Before this chapter begins, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has praised and stuck with this story, you have no idea how much all your kind words have meant to me, and even though it has to end soon I reallyyyy never want to stop writing it!
Fair Warning: this chapter is riddled with tension drama and also features some violence, (all themes of this story since chpt1) so if that's not for, than neither is this chapter! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy!
The first thing that occurs to Donna Paulsen is an ache in her bones from how cold she feels.
Her skin like ice to the touch as she feels the damp yet softly textured ground beneath her, that fresh smell of earth leading her to believe she's outdoors.
The dew had soaked through the back of her night dress, granting the thin material even more useless in shielding her from the cold.
She hears the crunching of feet on the heath and the sound reminds her that she'll have to play this carefully.
Donna cracks her eyes open subtly, trying to take in as much of her surroundings as possible to help her gage the situation.
She sees a broad canopy of deep shadowy green over her, a thick layer of tree-cover above giving way to only small crevices of the night sky.
Her breath is visible in the crisp air of night, coming in short gasps as she focuses on remaining calm.
She hears movement again, the cracking of twigs beneath feet and the opening of a car door, understanding the noise to be coming at some distance from her. She takes a chance, angling her head from left to right in search of Harvey.
He's lying just to her left, his eyes still closed and no signs visible to tell her if he's conscious or just pretending. The only indication that he's even still with her is the misty wisps of breath that come from his parted lips.
She wonders why he hasn't woken yet, suddenly cursing internally as she remembers that he had two whole glasses of the champagne laced with poison, while she only consumed a quarter of that amount.
Donna can feel a helpless ache growing in her, sure she doesn't need to look to know who's behind their abduction. And it's all she can do not to breakdown at the notion of what was to come for them.
In the middle of the woods.
In Who-Knows-Where.
Alone.
And if her suspicious are correct, at the mercy of Anthony – goddamn – Lawson.
The glint of something in Harvey's pocket catches her eye, without a second thought she reaches out for it, pulling it from his shorts. A corkscrew? Not taking a moment to wonder what the hell it was doing there, she quickly tucks it into the side strap of her bra, just under her arm pit. The sharp steel is uncomfortable against her skin but she knows the likelihood of needing a means of defense is high.
She forgets herself, not thinking to check her surroundings before shifting forward in her position, the forest debris crackling noisily beneath her in the silence of the area.
Her attention is on Harvey, reaching out to place a trembling hand on his chest, patting, trying but failing to pull him through.
Her fingers slip to his neck, his skin cold enough to match her own, a clammy sweat coating his body.
"Harvey?" She whispers, futile, he's still too far gone.
Donna closes her eyes, using his heart beat as an anchor, trying to pull herself together. Wanting to protect him more than anything, not even letting her mind travel to the dangerous repercussions this night may have on her pregnancy, knowing that once she goes down that route, she won't recover herself from it.
She's too preoccupied to notice the muffled sound of a car door shutting in the distance.
Wobbling to stand on her bare feet she scans the ground, looking for the Harvey's phone, it's the last thing she remembers having on her and she prays to God it's somewhere here.
She wanders slightly from him, not too far, aware that she needs to keep him close but also knowing she needs to scope the area, find any potential means of escape or help.
There's a wall of bushes in front of her, and path trodden through them. Thinking this might have been the direction they came from, she kneels, leaning forward and searching for any sign of the phone.
"Look who's finally woken up!"
The voice fills her with dread as she sees Lawson limping towards her, he looks almost unrecognizable, the change in his appearance noticeable even in the darkness of the night. His head's been shaved, his body significantly thinner, almost boney, a greying beard covering half his face, hiding the withered wrinkles of his skin.
"Looking for this?" he leers, holding up the cracked phone screen which lights up, her own picture as Harvey's screen saver looking back down at her.
She reads the time.
2:30am
The last time she remembers glancing at the clock is when they decided to head to bed, that was at 1:16, so they've been out for about an hour, she wonders if the Police are even searching for them yet.
"Lovely picture," he glances at the screen before firing the phone off a few meters away into the bushes, "But you're much lovelier in person."
She feels his hand wrap around her shin, pulling her in his direction and she lets out a shriek despite herself. She flips over on top her stomach, giving her more room to struggle as she pulls herself away from him, another scream piercing the silence of the night as he yanks her ankle again, and she manages to stay on all fours, unrelenting.
He takes hold of her shoulders, dragging her to her feet and she tries to reach a hand to remove the corkscrew from under her night dress but he takes hold of her wrist first, twisting it behind her back painfully and pushing her until her back lands against the surface of a thick tree, bark scratching at her skin.
Both her arms trapped in an unshakeable grip.
She doesn't think it can get any worse until his mouth is on the crook of her neck, his hand too high on her thigh. She brings her knee up, attempting a hit to the groin but misses as he shifts to the side.
Her distressed sounds meet Harvey's ears, rousing him from his drug induced state, eyes blinking open. He doesn't have long to recover from the haziness that settles over him as he hears her shout again.
"Stop!" Her voice is strained and it's like a stab in the gut.
He sits forward, insides twisting when he spots her.
Pulling himself to his feet he stumbles clumsily towards them, his balance completely off and his head spinning out of control, he just about manages to fist the back of Lawson shirt yanking him backwards and throwing a punch that misses.
Lawson turns, surprised but nonetheless more able to retaliate than Harvey, hooking him in the jaw as Harvey takes a hit to the other man's stomach.
It's all the time Donna needs. Her heart hammers and her legs shake with adrenaline, trying not to think through what she's about to do as she fears it will deter her from what needs to be done.
She sees Harvey hit the floor, and Lawson turning back to her. Concealing the weapon behind her back.
"What's your angle here?" she asks, keeping her voice level, she knows exactly what the answer to her question is but this is just a way to waste time in the hopes that Harvey can recover himself, or the police somehow locate them beforethis can escalate any further.
"You very well know the answer to that Miss Paulsen," he mocks, identifying her move but just as she hoped, he can't resist the urge to elaborate, to toy with them, "Almost every single one of my associates has abandoned me since you two escaped last time, and if I wasn't hell bent on revenge last time we saw each other, I sure as shit am now."
He begins a stalk towards her, and she tries again to deter him, willing to try anything to keep his hands off her, but she can't think of what to say, her mind slowed by the fear rising in her throat as he moves closer.
Harvey picks up on her ploy to stall him, joining in as his only means of helping her, "How the hell did we get here?" he rasps, his voice groggy, he's beyond frustrated, his mind screaming at his body to move, to kill him, but he can't find the strength.
Lawson laughs, a sinister low chuckle.
"I've had someone following you both for weeks," Harvey winces at the admission, feeling guilty for not taking Donna at her word from the first mention of the stalker, "I had my guy watching your friends as well, he heard your colleague Louis Litt gushing over some champagne he intended to give you at your dinner party, and we took the opportunity to swap it out with another, laced with drugs."
Donna had guessed as much but the revelation still makes her feel ill.
"You've really made it too easy for me, I have to give you credit." Harvey's blood boils at the taunt but to make matters worse he knows it's true, he'd been careless, in denial, trying to put something behind them that was not yet in the past.
"Now, enough chat," he growls, and she spots Harvey trying but failing to rise to his feet as Lawson approaches her yet again, "back to business."
She puts her acting skills to the test, staring at the attacker with a stunned face like a deer in the headlights as he approaches her once again.
Lawson takes a vice like grip of her face, pulling her up to meet his height and forgetting his earlier hold on her arms as he returns a hand to the hem of her nightdress.
Suddenly in the distance, and where she's guessing the woods meet the road, she hears sirens, lights flashing red and blue across the dark heath, the colors illuminating the desperate panic in Lawson's eyes.
She wastes no more time.
The corkscrew plunges purposefully into his shoulder with a twist, careful to pierce the exact spot where the bullet hit him last time.
He releases a guttural shout, sinking to the ground as Donna heaves in every breath.
She sees Harvey, weakly attempting to climb back to his feet and rushes forward to him, her shaking hands cup his face as she urges him to find his strength.
"We need to move." She whispers urgently, hauling him to stand and frantically locating the head lights that flash not far to the right and she yanks at his arm, signaling him to follow.
They run as fast as their legs can carry them.
Hands gripped tightly.
"We're here!" she yells in the direction of the road, torch lights flashing in their direction.
She feels Harvey pick up the pace, his adrenaline-boost finally overturning the drug induced haziness that had rendered him so lax.
They're closer now, bare feet sore against the rough ground but it doesn't stop them.
Almost there.
A gun shot fires.
Drowning all other sounds.
Donna screams, tripping and stumbling forward.
Harvey grunts, lunging for her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
Desperate to protect her.
Another shot is loosed.
And they both fall.
An eerie silence broken only by the wailing of sirens.
Xxx
I'm back to my old cliffhanger ways!
More to come so stay tuned and feel free to shout at me on twitter/reviews for the open ended chapter :)