I think I start every chapter with a SORRY! don't I? But I really am sorry for always leaving it so long! Blame the coursework, and my uselessness.

But thank you so so so SO much to everyone still reading and sticking with this. And a MASSIVE thank you and a million hugs to Lizziginne, Terriah, Rachel, pinkswallowsun, dinabar, gem.S, Missy Mayhem, Cherry43, Izzy and Thyqua for your reviews. You are all beyond amazing!

Hope this isn't too depressing or too much. If it is, please let me know! I do know where I'm going with it, promise :) Even though it's ended up a little (a lot) longer than I had imagined it :S

More Harry and Leo next chapter too :D

xXx


Chapter 55 – Put Her in the Car

The pain that shot through her body felt like a thousand burning needles, piercing her through to her very core, and yet Nikki kept her eyes closed, focusing on keeping her breathing steady.

She could feel the warm blood trickling down her skin, her shirt sticking to her abdomen as the pain erupted through her body with every breath. Forcing her eyes open slightly, she could see him standing above her, cleaning the small blade with a handkerchief he had taken from his pocket, his gaze fixed on Nikki.

She had known it was coming of course, even before he had placed the knife to her skin, his free hand snaking around her neck to keep her still. She had known that he was going to hurt her, and yet the pain had been unbearable. Nikki had heard the screams echoing round the room before she'd even realised they were hers, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop them as he slowly plunged the knife into her body, stopping every few seconds to taunt her, spit poisonous words from his lips, before continuing.

He was right. He was making her the same as the other girls, torturing her before he finally killed her. There was no blood splatters… Nikki sighed. How could she still be thinking about a crime scene when she was part of it? But it was true. No blood splatters, a stab wound to the abdomen, bruising to the neck. It was like some sick form of OCD, he had to have everything planned out and calculated. He knew what he was doing, and yet Nikki could see just how much it annoyed him to make her different.

As he said, she was the distraction. She had to be different to get everyone thinking, to distract them long enough for him to escape, and take all the girls with him. But it had angered him, making her different. She could tell. It ruined his pattern, shifted things out of place. He had hated it just as much as Nikki as he pressed the burning cigarette to her skin, she could see it in his eyes.

There was a knock at the door, and he mumbled his permission for her to enter the room.

"Everything ready?" he asked as soon as Julia had opened the door.

"Yeah, I think so," she nodded, holding out a small pack or cards.

He took them and rolled his eyes, reluctantly tipping them out of the box and into his hands.

"You want to make sure they know it was us, don't you?" Julia said, nodding to the cards. "I know this one is different, but-"

"I know," he said loudly. "This was a stupid idea in the first place, but it's going to look suspicious otherwise. It has to be different though. The same but different."

Julia tilted her head and smiled down at Nikki, who was trying desperately to keep her eyes open, to not give in to the darkness that was threatening to take over. Pulling out a pair of surgical gloves, Julia put them on and outstretched her hand.

"I have an idea," she said, and he raised his eyebrows. "Trust me, give them here."

He handed over the card and Julia moved towards Nikki, leaning down next to her and picking up her hand that was covered in blood.

"Perfect," she smirked, turning Nikki's hand over and pressing the card to her fingertips so they left a line of bloody fingerprints on it. "The same but different. Do you want to take some blood, I have a needle in my pocket?"

"No," he said, moving towards the door. "We don't need any now that you have it on the card. The blood from the other girls has been disposed of now anyway, we have no further use for it. We don't want to leave anything behind that they could trace back to us. Put her in the car."

"But-" Julia stammered, looking from the door to Nikki and back again. "But we can't, can we? I mean, there's too much blood. Why make all this effort to keep everything hidden, to keep our fingerprints off everything, to then have the car contaminated?"

He shrugged.

"It's your car, not mine."

"And I am not going down for this while you go free!" Julia shouted, her hands trembling.

"Well then, you'll have to think of something, won't you?"

Julia's eyes widened, her mouth slightly open as she looked up at him, his eyes holding no emotion.

"Where are we leaving her?" she asked.

He tilted his head as if in thought before smirking.

"Somewhere she'll be easily found. We need as much time as we can get, so the quicker she's found, the quicker they're distracted. The Lyell Centre car park ought to do."

Julia nodded, before a smile covered her lips that mimicked his.

"What about her car?" she asked, nodding towards Nikki. "We still have it, don't we? It's still round the back of the barn. We could use her car and leave it in the car park. Then, if it's seen on the CCTV cameras, we can't be linked to it. If it has traces of this place on it, it doesn't matter because by the time they find out we'll have moved. We just have to be careful not to leave any evidence behind. It's perfect."

He stood at the door for a few seconds, before slowly nodding his head.

"We'll do that. You drive her there, keep to the quiet roads, I don't want to be seen. I know it'll take longer but its dark, and by avoiding as much of the city as you can you're avoiding cameras. Leave the car at the Lyell, I'll meet you there. Look out for me when you get there, but be careful. There shouldn't be anyone around by the time we get there, but the last thing we need is for someone to notice her car."

Julia nodded again.

"And how much Ketamine do you want me to give her. Enough to knock her out completely, or-"

"None," he shot, his eyes stern. "She'll be dead by the time you get to the Lyell anyway, so just let her suffer."


Nikki blinked, her eyes heavy as she managed to force them open slightly, trying to take in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that the hard ground she had been lying on had been replaced by a softer surface that smelt strangely familiar. It was the smell of vanilla, and leather, and… cleaning polish. And it was then that Nikki realised it was her car.

The vanilla was from the small air freshener that she had attached to the front seat, so it wasn't hanging down from her mirror. But it was the smell of leather and cleaning polish that reminded her so much of her car. Harry had cleaned it out for her a few weeks ago after she had fallen in the mud at a crime scene. The Yates' crime scene to be exact. She had complained for days that her car was filthy, and it was all Harry's fault for getting her up in the middle of the night to help him, so he had reluctantly agreed to clean it for her. She had expected a quick hoover and polish, but he had done it properly, making sure every surface shined and there was absolutely no trace of mud left behind. No wonder his car was always spotless when he could spend hours at a time cleaning it on his day off, just for fun.

The second thing Nikki noticed was that she was moving. The soft purr of the engine vibrated slightly through the back seat, and forcing her eyes open wider she could see someone sitting in the driver's side.

Nikki tried to force herself to sit up, but she didn't have the energy. Every muscle in her body was screaming in agony, and she could feel the blood running through her fingertips as she placed her hand to her side. She knew she was loosing blood, and before long she wouldn't be able to keep her eyes open any longer, but for now she managed to push the pain to one sidelong enough to concentrate.

The blonde hair that fell over the shoulders of the woman in front confirmed that it was Julia, and Nikki sighed slightly. Of all the people on the planet, she didn't want Julia to be the last person she saw before the darkness took over. Not when she knew what she was planning, with Ray's baby, and with Harry…

Harry. Why was it every time she thought of him she felt tears sting her eyes? She would give the world just to see him one more time, if only for a few seconds. To see him smile at her, the light glinting in his eyes and the creases forming on his features. He hadn't smiled like that in what felt like forever. Not a smile where she could see his back teeth and the laughter in his eyes. Not since before Hungary had she seen that smile, and she had promised herself that she would make him smile like that once more. But now she'd never get the chance.

It was getting harder to breath, to keep her eyes open, as Nikki desperately tried to focus on what was in front of her. But everything was blurring past the window in the darkness, and she could just make out faint outlines of trees.

Nikki sighed again. Being in the back of her car, trees passing by the window, was just a reminder of how easily she managed to get herself into trouble. The case at the dog home seemed to swirl around in her mind, reminding her of how she could have run, could have escaped, and instead she had stayed to help them, stayed to try and save the very people that had grabbed her and pointed a gun to her head. Was she really that desperate to help everyone, even if they didn't need saving? And what good was she anyway? Adrian Burney had still had his brains blown out in front of her. She didn't save him. Didn't help him. She had put herself in danger, and what for?

Was that just the same as what she had done tonight? She had run, had escaped from Julia, and had made her way straight to the barn to try and open the door. Ok, so she didn't have the energy to escape properly, not without being caught, but she hadn't even thought about it at the time. As much as she longed to be home, to be back with Harry and Leo, she had gone to the girls. And then chosen the 'hard way' as he'd put it, just to make sure she could unlock the door without him noticing.

But for what? Would the girls really be able to escape? Could they actually manage to get away, to hide with Freya's friend long enough to ensure their safety? Or had he gone to check on them when Julia had been talking to her? Had Julia locked the door again as he was torturing her? There was no guarantee that they were anywhere nearer escaping than they had been at the beginning of the day.

She had to think positively. This was nothing like the incident with Adrian Burney. But he had found her that day. Harry had found her, had searched for her, hadn't given up until she was back with him, even after their stupid argument about his new teaching post in America. He had found her, and held her tight and made everything bad disappear, just for a moment, when she was in his arms. Nikki couldn't work out what she wanted more now. If this was so different to that case, then the girls would escape. Everything would be worth it, all the pain and the torture. And yet at the same time, although she felt guilty for even thinking it, she wanted it to be the same. For Harry to find her and make everything better again, even if it looked impossible to do so…

Julia suddenly hit the steering wheel, making Nikki jump, as she took out her mobile, flicked through the phone book, her eyes darting between the road and her phone, before placing the mobile to her ear. Nikki could see her eyes flicker to the mirror to check on her, and she quickly closed her eyes.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up," she muttered to herself, before leaning her head back and sighing. "Harry," she said brightly, keeping all obvious annoyance from her voice, and Nikki listened carefully. "I must have missed you again, I hope you're not too busy. I was just waning to know if you wanted me to come round tonight. We could have a repeat performance from earlier if you want, or, you know, we can talk or something. Anyway, let me know as soon as you get this. You don't want me to start worrying that you're not picking up your phone, do you?"

Julia giggled childishly before continuing.

"I've got something important to tell you actually," she added, her tone of voice changing slightly. "Well, it can wait if you're really busy, but I'd love to see you if you have the time. Just for a quick drink, or to talk through things, or anything you need. Anyway, call me, yeah? Love you."

Nikki kept her eyes closed as she heard Julia end the call, her mind working overtime. Had Julia said sorry she'd missed him again? Line she'd phoned him before and he hadn't answered. But she'd phoned him when they were in the barn. They'd had a conversation. He'd told her he loved her. Or had he? Had she really spoken to him earlier?

The thought that maybe, just maybe Julia had made it up, that Harry hadn't said he loved her at all seemed to give Nikki a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach, warming her up more than she ever thought possible. She knew Harry was stubborn, that he had to calm down before he could think clearly. He was always the same, blaming himself when he hurt her. But maybe after calming down he'd forgiven himself. Maybe he was looking for her.

Breathing deeply, the pain shot through her ribs again, her whole body aching, and the small ray of hope that had just built up dissolved. It was too late this time. If Harry was looking for her, he was too late. She could feel her body giving up, no matter how much she fought against it.

Opening her eyes slightly, Nikki could see Julia flicking through her mobile once more, glancing up at the road every few seconds. It was hard to guess the speed they were going, lying on the back seat, but Nikki could tell that it was fast for the narrow roads they seemed to be on.

The darkness was growing even darker now, everything was blurring, both outside and inside the car. Julia turned on the radio, the music erupting from the speakers as she gripped the steering wheel. Nikki could feel her chest tightening, her head spinning with the darkness and the noise, and the loud blare from Julia's phone that seemed to ring above the radio at its own, ear piercing frequency.

"Harry?" she answered it quickly, the music still vibrating through the speakers. "Oh, it's you. Yes I'm on my way."

There was a pause, and Nikki could see Julia's other hand grip the wheel tighter.

"No. I can't tell, it's too dark. I haven't seen her move. Of course I haven't been distracted by him! Yes, I phoned him, but I don't know where he is. I thought if I distracted him then you'd be able to slip the card somewhere in the Lyell for them to find. I have it with me. It's, it's here somewhere. Hang on-"

Julia glanced round the front of the car, before spotting something on the floor next to her and bending down to get it, tucking her mobile between her ear and shoulder as she did so.

"It's ok, I've found it. It was-"

But before Julia could finish her sentence, the car was suddenly filled with light and Nikki soon realised that Julia had steered the car towards the right as she had leant over to get the card, so that they were now in the wrong lane.

Julia sat up immediately, dropping her phone to the floor as she grabbed the wheel with both hands in an attempt to steer it back on to the correct side of the road. But it was too late. There was nothing she could do. The lights were too close to escape.

Closing her eyes as tight as she could, Nikki braced herself for the impact she knew was about to come, managing to tuck her knees up slightly.

The squealing of tyres on gravel and the crashing of metal was deafening, as Nikki was thrown forward on impact. The car spun, the windows smashed, and everything seemed to happen at once, the chaos and noise and the fear.

And then, after what felt like forever, and at the same time only a split second, everything was silent.