As Nina watched Rufus leave the shed, she felt hope seep out of her. He had just taken her to the bathroom where she attempted to wash herself using the measly sink. No one was at that park at that hour- that was the point to getting up so early.

And Rufus deposited her back into the shed, where he tied her a bit tighter than last time. She slumped down uncomfortably in her folding chair and felt tears well up in her eyes again and miserably wished she were far from there.

She was quickly aroused from her thoughts when she heard a loud creak, and saw someone standing in the door frame. Expecting Rufus, she was utterly surprised to find it was Fabian!

She gasped and was midway through yelling, "FAB-!" when he rushed to her and kissed her full in the mouth. Fabian seemed to forget that Nina was tied to a chair and frankly Nina did too. A few tears streamed down her face as he continued to move his lips over hers.

But all too soon he remembered where they were. He pulled his head back and apologized, his face turning red.

"I'm, I'm, I'm so happy to see you Nina," he said trying to explain his behavior.

She smiled in agreement, "Fabian, please, let's get out of here before Rufus comes back," she begged.

Fabian began working on un-tying the ropes that bound her to the chair.

"How long have you been in here?" he asked.

"Only two days," she said trying to sound nonchalant.

"Two days? Of THIS? That's terrible!" Fabian replied, scandalized.

"Are you done with those knots yet?" she asked, ready to be free.

"I'm trying!" he replied trying to work as fast as he could. Then he thought of something else,

"Nina?" he asked carefully, "he didn't… um… hurt you, did he?"

She understood the implication. "Luckily no- I was scared for that though. He did take a handgun out once though. I totally thought that I was a goner," she said, her voice moving up and down in dark emotions.

Fabian shook his head. He was semi-relieved. But mad at Rufus. If he ever saw him again, he didn't know what he'd do!

Fabian gave up on the knots and grabbed a biology scalpel from his bag and sawed at the rope as he and Nina continued to talk.

Fabian explained what happened to Amber and Patricia. Nina was sorry to hear they were in the hospital, but was so happy that Patricia wasn't dead that she literally laughed. They both shared their stories and eagerly discussed theories on why Rufus had kidnapped the girls.

Fabian kept looking at Nina, so happy that she was alive and well. He saw that these few days had been hard on her, since she had a constant crease on her forehead. She also looked a little sallow that must have something to do with the fact that she was probably hungry and had been in the dark for several days straight. But as the morning light streamed in through the shed doors, he saw her face turn from a pale white to the pinker color of her natural complexion.

Despite all she had been through, she was smiling now at Fabian.

"There!" he cried when he finished sawing the ropes with the scalpel.

Nina could have kissed him again, but didn't. She didn't want to make things too awkward- since they weren't even going out. Plus, she was eager to get as far away from the dreaded shed as soon as possible. Fabian helped her up and together they left the shed.

In the fresh, yellow morning light, they walked through the forest. They progressed slowly, though, because Nina was a bit wobbly from all those solid hours of sitting.

Suddenly, Fabian stopped. "WAIT! We need to rescue your necklace. Who knows what could happen if that gets in the wrong hands," he said seriously.

Nina had to agree. Though more than anything she wanted to make her way back to the House and recover, she settled instead for leading Fabian to the abandoned warehouse where she hid the necklace.

Fabian saw that she was having problems walking so he put an arm around her waist and supported her.

"Not a lot of sleep- huh?" he asked conversationally.

"Nope, too scared. Every time I feel asleep, it felt like I would fall right into a nightmare," Fabian was a sympathetic guy who projected himself into the situation. He imagined how terrible it would be to be kidnapped. Her real life was worse than any nightmare.

"You?" she teased, not expecting the answer he would give.

"Zero hours of sleep in the past three days," he responded cheerfully.

"No way. You'd be dead."

"It's true! I haven't slept at all since you've been kidnapped,"

Nina faintly blushed but quickly paled again. She saw that they were already at the abandoned warehouse and felt a now-natural aversion to the place.

"You don't have to go in, I could retrieve the necklace," Fabian said reading her thoughts.

"It'll only take a minute," she said shaking her head.

"I'll come with you then," he replied.

And with that they walked in. But upon looking at the warehouse closely, she noticed that something was different. The boxes were gone along with the chair and blankets. All that was left were some pipes and splintered pieces of wood.

Nina headed straight to the corner where she hid the necklace, suddenly fearful that it was gone. But she didn't have to worry, because it was still there tucked in the natural crevice the floor made with the wall.

"Fabian! Look! I have the necklace!" She cried. Then they both walked toward the door. But before they could leave, Rufus jumped in front of the door and blocked their exit.

Nina screamed.

Fabian stepped protectively in front of her. Why did Rufus have to show up now? Recalling his anger toward the cursed man, he recognized that he couldn't do anything because Rufus was holding his handgun.

"Oh good. Thanks for finding the necklace for me," Rufus said cockily, nodding for Nina to give it to him.

Nina hesitated, but tossed the necklace over.

"Good. Good," said Rufus contentedly scanning the scene before him. And without another word, Rufus closed heavy metal door. With two loud "clunks," Fabian and Nina knew that the door was now locked and they were trapped in the warehouse.

Next Chapter Coming Soon!

Again, constructive reviews REALLY DO make me write faster.

Responses to some reviews:

Ashley and TheTroopandGACFan: If there is one thing that I hate- it would be cliffhangers! (I hate to use them because it makes me feel hypocritical :P) Sorry I keep leaving off with those but the show does it that way (which is SO frustrating)! :]

Water Wolf 100 and E-nony-mouse: Wow! That was exactly the direction I was heading! Hopefully that doesn't mean I'm being too predictable, though.