Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.

Chapter 4

Natalie sat up on the bed with a groan. The past three days had been a haze of confusion, fear, and pain. She looked once again around the tiny room in which she was being held. It only had a small cot with a lumpy mattress for furniture, and only the thinnest of blankets to keep warm with. The walls were bare and filthy with only one window to look out of. It was barred off, of course, so she couldn't escape even if she found a way to bust it with out anyone hearing. The window itself was covered in so much dirt that the light barely made it thru. The ceiling only had a small light hanging from it.

She fought back the urge to cry as she sat there. She didn't know why he was keeping her here, why he was doing this at all. She hated him with every fiber of her being and cursed the day she ever met him. She just wanted him to die! When she had seen him step out of that car she had been shocked. She had believed the man dead and buried up until that moment. Seeing him like that brought it all back. All the pain, the horror, the mind numbing fear had rushed into her, paralyzing her.

The sound of the door opening snapped Natalie out of her thoughts. She grew rigid on the bed as she awaited the entrance of the man she hated more than she had ever hated anyone before. The man that had taken so much from her, the man that had lied to her, played on her weaknesses, on her need for a family.

"Hello Natalie, My dear."

Natalie looked him straight in the eye and replied, "Go fuck your self Carlo."

Carlo Hesser merely grinned at her with that evil little smirk and stepped closer. "Come now, is that anyway to talk to your husband?"

Rex sat on his ratty couch in his run down apartment drinking scotch straight from the bottle. Lifting the bottle to his lips he drank deeply, not even feeling the burn of the alcohol as it slid down his throat. His mind consumed with memories of Natalie.

Flashback

"Come on Natty," 7 year old Rex whined to his older sister. He held her hand as the walked down the busy Atlantic City street. Always in awe of his older sister Rex looked up at her trustingly as he pleaded for her to give him something to eat.

Natalie almost cried at the look Rex was giving her. She didn't understand why Roxy never had any food in the house, she didn't understand why Roxy never seemed to have any money either. What she understood was that Rex needed her and she would get him what he needed. At 10 she was already more mature than most 16 year olds and took her responsibilities seriously. Rex was the one person that love her unconditionally, that she loved completely and she wouldn't let him down.

They were headed to the nearest casino that hosted mostly families. She knew that there she and Rex could sneak some food and the staff wouldn't notice that they weren't guests there. They had been circulating the casinos for a while now doing that and so far no one had caught on.

"I know Rex. We'll be there soon. Just remember, if anyone asks, our parents are playing poker and told us to go get some lunch." Natalie told him, her big blue eyes conveying her seriousness. She had put on her best cloths and put Rex in his too so that no one would look at them and realize they didn't belong.

Rex tightened his grip on her hand as they neared the casino and said, "I will. I'll remember. I promise." His stomach rumbled at the thought of food and he fought back the tears that threatened from the hunger pains in his gut. He was so hungry! But he had Natty and she would get them something to eat. She always did.

Hand-in-hand they snuck into the casino, unnoticed by anyone.

End Flashback

Rex smiled at the memory; they hadn't been caught that day and had made a feast of the food they had found there. They had even managed to take enough home with them to last a couple days. She had always provided for him, even when Roxy was on a 5 day bender Natalie managed to take care of his needs. The fact that he had been on vacation having a great time when she needed him the most tore him up inside, threatened to break him.

God he missed her. He couldn't believe no one had even bothered to call him and tell her she was missing! As quickly as he thought that he banished the thought. He hadn't taken his cell phone and he had only given his contact number to Natalie. It wasn't their fault they couldn't get a hold of him.

A part of him believed that it was all a hoax. That Natalie wasn't dead at all, that someone was playing some sort of sick prank on them all. But since Bo had personally identified the body that just wasn't the case. He knew that in his head but making himself feel it was an entirely different matter. In his heart Natalie didn't feel dead. He sobbed again and took another drink, the bottle more than half empty, and his fingers shaking as he held it to his lips.

"Natalie," he mumbled and then downed more of the fiery liquid. "I'm so sorry, sis."

"You're not my husband," Natalie snarled at Carlo as he continued to smile that twisted little smile at her.

"Ohhh, You wound me to the core!" Carlo said, dramatically putting his hand over his heart and feigning pain. He walked closer to her and brushed her mused red hair out of her face before roughly grabbing the back of her neck and holding her tightly. "You best be careful how you talk to me or I will have to teach you some manners," he threatened in a low voice.

Natalie was angry, scared too, but mostly angry. She tried to pull away and when he wouldn't release her she took a deep breath then spit in his face.

Carlo let her go with a shocked noise before bringing his hand up to wipe the spittle from his face. He looked at the spit on his fingers then at her then backhanded her across the face with a hard blow. "You BITCH!" he swore at her as she tumbled back onto the bed.

Natalie clutched the side of her face with her hand in an effort to reduce the pain but never took her eyes from the furious man. She was terrified of what he might do to her but she wasn't going to cower before him, her pride refused to let him break her like that. She stared back at him defiantly, refusing to cry in front of him.

Carlo was impressed with Natalie's strength. He knew it would take a lot to break her but he would. And once he did he would have her and the entire Buchanan family right where he wanted them. There was a knock at the door and he took one last look at Natalie then left the room. Preparations had to be made and he needed to fully prepare for the next phase of the plan.

Outside Natalie's room

"Is it done?" Carlo asked Griffin, his lackey.

Griffin nodded and replied, "I did like you wanted. I switched Natalie's DNA and Prints in the computer. It was even easier than you said it would be. Tell them dumb cops you are a friend of the Buchanan's and they let you have access to anything!" He smiled a little and then said, "Course the fact that I had a phony badge didn't hurt either." He laughed again. "The dental records were harder to get but I managed to fix them too."

"So they think she is dead?" Carlo asked.

"Yup. First I had to tattoo that dead girl, but with that picture you gave me it was a piece of cake. I can't believe I did the whole thing before someone came to that field. Hell I've never tattooed someone in a forest before."

Carol raised an eyebrow at that statement, "You have tattooed a dead body before though?" he asked with more than a hint of disgust.

Griffin just shrugged and didn't reply.

"Are you ready for the next step?" Carlo asked.

"Yeah," Griffin snickered and then said, "I already started, last night in fact."

Carlo knew what that meant and was pleased. Things were going very well. The plan had been nearly derailed when that stupid serial killer had taken Natalie but since they got that sorted out it was time to continue. Llanview wouldn't know what hit it when he was done with them!

To be continued...