WARNING - Language Alert

Daniel stepped inside and Norah bolted for the back door.

She heard fast footsteps behind her and shrieked as fingers grasped her hair, yanking her away from the door and into the wall. Daniel pinned her, one hand wrapped around her throat and he stood close, leaving no room for her to fight back. His eyes were bloodshot and the light sheen of sweat on his skin suggested he wasn't as fit as he made out to be.

"Oh, Norah," he smiled, breathing heavily. "How could you leave without saying goodbye? I thought you had better manners than that. Then again, your brother is a murderer so it is to be expected."

"He is no murderer," she snapped. "It was all your fault that it happened."

His fingers tightened on her throat and she closed her eyes as it got difficult to breathe. "Now you know that's not true," he laughed. "I never touched that man, the only one who laid a finger on him was poor Adam. He must be feeling quite lonely in jail, you haven't been in to visit him once. Not very sisterly, don't you think?"

"I've had other things on my mind," she wheezed. 

"Ah yes," he stepped back, brushing her hair from her shoulder. "I never knew you liked to play hide and seek. You gave me a good run around, I'll give you that. Now, let's get down to business, shall we? Where are my diamonds?"

"I don't know."

Her legs buckled as Daniel punched her in the stomach. She coughed, the air rushing from her lungs and she bent over but Daniel's hand, still wrapped around her throat, shoved her back against the wall.

"Wrong answer, gorgeous. I suggest you have another think before I have to rattle your brain and make you remember."

"I honestly don't know!" she cried. "Adam never had diamonds on him when he came to my house that night!"

"Don't lie!" He threw her down the corridor and she landed near the entryway to the kitchen, banging her hip on the door. She winced, tears stinging her eyes as she tried to crawl away. She heard footsteps and then a foot was digging into her lower back, pressing her into the floor.

"I know Adam had those diamonds that night," he said softly. "I went back after he left and the diamonds were gone." He rolled her over and dragged her in front of the kitchen sink. The  cupboard door knob pressed into her back and she fought back as he grabbed her hands. "Calm yourself, Norah, you're being silly."

When she didn't stop resisting, he slapped her across the face. Her head snapped sideways under the blow and the world blurred. Something wrapped around her wrists and she groaned as it tightened painfully. Glancing down, she saw her hands bound with rope.

He grabbed her chin, making her face him and she breathed through her nose, glaring at him defiantly. "Now that you're comfortable, we'll start our next game of hide and seek. You hid the diamonds, and I get to find them. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Fuck you," she murmured, twisting her head out of his grasp.

He chuckled, patting her cheek gently. "If you play your cards right, you just might."

Her body ran cold at the thought. She felt her mobile pressing against the hip that had connected with the door and welcomed the pain, hoping it hadn't been broken in the fall. Standing up, Daniel dusted off his pants. "You just sit there and rest those injuries while I have a poke through your house. This one isn't as big as the other thank god, shouldn't take too long."

He disappeared into her bedroom and she closed her eyes, head tilting skyward.

He'd been in her home.

It made her feel sick knowing he had gone through all her personal belongings. All those memories and objects tainted by his evil hands. She heard the cupboard being open and something crash to the floor.

Trying not to think about it, she shifted slightly and reached into her pocket. The jeans she wore were tight fitting, making it difficult to grab the phone out. She shifted lower, arching her back to reach the slim object and nearly cried in relief when it finally slid out between her fingers. Biting her lip, she whimpered at the cracked screen.

Pressing the button at the top, the screen lit up and she sighed in relief and started searching for a number. Her fingers moved automatically and she froze, realising whose number she was finding.

Rylan's name came onto the screen and she wondered if she should call him. What if he didn't answer because he was still mad?

"Police," she whispered. Hands trembling, she started dialling the three numbers. She started to press the call button when a foot came from nowhere, connecting with her hand. She screamed, the phone flying from her hand and Daniel crouched down.

"Why couldn't you just sit there quietly and wait for me to finish? Now I have to punish you."

Before she could ask what he meant, his fist connected with her head and the world disappeared.

*                             *                             *

The first thing Norah noticed was the world was moving. She opened her eyes, trying to figure out where she was. Everything was dark and for one stupid moment, she thought she'd gone blind, before she realised she was looking at the night sky. She shifted, and felt the rope around her hands tighten.  Remembering what had happened, consciousness returned sharply and she sat up, nearly connecting the dashboard of the car she was in.

"Hey there, sleepy head. Finally awake?"

The voice made her want to cry.

Daniel sat in the driver's seat, fingers tapping on the steering wheel.

"Where are we?" she croaked.

"Just doing a little sightseeing," he said calmly. "After having no luck in your house, I thought we could use some fresh air. I did sit back and wonder if I should wake you and ask again before we left, but then a voice said to me, 'No, Daniel. You know she won't tell you where they are.' I realised the voice was right, it was pointless trying to make you tell me. So I'm going to give you a little more...incentive to tell me. Otherwise I'm just going to kill you."

Norah buried her hands between her legs, her right one throbbing with pain. Slowly, she started to twist her hands against the rope, trying to loosen it enough to slip her hands through. Daniel hummed quietly, driving slowly through the town. It was quiet and Norah no one would be able to see her in the car anyway.

A sense of resolve Norah didn't know she possessed seeped through her. She knew what he planned to do and where he was going when he took a familiar turn towards the far cliffs. She would not die today. Rylan's voice calling her a coward kept playing through her mind and she wanted to prove him wrong. Just once, she wanted to be brave and stand up for herself. Even if she was doing it alone.

The car bumped along the dirt road and Norah felt the ropes beginning to ease around her wrists. Worried Daniel would look down and see, she started talking. "Why don't you just go and ask Adam where he hid the diamonds? If he tells you where they are, you can have them."

"Ah, so you want me to go into a prison in the hopes I'll be caught, is that it?"

"What? No, I'm just saying Adam can tell you -"

"He won't tell me, Norah. He went to so much trouble to keep them from me, he won't reveal his little secret now," Daniel said, slowing down over a large puddle in the road. "He knows how to hold a grudge, your brother. It's not my fault he killed that man. If he'd just ran none of this would have happened."

"Adam doesn't run," Norah said quietly. "He stayed because he actually has feelings and emotions you seem to lack."

The brakes slammed and Norah flew forward, the seatbelt catching her before she hit the dashboard. Daniel grabbed her shoulder, twisting it painfully. "You know nothing about me, little Norah. I suggest you shut your mouth before I have to shut it for you." He laughed, his demeanour changing in an instant. "Of course I plan on shutting it anyway, can't have you blabbing to the authorities about my little visit. Why don't we stretch our legs? The air in this car is starting to get a little thin."

Daniel climbed out first and Norah quickly struggled as he walked around the car. Come on!

The door opened and she was yanked out. Stumbling to the ground, she felt the ropes give way and nearly cried with relief. Holding them together, she let him drag her up the track, waiting for the opportune moment.

"These cliffs are beautiful," he said loudly over the wind. "I wonder how many people have ended their lives up here?"

The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below was muted by keening of the wind and Norah stumbled as the light from the car faded. It was overcast, the moon hidden and there was little light to show the way. Daniel kept pushing her forward, his breathing growing heavy with the incline and Norah knew the moment was coming. Her head throbbed from the earlier beating and the world blurred slightly as the pounding grew heavier with each step.

They reached the top and Norah looked around. The lights of Bellvale could be seen to the right and she wondered if anyone had seen them go up the cliffs. Will they find my body tomorrow on the rocks? A voice whispered in her head and she squashed it down. Stay positive.

"Now," Daniel stood beside her, grinning madly. "I've never been good with goodbyes so how about we skip them and get straight to business?"

Now.

Norah kicked him in the shin and he cursed, stumbling forward. "Bitch!"

He swung wildly and she tried to duck but his fist connected with her temple and everything spun, a ringing starting in her ears and she gasped as he pinned her to the ground.

"Stupid Norah," he snarled, hands finding her throat in the dark. "You had to take the hard way." They started to tighten and her hands scrambled in the dirt, desperate for any sort of weapon.

Her fingers traced over a rock and she grabbed it, raising it up and smashing it into his head. He roared in pain, his hands loosening and she tried to throw him off her. They rolled together, Daniel refusing to let go and still holding the rock, she hit him again, feeling his nose being crushed beneath the stone. A strange gurgling came from his mouth and she pushed him off her, breathing heavily.

Her throat hurt, her head pounded and she knew she had a concussion. She felt discombobulated and turned her head, wondering why Daniel hadn't attacked her again. In the dark, she couldn't see him and reached out with her hand, feeling for him - her hand hit the edge of the cliff.

She stopped breathing.

Sitting up slowly, she waited for the world to stop spinning, before leaning forward and peering over the edge of the cliff, already knowing what she would see. It was dark, but she just could make out the waves crashing against the rocky cliffs and the white of a shirt lying awkwardly on the high rocks. She covered her mouth, a strange shrieking passing her lips as reality sank in.

She hadn't -

She didn't mean -

Turning her head, she vomited the contents of her stomach all over the ground. It couldn't be real.

Time slipped by as she sat atop the cliffs, her body going into shock. She didn't care that she practically sitting in her own vomit. It didn't seem that important when she thought about what she had just done. The pain in her head reminded her that it was real, that it had happened and finally, she stood on shaking legs and walked away.

She walked past the car, its doors still open, lights still shining in the night, continuing down to the beach, feet sinking into the sand and her body started to turn, to see if he was still there, but she stopped herself.

Don't do it.

She kept walking, as though lost in some horrid nightmare. The pier came into view, the one light shining and she continued along the beach, slipping back into the darkness until she reached her house. There were no lights on, the door was closed and rather than wonder if anyone had noticed she was missing, she just walked inside. Stepping over the mess he had made, she made it to her room and sat on the bed, staring at the wall.

"Not real," she whispered. "Please, it can't be real."

Murderer, the voice whispered and a sob tore from her chest.

Lying back, she started crying, her body wracked with sobs until the pain in her head finally pushed her into the darkness.

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A/N: No complaining about the length of the chapter please. I've given you some long ones in the past so be happy with that. If you aren't happy, then feel free to keep your comments to yourself

I love Knife Party. That is all.