Disclaimer: I don't anything.  Sorry, now you can't sue me.  Ha ha!  Anyways . . .

A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long.  I've been working on other stories, and I just couldn't think of anything for this story, but the writer's block has been broken!  Enjoy, and please review!!

Chapter Two

Rachel groaned; her head was throbbing, and her body felt so heavy that she could not sit upright to see where she was.  Her eyelids slowly slid open.  The first thing she saw as her eyes regained their clarity was a white ceiling.  She could feel that she was on a bed; the stiff springs in the mattress were stabbing into her back every time she breathed.

 Her strength slowly came back and she pushed herself upright.  Although her head was not throbbing as it had been, she could still feel a pulse pounding in the sides of her skull. 

Suddenly, all of the memories came flowing back to her.  The doctor, the needle . . . and, her heart skipped a beat as she remembered what had happened before she passed out . . . Samara, Aiden.  They had been there, watching her as she suffered through a moment Samara had forced her to experience.

But had it really happened, or had it all been simply a bad dream?  Rachel knew that she had not slept even for a moment since Aiden had been taken from her.  Maybe Dr. Emerson hadn't drugged her.  Maybe Samara and Aiden hadn't been there . . .

But it had all seemed so real.  She had heard Aiden's raspy breathing as he stood above her; she had felt Dr. Murphy's steel-grip as he held her down.  And she was certain that the sharp pain she had felt when Dr. Emerson jabbed that needle into her arm was real. 

Rachel looked at her arm.  If there was a prick from a needle on her arm, then she would know that none of what she had seen had been a dream.  She held her breath, placed her right hand on the cream colored sleeve and pulled the sleeve up. 
Rachel winced as she saw a puffy, swollen hole on her arm, just above her elbow.  Feeling a wave of nausea, she yanked the sleeve back down. 

She looked up as the door to her room creaked open.  Dr. Murphy entered the room, carrying a tray of Rachel's lunch.  "Hello, Rachel," he said, cheerfully.
Rachel stared back at him.  If he had really held her down as his colleague drugged her, then why was he acting so cheerful?  He set down the tray on the small nightstand next to Rachel's bed.  "Rachel, I have wonderful news," he began, walking over to her and sitting next to her on the bed.  "You have a visitor."

Rachel looked at him in disbelief.  "A-A visitor?" she repeated.  "Who?"

"Raven Morton," he replied.  "Come on, you can eat your lunch later," he added, taking a hold of Rachel's arm and pulling her up.

Rachel bit her tongue to keep from crying aloud as Dr. Murphy put pressure onto her swollen elbow.  He led her out of her room and down the hall.  Rachel closed her eyes tightly as she walked through the hallway.  It looked exactly as the one she had been in when Samara had finally gotten Aiden . . . forever.

Dr. Murphy led Rachel to the visitation center, where Rachel finally opened her eyes again.  She sat down at a small rectangle table.  She looked up and was staring into the bright green eyes of a young girl, no older than twenty years old.  Her hair was red and straight, and her green eyes held a sadness that Rachel had seen in her sister during Katie's funeral.

"Rachel, this is Raven.  She came here to ask you some questions," explained Dr. Murphy.  "I'll be right outside if either of you need me."  He released Rachel's arm and opened the door and slipped outside.

Rachel looked at the young girl sitting in front of her.  "Hi," Rachel began, softly.  "How do you know me?"

"I saw you that day that you were found on the highway," Raven began, in a soft, kind, but tense voice.  "I heard you say something while they were taking you away."  She paused, looking down at the table.  "Samara," she whispered, returning her gaze to Rachel.  "The little girl."

Rachel stared at her, bewildered.  "How did you-?  Samara, how do you know about her?" she asked, shakily.

Raven chewed on her lip.  "A little over a week ago, my cousin who lives near here, alone, called me up one night and told me about this . . . video that she watched.  Apparently she rented it by mistake.  She sounded so scared, so I asked her about the tape . . . the only thing that she told me was the voice of a little girl . . . and she had a dream, and she heard the name 'Samara.'  I know that your niece was killed awhile ago, after watching such a video-"

"How do you know that?" interrupted Rachel.

"This guy told me about it . . . he used to go to school with her boyfriend, who apparently died the very same night, a week after he watched the tape.  My cousin died a few days ago, a week after she called me; a week after she watched the tape."  Rachel stared at her, a confused look in her eye.  "All I want to know," continued Raven, "is what happened to you involving that little girl."

Raven's eyes filled with tears.  "Please," she whispered.  "All I want is for her to never kill again.  I don't want anyone else to die like that . . ." She took a deep breath.  "I saw what happened to her.  At the funeral, I looked in the casket.  I just . . . can't let that happen to anyone else."

"Raven, she'll never stop.  It won't stop.  I'm sorry, but there's no way to end it."

"There must be.  There is only one tape, right?  If we just . . . find it, then we can destroy it, and no one will ever die again."  She wiped her eyes with the back of her fist.  "It has to work, doesn't it?  I mean, no more tape, no more deaths."

Rachel shook her head.  "I don't know . . ."

"But you still haven't told me what happened to you involving Samara."

Rachel sighed as she began her story about her niece, to her dream, where Samara finally got Aiden.  Re-telling the same story repeatedly only succeeded in making her feel even worse about her 'missing son,' as the police so vaguely put it.  Missing, he wasn't missing.  He was everywhere . . . and if Rachel destroyed the tape, she would not only destroy Samara, but her own son as well, if destroying the tape would even work.

"Raven," said Rachel, after she finished her story.  "I'm sorry, but I don't think that I can help you.  First of all, we wouldn't know where to look-"

"Yes we do," protested Raven.  "My cousin was the last one killed, so it must be somewhere she went before she died."

"And second of all, we don't even know if destroying the tape will work.  We may only get ourselves killed."

"I don't care," said Raven, looking down at the table once again.  "As long as I tried, I won't care if I die, and if you die, well, at least you'll have been able to see your son one last time."

Rachel opened her mouth to object, but was struck with realization; Raven was right, she had to try, and if she did die, at least she would have been able to see Aiden.  "But," she added, as another factor came through her mind, "what about this place?  I mean, they have security everywhere, and Dr. Murphy barely leaves me alone.  How will I get out?"

Raven smiled a small, half smile.  "So, you're saying that if I get you out of here, you'll help me?"

Rachel raised her eyebrows, as though she was considering.  "Yes, that is what I'm saying."

Raven grinned, and Rachel saw the young girl's eyes light up in a completely different way then when she had first saw them, and she could not help but smile as well.  "So, how are you going to get me out?" she asked.

"Okay, here's the plan: first, I'll ask Dr. Murphy to lead me to the bathroom, but while he's taking me there, you can sneak out of the room.  After you get out of here, just run until you reach the exit.  When you get out, wait for me in the bushes right outside of the parking lot."

"That's your plan?" asked Rachel.

"It should work," said Raven, holding her hands up in defense.  "All you have to do is run, and run fast.  Don't stop for anything, no matter what anyone says.  Can you do that?"

 "Yeah, I can do it."

"Okay then," replied Raven, standing up. 

"But wait," said Rachel, quickly.  "That door locks when it closes," she said, glancing at the door. 

Raven wrinkled her nose as she thought fast.  "I know; I'll let Dr. Murphy lead, and then you can sneak over to the door and keep it open."  Rachel nodded in agreement.  "Ready?" asked Raven, excitement flowing in her voice.  Rachel nodded again, thinking about the outside world, and how long it had been since she had seen trees, the sun . . .

Raven knocked on the door, and Dr. Murphy opened it, allowing Raven to exit.  Rachel heard Raven quickly ask if he would lead her to the restroom.  Rachel breathed a sigh of relief as Dr. Murphy agreed, and let go of the door.

Rachel stood up quickly and raced towards the door.  She caught it just in time, and held it open as she heard Raven and Dr. Murphy's receding footsteps down the hall.  She waited until the footsteps completely disappeared before she burst from the room and raced down the hall. 

Rachel passed at least three doctors as she dashed towards the exit, all of whom asked her where she thought she was going.  She looked at a wall and saw a sign that read "Exit" with an arrow pointing to her left.  She turned a corner and ran towards the two glass doors.  She slammed into them and pushed them open. 

The secretary at the front yelled at her to stop, but Rachel pushed until the doors opened, and she was met with the fresh air.  The sunlight poured onto her face, and Rachel felt as though she had just seen the world for the first time.  She heard commotion from inside the hospital and ran quickly into the bushes, as Raven had instructed her to.

She sat beneath the green leaves and brown branches, listening to Dr. Murphy's angry voice as he yelled at his colleagues to "find her as fast as possible."  Rachel did not move at all until she heard Raven's voice call out to her.  "Rachel, are you here?"

"Yes," replied Rachel, crawling out from under the bush where she had been hiding.  She stood up to face Raven; Raven was easily a head taller than her.  "Where's your car?" Rachel asked, glancing at the parking lot. 

"Come with me," instructed Raven, beckoning for Rachel to follow her.  She led Rachel to a dark blue pickup truck.  She and Rachel climbed into the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. 

Rachel looked out of the window, at all of the sights she had been hidden from for about a month; the streets, the stores, the people, she had missed them all.

"Rachel, is it okay if you stay with me in my apartment?" asked Raven. 

"Where else will I stay?" asked Rachel.  As they drove in utter silence, Rachel thought about her last statement.  Where else will I stay?  She was hit with the realization that she no longer had her own life; she was merely a figure that no one remembered, or if they did remember her, they assumed her to be insane.  She laid her head against the window.  'If this is ever over,' she thought.  'What will happen to me?  Where will I go?  Who will want me?'

To Be Continued . . .

A/N: I know, short, but I ran out of ideas for this chapter.  As always, review!!!