, Don and Danny were all already beside him. Mac squeezed his eyes closed in an effort to remember more. Jimmie had been shot first and then Andy had, as he'd rushed to his brother's side. Mac had jumped up and shot him again as someone had run into the room pointing a gun at Andy. Who had it been? Stella, Don or Danny? It had been one of them. It had been...it had been...Don. Don had been first into the room. Don would have taken that bullet. Don should have been killed that day.

Mac's eyes fluttered open and immediately settled upon the tall detective kneeling before him. Tears blossomed in Mac's eyes as he imagined his life had Don been killed that day six years ago. Mac remembered being so grateful to Don for everything he'd done for him during the 333 case, even though there had still been so much tension between them. For following him to Chicago, for not judging him when he'd told him the story of Will's death, for being clever enough to bring Jimmie down to New York, ultimately saving both their lives. After Mac had got home that evening Don had turned up at his apartment, wanting to check that he was okay after the gruelling events of the day. Mac had simply been so happy to see Don that in a moment of weakness he'd kissed the younger man, forgetting that they were no longer together. It had only lasted mere seconds and Mac had apologised straight away afterwards. He didn't want to use Don again like that, no matter how much he wanted the younger man. They'd ended up fucking anyway, Mac remembered, and Don had joked that perhaps the best way to end a relationship as fucked up as theirs was, was to fuck. He'd laughed at that. Don always had this uncanny ability to make him laugh, to cheer him up even in the darkest of times, that was one of the reasons why he loved him so much. That night Don had told him he'd always love him, but that he needed to move on for his own sanity, that he thought he might have something with Angell. Mac had told him to go for it, that if he had a chance at happiness he should take it. Mac briefly wondered now that if he hadn't said that, that if he'd fought for the detective whether he might have been spared the pain of losing Jess.

Mac was brought swiftly out of his thoughts when Andy moved away from Danny and repositioned himself behind Don, gun pointing to his the back of his head.

"So I see it was this one who was first through the door. This one who's been living on borrowed time all these years?"

"No-one should have been killed. It went as it was meant to," Mac shouted, desperate to save Don.

"He should have died!" screamed Andy.

"No he shouldn't. No-one should have died...and no-one should today. There's been enough death already, Andy. Will wouldn't want this, Jimmie wouldn't want this...they wouldn't want you killing in their name!"

"Don't tell me what they would have wanted! You killed them!" Andy shrieked. The maniacal look was back in his eyes and Mac was gripped with fear that Don might be killed at any moment. The raven haired man was trembling in fear on the ground and Mac wished he could tell him it was going to be alright, wished he could hold him. Next to him Danny was suffering too, he kept glancing at Don out of the corner of his eye and Mac could tell he wanted to do something to stop this, but wasn't sure what.

"I didn't kill them, Andy," Mac reasoned. "I wasn't even there when Jimmie died. I'm sorry he killed himself and I'm sorry you never got to say goodbye to him but it had nothing to do with me. He killed himself because he lost you, because you went to jail. If anyone's to blame for his death it's you!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" screamed Andy and he walked past Don towards Mac and whacked him round the side of his face with the butt of his gun. Mac felt dazed, he felt sick and he slumped in his chair, trying to cling on to consciousness. He was afraid that if he lost it, then he'd wake up to see both Danny and Don dead on the ground, brains blown out of the back of their heads.

"I didn't kill him, I didn't," Andy was muttering over and over to himself. "It wasn't me...it wasn't..."

Mac managed to right himself and, ignoring Andy for the time being, he locked eyes first with Danny and then with Don to check they were still okay. He could tell that this time both men were petrified and he attempted to smile, to give them some hope but he doubted he was convincing at all.

Andy was once more in his vision and glaring at him. "I didn't kill him, Mac," he whispered. He sounded haunted, like he knew Mac was right but couldn't admit it. "But I'm a reasonable man. I accept when I've made a mistake and you might be right. You didn't make Jimmie kill himself. You weren't there. I want more than anything to blame you...but...I just can't."

Mac was suddenly aware he'd been holding his breath and blew out a sigh. Maybe, just maybe, he was starting to get through to Andy. He hoped Jo was on her way by now with the cavalry.

"Thank you, Andy," Mac choked. He had to keep the crazed man pleased.

Andy grinned at him. "That's alright, Mac. But you're still to blame for Will's death. So here's what's going to happen. I'm only going to kill one of them, and you get to chose which one."

Mac stared in horror as Andy started laughing. Don was still trembling as he knelt on the cold, hard floor and Mac noticed a tear run down Danny's right cheek. Despite them both being cops, despite them both having trained for situations like this, they were both being badly affected by Andy's torment of them. Hell, Mac knew if he was being affected this badly then what Don and Danny were experiencing must be at least ten times worse.

"There's no way in hell I'm making that decision," Mac ground out flatly.

Andy just grinned at him. "Oh I think you'll make it," he laughed. "Now which one will it be? Your son? Or your lover?"

"I'd rather die myself than chose one of them to die, and nothing you can do will make me," Mac stated.

"Oh, I can be quite persuasive when I want to be, Mac," Andy smiled. "I learnt a few useful things during my time inside."

He moved swiftly to stand behind Don and Danny again and tucked his gun into the back of his jeans. He picked a silver object up from the small table and twirled it in his hands. Mac realised it was a long knife.

"You see, one of these men will die here today...but the other one will live. He'll go back to his little life, fighting crime and existing as one of your puppets."

Mac grimaced at Andy. He didn't like where this was heading.

"To help you make the decision, Mac, I will hurt them."

Mac saw both Don and Danny's blue eyes widen as Andy spoke and Mac felt anger surge through his body. He wanted to kill Andy, he wanted to rip that smiling bastard limb from limb.

"The longer you take to decide, the more I will hurt them until whichever one is left alive, will barely have any life to go back to," Andy stated and then he laughed again and all three men felt a shiver run down their spines.

"Let's start with this one shall we?" Andy said pleasantly as he moved behind Danny. "Danny Messer, the man you consider to be your son." he hissed.

"Andy, don't do this," Mac tried, in an attempt to reason with a lunatic.

"You will not speak!" screamed Andy. "Unless you've made up your mind I don't want to hear from you!"

"Andy..." Mac tried again.

"Enough!" shouted Andy threateningly. Then he stared down at Danny. "Hmmm, what shall we do to you?"

Danny trembled underneath Andy's gaze and another tear rolled down his cheek.

"I believe you were paralysed once," Andy whispered tauntingly at Danny.

Mac glared angrily at Andy. He knew more than he'd given him credit for and that pissed him off no end.

"How'd you like to be in that chair again?" smirked Andy. Danny trembled again violently and his tears flowed more freely. He cried out behind the duct tape covering his mouth which only caused Andy to laugh harder.

"I believe if you get it just right..." he placed the tip of his blade against Danny's spine. "Then you can sever the nerve fibres of the spinothalamic tract making paralysis in one half of the body permanent."

Danny's cries became louder and Mac could bear it no longer. "Andy, stop it. Don't do this," he pleaded.

Andy didn't hesitate. He plunged the knife into Danny's spine and the younger man screamed behind the tape. Mac had to look away. He couldn't bear to see what was being done to Danny...to his son. Danny screamed again as Andy stood over him and twisted the knife around, causing as much damage as possible. Danny collapsed onto the floor in front of him, the pain causing him to lose consciousness.

Mac opened his eyes and took in the unconscious form of Danny on the ground, knife sticking out of his back before looking at Don who was staring at Danny, shaking in fear.

"And what can we do to this one?" Andy laughed as he picked up another knife from the table and moved behind Don. "To the great and mighty Don Flack. Blue blood by birth, son of a legend cop, top of his class, made detective before any other his age..." Andy grinned and Mac was all too painfully aware of how much research he must have done on all of them.

"Can't be a cop now without your fingers," Andy laughed and he bent down behind Don's back and a moment later Mac heard his lover's muffled cries as he screamed in pain. One by one, Andy sliced off all ten digits and threw them over Don's shoulder where they landed on the ground in front of Mac.

"Stop it! Stop it, Andy!" screamed Mac, losing his battle to try and stay calm, to try and talk his way out of this.

Andy stopped and looked up at Mac. "Have you decided?" he asked.

Mac simply stared at him, tears in his eyes as he looked over at his two tortured friends.

"Very well, we continue," snarled Andy as he went back over to Danny and pulled him up from the ground, balancing him back on his knees and then slapping him awake. "Your turn again," Andy laughed. He plunged his knife it into the base of Danny's spine, twisting and turning it roughly and enjoying the screams of agony coming from behind Danny's taped mouth.

"Anything?" Andy asked as he looked over at Mac who was almost staring dumbly at the scene playing out before him. "So be it."

Andy picked up a third knife and walked back over to Don, grabbing his hair again pulling back his head. "What else doesn't a cop need? I'm not sure he needs two ears..." he laughed and quickly sliced off Don's right ear, which fell pathetically to the floor beside him. Don screamed in agony behind the tape, he too was crying now, face covered in blood and tears as his handsome features were slowly removed. "Oh what the hell," laughed Andy as he trailed the knife down to Don's right cheek, slicing the flesh from it in one go. The thick lump of tissue fell to the floor nearby to the ear and Mac stared in horror at the gaping, bloody hole left in Don's face, bone now visible. The detective was teetering where he knelt and Mac felt sure he too was going to lose consciousness.

Mac could tell Andy was starting to enjoy this now. He'd had a taste for blood and wanted more. The only way to stop him was to choose between Danny and Don. Choose one of them to die but he couldn't do that. He couldn't lose his son or his fiancé.

"Decided yet?" Andy asked coldly. "Because there's plenty more I can cut off. I think I'll remove his pretty blue eyes next, and then his nose and then his tongue. And then I'll do the same to Danny over there. You don't make a decision soon, Mac, and you'll be left with two paralysed, deaf mutes, who can't see or write or communicate with you in any way. Essentially vegetables that will have to have round the clock care. Locked in their own heads with the memory of you doing this to them, of you causing this. Will you care for them, Mac? Will you be by their side twenty-four hours a day for the rest of your life? Because they won't even know if you are."

Mac retched as he felt a wave of nausea hit him. He needed to make a decision before the two people he cared about most in the world died. Don and Danny were going to die, or their lives would be destroyed beyond recognition. Already both of them were likely to lose their jobs if Danny was truly paralysed and now that Don had been mutilated to such an extent he wouldn't be able to handle a firearm. Mac looked between them, at their tear filled blue eyes, at their trembling bodies and was helpless to do anything. Danny looked away from him, perhaps already hating him. Blood had pooled around his knees, no doubt coming from the two wounds in his back and Mac knew it was likely he'd bleed out before Andy had finished torturing him. In a way this was worse for Danny because he was living his worst nightmare all over again. Being paralysed the first time round had nearly destroyed the young man and Mac dreaded to think what it would do to him a second time, especially if it was permanent. On the other hand Don lived for being a cop, there was nothing else he enjoyed more. He'd lost his parents, Jess and had had a rough time of it recently with his kidnapping and beating. Now here he was again, kidnapped and likely to lose his profession, to no longer be able to be a cop, and Mac knew that would kill him. Mac glanced over Don and briefly exhaled as he realised Don was wearing that blue sweater he'd worn the day he'd been kidnapped and the day he'd been beaten by the cops. Mac had completely forgotten to tell him not to wear it, that it was bad luck and it looked as though his theory was now being proven correct. Unlike Danny, Don was staring directly at him, desperate to keep eye contact and when Mac looked at him he knew exactly what Don was saying to him. 'I love you."

"I tell you what," Andy spoke, voice echoing around Mac. Mac noticed he'd put down the knife and a different gun was now in his hand. A Lupara. "I'll make this easy for you. Instead of choosing who should die, I'll let one of them go. I'll drop him outside the hospital and he can get help and heal."

"Condemning the other one to die," Mac said bitterly, as though this choice was any better.

"On the contrary. When I return perhaps we can come to some other arrangement. After all it is you I have my quarrel with, not them," Andy stated. "And at the moment it seems to be them taking all of the pain when perhaps you deserve some too. I think they'd both enjoy to see you being tortured, Mac."

Mac glared at him. As if this was some picnic for him. The sight of his son and his fiancé being mutilated in front of him was worse than death. And Mac knew that even if Danny and Don might be able to forgive him for this one day, he'd never be able to forgive himself. Andy had already successfully ruined any bond he might have shared with the two men; there was no need to take this further.

"Look Andy, you've already destroyed whatever love I shared with these men. You think Danny and I will be able to go back to playing happy families after this? Or that Don and I will be able to get married and live happily ever after? You've achieved what you wanted, ruined my life so just let it go. Let them go."

Andy glared at him in rage. "Decide now or I blow his head off," he screamed, pointing the Lupara at Don.

Mac's eyes widened. He could see Andy's finger slowly squeezing the trigger. He had to think fast. Perhaps if one of them got out alive he could at least reason with Andy to ensure the safety of the other one. Plus, in the time it took him to drive one of them to the hospital, Jo might arrive with the rescue squad. Either that or Andy might be seen at the hospital and apprehended. If he didn't do something Don would have his brains blown out in approximately ten seconds. Mac quickly assessed the situation. Danny was bleeding badly from two knife wounds, he couldn't afford to lose much more blood or he'd die. Don was bleeding badly from his ear, cheek and presumably his fingers too but there wasn't as much blood surrounding him. Danny had a small child, a pregnant wife, a baby on the way and they would need him to support their family, to care for them. Don had his sister and grandma who both relied heavily on him. He also had him, Mac, and Mac loved him more than life itself and would gladly exchange places with him in a heartbeat to save him from suffering. If Mac loved either man more, it was Don. He loved Don the most. Mac had reached his answer.

"Stop," he screamed and Andy moved the gun away from Don's head. "Save Danny. Take Danny to the hospital," Mac cried, tears falling from his eyes. He couldn't bear to look at Don. He knew the younger man would understand, would know the reasoning behind his choice, that Danny was the worst injured, that he had a pregnant wife and a small child who needed him, but still...Mac couldn't look at him. He couldn't bear to see the hurt and betrayal that was no doubt reflected in his lover's eyes. He couldn't bear to see the knowledge on Don's face that he'd chosen Danny over him, that he loved Danny more than him, even if it wasn't true and he'd made his decision based purely on logic, not emotion.

"So you want Danny to be set free?" Andy asked, smile wide and leering. "So be it."

Mac locked eyes with Andy for a second and then the crazed man moved quickly before he could even shout out. Mac screamed as the trigger was pulled and a loud bang echoed round the room. He was blinded by tears and shut his eyes against them as he heard the sound of a body thumping heavily to the floor. His ears were ringing from the shot and then muffled screaming and a maniacal laughter slowly began to replace it. He realised his own mouth was releasing a scream too and he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. To face his worst nightmare come true.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he prised his eyes apart and stared at the body lying on the ground before him.

Cold, lifeless blue eyes stared back at him.