Raymond heard the bolt lock in place and gently pulled Charmaine slightly away to look down at her.  Seeing her daze and expressionless face, he lightly tapped her face and asked with trepidation, "Charmaine, are you alright?"

Charmaine slowly lifted her gaze to his and nodded dully.  "I tried to block myself out.  T-To pretend I-I'm not here….  I tried b-but….," she broke off crying.

Her tears affected him enormously and Raymond for once in his life felt utterly helpless.  He was usually the one in control and not the other way around.  "I'm sorry," he murmured against her hair.  "I'm so sorry."

Swallowing a sob, Charmaine croaked, "Sorry for what?"

"For getting you involved in this mess.  It's me they want."

"Didn't you hear them?" Charmaine asked in a barely audible voice, "They killed my father and plan to kill us all."

"I'm not going to let them harm you," Raymond grinded out.  "Trust me."

Turning her gaze away, Charmaine said quietly, "What can you do?  There's too many of them and now they got your father too."

The mention of his father brought a reluctant smile to Raymond's face.  "My father will get us out of here."

The confidence behind Raymond's smile quelled some of Charmaine's fear but not all.  Holding onto this hope, she asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because he's my father," Raymond answered simply.  When he saw the skepticism on her face, he repeated, "My father will definitely get us out of here.  I have faith in him and even if you don't, you should at least have faith in me."

Charmaine thought otherwise.  Witnessing first hand how cruel and deprived their captors are, she didn't have high hopes of getting out of here, alive.  But seeing the smile and confidence on Raymond's face she felt obliged to say, "I hope you're right."

"I am," Raymond said firmly and then gently took her hands in his.  "When we get out of here the first thing I'm going to do is formally introduce you to my family."

Feeling suddenly shy by the notion of meeting his family and what it represented, Charmaine blushed and averted her eyes, "Who said I want to meet your family?"

Captivating by the rosy hue on her cheeks and how absolutely adorable the heightened color made her face, Raymond teased, "You have to meet them sooner or later if we plan on getting married."

"Married?" Charmaine gasped in shock, her eyes riveting back to the smile on his handsome face.

"Yes married," Raymond confirmed.  Turning serious, he squeezed her hands and said affectionately, "I don't want to risk losing you now that I finally have you.  The only way I can make sure of that is tying you to my side.  What better way of doing that than for us to get married."

"You want to marry me?" Charmaine asked hesitantly, his words seemingly to swirl in her head as she tried to come to terms with all he had said.  "We haven't known each other that long," she reminded when he nodded his head in answer.

Raymond brought his hands up to cradle her face.  Cupping it gently he said tenderly, "Time doesn't matter to me.  What matters is what I feel for you."

"B-But you don't really know me… y-you don't know what I-I like… what I don't like," Charmaine sputtered aimlessly.  "You don't know what's my favorite food… drink…We don't know each other enough to marry so soon!"

Chuckling softly at her rambling, Raymond brushed a thumb across her cheek and said, "What I know of you I already love.  We can spend the rest of our lives getting to know each other better."  He saw the frown on her face and added quietly, "Unless, your feeling for me isn't as strong as I think it is."

"That's not it!" Charmaine quickly injected, not wanting him to think that.

Smiling at how quick her response came, Raymond dropped a soft tender kiss on her lips and said, "Then it's settled.  When we get out of here we're going to get married."

"Married," Charmaine repeated and the word didn't sound as shocking as it did when he first said it.  In fact, it sounded right and the more she played with the idea in her mind, the happier she became.  Locking her eyes on him she said solemnly, "Promise me one thing."

"I'll promise you anything," Raymond said when he saw the uncertainty on her face.

"Promise me that you'll always be by my side."

Raymond slid his hand to the back of her neck and began slowly inching her head towards him.  "Not even a tornado can tear me away from you," he whispered when his lips were almost touching hers.  When he saw the corner of her lips lift in a smile, he closed the distance and kissed her.

----------------------------------------------------

"Where's my son?" Dominic barked when he saw Michael Miu descending the stairs.

Smiling cockily at Dominic, Michael leisurely walked down the rest of the stairs but did not head in Dominic's direction.  Instead he walked towards the back where a chair has been placed in the center for him.  Sitting down on it, he leisurely crossed his legs and leaned back.  "We finally meet," he said with a wicked grin.

"Release my son!" Dominic ordered in a low deadly tone.  "And I could pretend this never happened."

Laughing softly, Michael eyed him with contempt.  When his laughter subsided he made a snickering sound and said, "You and your son are so alike.  Issuing orders even when the control isn't in your hands."

"Where's Charmaine?" Joel hollered out from behind Dominic which for a second got the attention of Michael.

After surveying the young man and analyzing that he was harmless, Michael turned his full attention back to Dominic.  "You want your son back?  You'll have to work at getting me to release him."

Clenching his fists at his sides, Dominic fought to control his rising temper as he stared coldly at Michael.  Forcing himself to remain calm and poised, he asked conversationally, "What do you want in order to release him?"

Michael laughed loudly and stood up from his chair.  He placed a foot onto the chair and pointing at his raised leg he purred, "For starters, how about showing me just how badly you want your precious son released.  Crawl under this!"

"You!" Joe growled and took a threatening step forward which caused Kenny and Ron to do likewise at Michael's end.

Dominic held an arm up to block Joe's path.  Smiling calmly back at Michael, he said, "By me doing that, what will that accomplish?  Besides, I'm not going to do anything until I know my son is safe."

"You won't get to see him until you crawl under this," Michael shot back with a cold devilish smile on his cold hard face.  "That's one of my conditions."

"Enough of the games," Dominic sighed with exaggeration.  "Either you bring my son to me or we leave."  Seeing the flicker of doubt on Michael's face and thinking that Michael was falling for his trap, Dominic went on to say, "Ray has known from a very young age the path he have chosen may lead to this sort of outcome.  Death?  My son isn't afraid of it and as his father, I have prepared long ago for something like this.  Yes, I will grieve for my son should something happen to him but I will also accept it as I do with everything thrown my way.  That is the life of who we are."

In contrast to what Dominic was thinking, Michael looked with challenge at Dominic and asked quietly, "Are you saying that you don't care if I were to kill your son right here and now?"  The hesitation in Dominic and the flash of anger on his face told Michael that Dominic had been bluffing all along.  "Just say it and I will show you what I'm capable of," Michael goaded with a tigerish smile.

The crazed gleam in Michael's eyes made Dominic shudder with revulsion.  Michael Miu was just as crazy as what everyone said him to be.  If he continued to stand strong it might actually backfire and hurt Raymond in the process.  The only option for him was to save as many as he can.  Right now the person he was thinking about saving the most wasn't Raymond but Charmaine Lau.  She already lost her father and now her brother.  He can't even imagine having her go through any more devastation.  "Let Charmaine Sheh go and I'll do whatever you say."

Michael broke into a smug smile and tapping the palm of his hand on his raised knee he taunted, "I'm waiting."

-------------------------------------------------

Power held tightly onto the extended branch as he peered in through the small opening, which at one point had been a window.  Only about three feet separated him from that small opening and judging by the size of it, he knew he could fit through it with ease.  Inhaling a long breath he jumped and dived into the opening.  Much to his relief an old beat up mattress caught his fall and prevented him from sustaining any injuries and more importantly, making any sound.  Getting up quickly he scanned the area and noticed that he was in the middle of a hallway with about a handful of closed doors surrounding him.  He tried one door then the next.  All were empty with nothing of interest.  There was one more door to go and touching the cold steel knob he realized it was locked.  With anticipation he knelt down beside it and gave the door a soft tap.  "Charmaine?" he whispered.  "Charmaine?  You in there?"

Charmaine had her eyes closed and was nestled in Raymond's arms when she heard her name spoken softly.  She sat up and perked her ears, "Did you hear that?" she asked Raymond in a hushed voice.

"Hear what?" Raymond asked and then just as his words were out he heard the soft rasp of her name being called from the other side of the locked door.  "Over there," he pointed then jumped off the bed and ran towards the door.

"Charmaine?" Power repeated, his voice a bit louder.

Charmaine recognized it immediately and with happiness she flew to the door.  "Power!  You came!  You finally came!"

Through the door, Charmaine heard Power's muffled voice to stand back.  With obedience she pulled Raymond back and away from the door.  In seconds, the door unlocked and opened.  "Power!" Charmaine cried with relief and threw her arms around her brother, hugging him tightly.  "I was so scared that I'll never see you again."

Fighting his own tears of joy, Power gave Charmaine a quick squeeze before letting her go.  "Come on, we have to get out of here fast.  We'll go out the same way I came in."

Raymond followed behind them but stopped at the window opening.  "Where's my father?" he asked to no one in particular.

Power had his legs over the edge of the opening and was about to jump when he heard Raymond's question.  "Your father is downstairs with Michael Miu.  Don't worry about him.  Nothing will happen to him."

Raymond smiled and said, "I'm sure nothing will."  He climbed up to the window sill and holding onto Charmaine's hand they jumped.