Chapter 14

Her body froze in shocking terror when she heard the sound of Gwen pulling the trigger. This time, Gwen's Russian Roulet wasn't off and the bullet escaped the chamber and flew into the open matter of the air. There was a small string of white smoke at the tip of the pistol and an unsatisfied looked passed over Gwen's face. In an unconscious stir for survival, Theresa had moved out of aim of the gun pointed at her, barely escaping the hard blow of bodily, and deadly, harm.

The bullet launched from Gwen's gun and flung past Theresa, skimming the empty space between her ear and the air only inches away. With a sharp ZRAN, the wall behind Theresa harbored a copper bullet and a hole butchered into the drywall, collapsing and sending pieces to the floor with flecks of white paint.

"You just had to move, didn't you?" Gwen's voice was harsh and the hatred was no longer maskable by her futile efforts. The very pulsation of her vocal cords just sent signals of loathing out through her throat. "Don't you know that this would all have been over if you just stood there…" Gwen's gun was low at her side and Theresa was thankful that yet again she had escaped unscathed.

Gwen not fully paying attention, Theresa took her moment to flee. Gwen, immediately, reacted and pulled her gun up and popped open the empty chamber. Quickly pulling out two bullets from her pocket, Gwen fixed them into their beds and pushed the gun closed with a run after Theresa.

They headed quickly into the front room that Theresa had entered through and ran past the sheet- covered furniture. Theresa scrambled around a coffee table and Gwen took her aim, pointing the gun and with a tight squeeze, the trigger fell back and the bullet plunged into Theresa's body with a harsh sound and penetrating pain. The shot pushed her to the floor, the gun in her hand flying into the air with the force ramming into her so quickly.

For a brief moment, a shocked Gwen stood motionless at the opposite side of the room from where Theresa was. She couldn't believe that she had finally done it. A deep sense of pride washed over her and she approached her nemesis who had fallen to the floor with the impact of the shot. There Theresa lay, her small body motionless and defeated and Gwen enjoyed the site of dark red liquid spilling from Theresa's shoulder. She hoped it caused the pain she imagined and more. After all, Theresa deserved it.

Stepping closer to the beaten Theresa, Gwen pressed her foot into Theresa's side and kicked her over onto her back, pain instantly shifting into Theresa's arm where her shoulder hit the floor. Theresa took in a soft breath, the expansion of her ribs pulsating somehow up into her arm, defeat overtaking her body.

"Why are you doing this?" A weak sound emerged from Theresa's lips. Energy was escaping her body quickly and her eyes fluttered open and shut, Gwen's vision above her slowly fading and reappearing. Everything around her seemed to be blurring and shifting in and out of focus. There was a hard weight over her right side and she could feel the warmth escaping her body, wet and spilling out her life behind her.

Gwen couldn't believe the question. Hadn't she figured it out yet? Her hateful stare seared into Theresa and it was as if her eyes, once brown, had lost all color and light and had gone completely black, losing the outline of her pupil within the darkness.

"Let's just say it's vengeance… for the life you stole from me." Her eyes were cold when she spoke, void of any feeling or remorse. "You know, Theresa, I should kill you. Just be done with it…." she said viciously while she knelt closer, the gun pointed at Theresa's forehead. "Just one shot and it would all be over for you…" Gwen was quiet and she contemplated seeing a dead Theresa before her. "But I won't. No… I think better to let you suffer the way you've made me suffer all these years. You can bleed to death for all I care. I won't kill you, not matter how much you're gonna want me to." A piercing stare reflected from her black heart and Gwen gave Theresa a last poignant smile before walking away.

Theresa's eyes were barely open as she watched Gwen turn from her and suddenly something inside of her burst. Ignoring the scorching pain in her shoulder and the frenzy of her nerves, Theresa quickly picked herself up and grabbed the gun that she had let fall across the floor when Gwen shot her. Her body had definitely taken the impact of the bullet and as she stood Theresa could feel her legs shaky with the innate bodily reaction for the need to survive. Swiftly, Theresa walked to her enemy and raised the gun high into the air, ready to strike. Gwen hadn't heard the sounds of Theresa's movement and as her mind wandered with happiness over the finale of Theresa's life, she was struck over the head.

Theresa had bashed the handle of the gun hard into Gwen's head, making Gwen hunch over as if she was pushed. The quick jerk reaction released the pistol in the blonde's hand, sending it spinning across the floor, far away for any more damage to be caused. It all happened so quickly that Theresa barely noticed the hand that was soon flying at her. Gwen launched her shoulder backward, slamming her hand across Theresa's cheek, slapping her face red.

The fight was on.

The room was dark, just as it had been when Ethan and Pilar were alone in their trapped universe. Matt had pulled a cord to some black unknown object and immediately all power in the room went out.

"Matt!" Luis yelled at him.

An embarrassed Matt looked apologetic and as if he had gotten caught with his hand in the forbidden cookie jar. He didn't answer Luis and when he caught his eye in guilt, he pointed to Pilar who was still locked inside the cage. Luis glared at a finger-pointing Matt realizing that the genius lawyer had no idea that he was the one that held the electric cord dangling in his hand.

"Matt, what did you do?" An exasperated Ethan asked. He had definitely learned that Matt's gift was in the courtroom, and only in the courtroom. His lack of knowledge in almost everything else practically made him a menace and at times, quite childish and ignorant.

He looked almost confused and bewildered when he answered Ethan's question. "I--I…," he stuttered, pointing quickly from his chest to the cable in his hand. "It just--" Luis yelled at him and told him to plug it back in seeing how it was the light power source of the room. Matt had heard what the lieutenant said but he didn't pay attention as he again stared at the mysterious object that he unplugged.

What was it?

Luis was losing his patience and when he spoke a second time to Matt and told him to replace the cord in the socket without a response, he'd had it. The singing had almost made him lose it on the way to the cabin but this was over the top. Breaking out into a random song could be understandable to a point. It was obviously a habit but to blur curiosity into stupidity went beyond Luis' tolerance and patience was no longer considered a virtue when it came to Matt. Pilar could see the fury behind Luis' eyes and while she understand it completely, she also had seen how truly interested Matt was and because she considered her own curiosity, she ran to the bars blocking her inside of the cage and urged at her son.

"Luis, don't--" It was then that she realized that even though the dark room was the same as before, there was something significantly different about it all. Sometimes it was hard to block herself and remember the fiery barrier. Her palms grasped two bars between her fingers when she pleaded with her son and it was then that she realized that nothing happened.

There was no spark; no burning; no electricity. There was nothing at all. Her hands felt as normal as ever and when Luis finally noticed the shocked look on his mother's face and her hands on the once-dangerous bars, he gasped. "Mama!" he cried. "You're-- you're touching the cage."

Pilar removed her hands and stared at them intently, inspecting them and wondering why she felt nothing. Could it be that the electric shocks flooding through the rough metal had finally ceased? Or was it that Gwen had finally pushed the little red button on the remote? Or perhaps, someone else…? Millions of possibilities were spreading throughout the room and everyone's attention was on the bars of the cage. It was odd how it suddenly didn't work anymore. And for a brief moment, it seemed that everyone in the room had suddenly lost a few brain cells and their capabilities to think about the entire situation in retrospect had suddenly died.

All hands were on the bars, inspecting and asking questions about it all. All hands except for Matt. He still held the dangling cord end in his hand and too wondered what was going on. He remembered what Luis had said and finally decided to abide. He moved closer to the socket and with a push, he pushed the prongs back into their respective holes and it was then that he regretted it.

Everyone else in the room jumped and screamed when the flashing, burning sensation flooded their nerves. Palms blazed in pain and the purple-white electric marks were once again stemming over the black, welded monstrosity. The single light bulb overhead flickered back to life, illuminating the room with a brightness that helped them all see a little better. Once again the subtle humming returned to the room and Matt pressed his hearing closer to the big thing next to him and wondered why it was making that sound. Again Luis yelled at him and cursed him for being so stupid.

"Didn't you see us touching the damned thing! We were right there, Matt!" It seemed to be a never ending cycle between Matt and Luis. Matt screws up, Luis yells a lot.

Matt looked hurt and disoriented at the same time when Luis' bellows reached him in the corner. He stood from his crouch on the floor and tried not to listen to the insults coming from Luis. "Luis, wait," Ethan began. When Luis turned his attention to the half naked Ethan in the cage, Matt seemed relieved. "Matt, take it out."

"Huh?" The quick change in subject confused Matt and he stood there with the same look on his face that didn't seem to leave. "Take what out where?" Luis rolled his eyes.

"Take out the plug." Ethan was on to something and slowly, Matt did what he was told. The room went dark again and the sound stopped. A soft thump filled their ears when Matt dropped the cord to the floor and stood to watch Ethan's next move. All eyes were on the him as he lifted his hands back to the cage and grasped the bars between his hands. Ethan grasped around the solid bars as his thumbs curled onto his fingers. Everyone waited for the usual painful and screaming reaction to accompany his touching the electric cage. There was none.

The electricity was off.

Immediately, Ethan let go and turned to Matt. "Plug it back in." Keeping his distance, Ethan still watched the bars in front of him intently when Matt connected the cord back into the electric port. He saw the white veins flow through and the light above him sputtered on. Mark looked from Luis to Matt to Ethan and then back to Luis, silently asking for answers. Luis was just as confused and Matt couldn't possibly be more lost. Pilar was the only other one that had figured it out as a brazen smile slid across Ethan's face.

"That's it," he said, figuring out the solution to their dilemma.

"Of course!" Pilar exclaimed as she walked towards her cellmate. "It's a generator."

"Mama, what are you talking about?"

Pilar excitedly turned to her son, happy to explain. "That thing," she pointed out the mysterious black object in the corner next to Matt, "is a generator. It produces electricity when you plug it in."

"Yeah," Ethan chimed in. "They're used for emergencies, power outages, alternate electric sources really. The only thing I can't figure out is…." he walked from his place at one side of the cage to the corner and looked up and around any opening he could, still keeping his distance. Sure enough, there were four electric cords leading from the top of the cage to the four corners and down the spines to the floor where they traced around to the generator where it was all connected. He had wondered how Gwen managed to electrically charge the synthetic cell and now it was all so clear.

"Matt," Ethan said again, turning his attention back down from the spiraling twine above him. "Unplug it again."

"But I thought you said--" he contested.

"Matt, just do it!" Luis scolded. Agitated and tossing his head back and forth in annoyance, Matt crouched back down and did as he was asked, unplugging the generator and sending the room back into darkness.

"Hey, Luis!" Ethan called.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know how to pick locks?" The cage might have been benign now but it was still locked and they were still trapped inside. The bars were starting to haunt and there was only so much blackness and confinement one could take.

Luis had already figured out what Ethan meant when he asked the question and took out his lock pick from his pocket as he walked to the front of the cage where Gwen had once entered her key. A sharp object went straight in first and then Luis used a small hook-like instrument. He jumbled around and after a smooth turn, the lock clicked open.

They were free.

They didn't need any goading from anyone and Pilar and Ethan practically raced out of their confinement. She ran quickly into her son's arms and he held her tightly, grateful that he was holding her at all. When Theresa had first told him about what happened between Pilar and Gwen, Luis was fearful that he would never see his mother again.

"All right, Matt," Ethan said as he closed the door to the miserable cage that held him for many days, "turn it back on." With a slow push, Matt illuminated the room and the buzzing sounded again, telling everyone to stay away from the cage. As everyone was relishing in their recent accomplishment, the next sound they heard wasn't joyous or happy but it filled all of their hearts with dread and fear.

It was an empty sound, bland and yet so full of meaning when it fell upon their ears. It was one of the most unmistakable sounds in the world and even though one may not have heard it before, they all knew that it was the sound that only a gun could make when it was fired.

It was.

The loud shot crashed into the empty air and resonated throughout the room. Ethan's heart immediately stopped and the sound could only mean one thing for him: because of him, a woman was going to die. Terror was all around them now and Matt suddenly had the urge to grab onto to someone tightly.

Pilar's fearful eyes wandered around the room and met Ethan's, passing him the same scared feeling that he felt. Luis reacted just as a cop would and started giving orders on what to do. "Mark, I need you to do something for me."

"Sure, anything." Mark was worried but he also knew that it was his job and this was all far beyond a regular stakeout. It had just blown up to complete gunfire warfare.

"I want you to take my mother out to the helicopter and keep her safe. Can you do that for me?" Mark nodded and walked over to Pilar in a protective stance. "Ethan, you and Matt follow Mark and I'm gonna go look for Gwen so--"

"No!" Ethan protested. "No, I'm not going anywhere! That's my wife in there and I'll be damned if I leave her now!"

Luis saw the determination in Ethan's eyes and he saw something else: love. There was always something between his sister and the man that stood before him, he knew. Some kind of connection that neither could fight nor deny and yet, it was one of the most compelling and magical things he'd ever witnessed.

"Please, Luis," Ethan begged. This was too important for him to let it go; especially his family.

Luis eyed Ethan for several moments, debating over what to do. One thing was for certain, they were all worried about Theresa and all wanted to get to her. Only one thing mattered. It didn't matter how but just as long as they got to her in time… if only it wasn't too late by then. Quickly shaking his head with his thoughts, Luis looked back up to his pleading brother-in-law and nodded in approval. "Okay. Mark, you take Mama out to the chopper. I'll go around the perimeter and get in through the front door. Ethan, you can go through inside and see if you can find Theresa and Gwen." It was then that he realized that there was still one other person and he dreaded even having to address him: Matt.

"What about me?" an inquisitive Matt asked with a curious face.

Luis let out a harsh breath and turned back to Ethan, speaking and asking him at the same time. "Matt, you go with Ethan…" He seemed grateful to get some kind of important duty rather than watching the helicopter-- that was boring. He wanted part of the action. Ethan nodded when Luis spoke, accepting the invitation and waited for the next move to be made. Time was running short and Mark and Pilar had already crawled through the window in the bathroom. Luis was about to follow when he turned back to Ethan. "Ethan," he called, "protect my sister."

Ethan and Luis shared the same shielding stare. "With my life." With that, Ethan and Luis took their separate ways on their own mission. Luis had taken Mark's gun and crawled out through the window, readying himself for whatever may come his way. Ethan, on the other hand, had no weapon nor did he care for one. As soon as Luis was out of the room, he and Matt followed their adrenaline into the danger that lie ahead. Only one thing mattered now: Theresa.

Almost as if in a kickboxing match, the two women were fighting ferociously. Gwen passed Theresa a vicious right hook that landed on her cheek and the gun that she held in her hand went flying across the room, well out of sight--both a good and bad thing. Theresa struggled to plant several hits on Gwen and she only managed a few. Her shoulder was on fire and every move she made only increased the temperature, scorching the muscles and bones in her arm with an invisible inferno.

As Gwen struck Theresa with her fist again, Theresa fell to the floor on her injured arm, the scream of pain loud and piercing. Gwen smiled to herself and wiped her lip to check for blood as she crouched over Theresa again. Her hands clasped around Theresa's throat, clenching tightly and chocking the air from her lungs. The idea of letting Theresa simply bleed to death had been discarded when Gwen knew that she couldn't trust Theresa with such a task; she had proven to fight back and it would be to her death.

Writhing in fear and fight, Theresa clawed her nails into Gwen's arms and used every amount of force she could to release herself from the suffocating grasp. A few gasping breaths left Theresa's mouth and Gwen was getting tired of the flailing attempts. Still holding onto her throat with one hand, Gwen punched hard into Theresa's wounded shoulder and Theresa screamed fiercely again, her body almost going into shock when the pain soared through her nerves. Countless ideas to get loose were flooding Theresa's mind and none seemed to work as the adrenaline dashed through her veins with the instinct to fight for survival. There was no more oxygen in her lungs and suddenly Theresa's knee bucked upwards and pushed itself into Gwen's thigh with a bruising force that escalated into a trivial limp.

The kick to her sciatic nerve sent Gwen toppling to the floor and setting Theresa free. Her lungs gulped in air and her throat was bruised with finger marks. The fall may have put distance between the two women but it wasn't to last. As soon Gwen hit the floor, smashing her forehead into the hardwood, she turned over in an instant with even more fury than she once had. She launched herself at Theresa again, trying to grab her throat and Theresa fought back, scratching and punching whenever she could. Gwen pushed Theresa into the wall from behind and Theresa's elbow plunged back into Gwen's ribs with a crack. As Gwen fell to her knees, Theresa kicked her in the stomach and as she made to kick again, Gwen grabbed her foot and Theresa slipped to the floor, landing on her back.

Her reaction was as smooth and as swift as that of a cat when Gwen lifted herself from the floor and stepped on top of her enemy. Gwen's heel kicked at Theresa's shoulder and tears fell from Theresa's eyes as she yelled in agony. The bullet between her scapula and pectoral danced around and pressed against fibers of her build, scratching in pain and tearing at nerves. Barely escaping Gwen from sitting on top of her again, Theresa rolled away from the crazy woman and got to her feet just in time to avoid a punch from Gwen's fist. Gwen tried again and knocked Theresa down, falling along with her. Theresa fell chest down and as she looked up she saw the dark weapon glinting at her.

Gwen stood from her fall and was ready to jump on top of Theresa when suddenly she turned with a gun pointed at her chest. "Don't!" Theresa yelled, shaking in fear.

Gwen immediately stopped, a smile hiding her panic. Theresa held the gun in her right hand and her left took over as she shakily pushed back hair from her face. As both of her hands grasped the gun, she slowly stood from the floor, not taking her aim off of Gwen. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her nemesis and her body took in unsteady breaths as she realized the moment surrounding her.

Gwen's head fell back in an evil laugh as she watched the terrified Theresa slowly inch towards her, gun in hand. "Gonna shoot me now?" Gwen's playful eyes seemed to mock Theresa as she walked closer still. "Come on. I dare you." Theresa wasn't in the mood for Gwen's dares and her anger and fear built up together as one that made the situation more intense. Theresa had gotten close enough to Gwen and she pressed the gun against her temple, wanting nothing more than to finally end the whole thing: one squeeze and it would all be over.

"WOO!" Gwen squealed with mock thrill. "C'mon, Theresa! Do it! Pull it! Pull it! PULL IT!"

The emotional torrent running through Theresa only made it that much harder and in her rage, she pulled back the hammer with her hand and pushed the tip of the gun harder into Gwen's forehead. "Shut up! Just shut up!" She hadn't realized that she was crying until she spoke and tasted the salty tears on her lips. "No, Gwen-- YOU WILL NEVER HURT ME OR MY FAMILY EVER AGAIN! EVER!"

Gwen smiled again. "You can't do it, can you?"

Theresa held the gun between her palms and she was shaking as tears racked her body with emotional agony. The time had come and she couldn't do it. Gwen's evil smile was glaring at her and she had all the power in the world. She held the gun in her hand, she was the one that could end it all… and she couldn't do it.

"You know, Theresa, you will never be rid of me. It's already over. Ethan, how could he ever love anyone that was too weak to do what was needed? And Little Ethan… well, you'll never find him. You're life is over, Theresa, and you still can't do anything about it, can you?"

Theresa swallowed hard and tightened her grasp on the gun between her hands. She was crying and shaking and she wished she could summon the courage for what she needed to do. "Where's my son?" Gwen laughed again, taunting with contentment and not answering the question that was posed of her. "Where is he!" Theresa pressed the gun harder into Gwen's head, cocking it to the side. Gwen still said nothing and Theresa had now realized that the animal within was born and her finger was a muscle short of pulling the trigger when she was interrupted.

Ethan and Matt burst into the room, glad to see Theresa alive, but they stopped feet away from the women when they realized the situation in front of them. Gwen was kneeling next to a standing Theresa who had a gun in her hand. Gwen's life literally rested in Theresa's hands.

"Oh, my, God! Theresa!" Ethan cried. Theresa looked at him with a tearstained face and she shook when she turned to him and then back to Gwen in front of her. "Theresa, no! You can't!"

Theresa stared at Gwen as she spoke. "I have to, Ethan… I have to…" Her words were slow and carried a sound of crying and anguish.

"Please, Theresa…." Ethan tried. "Just-- just think about this. Think about what you're doing." His hands were reached out in an attempt to calm her and he was as scared as she was. He looked at Gwen and she seemed to be pleased with herself. She knelt before Theresa and said nothing with a simple smile across her face. "Theresa, please, honey, put the gun down…"

"No, I can't!" she screamed. "She'll kill me if I don't! She'll kill you! She'll kill Little Ethan and Mama! NO! I have to, Ethan! This is the only way…" Tears were falling down her face quickly and her body was shaking as anger, rage, love, hate, adrenaline, and fear pulsed through her body.

Gwen was enjoying what she saw and she took pleasure in seeing the pain she was causing Theresa with the demise. "Do it, Theresa! Do it! I dare you! C'mon! C'mon! Pull the trigger! DO IT!"

"Theresa, don't," Ethan said softly. The concern in his voice was unmistakable and he prayed with everything in him that she would listen.

"Pull the trigger! C'mon!" Gwen taunted again.

"AHHHHHH!" Theresa screamed as she pulled her hands to her head and stomped in frustration. Demons were mocking her and she didn't know what to do. Voices were saying one thing, she was saying another, Gwen was telling her what to do, and Ethan was begging her. The dormant animal inside of her was fully alive now and she had to fight for herself and for her family.

This was the only way.

"What's the matter, Theresa?" Gwen asked sarcastically. "Can't do it, can you?" She waited for an answer even though she knew she wouldn't get one. "Of course not. It's always the same with you, Theresa. You don't do what you need to. Just like that night at your house. You needed to fight; fight for yourself, for your family, for your child and you let me beat you plain and simple. It couldn't have been any easier. You didn't want to fight. You wanted me to kill your baby, didn't you?"

"SHUT UP!" Theresa yelled at her. Her eyes were spilling tears extremely fast.

"No, Theresa. You know it's true." Gwen spoke with such and extreme calm that it was chilling. "You let me beat you that night. You didn't care about anyone but yourself."

That was it for Theresa. Her wrists aimed the gun and with a loud shot, the bullet was fired…