AN: THANKS FOR READING. HOPE YOU LIKE IT. LET ME KNOW.

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DESCRIPTION OF PHYSICAL PAIN.

D: LAW AND ORDER SVU AND ALL ITS CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINE.

CHAPTER 6

BURNING

Mathew walked inside the woods making sure not to get too far from the spot he had left his agonizing victim. Where he had left Olivia. He entered a small wooden hut hidden in the middle of nowhere and took his time to prepare his next step.

Of course he had planned it all. He had spend weeks building each and every step of his attack. He had been patient and had fulfilled everything according to his terrifying brilliant plan. Every single step was taken cautiously and, of course, he had made that pretty clear to his victim. There was no way out of this. She was going to end up death and, unlike his other victims, her body will be nowhere to be found. No doll display for her.

He took the rented car's keys and drove it to a near lake letting it sink in its deep waters. They'll find it, of course, but it will lead them to nothing. No evidence in there. He made sure of that. Just another part of the plan. He knew that by then the detectives would have found out about the rented vehicle. He knew it would lead them to that location for the renting company having a GPS system. He had planed it all.

He wasted no time there. Taking his lantern he walked back into the woods. The darkness and the rain didn't bother him. He was so familiarized with the area that he could go back by foot without getting lost. He took a look to his watch and a devilish smile appeared on his face.

"It's over." He murmured heading for the place where he had left her.

The wind blew strongly against his face. The branches on the treetops moved heavily crashing against each other. He continued his way up a hill getting closer to his destiny. He soon reached the clearing, his eyes focused on the place he was expecting to find her lifeless body just as he had planed it.

"What the…" He moved closer pointing his lantern into the empty wet spot. He moved around making the circle of light dance through the terrain surrounding him. "This is not... She can't be far." He whispered to himself while feeling the panic beginning its appearance in his body. He was right. How far could she have gotten with two broken legs and the deadly poison running through her system? It wasn't possible. This, definitely, was not part of his plan.

Could he be in the wrong place? There still were the rope, the cup of coffee and even her blouses. But there was no trace of her. His body started to react to the panic. His sweat began to perspire from his pores. Desperation was soon to come. Things were getting out of his control. Things not going according to his plan was the worst thing could ever happen to such a perfectionist man.

He didn't give up that easily. He walked around the area looking for her body. He even thought that maybe the poison wasn't enough, that maybe she had been alive for more than he expected her to. Maybe she had been able to crawl farther, maybe she had fell on a near cliff… maybe she was still alive.

Elliot and part of the team reached the Adirondacks Mountains by helicopter in less than two hours. The local police was already waiting for them ready to rush into the woods. Some rangers had already went inside the south area of the Addirondacks where the car's locator system had guided them. They all were soon on the shore of Tamarack lake with large reflectors which light discovered the almost sunk car.

"We are gonna need a crane here!" Cragen said through his radio. Elliot felt his heart stopping by the thought of Olivia been inside that car. Inside the water.

"She can't be there." He said almost shouting in panic. Fin touched his shoulder trying to calm him down.

"Without a car they couldn't get any far! Officer Zurita take your group and the rangers on patrol the surroundings!" Every single cop, despite the insistent rain, put their training into practice moving fast fallowing Cragen's orders.

The crane didn't delay much and they were able to pool out the car in no more than twenty minutes. Elliot hurried to look at the inside. His hands shaking in desperation and fear of what he might find. He opened the passenger door and get in the car while Cragen lightened from the outside. Fin hurried to open the truck.

"Liv?" He called for her as he moved to the back sits. But it all was empty.

"There's no one in the car!" He announced to his colleagues.

"The truck is empty!" Odafin added.

"They might be near!" The team didn't waste any time and continued searching around with big lanterns, trained dogs and equipped cars. "Let the rangers lead you, they know the area."

The rain and the night weren't helping at all and Elliot got increasingly worried each single second. He tried as hard as he could to push away the images that were formed on his mine. He needed to stop them. He had to picture her fine. She was an intelligent woman and an excellent detective. She had to be fine.

"Ell, we are gonna find her." Fin whispered trying to encourage him. But Fin himself was as worried as Elliot. He knew how dangerous Mathew could be, how intelligent he was. Yes, he was worried as hell.

They continued their walk north inner in the woods don't minding about the hour, the dark, the rain or the wild animals they could find in there. They continued, unaware of the existence of other creatures that habited those mountains. Creatures that if their existence were known, no one in their right mind would dare to face.

Olivia looked upwards trying to guess where she was been taken. The treetops passed fast above her. The rain crashing into her face with such force that it almost caused pain.

She knew she should be worried about the fact that she was hanging on some stranger's arms. But she just thanked that he wasn't Mathew. She tried to remember the exact moment when she was lifted from the wet grass but the memories were all fuzzy. She felt dizzy as the movement got incredibly faster. Was she in a vehicle? She could still feel the cold arms that hang her in the air and the water crashing on her skin. There was no logic in it at all. If they weren't on a vehicle how could they be moving that fast? But before she could try and find a logical explanation the movement abruptly stopped. Her body was soon back on the wet grass without her noticing the moment she had been realized from the cold arms. Was she just dreaming?

She kept calm and tried to understand what was happening. The only thing she could vividly remember was the pain, but not the one that came from her surely broken legs, rather the one on her neck. She found the strength to move her trembling arm slowly up her body trying to reach the exact spot where she remembered the pain had been inflicted. But before she could reach it a totally different pain stopped her.

It started roughly from inside her heart.It was worst than the one she had had on her broken bones; worst that the one the cigarettes had caused on her skin; worst than the one on her neck. This pain made her thought she maybe on fire. She was able to feel each and every single vain in her body getting on fire. Her heart pumping the fire rapidly reaching every single spot of her body. Pretty soon it spread through her muscles and straight to her skin. A strange dark shadow surrounded her entire body sinking her on a heavy painful wave.

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" The scream of pain that came out of her chest teared at her throat. She didn't recognized her own voice.

She wanted to shout for help but the only thing that came out of her were terrifying cries. She felt burning alive. 'Hell' She thought. That was the only explanation she could find. She had never believed on heaven but for sure this was hell itself. A loud crack from her bones sounded followed by a piercing scream from her throat. 'Make it stop!' She shouted inside her mind.

From behind the shadows of the heavy trees there was the stranger watching her body convulsing in pain… patiently waiting for it to end.

The entire team had worked hard hoping to find some clue to take them to Olivia. The officers in the forest continued the relentless pursuit. They had taken the necessary search equipment and they even had set camped at a midpoint. The next day's afternoon they found the clearing with the coffee cup, the blouses and rope. They cordoned off the area and sent the objects back to examination labs. The CSI team started immediately working in the clearing. Finding this place made them know they were on the right track. It gave them a strange hope. However for Elliot, to find these things didn't mean hope. They just served to ensure him that Olivia had been in the hands of that terrible man for more than a day by now.

The next afternoon, thanks to an anonymous 911 call, Mathew was found unconscious on a cliff not far from the place. He was seriously wounded, apparently had accidentally fallen into the cliff. A helicopter was needed to withdrawn him from where he had landed and he was soon transport to the hospital. And yet there was no trace of Olivia nearby.

Elliot was busy in searching, trying to keep his fears and clinging to the little hope that kept him standing still. He ran away from dark thoughts that threatened to invade him, avoiding to picture the worst.

As he was announced on Mathew's found he demanded to be the one to interview him but his request was denied because the man was still unconscious. Elliot asked, even ordered, to be kept informed. As soon as Mathew was awaken Elliot would be the one to interview him. If ever Mathew actually awake.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AN: THANKS FOR READING. LET ME KNOW YOUR OPINIONS. STAY SAFE.