Charmaine opened her eyes slowly and the first thing she saw was a closed door and that she was lying on her side on a bed.  She squinted at the door and it didn’t look like any doors in her apartment nor at the police station.  Strange, she thought as a sharp pain seared through her head.  She waited for the pain to leave then tried to sit up and realized her hands were tied behind her back.  Calm down she told herself and think.  The last thing she remembered was being at Passions.  She was waiting for Steven and… oh no, she thought with alarm.  Kenneth Ma must have slipped something into her drink again!  She looked down towards her feet and was relieved to see that at least her legs weren’t tied together.  She dragged them over the side of the bed and once standing, hopped to the door.  Before she had the chance to open it, the door swung in at her.  Luckily her reflexes were quick and she jumped out of the way on time.

Steven was surprised to see Charmaine up and about.  He thought the drug would at least knock her out for a few hours.  Still, it didn’t matter one way or another for what he had in store for her.  “Would you like a drink?” he asked softly as he walked into the room.

The first feelings of uneasiness began building in her as Charmaine realized that Steven wasn’t the least bit surprised or affected by her circumstances.  “Steven, what’s going on?” she asked warily as she took a step back away from him.  “Where am I and why am I tied up?”

Steven pulled a chair from the side and sat down on it facing her.  He crossed arms and legs and with an inclination of his head said, “Please sit down and I’ll answer whatever questions you have.”

The strange gleam in his eyes and the chilling smile on his face transformed him into someone Charmaine could barely recognize. “Steven?  What’s going on here?” she asked quietly, not letting her fear show.

“Please sit down,” Steven repeated but this time there was an edge to his voice.  Charmaine did the sensible thing and sat down on the bed facing him.  Satisfied by her obedience Steven’s smile widened, “Now you wanted to know where you are right?”

Charmaine nodded her head slowly, keeping her eyes trained on him.  “That would be a good start.”

Steven laughed softly at her answer then leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees.  With his eyes watching her every move, he said, “You’re in my apartment and as to why you’re tied up, that’s easy.  It’s because I wanted you tied up for what I plan to do with you.”

Not understanding, Charmaine looked at him questioningly, “But why?”  Once the question was out she suddenly knew.  It was because of her and Raymond.  Feeling guilty for her own betrayal and thus inadvertently being the cause of his current behavior, she said softly, “I’m really sorry for what I’ve done to you.”

Steven waved his hand in an impatient gesture and said bitterly, “Too late for that.”  Charmaine stood up and took a step forward but his dark cutting eyes held her still, “Sit back down!” he barked.

Charmaine quickly did as told but kept her eyes on him.  “Why are you doing this?  I thought we were good friends.”

“Friends?” Steven repeated with heavy sarcasm.  He stood up and walked leisurely towards her, only the hard glint in his eyes betrayed his fury.  “We were more than friends until you cheated on me!” he raged, his fingers curling into fists at his side.

Steven reached her and stood towering over her.  Charmaine saw the deadly coldness on his face and shrank back against the bed.  He reached out and grabbing a handful of her shirt pulled her up so that their faces were only inches apart.  In a silky soft voice he taunted, “Now do you want me to kill you first or after I you?  One way or another I will have you.”

Charmaine picked up her knee and with as much force as she can muster jammed it between his legs.  Steven cried out as he bowled over in pain.  She quickly sidestepped him and ran to the door.  Even with her hands tied behind her she was able to deftly turn the knob and was out of the bedroom in seconds.  She searched frantically for the main door and saw it immediately.  Without wasting time, she raced towards it but something caught her hair and the next thing she knew she was dragged backwards and pushed roughly to fall sprawling onto the floor.  She looked up at Steven in horror as he advance towards her.  This time there was a knife in his hand and by the look on his face she knew he had no qualm about using it on her.

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Raymond ran into Bosco and Natalie downstairs in the lobby of Steven’s apartment building.  “He has Charmaine!” he shouted with panic.  “Steven has her!”

Bosco and Natalie exchanged worried looks then simultaneously pulled their guns from their holsters and sprinted up the stairs to Steven’s apartment.  Luckily for them, Steven’s apartment was on the fourth floor and they didn’t have far to go.  In minutes they were in front of his door.  Bosco held a hand up for Raymond to be silent as he and Natalie pressed their ears to the door to listen in.  No noise could be heard from within.  Suddenly they heard a loud thud from inside and a muffled groan.

Raymond’s heart dropped as fright enveloped him.  “We have to go in,” he hissed but Bosco held him steady by the arm.

“There’s no way we could break this door down without alerting him.  Who knows what he’ll do to Charmaine,” Bosco whispered reasonably, but there was no mistaken the fear that was etched on his face.

“So should we just wait out here while he does God knows what to Charmaine?” Raymond snapped, his voice rising with unleashed anger.

“I can help,” a paled face Kenneth said.  They turned to see Kenneth scampering towards them.

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Steven straddled Charmaine as he lifted her up by her shirt and slapped her hard across the face.  “That’s for making a fool out of me!” he snarled and slapped her again.  “And that’s for choosing someone like Raymond Lam over me!”  Again he slapped her.

Charmaine felt the stinging pain of each slap and she moaned, “Stop.”  Her pitiful cry seemed to incite him more and he gave her a fewl more slaps before releasing his hold on her.

Steven picked up the knife he put down only moments ago and pressed the sharp blade against her neck.  “Now to finish what I’ve started.”

Charmaine’s last conscious thought was his leery face looming above hers.