"Joelynn? Joelynn are you okay?"

A hand was touching her forehead. She tried to open her eyes but they burned. "Too bright. What...what happened?" she whispered. The bright light was blinding her. She didn't know where she was at.

"What were you doing here?" Joelynn recognized the voice. It belonged to Officer Dempsey. She could hear the sound of a siren coming closer. "I called an ambulance. Can you move?" he asked.

Joelynn tried moving her body and a sharp pain shot up her left arm. "Oh crap that hurts."

"You fell down the stairs. Thank God you didn't break your neck."

"Where is he?"

"Where is who?"

"Jacob. Is he in the basement? Is he okay?"

Officer Dempsey was confused. "There's no one else here Joeylnn. Was he supposed to meet you here?"

"The lights," Joelynn said as she tried to sit up. She could hear the paramedics making their way into the house.

"She's down here," Officer Dempsey shouted. "What about the lights Joelynn?"

"They weren't working earlier."

"They worked fine when I came inside. I saw you come in and I waited for about fifteen minutes."

"Did you see anyone else?"

"No, I shouted for you but you didn't answer. I saw the door leading to the stairway open and you were down here unconscious."

The paramedics told Joelynn they were going to check for any broken bones. When they were done, they carefully transferred her back upstairs and into the ambulance.

"Joelynn, I'm going to follow you in my car."

Joelynn was still in too much shock to understand everything that was going on. She wanted to know where Jacob was and who had pushed her down those stairs. She felt pain coursing through her body. She wanted to shout, "My friend Jacob is missing and hurt!" Instead she closed her eyes and let the pain take over.

At the Hospital

"You're a complete asshole!"

Edward laughed, "Look, I'm sorry but I needed to make it look realistic."

"So you knock me out with a vase?" Jacob had a bandage over his head. The gauze still had blood staining it from where Edward had hit him over the head.

"I'm sorry but if I told you, you wouldn't have agreed," Edward was sitting with Jacob in a hospital room. He had just returned with a teddy bear from the gift shop downstairs. Jacob had been knocked out for a while.

"Of course I wouldn't have agreed. Who would agree to let someone else bash them on the head with a vase? Are you psychotic? I don't really know you but so far I think you have mental problems."

Edward pretended to be hurt, "Hey...aren't I paying for your hospital bill? I said I was sorry."

Jacob groaned as he thought of Joelynn going to the empty house that was for sale. It wasn't his idea. It was Edward's. After Jacob came to, Edward had explained why he had knocked him out with the vase.

"I'm sorry Jacob. I didn't think it was really going to knock you out. I just wanted to give you a small cut to get real blood so I could take the picture and we could send it to Joelynn. I would never want to hurt you for real. Or I mean really hurt you. Ugh I'm horrible at apologies. Do you forgive me?"

At the time, he looked so apologetic that Jacob believed him. Now he wasn't so sure. Edward thought it would be a good idea to scare Joelynn into thinking Jacob had been abducted. He had already sent the picture and texts to her by the time Jacob had gained consciousness. Edward said that Joelynn had probably already been to the house even before he had woken up. The problem was that Jacob didn't think it was a good idea. Joelynn had already been through a lot and adding one more thing to scare her probably wouldn't make too much of a difference. He wanted Joelynn to regret not caring enough for him and to worry about him. He didn't want to cause her more psychological damage. Edward's idea was cruel.

"Relax. Everything's going to be fine.

Jacob watched Edward look at his phone and smile. Edward was an enigmatic character to him. Even though Edward claimed everything would be fine, Jacob couldn't help but think he was wrong.

Meanwhile

Joelynn's left arm was in a sling. She was bruised and swollen but she was alive.

"An angel must have been watching over you tonight darling," the nurse had told her as she gave Joelynn some pain medication. "Most people wouldn't have survived that...much less only come out with a broken arm.

Joelynn understood that the nurse was trying to be comforting but her words were as soothing as a root canal.

Joelynn was staying overnight for observation. Officer Dempsey had already left and she was getting antsy. She couldn't sleep just yet and would have left the hospital if her legs didn't hurt so much. The nurse attending to her could sense her anxiousness. "Would you like me to take you for a spin in a wheelchair for a little bit?"

Joelynn smiled. "I would love that! I have too much on my mind right now." Ten minutes later, the nurse came with a wheelchair. She agreed to take Joelynn down to the twenty-four hour gift shop in the main lobby.

Leaving the Hospital

"Do you have the pain meds?" Edward asked.

"Yes. I've got them. I just want to go home already."

Edward grabbed Jacob's hand, "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done something so stupid."

"It was stupid. Very stupid."

They were on the main lobby of the hospital when Jacob spotted the public bathrooms. "I need to use the restroom real quick."

"That's cool. I'll go get the car and come around to the main doors and pick you up.

Edward walked out of the sliding doors of the hospital while Jacob went into the bathroom. After he was done, he quickly exited and began to walk towards the same doors Edward had used.

"Jacob?" He heard a familiar voice call his name and he felt as though someone had clutched his heart and twisted it. He slowly turned around to see his best friend, Joeylnn, sitting in a wheelchair with a nurse behind her. She looked horrible. She was wearing a hospital gown, her left arm was in a sling, her face sported cuts and bruises, and her legs were bruised and swollen.

"Oh my God Joelynn what happened to you?"

"Jacob?" Joelynn was still shocked to see him. "What are you doing here?"

Jacob swallowed and he could feel a blush of shame color his cheeks. "Joelynn..."

"Are you okay?" Tears began falling down her face, "Oh Jacob I'm so happy to see you. I was so worried. How did you get free? We need to call the police!"

The cavalcade of questions bombarding Jacob didn't give him time to think. "I don't know. Oh God Joelynn what happened to you?"

Before Joelynn could answer, the nurse excused herself to give them time alone and to use the restroom.

"What happened Joelynn?" Jacob asked.

"I fell down the stairs at that house," Joelynn explained.

"What!? You fell down at the house?"

"Well it's more like I was pushed. At least I could've sworn someone pushed me."

"What?"

Joelynn looked at Jacob, "How's your head?"

"Screw that Joelynn! Who pushed you?"

"I don't know Jacob. I might have imagined it because I was so scared. Anyway I'm okay now. How did you escape? Who took you? Did you already call the police?"

"No, I didn't call the cops. Oh God Joelynn...I'm so sorry. I didn't know this would happen."

"What would happen?"

He couldn't tell her the truth. If he did, he would lose her forever. "That he would make you come for me."

"He who Jacob? Did you see his face? Maybe you could describe him to the police. I could call Officer Dempsey..."

"I don't know Joelynn...I didn't see his face."

"Then how did you escape?"

"He let me go. I don't know why and I don't want to call the police either. I just want to forget it."

"Jacob you can't do that. You have to call the police."

Jacob was angry at himself, "Stop it Joelynn! I don't want to call the cops so stop bugging me about it. It's not like you acted any different when this happened to you." He needed to think and seeing a banged up Joelynn wasn't helping him. Guilt was consuming him. "Listen, I'm gonna go. I'll call you tomorrow."

Joelynn didn't have time to respond as Jacob quickly turned around and exited the hospital, leaving her all alone.

Hours Later

"Eva...I brought you something."

Eva opened her eyes to see her captor placing bottles of pills on a small chair next to her mattress. They were prenatal pills.

"It's for the baby."

"Why do you care so much about this baby?" Eva asked.

"Of course I care for the baby. He's going to grow up into someone special."

Eva had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Whether she liked it or not, this child was also a part of her.

He smiled and asked, "Will you just confirm to me who the father is."

Eva shook her head, "I already gave you an answer."

"I don't know if I should believe you."

"That's your problem."

"Not just my problem Eva." He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture.

"Joelynn!" Eva's stomach tightened. "Is she...is she okay?" The picture was of Joelynn at the bottom of a staircase. Her eyes were closed.

"Wouldn't you like to know..."

Eva knew he wasn't going to tell her unless she told him who the father of her unborn child was. Either Joelynn was okay or she was dead. Those were the only two options.

"Still don't want to share your secret with me?" he asked.

Eva stayed quiet.

"I didn't want to do this," he began placing gauze, hydrogen peroxide, and a large knife in front of her.

"What's this for?"

"Another question? I'll give you one more chance to tell me Eva."

"You just brought me pregnancy pills. You wouldn't hurt this baby," Eva was beginning to panic.

"Why wouldn't I hurt the baby? If he's not the Demon King's or Vincent's...what do I care?"

"I told you he's Vincent's!"

He began to laugh, "You're such a liar. He's not Vincent's. You know...I don't think I can believe you at all now."

Eva began pleading with him to stop as he put some surgical gloves on. "You know Eva, I wish I could say this wasn't going to hurt a bit...but I would be lying."

As the knife cut into her flesh, Eva screamed. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the sound of his psychotic laughter.