Chapter Thirty-Two

"You won't get away with this!" Natalie cried out as she looked helplessly between Mitch and 'Michelle' who were huddled together in the corner talking in whispered tones.

Mitch just laughed and took a step toward her, "Oh no? And who's going to stop me? Lieutenant McBain?" When Natalie remained silent, Mitch took that as his cue to continue. "Trust me my dear; I have my own set of plans for the Lieutenant. You see, although I was never all that close to my dear brother Flynn, he was still my brother. I'm sure you remember what happened to him, in fact from what I understand you were there. Tell me, do you think my brother suffered much when Lieutenant McBain forced him off the road and into the water where he drowned? Oh, but wait, you wouldn't know because you were too busy worrying about your husband." Mitch sighed softly. "Natalie I will never understand how you can allow yourself to be touched by the man who helped murder your husband. Is your self-esteem really that low?"

"Your mind games aren't going to work on me anymore. Mitch. I'm stronger then I used to be."

Mitch nodded. "Yes, it certainly seems as if you are. But, that won't be a problem once we are done here."

Hoping that by now John had figured out she was wearing the watch, Natalie knew she had to waste time and keep him talking. "Why didn't you just come after me when you had the chance? Why drag it out with all the notes and photos?"

"Because it's the hunt which is the most fun. You see Natalie, I have been watching you for years just waiting for the perfect opportunity to step and in put my plan into motion. And when you lost the baby everything fell into place. You took off, and John was left alone. All of the pieces were finally in place for the game to begin. The Lieutenant is highly predictable, I knew by watching you and sending him the photos it would enrage him, make him need to protect you, whether you wanted it or not. I knew he would find you and bring you back to Llanview, and I knew that by continuing to torment the two of you, it would draw you back together."

"So, you decided to become matchmaker?" she said dryly partly annoyed at herself for being so predictable.

Ignoring her tone, Mitch continued. "In your life Natalie, I am the god. I decided what family you got put into and I was the one who arranged for you to find out the truth and head to Llanview. In order for me to destroy, I need to create. So, I created your relationship with John McBain. I pushed the two of you together so that when the time came the destruction would be phenomenal."

"But you failed, you never destroyed us."

A quick flash of anger came over Mitch's face, but within seconds was gone and replaced with his usual calm demeanor. "I did not fail, I underestimated. But without wasting time I set another plan into motion. And this one will be far better then anything I could have hoped for."

"You're nothing but a monster." Natalie snapped unable to control herself, but within seconds Michelle flew at her and slapped her fiercely across the face.

"Do not speak to my father that way," she demanded as she raised her arm ready to strike once more.

Mitch calmly went over and pulled Michelle away from Natalie. "Sweetheart you can not hurt my soon to be wife like that."

Horrified, Natalie's face went white and she began to shake. "I will never marry you," she screamed, "You will have to kill me first."

Mitch's eyes lit up in excitement as he went over and kneeled in front of Natalie. "Never say never my darling. By the time we are done here you will be ready to become my dutiful wife. We will be married, consummate our relationship and you will bear my children. Once we leave this warehouse, the three of us will be a family." Standing up, Mitch smirked down at her. "And the added bonus is that Lieutenant McBain will have to spend the rest of his life witnessing the entire thing and remain powerless to do anything about it."

Turning away from Natalie, Mitch faced Michelle, "You know what to do." Without another glance, he strode toward the door and left the two sisters alone.

Staring over at her sister, Natalie took a few deep breaths trying to clam herself. Remembering how Haver had been able to brainwash Jessica, and her recent battle with DID, Natalie wasn't sure what to expect and knew she needed to tread carefully.

"How long has been going on?" she began cautiously wanting to see what she was up against.

Rolling her eyes, Michelle walked over to the side of the room and grabbed a CD player. "Mitch is my father, I do anything he asks."

"Even kill for him?"

"If my father asks I will."

"So, Mitch was the one that killed Ginger?" Natalie asked, needing to know what Jessica had been forced to do.

"Yes. But enough talking, we need to get to work," Michelle said as she crouched down and pulled in the CD player. Remembering how Mitch tended to use music as a method of brainwashing, Natalie knew she needed to act fact before Mitch came back and began the procedure.

"Jessica, this isn't you. You are stronger than this, you need to fight it, come back to me. Mom, Dad, Nash, they are all waiting at home for you…"

Michelle shook her head. "You are wasting your breath."

"Jessica, don't do this," Natalie's voice started to waver as she pleaded with her sister.

"I AM NOT JESSICA," the other woman yelled as she stood up. "I am Michelle, not Jessica, not Tess, but Michelle and the sooner you start to realize this, the better off you'll be."

"You may not be my sister, but I know Jessica is in there somewhere and that she can

hear me…. I know who this whole split personality thing works."

Michelle just laughed evilly. "Jessica is gone Natalie, and no matter what you say she's never coming back."

Natalie knew she couldn't give up, she needed to at least try and reach her sister. "When I arrived in Llanview I wasn't just angry. I may have acted all tough, but inside I felt hurt and unloved. I never had what you had Jess… I never had the father who doted on me, or the mother who read me bedtime stories. Yeah, I had a brother who I loved, but unlike you he was taken from me. I was always alone and always had to fend for myself."

"You can save the sob story," Michelle replied coolly.

"No, I don't care what you say, I know that Jessica is in there somewhere and she needs to hear this. I hated you, it was stupid and childish and I am ashamed of it, but I did. I looked at you as the person who had taken it all from me, the reason I had such a terrible life. Then I found out you were my twin. God, I can not even begin to describe how I felt that day. I had spent my life feeling as if something were missing, feeling as if I as all alone but it turned out I wasn't, I had never been alone. I had always had you."

Michelle's hands started to waver, so Natalie pressed on.

"Don't you get it Jess? You have always been a part of me, we have a connection deeper then anything we have with Mom or Dad, stronger then anything you have with Nash or I have with John, something that's just between us. And I know you are in there somewhere, and I know you can hear me. Jessica, I need you. I really need you."

"Stop it. Stop it. She's not here, stop it." Michelle's voice was frantic and she began to clutch her head.

"I guess you know about the baby now, too. You don't know how much I wished I could go to you because I knew out of everyone you would understand. But, you had enough going on with being integrated so I just took off. I can't begin to tell you how many times I picked up the phone and started to call, just needing your reassurance that everything would be okay."

"Shut Up!"

But Natalie could see she was getting to her and pressed on. "I needed to hear that I would get through this, just like you got through losing Megan. Everyone says I am the strong twin, but that's not true. That miscarriage nearly destroyed me Jess, but you also lost a baby and you were able to move on. But even through I never did end up calling, I thought of how strong you were and knew I could get over this. Don't you see, I survived because of you."

Suddenly the icy demeanor on Jessica's face faded and was replaced with one of confusion. "Natalie? Oh God, Natalie? Where are we? What are we doing here?" Jessica clutched her head and cried out in pain. "What's happening to me? So many awful images."

"Jessica, you need to focus." Natalie began knowing she needed to remain calm for both their sakes. "Jessica," she said forcefully managing to get her twins attention, "You need to untie me before he gets back."

Crossing the room Jessica began to undo the knots but suddenly stopped when she heard a noise. "Is that what I think it is?" she said, panic evident in her voice.

Glancing over at the door, Natalie watched as the knob began to turn. "Someone's coming. Hurry Jessica." But fear had set in and Jessica just froze.

Knowing there was nothing else she could do, Natalie watched helplessly as the door was slowly pushed open.