Wasted

Lauren's captivity had been upgraded somewhat, her arms and legs were now strapped to an old chair with worn leather belts. When William took his chance to move her she didn't have the strength to fight him; she hadn't eaten since her meal with Erin. Her face crumpled painfully as her stomach voiced it's protest with a loud, clenching growl.

"Little Laurie's hungry, huh?" William snickered. "Wonder what'll kill you first, starvation or dehydration?"

I know what's gonna kill you when I get out of this hellhole.

"I personally hope it's dehydration," he moved closer, his mouth brushing her bruised temple. "I hear it's much more painful."

She closed her eyes tightly in hopes of blocking his voice, but it only encouraged his behavior. His hand went to her thigh, his thumb tracing lightly over it's length. "There was a day when I'd kill to be with you," he admitted quietly. "Why'd you have to ruin me, Laurie? Make all others pale in comparison to you? I was with others, you know- women."

Lauren fought the urge to roll her eyes and settled for a raised eyebrow instead.

"Yeah, there was one," he smirked at the recollection. "A sexy little blonde thing- she had legs for miles- but the only thing I could think of in the middle of the night was you-" he pointed his finger in her face, "you, Laurie. Want to know why?"

"Because you have the sweetest, tightest little-"

"Hey boss," Paulie interrupted quickly, his speech sounded as if he had a mouthful of saliva. "We got company."

Lauren's heart began to pound so loudly she could hear it in her ears. She attempted to twist her arms free, only resulting in irritating the severe burns already inflicted on them.

"Let me go!" She tried to scream, but it was only muffled into the cloth.

William pulled a knife from his pocket and flipped it open with a flick of his wrist. He quickly moved behind her, pressing the blade against her throat harshly. She whimpered when she felt the burning of a shallow cut on the hollow of her throat; the cold, thick blood trailed down and pooled on the collar of her shirt.

He bent down to her ear and seethed, "Do that again and I promise you'll regret it."

She barely nodded and coughed from the dryness of her throat.

"I'm going to go pay our little friend a visit," William stated. "You remember our deal- every step is a stab, Laurie."

Please God, I'll never ask for anything again if you let everyone leave this alive.



Justin lay on the soft cushions of the sofa in the living room, his head slowly falling onto the armrest. It had been sixteen hours since his father left, and even longer since he last spoke to Laurie. His mind replayed their short conversation at dinner a few nights back.

She's the kind of woman Mom would want to see me with.

The shrill ringtone bounced between the walls, causing Justin to jump with surprise. He moved to answer it quickly, hoping it'd be one of the two.

"Hello."

"Hello," a woman's broken voice said. "I-Is this Voight?"

Justin raised a brow, and decided to answer on his father's behalf. "Yes it is."

"D-Did you find them? Did you find Laurie and the kids?"

"What do you mean find them?" It felt like a thousand pound weight had been thrown onto his chest.

"You said you'd find them!" The woman began to sob desperately into the receiver. "You promised I'd see them again!"

A numbness had spread over his entire body, mostly concentrated in his hands and face. "You will, I gotta go."

Quickly he scrolled through his contacts, his fingers too shaky to manually dial. When he landed on his father's name he clicked 'Send'. A sudden rage overtook his body when he heard his father's voice, but he fought to calm it, just like he'd been taught in the army.

"Voight."

Justin took a deep breath. "What's goin' on, Pop? Where's Lauren?"

"Justin-"

"Where is she? And don't give me some bullshit answer I just got a call from a woman asking for you, wanting to know if you found Lauren."

He clenched his hand around the circumference of the phone as his father's deep voice replied. "She's been kidnapped, Justin. Her ex-husband has her and her sister's kids."

"Pop-"

"We're comin' up on the location, Justin. We're gonna get them back. I'll call you when it's over."

"Dad, be careful-"

Voight cut him off. "I love you, son."

Justin opened his mouth to respond but was promptly met with a busy signal.

Love you too, Pop.



Lauren's breath came out in puffs as she tried to breath through her bloody nose. Paulie had taken over William's place of leader in the room when he'd gone to check the 'guests' as they liked to say. The plump man drew his hand back again, landing it with a harsh snap against her cheek; her head flew back onto the back of the chair as the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

She swallowed it down, silently gagging from it's pungent taste.

"You just wait until Will gets back," he grinned, holding her head up by her matted hair. "He promised that I'd get to have a little fun with ya."

He leaned toward her and licked the blood that crusted to her neck. "I always liked a submissive woman."

I'll make you think submissive, you nasty little man.

She threw her head forward with as much force as she could muster and groaned in pain as she heard the satisfying crack of his nose. Her vision blurred slightly, but her rapid blinking helped to clear it faster.

"You bitch," Paulie moaned as he nursed his nose. "You'll pay for that."

Lauren could hear a herd footsteps in the distance and silently prayed they were coming her way. She took a couple deep breaths and screamed to the top of her voice and began to thrash around in the seat. The footsteps sped up, so she continued.

"Stop it," Paulie commanded from the floor. In a moment he propelled forward, moving faster than someone his size should, and stood beside her, a look of anger on his face. He too pulled a knife from a strap on his side, pointing it at her threateningly. "I said stop it."

Lauren's eyes went wide, but before she could close them she heard her savior's voice.

Voight turned around the corner, a pistol clutched tightly in his hand. "Chicago PD! Drop the weapon!"

From her seat she saw Paulie's face pale, and just as she locked eyes with Voight he plunged the knife deep into her abdomen.

She screamed as a blinding pain filled the lower part of her stomach and bent forward as if to push the offending object out of her.

Multiple gunshots were fired, and even with her blinding pain she heard Paulie's lifeless body crumple to the floor. Voight ran to her after holstering his gun, his eyes searching her over as he freed her of her bonds. He unwrapped her mouth and threw the cloth onto the floor behind him. "You're all right," he began, "you're going to be okay."

She winced and felt the need to empty her stomach. "Voight," she whispered. "The twins?"

"Shh, don't talk. We got 'em, they're fine- not a scratch." He shook his head lightly. "We need medical, now!" He roared to the other police. "Stay with me, Lauren," he commanded gruffly. She felt his hand smack her cheek gently. "C'mon, open your eyes."

She felt him wrap her arm around his neck and he gently lifted her from the chair, the pain still coming to her in waves. She cried out, her hand instantly moved to her stomach.

"Don't touch it," Voight directed.

Her head weighed heavy and fell directly onto his chest. The last thing she heard was Voight's deep voice calling her name.