Chapter 21


The house was eerily silent as Natalie walked through the door. The ticking of a clock was the only noise to be heard as she walked into the house, smearing a bit of blood on the doorjamb from the cut she had gotten when she had cut her hand on the gate in front of Bo's house. Slowly Natalie made her way through the foyer and to the staircase that went to the second floor. Her footsteps muffled by the thick carpeting.

At the top of the stairs she paused her body trembling as if fighting some inner battle. After a long moment the trembling stopped and she continued on her quest. Walking down a long hallway she passed room after room until she reached the one she wanted. With no other sound but the even breaths she took she opened the door and walked inside, the razor sharp blade in her hand flashing, reflecting the moon light against the cold steel.

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Carlo had followed Natalie into the house, wanting to see this moment of glory. His revenge would be devastating to those he sought to destroy. Killing a beloved member of the Buchanan clan would be like a killing strike to the entire family. After tonight they would know that loss that he lived with every day. They would know the seething hate, the burning need to make those responsible suffer. It would all end tonight... and while he was off drinking tequila in Mexico they would be morning and grieving wondering why their precious Natalie would do such a thing.

Ahhh Dear Natalie. Once his wife, though in name only, now the instrument he used to carve out his revenge.

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John arrived at Llanfair slightly before 10pm so he figured that there would be someone still up at the mansion. He was unsurprised that it was Jessica and not Vicki that answered the door when he rang the bell.

"Hey, John," Jessica greeted him. Something wrong? Is it Natalie?" she sounded a little panicked as if she was expecting something to be wrong.

"No, I'm just here to get the rest of her clothes. She said she left some in her closet," John told her reassuringly.

Jessica was a little confused, "Why isn't she picking them up?"

John smiled and explained, "She was so exhausted that she fell asleep. I figured I would just pick them up and let her sleep."

Jessica nodded, knowing that Natalie had indeed had a long day. Dealing with Vicki's grief over Crossroads was exhausting on both the mental and physical levels. She let John in and led him to Natalie's room, "You need any help?"

John looked relieved and said, "Yeah that'd be great." He didn't exactly know which clothes were Natalie's and which weren't.

Jessica figured that this was the perfect time to talk to John about her concerns about Natalie's behavior. "John, have you noticed anything strange about Natalie lately?" she asked as she started to empty one of the dresser drawers into a large suitcase.

"Not really. She has been a little preoccupied but that I think that's normal for all she has been through." John answered as he made his way to the closet. When he opened the door he noticed that most of the clothes were already gone but there were several shelves with shoes and a couple bags on them. Reaching for the closest bag he turned his head to Jessica and asked, "Why? Has she been acting weird with you?"

Jessica shrugged and said, "its nothing specific but she keeps forgetting things and the other day she couldn't remember where she was the night before. Sometimes she gets this look in her eye like she is hearing something that I just don't hear."

He didn't think that it was anything serious, just Natalie being preoccupied with something. Jessica did tend to over react to things.... Until he opened the duffle bag he was holding. The stench of gasoline hit him like a punch to the stomach. "What the he.." he murmured almost under his breath.

Jessica heard his stunted exclamation and turned toward him quickly. Then the smell of gas assaulted her nose as well and she rushed over to the bag and grabbed the clothes from inside. "Jesus! Look at this!" She examined the clothes and knew that they were what Natalie had been wearing last night... the night before Crossroads had burned down. "John you don't think that Natalie...? No she wouldn't! Why would she?"

John was at a loss. He knew that this looked bad, really bad. Natalie just wouldn't have done this, she knew how much that place had meant to Vicki, and she wouldn't have burned it down. No matter how mad she could have been at her mother. "I don't think she burned down Crossroads. She wouldn't have burned down any building."

Jessica wanted to believe him but the fact that Natalie had gas soaked clothing and that she had hidden it in her closet told a different story. "I want to believe that but how do we explain this?" she held up that shirt and shook it in under his nose for good measure.

"I'm sure Natalie can tell us why she has these." He hoped so anyway. He hoped that love wasn't blinding him to Natalie and what she was capable of. There must be some explanation for the clothes. "I'll call her right now," he said taking out his phone and dialing his own number, knowing that Natalie would be asleep he let it ring a bunch of times. After more than 30 rings he hung up and looked worried, "she's not picking up."

"She has someone guarding the door right? We should call him and tell him to check on her." Jessica urged him.

John nodded and dialed the number for the guard and waited. When the ringing began he started to get worried when no one answered. "Damn it!" he muttered. "Pick up, come one pick up!"

Jessica watched him, her eyes widening at his muttering curses and at his frantic dialing. "What is it? What's going on?"

"He's not picking up." John told her frantically. He grabbed the clothes from Jessica and turned toward the door, "I'm going over there," he told her.

Jessica wanted to go with him and had her coat on before he could get to the door, "I'm going too!"

Together they raced out the door, worried about Natalie.

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Matthew slept soundly, not noticing Natalie creeping into his bedroom slowly. Her eyes blank, her movements slow and measured. Her arm hung loosely at her side, the knife clenched tightly in her hand. Her footfalls muffled by the thick, lush, carpeting as she made her way to the bedside. The moon shown brightly in the room lighting up the way.

The mirror across the room reflected the light and Natalie's image.

Carlo watched from the doorway, his face in a twisted expression of glee. He suppressed his gloating laughter so he didn't startle her.

She stopped at the edge of the bed and Matthew stirred. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked, confused. "Natalie?"

She didn't reply, instead she raised the knife and lunged forward, the knife descending in a slow but sure ark.

"Natalie?" his voice shrill and frightened, "Natalie, stop!" He scrambled back on the bed till he hit the headboard, nowhere left to go.

The knife caught the moonlight with a flash, catching Natalie's eye. Suddenly she slammed back into full consciousness and let out a gasp of horror! "Oh My God!"

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John raced up the stairs to his apartment only to stop short when he saw the dead guard. Jessica almost ran into him at his abrupt stop. "John?" She questioned. She gasped in horror. "Natalie!" she said rushing past John only to be brought up short by his hand on her arm.

"No," he said, pulling out his gun and slowly going to the door. The door was slightly open and the lights out. He used the tip of the gun to push the door open and slowly entered the room. After a slow but thorough check he knew that Natalie was indeed gone. Thinking she had been kidnapped he got on the phone and called Bo, who was still at the station.

"I need you to locate Natalie's phone on the GPS." He said by way of greeting when Bo picked up.

"What? Why?"

"Natalie's gone and the guard outside my room is dead," he explained quickly.

That was enough for Bo. Going to his computer he punched in Natalie's information and brought up the location. "She is at my house," he told John, puzzled by this. "I need to finish booking a suspect then I will meet you there."

John agreed then hung up the phone. Seeing Jessica's worried look he said, "She's at Bo's" I'm going over to get her. Stay here until the officer gets here. I don't want anyone touching the scene."

The request was unusual but Jessica followed it with out question. Her heart filled with worry as John raced out the door.