The room surprised Grissom more than the person he found there. The room was nothing like the rest of the house. It smelled of lavender and the walls were a light spring yellow. The walls could hardly be seen beneath the pictures that covered them. Grissom got a feeling of irony as he stood there. He knew he stood in the midst of evil and yet the environment was so happy.
"Why the look of shock? I would've thought you'd expect this? In fact all the newest editions have been done in your honor."
Grissom glared at the man who he knew to be Sara's age, but which time had hardened.
"Whatever rise you're expecting to get from me, isn't going to happen. Let's cut back from the games and get to the point, Justin."
"I no longer go by that name. No, Mr. Grissom you aren't in the midst of some stupid childish story, but I promise you, you will be dead by the end."
Grissom scanned the room for his options. A good cop always had a second exit, and Grissom was prepared to leap from the window if it came to that.
"You must realize now that Sara's second attack had very little to do with her this time. That bitch is just an ugly representation of my days in college. No it's you that I wanted. It's you that I've wanted since I saw you at the lecture that day."
"Where is this leading us?"
"Oh, you men of science, always trying to jump the gun for the answers, but I'm going to make this slow. I'm going to make you suffer because you've made me suffer. Watch and learn, I've taken a lot of my time to show this to you."
Before Grissom could react, a small dart pierced the skin of his neck. He suddenly went dizzy. Justin, happy with his victory, knocked Grissom backward into a chair. He was then strapped and tied tightly. Grissom felt as if all the bones in his body were liquid.
"Don't worry, the syrum is only strong enough to weaken you. It will wear off momentarily. I want you to see the presentation I've made just for you."
Ten minutes passed and Grissom felt more like himself. A large TV with a VCR sat against the wall. He put the tape in the VCR and sat in a chair not too far from Grissom. A black skull with a rose in its mouth appeared on the screen. His voice began playing from the speakers. The skull changed to a picture of a college-aged Sara.
Sara Sidle, a beautiful vixen of 28. Eyes as brown as a chocolate river, lips soft like rose petals, skin pale like freshly made cream, all these things I desired in a woman. Sara and I first met in Chemistry with Professor Harkins. We were lab partners and she was kind to me, even when I made mistakes. She shared a sundae with me at Rocky's Diner and things seemed promising. I admired Sara for her strength and for her beauty (the video played images of Sara with friends, and then studying the library).
I knew Sara was falling in love with me, and that finally someone would understand me. The night before the devil entered the school, I showed Sara some of my designs, she said they were beautiful, said my enchanted rose was worthy of her first tattoo. I kissed her and she liked it, but then she had to go home because she was going to an entomology lecture the following day...
He paused the video on a smiling image of Sara. Grissom knew the voice he'd heard from the window was hers.
"The words of a lonely young student. I had Sara then, but the Devil entered the school."
The video continued.
The title came across the screen then, an evil black devil with Sara in chains. Beneath the image it read "The Devil and Sara Sidle." Grissom knew by the date on the tape, where this was leading.
I met Sara before the lecture and asked her to dinner that night. I had the entire night planned with the wine, candles, and roses. I hired a friend to play guitar ballads for us. When I asked, she was happy, she agreed to meet me. She leaned in and kissed me, then walked to the library. I wanted to watch her in the lecture so I took a seat in the back. The Devil was introduced, his name was Gil Grissom. My world would end the moment he began to speak. (The video showed Grissom, much younger at a podium. Sara sat in the 3rd row.)
Grissom could play the next few scenes without the help of the video. Sara asked him about a maggot's rate of growth, then she asked about the order of arrival at a corpse. He graciously answered all of her questions, happy that he wasn't putting people to sleep. He turned to put something on the board, and when he turned back, she was in the front row. He was intrigued but apparently he wasn't the only one.
The Devil was charming and intelligent. Sara was only a victim of his game. I watched as she became entranced by his evil. After the lecture she approached him and began asking more questions. They walked out to his car and didn't even notice me. He gave her his phone number as I watched. She took it but I knew that my Sara was only being polite. She would never call him. I followed her to Lana's house. I hid outside beneath the open window. The poison was already dangerously spreading. She mentioned his eyes, his poise, his grace, and when I thought she wouldn't go any farther, my Sara said she wanted to take him to her bed. Even then I must say that I held out hope for her. I waited at Rocky's for over four hours, and she never came. As I walked home, I passed The Crimson Roadhouse, a quiet restaurant frequented by adulterers, and those looking to get lucky. Sara's car was there, when I walked in, she was sitting at the back table, the Devil seated beside her, and several drinks between them.
The tape paused.
"I want you to know that the night I wrote those words, I was still a forgiving young man, who only wanted a chance to prove himself. Things would darken and I became less forgiving then. Even now you'll hear how I loved Sara, but she would change all that."
"You raped and nearly beat her to death because of a crush she had on me?"
"No, you're blind. That whore made a bad decision."
Grissom recalled their lunch together at a local place. She had been intriguing and inquisitive. Sara was strong even then, but she was so graceful. She asked to take him to the airport saying that it was cheaper than taking a cab. Grissom graciously accepted. When they arrived at the airport, he found it hard to leave her. Wanting nothing else than to be a gentleman, he leaned in and kissed the soft skin of her cheek.
I watched as the Devil touched her, and how she smiled when he moved away. She handed him the rose she'd bought that morning. This earned her a kiss on her mouth, light but meaningful. The Devil got on his flight, Sara walked from the airport, that disgusting childish grin on her face. After that I kept my distance from her. She was so wrapped up in the evil then, that she never noticed I was gone. The darkness made its mark when I sent her pink roses anonymously, and she told everyone, that the Devil had sent them.
"Why is it you call me the Devil? I was there lecturing, Sara was an interested student, but there was never more than that."
"You self-assured bastard! Even now you don't see the evil you possess! I will show you however, by the time your life ends, you will know of your evil. I have one thing more to show you."
The tape played on, it blackened then the room lightened. The camera was facing a door. At first Grissom thought that the tape was on pause again, but he would soon see how horribly wrong he was. The door opened and a frightened Sara with a hand over her mouth was forced through the door. The man behind her wore all black, a mask over his face and gloves on his hands. He whispered something in her ear with the help of a voice box. He spun her around and she dropped to the floor. He removed a plastic bag from his pocket and began to undress. He moved to the cabinet in Sara's kitchen and brought another bag out.
Grissom noticed several things all at once. The first was the pair of brass knuckles in the bag, the next was the pure white skin of her attacker no tattoos and very muscular, and the third was the man's completely flaccid penis. The camera moved and the man in the mask carried the unconscious Sara to her room.
"There was someone else there?" Grissom said in astonishment.
"Very good."
The man took the brass knuckles from the bag and hit Sara across the mouth, her lip violently bleeding.
Grissom felt like he had just been hit. He wanted desperately to close his eyes and not watch the love of his life be attacked, but the investigator in him knew there was evidence there. As the brutal beatings continued, Grissom's eyes filled with tears. Never had he felt such rage, or such pain. He knew that he should have followed his heart and asked her to come to Vegas with him. His cowardliness had done this to her.
He punched her face several times with carefully taped up hands. Over and over again he struck her. He continued to hit her as he grasped her breasts and stroke himself. The camera man moved in closer and Grissom saw with horror that the violence was giving the attacker an erection. When he was satisfied that he had beaten her severely, he moved her legs apart and plunged cruelly into her. Over and over again he slammed into her until the he moved off of Sara and approached the camera man. The last image of Sara was the broken, violated, angel covered in blood. The camera cut off.
"What the hell? Who in the hell is that? And who's behind the camera?" Grissom said trying to move, the anger increasing as he fought to get free.
"I knew you'd want to know. I did some CSI work of my own. Let me rewind this a bit."
He rewound the tape to the part where the camera man moved. Sara had a mirror over the bed, but the face in it was blurry. Justin rose from his chair and turned Grissom to face his computer, the image was on the screen too. He digitally enhanced the graphics and with horror, Grissom finally met the man who was responsible for hurting his Sara. And there was only one other person who could've been on top of her. Grissom cried out.
"No!! That Son of a Bitch!! He was my friend! No!!"
The face would haunt him as he faded into the darkness.