Authors Note: Hopefully this will make sense. I've been sick this week so my mind isn't functioning at 100. Hopefully, I'll be back in top form by next week.
Henry confessed to Mike that he continued to have his own fears about Vicki's place in Phillipe's plan. The two of them spoke for awhile before he felt warm moisture dripping on his hand and scented blood. He tried to rearrange his position to look down but he would need to disturb Vicki to see.
"Mike, can you look at Vicki for me?"
Mike returned his attention to Vicki's face and noticed two things simultaneously. First, there were tears seeping from underneath her eyelashes and slowly snaking their way down her face. The second, her nose had started to bleed.
"Henry, I think you need to put her down somewhere. Her nose is bleeding and she's crying."
Henry was really surprised. There had been no increase in her heart rate and no other sign that she was in distress. He stood from the rocking chair with her in his arms, letting the blanket fall to the floor.
"Can you go fold out the sofa bed in the other room? I think she'd be more comfortable with the extra space rather than just napping on the sofa itself like she usually does."
Mike quickly moved to get everything arranged. In the meantime, Henry rearranged her weight into one arm and grabbed a tissue. Once he blotted the tears and the blood away, he noted there was no more forthcoming. It was one more incident that increased his concerns. He joined Mike in the other room and they got her settled into bed. Turning on a low light in case she awoke disoriented, they shut the door behind them. It was time for them to discuss what information they had each been able to gather.
Vicki came to awareness suddenly. It was cold, damp, dark and quiet. Her vision was blurry and she touched her face to rearrange her glasses only to find that they were missing. She was in the same T-shirt and jeans from earlier in the day. Realizing this was another one of the realistic dreams she had been having, she concentrated on waking up. When she opened her eyes, she was in the same place as before. She pinched herself hard and almost yelped in pain. Maybe she wasn't asleep?
"So, you have finally arrived," a voice said from just outside of her visual range. "I've called you for a few nights now with no success. I guess the rumors of you having a resistant mind are true."
The voice triggered momentary panic as the events of several nights before became clear. She had been working late in her office when she believed Henry had arrived. She had turned her back towards the door to pick up the research material she had wanted him to review. Before she had turned back around, there was a sudden pain in the back of her head and a sense of time passing. By the time she was coherent she had found herself in a dark warehouse. Once she was awake the beatings had begun. There had been threat of sexual violence but fortunately that had never occurred. The burn placed on her back was really the worst of it in her opinion. She had asked what the two men wanted but not a single question had been asked of her. The sun had started to rise by the time they seemed to have tired of her. During the time she was alone, she had the used the lubrication of her blood to slip her hands loose of the ropes that that tied them. Now somehow she was back where it had started and had no recollection of getting there.