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Sawyer is on cloud nine when he wakes up. Everything around him is beautiful. The lumpy couch he slept on last night is suddenly the most comfortable couch he has ever lain on. The birds are outside the window singing a glorious tune. The sun shining down on him through the window is marvelous. He feels as though he has on rose colored glasses and is seeing the world in a new light. He sees the beauty in all that he touches now, and it is all due to Hannah. The wonderful woman who finally made him wake up and realize what he has been missing. She is the final piece of his incomplete puzzle.
He quietly tiptoes to her bedroom to see if she is awake yet. When he gently opens the door, he leans against the door frame, taking in the heavenly sight before him. She is laying on the bed, her chocolate hair fanned out across the pillow. She looks just like an angel. She is wearing a small grin on her peaceful, angelic face. He eventually closes the door again, deciding to walk across the street to pick up breakfast for the two of them. He quickly cleans up, grabs his wallet and keys, and places a note on the kitchen counter telling her where he is. He then softly closes and locks the door as he leaves the apartment.
Hannah stirs in bed as she rubs her eyes, removing the sleep that has settled in them overnight. She slowly rises, then habitually walks to open the curtains of her window. She first looks at the people below her on the street. They are all wearing a smile on their face, the same as she currently wears. She is in a state of bliss and she wants everyone else to feel like she does. The world is so wonderful, with the green trees, blue sky, and the warm sun shining. She dances down the hall, hoping to find Sawyer still asleep on the couch. When she discovers that the couch empty, she searches for him in the bathroom and kitchen, calling out his name. She then finds his note and her heart grows in love even more with him. She decides to wait for him on the couch until he returns so that she can greet him with a kiss. Then she remembers that she should brush her teeth, so she won’t turn him off due to her morning breath. When she is finished, she ends up in the living room window, like normal. She thinks she can watch for him to return from there. She is eager to see the man she has fallen in love with walk across the street back to her. She hopes that he has a smile on his face just as large as the one she is wearing. A knock on the door stirs her out of her daydream. She quickly gets up, jogging to the door.
“Did you forget your keys . . .” she suddenly stops and begins screaming as she tries frantically to slam the door closed.
***
HE GAZES UP AT THE window that he knows she frequents out of habit. He is surprised when he only sees her and not Lucifer. He looks at the watch on his left wrist. No, she will soon be in that filthy parlor with Lucifer, but he isn’t with her. She hasn’t been alone in that apartment for over two weeks. He suddenly remembers that he packed all the supplies he has purchased in the trunk of his car this morning before he left. He can put his plan into action now. He smiles to himself as he gathers his belongings, throws some bills on the table then leaves the café.
He now has everything he needs to get her back. He takes the duct tape and chloroform out of the trunk along with rope and a pillowcase. He looks back and forth nervously from where he is behind his car, then puts on a black ski mask to hide his face. He quietly closes the hood to his trunk and stealthily walks up the stairs to the apartment where she is being held. He has counted the number of stairs every time he has parked behind the building. Twenty-four concrete steps. Twenty-four steps until his mistress is safely back with him. He quickly climbs each one until reaching the metal door to the hallway leading to the final door. The door that she is waiting behind for him to rescue her. He quickly marches over to the final door and knocks loudly.
He has it worked out in his head what he will say to her. He knows she will probably be frightened to see him since Lucifer has been filling her head with nonsense.
***
SAWYER WALKS BACK TO the apartment with a skip in his step, carrying a bag of pancakes and bacon from the little breakfast joint down the block from them. He even says hello, greeting every person he passes on the sidewalk. He receives a lot of strange looks, but he couldn’t care less. He is counting the steps, with every step that he takes, it brings him closer to Hannah. When he finally arrives, he notices the door to their apartment is open.
“Babe, were you waiting for me? You know I always have my keys on . . .” he stops abruptly when finds the mess in the empty room. He drops the bag from his hands, rushes from room to room searching for her, and yelling her name. He doesn’t know what to do. His desk is overturned, papers scattered everywhere, and the couch cushions are thrown about the room. He notices a rag on the floor with drops of blood beside it. He bends down to pick up the rag, noticing it has a sweet smell that he can’t place.
“Bro, I got some news for you about Hannah. Whoa, what happened?” Bryce questions as he rushes into the apartment.
“I don’t know, I came back from picking up some food for us and I found this, and the door was open. There was this rag with drops of blood by it on the floor, and she’s not here,” Sawyer explains to him, still in shock.
Bryce walks over to take the rag out of Sawyer’s hand. He then brings it up to his nose, smelling it, then dropping it back to the floor.
“Man, that’s chloroform. Whoever dropped this used it to knock Hannah out. Who do you think did this? Do you think it was Beau?”
“I don’t know, but that’s a good place to start. Come on, let’s go right now!”
Sawyer and Bryce race out of the apartment to Bryce’s car. Sawyer knows that he is in no shape to drive right now, he is far too concerned about Hannah and how he has failed to protect her.
As Bryce is speeding across town to get to Beau’s he probes, “What are you going to do if she’s there?”
Sawyer turns his head to Bryce, he has wild, frantic eyes and a malicious smirk.
“I’ll kill him. If he has hurt her, there is no question that I’ll kill him. You can leave me there, don’t go down with me. Just promise me that you will look after Hannah.” Sawyer turns his attention back to the road in front of them, a rigid expression on his face. Bryce is freaked out by Sawyer’s blunt response and demeanor. He has never seen his cousin in this state before. Bryce reaches for his phone in his jacket pocket and hurriedly sends a text to Shelley, telling her what’s up and to go to the parlor. She responds quickly and does as he requests.
“He’s here, there’s his Corvette. Stop the car!” Sawyer yells at Bryce. Bryce slams on the brakes, which causes the tires to screech. Sawyer jumps out of the car, leaving the door wide open as he runs toward Bryce’s apartment.
“Yo Sawyer, hold up! I’m coming with you!” Bryce cries after his cousin, but Sawyer continues to the door. Bryce trails as fast as he can.
When Bryce catches up to him, Sawyer is already pounding on the door to the apartment.
“Calm down man, don’t do something stupid,” Bryce voices to him. Sawyer gives the red-head a disgusted look. Just as Sawyer is about to kick the door down it swiftly opens.
“Hey guys, here to beg me to come back to work?” Beau hiccups, clearly intoxicated. Sawyer shoves the drunk man out of the way as he desperately calls out for Hannah. He rushes from room to room, looking for the brunette.
“What are you looking for? Your toy left you, huh? You think she came here? I knew you were worried she had a thing for me. They all do, even if they deny it, they all want me,” Beau slurs out. Sawyer runs up and punches him in the mouth, then clutches his collar and brings the drunk’s face to his own.
“Where is she? What did you do to her?”
“Hey man, Sawyer chill. She’s obviously not here. He is way too drunk to even stand up right now. There is no way he drove to your place and took her. Let’s get back to the parlor and get the others, come on,” Bryce states as he yanks Sawyer out of the apartment.
“Yeah, run off. Go cry in your precious parlor. Cry that she came to her senses and left you’re a—“ Beau is stopped by Sawyer’s fist knocking him out cold.
Bryce jerks Sawyer away and back to the car. He rushes back to the parlor, while Sawyer sits in the passenger seat with his head cradled in his hands.
“Bryce, what am I going to do if I can’t find her? I love her, she loves me. We told each other last night. Just when things start to go right in my life, it goes to hell just as fast. I’m not meant to be happy. The universe is against me.”
“Man, stop this crap now. Listen, I got some news on Hannah. Her dad is alive, he reported her and her mom missing like fifteen years ago. He’s living in a little town in Texas, not far from here. It’s weird though. Chas said that every time something would pop up with her info in it, it would be blocked then immediately taken down. Like someone doesn’t want her to be found. Her dad has someone update the missing person information weekly. A different day each week, trying to bypass the blocker. Chas finally got the block lifted and got lots of stuff on her. There are even pictures of her when she was little, you can clearly tell it’s her.
Sawyer stares at him, stunned. This is what she has been waiting for, now she’s not here to receive it. He is now more determined to find her. He is not going to give up. She wouldn’t give up on him.
“Sawyer, man. Everyone is at the parlor, they are ready to help. Shelley called the cops though. It’s time man, no matter what Hannah has told you. I have the info on her in the back. I know that some deranged piece of crap took her. That is the only explanation about her past and why she needs help. That same tool probably has her again. We need more people, like the cops, to search for her.
Sawyer shakes his head in agreement. He knows that his cousin is right. Now, all he can think about is having Hannah back in his arms. As they pull up at the parlor, they immediately notice the frenzy of activity. There are police cars everywhere. People have gathered around trying to get a glimpse of what is going on.
The men get out of the car and rush over to the parlor. Bryce speaks first, “Let’s hurry up and get her back man. Come on!”
***
THE BLONDE SMIRKS AS he watches the two men leave quickly. That’s it, you idiots, begin your wild goose chase. You will never find her. She is too important to the world to be stuck with some two-bit tattoo artist.
He turns around and walks out the back door of his apartment to a storage shed. He opens it quietly, as to not draw attention to himself. Beau looks down to see a still unconscious Hannah tied up on the dirt floor of the dark, dingy shed.
“Sleep my mistress. Soon you will be with me and Savior Paul. That other fool, Chester, actually believed he was going to be Master of Salvation. That imbecile didn’t realize that Savior Paul was just using him for money. I was always the one that was meant to be master. I am the only one entitled to be. Savior Paul is my brother, did anyone really think that I wouldn’t have an important role in the salvation of mankind?” he chuckles to himself.
He has had to sit back and build this façade, to make everyone believe a certain way about him. There is no way anyone could believe that he was the master. Chester fulfilled his role well in caring for Hannah. He did find the perfect mistress. Regrettably, he killed off her mom too soon. I could have had fun with her for a while, but crazy Chester got nervous because she had ideas.
The time came for Beau to collect Hannah and to take care of Chester. When he got to the little shack outside of town, no one was there. He searched the bunker to find it empty as well. His first thought was that Chester had run away with her, not wanting to follow through with the plan. Beau immediately called his brother. Paul sent his protectors to scout the area and track Chester.
Beau found Hannah before any of the protectors could. The day she came into the parlor, he was floored but played it off. He couldn’t believe she was standing in front of him, after two weeks of searching for her. He had been watching her grow into a beautiful woman since she was captured. Savior Paul insisted that there be some cameras in the bunker. Unfortunately, there was not a camera directed at the bottom of the stairs. That is why they were in the dark about what really happened for so long.
Beau had overheard the girls at the parlor talking about taking Hannah out. He knew that was his chance to get her back. His plan did not have the outcome he had desired though. He didn’t expect her to put up such a resistance. He assumed he could coax her using his charm and appeal. That was all he had to do in the past to recruit new followers. It was because of him that the sect had grown so much. Women found him irresistible. He would turn on the magic, and they would fulfill his every whim. The unsuspecting women would leave their husbands, children, and homes, all the while taking their money with them. They would happily turn over all of their valuables to him to give to Paul to fund the sect. He made the women believe that they were to be the Mistress of Salvation. The women that wanted to stay, realized their true purpose. They were only truly needed to fund the sect and do the chores. The ones that fought to leave were sacrificed.
The night that he almost succeeded with Hannah was the night that Sawyer came and thwarted it. Beau knew then that capturing Hannah would be more difficult. Sawyer was now an obstacle. Beau planned to return to work like nothing had happened, thinking that Sawyer wouldn’t have the nerve to fire him. Needless to say, he was very surprised when Sawyer let him go, and that the others fully supported him in his decision and Hannah. Scot, the drunk, even stood up for Hannah.
Beau knew he had to think of another way to get her. He began observing Hannah from the café across the street. He saw Chester there too, knowing that he had finally found her as well. Chester didn’t know anything about Beau, he was the sect’s biggest secret. He was kept hidden so that no attempt would be made on his life to ruin the plan of salvation.
The day finally came when Hannah was left alone. He knew he had but a few precious moments to carry out the capture. He grabbed chloroform from his car and ran to the apartment. Hannah opened the door quickly, then slammed the door on his hand causing it to bleed. He forced his way in and put the rag that was soaked in chloroform in her face and she went down. He quickly picked her up and carried her to his car. As he was leaving the parking lot he saw Chester making his way to the apartment also.
Beau drove through the quiet streets back to his place then dumped Hannah in his shed, bound and gagged. He never expected for Sawyer and Bryce to show up at his doorstep.
When he saw them pull up to his door, he quickly acted as if he was drunk to throw them off. His plan worked. They ultimately gave up on him and left. Tonight, after dark he will move Hannah to the sect’s headquarters. The women of the sect will begin the ritual of preparing her for the plan of salvation.