WARNING: This is going to be such a dark chapter. It contains character killing and bloody themes. So if you don't have a strong stomach, please DO NOT READ. The rest of you, brace yourselves for what's coming up.

CHAPTER NINE

In the meantime, Sara just finished bathing her son after feeding him his breakfast. She looked at her watch, carried her toddler, and went down stairs to the kitchen to make Brass' pancakes. He would be home in about half an hour.

Before she entered the kitchen, she placed a thick mat on the living room's wood floor just a foot away from the kitchen's opened door, so she could keep an eye on her boy while she cooked the pancakes for Brass and herself. Sara didn't want to put the mat in the kitchen, since it was a dangerous place for children.

Sara carefully put down her son, who was secured in her arms. Then, she placed a few of his toys around him to distract him while she cooked. Once in the kitchen, Sara searched for her apron but couldn't find it. Then, she remembered that she forgot it in Brass' study when she cleaned it this morning, right after feeding her boy. She was about to go to Brass' office, which was right across the living room and opposite to the kitchen, to get it when her son spoke.

"Mama?" he called his mother, his voice so innocent.

Sara turned and smiled warmly at him. "Yes, my love?"

"Gampa come now?" he asked, a set of adorable deep blue eyes staring back at her, waiting patiently for an answer.

Sara kneeled down and cupped his adorable, chubby cheeks in her hands. "Yes, Jimmy. Grandpa will be home soon." she kissed his forehead.

Jimmy squealed delightfully, revealing the only four teeth that grew on his jaws so far, two on the upper jaw and two on the lower one. He, also, clapped his chubby little hands a few times, which made him completely adorable. Sara chuckled at her son's actions. She knew that he loved Brass very much, and she was glad that he did because Brass was a great man. He treated Sara like his daughter and Jimmy like his grandson. Brass had spoiled Jimmy beyond Sara's approval. He would get him anything he pointed at. Jimmy turned out just like Brass suspected. Jimmy had him wrapped around his little finger.

Sara kissed his forehead once more. "Mommy loves you, baby." she whispered.

She stood up. "Mommy will be right back, okay?" she reassured him.

"Kay." was Jimmy's response before returning his attention back to his toys.

Sara turned and rushed to Brass' office, not wanting to leave Jimmy out of her sight more than necessary. When she entered the study, she found it on the arm of one of the two chairs in front of Brass' desk. She went further into the room to grab it. Just as she did, she heard the door of the study close. She turned and saw Charlotte standing, there, with a gun clutched in her hand. Sara's heart raced wildly in her chest when Charlotte pointed the gun at her.

"Nice seeing you, again, Sara." said Charlotte coldly.

Sara backed up slowly until her back connected with the wall behind her. Beside her was a long set of metal drawers, where Brass kept his important files and papers. Brass, also, kept his spare gun in there. It was in the second drawer. But Sara couldn't possibly get it without being shot by Charlotte first. So, she decided to do whatever Charlotte would order her, to avoid being shot and dead. She could not die on her son, he wouldn't have anyone else.

"Charlotte, what are you doing? How did you, even, get in here?" she asked fearfully, her voice trembling.

"You really should lock the back door of your home, Sara. Leaving it unlocked will lure criminals to get in." Charlotte answered, using the same cold tone.

Sara's face lost all color when she realized that the back door of the house was really unlocked. She unlocked it this morning when she went to pick up the morning paper. When she got back into the house, she was planning to lock it back, but as she was about to do so, she heard a crash of glass coming from the living room, so without thinking of anything else, she ran to the living room, searching for Jimmy. She found him standing there beside a broken glass vase, bare feet. So, Sara ran and carried him quickly before any of the broken glass could dive into his bare feet. After that, she rechecked him for any injuries and found none. She thanked God for that, and took Jimmy away from the broken glass. She placed him, securely, in his high chair in the kitchen. Then, Sara picked up the dust pan and brush to get rid of the broken glass and drop it in the trash. By the time Sara was done, she forgot about the unlocked back door. And now, Charlotte came through it to kill her.

"Wh-What do you want?" stuttered Sara.

"I want Grissom to pay, to suffer for taking you away from me, all those years ago." she snapped.

"I don't understand." Sara stated, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Okay, I'll start from the beginning then. Before I met you, Sara, I had no one. Nobody wanted to be my friend. The whole high school used to call me names and make fun of me. And I used to hide in the bathroom everyday in the recess and cry, until one day, you came into the bathroom and saw me sitting on the floor, crying in the corner. You came to me and asked what was wrong. You were the only person who wanted to know how I felt. The only person who cared enough to comfort me while I cried. The only person who became my friend. We were best friends for many years, until Gil took you away from me. And, you agreed to go with him. You left me for him. You abandoned me. You betrayed me. So, I decided that I should make both of you pay for what you did to me. I should punish you both. I made you pay already, Sara, by hypnotizing Gil and ordered him to hate and leave you while allowing me into his life, instead. And after I made him divorce you, lose you, I divorced him. Left him. But that wasn't enough of a punishment for what he did. I'll make him suffer for the rest of his life. I'll take the life of the only person he ever loved. You, Sara. I'll kill you right now, and he will lose you for good. After that, his life would be nothing but pain and sorrow. Losing you, Sara, is Grissom's ultimate fear, and I will make sure that it comes to life. Then, I will be satisfied with the outcome of my revenge." Charlotte revealed her whole plan to Sara.

Sara couldn't believe her ears. How could anyone be so evil and cruel? All that time Gil was under hypnosis and couldn't control his own actions. Gil didn't mean to do any of the things he did to her. And now, she knew why Grissom's eyes carried so much pain and sadness at the university when she met him. It wasn't because he wanted Charlotte, it was because he wanted her. Missed her. But he thought he couldn't have her after what he did to her. What he did not know was that he could have had her, because she still wanted him. She still loved him. But it didn't matter, now, because Charlotte was going to kill her and Grissom will never know how she still felt about him.

"But why now? I mean, why didn't you kill me right after you divorced Grissom? Why did you wait three months to act on your plan?" she asked.

"You were too hard to find. I couldn't track you anywhere. I've been trying to locate you for three months, now, but with no luck. Until suddenly, just like that, I saw you last night at the Bellagio Hotel, you were having a fancy dinner with Brass and the team. I was sitting on the bar stool, having a drink when you showed up. It was like a miracle. So, I waited till you finished dinner, then followed you. I followed you, here, to Brass' home, and I was relieved that I knew where you lived now. So I went to my apartment, showered, thought about what my next step in my plan should be, grabbed my gun, and came back here to finish you." explained Charlotte.

"Charlotte, think about what you're doing, your future. If you kill me, you'll get the death penalty. And your life will be over, too." Sara tried to bargain with her.

"No, right after I kill you, I will leave the country. I already found a new Job in Mexico." said Charlotte.

"Charlotte please, don't do this. I have a baby, he needs me, don't take me away from him, please, I'm begging you." Sara begged, her eyes full of tears.

Just then, they both heard soft banging on the door before Jimmy's innocent voice, that sounded muffled by the door, interrupted them.

"Mama? Mama? Jimmy go mama." he wanted to go to his mother.

"Oh no, you misunderstood me, Sara. I will kill you and your little bastard. He's a part of you, and I don't want to leave any part of you living because you don't deserve to live." Charlotte snapped and continued. "In fact, I will kill your little bastard first in front of your very eyes, so you could watch the life drain out of his body. You could watch him take his last breath. You could watch him die."

"NO! Please, leave him out of this. He didn't do anything to you. He's just a toddler, a baby. He's innocent. Please Charlotte, please leave him alone. If you want to kill anybody, then kill me. I'm the one you want. Take my life, but let him live, please." now Sara was sobbing, begging Charlotte desperately to not kill her son.

"True, he didn't do anything to me, but you and Grissom hurt me bad, and he's a part of both of you, so that makes him guilty as well." with that, Charlotte went to the closed door to open it and shoot the innocent, little boy who was waiting patiently, on the other side, for his mother to come and open the door for him.

The second Charlotte turned her back on Sara to move to the closed study room door, Sara pulled out the second metal drawer of the set that was beside her, and grabbed Jim's gun without thinking of the consequences. Right now, Sara's first priority was to save her son, even if that would be the last thing she did.

As Charlotte opened the door, she heard the metal drawer being pulled open, so she turned to Sara again before she had the chance to aim her gun at the innocent boy. When Charlotte saw the gun in Sara's hands, she aimed her gun at Sara's direction, and shot three bullets without hesitation whatsoever. All three bullets entered Sara's torso. Sara quickly steadied herself by leaning her entire body against the set of metal drawers before falling to the ground. If she was going to shoot Charlotte, she must be in a standing position to succeed.

The loud bullets sound made Jimmy jump, starting to wail as he saw the crimson blood pouring out of his mother's body.

As soon as Charlotte turned around again to aim her gun at the wailing Jimmy, Sara aimed the gun still in her hand at the back Charlotte's head and shot a single bullet. She didn't need to shoot twice as she saw Charlotte's lifeless body fall limply to the ground. The single bullet Sara shot had entered Charlotte's skull, killing her instantly. And after Sara was certain that Charlotte wouldn't be a threat to her son's life, she allowed her drained body to connect with the hard wood floor.

A/N: I know it is a dark chapter, but at least I found a way to get rid of Charlotte. So, let me know what you think. I need reviews.