| Chapter 41 Both girls led Tara into the great room, and cuffed her into the rack. Evi stared into her face, "Tara, you better snap out of this. He's gonna hurt you," she whispered. Tara just stared past her. Evi sighed and went to stand next to Serenity. Nick was at the table picking out what he wanted to use. "Nick, are you sure this is the best way to do this?" Serenity asked. He glared at her, "It may not be the best way, but it's my way." Serenity backed off, catching the tone in his voice. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of another of Nick's tantrums, once was enough. Nick picked out a leather whip and snapped it a few times in the girls direction to get the feel of it, and to send a not so subtle message to them. He grinned at them when the whip came a little to close and they both jumped back. Then he walked over to Tara, looking in her eyes. "This is your last chance. Wether you're faking or not, this is gonna hurt," he said. She gave no response, and Nick just shrugged his shoulders, "OK, here it goes." The girls glanced at one another, trying to decide how far they were gonna let him go before they stepped in and claimed her. Nick walked around the rack, then with one hand, grabbed the back of Tara's shirt, and ripped it in two, exposing her back. "There, that's better," he said, picking up her braid and tossing it over her shoulder. He took a few steps back, then cracked the whip. Tara never moved, she didn't flinch, she just stood there, the blood from the first blow trickling down her back. Nick was a little shocked at not getting some sort of reaction from her. He really thought she was faking, but now it looked like she wasn't. Nick continued his onslaught, each blow harder and worse than the one before. The girls stopped counting the hits, they couldn't keep up. They were both afraid he was going to kill her. It seemed to be making him angry that she offered no response to what he was doing. He finally stopped and walked back around, staring at her. A single tear trailed down her face, but there was still no emotion behind her eyes. "Well, this doesn't seem to work, let's find something else," Nick said, turning and looking for another form of torture. Evi quietly left the room. Nick didn't pay any attention to her. He found the cattle prod that Serenity had used on him and turned it on, "Let's see what this does." "Nick, you're gonna kill her," Serenity said. He just shrugged his shoulders and walked back over to Tara. He placed the rod underneath her rib cage and hit the button. Tara's muscles tensed under the shock, but she never made a sound. He turned it off and stared at her, "How are you taking this?" Her void green eyes staring back at him. He turned the level all the way to the highest setting, and shocked her again. This time he didn't turn it off. He just stood there, watching her body tense, waiting for her to scream. "Turn it off Nick!" Ephah yelled from the other side of the rack. Nick looked over at him, "Oh, you finally up?" Ephah walked over and pulled the rod from his hands, "I said stop, she's had enough." Nick glared at him, "I don't think you have the authority to make that call." Ephah walked up nose to nose with Nick, "This isn't going by the rules. We have a deal with them, and if you kill her, our deal is broken." "Why are you so concerned? You already got what you wanted," Nick spat. "Because this isn't the way to do this, and you're to new and to stupid to know that," Ephah replied, "Girls, get her down." Nick looked over at the two, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ephah looked back at them, "Get her down, now!" Nick grabbed him by the front of the shirt, "You are overstepping your bounds." "So are you," he said, "You're job in this was to help turn her, not kill her, or beat her within an inch of her life." "I can do whatever I want with her," Nick said. "Not while I'm here," Ephah told him, pulling his shirt out of Nick's hands and walking over to help the girls. The three of them uncuffed her and gently lowered her to the floor, laying her on her stomach. "Go get something to wash this off with," Ephah instructed. Serenity quickly left the room. "Get over here and heal what you did," Ephah said, looking at Nick. Nick walked over, glaring at the other man, "And what if I refuse?" "Then I'll take her back to them myself, and I'll come back and kill you," he answered, meeting Nick's glare. "You don't have it in you," Nick taunted. Ephah grabbed Nick and threw him to the floor next to Tara, "Trust me, you don't want to find out. Now do it!" Nick stared at him for a moment, not sure if he wanted to call him on the issue or not. Ephah had never stood up to him like this, and the look in his eyes told Nick that he meant every word he said. "Fine," Nick said, angrily, turning towards Tara, and placing his hands over her back. Ephah and Evi watched him slowly move his hands from her shoulders, down to her waist. Nick looked up at them, "She gets what I got, that's it." Serenity came back in with a bowl of water and some clean cloths. She and Evi gently washed the blood from Tara's back, revealing several red whelps. They covered her entire back, cris crossing each other, to many to count. Ephah looked at the girls, "Take her to her room and get something on those, and stay with her." Both girls did as they were told, not wanting to be there for the fight for supremacy that was sure to ensue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn was sitting next to Brian, reading a magazine. Kevin, Howie and A.J. were in the room, trying to pass the time. They had moved Brian out of the ICU and into a private room. He was still on several monitors, but at least now the guys could stay in the room with him, instead of camping out in the hall. Brian moved a little, and opened his eyes, looking around. "Hey, how you feeling?" Lyn asked, looking over at him. "Tired," Brian answered, "Did we move?" Kevin laughed, "Yeah, they moved you while you were sleeping." "Oh," Brian said, looking over at Lyn, "You look tired to." She smiled at him, "I'm fine. It's you we have to worry about getting well." Ted walked in the door, "I see the gang is here," he said smiling. Everyone greeted him. Ted walked over to the bed, looking at Brian, "I came to see how you were doing." "I'm really tired," Brian said. Ted laughed, "Well, that's to be expected. You lost a lot of blood, and I'm pretty sure you'll feel like this for a while." Brian nodded, looking up at the TV that A.J. was watching with the sound off. Lyn and Ted continued to talk, until the beeping of Brian's monitors caught their attention. His heart rate was increasing and running in an off pattern. Ted looked down at him, noticing the pained look on his face. "Brian, what's wrong?" he asked. "Pain," was all Brian could manage. Kevin looked at him concerned, "Where Bri, where are you hurting?" Brian flinched and let out a small cry, trying to roll over on his side. Lyn got down to his eye level, putting her hand on his cheek, "Brian, tell me where it hurts." "Back," he said, gripping the pillow tightly. Ted untied Brian's hospital gown and opened the back up, gasping. "What the hell?!" A.J. said. "Oh God," Howie whispered. Brian's back was being covered with fresh hot red whelps. With every passing second, another one appeared. "Kevin, run down to the nurses station and get Lydia," Ted instructed. Kevin ran from the room. Brian screamed in pain, as several more whelps appeared. Ted looked over at Lyn, "Try and calm him down, this level of stress isn't good for him." Lyn nodded and got down so all that Brian could see was her. "Bri, look at me. It's gonna be alright, you just need to try and calm down. Take one breath at a time," she told him, gently stroking his cheek. "I...can't," Brian said, hyperventilating. Kevin returned with the nurse and Ted rattled off his orders to her, then she quickly left the room again. Brian jerked and grabbed his chest just under his rib cage, "Ahh shit that hurts!" "Lyn, calm him down. I'm afraid he'll send himself into shock if he keeps this up," Ted said. Howie came over and tried to help Lyn. He started engaging Brian in meaningless conversation, trying to get his mind off the pain. The nurse returned and handed Ted a syringe. He took Brian's arm and gave him the shot. "What is that?" Kevin asked. "It's a strong pain killer," Ted replied. "I want this added to his IV," he said to the nurse. She jotted down his orders in Brian's chart and went to get the bag to add to the IV. Brian started to calm down, relaxing his muscles. He looked over at Ted through drooping eyes, "Thanks." Ted smiled at him, checking his monitors. Lyn watched Brian until she was sure he was asleep. Ted looked at them, "OK, someone explain to me what I just saw." Everyone looked at Kevin. "Well, he feels what Tara feels," Kevin said. "So you mean that someone is doing this to Tara, and he feels it this strong?" Ted asked. They all nodded. Ted looked down at Brian and shook his head, "Some things I will never understand." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jered walked into Tara's room. "Damn, who did this?" he asked, seeing her lying on the bed. "Nick, who do you think?" Serenity said, angrily. "Why? Did she fight him this morning?" he asked. "No, she didn't do anything. She's flaked out on us, and this was Nick's bright idea to bring her back to reality," Evi said. Jered walked over to the side of the bed and looked at Tara. "Hum, interesting," he said. "We didn't bargain for this," Serenity said, "We wanted a new sister, not some raving lunatic that's gonna reign over us for the rest of eternity." Jered nodded his head, "True. I knew he was gonna be powerful, but I never thought he would be like this." "Well, I hope Ephah talked some sense into him, or we may all be under his wrath for a long time," Evi said. Just then Ephah and Nick came into the room. Ephah had Nick by the arm, and walked him over to stand by the side of the bed. "Look at her!" he yelled, "You say you love her, and then do this to her!" Nick stared down at Tara, "I do love her." "And this is love to you?" Ephah asked. "Um .... no," Nick answered, softly. "So then why? Why do this when she can't even defend herself?" Ephah asked. Nick shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Ephah smacked him in the back of the head, "You are an idiot! We have rules Nick, we have ways of doing things, of getting what we want. This is not one of them!" Nick looked at the man, "I thought you said there were no rules." Ephah sighed, "And when did we say that to you? When you were still fighting us. You're gonna learn that to get what you want, you tend to promise things that aren't true. We all have rules Nick, it would be utter caous if we didn't. There are ways to go about getting her to turn, and so far you haven't touched one of them. You've made her fight us more, and now she's completely out of it. Who knows if she'll ever come back to reality?" Nick sighed and looked down at his feet. Jered smiled at his apparent realization that he had indeed messed things up. "You are new to this, and you have to realize that you don't know everything. That's why you stay with one of us for a while, so you can learn," Ephah said. Nick looked up at him, "But you said that as soon as I turned I'd have control." "You do, but there is a technique to what we do, and you have to learn that," Ephah said. Nick sat down in the chair next to the bed and put his head in his hands. He was frustrated. He felt like he was back in training again. "Nick," Ephah said. He looked up at the man. "We can help you with her, but you have to listen to us. I'm not saying that everything you've done was wrong, but there's a better way to do it. Don't be frustrated, you're enthusiasm for this is a rare find, and in no time you'll be a pro at it, but let us help you," Ephah said. Nick looked over at Jered. "He's right you know. Pretty soon you'll be better at this than I am, but you gotta learn first," Jered said. "Alright, what do I have to do?" Nick asked. "Take care of her," Ephah said, "You feed her, tend to her wounds, be kind to her. Appeal to her softness for you. She loves you, and you can use that against her. You kill her with kindness, then at the most unexpected moment, you reveal what you want from her. By then she will be to much in your control to resist." Nick thought for a moment, then smiled, "OK, I can do that." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian slept through the day and into the evening. Lyn stayed with him, never leaving his side. The guys went back to the house, making good on Kevin's promise to find Brian's wedding ring. They told Lyn that they would call if they found it. She sat in the room, flipping through the channels on the TV, but not really paying attention to it. Her mind was troubled with what Brian had told them. That Jered was delivering a message from Nick, then tried to kill him. How could Nick do something like that? Maybe Jered was lying, just to get at Brian, she wasn't sure. Then there was the fact of Brian's ring missing. She didn't think the guys would find it. Brian never took it off, and it just wouldn't have come off on its own. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Jered must have taken it, but for what reason? To show he'd done his job? Maybe Nick asked for it? Or maybe........ "Lyn?" Brian whispered. The sound of his voice pulled her from her thoughts, "Hey, you still hurting?" "I don't feel anything. That's good right?" he asked, laughing a little. Lyn smiled at him, the pain killer was definitely doing its job. Maybe a little to well. "Yeah, you need your rest," she said. "I gotta pee," he said. She laughed at him, "I'll have one of the nurses come and help you with the bed pan." "No, I hate those things," Brian said, slowly sitting up. He reached up and held his head, "Whoa, is the room spinning or is it just me?" "It's just you honey. Lay back down and I'll go get a nurse," she instructed. "No, please, that's so embarrassing. It's bad enough my ass is hanging out the back of this thing. Please just help me to the bathroom," he begged. Lyn sighed and got up, offering him her hand to steady himself with. Brian slowly stood up, and Lyn was sure he was gonna fall to the floor the way he was swaying. When she was sure he wasn't going to fall, she pulled the heart monitor off his finger, and unplugged his IV so they could drag it across the room with them. Slowly they made their way to the bathroom, and she left him in there, waiting outside the door. A nurse stuck her head in, "Everything alright?" "Yes, he just wanted to use the bathroom, so I took the monitor off," Lyn replied. The nurse smiled, "OK, call if you need help." "I will," Lyn said, as the nurse left. "K, I'm done," Brian said from inside the room. Lyn walked in and gave him her arm as they slowly made it back to the bed. "You are so sweet," Brian said, laughing, "Most people wouldn't do this." Lyn couldn't help but smile. Brian was really cute on pain killers. "That's what friends are for," she said, as she lowered him back down on the bed, and plugged his IV back in. Brian picked up the heart monitor clip and looked at it, "How can this hear your heart?" "It just does," Lyn said, taking it from him, and placing it back on his finger. Brian looked at it, "No it doesn't. Nowhere on that thing does it say that my heart has been ripped out and torn into a thousand pieces." Lyn looked at him, seeing the obvious heartache in his eyes. Hers were the same way, ever since Nick was taken. She had tried to block it out, make herself focus on other things, but it was still there, and Brian's statement brought it right up front. "Bri, I know how you feel," she said. He looked at her, compassion in his eyes, "You're the only one that does. What if they don't come back? How am I gonna go on without her?" Lyn reached over and took his hand in hers, "The same way I'll have to. We just will Brian. We'll just have to support each other, and go on." He sighed, staring deep into her eyes. "Lyn, I'm so tired, and afraid." She sat on the bed facing him and pulled him into a hug, "I know. I am to. You need to lay back down and rest." Brian pulled away, but put his hand on her cheek. He stared into her eyes, as he slowly pulled her face to meet his. He kissed her softly, his lips barely touching hers. Then he pulled her closer, and the kiss became more passionate, their tongues locked in a duel. Lyn finally came to herself and pulled away, staring at him. "Brian...we can't..," she started. He gently put his finger over her lips to quiet her, then pulled her into a hug. He rested his head on her shoulder, and Lyn held him for a moment before she realized he had fallen back to sleep. She eased him back to the bed and pulled the covers back over him, then turned around to see Ted standing in the door. Her face flushed and she hoped that her embarrassment wasn't as obvious as she felt it was. "How long have you been there?" she asked. "Long enough to know that we need to talk," he answered, walking into the room. Chapter 42 |