Chapter Seven:

MOTEL

Bailey sat in the dark. The bathroom floor was cold. She leaned against a wall. Tears slipped down her cheek. She wrapped her arms around herself. She closed her eyes. Still, that damn memory came.

"I didn't mean to," Bailey whispered to no one. "I didn't mean to kill him."

Remembering that night, that man broke her. If she hadn't done what she did, she would be dead right now. She was fortunate that he only beat her beforehand. He couldn't get it up to rape her. She was grateful for that, and who would even miss that sick bastard? She should be glad that he was dead. She should be glad that she killed him. "I am a monster," she cried.

FLASHBACK

"Still feeling sick?"

"A little bit." She turned away from him and looked back out the window.

"I also heard that you haven't made an attempt to get out of bed."

"I don't want to. Besides, I'm under arrest, aren't I?"

"Bailey…"

"What? What do you want from me, Matt? What?"

"Bailey." He sat down on her bed. "You're not the monster in this."

"I am a monster, and I should be locked up."

"You're not."

"No? Tell that to the people that I killed." She looked at him.

MOTEL

"Who are you?" Bailey rubbed her forehead. "I know you. I just can't remember. Matt? Matt? Matt what?" She sighed. "Why can't I remember you?"

If she had found someone like him to connect to, she could have held on. She could've been more human, but he was a stranger. And she was alone. Maybe, just maybe, it was better this way. This way, she could become what she knew she was deep down inside. A monster.

MOTEL ROOM NEXT DOOR

Nathan Petrelli was on his cell phone as his brother sat on one of the beds. Matt sat on the other bed. There was a cot by the door. He would be damned, if he were the one to sleep on that cot. He glanced at Matt, who watched him carefully. Nathan returned to the phone conversation and said, "Tuck the kids in for me, and tell them that I'll be home soon. I love you." He disconnected the call.

"Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Matt. How about you take the cot?"

"Excuse me?"

"Bailey."

"What about her?"

"If you had handled her, we wouldn't be here right now, chasing her, and I would be with my family."

"Nobody is keeping you here, Nathan."

"Knock it off. Both of you," Peter snapped at them. "I'll take the damn cot." He stormed over to it and lied down.

"Pete?"

"I don't want to hear it, Nathan. We have to focus on Bailey." He closed his eyes for a moment. "It's funny."

"What is," Matt asked him.

"I can sense her."

"You can what?" Nathan stepped closer to him. "She's not here in this motel. Is she?"

"I think Peter's right," Matt said. "I can sense her, and…"

"And," Nathan asked, annoyed at the pause. "What?"

"Sylar," Matt exclaimed.

BAILEY'S MOTEL ROOM

The door to Bailey's room opened. A shadow slipped inside. The door closed a moment later, and the shadow danced quietly over to the bathroom. It paused, noting the light underneath. He knew that she was in there.

"And here I thought that you were not broken like the others." Sylar now stood over Bailey. "I guess I was wrong." She awoke in terror. "Hello, Bailey."

"Sylar!" He covered her mouth a second later, and then slowly, so very slowly, he crept away. "Just kill me already. Do it!"

"What if I don't want to kill you?"

"Then, what do you want?"

"I want HRG and the Haitian."

"HRG is in New York, and I don't know where the Haitian is."

"I'll start with New York then."

"What about me?"

"Not yet. There's something that I want first."

"What?"

"Peter Petrelli. You've been following him and the others around."

"So?"

"So? I saw how you killed that guy while sitting in HRG's car. You didn't even touch him."

"I know. I'm a monster," she cried.

"No, Bailey." He gently lifted her chin up to him with his hand. "I'm the monster, and if you want to live? Then, kill Nathan Petrelli and Matt Parkman. Leave Peter to me."

"If I don't?"

"Then, I'll do worse than kill you." He slowly moved away from her and left the motel room.