Fighting For Life

| Chapter Eight |

LEAH-ELIZABETH'S POV

A man stumbled into the small room I was in, he was older than me. Maybe in his thirties. I waited for the door to close before talking.

"Hello?" I asked. He tried standing but his legs gave way and he fell. "Hello?" I tried again.

"You're Leah-Elizabeth right?" He asked. I nodded my head. "I'm Derek Morgan, I'm with the FBI"

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"Because I was kidnapped" he started.

"Really? Me too" I joked. He smiled a bit before crawling towards me. He began to undo the knots that had me tied to the bed in the room. "Thank you" I said.

"Do you know these people?" He asked me.

"No" I said. "How many days have I been here?" I asked.

"Almost two days" He answered. I nodded my hair and rubbed my wrists. "Do you remember what happened that night?" He asked me. I nodded my head and began to explain.

"Mum was down in the kitchen and I think dad and I were uh, I forgot. But we heard mum screaming and then ringing and then, um" I stopped talking trying to remember.

"I can't, all I remember after that is someone coming to the bathroom where I was and then running into the mirror. I can't remember. I remembered everything before" I closed my eyes tightly. "Sorry" I mumbled.

"Hey, no. It's alright you tried your best. When we escape we'll try a cognitive" he said.

"The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses." I stated. He nodded his head.

"JJ said you were smart, I didn't think you were this smart. That's the exact definition" he replied shocked.

"It's not like I'm ten, it's nothing special that I know what a cognitive is, besides, I have a photographic memory" I answered slightly embarrassed. I knew I was smarter than others but I hated admitting it.

"Sort of like Reid" he thought.

"Who's Reid, and JJ?" I asked.

"They work with me, for the BAU. Behavioural-"

"Analysis Unit" I cut him off. He nodded his head. "Wait, you said when we escape. You have a plan?" I asked. He smiled.

"Yeah I do" He replied.

"What is it?" I said standing up.

"See those bars? I reckon you'll be thin enough to squeeze through, once you get through you run to the closest house you can find and ask them to call the NYPD and the FBI. The team will know what to do after that" he stated. I nodded my head and thought.

"But what about the wood across?" I asked looking at the bars.

"I can pull it off and lift you up okay?" He asked. I nodded my head.

"We should do this once they feed us" I said thoughtfully. "That way we'll have more energy"

"They feed you?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's not very good, but it's something" I muttered.

- ♠️ -

We had already had food and we were going through Derek's plan once more.

"Okay I'm going to start on the wood, I'll need your help" he said. He grabbed one end of a wooden plank and I grabbed the other, together we pulled. His end loosened straight away however I struggled, once he got his end off he moved over to mine.

"One down, one more to go" he grinned. I couldn't help but get watery eyes, I wasn't always an emotional person. But this was different, I was finally going to be free. I know it was only two days but it felt like two years. Once he got the wood off I grabbed a hold of the bars.

"Wait, my parents? They're dead? I mean I saw them being attacked but I never actually saw them ..." I thought for the right words. "Well, I didn't, see, I didn't see them. Well they said they were dead. I just, I want to know"

He looked at me sadly. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask. I'm so sorry" I nodded my head. "They are, dead" I have him a small smile while trying to hold back my tears. He gave me a sincere smile. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"I was born ready" I mumbled. He boosted me up as I grabbed a hold of the bars, slowly I squeezed through. About half way through I heard the door handle jiggling. Derek had been smart enough to block it with a chair. I turned surprised.

"Hey, Chris I need some help!" The man outside shouted. I heard footsteps before the door was bashed down. Derek turned to me and began pushing me out.

"Wait Derek, no I can't leave you!" I called out. The men came running forward, one tackled Derek and the other grabbed my foot, I tried kicking him off but I wasn't strong enough. Derek pushed the man off of him and pulled the other off of me.

"Run Leah!" He called. I immediately remembered my father calling that out. I crashed down to the ground, landing on chips of glass. I screamed out in pain and tried standing. I brushed off the glass and began to run, I was outside of the house.

Because I was near my grandparents farm I knew the way around. I sprinted as best as I could to the small dirt road that led to the surrounding houses. Once I arrived I began to bang on the door. I peeked though the window noticing all the lights were off. I thought of how Derek was still in that house, I hit the door harder, pulling away skin from my hands and giving myself splinters.

"Hang on I'm coming" someone shouted. I closed my eyes and smiled. "What do you want?" A lady asked me.

"You've got to help me, I was kidnapped" I was cut off by a small gasp.

"You're the girl from the news. You're missing" she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

"You need to call the police and tell them that the FBI has to come immediately because Derek is still there" I rambled. She nodded and closed the door. She began walking around the house, not knowing what to do I stood still.

I felt a hand over my mouth, holding in my scream. I tried turning my head but I didn't need to, I would recognise that smell from anywhere, one of the men. Another man, who I recognised as Chris walked through the house, looking for the lady. I thrashed out trying to make a noise, I bit my holders hand and yelled out. The lady came running, her phone in her hand. She saw what was happening and screamed out, the man shot her straight between the eyes. I fell to the floor, I had been the death of this woman. It's my fault she's dead.

The men grabbed me as I thrashed around trying to escape. But it was no use, I eventually gave up. They took me back to the house. There I was thrown into a different room, this one a large glass window. Looking through I noticed it was another room. I waited and waited, wondering what had happened to Derek.

I cried myself to sleep, thinking about the lady, my parents and Derek, hoping he was still alive.