"Ava, we don't have time for this. I know you love Liz and you still hold me responsible for her pain but if ever in your life you're going to trust me, please trust me now. I will not fail at this. I will bring her back, Ava. I swear it. I love her too, Ava."
Ava let go of her tears and hugged Michael. "She's my best friend, Michael. She's more than a sister. I can't lose her. I can't."
Michael grabbed Ava by the arms and forced her away. "Don't do this Ava. You're not going to lose her. Take Parker until I bring his mother back. Go." He didn't have time. He had to get to Liz. And Liz needed someone strong and in charge.
"Ok. Come on Parker." Ava picked up Parker, who didn't argue, and started back home.
And Max and Michael started off in the direction toward the mountains where Zan had obviously gone.
Meanwhile...
" Come on Liz, you didn't think that getting away from me would be that easy, did you?" Zan laughed.
Liz was groggy her eyes were covered and her hands were bound behind her back. Her legs were also bound at the ankles. She had a horrible headache. She could feel something wet on her forehead that she assumed was blood. It was then that she panicked.
How long had she been out? Was Parker okay?
She remembered arguing with Michael about Parker leaving on his own. After Parker was only a speck in the distance, she finally turned to Michael and she was knocked down. Now she knew that it was Zan.
She struggled to get away from Zan as terror over took her. She tried to use her powers but found she couldn't. Her head hurt and she assumed that she couldn't use her powers because her hands were bound. She was disoriented and that didn't help either. Zan was going to kill her, this she knew. But the horror was not knowing how long he'd torture her before doing it.
So she tried to scream and gagged. There was a rag tied around her mouth. How had she missed that?
"You're not going anywhere, Liz. You're staying with me. We won't be long. I have the perfect place for us. I found it last night by mistake. They won't be able to find us there. They might not even know you're gone yet."
Tears filled her eyes from the terror and hatred but she wasn't going to let him see her cry. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
They walked for about another half hr. It seemed like forever but she kept track in her head. He seemed to walk straight overall as far as she could tell.
Finally he set her down. She heard a noise from behind her. Like rocks shaking on the earth. Dirt hit the side of her face and she panicked. Was he burying her?! She struggled to move out of the way and Zan just laughed.
"Relax. We're still going a ways just moving things out of my way." He was still laughing at her terror.
Moments later, he picked her back only to set her down again only minutes later.
"We're here, my love." Zan ran his hand down her cheek and she pulled her head away.
He grabbed her the hair and pulled her towards him. "Don't-don't pull away from me." He said through clenched teeth.
The anger behind it stopped her from trying to pull away.
He kissed her mouth and she flinched inside. What was he going to do with her?
"Now, lets that this off shall we." He removed her blindfold and it took her a minute to adjust her eyes. It looked like they were in a sort of cave.
"Do you like it? We're going to stay here a while. They'll move on when they think I've taken you away. Then, we'll be free, well I will. You won't live long Liz. And don't worry, Parker will be safe for a while. I'm going to slowly kill everyone he loves. But don't worry, I'll never kill him."
Liz froze. His words played in her head and made her sick to her stomach. She gagged and Zan was forced to take the gag from her mouth just as she began to vomit.
He gave her water to wash it out. When she had everything out of her mouth, she turned back to him. Her hatred and rage toward him showed in every bit of her body and mind. "He'll kill you before you come any where near Parker. Kill me, Zan. Do what you want with me but you won't go near my son! He'll kill you for both of us! You're-" she couldn't get anything else out because he slapped her across the face. She could feel blood in her mouth. Her cheek stung.
"Oh, I'm. Going to kill you, Liz. But not before I cut you some. And just when you beg me to end your life, I'm going to take whats mine. I'm going to make you mine one last time. Then and only then will I slice your throat." He said it all with such malice, that Liz knew he meant every word.
She did the only thing she could think of doing. And that was to scream, "HELP ME! HELP!"
He laughed and gagged her mouth once again. She tried to struggle but it was all done in vain.
Then, she felt the first cut on her right arm. She didn't know where he'd gotten the knife. She cried in pain. Tears ran down her face. He licked at her tears and that only frightened her more.
He took his sweet time cutting her. They were small cuts about an inch or so long but they were a bit deep. He started on her arms, then he lifted her shirt and started cutting at her stomach. Those hurt worse than the arms.
He brought the knife to her face after a long time and told her he was going to take her pants off and if she struggled he'd rape her for hours instead of killing her right off the bat.
By now she was a chocking through her tears. She kept yelling through the gag but only heard her muffled cries which she knew were getting quieter.
The pain was starting to drain her. And twice, she caught herself slipping into unconsciousness.
The first few cuts on her legs startled her awake. And it wasn't until much later that she realized that he had cut the rope from her ankles.
She also realized that blood covered her body and most of it was drying. The cave entrance stayed open and a cold wind was making its way into it.
She was losing consciousness because she was losing too much blood. The cold weather was draining her energy. The thought that she might bleed to death or from hypothermia crossed her mind and she decided that either of those were better than what Zan had in store for her.
Zan was speaking to her but she wasn't listening. He sounded far off to her. His voice was almost a whisper. She fought against the weakness but it was no use.
This went on for a long time. Zan loved having her life in his hands, this she knew. She was giving up. She just wanted to die. She was numb from all the cuts. And that wasn't enough for him because once in a while, he'd slap her across the face or kick her in the stomach. When she tried to struggle all he'd do was remind her of the rape he was planning and she'd freeze in place.
Finally after what seemed like ages, she came alive and not in a good way. Her body went rigged and she fought like crazy against him because she felt him tugging at her underwear. This was it. He was going to rape her. She could barely see out of her right eye, her left had given a while back. The left side of her face was swollen. It hurt to cry out, but she had to give it one last try.
He pushed her legs aside with ease. She was so exhausted that her struggling didn't phase him a bit. And now she could feel his fingers on her. She cried so hard. She tried to yell. She wanted to die. She couldn't die like this. She hated him.
"You're mine, Liz. And I'm going to show you." Zan's menacing voice was at her ear.