Chapter Four-Hundred-Fifty-One
“Come on,” Scott whispered quietly in Ashley’s ear. “We need to get you away from here – it’s only a matter of time before he figures out where we are.”
“No, we can’t…Kota and Sarah…” Ashley insisted while peering down below at her frightened girls and her mother instincts are practically screaming at her.
“Listen to me sweetie,” Scott told her in a gentle whisper but he made sure she could hear how serious he is. He grabbed her face in his hands making her look at him. “Nick will take care of them okay? You aren’t going to be much help for them if he drags you down there. We need to hide you.” Ashley glanced at Marcus then who was still standing close by enough that he could see her and she could see that he was listening to the whispered conversation going on. He glanced at Sean and when he saw that his back was turned he spoke in a quiet whisper though he didn’t look at her.
“Do as he says Ashley…go.”
“Where would we hide?” Ashley asked Scott tearfully.
“I don’t know I’ll think of something but right now we just need to move,” Scott insisted and he gently grabbed her hand and began to tug her toward the back of the auditorium while crawling under the chairs and Ashley continued to hold Bella close to her thankful that she is asleep. Who knows how long she’ll stay that way though. While they were crawling they suddenly heard Sean finally taking notice – or acknowledging that Ashley isn’t among the people he was ordering around.
“Ashley…” he spoke in a taunting tone causing her to instantly freeze where she is at under the chair and she tightened her hold on Bella protectively.
“Shhh…ignore him. Come on,” Scott ordered and he continued to pull her along.
“Hiding up there with dear ol’ Scott are you?” He waited a moment in hopes she might make some sort of noise that would let her know where she is. “Get down here woman, you are missing out on all of the fun.” When she still didn’t reply he slowly began to get irritated. Where did she get the balls? Surely she would’ve betrayed herself by now and made some kind of noise. “RIGHT now Ashley! If I have to come up there myself to get you…” he began walking up the aisle toward the chair anyway where he’d seen Kori and Scott lying under earlier and when he reached it he peered underneath it only to find them not there.
“So this is really how it’s going to be then, huh Scott? Are you going to play Cat and Mouse with me?” “I’ll find you sooner or later…you have nowhere to go.”
“Daddy you leave Ashee alone!” Ellie suddenly ordered and she stomped her foot firmly on the ground to show just how angry she is at him. “Yer bein’ stupid daddy!”
“Shut the fuck up Ellie!” Sean ordered not even looking at his daughter. “And here I thought you and I were going to get a chance to have a nice reunion,” he added to Scott right afterward continuing his taunting as if there hadn’t been an interruption. “Maybe I will just have to go and have one with Kori instead,” he added after a moment. “And you can just watch...from wherever you are.” Scott paused for half a second amidst crawling his way further toward the very back of the auditorium and then decided Kori can handle herself. Ashley on the other hand…not so much and right now she is his responsibility. He knows Kori would want that more.
“Oh yes Sean, please. Let’s not deny me the opportunity to kick your ass any more okay?” Kori spoke up from the stage. Sean looked back at her and Kori stared directly into his eyes very seriously. “What are you waiting for? Come and get me. I dare you to.” Scott smirked to himself and thought yup…she can handle herself just fine. Sean on the other hand threw his head back and laughed at her comment and Scott and Ashley both heard Wiley quietly urging her to not push him. He can imagine all of the other adults giving her pleading looks too and he shook his head at the thought. They ought to know Kori by now.
“The feisty one as usual, I see” Sean told her while walking back down to the stage. Kori narrowed her eyes at him and just stood there looking as if he couldn’t get close to her enough. When he reached the stage again however, his eyes fell on Spencer and Kori stiffened and grabbed Wiley’s hand and squeezed it fearfully. “You know Kori,” he said loudly enough for Scott to hear. “You haven’t introduced me to your son yet.” Kori stepped forward a bit ready to pounce but Sean was quick to grab him and place the gun to his head.
“Move closer Mommy, I dare you” He challenged. “See what happens.”
“DADDY NO!!!!!!!!!” Ellie shrieked and she dove forward causing Trevor to reach out and wind his arms around her waist and reel her back in and she struggled against him and sobbed. “NO DADDY, PLEASE NOTS HIM!” In her struggle to break free, Ellie leaned forward and bit Trevor’s hand hard causing him to cry out in sheer pain and let go and she darted forward, launched herself at her father and began hitting him and beating him with her little fists. “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!! PLEASE DADDY NO!!!”
“DAMNIT ELLIE!”
“NOTS MY SPENCER, YOU PROMISED!!!!!” Ellie sobbed. “YOU PROMISED!!!!!”
“That is it Ellie! I have repeatedly told you to stay out of this and you just don’t listen” Sean growled and he grabbed her roughly by the arm, shoved her to the ground face down and he began to undo his belt. Kevin, who’d been watching his daughter from a distance stressfully, realized what was going to happen then.
“NO!!!!” he demanded and dove forward, dropped to the ground beside her and lay on top of her sheltering her protectively. Sean stopped his belt in mid air abruptly as he does not want to harm the man taking care of his daughter and he rolled his eyes.
“Move out of the way, Now.”
“No.”
“I need to teach my daughter a lesson,” Sean insisted firmly.
“With all do respect Sean,” Kevin said in a pleading tone as he eyed the gun and the belt in his hands. He knows he has to be very careful when talking to him. “You gave her to me. So why don’t you just let me take her and I’ll be sure not to let her get in your way again.”
“And let her get away without being punished? That’s not me that’s you.” Kevin tightened his arms around Ellie who snuggled into him and whimpered. “You need me to teach you how to handle her if I’m going to continue to allow you to have my daughter.”
“She’s an impulsive five year old girl who can’t always control her actions,” Kevin reasoned. “Surely you’ve done things before that were far beyond your control right?” He watched as Sean narrowed his eyes at him. “I punish Ellie when she deserves it but sometimes a father just needs to be blind to the things their kids do, especially the things they can’t always control. Please be reasonable…Spencer means a lot to her and you did promise that you wouldn’t hurt him” Kevin added while watching Spencer carefully who Sean still had a hold of by the arm and he was listening to the conversation tearfully.
“My father was never blind to the things I did. He punished me for every little thing that I did so why should I be any different?”
“I was under the impression that you didn’t like your father,” Kevin replied, pulling words out of his ass now as he works real hard to get Ellie out of trouble. He was deemed her protector, and damnit he is going to protect her! “So…it just doesn’t make any sense why you would want to repeat the same horrible things he did to you. It doesn’t make any sense why you would want to be like him.”
“When a child is bad they’re to be punished,” Sean insisted firmly, trying very hard not to allow Kevin to manipulate him.
“If you want to beat someone…then beat me,” Kevin insisted after a moment. Sean eyed Kevin warily.
“…Beat…you?”
“Yes why not? She’s my daughter and really if you think about it, it’s my fault. I should’ve been holding onto her…so go ahead. Punish me…” Sean was taken aback completely.
“…You would let me beat you instead of her?”
“Sometimes a father has to make sacrifices for their children. I love Ellie very much and therefore would do anything for her.” Sean stared down at Kevin for a long moment as he still held Spencer by the arm with one hand and the belt at the ready with the other and he waited as unexpected emotions Kevin had triggered deep down inside him to pass. He was raised to believe that children were punished for everything that they do wrong and fathers just didn’t go around making sacrifices for them under any circumstances because they just don’t deserve it. But Kevin willing to take Ellie’s beatings for her just goes against everything he was taught and he doesn’t know what to make of it. He looked to Trevor then who could tell that his lover was going to get angry very quick here because that is just the only method he knows when it comes to dealing with his internal conflicts. Unless of course Trevor gives him a new way of doing it, but he usually has to walk him through it.
“Let him go baby,” Trevor urged gently. “You aren’t here to fight with him – or Ellie. You don’t want that.”
“But—“
“—I know. He hit a nerve…but just walk it off. Take a deep breath and walk it off. Remember what you are really here for.” Trevor watched Sean’s hand that he’s holding the belt in tremble as he struggled with his emotions.
“Kevin if you know what’s best for you you’ll pick Ellie up and move away from him.” Kevin did just that getting to his feet with Ellie and he hugged her close to him and placed soft kisses on her forehead as he walked back to the group of adults with her. She clung to him tightly with tears flooding her eyes. Trevor went over to Sean then and gently grabbed the belt from him with one hand before prying Spencer from him with the other and he shoved him toward Kori who instantly grabbed him into her arms and she hugged him close to her with all her might as she fought back the urge to cry. The world had completely stopped spinning the entire time Sean had him and now that she had her son back all of the air returned to her lungs too and she could finally breathe again.
“What are you here for Sean?” Trevor asked then, working on getting his lover back on track and it worked. Sean whirled around and eyed Nick now using his anger that his emotions no thanks to Kevin had created. Nick stared at him warily and Sean stormed over to him, grabbed him roughly by the arm and he held the gun to his head.
“GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, ASHLEY BEFORE I BLOW YOUR BOYFRIEND’S FUCKING BRAINS OUT!” He shouted.
“NO!!!” Dakota sobbed. “You leave my daddy alone!” and she started for him only to have Josh grab onto her and hold her back.
“SHUT up Dakota!” Sean shouted. “You’re going to be next. You hear that Ashley? First your boyfriend, and then Dakota! If I have to kill every single person you care about until you get down here then so be it!”
“No baby stay where you are!” Nick demanded. “Don’t listen to him just stay where you are!” he added and he yelped when Sean punched him hard in the stomach. Ashley who was practically being pinned to the ground by Scott looked at him tearfully.
“Please let me up Scott he is hurting him” Ashley pleaded. She heard Sean hit him some more and Nick tried his very hardest to stifle his yelps and cries but to no avail.
“Do you like the sound of him in pain, is that it Ashley?”
“Scott please…” Ashley cried.
“Should I hit him harder?” Sean asked, and then she heard a blow being made and she doesn’t even have to look to know that he is hitting Nick in the face and her heart wrenched.
“Baby I’m okay!” Nick managed to choke out and she heard Sean cry out in pain and a stream of profanities followed shortly after. Knowing Nick and the sound of that cry she doesn’t need to look to know that he just kicked Sean where it counts and she could hear something clatter to the ground – Sean’s gun? And then two bodies followed shortly after it and she knew it was Nick putting up a fight for her. Kids were crying and other people were joining in on the fight. AJ? Jaime?
“Stay right where you are sweetheart! We’re taking care of Nick just fine down here. You just take care of yourself” AJ reassured her as she heard an audible punch being made and Trevor grunting. He must just be fighting to protect Sean because she hasn’t heard a peep out of him until now and she knows he’s changed a lot. It doesn’t make him any less scary to her though.
“This has to be killing you Scott, it just has to be. He had Spencer…god only knows what he could’ve done” Ashley told him in a whisper. It was taking everything in her not to break down and sob.
“Kevin stopped him and besides…it’s high time you had a little more faith in Kori. I do…she would jump in front of open fire to save her son.”
“And that doesn’t bother you in the least bit? You don’t want to be down there making sure she doesn’t have to?” Ashley challenged.
“You know I do, but by the time this is all over if Sean hasn’t already I know she’ll kill me for abandoning you. Kori will be fine…we’re a team much like you and Nick and I know she can handle herself and our son.”
“Nick, Alex, and Detective Stabler didn’t push me to learn how to defend myself for nothing Scott Hayden” Ashley argued. She was slowly starting to get frustrated.
“They taught you how to defend yourself if needed…but you’re who he wants really badly, we can’t have that we can’t let him have what he wants. If I can keep you away from him for as long as possible…”
“Then more people that I love will get hurt!”
“Ashley…listen to--”
“--No! Scott you listen to me. I am fed up with hiding from him don’t you understand that?”
“All I understand right now is my strong desire to keep you safe!”
“Well you know what? I am never going to be safe if I keep running from him,” Ashley snapped somewhat. “He is just going to keep coming after me and he won’t stop until he gets me no matter how many people he has to hurt along the way! I didn’t go through all of those defense lessons and tests just to hide from him some more! I want him to see that I am not afraid of him anymore. That he doesn’t control me!”
“At the expense of your life?” Scott asked, and he was the one in tears now.
“If I don’t make it out of here alive well then at least I died fighting for my life instead of running away from him like a coward.” Scott tightened his arms around her stubbornly. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life running from him but that’s the way it’s going to be if I keep letting this happen.”
“I’ve seen him brutally murder people before my very eyes before Ashley…if you think I’m going to allow him to do that to you then you are sadly mistaken.”
“Then get down there and fight him with me. If you want to protect me…have my back.”
“No. At least wait it out – let me keep you from him for as long as possible and then –“
“--What’s it going to take before you finally let me go? Nick being tortured to near death? Dakota getting shot? What Scott?” Scott gently gathered Bella into his arms though he still held on tightly to Ashley in case she decides to make a run for it and he held the baby in front of her face so she would see her.
“What would you do, run down there with your almost four month old baby?” he asked pointedly. “If you are going to insist on not having any concern for yourself right now then how about thinking about your daughter instead? Do you really want Sean to set eyes on her? What will be the quickest way to torture you Ashley huh? Think about it!” Ashley looked away from him tearfully feeling defeated as she knows he makes a very good point and he knows that she knows it and won’t do anything to endanger her daughter. Scott delicately turned her face around so that she is looking at him and he gave her a loving look. “Believe me I understand this is torturing you – I have people that I love down there too Ashley, and I’m terrified for them. But you need to trust that they can take care of themselves.”
“Dakota and Sarah can’t though,” Ashley whispered softly. “They’re just kids…”
“Do you trust Nick?”
“With all of my heart.” Scott stared at her silently as he dried her tears with his finger.
“Then trust that he will take care of your kids. You two are always telling us that you are a team…so prove it to us. Let him do his part and you do yours and protect yourself and Bella. Okay? For as long as we possibly can. I know you weren’t trained to defend yourself for nothing but wait until it’s absolutely necessary okay?” Just then a gun shot went off and Ashley flinched. Someone shrieked with pain, and Bella instantly started screaming at the loud abrupt sound, as did quite a few of the children down below.
“Shit!” Scott hissed and he grabbed Bella’s binky that was clipped to her outfit and gently placed it in her mouth holding it there as Ashley rocked her and tried with all her might to calm her and after a few short seconds she did but not before Bella’s cries could tip Sean off on what direction they are in.
“Seriously Ashley? Did you really expect to hide from me long when you have that stupid baby with you?” He asked incredulously. He looked at Trevor then and quietly motioned him in that direction and Trevor obeyed. Scott who could see him from under the chairs grabbed Ashley’s hand and began crawling off with her pulling her along with him quickly. While Trevor was doing this Sean whirled around and looked at everybody who was now tending to Nick.
“Does anybody else want to get fucking shot in the leg?” he asked.
“You fucking bastard I’ll kill you!” AJ growled, royally pissed that he messed with his baby brother and he started toward him only to have Sean point the gun at him and shoot him in the arm next making Laila’s shrieks start back up again and the rest of the kids to cry harder and he pulled out an extra gun and pointed them both at more adults ready to get them at different angles if he should. “Who else is ready to challenge my authority?” he demanded and he waited. When no one else made a move toward him and they had all fallen into a terrified silence, Sean moved forward and placed his gun under AJ’s chin as he sat there on his knees fighting with himself not to make any kind of sound of pain. He doesn’t want Ashley to know it had been him who was shot and he could see that Nick was trying his very hardest to do the same. Sean lifted his chin up with the gun so he is looking at him and he glared at him dangerously.
“You will kill me huh? You will be lucky if I don’t decide to kill you. Now get your ass over there and shut that brat up before I do it for you.” When AJ couldn’t move fast enough to obey Sean’s orders, Sean pointed his gun at Laila.
“NO!!!” Ryan, Howie, Lindsey, and AJ all shouted at once and Ryan darted forward pushed his sister to the ground and sheltered her and AJ reached up with his good arm, grabbed the gun and jerked it away causing Sean’s hand to slip and the gun to go off again in the air.
“FUCK!!!” Sean roared, and he kicked AJ hard in the stomach and AJ not being able to control it yelped, staggered slightly and then threw his arm over his stomach. Sean raised his arm to hit him but was quickly interrupted.
“Stop it let him be!” Kevin pleaded with anguish written all over his face. “You shot him in the arm give him a little bit of a break – he’s not going to move as fast as he normally can.” Sean narrowed his eyes.
“And you’ll be next if you don’t shut up,” He warned him warily. The last thing he wants is for him to awaken more unwelcome emotions.
“Daddy no,” Ellie sobbed as she threw her arms around Kevin as if she were going to protect him. “Please.”
“No I won’t,” Kevin insisted while narrowing his eyes right back. “Who will take care of your little girl when you get arrested for this? Huh?” he challenged.
“I never said anything about killing you.” While Kevin was distracting Sean AJ crawled over to Laila who still lay on the floor sobbing underneath Ryan and when Ryan moved he gently gathered her up with his one arm and hugged her close while Howie who had removed his shirt sat down beside him and he and Denise began working on his arm while Brandon, who lives with a doctor and knows enough to take care of a bullet wound worked on Nick. The rest of the adults cowered back too frightened and paralyzed where they stood – or sat to say or do anything that might piss the madman with the guns off. Sure they out number him and Trevor and sure they’ve grown to really love Ashley and Kori but as selfish as it may seem they have families of their own that they need to consider and what if they piss them off so much that they decide to hurt a child? As much as Sean seems to not want to seriously hurt Kevin he won’t be able to keep talking him out of it. There are just so many risks.
“Why are you taking this out on everybody else, Sean?” Kori spoke up as she sat on the floor with Spencer sitting behind her. “I am the one who pissed you off long ago…come get me. Punish me…”
“I will punish you as soon as I get my hands on your bitch of a sister, you know the one you don’t appreciate? I’m going to make you watch me kill her.”
“I do so appreciate my sister,” Kori insisted firmly.
“Is that why you abandoned her? Threw her away all those years ago along with your parents?” Sean snapped rounding on her now. Kori swallowed a lump in her throat and fought back her tears with great difficulty. She won’t let him see her cry. She won’t let him get to her and weaken her.
“I didn’t throw them away,” She told him and try as she may, her voice still trembled slightly. “I was misguided. I thought I was protecting them by getting myself as far away from them as possible. They meant the world to me.”
“That is a filth – that is a lie and you know it!” Sean spat. “You never appreciated what you had from the very beginning – I watched you, I remember the way you were toward them. You were an ungrateful little bitch who caused her parents grief all the time and then broke their hearts by running away. You didn’t know that you had a good thing when you had it. It is wrong and you will be punished for it.”
“I was a normal rebellious teenager, Sean! I pushed the limits just like any other kid!”
“Normal rebellious teenagers don’t go and get their parents killed!” Tears flooded Kori’s eyes and she clinched her teeth together in anger. It was the mere fact that Spencer was behind her and needed her to protect him that kept her from lunging at Sean and strangling him to death right now. “And even now when you are back you have the chance to recreate something great with your sister again and you just want to throw it all away by going back to Jersey when she clearly doesn’t want you to. Even I know that she doesn’t. You will be punished and watch her die!”
“You’ll never find her,” Kori insisted angrily. “Not when Scott has her. He knows you and he’ll be damned before he lets you get a hold of her.”
“Oh I am sure I will eventually get her to see reason,” Sean replied while eyeing Nick. Nick eyed him right back just as fiercely.
“Now that I have your attention…how about you tell me what you’ve done to my sister?” he demanded.
“Why, I left her to die of course,” Sean shrugged. “Somewhere that she can’t be found.” Sean smirked with pleasure at the anguish on Nick’s face. “Sorry…but you did need to be punished. See, I don’t quite take to people getting in my way.”
“You don’t understand Aaron very well,” was all Nick said. “If you think he won’t be able to find her you are sadly mistaken. If anyone can, it’s him.”
“Not where I’ve put her. Surely not even twin telepathy can reach that far…”
“Again, you don’t know our brother” Leslie spoke up for the first time and she glared at Sean hatefully. “Nothing can keep him from his twin. Nothing.”
“Shut up Les,” Nick urged quietly and he gave her a look that clearly said don’t draw attention to yourself.
“What? someone had to knock that cocky look off his face,” Leslie muttered and she eyed Sean with an I’m not scared of you kind of look and Sean just stared at her suddenly intrigued and he took notice of the other blonde that was currently holding Dakota who is practically in tears.
~*~*~*~*~
“Is it true Elliot?” Aaron asked when the detective got off the phone and he stared at him with his face as white as a ghost. “Is Sean in the Orphanage?”
“Yes,” Detective Stabler answered gravely. “The entire FBI is standing outside it now handling it.”
“My brother and sisters are in there…” Aaron whispered fearfully.
“Can’t the FBI get in through the Hospital wing?” Conner spoke up. “They boarded up the Orphanage, but they couldn’t have boarded up the hospital…they would need it to get Hurricane victims inside and treated.”
“There is a hostage situation happening on that end of the building too. Sean was aware of that entrance and was prepared.”
“How did he get in so easily?” Aaron demanded.
“They were for one at their weakest moment…two, Sean and Trevor knew security would have to turn the cameras off in risk of losing electricity, and three he has Trevor with him. He worked in that building, he knows it.”
“Not only does he know it, but he knows how to sneak people in there as well, he’s done so plenty” Detective Benson added.
“He may know it well, but he doesn’t know it as well as my niece,” Aaron insisted confidently.
“Yeah, but you can’t really rely on a four year old Aaron…what can she do?”
“Lots,” Aaron said firmly. “Kota can do lots…and I’m not going to allow any grownup say otherwise either.”
“But—“
“—But nothing. Sean doesn’t stand a chance against her.” Detective Stabler said nothing he only stared out the window of Sean and Trevor’s house smiling slightly in amusement as Detective Benson continued to raid all of Sean’s notebooks frantically searching for a clue as to how to find Angel.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Angel’s eyes shot open to total darkness and her hands flew to her forehead as she felt agonizing pain there. It feels like she’d been hit in the head repeatedly with a baseball bat. No…it hadn’t been a baseball bat, she recalls. It had been Sean banging her head against the wall until she had been knocked out. Angel moaned in pain as she held her head and she waited on her eyes to adjust so she could see just exactly where it is that she was. She remembers waking up every once in awhile for only a few short seconds and each time she had, it had been hard for her to breathe and she’d only been conscious long enough to mutter Aaron’s name before going out again. Wanting desperately to know where she is, she felt around feeling something that felt like a wall all around her until she reached to her right and felt something strange. What is that? She blinked a few times and even rubbed at her eyes as she stared in that direction and when her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness after a few seconds later she wished they never had. There lying beside her was a body – no, not a body. It is a skeleton that belongs to someone who’d been dead for a very long time. Horrorstruck, Angel looked around and realized she was in a coffin – she was buried alive. She began to scream and cry.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Yikes...sorry everyone, I'm back and re-posting again...heh. My computer got a virus and locked me out so I couldn't even log onto it anymore. I had to erase everything on my computer and start over and I lost pretty much everything starting from chapter 500 and up. We were able to recover most of the chapters in Lenni's Yahoo Archives, but not all of them. So I'm going to be doing some re-writing.
I'm working on getting the *newest* chapters that no one's read yet onto my own personal website for you guys so that you can go there to read them while I work on re-posting all of the old chapters. I will keep all of you updated on that. In the mean time, here's the next chapter...enjoy =)
I'm working on getting the *newest* chapters that no one's read yet onto my own personal website for you guys so that you can go there to read them while I work on re-posting all of the old chapters. I will keep all of you updated on that. In the mean time, here's the next chapter...enjoy =)
