Chapter 4

Olivia cried out in pain as Stefan threw her to the floor again.

"Where is he?" Stefan shouted angrily, whipping his belt against the counter. The buckle made a loud BANG as it hit the counter top, making her flinch. "You let him loose! How? I want to know how!"

"I didn't!" she cried, trying to scoot away from him. He whipped her across the face with the belt buckle, and she could taste blood in her mouth. "I swear, I didn't! You were with me this whole time!"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, only to throw her back down, right into the counter. Olivia screamed in surprise and pain as her head hit the marble with another loud BANG, and she felt her vision begin to go spotty. In the background, she thought she could faintly hear Stefan laughing. But despite her pain, Olivia knew she had to keep fighting. If Brian was loose, then he would most certainly have called the police by now. All she needed to do was keep Stefan busy until they get there.

Stefan then grabbed her by the hair and violently yanked her to her feet, forcing her to look at him with his firm grip on her scalp. He pulled the gun from his waistband and held it to her neck, glaring at her. But Olivia's head was spinning, and the only thing keeping her from falling to her knees was Stefan's fist full of hair keeping her upright.

"I'm not going to ask you again," Stefan growled. "Where is your asshole boyfriend?"

"I told you I don't know!" she replied, disoriented and half-crying. "I don't know!"

Stefan paused a moment, but only sighed and shook his head.

"William always talked about how you were stubborn," he said grimly. "I guess that that just means that whenever I do find that prick, I'm going to serve you his head on a spike. Would you like that, Detective?"

Olivia didn't answer. She was full-on crying now; the emotional trauma of having an even worse version of Lewis returning had been enough make her vomit, but now this man was threatening to kill Brian, and she was helpless to do anything. Stefan yanked her hair again, and she cried out in both pain and despair.

"It doesn't have to be this way, you know," Stefan said, meeting her eyes. "You could just come with me, like a good girl, and no one you love will get hurt."

For a moment, the two were locked in an epic staring contest, despite Olivia's wavering consciousness. She did her best to meet his gaze bravely, but she knew that he could see the fear behind her eyes. She began to debate whether or not to go quietly-she didn't like the idea of giving him that power over her, but at the same time, what choice did she have? She couldn't allow her friends to get hurt. Suddenly, Stefan crashed his lips against hers, and as repulsive as it was, Olivia knew it was a test. If she pulled away, then he would kill Brian, as punishment for not being a "good girl." But, if she didn't react, then maybe it would be enough to show him that she was choosing to save her friends. So she stood, still as a statue as Stefan kissed her, while she fought the urge to vomit.

Suddenly, there was a bang at the window in Brian's bedroom, and Stefan's head shot up. He quickly tied Olivia's bonds to the fridge and cocked his gun, moving slowly toward the open bedroom. Olivia's heart was beating quickly; was it the police, coming to save her? Or was it Brian, foolishly coming back to try to be a hero?

She never found out.

Before Stefan could make it halfway to the bedroom, someone began beating on the front door.

"Police!" someone shouted on the other side of the door. "Open the door, now!"

Olivia watched Stefan look frantically from the door to the bedroom and back to the door, the panic unfolding on his face. But at the very same moment, both captor and captive remembered that Olivia hadn't been gagged.

"Help me!" Olivia screamed as Stefan sprinted toward her. "Hel-!"

Her cries were cut short by Stefan punching her before she could get the next word out. Her head hit the fridge, and this time the dark spots in her vision began to grow larger and larger as she slowly felt herself slipping into unconsciousness.

As Brian dashed back up the fire escape, David followed closely behind.

"Brian, stop!" David ordered, reaching for his friend. His fingers brushed against Brian's arm, but that was about as close as he got before Brian quickened his pace. "That guy has a gun, and you don't even have a shirt on! How do you expect to be Olivia's knight in shining armor when you're unarmed and half naked?"

But Brian ignored him, and continued to climb. Finally they reached the landing at Brian's bedroom window, and Brian began to climb in, until David promptly pulled him back out.

"She needs me!" Brian whispered harshly, fighting his friend's grip. He knew he had to be quiet to make sure that Stefan didn't know that he was there, but that was hard to do with his friend pushing his anger. "He could be killing her right now. He could be raping her! I need to stop him."

"But you can't!" David argued. "It isn't safe for either of you!"

Brian fought back against his friend, and finally managed to pull his arm loose. But when he did, he accidentally hit the window with his elbow, making a noise that he knew was too loud for Stefan to ignore. He swore under his breath, glared at David, and began to try and jump through the window again, but David held on tightly.

"You're an idiot if you think you can take him!" David cried, but it wasn't enough. Brian wrenched himself out of his grip and tumbled into his bedroom through the window.

The detective immediately got to his feet, but when he got to the door, he heard a violent knocking at his front door.

"Alright!" the cops shouted. "We're coming in!"

Brian ran out into the hall just as soon as the cops broke through his door, but their efforts were in vain; the apartment was already empty. After assuring the police that he lived there, Brian helped them search through his living space, but neither Olivia nor Stefan were anywhere to be found. In the few short moments between a knock at the door and a bang on the window, Stefan and Olivia had somehow managed to get out without them knowing. The two had simply vanished.

Notes: Found some extra time to write the next chapter, so here it is! I can't promise that the next update will be this prompt, but I'll do the best I can! Thanks to everyone for all of your support, and please don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think! Thanks!