CHAPTER 25

I snapped out of the trance I was in and saw Devon laying there before me cold and lifeless. I don't know how long he'd been that way. I was alone. My blood stilled as I realized this was my chance…the door was open and Marcus didn't know I'd killed Devon. The adrenalin surged again and I started to crawl to the door, but was stopped by the shooting pain in my ankle. My ankle was a ring of dried blood with a steel shackle around it. I searched his pockets for a key, and when I found it in his front pocket the relief I felt gripped me so hard that I let out a sob. I slapped my hand to my mouth, hoping Marcus didn't hear.

I tried to rise to my feet, but I couldn't walk. Instead I crawled to the door. The seconds seem like hours, and I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my head and the rush of blood in my ears. I pushed it open and froze when I heard it creak. When nothing happened, I kept crawling down the darkened hallway with agonizing slowness and pain. The dirt on the floor was caking the fresh blood that was now pouring out of the wounds my movements were opening up. The windows were blacked out, and in the dimness I searched desperately for some sign of an exit. I thought I heard a noise, so I took a turn down the hall away from it and wound up in a hallway on the opposite side of the building. There were doors leading off to my left, and the last one had a light coming out. I inched along, fighting the dizziness and nausea and fatigue with every breath I took.

Noises. Banging. Men yelling. Footfalls. I froze at the edge of the doorway, just out of sight. The edges of my vision blurred as I managed to rise to my knees and rest against the wall, and I fought to stay conscious.

"Drop your weapon!" a deep voice boomed. Tank's voice. A silent moment passed, then came a clattering noise of steel onto the concrete.

"Turn around and get down on your knees." Bobby.

"Two rooms are clear boss. One body. Not dead long. Sally's in bad shape." Lester.

"Body? What the fuck? Devon? DEVON?" Marcus screeched.

"Stay down motherfucker!" Tank again.

"Where is she?" a razor sharp voice thundered. It was intensely threatening, but I still knew it was Ranger.

"Fuck you man! FUCK YOU! Fuck her!" Marcus screamed.

Someone kicked the gun away and it slid across the concrete floor out of Marcus' reach. It slid right into the doorway directly in front of me. I heard someone in the room breathing. A raspy, struggling sound.

"Fuck all you! She and that faggot took everything! I got nothing now! Look at him. LOOK AT HIM! He can barely breathe. He can't move. For the rest of his fuckin' life man! Two rounds still in his goddamn spine you motherfuckers!" Marcus shrieked.

My eyes moved to the window in the hall across from the doorway. The window had been boarded up from the outside. I could see the reflection of Marcus with his back to the wall, screaming at them with great heaving breaths. His hands were up in the air, but his feet kept shifting and his body was drawn tight, like he was about to attack. His face was contorted in fury and tears were streaming out of his eyes. Next to him was a wheelchair with someone in it. A shriveled, contorted figure that looked too young to be considered a man.

"I'd let you fuckin' kill me but we got no one but each other now! My brother and me, we never had no one. That Sal mother fucker blew away the only family we got! Where's Devon? WHERE'S MY COUSIN?" Marcus yelled furiously.

"WHERE. IS. SHE." Ranger roared at him again with matching fury.

"She's in fuckin' pain motherfucker! She's in my hell…we made it just for that cunt! First motherfuckin' thing he said when he woke up…when they pulled the fuckin' tube out of his throat. Make them pay, he said. We did…and she paid good…" he spat back with his teeth clenched as he started to put his hands down and walk towards them.

"Give me a reason to kill you now." Ranger's voice had lost its fury, and I could only hear steely, controlled resolve that told them he didn't need much to push him over the edge. He was only waiting to be told where I was before he took his revenge. I could see Marcus step back against the wall and everyone was still several yards away in standoff positions.

"I got a reason." I answered, grabbing the gun and using the only strength I had left to move my naked bloody body into the doorway and aim the gun at Marcus and his brother.

"Babe!" Ranger cried out, his body rigid all over. His eyes were wide and his face for the first time showed a hundred emotions at once. I could see the shock and relief course through him…until he saw the blood streaming off of me. The cuts and whiplashes. The bruises. The burns. The tattoo. The shredded chunks of hair left on my head. Then I saw something I never saw before. Ranger…devastated. He started towards me in wide eyed horror, but Tank held him off with his tree trunk of an arm.

"Secure the prisoners first Ric. Put the gun down Stephanie." Tank warned coolly, still assessing the threat. They were all across the room from me, and Marcus and his brother were against the wall about halfway between us.

"Babe…put it down. It's over...we've got them covered. You're safe now…I'll get you out of here." Ranger soothed, though his voice was no longer as even and controlled. His gun was still pointed at Marcus, but his eyes were locked on me. I could see Lester and Bobby glancing my way. The shock of my appearance had them just as aghast, but they held their ground while Ranger inched closer to me. Marcus turned his body towards me and sneered, a malicious look of satisfaction on his face.

"It will never be over. There is no safe." I seethed.

"Angel…don't play God. Some of us have crossed that line before, and you'll find out you're not qualified. You can never go back. Don't do it." Bobby implored me, his voice thick with intensity.

"I'm tired of being rescued." I answered in a cold, dead voice. I fired the gun. Again and again and again and again. Even after the bullets ran out I just kept pulling the trigger. I watched both bodies jerk and the sparks fly off the concrete and the metal. Marcus lay in a heap on the floor, parts of his skull exposed and brain matter and blood everywhere. The gun fell out of my hands and I watched the life drain out of the eyes of the crumpled young man in the wheelchair. The corners of his mouth turned up in a barely detectable smile. Like…like he was relieved. I felt the life drain out of me too, and I collapsed to the floor and surrendered to the darkness taking over me.

Bobby and Lester walked out of the front of the building, white as sheets. Tank had already called for the police and two ambulances, and half of Trenton PD could be heard screaming their way towards the scene. A few squads had already arrived, and Bobby and Lester filled them in while two of their officers went in to make sure the building was clear, even though Rangeman had already secured it. They explained to the Sergeant exactly what Ranger told them to…that Stephanie had killed all three of the captors only moments before anybody had come to rescue her. That she had no choice.

An unmarked squad car tore around the corner and skidded to a stop, and Joe Morelli came hurtling out of the car towards them.

"Where's Stephanie!" he shouted with mad, desperate eyes.

"She's alive Joe…" Bobby started to answer, but Joe's glance had moved past him as a shirtless Ranger walked out of the front of the building holding Stephanie.

Ranger carried her gently towards the waiting ambulance, his face for once showing the anguish he was feeling inside. The shattered nude woman that he carried was so shocking to see that every officer who'd arrived cringed and gasped at the sight. She was covered in blood from head to toe and dripping onto the asphalt, and all her wounds were on display save Ranger's T-shirt that had been hastily tossed over her in the vain attempt to preserve modesty.

"Stephanie no!" Joe yelled, racing up to her limp form in Ranger's arms. He saw what they had done to her. Realized his life's only love was close to death.

"I'LL KILL THEM! I'LL KILL THEM ALL!" Joe roared, all control gone and his demons taking over.

"She already did." Ranger replied, his voice heavy with guilt and regret.

Joe collapsed to his knees as Ranger kept walking quickly to the ambulance as Stephanie's breathing started to slow. The Sergeant came over to calm him, but Joe rose to his feet suddenly. He went over to his car and lost it, punching and kicking…breaking all the windows and denting the metal in deep everywhere he touched. It took two officers and all of Ranger's men to pull him off and hold him down.

Time passed and there were dreams…so many of them. Strange ones, scary ones, and senseless ones. My world was a fog. Occasionally I would feel sharp pain…pokes and prods. Every time I moved it would shoot through me. There was always an ache. All over. Then I would drift back into the odd world existing in my mind. I could hear voices speaking to me often…all the ones I knew. So many of them trying to comfort me. But I wouldn't let them. There was no more solace. I floated through the passing days in a confusing haze, never knowing peace.

I opened my eyes. It was dark. I hurt all over. The room started to spin and I was back in the meat locker with the dark man coming towards me. He grabbed my hand and I screamed. I flailed and hit him as hard as I could again and again. I could feel myself hit the ground hard and I scrambled into the corner with my arms in front of me ready to kill him over and over again.

"DEATH FIRST!" I screamed, pain ripping through my desiccated throat as I yelled at him.

"Babe…It's me…I won't hurt you." the voice assured me softly. Something in my memory recalled that voice as one that used to soothe me, but the sinister notions now invading my psyche canceled it out.

I just huddled there trembling with jerky breaths, searching through the dark like a frightened animal desperate to find an escape. The dark man backed off and sat down in a chair. There was a chair. There was a bed. The walls weren't made of steel. I wasn't naked.

"Where am I?" I croaked out, barely audible.

The voice spoke very slowly. "You're in the hospital…you're not chained in the locker anymore."

"How long?" I asked. The pain started to pulse louder in my limbs as my mind started to clear.

His answer was swift but his voice sounded strained. "It's been over a week. You've been hurt very badly and had a severe infection, and you almost died twice the first few days. You're not in the ICU anymore, but they had to give you a lot of morphine so you won't remember much."

I didn't want it to be true as I crouched in the darkness, but something in me knew it was. They had almost killed me. I was still alive, but felt lifeless. My body no longer felt like my own, and the blood coursing through my veins was given to me by strangers.

He spoke slowly, as though he doubted my ability to understand. "Just don't move…you ripped the IV out of your arm and opened up some of the stitches. You're bleeding and need help. Let me help you…" he coaxed gently, his hands up in calming gesture as he got down on his knees on the floor and inched towards me.

"Sally?" I asked, my voice cracking. The sorrow ripped though my chest as the memory of his screams split my heart wide open.

"He's in a coma." the voice answered reluctantly.

I started to sob, but stopped when I saw him move closer.

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!"

"It's me…it's Ranger. Marcus and Devon are dead. It's Ric…I won't hurt you." he soothed, turning on a dim lamp. It wasn't much illumination, but it still took me a moment to adjust.

"Ranger?" I questioned. Was it really him? He looked haggard and worn. He looked like he hadn't shaved or slept or showered in weeks. Almost unrecognizable.

"It's me." he answered softly. He saw the recognition in my eyes and eased closer towards me. I held my hand up, indicating for him to stop. When I did I saw the bruises. I traced my eyes across what I could see of my body. The bumps and burns, the scars and scabs, and the tiny black stitches stretching out in an ugly row all over my arms and legs. It was all real. It had really happened. My head began to pound in rhythm with the hammering of my heart.

Many of the wounds were torn and starting to seep with blood, and my dull green hospital gown was also starting to stain from the oozing gashes I couldn't see. I ran my hand across my skull, empty of half the curls I used to think I hated. I laughed. A dark, chilling cackle spilling out of my raw throat. I know my eyes were as vacant and dead as I felt inside. I know because Ranger looked into them, and froze and looked like he was in pain. I suddenly remembered the conversation I had with him on the beach that seemed so long ago…

"That's what I love about you most, that you aren't like me." Ranger declared, turning to me and gripping my hand tightly in his. He stared at me with piercing eyes that almost frightened me.

"Everything you feel is so intense and pure. I see it in your eyes, your body, your face. I hear it in your voice. You never hide from me. There is no hardness, no darkness in you…only courage and hope. I don't want you to change or have to lead a hard life. I envy the freedom that you have…" he said, trailing off. His hand loosened on mine, and his lips tightened in a line, as though he had said more than he'd wanted to.

"Don't come near me Ranger." I cautioned. "I'm tainted. Now I'm really ruined for other men." I laughed once more before I gave in and let the darkness take me over.