A/N: The next chapter is the last chapter but then there's a little epilogue. Hope you like this chapter.
Chapter 10: Lucy Crowe
"Lucy? What a nice name for a cat..." Luka forced a laugh.
"Yes, it is, isn't it. I think I'm going to go check on your friend in the back now," Jacob smiled and walked slowly out of the room. As soon as Luka was sure he was gone, he opened the trapdoor.
"Dave!" he whispered urgently, "Did you find anything?"
"Heck no! You expect me to search around this rat-infested hellhole in the dark? You must be crazy!"
"Sorry, but he's on to us I think. I told him you were out in the back! He's gone to look. Dave, I think this one's really crazy!" Luka told him.
"Oh, you only just noticed? Most killers are! Now, shut up and leave the door open. I need the light," Luka couldn't see him, but he knew Dave was scared no matter how much he tried to make his voice sound angered and controlled. Luka waited in silence. Why hadn't they heard Lucy scream for help yet? Was she unable to? Was she dead? Luka shook his head of those thoughts. Lucy was alive and they were going to bring her home.
Dave could barely see. He could hear dripping and squeaking.
"Lucy?" he called, quietly, "Lucy are you down here?" he felt a small, furry body brush the inside of his leg. He flinched.
"Stupid rats!" Dave shook his leg. He saw the shadow of something in the corner. He ran over to it. He drew back, unexpectedly when he noticed the... whatever it was was covered in rats. It was all he could do to keep from screaming.
"God, Lucy is that you?" he said, mostly to himself. He then shook his head, "No, no, it wouldn't be," He looked around for any sign of life besides rats and insects. He saw something else on the other side of the room and made his way over to it.
"Lucy!" he nearly shouted and ran over to it. The body was in a heap and Dave wasn't sure it was alive or dead but what he did no was there were no rats on it and to him, that was a good sign. He kneeled near the body that he knew must be Lucy. He shook it gently. It didn't stir. He pushed the blond hair out of her face and, even in the dim light, he could tell it was bruised. Like his own.
"Lucy," he whispered, "Lucy, wake up! We're here to get you out of here!" for a minute, his heart stopped when the girl didn't open her eyes. Then, she moved and Dave knew she had to be alive. She groaned and Dave made her sit up. He sliced off her bindings and realized how the rope had cut so deep into her skin they were nearly bleeding. They seemed to have cut off the circulation of blood to her hands. He gently tossed her limp arm over his shoulder and made her stand up on her Jell-O legs. He was just about to hoist her up out of the cellar when he heard it. He heard the scream of fury from a murderously enraged man. Then he knew and admitted to himself all along. He was going to get himself and Lucy killed. And he had dragged Luka into it knowing this deep inside all along.
Carter crept out of his room after a few hours, knowing Abby was too paranoid to sleep. He slithered down the hall like a serpent, silently stepping and avoiding the gazes of his supposed co-workers he didn't even remember. He sank into Abby's room. Her face lit up with delight at the sight of him.
"Tell me more," was all he whispered, "And be quiet about it. I'm not supposed to be here but I have a feeling that at least one person is in trouble and I *have* to remember something... I don't know what, I just do! So, no questions, just tell me all about my life," Abby nodded, without question, just as Carter had requested and began to weave all of her thoughts and memories of Carter into one intricate tapestry of his life. He was quiet the whole way through, hanging on every word, every thread of silk she added to the tale, nodding and adding little bits he remembered. Though he tried not to do it often, he occasionally would zone out into the flashback of a memory.
'Lucy? Hurry up! Get working!'
'Weaver won't be too happy about that...'
'I know what I'm doing Dr. Benton!'
"...And now, I'm going crazy, you've lost your memory, Lucy's missing, and I think Kerry's going crazy with me!" Abby finished. Carter stared at the bed an expression of deep thought on his face and nodded.
"Uh huh..." he said, blankly. He shook his head and stared at his watch.
"Oh my God, I've been here for two hours!" he was shocked. It then dawned on him what he had to know, "Oh crap!" he near screamed, "I just remembered something!"
"What?" Abby asked, feeling important and excited. Her insecurity and paranoia was evaporating rapidly.
"Lucy. Before when I was talking to you, I remembered something that apparently never happened. But..."
"But what?"
"Well..." He didn't know how to describe it, "What if it is *going* to happen? What if I had a memory of... the future?" he tried. Abby laughed.
"Carter, you're going crazy too!" Carter smiled.
"Yeah, maybe it was my imagination. But there's something more. Again, before I remembered something I didn't really understand. It was Lucy and I. We were walking and talking. She felt as if someone was trying to kill her friends. I knew she was right because I knew who it was! Except I only just realized that I knew she was right... Does that make any sense at all?"
"Yeah... What are you talking about? You know Jacob?"
"Know him?" Carter laughed, "Abby, no matter how much I hate to admit it... he used to be my best friend," Abby gaped, her anxiety returning just as swiftly as it had left. She was in the room with the friend of a kidnapper/stalker/murderer.
"You- You're- You're joking, right?" she half pleaded.
"No. I knew him in high school. Then he was so normal. I mean, sure, he would flirt with girls a lot but then, his sister..."
"What about his sister?"
"His sister... Got into a car accident. She was the only thing he loved more than flirting and getting dates. He was driving. He lived, she didn't. He always blamed himself and soon, he went further than just casual flirting. He... He began to harass them. Send them letters and things. It became an obsession that I thought he'd grow out of after the mourning period. But he didn't. We grew apart and he literally forgot all about me. Forgot his whole life before the accident with his sister. We drifted apart. Then you told me he stalked you, remember? Remember the look on my face?"
"Yeah, actually, you did take it a little worse than I expected you would..."
"That was when I realized he never *did* grow out of it," Carter sighed, "And when she told me, I knew it was him. It all made perfect sense! Someone tried to drown you, and Elizabeth found the stairs... And Lucy herself seemed definitely like the kind of person he'd stalk."
"Why Lucy?" Abby asked. A sad expression fixed itself on Carter's face.
"His sister had bright blue eyes. Her name, it turns out, was Lucy. Lucy Crowe. And now, he wants his sister back!"
"We have to tell the police," Abby said.
"And I'm going with them!" Carter knew what he had to do.
The cellar door slammed shut. Lucy tightened her grip on Dave. Dave could hear the fight going on on the floor above.
"I don't care who the Hell you are! You are getting out of my house!" Crowe shouted.
"Mr. Crowe, my friend is a police officer. He could arrest you-"
"I don't give a damn!" Crowe swore, "Get out before I kill you!" Dave knew he meant that phrase quite literally. He heard a small sound like the cry of a tiny bird and looked down. He realized it was Lucy, whimpering.
"Mr. Crowe!" Luka sounded very firm, "If you let us search your house without any trouble and we find something, you may get a short sentence! But if you don't let us search your house at all, Da- I mean Jake can take you down to the police station and we will search by force!" Dave knew he was lying though. They both knew that Dave was no cop. And they were both hoping that Crowe didn't.
"Fine then, arrest me! Just get the Hell out of my house!" Dave could tell that he didn't believe Luka. Dave listened, full of fear and guilt as there was a huge crash! BOOM! BANG! SMASH! There was some sort of fight going on up there.
Crowe asked where Dave was with a lot of swear words in the middle. There was no answer from Luka so Crowe persisted. Dave flinched as there was another crash, knowing it could have been Luka, breaking his neck. But he heard another noise that reassured him it wasn't. A more comforting noise.
"Freeze, police!" he heard. Did he now dare to push open the cellar door? That is, if he could. He wasn't sure if it was locked or not. He dared.
Luka saw the police kick down the door and yell out who the y were. He sighed with relief. There were shards of broken china all around him and Crowe from the vases and plates that had fallen. The china had cut into Luka's back and the blood stained his shirt. Crowe was stronger than he had anticipated, but he had put up a good fight. Just as Crowe was staring in horror at the police, Luka noticed the cellar door creak open and saw two eyes emerge. He smiled.
"Jake!" Dave said in delight, throwing open the cellar door completely. A brown haired man turned at his name and looked around. He then noticed Dave's head protruding through a hole in the floor and laughed.
"Hello, Dave!" he smiled. Hie colleagues had their guns pointed at Crowe and Luka. Luka finally realized that being there made him a suspect. In the police's mind, he had assisted in Lucy's kidnapping. He held up his hands and Crowe copied.
"Wait, he's Dave? He said his name was officer Franken!" Crowe said, glad to get Dave in trouble. Dave sank below the floor and closed the door but Jake ran over to it and swung it open.
"Dave? Do you have my badge?" Dave paused, then nodded and reached into his pocket. He felt like a guilty child handing a pretty necklace he had seen back to his mother. Jake took the badge.
"It's a federal crime to impersonate an officer," he warned.
"Sorry," Dave mumbled.
"Wait..." Jake squinted past Dave and saw Lucy, "I found her! She's here!" he called to the other officers.
"I found her!" Dave said, proudly. Lucy didn't speak, but she nodded and smiled, weakly.
"Good job, Dave!" Jake said, "But you still have to come down to the station and explain *why* you impersonated a cop."
"Sorry," Dave said again. Two officers went over to Dave and hoisted him and Lucy out of the dank hole. Two officers walked over to Luka and Crowe, grabbed their hands, and pushed them against the wall.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney-"
"Wait!" Dave screamed as they were putting the cuffs on Luka, "Kovac's-" he stopped and smiled, viciously. The fun he could have with this. He laughed to himself.
"Yes?" Jake asked.
"Nothing," Dave laughed, evilly.
"What?" Luka asked, turning his head to Dave as best he could. He gave Dave a murderous look that somehow made him change his mind.
"Spoil sport!" Dave complained, "He's innocent. It was just Crowe," They took the handcuffs off of Luka.
"No!" Crowe screamed, "You can't take her! My little princess!"
"Your princess died long ago, Jacob!" a familiar voice said. Carter stepped out from behind some of the officers.
"NO!" Jacob tried to lunge at him but the officer had a good grip on him, "She's alive! My princess! Lucy!" he began to cry, "I'm sorry, Lucy!" he sobbed, "Please forgive me. Lucy, who had been on the floor, stood up on weak knees. She pulled the blanket around her that they had given her tighter and walked over to him. He was now on his knees. He didn't look up. She kneeled down to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up now into those blue eyes. And no one in that room was sure if it was Lucy or not who said the next few words.
"I forgive you, big brother," Lucy smiled. She stood back up and faced Carter, Luka and Dave.
"Take me home," she said. Jacob looked up into Carter's eyes.
"You take care of her now, you hear John? I trust you with her. Love her," Carter smiled at Jacob's words.
"I'll try," he whispered, "I really will."
Well? C'mon, please give me your thoughts! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, I was out of town.
Chapter 10: Lucy Crowe
"Lucy? What a nice name for a cat..." Luka forced a laugh.
"Yes, it is, isn't it. I think I'm going to go check on your friend in the back now," Jacob smiled and walked slowly out of the room. As soon as Luka was sure he was gone, he opened the trapdoor.
"Dave!" he whispered urgently, "Did you find anything?"
"Heck no! You expect me to search around this rat-infested hellhole in the dark? You must be crazy!"
"Sorry, but he's on to us I think. I told him you were out in the back! He's gone to look. Dave, I think this one's really crazy!" Luka told him.
"Oh, you only just noticed? Most killers are! Now, shut up and leave the door open. I need the light," Luka couldn't see him, but he knew Dave was scared no matter how much he tried to make his voice sound angered and controlled. Luka waited in silence. Why hadn't they heard Lucy scream for help yet? Was she unable to? Was she dead? Luka shook his head of those thoughts. Lucy was alive and they were going to bring her home.
Dave could barely see. He could hear dripping and squeaking.
"Lucy?" he called, quietly, "Lucy are you down here?" he felt a small, furry body brush the inside of his leg. He flinched.
"Stupid rats!" Dave shook his leg. He saw the shadow of something in the corner. He ran over to it. He drew back, unexpectedly when he noticed the... whatever it was was covered in rats. It was all he could do to keep from screaming.
"God, Lucy is that you?" he said, mostly to himself. He then shook his head, "No, no, it wouldn't be," He looked around for any sign of life besides rats and insects. He saw something else on the other side of the room and made his way over to it.
"Lucy!" he nearly shouted and ran over to it. The body was in a heap and Dave wasn't sure it was alive or dead but what he did no was there were no rats on it and to him, that was a good sign. He kneeled near the body that he knew must be Lucy. He shook it gently. It didn't stir. He pushed the blond hair out of her face and, even in the dim light, he could tell it was bruised. Like his own.
"Lucy," he whispered, "Lucy, wake up! We're here to get you out of here!" for a minute, his heart stopped when the girl didn't open her eyes. Then, she moved and Dave knew she had to be alive. She groaned and Dave made her sit up. He sliced off her bindings and realized how the rope had cut so deep into her skin they were nearly bleeding. They seemed to have cut off the circulation of blood to her hands. He gently tossed her limp arm over his shoulder and made her stand up on her Jell-O legs. He was just about to hoist her up out of the cellar when he heard it. He heard the scream of fury from a murderously enraged man. Then he knew and admitted to himself all along. He was going to get himself and Lucy killed. And he had dragged Luka into it knowing this deep inside all along.
Carter crept out of his room after a few hours, knowing Abby was too paranoid to sleep. He slithered down the hall like a serpent, silently stepping and avoiding the gazes of his supposed co-workers he didn't even remember. He sank into Abby's room. Her face lit up with delight at the sight of him.
"Tell me more," was all he whispered, "And be quiet about it. I'm not supposed to be here but I have a feeling that at least one person is in trouble and I *have* to remember something... I don't know what, I just do! So, no questions, just tell me all about my life," Abby nodded, without question, just as Carter had requested and began to weave all of her thoughts and memories of Carter into one intricate tapestry of his life. He was quiet the whole way through, hanging on every word, every thread of silk she added to the tale, nodding and adding little bits he remembered. Though he tried not to do it often, he occasionally would zone out into the flashback of a memory.
'Lucy? Hurry up! Get working!'
'Weaver won't be too happy about that...'
'I know what I'm doing Dr. Benton!'
"...And now, I'm going crazy, you've lost your memory, Lucy's missing, and I think Kerry's going crazy with me!" Abby finished. Carter stared at the bed an expression of deep thought on his face and nodded.
"Uh huh..." he said, blankly. He shook his head and stared at his watch.
"Oh my God, I've been here for two hours!" he was shocked. It then dawned on him what he had to know, "Oh crap!" he near screamed, "I just remembered something!"
"What?" Abby asked, feeling important and excited. Her insecurity and paranoia was evaporating rapidly.
"Lucy. Before when I was talking to you, I remembered something that apparently never happened. But..."
"But what?"
"Well..." He didn't know how to describe it, "What if it is *going* to happen? What if I had a memory of... the future?" he tried. Abby laughed.
"Carter, you're going crazy too!" Carter smiled.
"Yeah, maybe it was my imagination. But there's something more. Again, before I remembered something I didn't really understand. It was Lucy and I. We were walking and talking. She felt as if someone was trying to kill her friends. I knew she was right because I knew who it was! Except I only just realized that I knew she was right... Does that make any sense at all?"
"Yeah... What are you talking about? You know Jacob?"
"Know him?" Carter laughed, "Abby, no matter how much I hate to admit it... he used to be my best friend," Abby gaped, her anxiety returning just as swiftly as it had left. She was in the room with the friend of a kidnapper/stalker/murderer.
"You- You're- You're joking, right?" she half pleaded.
"No. I knew him in high school. Then he was so normal. I mean, sure, he would flirt with girls a lot but then, his sister..."
"What about his sister?"
"His sister... Got into a car accident. She was the only thing he loved more than flirting and getting dates. He was driving. He lived, she didn't. He always blamed himself and soon, he went further than just casual flirting. He... He began to harass them. Send them letters and things. It became an obsession that I thought he'd grow out of after the mourning period. But he didn't. We grew apart and he literally forgot all about me. Forgot his whole life before the accident with his sister. We drifted apart. Then you told me he stalked you, remember? Remember the look on my face?"
"Yeah, actually, you did take it a little worse than I expected you would..."
"That was when I realized he never *did* grow out of it," Carter sighed, "And when she told me, I knew it was him. It all made perfect sense! Someone tried to drown you, and Elizabeth found the stairs... And Lucy herself seemed definitely like the kind of person he'd stalk."
"Why Lucy?" Abby asked. A sad expression fixed itself on Carter's face.
"His sister had bright blue eyes. Her name, it turns out, was Lucy. Lucy Crowe. And now, he wants his sister back!"
"We have to tell the police," Abby said.
"And I'm going with them!" Carter knew what he had to do.
The cellar door slammed shut. Lucy tightened her grip on Dave. Dave could hear the fight going on on the floor above.
"I don't care who the Hell you are! You are getting out of my house!" Crowe shouted.
"Mr. Crowe, my friend is a police officer. He could arrest you-"
"I don't give a damn!" Crowe swore, "Get out before I kill you!" Dave knew he meant that phrase quite literally. He heard a small sound like the cry of a tiny bird and looked down. He realized it was Lucy, whimpering.
"Mr. Crowe!" Luka sounded very firm, "If you let us search your house without any trouble and we find something, you may get a short sentence! But if you don't let us search your house at all, Da- I mean Jake can take you down to the police station and we will search by force!" Dave knew he was lying though. They both knew that Dave was no cop. And they were both hoping that Crowe didn't.
"Fine then, arrest me! Just get the Hell out of my house!" Dave could tell that he didn't believe Luka. Dave listened, full of fear and guilt as there was a huge crash! BOOM! BANG! SMASH! There was some sort of fight going on up there.
Crowe asked where Dave was with a lot of swear words in the middle. There was no answer from Luka so Crowe persisted. Dave flinched as there was another crash, knowing it could have been Luka, breaking his neck. But he heard another noise that reassured him it wasn't. A more comforting noise.
"Freeze, police!" he heard. Did he now dare to push open the cellar door? That is, if he could. He wasn't sure if it was locked or not. He dared.
Luka saw the police kick down the door and yell out who the y were. He sighed with relief. There were shards of broken china all around him and Crowe from the vases and plates that had fallen. The china had cut into Luka's back and the blood stained his shirt. Crowe was stronger than he had anticipated, but he had put up a good fight. Just as Crowe was staring in horror at the police, Luka noticed the cellar door creak open and saw two eyes emerge. He smiled.
"Jake!" Dave said in delight, throwing open the cellar door completely. A brown haired man turned at his name and looked around. He then noticed Dave's head protruding through a hole in the floor and laughed.
"Hello, Dave!" he smiled. Hie colleagues had their guns pointed at Crowe and Luka. Luka finally realized that being there made him a suspect. In the police's mind, he had assisted in Lucy's kidnapping. He held up his hands and Crowe copied.
"Wait, he's Dave? He said his name was officer Franken!" Crowe said, glad to get Dave in trouble. Dave sank below the floor and closed the door but Jake ran over to it and swung it open.
"Dave? Do you have my badge?" Dave paused, then nodded and reached into his pocket. He felt like a guilty child handing a pretty necklace he had seen back to his mother. Jake took the badge.
"It's a federal crime to impersonate an officer," he warned.
"Sorry," Dave mumbled.
"Wait..." Jake squinted past Dave and saw Lucy, "I found her! She's here!" he called to the other officers.
"I found her!" Dave said, proudly. Lucy didn't speak, but she nodded and smiled, weakly.
"Good job, Dave!" Jake said, "But you still have to come down to the station and explain *why* you impersonated a cop."
"Sorry," Dave said again. Two officers went over to Dave and hoisted him and Lucy out of the dank hole. Two officers walked over to Luka and Crowe, grabbed their hands, and pushed them against the wall.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney-"
"Wait!" Dave screamed as they were putting the cuffs on Luka, "Kovac's-" he stopped and smiled, viciously. The fun he could have with this. He laughed to himself.
"Yes?" Jake asked.
"Nothing," Dave laughed, evilly.
"What?" Luka asked, turning his head to Dave as best he could. He gave Dave a murderous look that somehow made him change his mind.
"Spoil sport!" Dave complained, "He's innocent. It was just Crowe," They took the handcuffs off of Luka.
"No!" Crowe screamed, "You can't take her! My little princess!"
"Your princess died long ago, Jacob!" a familiar voice said. Carter stepped out from behind some of the officers.
"NO!" Jacob tried to lunge at him but the officer had a good grip on him, "She's alive! My princess! Lucy!" he began to cry, "I'm sorry, Lucy!" he sobbed, "Please forgive me. Lucy, who had been on the floor, stood up on weak knees. She pulled the blanket around her that they had given her tighter and walked over to him. He was now on his knees. He didn't look up. She kneeled down to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up now into those blue eyes. And no one in that room was sure if it was Lucy or not who said the next few words.
"I forgive you, big brother," Lucy smiled. She stood back up and faced Carter, Luka and Dave.
"Take me home," she said. Jacob looked up into Carter's eyes.
"You take care of her now, you hear John? I trust you with her. Love her," Carter smiled at Jacob's words.
"I'll try," he whispered, "I really will."
Well? C'mon, please give me your thoughts! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, I was out of town.