Chapter 18: Twisted

Disclaimer: I still don't own either show but I'm currently the proud owner of Voldemort's wand replica and that's pretty awesome in my book.

Here's another chapter I hope you enjoy reading it!

The pain was strong, the pain was everywhere, the pain was uncomfortable, and the pain woke her up. Her knees ached and her hands hurt, her head felt about to explode and she had a weird sensation in her shoulders and she could feel dampness in her neck, she tried to change positions and go back to being unconscious, she felt really tired and drained, but she couldn't move, absentmindedly she wonder why, not really interested in an answer, her only focus going back to sleep, her room seemed darker than usual and then out of nowhere the conscious part of her brain snapped and reminded her about her current situation, she opened her eyes only to find herself looking at a pair of very blue and curious eyes.

The mob man or as she had discovered he named himself, the poker deck assassin was intently looking at her and he said in an above whisper voice "-Good, Miss Berry, you're awake! I thought you we're going to sleep longer but it seems you're as anxious for our little dance to start as me-" then he moved away from Rachel, she could hear little metallic noises but nothing else, her writs were shackled to the ceiling leaving her balancing on her tiptoes, trying to run wasn't possible anymore, she could hardly keep herself steady, she looked around taking in her surroundings, the place looked like a cave, it was small and smelled a little damped, it was illuminated by a single candle light which created very creepy looking shadows, she didn't know how much time she had been unconscious, she couldn't see any kind of light to calculate the time, she felt the assassin coming closer to her and she tried to scream when she saw him setting a table in front of her, full of sharp looking tools and a couple of blunt objects, but her scream couldn't pass her tightly duct taped shut lips.

He spoke in a low voice, as if afraid someone would listen in "-I don't think I have properly introduced myself, my name is Liam and I have committed terrible crimes, all of which I'm sure you know all about, no doubt Detective noisy informed you-" Rachel made an strangled noise, the assassin replied "-Sorry, my dear. I didn't catch that-" he pulled the duct tape from Rachel's mouth and she had to bit her lips to keep from making any noise "-His name is Detective Reagan-" said Rachel stubbornly, Liam laughed out loud and continued his speech as if she hadn't spoken "-Did he tell you I killed his wife? Actually...-" he chuckled softly "-Did he tell you I tortured and killed his wife, right in this very spot" he walked to the table and picked a long piece of leather. "-You see I reserve this place only for my most special victims, not everyone can see the inside of my, for lack of a better term, mancave-" Rachel eyed the belt like instrument in his hands and decided it would never touch her."-Her name was Linda-" he continued pacing around her "-She was older than you, but still incredibly beautiful and strong too, a real fighter, she had no idea her husband had been tracking me, and of course, he had no idea how close he had come to find me-" Rachel tried to find a way out of the situation but unless she had some secret Slayer powers she had no idea what she could do.

Liam continued pacing and talking as if he had no other concern in the world "-Of course I had to retaliate, and well, what better way to make him suffer than to kill his wife, at the beginning I was only planning to kill her in their house and leave but the woman had to put on a fight, and what can I say, I like strong willed women-" he licked his lips and continued in a voice so sweet it was making Rachel sick "-So I took her, I brought her here, exactly in the same position you are now...-" he suddenly stopped, both looked to the left, at what Rachel assumed was the entrance of the cave, they have heard a loud noise outside, but it was very brief and they couldn't distinguish it, the assassin shrugged and continued "-She begged for her life, you know, and for that of her unborn child-" Rachel gasped and stuttering said "- You killed a pregnant woman?!-" there was eco of panic in her voice.

The assassin walked closer to her and whispered in her ear "-No love-" then looking directly at her eyes said "- I tortured, then killed a pregnant woman-" he let out a booming laugh that felt unbearable in such an enclosed space, then out of nowhere Rachel felt a blinding pain across her exposed thighs that made her scream, the assassin laughed harder "-You scream loud love, I like it, and by the way that's not the worst I can do-" he approached her and ran his finger from her forehead to her chin and back up again, Rachel shivered in disgust, he laughed and whispered in her ear "-So young, so inexperienced...I'm going to enjoy you so much-" he licked her earlobe and she made a gagging noise, he laugh again and walking away from her said "- Soon you'll be begging me to touch you like that if only to stop the pain-" Rachel hissed "- Only in your perverted dreams-"

There was another noise coming from the entrance it wasn't as loud as the first one but Rachel could clearly hear it, apparently the assassin couldn't. She also saw a ray of light or so she thought, maybe it was just wishful thinking that made her see and hear things, "- Where was I? Oh yes! I was telling you about Linda, did you know she offered me sexual favors in exchange of her freedom...such a silly girl, she couldn't understand that when I see something I like, I take it and when I take it, I brand it as mine forever-"he said in a voice that could be considered seductive in another situation but in that moment only managed to freeze her blood, he pulled her hair and tried to kiss her, Rachel shook her head violently and tried to fight him off, keeping her mouth shut until she felt something very sharp stabbing her on her left side, she let out a scream and the assassin took advantage of her open mouth to force his tongue inside hers, Rachel bit him hard. He staggered backwards and shouted "- You're gonna pay for that, stupid bitch!-" he picked something from the table in front of her then went to the wall and began heating one of its tips in the candle light.

Rachel desperately tried to free herself, she had an inkling she wasn't going to like whatever he had planned for her, she looked around looking for a way out, any way out, she rattle her shackles but they were too tight on her wrists, she heard muffled steps coming form the entrance and this time she definitely saw a ray of light coming in, actually she saw a blinking light becoming bigger and she knew someone was coming weather was to help him or her she didn't know but she knew she had to keep the assassin distracted a little bit longer.

She began rattling her shackles and thus the chain that connected them to the ceiling, creating noise to cover the steps, the assassin looked over his shoulder and said "-Keep it up love, it won't bulge-" his attention returned to the candle and the object in his hands, Rachel heard the steps coming closer and decided the rattling wouldn't cover them enough so she started to talk as fast as she could "-You don't know that, I have a lot of determination, I'll have you know… I'm president of many clubs at school, and I helped my show choir team make it to nationals and I am very driven, there's nothing I set my mind to that I can't achieve, actually a lot of my classmates hate that about me, they say I'm very annoying or that I bother people with my mere presence, I don't think I do, I just know that I have my objectives very clear in my head and everything I do is with a clear purpose in mind, although getting kidnapped by you was never in my plans but hey, things happen for a reason, right? And when a door closes a window opens and all that jazz and you should expect the unexpected but by the way, if you expect the unexpected wouldn't that make it expected because…-" Liam interrupted her by slamming his large hand on the wall "-God, you are annoying, I liked you better when you were unconscious-" he turned and looked at her, "-But then again unconscious girls don't scream-"

Rachel became very quiet; she didn't know if the steps had stopped of if she had stopped listening her whole focus was in the object in Liam's hands, clearly it was made of metal, from a distance it looked like an old candelabra; currently the bottom looked bright read after being so close to an open flame. The assassin was walking slowly towards her but she couldn't make a sound, her eyes where glued to the letter stamp he was holding, now she could see the seal clearly and a panic attack began forming in the back of her brain. "-I told you that things that are mine, remain mine for eternity, and you Miss Berry are about to become part of a very excusive club-" he was still a couple of steps from her when they heard the click of a gun and a voice saying "-I don't think so…drop your weapon!-" Rachel could've screamed of happiness when she heard Danny's voice but truth be told she couldn't even breathe in relieve because all she could see was the seal and how red it looked.

Danny hold the gun tighter, desperately trying not to glimpse at Rachel, he knew the minute he saw her he would drop everything just to make sure she was fine, he couldn't afford to do that, he had to be cool, calm and collected because in that moment he had the most dangerous serial killer he had ever faced in front of him. The assassin looked really conceited; he didn't even flinch at the sight of the gun, instead he said in a bored and cold tone "-Detective! How nice of you to join us-" he took a step back, Danny took a step forward. "-We've been waiting for you-" Liam said sounding a little more calculating, he took another step backwards and Danny took a step closer to Rachel. The assassin took three small steps towards the back wall and smiled smugly; Danny stood next to Rachel feeling her close and breathing was enough for now.

The assassin looked intently at Danny, then he said "-Your wife would have been proud of you, rescuing a witness or maybe she would've resented you for not rescuing her, alas we will never know, but tell me detective, aren't you just dying to know?-" he pushed himself closer to the wall, Danny just looked at him, those comments about Linda were meant to unhinge him, but he wouldn't give the prick the pleasure of being affected, Danny couldn't give into his provocations, if he did the assassin would have the certainty that he affected Danny and he wasn't going to let that happen; the assassin was trapped and this was his way of attaining some sort of confidence. Danny knew that the assassin had nowhere to go the only entrance was surrounded by cops and the only way he would go out of the cave was in cuff or a body bag, neither option displeased Danny. Liam continued "-I could help you with that of course, it feels appropriate that I reunite you with your wife, given the fact that I separated you from her-" Danny noticed a hint of panic in his voice but abstained from answering, the assassin had both hands behind his back and Danny was getting suspicious but kept quiet.

Rachel could feel Danny next to her, but she also could feel the tension in the room, she was unsure about what to do, doing nothing felt like the best option, she noticed that Liam was heating the metal seal again and she shivered, she knew Danny wouldn't let him get to her, but she still felt uneasy about the whole branding thing. The assassin knew he must be surrounded, the stupid detective wouldn't have come alone and if he knew anything about his family they were probably right outside waiting for him, he would have to use his concealed tunnel in hopes they wouldn't have found the entrance or in this case the exit.

Liam tried to distract Danny, the eerie silence from the detective was making him nervous, he knew Danny was a very boastful cop and the quiet made him nervous, he needed Danny to be closer for his plan to work, the only way the detective was going to come closer was under provocation, so he said "-She called for you, you know? Linda called you and you didn't answer, you could've saved her but decided to ignore her-" Danny flinched but didn't answer, so Liam continued "-You could've saved you unborn child too, but instead you decided your career was more important than a phone call from your wife-" Danny stiffed, he wanted to shoot the fucking guy but a gunshot in such an enclosed space would have been deafening and Rachel had been hurt enough.

Danny wasn't taking the bait and Liam couldn't wait any longer, he had to escape before more policeman showed up, so he took the metal seal in one hand and the candle in the other, while he felt the floor with his foot, there at the bottom of the wall was a small lever he had had installed in case he needed a quick exit, he had used before but only to scare some of his victims by appearing out of nowhere, he could feel the lever with his left foot, knowing that it would open a small wooden door and that he wouldn't have much time to make his escape, he threw the metal seal at Danny's head, Danny ducked the metal seal barely missing his head, he recovered fast but the assassin threw the candle at him, the flame extinguished leaving them in complete darkness, Danny felt the liquid wax on his arms burning him a little, he hissed and turned un his flash light but by the time he looked up the assassin had already disappeared, Danny cursed under his breath and then shouted "-There's a back entrance, maybe a sort of tunnel, go around back, he escaped!-" the sound was too loud for Rachel's ears and she whimpered.

Danny refocus his attention on Rachel, not really caring if the assassin escaped, he would get him sooner or latter, right now the important thing was making sure Rachel was fine. "-Rachel? Are you ok?-" Rachel just looked at Danny but she didn't say anything, Danny got worried because in the small amount of time he had know Rachel, he knew the girl had a hard time being quiet, so he asked again "-Are you ok?-" that was a silly question, of course she wasn't ok, Rachel thought, but the words escaped her and she couldn't say them out loud. Danny reformulated the question "-Are you hurt?-" Rachel tried to shake her head no but her muscles couldn't respond either. Danny sighed and said "-I'm really sorry…I let him take you…I should have been more careful, if only I had paid more attention to you…-" Rachel couldn't believe her ears, Danny was actually apologizing for something that was completely out of his control, and the guilty look on his face finally broke something inside Rachel, so pulling out of her shocked state she interrupted in a small voice "-It wasn't your fault-". Danny smiled, not really and open smile but he looked relieved, Rachel tried to smile back but the pain was returning and she couldn't concentrate on being awake anymore, the darkness swallowed her again.

Author's note: I know the story has been dragging, mainly because of my lack of updates, but I've always planned for a long story and it's going to be very long; the thing is I had this ending in my head that was very corny and now it's shifting to a more mature and dark one, I still don't know which way I'm going to go. I would love to hear your opinions about it. Fluffy and corny or mature and dark?

As always thank you for reading and leave a review if you feel like it.