A/N: I couldn't be overly graphic with this chapter as we're T rated, but that is probably for the best anyway as I would not want anyone to have to stop reading.
Stephanie felt certain that she knew what was about to happen to her and she had never been so terrified in her life. If she had not been to the bathroom only minutes before she probably would have lost control of her bladder and pissed herself in fear. Nikki was standing over her with a razor blade in her hand. This was it, she was going to die. Here, today, she was convinced that she was going to die and do so in terrible pain because Nikki was going to make sure to torture her first before cutting her throat an watching her bleed to death. It was apparent from the look of crazed hatred in Nikki's eyes that the pathetic escape attempt that she had just made had sent her captor over the edge. There was nothing she could do to help herself as she was unable to move or to cry out loud enough to be heard by anyone. The only option was to wait for the pain and then finally the end. She would never see Paul or any of her daughters again. She would never see her dad again. Would they even find her body? Would they ever catch Nikki? Would they ever even find out what had happened in this basement? At least she was about to see her mom again. Tears poured down her face as Nikki leant forward to make her first cut with the razor blade.
A sharp stab of pain shot through Nikki's side as she attempted to bend over Stephanie which caused her to recoil sharply and gasp in pain. The kicks that Stephanie had put into her as she had crumpled to the bathroom floor must have done some damage to her ribs as well as causing the nosebleed which she had to keep wiping at with her hand. "You fucking bitch," she hissed. "You've hurt my ribs. Let's start there then shall we?" With that she leaned down over her bound captive once more, this time expecting and ready to take the pain from her injured ribs and sliced Stephanie's blouse open with the razor blade to expose her side. Stephanie was so securely tied to the chair that she could not even attempt to flinch away for the blade and her protests of course ignored and then Nikki slowly sliced her skin open all across her right side just under the bottom of her rib cage, causing Stephanie to scream in pain into her gag. Blood began to flow from the cut immediately but Nikki was using a razor blade for a specific reason; maximum pain and minimum blood loss. The cuts that she was going to inflict would be incredibly painful for a long time but they would also seal themselves relatively quickly which would keep the blood loss down and mean that there was no danger of Stephanie dying, yet at least. Killing her was not something that Nikki could do easily, or even something that she really wanted to do but she would do if Paul made it necessary.
Over the next couple of minutes Nikki cut away the rest of Stephanie's blouse to now leave her top half naked aside from her bra. "Look at the state of you," she sneered in disgust after finishing the task. "Stretch marks and what the hell is that scar? You've had a C-section? Jesus, you're body is a fucking mess. What the hell does Paul see in you? Huh?" Let's see if he likes a few more marks on you, what do you say?" Stephanie tried pathetically to plead for mercy but was only taunted in return. "Huh? How about some more marks on that stomach? Sounds good to me." With that Nikki proceeded to make several cuts with the razor on Stephanie's stomach and took great delight in seeing how unbearable the suffering was becoming for her victim. It was just what she deserved, payback at last and it felt so good. The more cuts she made all over Stephanie's body, targeting the softest and most sensitive areas such as the insides of her elbows and between her fingers as well as her sides and stomach, the more Stephanie screamed and cried and that only made the experience better for Nikki until finally she felt satisfied. Inflicting this on Stephanie had almost cleansed her of the last year of torture that her own life had been. Not only was it cleansing but it also gave her an almost sexual rush to finally let it all out and put it behind her. Now all she needed was the two million dollars and she could get the hell out of the country and start over in Dubai, living the kind of life that she deserved.
Regaining her breath and control of her emotions led Nikki to a realisation; she had lost control and messed her plan up. The sobbing, blood covered mess in front of her was never going to be quiet all night now yet there was no option but to sleep down here in the basement with her in case of the very unlikely event that she managed to begin to work herself free. Allowing Stephanie to escape and contact Paul was the only thing that could ruin her perfect plan now and that was not going to happen even if it did mean getting no sleep all night. "Shut the fuck up Steph, now! I'm warning you. You see this mattress and these blankets? I'm going to settle down to sleep soon and if you wake me up we're going to have another session with this razor blade. If I'm going to be awake I'm going to make use of the time so it's up to you." Then she remembered something else that she needed to do. Paul had demanded a picture of Stephanie to prove that she was alive. If it was a picture he wanted it was a picture that he would get. It would be amusing to imagine his reaction when he saw the pathetic mess that his supposedly powerful wife was reduced to by nothing more than a few pieces of cord and cloth and a razor blade. "I'll be right back. I need to get a phone so that we can take a picture for your precious Paul. Apparently he's of the opinion that you might be dead. Would kind of be a shame to have to prove him right huh?"
Nikki dashed up the stairs as fast as she could go with her injured side and found the small collection of cheap cell phones that she had bought in preparation for these couple of days. It was unlikely that they would all need to be used but that was what good preparation was all about. It was better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it. With a cell phone in hand she went back down to the basement and loaded up the phone's camera. The phone was a cheap piece of crap so the picture would be low quality but that hardly mattered, it would serve Nikki's purpose of showing that dumb son of a bitch Paul that his idiot wife was alive and that he had better come up with the money by the deadline that she had given him. Stephanie was looking down at the blood soaked mess that was her own body and crying so Nikki yelled at her, "Look up you stupid bitch. How can I take a picture properly if you don't look up?"
Stephanie looked up and Nikki snapped the picture. A few seconds later it had processed and she looked it to decide if it was good enough. A smile broke out on her face as she decided that yes, the picture would do just fine. Another idea came to her just as she was about to set the phone aside. "How about a selfie Steph huh? We used to do that quite often together remember? That was when we were family though wasn't it? I bet you wish we still were right now." Nikki winced due to another stab of pain from her side as she crouched beside Stephanie so that their heads were level and held the phone out in front of here. "Smile for Paul, it might be the last time he sees your ugly ass."
Unlike Nikki Paul had not even attempted to go to sleep that night. There had been no further contact from Nikki and the worry about Stephanie was driving him absolutely crazy and had actually caused him to be sick after trying to force some food down even though his appetite had deserted him. Knowing that his wife could very possibly have already been murdered by Nikki and even if she had not she was probably suffering both physically and mentally was torture for him also. He had the money ready to be transferred that Nikki had specified if it came to that and it appeared that it would do because the cops had made no progress at all towards locating Stephanie. Her phone was untraceable and the phone that Nikki had used to call him had been found in the middle of nowhere in some grass at the side of the road. No one had any idea where his wife was. Waiting for Nikki's next call was the only option but Paul had not been idle, in fact he had made a call of his own and brought someone in who may be able to help to get Stephanie home safely. That someone had just arrived at his house and been let in by one of the team that the police had posted to stay there until this situation came to some kind of conclusion.
"Hey Paul," the visitor greeted and walked across the living room towards him as he stood. They exchanged a hug and Paul closed his eyes, hoping that this would work. "Hi Brie, thanks for coming."