Chapter Thirteen

The bright light caused Olivia to instantly obtain a splitting headache. Groaning softly, she attempted to block the blinding light from her eyes but it was no use. In the back of her mind, she wondered how long she had been out. Sadly, her thoughts were answered from the one mouse in all the world she did not wish to see...or hear.

"It's about time you woke up," Dominic said rudely. "You've been out for nearly a half an hour. Any longer and I was almost about to wake you myself."

"Really, how exactly?" Olivia dared to question. Her eyes remained focused on the cold floor to avoid her torturer's angered glare.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Dominic asked while he attempted to control his rage. Without waiting for Olivia to give him another cynical answer, he quickly walked towards her and kicked her in the side. Her painful scream echoed throughout the large room. Grabbing the back of her hair, he pulled her close to him.

"I thought I taught you to never question me, bitch," he whispered.

"My apologies, sir. I must have forgotten while you were rotting away in prison," Olivia retorted, her eyes piercing his. To her, looking into his eyes almost seemed as if she was staring into a never-ending tunnel. Sighing deeply, Dominic, slammed her body back to the ground, the impact causing her to acquire a large gash on her forehead.

Not once did Basil worry about the excruciating pain coming from his injured leg. In fact, he completely forgot about it. He was more worried about his daughter. He only hoped that Sean was exaggerating due to all he had been through. Unfortunately, Basil was proven wrong.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Alexia lying lifelessly on the ground. His legs felt as if they were glued to the floor when his gaze automatically noticed the large bruises on her arms and legs. What pained him the most were the bruises he spotted around the inside of her thighs.

Finally reacting, Basil ran towards her and dropped to his knees. The first thing he did was check to see if she was still breathing. Thankfully, she was, though, just barely. He then set his attention to the gash on Alexia's side. Ripping another large piece of his Inverness, to the best of his ability, he mended her wound.

"Lexi, sweetheart, open your eyes," Basil quietly pleaded as he took her into his arms. For a second or two, she didn't seem to respond. "Come on Lex, you need to open your eyes." After several minutes, Basil lowered his head onto hers. His heart felt as if it had been broken. Holding Alexia tighter, Basil quietly began to weep. "Lexi, I'm so sorry. I was too late. Please bring her back," Basil said while he began to choke on his words. "God, please don't take her away from me. She doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to die like this, not here, not now. She's the only little girl I have. Please, dear God, don't take my daughter from me!" Basil's tears soon began to fall freely while he rocked back and forth. In his heart, he blamed himself.

A lonely tear gently landed on Alexia's bruised cheek. Her eyes slowly began to open yet her vision was too blurry to see anything. All she could hear was the sound of someone crying.

"Father?" Alexia whispered softly. It took Basil a few seconds to respond when he looked down to see her eyes meeting his own. He smiled finally smiled brightly in return.

"Thank you, God," he said with pure joy as he held her tight. "Everything is going to all right. You're safe now." Carefully getting to his feet, he held his daughter close to him as he ran off.

In the distance, stood a dark figure. His bloodied hands scraped the walls, leaving a large smear as he growled deeply. While he watched Basil disappear, he slid out from which he hid and slowly began to walk away.

"Get up!" Dominic demanded angrily, pulling Olivia up by her bloodied hair. "I thought I taught you well, my dear."

Olivia grunted, gripping Dominic's hand while he kept a hold around her hair. Still struggling, Dominic realized he had enough and slammed her hard against the concrete wall, watching her body slump to the floor. As she slowly attempted to get up, Dominic kicked her down before she could. With every hit, Olivia began to weaken in strength, but not in spirit. When he stepped back, Olivia lifted herself slightly.

"You taught me nothing!" she hissed at him. "The only thing you taught me was to fear everything and everyone. But even that was shot to Hell, wasn't it?"

Dominic did nothing at first. He just stood above her and thought about what she had just said. "Well...if you are no longer afraid of me, then I guess I'll have to make you fear me again, won't I?" he asked cruelly when he lifted her off the ground and pinned her against the wall. Without giving so much as a warning, Dominic whipped out something quite familiar to her. Olivia's eyes widened while he held the weapon close to her throat.

"This brings back old memories, doesn't it?" he asked sinisterly as he gripped the switchblade tightly in his hand and kept a firm grip on Olivia.

"Go ahead, kill me," Olivia snapped feeling completely fearless. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Dominic."

"I think that husband of yours forgot to teach you the number one rule in this world," he began to say as he instantly pulled the switchblade away and quickly struck her, leaving a red print across her cheek. "Men overpower women. You are our slaves, you do what we say, when we say it."

"You're wrong. Basil taught me to believe that there are still men in this world who do not think that women should be pushed around. Why? Because he's one of them," she bravely answered, placing her hand over her bruised cheek.

"Well, he won't be, once I get through with him-"

"You dare touch him and I swear I'll kill you."

Dominic cackled while he kept his sinister glare on Olivia. He could tell that she was serious about her words; however, he wasn't intimidated at the very least.

"Ha, oh really? How, pray tell, are you going to do that? Face it you are weak. All women are weak. You would not survive without us keeping you all in line," he stated when he finally released Olivia, letting her drop to the ground. "But if you want to give it a shot, go ahead."

With that, he tossed the switchblade onto the ground. Confused, Olivia gazed between the switchblade, which was only a few inches away from her grasp, and Dominic, who at this moment had his back turned from her.

"I'm waiting," Dominic said impatiently. "If you think you are as tough as you say, then try and kill me."

Olivia's heart suddenly began to race as she gripped the switchblade in her hand. Slowly standing, she kept herself at ease while she waited for her moment to strike.

"Go to Hell," she whispered right before she ran towards him.

Before Olivia even had time to lift her hand, Dominic turned and quickly struck her down. On the other hand, that hit didn't keep her down long. She hastily reacted as she rolled away when Dominic tried to stomp on her. Out of nowhere, Olivia managed to drop kick him to the ground. Her eyes widened with shock and amazement while she sat still for a slight second. When she tried strike him again, Dominic reached out and grabbed her throat. Instantly, she dropped the knife and gripped onto his arm.

"See? You're weak. That drop kick was a lucky shot. Sorry to say not lucky enough," Dominic said through his teeth while his grip became stronger.

Before Olivia could pass out, Dominic threw her hard to the ground and began to kick her before she could even take a breath. She shouted in pain after every hit, making him become more forceful. After a while, Dominic grew bored with this attack and slowly knelt down to her.

"You'll never stop me. Both you and that pathetic husband of yours are going to die before the night is through," Dominic whispered sinisterly while he gently moved a strand of Olivia's hair from her bruised face. "When I'm done with you both, your children will be next, and just like you, I will give them no mercy."

Rising to his feet, Dominic kicked her in the side once again before backing away and shaking his head. Hearing her agonizing scream brought a vindictive smile to his face, which too edged him on. For that moment, his intent was to only harm her, not kill her. At least, not for now.

Hallelujah! Alexia is alive...for now...

Though, I love Olivia deeply, I feel so horrible that I'm having her get the crap kicked out of her by Dominic, but this is all happening for a reason, and the explanation will present itself before you know it. Also, here's a question, though everyone probably knows the answer... Who is the mysterious mouse lurking in the shadows? If you know, don't give it away.

Many thanks to Brinatello for looking over the chapter and throwing in her two cents about how much she really wants Dominic to die. So enjoy and review!