The darkness was complete.

Bosco would hate it, she thought randomly, her brain still fuzzy from the strange ride in the trunk of her captor's car. She couldn't think clearly and she couldn't see clearly but she knew it was dark. It had to be, right? All evil lairs were and she felt sure she was the closest to hell she had ever been. Her wrists and ankles were bound, the bindings covered in blood from the cuts they had rubbed into her skin. Her head was the worst though. Her kidnapper had hit her in the back of the head with something heavy and now she was off-balance and feeling a little sick to her stomach. Her condition was dangerous, that much she could remember. She might have a concussion. But in this deep pit of blackness, it didn't matter. She either survived or became the victim of yet another faceless crime.

She chose survival.

Her cell, for that was what it was, was damp and cold and only six paces in width and length. She had walked it herself when he had first thrown her in, when she had still had the energy and her vision hadn't been swimming so much. After discovering the limits of her world, she had collapsed against one of the walls, facing so that she could see and watch the only door. It was made of steel and had made a terrible noise upon opening. She could remember that, too.

But the one thing she really needed to remember eluded her.

Her captor's face.

It had been dark in her apartment, and her pounding head could not bring her the vision of his face as he opened the trunk after the firing of a gun that had most certainly killed the police officer she had heard. Just thinking of that brought her a rush of sadness and guilt. She had tried to get the officer's attention and had ended up getting him killed. She only hoped his death lead the others to her, selfish though it was. Then his death would not be vain.

Breathing out quietly through lips she had chewed raw from anxiety, she straightened her legs painfully and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible. There was no telling how long she might be there or what this man wanted her for. He had done anything to overly hurt her which made her guess he wanted her for some sort of ransom, though she thought herself a poor choice for a hostage. Her brain hurt too much to think on it long, she only hoped this nightmare would end soon.

"Bosco," she whispered, not even realizing she had said it.

Faith closed her eyes.

* * * *

Bosco was running on adrenaline. He had slept in twenty-eight hours and he knew he should have been dead on his feet but an infinite amount of coffee kept him up and going when he should have been flat on his back. He had to keep going. He would not rest until he knew Faith was safe.

Pacing the confines of his living room, he listened to the Jeremy Parker's eerie first tape over and over again, looking for clues. So far he had come to the following conclusion:

Jeremy Parker was a fucking lunatic.

He rattled on and on about this non-existent plan for Armageddon that God had supposedly told him about and that he was supposedly trying to stop by 'capturing the sun'.

Whatever the hell that meant.

Parker went on to tell the good doctor that he must contain the heralds of the planets. These were apparently people that Parker thought held some special power. When the heralds were given the last sacrifice as he called, God would stave off the end of the world all thanks to little ole Jeremy Parker.

Yeah right.

So the guy had fallen off his rocker and lose his marbles for good measure. Bosco didn't really care. He just wanted the guy back in his little white room in Briarwood and Faith back by his side. That was all.

The phone rang.

He almost growled before remembering it might be the Detective Williams.

It was.

"An hour ago, the body of Officer Mark Woods was found in a side street of lower Manhattan in front of his patrol car. The engine was running and there were tire tracks leading away from the scene."

"So what?" Bosco asked impatiently, sensing that Williams was waiting to spring something on him and he was right. The Detectives voice rose slightly with grim excitement.

"So I think you'll be very interested to see what his camera caught on tape."

* * * *

"I don't believe it," Bosco murmured later, sitting heavily into the one of the chairs around the television in William's office. The Detective watched him calmly, waiting. "She's alive." Bosco almost laughed, his relief was so overwhelming. "She's alive. I can't believe it."

"Believe it," Williams said quietly, glancing at the paused image on the screen. Parker's car was angled away from the camera but Faith's stricken face was clear through the space of the opened trunk. Parker's face wasn't but neither man thought it could be anyone else. The tape was less than five hours old, a very good sign.

Faith Yokas had been alive five hours ago.

Bosco leaned back in the chair, every bone in his body suddenly gone to water. His heart was beating heavily in his chest and he felt almost light-headed. Faith was alive.

Alive.

And if she was alive that meant he could find her.

* * * *

Faith awoke to sound.

She had been dozing awkwardly, her head injury pushing her in and out of consciousness until she was barely aware of what was real and what wasn't. Looking back on that moment, Faith was amazed she was even aware of anything beside her failing senses.

"Are you there?"

The voice was pitched normally to carry through the thin wall and Faith jerked fully awake as she realized suddenly that she wasn't the only prisoner. Eyes wide, vision still pitiful, she leaned her head against the wall, ear against the old wood.

"I'm here," she replied, her voice coming out more hoarse and gravelly than she would have wished. Her wounded mind was trying to work quickly. If she wasn't alone maybe she could figure out what was going on and why she had been kidnapped.

Maybe she could figure out a way to escape.

No answer came back to her. Faith tried again, "My name is Faith." And I'm pretty sure I won't be here much longer if I don't get medical attention.

The voice's answer was a long time coming.

"Carrie." A pause and the voice trembled. "You're the last, I think." Faith could hear the voice sob. It was a woman. "He'll kill us now. We're going to die here."

Faith's breath hitched in her throat. "Us?"

Carried seemed more eager to talk as she went on, gaining confidence as Faith kept up the conversation. "There are nine of us in all."

Faith felt herself frown. "How do you know?"

"We talked a lot in the beginning."

"How long have you been here?"

There was a moment of silence. "I'm not sure. Some of the others keep track. I don't. I don't want to know. It will just make it harder, in the end."

Faith swallowed. "We're not going to die, Carrie."

"Everyone thinks that in the beginning."

The beginning. She didn't want this to be a beginning. She wanted it to end.

"I won't let us die. I'm a police officer and I'm sure my partner is looking for me right now. He'll figure it out. He'll find us."

Carrie didn't answer.

Faith laid slowly down on her side, arms tied behind her back, ankles together. She had to believe. Had to. She wasn't alone, there were others. And, as everyone knows, people work best together. If she could get the other victims to evolve a plan of attack against their captor they might be able to survive this, whatever it was.

They just had to believe.

…

Why did it have to be so hard?

TBC…

* * * *

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was so long in coming. I do plan on finishing this, I'm just distracted by other fics, college, and life in general. I just hope someone somewhere is still reading this. ^_^ Thanks for your interest! More to come soon.

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