Brian took an hour in the cribs when the rest of the late-shift workers busied themselves around the office. He slept only a few minutes, unable to be deep in sleep with the uneasiness he felt. Still, he tried to rest. Olivia was fine. She was at home fine. And he would see her as soon as the first light of morning broke the horizon.
Nick finally fell asleep at 2:30. The night yielded to an even darker place, one in his mind. The vivid nightmares came unexplainably to him. In one, he saw himself watching every officer in his precinct be shot down by a masked man. The dreams weren't enough to startle him awake, no matter how much he wished they would. They kidnapped him, keeping him in the realm of sleep as a hostage. They played over and over in his mind.
Amanda awoke at 3:00 on the couch, a file spread across her body. Forgetting momentarily where she was, the young woman sat up quickly. The first sound that met her ears was the sound the fridge made when it kicked in. Even that made her jump. Beside her, the lamp was still glowing bright, keeping the shadows on the walls from approaching her.
Lewis used the knife, finishing the bloody cross in Olivia's delicate skin, and then pushed it right below her nose, not on her skin, but very near it. He watched as her eyes took in the sight of her own blood dripping down from the tip towards the handle.
"Funny thing, knives." He reminisced calmly. He was settled.
"They don't give me what I want from you." He finished quietly.
Olivia swallowed the huge lump in her throat, ready to yell the word at Emily. She'd be fighting for her life in a full-body fight soon. She could feel it. All of everything she'd held in was about to come out. She was going to let loose.
As Lewis dropped the knife, Olivia parted her lips in an effort to lure him. If he didn't lean in, she had no leverage to strike from her sitting position.
Lewis enjoyed the new face she gave him. He took his hand and stroked her hair for a moment. Then he put the hand on the back of her head and pushed his lips onto hers.
Olivia's heart almost pumped right out of her chest as she turned her head and yelled the word. "Run, Emily!"
She freed her hands easily from the cuffs as Emily did. Olivia caught Lewis off balance, and she threw her arms around him, the piece of metal so close to slicing his neck. As she clung to him, he regained control too fast for her to react. The only weapon she had was knocked from her hands as he stood up and slammed her into the wall behind him. The air was gone from her lungs. Olivia moved quickly, attacking again to keep him from going after Emily. She threw a weak punch, still regaining air.
"You bitch." He was beyond angry. His tone was deadly as he forgot all about Emily and went for Olivia. He swung hard as her foot caught him hard in the shin.
He leaned over for but a second, and Olivia risked a moment to glance to where the light from the flashlight was disappearing down the stairwell. It cost her. Lewis' fist slammed into her cheekbone, already bleeding, as she looked away. It threw her off balance again, and she breathed out hard to try and get the pain to dissolve quicker than it otherwise would.
Lewis let an angry yell escape as he took advantage of her vulnerability and body slammed her again. She hit her head against the concrete wall as he took her off the ground with force. Olivia had to fight for consciousness for a new reason - Emily. If she were to be knocked out for any period of time, Lewis would go after that poor little girl. He'd catch her and kill them both.
There had been too many people he had hurt. He would never get a chance to do it again - not to her or anyone else. The words her mind had created played over and over.
Before I die alone, let me have vengeance. Before I die alone, I will have vengeance.
His outrage would be another match for her strength. But she vowed she'd fight until one of both of them was dead.
Brian, back at work, glanced at the clock. He had no idea that at that very moment - at 3:54 A.M. - Olivia was in the fight of her life. He couldn't have any idea until he got home and saw what she'd left. Only exhaustion took over his body. The words on the pages in front of him blurred together, creating a new language not he nor anyone else had ever been able to interpret.
Brian just wanted to go home. He wanted to climb into bed with the woman he loved and wrap his arms around her. That way he would know she was safe.
Emily ran. She ran with her heart beating in her throat and her head. Her legs took her as fast as she could down the creaking wooden staircases - through the darkness of the empty concrete structure. She almost stopped when she reached the bottom of the stairs.
Olivia's words echoed in her mind, her badge in her hand, the flashlight in the other. Emily was going to be brave. She had to be - for Olivia. Her body began to move at full speed again as she cut through the darkness of the terminal. She was crying harder than she'd ever cried. There were things that were going to come out of the darkness and get her. There were eyes watching her, she felt.
It was like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. The back of the building did have a broken window, like Olivia said there might be. Emily climbed through it, panting and gasping from sobs as she did. Her feet hit the ground running again, and she didn't stop.
His hands around her throat were the reason for the black spots in her vision. Olivia clawed at the strong fingers, trying to pry them off of her.
"Thought - you'd win this one - huh?" He was wearing an expression of pure evil on his face. His teeth were clenched, spit flying at Olivia as he spoke.
"I - will." She managed to get out, swinging her foot and catching him between the legs.
The grip was loosened enough for her to drop from the wall where he'd held her. She saw Lewis reach for her gun in the back of his waistband as she went for him again. The minute she got it in her hands, she attacked. The first crack of the gun came from the weapon making contact with Lewis' jaw. He stumbled sideways from the blow, giving Olivia time to train the gun straight on him. She was going to kill him.
It was when she pulled the trigger that his body hit her again. Her head hit the wall again as the gun fired into the ceiling. Olivia cried out again.
Emily ran past piles of rock and concrete, terrified of the shadows the dim lights around it were casting. Her legs didn't let her stop, though. The cool metal of the badge in her hands kept her moving. As her chest heaved, Emily reached an area full of junk. She didn't care what anything else in that lot was. She needed to find Olivia's car - just like she'd told her to.
The nice vehicle was parked near a pile of rusty items. Emily fell on her way to the vehicle. It seemed her feet were going too fast for her body. Her hand on the back-door's handle shook violently as she took one last look at the towering grain terminal, scarier than she'd ever seen it.
The door opened, just like Olivia had said it would. Emily didn't sit on the seat. She settled behind the front passenger seat, ducking out of sight.
The gun went flying across the floor of the dark facility when Lewis pinned her arm against the wall. She didn't even glance over at it, but in the time that it would have taken her to do so, Lewis retaliated with a hard blow to her face. The wound he'd created earlier throbbed as he opened it up again. She never had a chance to regain her balance when Lewis used his superior height and weight against her. He pulled her away from the wall only to slam her back into it so hard that her skull bounced off of it.
It wasn't fair how hard he hit. It wasn't fair for Olivia to have to try and overpower a man so much taller and stronger than her. Holding her throat again, Lewis used his other hand to tear at her belt.
"You still - don't get it." He gritted his teeth as he squeezed her throat hard.
Olivia couldn't breathe. She could barely see straight. But she couldn't let him rape her. She wouldn't. The burst of terror and adrenaline she experienced as he ripped her belt pushed her to hit him harder than she ever had. Her foot, though her body lacked oxygen, nearly swept his feet out from under him. He released her, and she fell to the floor, gasping.
Her hands searched for something, anything to help her fight. The handle of one of the tools Lewis had brought up was suddenly in her hand. Olivia picked up the hammer and swung at Lewis as he came at her again.
Before I did alone, let me have vengeance. Before I die alone, I will have vengeance.
Olivia didn't even get off the floor before raising the hammer, catching him in the kneecap. Lewis cried out in pain, and he actually fell to the floor on top of Olivia. She'd never seen him so mad. She set her own face to mirror it, displaying her determination. Her weakened legs kicked at him. Lewis buried his fist in her ribs, suffocating her for a good thirty seconds. Olivia almost succumbed to the pain.
Lewis' blow was so hard that her hand lost its power, the hammer dropping to the concrete floor where she lay. Her hair spread behind her as she laid on flat on her back. Lewis sat on top of her, breathing heavily as he restrained her. She couldn't kick as she lay on her back. She couldn't move with his weight above her, his hands pinning hers.
"Are you going to - beg for your life again?" Lewis heaved.
Olivia set her face as she felt the end coming. She shook her head and let out one word. "No."
He nodded, then. Olivia couldn't even cry when she told herself what was coming.
He wouldn't kill her yet.
Lewis sat up on her, moving so that his weight was just below her chest, settling on her stomach. Her legs were unable to strike him. Her hands moved in vain as she tried to hit him again. Lewis did not react, except by reaching his hands behind him and pulling the rest of the belt on her pants apart.
Then Olivia felt the tears coming again. He would have his way. Lewis always got what he wanted, and this time there was nothing she could do about it.
She knew she had to keep fighting when he moved off of her, like she knew he would. She swallowed hard. He'd have to move from her midsection to rape her. Her face became as firm as stone. Olivia knew it wasn't finished yet. She would fight until he killed her.
He ripped the button and zipper of her pants open, sending horrible shivers through Olivia. She felt so cold. It was going to happen.
When she had gone home only hours before, she planned on spending the night struggling to sleep, Brian next to her. And instead, she was facing death. She was facing death as she looked into the face of the devil.