(BOOK 2) MARK/HOFFMAN: A Saw Fanfiction

TWENTY TWO

It was 11 pm.

As Abby was drifting to sleep on the couch, she was startled awake by the sound of loud sirens quickly approaching. She sat up, then hurried to the window, counting five police cars speeding past the apartment building and down the dark road. 

"What the hell...?" Abby muttered to herself. 

She slowly made her way back over to the couch, grabbing her phone off the coffee table. When she fell asleep, she hadn't texted---nor had Mark texted her-- in hours. As she checked, she noticed that hadn't changed. 

Wondering what was going on, Abby turned on the TV and flipped it to the local news. 

"...as of right now, we've counted three causalities." 

Abby sat down, reading the headline with concern. 

LAB FIRE LEAVES AT LEAST 3 PEOPLE DEAD. 

"We're still searching the scene, but we are trying to identify the victims as soon as possible." 

It was a young man on the TV, dark hair, dark eyes. His name, Matt Gibson, flashed on the screen. 

The young woman interviewing him asked: "Has anyone identified a possible reason for the fire?" 

"There was traces of gasoline in the lab, so arson is not ruled out." 

Arson? 

Abby texted Mark as she listened, eyebrows furrowed. 

Hey, is everything okay? 

She had a bad feeling about this. 

As Abby watched the news, she waited impatiently for a response. She prayed that he was okay, but couldn't help but pray that he wasn't involved as well. He should have been home earlier, and usually when he was late he would let her know. 

The reporter began talking about the Jigsaw case and how it could possibly be related to the ongoing investigation. Abby sighed, getting up to grab a snack from the fridge. The stress of everything had numbed her to the point that she couldn't feel anything else. 

She felt as if she wasn't herself anymore. 

As she grabbed some carrot sticks and made her way back over to the couch, her phone rang. Rushing to it, hoping it was Mark, she answered without even looking. 

"Hello?"

There was silence on the other end. 

"Mark? Is that you?" Abby began tearing up, her heart racing. What the hell was going on? 

"I'm sorry." 

The person immediately hung up the phone, Abby holding it to her ear for a moment just to make sure. 

When she checked to see who it was, her eyebrows rose. 

It was Jill.

_______________

Mark rushed into his surveillance room at the zoo, knowing he had to get his shit together and finish what he started. On the cameras, he could see Brent Abbott, the son of the man Easton doomed to death, debating what to do with the switch labeled live or die. 

There were only 30 seconds left until Easton had to be in the room where his fate would ultimately be decided by the Abbott family. Mark removed his gloves, then noticed something that made his stomach drop and his heart somehow race even faster. 

The note. 

Amanda's note. It laid on top of his keyboard.

Amanda, you were with Cecil the night Jill lost Gideon. You killed their child. You know it, and I know it, so do exactly as I say. Kill Lynn Denlon, or I will tell John what you did.