The Monster Within

Chapter 60

"Emma, there's no possible way that this could be your fault," Elsa says, trying to comfort her friend. "The man who broke into your house was a complete monster who attacked an innocent woman and two children. What kind of maniac would do that?"

"The kind that would kidnap a woman in order to get her pregnant," Emma answers, swallowing the large lump in her throat.

"What do you mean?" Elsa says in confusion. Her friend's statement implied something that hadn't been thought about for quite some time. It didn't seem possible; they had all moved on from it and life seemed to be returning to normal for everyone. The new house, the new baby, life could not be better for Emma and her family. How could it be... "It... it wasn't him, Emma, it was another man, someone..."

"Named Arthur King," the blonde finishes, without any hesitation in her voice. She squeezes her eyes shut tightly as some tears manage to struggle through and run down her cheeks. She grips the hospital blanket in complete despair, wishing that this nightmare would end; that she'd wake up in her bed with Killian's arms wrapped around her and she'd hold him tightly before getting up to feed Sophie and then waking Henry up for school. She wants to pinch herself awake, but when she opens her eyes again, Elsa is still there, looking concerned border lining on frightened now.

"Emma, that's not possible, he's... he's been missing for months, no one has seen him... besides, why would he come back for you?"

"To get what he thinks is his," Emma whimpers, wiping tears from her eyes and clenching her hands into fists so tightly that they are shaking.

"You don't mean..."

Emma just nods, grinding her teeth together, wishing that she'd done something when that letter arrived; not tried to deny it or believe that she was burdening people with it. Clearly, it had come back to bite her in the ass, in the worst possible way. And now... she was certain that the man who had harmed her body and ruined her psyche had kidnapped two of the three most important people in her life.

At first, she didn't want to believe that Arthur had taken Killian, after all, her boyfriend was a strong docks man who would have fought tooth and nail to protect their daughter, but after he had not shown up at the hospital, camped out either next to her or Henry's bed, she knew something was very wrong. For a second, the worst thought crossed her mind, to the point where her body wanted to be violently sick again, but since she and David had come to the hospital, there were no reports of a body... for now...

Emma's head throbs in deep pain and anxiety and her stomach twist violently again, so much so that she needs to lie back and shut her eyes to prevent nausea from taking over. She knew that once Arthur discovered that Sophie was not his daughter... he'd take that sadistic anger out his other captive. It's obvious that no matter how tough Killian was, he couldn't survive forever at the hands of a monster. The blonde's breathing becomes laboured and sharp, her body burns as she begins to hyperventilate. Elsa immediately notices her friend's change of state and she rushes to call a nurse. As the professionals attempt to help Emma return to a stable state, the platinum blonde hurries down the hall fumbling with her cell phone to try and call Jack, to tell him that he can't sleep tonight, he had a new case that would be life or death.

...

"Too easy," Arthur grins to himself as he slips out of the Wal-Mart that he'd broken into. He'd driven for another hour after finally getting Sophie to sleep until he found a place where he finds supplies.

His mind was just as exhausted as anyone's would be after abducting two people in a single night. His brain narrowed in on doing one task at a time, not thinking too far into the future and the overall plan of action. It appears as though he was running purely on borrowed adrenaline by now. The instinct to escape and survive had taken over. For now, he hardly felt the sting of his wounds or the soreness of his muscles, most likely from the exertion of running from the cops AGAIN. However, he knew that eventually, this feeling would not last forever and his body would want to crash. He had decided then that he'd find a someplace to gather equipment and his thoughts.

Arthur had used his crowbar to open up the employee's entrance of the superstore and steal what he needed, shoving it into a large camping backpack he'd found in the Outdoors section. He grabbed medical supplies such as rubbing alcohol, bandages, ice packs, and pain killers from the pharmacy; baby clothes, bottles, formula, diapers, baby food, and a pacifier to use on Sophie if he couldn't get her to shut up again. Finally, he grabbed duct tape, ropes, bungee cords, chains, ammunition for his gun, and a few kitchen knives. He then left, without even bothering to shut the door.

He then drives to a nearby gas station on the outskirts of some random hamlet that he'd found while driving. He parks his truck in the back brush so no one could see it or what was in the flatbed of his vehicle. He then enters the bathroom to clean himself up. It was obvious there was nothing he could do about the black eyes or other bruises except put ice on them, but he treated his split lip and any other cuts with the rubbing alcohol. It almost felt like déjà vu, remembering when Gwen had stabbed him with the screwdriver in an attempt to help save Emma from being kidnapped by him again. Now, it was the blonde's precious boyfriend who had attacked to prevent Sophie from being kidnapped by him; the child whom the idiot still thought was his. He checks his teeth, testing to make sure he still had them all. One of them was a bit loose, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He swears his nose is broken from the intense pain that comes from touching it, but he can't go to a hospital; no doubt his face would be all over the news again, for the first time in months. While he wished he had simply grabbed the baby, having another hostage could still be beneficial, plus he now had a punching bag to take his anger out on. This moron could now go through what his girlfriend has experienced, the fear and sadism of being at the mercy of a monster.

Once he's bandaged up, Arthur returns to the truck and pulls out the supplies he needs to restrain Emma's boyfriend. For a brief moment, he thinks about using the rope but decides duct tape is the best option. He hops into the flatbed of his truck and removes the tarp to reveal Killian's unconscious body. Despite the darkness of the brush, Arthur could see that his victim had also sustained injuries during their struggle. His body was now still, clearly, the volts of electricity from the stun gun had worn off, leaving him in a void of unconsciousness, which would be just what he needed.

Arthur flips Killian over onto his stomach and puts his knee on the docks man's back, pressing the docks man's bruised and bloodied face to the rusty metal of the truck and in an attempt to keep him still in case he woke up. Arthur pulls his victim's hands behind his back and tapes them together extremely well, adding extra layers in order to know for sure that the captive won't be able to get free. He then tapes the legs together in a similar fashion. Finally, he turns the idiot over onto his front, stuffs some torn cloth into his mouth and then tapes his mouth shut.

Once he's certain that the fool will not be able to escape or make any noise, Arthur puts one tarp over the body, weighing it down with rocks that he finds in the nearby brush. He then uses the rope and spare bungee cords to tie another tarp over the entire bed of the truck.

Pleased with himself, Arthur starts up the truck and drives along the highway until he finds a back road covered in gravel that leads into an area with trees. He can feel his body coming off the adrenaline and knows he needs to find a quiet place to rest and collect his thoughts. Satisfied that they will not be found, Arthur clambers into the back seat; he takes Sophie and puts her up front in the passenger side. He stuffs the pacifier into her mouth and then stretches out over his back seat, able to finally rest, going into deep unconsciousness with a smile of satisfaction on his face.

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the hiatus, but here's a new chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Please follow and review.