Chapter Thirteen: How To Save A Life
Cave
When you finally realize that your world's falling apart, what lengths will you go to stop it all from unraveling?
"Nikolas," Patrick calls loudly and Nikolas who had been just outside the cave takes his time coming to Patrick. "Hurry up. I think you want to take a look at this."
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Nikolas says as he trudges his way through the cave. What does he want now? There's nothing in this cave. Nothing but dirt. Dirt and--
Nikolas stops mid sentence as Patrick brands his light in front of what he wants Nik to see.
There were inanimate objects all around that section of the cave...almost like someone had been living there. There was food, water, and other necessities, but also things that didn't make sense. Binoculars, a phone transmission blocker, a black mask. A knife.
"What is all this?" Nikolas asks Patrick who is still rummaging through the stuff trying to find a clue.
"I don't know, but I think we need to find out."
They both begin to dig frantically for a reason beyond them. In the back of their minds, something tells them not all is not right.
Patrick leaps up with something in his hand. Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he's found the ticket to it all. In one hand he holds a small black gun he's found and in the other, a little black book. He scans it, looking for clues as to who would be living in this cave with a gun. He reads it mentally.
My plan's working out perfectly. The men have finally left the house for wood leaving the women all alone, practically defenceless. One of them, if not more will get caught in my trap and eventually they'll get lost, leaving the girls alone for the night. Then I'll strike, one by one getting each and every one of them in the way they deserve. Now isn't payback a bitch?
He throws it on the floor, gun still in hand and begins to rush out of the cave.
"Patrick, where are you going? What did it say?" Nikolas asks desperately, sensing the urgency of the matter in Patrick's reaction. He hurriedly picks up the black book and scanning the end quickly, he begins to run out of the cave too.
That freak's going to hurt them. Maybe he already has. What if Robin's dead? What if I walk into that cabin and find her lifeless body, knowing that I couldn't save her? That if it wasn't for me, we could have all been there to protect them.
How am I going to live knowing that I might never get to try and fix the real love I know Robin and I have. And I'll never get to try and figure out what it is that Emily and me have together.
I can't think like this. We just have to save them.
Lucky sits, near the front of the cave, his legs sprawled, the near empty flask in his hand. With a high and awful sounding voice he sings "I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world. My boobs are plastic, it's fantastic. You can brush my hair and-" he pauses when he sees the guys rushing past him. "Hey w-where are you guys going?"
"It's the girls, they might be hurt and we need to get to them now. Come on Nikolas. Lucky you can wait here."
"We're not leaving my brother here. He's coming with us."
"We don't have time to drag him along. Emily, Liz...Robin. We don't know what's happened to them."
"He's coming and it's final." Lucky's head swivels back and forth between the two, confused about their argument.
"Fine, but we need to hurry." Patrick says because he just can't waste time. The thought of never hearing Robin's laugh again, never holding his child, even never seeing Emily's smile. It was all too much for him to bear or even think of. They had to be okay. He didn't know what he would do if they weren't.
And if they weren't okay and he had to risk his life for theirs he knew what he had to do. He would save them every time.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life...
Cabin
Robin regains consciousness and thinks immediately of trying to get away. But as a Scorpio she knows better than that. Any move, however so slight might allow the psycho to detect the that she was awake.
She pauses and without even opening her eyes she tries to figure out what was going on in the room. Tape covers her mouth, preventing her from murmuring a single word. And ropes were definitely bounding her, so tight and constraining she could barely move.
She notices her hair is now matted with blood from her wound and a massive headache sears her head and pierces through all her thoughts. She fights to stay awake.
The hairs on the back of her neck rise, alerting her that she was not alone in the room. She opens her eyes, ever so slightly, to find Emily, her head drooped to the right. The same grey tape over both their mouths.
He must have hit her too. Her doctor instincts kick in and she wants so badly to try and help her but she just knows she can't. Barely a few feet away from her she sees the stalker in the room, with a bag in his hands.
What is he doing she thinks. She watches his every move intently and finally she figures it all out. As he takes out the gasoline and the matches she knows how it's all going to end. He's going to burn the cabin...with us in it.
Her body trembles as she feels like her life passes right before her eyes.
She remembers the little things. Sitting on her dad's lap, playing dolls with her mother. Growing up without them and getting a second chance. Finding love so many times with Stone, Jason, Nikolas...Patrick.
She remembers the way her parents would call her luv, the many times in life she felt complete happiness... the one phone call that changed it all.
Thirty years was a long time and she had lived a good life. But it wasn't enough. She needed there to be more than this. There had to be.
Patrick and Nikolas placed Lucky's arms on their shoulders as they briskly walked in the direction they hoped lay the cabin.
The alcohol was really starting to get to him yet even with his massive headache he still felt the pain of his leg.
"Guys, sl-slow down. It's probably j-just a joke. Ha ha, good one. The women we l-love all stuck in a cabin being k-killed off one by one. I wonder if they'll ma-make a movie like that and-"
Patrick freezes and looks Lucky dead in the eye.
"We don't have time for this Lucky. Do you understand what's going on? The people we love might be dead," he says as his voice begins to rise. "Do you still think it's a joke?" He finishes his sentence disgusted at Lucky. He couldn't blame him for being drunk but the fact that he was slowing them down pushed him beyond the brink of anger.
They continued to walk on, through the snow that had finally come to halt. All until they spotted something in the distance.
Nikolas squints in the distance trying to determine who or what it could be. "I think it's a person. We need to get over there." He begins to drag Lucky and consequentially, Patrick to the left.
"You think up a lot of things Nikolas and none of them are even close to intelligent. We don't have time to be stopping for what's probably a deer."
"No, I think its a woman." He rushes to them and reluctantly, the rest of the men follow.
There lay Elizabeth's seemingly lifeless body. Her blood seeping through the snow. Her hair was in disarray and her face and body dirty and wet. Even her bracelet was missing from her wrist.
"Elizabeth," Lucky calls and he immediately drops to his knees and puts her in his arms. His face goes pale as he stares into her face and sees the light from her that would always brighten his day, finally fade.
This can't be happening. "Elizabeth, wake up baby. We're going to go home and see the kids and we can put this whole thing behind us." No response. "Come on, Elizabeth, its not supposed to end like this. We were supposed to have a lifetime of our love and die together when we're old and grey. Don't do this to me." He says as he finally begins to break down, the tears, ravaging his body making it hard to breathe. "Elizabeth!" He screams.
Patrick and Nikolas look on with pain expressions not knowing what to do. Nikolas finally gets on his knees near his brother, placing his hands on his shoulder for comfort. Patrick kneels, checking Elizabeth's pupils and pulse. He drops her wrist and they all know.
There's no way to reach her. She's already gone.
Lucky looks on and as his body goes cold and the tears fall endlessly from his eyes to her pale cheeks. But she can't be dead--I love her.
He shrugs off Nikolas' arm and begins to pace around her body, looking for something to keep his mind of the fact that she's dead.
"Her locket. I need to find her locket...It's the symbol of our love and she can't lose it. When she want it she'll wake up. I have to--I have to..."
"Lucky, she's gone," Nikolas has to tell him.
"Why couldn't I save her? How could I let this happen" Lucky drops to the floor as the tears rack his body and he lies next to her, knowing that this will be the last time.
"I loved you Elizabeth. More than you can ever know. You were my first love...my angel and I don't know what I'll do without you. You'll always have my heart. I'll love you forever."
They all kneel there around her. Overwhelmed by the loss of someone they had loved and cared about for so long. Each in different ways.
Patrick tries to keep that lone tear from falling from his eyes and looks in the distance to try and stop the pain he feels.
He'd be damned if he let the same thing happen again.
It is then when he sees a dark cloud of smoke not too far away. Without telling Nikolas and Lucky--without them even noticing-- he begins to walk towards it, hoping it cannot be what he thinks it is.
As his stride begins to quicken, his panic grows deeper and deeper. His heart begins to beat uncontrollably and he feels like he's losing himself. Or losing her. Haven't they become the same person?
Their love had grown so deep over the years without them even realizing it. They always knew what the other was going through and how they felt because the connection that they shared was unbreakable and strong. Robin was his angel...
And that would never change.
Yet his worse fears are fully realized when he approaches the cabin only to find it bursting into flames.
He doesn't think before he kicks open the door and goes in. He could not stop, he would not change what he was about to do.
Harborview Towers
Sam walks into the living room in her blue pyjamas to find Jason dressed, looking through the window at the view, contemplating something deeply.
She walks behind him and hugs him. He hugs her back half heartily and she knows something's not right.
"What's wrong Jason. Why are you up?"
He puts his hand through his hair, much like his sister, and thinks about whether he should worry her with this.
"Emily called."
"That's great. She's been gone for a lot longer than we thought she'd be hasn't she? Is she having a good time with Patrick?"
"That's just it. I don't know. She called and she wanted to tell me something but the line went dead before I could understand. I think something's wrong with her."
"But that happens all the time. Phone's drop calls and end conversations. Do you really think its something more?"
"Yes. I can't help but feel that something's not right. The way her voice sounded, so scared, it made my blood run cold."
"Then you know what you have to do right."
"Yeah, but I'm calling Sonny first."
Jason calls Sonny's cell phone and his wife, Carly picks up.
"Jase, it's the middle of the night. What's going --?" Carly says drowsily, falling back asleep before his sentence is done.
"Carly wake up. I think Emily and whoever else is at the Cabin is in danger. I just know it. Tell Sonny he needs to help me get all our people, 911, and the police over there now."
"Got it Jason," she pauses to wake up Sonny and softly relay the message, "He's arranging it all right now. You know we're always here for you."
"I know, thanks. I'm leaving to go to the cabin now. I have to find out what's going on myself."
Patrick runs into the house. The flames and cinders are all around him, disintegrating everything that once stood. His instinct tell him to go right into the living room and in it he find Robin and Emily, tied up.
A sudden calmness washes over him as he realizes that it wasn't over and that he could still save them. But he knows they weren't out of the woods yet. He would still have to untie them and take them out of here.
But how? How would he choose which one to save first? But he knew that he didn't have to think about it. When it came down to it, it was always her, Robin, every time.
He thinks as he walks closer to them, finally standing in front of the unconscious Emily and alert Robin. He gently rips the tape off of Robin's mouth and begins the hard work of untying her from the chair.
"Patrick what are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm getting you out of here."
"You can't." Robin's says finally.
"Why? Robin what are you talking about? We don't have time for this."
"Emily's pregnant and we both know that with these fumes she can't won't last long. You have to save her first."
"But-"
No buts. No regrets. Just I love you."
"And I do love you Robin. I'm going to come back to you, I swear. Robin, I will always come back to you. " He looks at her and instictively comes closer to her, still prepared to save her first.
"No," she says softly yet determined.
"Okay," he looks at her knowing hell regret her but quicly kisses her once last time. The kiss is fleeting, yet it lingers on both their lips.
He turns away reluctantly. He begins to untie Emily and finally manages to do so. He picks her up and glances worriedly at Robin.
Their eyes meet, and they know everything they've wanted to say without uttering another word. A lifetime of happiness flashes through their eyes but they know that they would have all that and more. They would fight for each other and for their love.
Until the end.
A/N: SO what did you think? And any suggestions about the killer. I think I know who it'll be but mroe suggestion will be apreciated. Thanks to all the readers and reviewers.
ILovetowriteSMP: Yeah i didn't want to have too much drama and no humor. What the wacko does next will be intersting i hope.
coffegurl5: Eventually and i think the psycho will be someone you know. I still confused about what i should do.
bluejaygal: I think i want them to be friends to but it'll be hard. Thanks for the compliment and i feel the same way abut all your writing.
carolannw: I'm glad its leaving you on the edge of your seat and that doesn't change soon. I wonder if help will get there in time.
talk2much13: New reader. Very cool. I'll try and keep it up and hope you like where it goes from here.