And the world dissolved away.
She woke up slowly, feeling groggy and nauseous.
Someone was looming over her.
She cracked open her eyes. At first a wave of relief rushed over her. It was just her fiancé.
But then a sense of foreboding flooded her insides. Her fiancé wasn't who she thought he was. He was a killer. A sadist. A psychopath. And she hadn't seen it until it was too late.
The eyes that looked down at her, which at one time she had thought were those of her soul mate, that had always been filled with love and warmth, were now topped to the brim with a mixture of cold and insanity.
He grabbed her roughly and tried to lift her but couldn't because she was once again handcuffed to the bed.
“It's okay, Hope. I took Evil Chance and locked him in the devil's dungeon,” he said earnestly.
“You did what with the what?” she croaked, her throat as dry as a desert.
“I love you, Hope.”
His mouth crushed against hers. But his kiss didn't comfort her, it didn't make her feel safe, and it definitely didn't make her feel loved. It made her feel sick. Chance was insane, it was just a matter of time before he killed her like he had killed all the others.
“I love you, Hope,” he said again.
He sounded different. More like the Chance she knew and less like the man who had hacked a human being to pieces while they were still alive. Maybe he truly had gone insane and was fighting a battle inside himself. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe she could convince him to let her and Summer go before his evil side took over again.
“Chance?” she lifted her free hand to touch his face. “Is it really you?”
He put his hand over hers and caressed it. “It’s me, but I can't fight him much longer. He’s too strong.”
“You can fight him, Chance, you can, youhaveto,” she begged.
“I'm trying. I love you.” Now the eyes that looked down at her were the ones she knew so well. They were Chance’s eyes again,herChance.
“I love you, too,” she assured him. “Let me go, please, let me and Summer go.”
He nodded. “I’ll get the keys.”
“Hurry, Chance,” she urged. She didn’t know how long he could keep his evil side at bay.
Everything was going to be okay now.
Chance would let her and Summer go. They’d get help, take Summer to a hospital, and get Chance whatever psychiatric care he needed.
Everything was going to be okay.
A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up expecting to see Chance with the keys to the handcuff.
Instead, she saw pure evil staring back at her.
* * * * *
9:26 A.M.
“CSU didn’t find anything when they went through the house. Why are we going through it again?” Allina asked her partner as they pulled up outside Chance Zieglar and Hope Frasier’s house.
“Because they were looking for evidence of the kidnapper,” Jonathon replied.
“Well, what arewelooking for?”