Author's Note:

I'm not saying anything. Read and let me know afterwards whether I must rather go and flung myself over the nearest cliff instead of trying my hand at another chapter.

xxx

After barely a few seconds she opened her eyes quickly and forced a smile to her face. She was now ready to do whatever it took to enable her and the Asian teenager to escape from the clutches of a madman.

Chapter 12

"What are you smiling about?" Lyle asked, confusion and suspicion alternating on his face.

"Oh…nothing," she said, making sure her voice had a purr to it. Increasing the size of her smile she stretched her arms leisurely above her head before standing up slowly. She had noticed how Lyle had pressed the knife a bit closer against the girl's neck at her sudden movement, but when he realized that there was no threat he allowed his hand to relax a little bit.

Tilting his head slightly to once side he observed her for a little while in silence, clearly caught off-guard at her strange behavior, before finally saying with a warning edge to his voice, "Whatever game you're think you are playing…you better stop it right now."

"I'm not playing any games…brother…at least not yet," she stated softly as she begun to play with the top button of her shirt. She could see Lyle's eyes narrowing and a slight frown formed between his eyebrows. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but not words were forthcoming; instead she could see him excelling his breath followed by the quick swipe of his tongue across his upper lip.

Loosening the first button she proceeded onto the second one.

"What…what is wrong with you?" he asked in a husky tone, a vein was jumping slightly on his forehead.

"Why does there need to be anything wrong with me?" She purred again as the fingertips of her one hand started caressing the skin of her neck and collarbone very seductively.

As she finished with the second button and unbuttoned the third and fourth one nearly simultaneously a bit of cleavage started to show. She could see Lyle's gaze moving from her face downwards, his Adam's apple rapidly moving up and down and his eyes widening, before he murmured, more to himself than to really address her, "This isn't like you."

Inwardly she felt sick and ice-cold upon seeing the emotions on his face changing from suspicion to uncertainty and finally ending in pure lust. For a moment she considered not going through with her plan, but as she gazed down for a moment on the still shivering body of the Asian girl in front of her she knew that there was no turning back. Maybe if it was only herself that was involved in this nightmare it might have been different, but there was now an innocent to think about.

"Maybe my eyes finally opened to the truth," she said casually and had to force her hands to finish the rest of the buttons on her shirt.

"Which is?" he asked. His eyes, admiration clearly evident in them, were roaming freely over her body as he spoke.

"That…" for a moment she hesitate, unsure as to what she was supposed to say, then seemingly out of nowhere the right words suddenly revealed themselves to her, "in order for me to survive I have to change my…feelings toward you."

She could see the hand with the knife in it wavering slightly in front of the girl's neck; he was beginning to loose his concentration.

Swallowing she closed her eyes and for just a moment she allowed the image of a dark-haired pretender to flash through her mind. It was enough to give her the strength to continue.

Slowly she started taking her shirt off. She felt ashamed and was unable to look anywhere else but the ground as she did so. As the cold air in the jail connected with her bare skin she could feel gooseflesh forming across her arms and was unable to prevent herself from shivering ever so slightly.

The sleeves of the shirt slid down her arms and tumbled to the floor. She could feel a lonely tear forming at the corner of one eye and burning down the side of her cheek.

As her gaze moved from the floor back to her abductor she could see him mesmerized by the appearance of her.

"You are truly beautiful," he said, his voice full of admiration.

Lifting her chin, forcing her arms not to cross in front of her chest, she replied to his compliment by saying softly, "I know…" and for some reason she was unable to stop herself from adding, whispering underneath her breath, "Just like our mother."

Immediately she regretted saying that, afraid that her words might have angered him and as such prevented the successful implementation of a plan that was still only barely in its beginning stage.

"Yes, you are," he agreed after a suspenseful few seconds in a neutral tone of voice. From the way he was undressing her with his eyes it did not appear as if his mind fully registered what she had just said.

"So…" she took a step forward, but as she noticed him increasing the pressure of the death grip on the teenager's neck she stopped immediately and instead twirled around once. "Are you satisfied with what you're seeing," she asked.

The left corner of his mouth moved upwards in a smile and he nodded his head before saying, "If only you know how much." The knife against the girl's neck relaxed until the wrist of the hand holding it was merely resting on her shoulder.

Taking another step forward she raised her hands slightly in the air in what she hoped would be interpreted as a gesture that she was totally harmless. After a few seconds of forcing her eyes to lock with his she asked, "So why don't you come over here or…" She paused and moved her eyes up and down his body in a alluring invitation before concluding, "allow me to come to you and maybe you and I can have some real fun? After all you shouldn't be afraid of little ol' me…I'm no challenge for someone the likes of you."

Nodding his head once, his lips transforming into a grin, he tugged the knife back underneath his jacket and shoved the teenager to one side while saying, "You and me later sweetheart."

She was unable to prevent herself from uttering a soft sign of relieve upon seeing the knife disappearing. She could not help but feel that maybe there was hope for her plan to succeed. After all the fact that she had gotten his attention diverted from the girl was already a huge step towards winning the battle.

Straightening himself into an upright position he walked toward her in the same way that a predator would stalked its prey.

She forced herself to stand still as he crossed the distance between them. Her breathing became labored as she could feel him reaching out for her – she knew that there was now no turning back for her.

With almost unnatural gentleness, almost like he was afraid that she was a delicate porcelain doll that could break at the slightest touch, his hands encircled her wrists for a just a second before slowly starting to make their way up her arms. When they reached her shoulders his hands proceeded to trace a pathway down the front of her chest and only when his palms reached the beginning of her pants did they move to her back where they immediately begun making their way upwards towards her shoulder blades. It was just as his hands came to a rest that his fingers suddenly, without any warning, burrowed painfully into her flesh and with force he pushed her firmly against his body.

Grinning, his hot breath blowing across her face, he stared at her through narrowed eyes for a little while before moving his lips to her ear and whispering, "You deserve an Oscar for that performance Sis, but do you really believe me stupid enough to fall for such a stunt."

Her eyes widened in shock.

Her heart increased its pace.

A cold-shiver raked down her back.

"I…don't know what you're talking about," she tried offering him another untruth and slightly pulled against his grip to test the strength of his hold on her.

The only response was for his nails to dig deeper into her skin until she could feel an intense pain and something warm running down her back. She had to clench her teeth in order not to yell out in pain, but a moan still manage to escape her lips.

"Wanna run that lie pass me again?" he hissed in her ear.

"Why would I lie to you?" she whimpered, her back felt like it was on fire. She was desperately trying to prevent her plan -her only chance for escape – from collapsing altogether.

"Maybe because you have underestimated me…again," he replied and chuckled softly. His lips moved from her ear to her neck where it started to nibble on the exposed skin.

She tried to move a bit, to loosen his hold on her, but instead his hands moved from her shoulders, down her arms until it reached her wrists and with force he pushed them behind her back.

"Uh-uh…now we don't want you to go and try anything stupid," he murmured as his moved his intimate caressing from her neck across her collarbone to the beginning of her exposed cleavage.

Blinking away burning tears she pulled with all her might against his hold on her, desperate to break free, all thoughts of subterfuge gone from her thoughts. An intense fear took control of her heart so that she did not even registered consciously that she had begun to beg by repeating the words, "Please don't," over and over again.

It was now only a matter of survival to her…because survival was all that she had in her life at that moment.