Author's Note:

Okay…I have to confess…I have an E-V-I-L mind, hehe. What else can I say, except maybe that man I enjoyed writing this next chapter.

Thanks for all the reviews and I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Lastly I just want to mention that criticism is definitely welcome so please feel free to let me know if I make any mistakes like spelling, grammar, being out of characters etc.

xxx

"Missed me?" Entering and taking a few steps forward Lyle hold his arms in the air in the personification of a typical television game host, his lips were formed in a big grin.

Chapter 9

"Go flung yourself over the nearest cliff," she retorted sarcastically.

Smiling he went out of the room only to return a couple of seconds later with a plate, packed with thin strips of meat on it, clutched in his one hand and a bottle of water in the other. "Is this now anyway to treat the one that brings you food and water?" he asked and started moving towards her.

Immediately she brought her fists up in a defensive stance. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him with all the hatred she could master on her face.

"Speechless at the fact that I can be handsome and kind?" Lyle chuckled and continued walking forward until he was merely a few feet away from her.

"Just awaiting my chance to rip your ugly mug from your face …it will be a definite improvement," she merely said without flinching once, inwardly her heart kept on beating at an unnatural fast pace.

"Now, now Sis. Don't be rude to the one bearing you gifts," he said and slightly raised his arms to put emphasize on the food and water he was still holding onto.

She had not meant to, but found herself suddenly unable to tear her gaze away from contents in his hands, something he did not miss out on.

"Hungry?" he asked and proceeded to sit down on his haunches, shoving the plate and bottle towards her.

Staring at the food and water she could feel her mouth starting to water and she swallowed a couple of times.

"What…what is this all about?" she asked suspiciously, struggling to force her eyes away from the feast in front of her.

"What…you aren't hungry?" he replied innocently and made an attempt at taking the plate back.

"No!" Immediately she regretted her over-eager response and tried to bring down her voice a few octaves, "No I'm…what's the catch?"

"You think there's a catch to something as simple as me bringing you food?" Lyle's whole tone of voice said that he found it unbelievable that she could even consider doubting his sincerity. "Have you considered that maybe I don't want you to die…just yet," he said after a while of pretending to ponder her words.

When she did not reply he added, "Why does everything always have to be so difficult with you Parker?" Reaching out a hand he snatched a piece of meat from somewhere in the middle of the plate and holding it up for a second he said, "See…nothing wrong with the food," before pushing it in his mouth.

"Hmmm…delicious," he murmured after a while of clearly appearing to be enjoying the meat. Picking up the plate he held it invitingly towards her.

When she still appeared to be hesitant he sighed and said, "Ah come on Sis. Whatever else you might be thinking of me I surely have no plan to let you go hungry. So why don't you be a good little girl and finish this. I promise you won't regret it."

She was very hungry, in fact her stomach was growling at the prospect of imminent food, and as such she just could not prevent herself from grabbing the plate from him. She immediately started to shove pieces of meat in her mouth. "Where did you get these from?" she inquired after a couple of minutes, in between chewing. She was founding it eerie to be sitting next to her brother like that, almost like nothing bad had happened between them at all, but the need to feed her hunger was overpowering any rational thought that she might have.

"It's good, isn't it?" Lyle stated with a big grin on his face.

"It's okay. The taste...it's just a bit funny, almost tastes like chicken," She did not really know how to respond to his question of whether the food was good or not, instead she started gnawing on another piece of meat.

"Why don't you finish these and we'll talk about it later on," Lyle said and for the next few minutes nothing more was said as Ms Parker finished off the meal followed by the water that her brother offered to her in silence.

When she was finally finished he took the plate and bottle from her and stood up.

"Where are you going?" she asked softly with a quaver in her voice. She was suddenly feeling scared of having to go back to being left alone in the dark with only her own dark thoughts to keep her company.

"Are you missing me already?" Lyle said and then added, "Don't worry, I promise I'll be back soon," before turning around and leaving the room. He returned barely a minute later, dragging something heavy behind him.

"What?" Ms Parker said, at first unsure as to what the dark bundle was that she could barely discern and as her brother moved closer she finally got the whole picture.

She took a deep breath and whispered, "Oh my god," a hand moved to her mouth in shock.

Turning around Lyle stared at her in genuine confusion before realization finally appeared in his eyes. "Oh this…I'm sorry to say but god wasn't involved in this," he said as he pointed a finger to the dark wiggling bundle next to him.

Tears started forming at the corner of Ms Parker's eyes as she took in the sight that Lyle was pointing too. It was an Asian woman, in he late teens, dressed in the ragged remains of what used to be a very colorful traditional dress. The girl's arms and legs were tied together with thick rope and a piece of cloth appeared to be shoved in her mouth. All over her body bruises of various size and colors could be seen. The shivering, crying teenager was staring back at Ms Parker with a haunting, pleading look in her eyes; she was clearly in a deep state of shock.

"Well Sis…" Lyle said and dragged the girl in front of him before forcefully pulling up the sleeve of her one arm, revealing the ugly red swollen remains of what used to be an upper arm. Rough field stitches were seen running across the flesh and in some places it was clear that huge pieces of muscle and flesh were missing.

"You asked about where I got the meat from," Lyle continued in a casual, almost friendly tone, "well here's your answer. Straight from a Cambodian delight."

Shaking her head in horror and disbelieve, feeling bile forming in her throat, all that she managed to utter was, "You sick, twisted son of a -."

"Stick and stones might break my bones but words will never hurt me," Lyle interrupted her mockingly. "Now Parker…we are going to play a little game."

Leaving the teenager alone for a little while he went out again only to come back a few seconds later with a packet in his arms which he threw unceremoniously in Ms Parker's direction, causing her to jump slightly in shock.

"What are these?" she inquired, although she could clearly see what was in the bundle. It appeared to be a gray shirt and pants of the kind that Jarod used to wear at the Centre.

"Your new clothes my dear sister. You see you are really beginning to stink, therefore I thought you could do with a fresh change of clothing." As a sort of an afterthought Lyle added after a few seconds, "Also it will make it easier for me to replace them if I were to…shall we say…tear something during one of our friendly conversations."

Shaking her head again at the implication of his words she only managed to say, "I won't wear them."

"Thought you were going to say that," Lyle stated and without another word he reached out a hand and removed something dark that was tugged underneath his jacket.

"Maybe want to reconsider that?" he finally responded to her original statement of refusal with a question of his own and swiftly brought the yet unidentifiable object to the front of the Asian girl's neck – revealing it to be a huge hunting knife. The girl cried out and tried to move her head away but Lyle immediately subdued her with a death grip around the neck and as a warning he pressed the knife closer against her throat, causing a small drop of blood to start forming around the spot. "Shush now my dear," he admonished the teenager before turning his attention back to Ms Parker. All traces of a smile suddenly vanished from his face to be replaced with only a dark threatening look. "Either you get dressed in those," he said pointing in the direction of the clothes laying in front of her, "or I promise to kill this girl right here in front of you."

"She's already as good as dead so why should I care," Ms Parker responded, trying to call his bluff. Her eyes kept on darting between the clothes, the frightened girl and Lyle.

"True," Lyle said and after pretending to ponder her allegation a smile started tugging at the corner of his lips again, "but shall we say you can make the difference between her getting an immediate, nearly painless, death or becoming breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next few days. Maybe as an added bonus I'll even have my way with her in front of you after which I'll start with the butchering on all the juiciest pieces right here too."

Wiping a hand across her face in an attempt to try and clear the tears threatening to start running down her cheeks, Ms Parker came to the awful realization that she was stuck in a no-win situation. Whatever she decided on Lyle was still going to win in the long run. "Why are you doing this to me," she said softly after a while, "I'm your sister. Doesn't that count for anything?"

Sighing deeply Lyle's eyes darkened and his lips twisted in a smirk; "Your words are really starting to bore me Parker. So why don't you be a good little girl and obey me for a change before I do something that I may regret later on." To emphasize his words he pressed the knife deeper against the skin of the girl, this time the knifepoint actually pierced the skin completely and blood started flowing freely down the teenager's neck. The girl whimpered and tried to break loose, but without much luck. Lyle had her in a firm grip.

"Okay," Ms Parker said in a defeating tone after a while.

"I CAN'T hear you," Lyle taunted her.

"I said I'll do it!" she said again, her voice barely louder than before.

"Good girl." Putting the knife down for a second he retrieved something else from his pocket and threw it towards her.

It was a small silver key.

"I don't understand?" Ms Parker whispered with a confused frown playing on her forehead.

"It is quite elementary Sis. It's the key to that chain connecting you to the wall. You will need it to unlock yourself before you can get dressed. Unless you are thinking of tearing your clothes off you…not that I would really mind. Whatever way should be quite entertaining. Oh and don't even think of trying to overpower me, I promise you won't get far. Definitely not in the current physical state that you are in."

Nodding her head once to indicate her understanding and compliance Ms Parker picked up the key and after a few seconds of struggling she managed to remove the chain from her leg. She rubbed her leg a little while to try and return the feeling to it.

"We don't have all day," Lyle said, "So get a move on."

Frowning again Ms Parker stared at him before asking hesitantly, "What…you want me to get dress…in front of you?"

"What other way? If such a simple task is too much for you I can always come over to try to assist you."

Biting on her bottom lip Ms Parker stared at the Asian girl in front of her for a little while. "I'm so sorry," she whispered in the teenager's native language before reaching out slowly for the clothes in front of her.

xxx

Very slowly and quietly Ethan was making his way up a flight of metal stairs towards the soft sound he could hear coming from the other side of a door on one of the upper floors.

He had nothing in his hands with which to defend himself and was silently cursing himself for that fact. He had been so eager to reach his sister in time that he had not even considered the idea that he might need a weapon until it was too late.

He could only hope that the fact that he was younger, in a fairly good shape and had the element of surprise on his side would provide him with the upper hand that he would desperately need in the next few minutes.

When he finally reached the door he reached out a hand and very slowly went for the handle. Carefully he pushed the handle down until he could feel the door giving in and beginning to open.

When there was barely more than a small opening available to him he squeezed through gently and immediately hunched over to try and offer the smallest amount of target as was possible to the person or persons on the other side.

At first all he was able to see was darkness around him and it took some time for his eyes to adjust. The room was empty except for an old sofa and a coffee table standing in the middle of the place. From the blanket that was thrown to one side, and the fact that Ethan could see a notebook displaying some pictures of his sister on the table, he suddenly realized to his horror that the person that had been living in that room most probably heard him entering and fled in time – or maybe he was still there, just hiding away.

Cursing himself again for the fact that he forgot to bring any weapon he also realized that there was nothing he could do except to continue onwards, his hands raised in front of him in a defensive posture.

He had barely walked a couple of feet when all of a sudden he was ambushed from out of nowhere. He was grabbed from behind and with a lot of force thrown against the wall. Without giving him a chance to defend himself someone jumped him again, pulled him up and slammed his back against the wall. The attack was followed by an unbelievable strong arm pushing against his throat, threatening to cut off his air supply.

After a few seconds he could feel the arm relenting and a surprise voice saying, "Ethan? Is that really you brother? What are you doing here?"

xxx

Author's Note:

Okay…I hope I haven't written Ms Parker to weakly. I just though that after what Lyle have tried to do to her before, her having gone without food and much water for a while, the cannibalistic situation etc. she needed to crack under the pressure a little bit, after all she's still human at the end of the day.