Thank you everyone for your patience. Busy time of year but I found some time to write this morning. Also I've made another playlist on 8tracks if anyone is interested. It's called "Come Away Little Lamb" but you can find it under the following tag or trigger girl tag. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think!

It seemed like for the first time in her life, Liette's mind had been left blank, thoughts stolen out of her head by the blackness that came from chloroform. Thoughts began to spill back in as the darkness lightened and the agent began to sense that she was becoming conscious again. The return to life was slow and shaky, her mind tempted her to stay in the haze but her returning thoughts pushed her until she opened her eyes.

Slowly a new setting swirled into view. Liette's eyelids fluttered over her eyes before she squinted to try to bring the room into focus. Fumbling hands reached up to straighten the glasses that sat askew on her face, their disarray caused by the previous struggle that Liette slowly pulled back into her mind.

Keep it slow.

Remember what you can.

Remember.

It was a lot harder than her mind wanted to make it out to be. Her brilliant mind could only remember the things she had studied or actually paid attention to. Flickers of the moment signaled off, like bright red flare guns in the night but they weren't enough. She could see the hall of the hospital, Mike in his bed, and Hardy's face when he had left them alone. These were the things that she could remember. There was nothing about the man who had taken her or where she was now.

As the room came into full focus, Liette took in her new surroundings with heavy breath. She was laying flat on her back on a queen sized bed in large, furnished bedroom. The bed was made underneath her, a crimson comforter with gold details. The room was filled with dark mahogany, furniture including two book shelves, a coffee table and a wardrobe.

Upon realizing that she was alone in the foreign room, Liette began to make her move to sit up. Her first attempt was a failure, her muscles still feeling week from the black unconsciousness that she had just dragged herself from. This was certainly not something she had been trained for. Still, Liette resisted panicking, her mind begging her to even as she steadied her breath and tried to remain calm. There was no denying who was behind this but freaking out about it wouldn't get her out of here any sooner, in fact it would just draw attention to her.

On the second attempt to get off her back Liette managed to sit up straight and swing her legs to the side of the bed. Her head felt dizzy with the after effects but more breathing had her stabilized enough to stand. Her legs wobbled slightly, causing her to find strength in the post at the foot of the bed. Liette wrapped her hand around the wooden spiral post to find her footing before she stepped away, her body moving towards the light of the bedroom window.

The light outside was dimming, the sun setting in the distance to create a pink and orange skyline that would have been beautiful had Liette not found herself captive here. Nothing about the yard she peered into gave her any hint as to where she was. She only figured out that she was on the second floor of a property that was clearly hidden by a tree line.

How would anyone find her out here?

With no help from the window, Liette decided to move to the door. Her shaking hands reached for the doorknob only to see it turn before she could grasp the cool metal. She jumped back slightly as the door opened in her direction. Stumbling, she found herself braced by the same bed post that she had used to stabilize herself before. Her eyes remained on the doorway to see the face that appeared before her once the door was fully open.

"Well, good mornin' sweetheart."

A blonde stranger stood in the doorway, Liette staggered back a little bit more when his words hit her ears. She prayed this was all the dream and she searched for cognitive control. The problem was that Liette felt more in control of herself than she ever could in dreaming. Even in childhood she had been the type to get lost in nightmares and suffer from frequent night terrors that had scared her mother half to death. Liette knew what it felt like to be locked in a nightmare and this just wasn't it.

This was real.

"Actually I guess I should be sayin' good afternoon. You slept for quite a while." the man chuckled to himself. He had a smokey voice, one that reminded Liette of home. It wasn't the usual tone that she was used to but it wreaked with a hint of something Southern. The way he carried himself seemed to suggest that too. A good Southern gentleman. Of course, the young man before her was likely neither good or a gentleman. After all, good people don't chloroform and kidnap FBI agents.

"Who are you?" Liette's voice came out stronger than expected, her consciousness coming back to her fully in a sense that she could stand up straight without wavering. She was already making assumptions about the man before her, guessing that he was one of Joe's. But he wasn't Joe and that made Liette strong. No matter where she was she wasn't with Joe. He was locked in a solitary cell somewhere away from here, somewhere where he couldn't get to her.

"You can call me Roderick, everyone does."

"Roderick Usher." Liette caught Joe's influence without any help. Another bit of Poe. Just the thought of Joe giving little nicknames to all his followers made Liette sick. She pictured them there in visitation with him, separated by a thick glass panel and connected through a telephone. Joe's curious smile would flicker across his lips every time he trapped another young soul in his game.

"Just Roderick." the blonde chuckled "Why don't you change into something more comfortable and I'll give you the grand tour? There's a bunch of clothes for you in the wardrobe." he spoke as if Liette were staying in some sort of fantasy resort and not the prison she perceived this as. Liette watched as Roderick stepped towards her but she held her ground, even as he came close enough to touch her. "I apologize if nothing is to your liking, the girls picked stuff out based on what you used to dress like. This isn't quite the modest Liette that Joe told us about." Roderick laughed to himself as he reached forward and touched the hem of Liette's dress, his fingers grazing her thigh slightly.

"Don't touch me." she slapped his hand away while moving a step back away from him. Liette knew she had very little power here and that even if she got away with snapping at Roderick, there were probably more around this house that would come to his rescue.

"Little more feisty than he said as well. I like it." the sick grin didn't leave Roderick's lips, even as he stepped back to give Liette some space. "I'll be honest, I never quite understood what you could offer Joe but maybe you've turned into something greater than that shy little school girl he fell in love with."

The reminder was enough to make Liette wish she was still unconscious.

"Take you're time, I'll be back in a bit to collect you." Roderick said, as if Liette was a collectors item that needed to be polished before it was to be displayed and showed off to the public. "The others will be happy to meet you."

Without another word Roderick stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Left alone once more Liette raked her fingers through her hair as she often did when she was nervous. No comfort came from it now. Moving around the room in a panicked state, she tried to figure out the best way to get out of here. She had no idea how many of them sat beyond the safety of the door but she did know that she had no interest in taking Roderick's private tour around the facilities.

Thinking quickly on her feet Liette moved into the bathroom and turned on the shower, not stepping into it. She then quietly moved back into the bedroom to go through the wardrobe. Her mind tried desperately not to think about the fact that Joe's followers had put together a closet full of clothes that not only fit her but suited her. Her body hadn't changed much since college but at the same time Liette couldn't help but wonder if they had somehow kept up with her to create the wardrobe in front of her.

Throwing her thoughts away with the awful white lace dress she had been forced into, Liette changed into a pair of tweed slacks and a plain white button up shirt, both looking to be the most movable items of clothing. Shoes were less convenient as it seemed Joe's girls had picked out all heels or boots for her. She picked the boots with the smallest heels and quickly slipped them on. Her breath heaved in her chest, her heart thumping so loudly that she could hear it clearly.

With one more sharp breath she moved to the door.

Shockingly, it opened without a struggle or a creak. She moved into the empty upstairs hallway, shuffling quietly towards the bannister across from her. She leaned over it, noticing bodies crossing in the hall downstairs, moving about the house as if it were nothing more than a family home. No one looked to be patrolling the place, but simply moving about, doing daily activities.

Liette's eyes shifted around the upstairs, moving quietly in order to make sure she didn't draw attention to herself. The sound of the shower back in the room would hopefully keep people from assuming that she was still getting ready.

As she slunk along the bannister, moving towards the spiral staircase on the left side Liette had to hold her breath when she heard the thud of shoes hitting the stairs below her. Her first thought was to tear back to the bedroom where she had come from but that would only put her right back where she started. Liette was sure that she wasn't interested in buying her time here. Whatever reason they had for kidnapping her was not really something she wanted to stay around to find out. Instead, she slipped into the nearest room, hiding for a moment, her breath becoming shallow so she could listen for the footsteps to become distant again.

The thuds stopped in the upstairs hallway. She was trapped.

Turning to the room she had moved into, Liette had to quickly silence her involuntary gasp with the palm of her hands. She hadn't realized it before but this room made it quite clear; she had been here before. She had been here with Joe.