A/N-Thanks for sticking with me, I know this story is unbearably lengthy. There's just a lot of plot stuff happening behind the scenes, so it needs the tiresome details. Thanks again, and please review!

6:00 AM

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Alec bolted upwards in bed, covered in a cold sweat.

It was that dream again.

It seemed like whenever he was the least bit troubled, he had it. It was always the same, it was him chasing somebody with a bloodied dagger. Truth be told, it scared the hell out of him.

The question was why.

Alec had killed people before, he had few repercussions. But when he had this vision, it truly frightened him. For the two or so years that it had been occurring, he'd tried everything to rid himself of it. Hypnosis, meditation, candles, eyemasks, counseling. Nothing.

He shook the thought from his mind as he pulled the cover up to Rachel's neck. Smiling, he tiptoed from the room and quietly closed the door, leaning against it on the other side.

She was beautiful.

And when she slept, he didn't have to worry about her trying to escape or hurt him.

When she slept was when he was bored.

Alec sighed and padded to the kitchen in his pajama pants, thinking about Rachel as the coffee began to percolate. After her little fit, he'd been thoroughly surprised. She'd been angry, which wasn't all that unusual, but the point and vigor at and with which she'd said it shocked him.

Rachel had been terrified beyond belief, she'd told him that. It hadn't been a lie, he could see it clearly in her face and had felt the quakes of fright that had trembled through her veins. It was quite an invigorating sensation and he'd admittedly a little too hasty. She'd set him straight with her yell. He really hadn't expected it. The tone of her voice sounded distant yet at the same time panicky. She'd been desperate.

And he knew that Rachel hated to show her desperance.

Or any emotion at all.

Alec listened for sounds in the bedroom as he set a frying pan on the stove and readied the ingredients for breakfast. She was still fast asleep.

She hadn't been at all happy about the sleeping arrangements the night before, not that it shocked Alec any. He'd decided that since she would be with him until the death, she had better get used to sharing a bed with him.

Didn't go down well.

First, she decided she would sleep on the couch. He dragged her back by her elbow, with Rachel unabashedly kicking and screaming the whole way there. The second, she'd tried to lock the door to the bathroom and stay in there, but he had a key and she was his within seconds. The same situation happened when she tried to sleep on the carpet floor.

It was when she tried to push him off the bed that he was irritated.

"Listen, Rachel," he grunted, pinning her arms to the bed as she squirmed. "This is completely innocent and it'll stay that way unless you decide to try and get out of it one more time. If you do, I can guarantee that I won't be as understanding towards you or Christopher. Do we have an understanding?"

"I hate you."

Alec smirked and collapsed onto the pillow. He heard Rachel's rough breathing for half an hour before it finally evened out and she drifted off. Only then could he himself fall asleep.

He felt bad for a while that he had forced her into this, but the feeling soon faded. He saw nothing wrong with it. It wasn't like he was mean or abusive to her unprovoked, and she had everything she could ever want. And generally, he was a good…mate, or boyfriend, or husband, whatever. He was strong, not necessarily gorgeous but not ugly, either, and he wasn't above bragging about his wit, either. And he had a sense of humor. Then again, that must be pretty obvious after seeing the way he dealt with Rachel Redford.

You had to have a sense of humor to fall in love with a girl like that.

Alec smelled the eggs burning before he saw them and quickly turned the stove off, cursing his ignorance.

As he doled out amounts on ceramic plates, whistling to himself, he heard a floorboard creak behind him and turned.

"Good morning, Rach-"

He never even felt the lamp hit him before he delved into an inky black darkness…

6:30 AM

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Rachel could only stare in horror at the bloodied head on the floor for a moment.

Oh my God, she thought. What did I do?

Run, a voice told her. Run, get the hell out of here before he wakes up!

If he wakes up, someone argued. Maybe you killed him.

Alec stirred. Rachel instinctively backed away. Her hand was on the doorknob now. Just turn around, get outside, and run. Jackson won't catch you. Alec called him last time. Just go, GO!

She was out. She made it to the elevator as she heard a crash from the apartment that only meant that Alec was awake, and angry.

"Go, go go," she hopped on the balls of her feet as the elevator gracefully soared downwards.

At the lobby, she sprinted outside, not bothering to look first for early-rising employees in the office. There weren't any.

When Rachel got outside, she went straight to the woods, her logic catching her attention. There were two cars, and neither of them would have keys but instead alarms that would screw her over.

She ran for about five minutes before she decided she was clear of the complex. She didn't have much time, she figured, before every employee would be looking for her. That meant that she needed to find a safe haven where she could call the cops and her parents.

Rachel had been running, then jogging, and finally briskly walking for about fifteen minutes when she finally found the main road. Smiling joyously, she began walking more quickly until she stumbled upon a Starbucks.

She threw open the door and ran to the front desk.

"Call the police, please!"

The zitty teenager running the cash register just stared at her, popping his gum. "Uh…what?"

"Call the goddamn police!"

He still didn't move. Rachel slammed the counter with her fist, knowing she looked insane but not caring. "Just call them! It's an emergency!"

This time he scrambled for the phone behind him, dialing 911 as Rachel repeated her emergency. He looked wide-eyed and shocked as she stepped off to the side and slid into a booth. She had a call to make of her own.

Her hand scrabbled inside of Alec's coat and she smiled as she found what she was looking for. His cell phone.

Thank you, Alec, for being such a scatterbrain.

Her thumbs shaking, she rapidly dialed her home phone and was relieved when somebody answered. It was Gina.

"Gina, thank God," Rachel breathed excitedly. "It's Rachel!"

"Rachel!" Gina squealed. Rachel heard the telltale pitter patter that told her everybody in the house was running to listen next to Gina. "Oh, my God, sweetie, where are you?"

"Florida," Rachel paused to take a breath and in the short period of time Gina exploded.

"FLORIDA?" she yelled. "What the hell are you doing all the way down there?"

"I was kidnapped," Rachel murmured after a break, almost ashamed. Was she ashamed? She knew she shouldn't be. Or maybe she was more ashamed at escaping. "Because somebody wanted Uncle Nolan dead."

"So you were a hostage?" Gina rushed. "Where are you now?"

"I escaped," Rachel answered. "I—I think I almost killed somebody." She started to cry. "I hit him with a lamp. What if he dies? Gina, what if he dies?"

"Self-defense," Gina said worriedly. Not for Alec. For her sister's sanity. "It was self-defense. You won't go to jail."

I'm not sure that's what I meant. "But he never hurt me without reason. God, Gina, what if he dies?"

"Sweetie, calm down," Gina urged her.

"Yeah, sweetie," Alec muttered as he firmly pushed her further into the booth, tossing an arm around her shoulder. She stared up into his eyes with obvious horror. "Calm down."

"No," she whispered frantically, shrinking away from him.

Alec gripped her knee and stared intensely into her eyes. A long cut started on his neck and the rest was concealed by his shirt. A lump indicated a bandage and his face was scrubbed red and clean. He shaped up fast. But then, he'd had a car.

He grabbed a napkin from the table and scribbled on it.

She peered over his arm and read it as her chest constricted.

You give your sister a location and I will kill Christopher. I have a phone in my jacket pocket right now, my thumb is over the keypad. With one stroke at your voice, he will be dead. But remember, Rachel…

It's your choice. You or your brother.

Rachel's mind debated over what to do. She could try and stall, but she knew if Alec heard the sirens, he would press the button and bolt. Probably with her along with him.

There was only one option. She had to bluff to Gina, and hope to hell it would work. She'd ultimately have to face Alec back at the apartment, but at least Chris would live.

"Rachel?" Gina yelled. "What's going on? Are you still there?"

"I'm here," Rachel whispered, with a glance at Alec. He smirked and loosened his grip on her knee to a gentle caress. Her stomach lurched. "I need to go—the—the police are here."

"Rachel? Where are you?"

"Fl…." Rachel looked at Alec. He shook his head. "I have to…I need…"

"No, no," Alec continued wagging his finger.

"August 17, 1999!" Rachel cried into the phone. Alec ripped it from her hand and spat into it.

His voice was a low growl as he snarled at her sister. "I hope you're satisfied, Gina, because Rachel will pay dearly for her mistake." He clicked it off and pocketed it.

"Make another noise and your brother is dead," Alec snapped angrily at Rachel, his eyes intensely fixed on hers. He grabbed her arm and tucked it under hers almost lovingly.

He made a sort of sidestepping pattern as he walked out of the café so that the cashier wouldn't notice them leave. Rachel heard the sirens in the distance and her eyes began to flood. No…

Alec tugged her all the way out to his Renault without a single set of eyes falling upon them. Rachel leaned her head against her window in defeat.

His neck had started to bleed again. Furiously, he grabbed a roll of paper towels from the backseat and pressed the whole thing up to his collarbone as he sped down the road.

He was surprisingly quiet the rest of the way home, slowing down a little and curbing smoothly to a stop in front of the apartment building.

When they passed by Jackson's apartment, he was just stepping out the door. He cast a sidelong glance at Alec and did a double-take.

"Whoa! What happ-"

Alec glared at him and shoved Rachel inside their room, slamming the door behind them.

She was feeling strangely guilty again as he motioned for her to sit on the couch. She felt like a small child who'd just tried to run away from home.

Where did that come from? This isn't my home.

Alec sat across from her, hunched over his knees, and pulled out his cell phone. He tossed it loosely between his hands. Rachel clutched her elbows, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to contain her compressed sobs.

"It's Christmas Eve, Rachel."

"I know," she murmured. "That's why I wanted to go home."

"Pardon my French, but that was pretty fucking selfish of you, if I do say so myself."

"Why would that be?" she hissed. "Because I want to spend Christmas with my family and not a crazed possessive murderer?"

Alec lept to his feet and shoved her against the back of the couch. "No, Rach," he growled, waving the phone in her face. "Because you almost killed your brother."

She snorted. "What the hell do you know about selfish?"

He paused a moment, cocking his head and pulling himself off of her. He walked calmly to the window and punched in the too-familiar number.

"I'm going to give you one minute, Rachel, to tell me what you said to your sister exactly meant before I kill your brother."