A/N: imagine my "whoopsie" when i realized that i labled the chapter numbers wrong...oh well, either way i'm updating so YAY!

Ch. 29 Crawling In The Dark

"Damn it!" Jason shouted, silencing everyone in the hall.

"Oh, God." Carly said, noticing her friends absence.

"Looks like she got smart and got away as fast as possible." Janine said.

Ignoring her, ran a hand through his hair and looked at Carly.

"Stay here, call me if she comes back."

"Of course." she nodded in agreement. He turned to leave when he felt someone grab his arm.

"No, you don't" Janine ordered.

She had no idea where she was going, but she didn't want to stop moving. She had to put as much space between her and the situation as she could. They were so involved in fighting about her they probably didn't even notice she was gone. Except Jason. He saw her leave, he tried to stop her. She knew if anyone cared that she was gone, it would be him. He seemed genuine, at least to her he did. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that she needed to breathe and she couldn't in that building.

Courtney stopped walking when she heard the sound of water. She looked at where her feet had absent mindedly taken her. She knew this place, Jason had brought her there earlier. Once again, she saw the large house sitting on the island out in the water. Windemere; that's what it was called. It was nice to remember something, even if it was something she'd only learned that day.

She was brought out of her thoughts at the feeling of a sharp object poking at her back. Courtney felt her body immediately stiffen up.

"Listen lady, just give me your money and I walk away; no one gets hurt."

"No you don't!" Janine ordered.

"Janine-"

"You're not going to run after her and drag her back here. That's kidnapping."

"Damn it, do you care about Courtney at all? Don't you understand she's vulnerable out there alone?" he shouted, shrugging her off and taking the stairs two at a time.

He knew she had a decent head start, but he didn't care. It was dangerous enough for her before when she knew there was always a looming danger and that she needed to be suspicious of anyone. Now she didn't even know who to be wary of. Jason knew he had to find her fast, before the wrong person did.

"Listen lady, just give me your money and I walk away; no one gets hurt." a voice said behind her.

"I don't have anything." she replied, honestly wishing she did so she could give it to him and he would leave.

After hearing her words, he removed the weapon from her back and she felt the chill of the blade as he now held it at her neck.

"You think I'm stupid? I seen you around. I know you got bucks." he said.

"I swear to God I don't have anything." she told him again.

"You shouldn't swear to God, honey, he doesn't listen." he whispered near her ear. "Now, if you don't got cash, I know how you can pay me."

She inhaled a sharp breath as he pulled a fistful of hair and used it to shove her up against the wall. Seconds after her back met the brick, he pressed his lips against hers. She pushed at him, but her efforts only irritated him. He pulled back and pressed the sharp steel against her throat.

"Don't make this messier than it had to be, hear?"

After the threat he returned to kissing her, but this time she felt him force his tongue past her lips. Desperate to get him off, Courtney bit down hard and he pulled away with a yelp of pain. Taking advantage of the moment, she pulled herself off the wall and tried to get past him. Her head snapped back as he grabbed her hair once more to keep her from getting away.

"You show me respect you worthless bitch." he emphasized the last word by bringing his open hand hard across her face.

The force was enough to turn her head, and she felt her cheek begin to throb and knew there would be a mark left. All the emotion she'd been feeling the past few days, since she woke up with no idea who she was, since she learned she would probably never feel complete again and no one could help her, all of it, came surging through her veins at that moment. Without having the slightest chance to control it, he fury erupted and came out in her forcefully shoving him away, with a strength she didn't have until then. Once she had the space between them, a fierce shout, familiar to a battle cry escaped from her as her fist connected directly to his face and was followed by a perfectly executed roundhouse kick.

He grunted as her foot smashed angrily into his gut, the air left his body and he crashed painfully to the ground. For a moment, she looked down at him, breathing heavily and with pure hate and viciousness in her eyes as she contemplated adding more to his beating. Once the moment passed, the adrenaline began to fade and she could only stare in wonder at what she'd done. How did she do that? Courtney didn't even know what she was doing until it was over.

She hear him move around and knew he would recover soon and be madder than before. If she was going to get away, now was the time. Quickly choosing a direction, she took off running. She didn't get far before colliding with another body, knocking them both to the ground. The man regained himself and pulled himself up to his feet but saw the cause of the spill was still down.

"Wow, you sure were in a hurry." he joked, and bent down to offer her his hand. "Here let me help you."

"Don't touch me!" she demanded, without looking up at him. "Stay away."

"I'm not going to hurt you." he said and tried once more to get her to accept his help. "Are you ok?"

"Fine. I'm fine." she shouted at the stranger. She was lying, she wasn't fine. Now that she was away from it, the full realization of what happened as well as what almost happened came to her. Without a warning, she felt him grab her by the arm and pull her to her feet.

"Are you sure you're- Jeez, you're shaking." he said after she was standing before him. She was looking down, and he was worried. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." she lied again.

"Obviously not. Look, I'm a doctor. Let me help, here look at me." he put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. He felt the blood drain from his face as he saw her completely. He hoped it was the scarce amount of moonlight, or he was seeing things. But he didn't take the chance. "Alright, fine. You're fine, just...go."

After she felt him back off, Courtney took off running as speedily as she could once again. The man stared after her for a few moments in shock. It couldn't be her. It wasn't. Was it?