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CHAPTER 14

Mitch, of all people, went over to Sera and turned her chair around so she was facing him. "Look, Serenity, all of us feel responsible for what happened to Jamal. I knew he knew where you were and I should have pushed him to tell me. Dave and I both should have made Jamal wait for us instead of going after Dumas by himself. Jamal knew better than to go without backup…and because of your relationship, he shouldn't have been on the case at all. But the only bad guy here is Winston Dumas. He's the sshole, not you, not me, not Jamal. Stop beating yourself up over this. He died so that you could live, not so that you could hide away and torture yourself."

Sera looked at Mitch for a minute, then leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. As stern and uptight as Mitch seemed to be, he had always been her rock and her strongest supporter. She knew that he had her back no matter what and she felt surprisingly reassured by his words. Mitch never lied. Ever. And if he said it wasn't her fault, then it wasn't. She pulled back, took his face in her hands, and kissed him gently on the lips, smiling when he blushed slightly. "Thank you, Mitchell Everett Leggit."

Mitch nodded once, still blushing, and got up and went back to his seat. Sera pulled herself back to the table to finish her story. She glanced at Robert to gauge his reaction to everything. She didn't know if he'd be angry about her deception about Jamal or upset because she kissed Mitch. It wasn't remotely a romantic kiss or anything, but men could be wiggy about stuff like that. She felt relieved that he simply smiled and gave her an encouraging nod. She smiled back, glad for his support. The smile faded as she forced herself to remember what happened next.

"After I accepted Jamal's proposal, I decided it was time to come out of hiding. I had been moving around all over the country and I was tired of it. I wanted to go back to work at the medical examiner's office in Suffolk County. I wanted my life back. Well, I wanted my life back without the FBI. I no longer planned on working with them on cases. Dumas kept trying to pull me back in. Every time he contacted me, he would give me a little bit of information about his next victim. He tried to draw me back into his little game, but I wouldn't do it. As soon as I got the flowers with the little note in it, I would grab my suitcase, a box of personal items that I kept, and head out the door. I called Mitch from a payphone on my way out of town and gave him the information on the card. They were usually dead ends, but I think a couple of them turned out to be the real deal."

"You think?" House interrupted. Sera nodded. "I didn't want to know what was going on. I didn't watch TV or listen to the radio or anything for the first month after I moved. I didn't want to know whether or not he had killed again. I didn't want to feel responsible."

"Anyway, I had pretty much washed my hands of the FBI, but I did want my life back. I told Jamal he could tell family and friends about our engagement, but I didn't want to make some big announcement yet. I was enough of a public figure that my return might have made the news, and I wasn't quite ready for that. The day before I was to return to Virginia – the week before my wedding – I came in my apartment and before I could even shut the door, I felt a sharp jab in my neck. I knew instantly what…WHO it was, but I could do nothing. I just remember blackness."

"When I woke up, I think it was two days later. I was on a bed. I was gagged and I had been shackled – both hands, both feet. He had also tied down my body and he had a band around my forehead to keep my head flat from moving. I guess he wanted to prevent me from head-butting him. The head restraint actually worried me more than the others. It implied that he planned on getting close enough to me that he was concerned about being head-butted. I didn't think this boded well for me at all.

He came into the room later on that day, wearing a half mask and holding an intricately carved knife. I didn't need him to tell me that it was the knife he'd used on Faith. The tip had a strange hooked shaped to it and I realized it matched the wounds on Faith's face. He held it so I could see the handle. There were two symbols carved into it. He told me that one was the Chinese symbol for "faith" and the other the symbol for "serenity". He told me that after he "introduced" me to the knife, he would retire it. He then slipped the knife under my shirt and slid it up, cutting my shirt open. He also cut off my bra. The knife was so sharp, he barely had to move it to make it slice through the material. Then…he started to lick me on the parts of my body he had exposed. Licks and little bites. This went on for a while. It seemed like hours, but it was probably only minutes. I didn't say anything the whole time. I refused to give him the pleasure."

Sera's recitation had become monotone and lifeless as she told this part of the story. She kept her eyes on the table as she spoke. "He eventually stopped and just looked at me for a few minutes. Then he did something weird. He pulled my shirt together, covering me back up. He did it carefully, being sure not to touch me. Before he left the room, he apologized to me for his "inappropriate actions".

He never touched me again. He came in and fed me twice a day for three days. On the fourth day, I opened my eyes when I heard a noise at the door. I was shocked when I saw Jamal standing there, his gun drawn. He took one step in then gasped and collapsed on the floor. Dumas came in after him. He wasn't wearing a mask, but I caught a very brief glimpse of him right before he shot me with another dart.

When I woke up again, I have no idea how much time had passed. I heard a loud crashing noise and I jumped off of the bed. I hadn't even realized I wasn't shackled anymore until that moment. I didn't really have time to dwell on that issue, because when I jumped off the bed, I landed on something soft. When I looked down, I saw what was left of my fiancé.

Dumas had cut him up worse than anyone I had ever seen. They hypothesized later that Jamal was killed in a fit of rage because of the violence of the stab wounds. He was practically unrecognizable. I wouldn't have known it was him, except he was wearing this hideous tie I had given him as a gag gift. He wasn't supposed to actually wear it in public…it was the ugliest tie I could find. He turned the joke back on me, though. He not only wore it, but he used to tell people I picked it out for him. He was like that. Impossible to prank, because he could always flip the script on you and make you the butt of the joke."

David and Mitch were nodding in agreement with sad smiles on their faces. Lisa squeezed Sera's hand. Sera took a deep breath. She only had a little bit left to tell and the worst was over.

After his funeral, I ran again. I had my bags in the car and I left. I went to Dover, Delaware and got a job working in a diner at a truck stop. It was actually one of the hardest jobs I ever had, but the tips were good. I got a few regulars and the truck drivers got to know me. They were very protective and made sure none of the other diners got too fresh. I actually enjoyed it, but I really missed medicine.

After about 6 months, I received another pink rose bouquet. This one actually had two dozen roses instead of one dozen, and half of them were red roses. The card simply said, "I'm sorry. Now we're even." I don't know why we were ever uneven, since I'd never done anything to him. Perhaps he thought he needed to get revenge on me because I was trying to stop him. I don't know. I left again, but this time I decided to contact Lisa about coming to work at the hospital. I moved here to Princeton, leased my brownstone, and took a few months to get my bearings, then came to the hospital to work as a nurse. I didn't hear from Dumas again until today. It's been nearly a year."

House was about to ask Sera a question, when the phone on desk in the corner started to ring. Robert frowned then got up and looked at the caller ID. He glanced at Eric, his eyes wide. "Foreman, it's coming from your phone."