Chapter 4

She knew they were coming before she heard them.

'Hell,' she thought with a wry grin, 'I can practically smell them.' She was overcome with the overpowering need to laugh out loud at the thought but all she could manage was a weak cough.

The sound of the metal door screeching open caused her heart to start beating wildly in her chest. Sweat ran down her dirtied, bruised face in rivulets.

'Please don't let it be him!' She cried silently. 'Let it be anyone but him!'

She suddenly realized that the Divine had a perverse sense of humor.

"Honey! I'm hooome!" her captor's voice called out, dripping with sarcasm.

She could smell the stench of him as he came to stand directly in front of her. She could feel his hot breath against her skin and the urge to vomit was great. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that she had had no food in her stomach for three days now.

"Did you miss me?" he whispered in her ear. "I definitely missed you. How could I not miss my favorite little plaything?" he laughed, patting her roughly on her already sore cheek.

He stepped back and she could hear him talking to someone else in quiet tones. A couple of minutes later, she felt the cold metal tip of a needle touch her skin. Her mind screamed out in agony as the ice cold liquid entered her life's blood.

"Now then, my dear Captain Valentine, once again we shall dance our little dance." The voice snarled. "I want you to tell me everything you know about your dear old Uncle Sid."