Fearlessly Yours

Unmasked

It's been a while since I've updated here. For that, I apologize. I got so caught up with the other story that I couldn't switch my mode of thinking from drama to suspense. But here it is. The last chapters hinted of who Lianna was and I'm sure quite a few of you have already arrived at the same conclusion. Well, it might be a little anticlimatic now, but the unsub is finally unmasked in this chapter. 

Warning: A little violence included in this chapter. Thank you! 

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Joan and Sebastian was walking back down the stairs after checking on Cece when the doorbell rang. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was only 6:45. She knew it wasn't Nicolas because he just said earlier that he won't be off till 7:00. Sebastian upon hearing the doorbell wanted to run to the door but Joan caught him right on time before he stumbled down the stairs. She carried him to the dining table and strapped him down to his high chair. The doorbell rang again.

"Coming!" Joan yelled, hopefully loud enough for the person on the other side to hear. She made sure Sebastian's seatbelt was locked before she grabbed his food and placed it in front of him. The doorbell rang again.

"Oh my gosh! I'm coming!" Joan yelled again and to Sebastian she said "well baby. I'm just going to see who that is. You sit here and eat dinner. Auntie Joan will be right back." Sebastian started eating and happily nodded, swinging his legs back and forth.

Joan smiled while walking to the front door. She peeked through the peep hole and saw nobody. She was about to head back to the dining room when the doorbell rang again, a bit insistent this time. 

"Sheesh, make up your mind" Joan mumbled to herself as she made an about face to the front door again. Once more, she looked through the peep hole and her sight was met with a bouquet of blood red roses being held by someone whose face she couldn't see because the roses were blocking the person behind it.

Joan smiled to herself. Classic Nicolas move; to send flowers as a surprise. She unlocked the front door and was about to pull it open when it was forcedfully pushed open from the outside. The only thing that Joan saw was the bouquet of roses shoved in her face before a blunt object hit her on the side of her head! She fell to the floor, unconscious!

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Joan came to consciousness to the very loud sound of the TV playing some children's program. She opened her eyes and discovered that her head was  throbbing and it felt very heavy. She tried to lift her head up only to discover that she can't. She looked around her surroundings, as far as her eyes can see, to discover that she was lying on the couch in the Faulkerson's family home. She tried once more to move any part of her body but she couldn't. It seemed like her brain was not connecting with her body, that her body wasn't following the commands her brain was giving. That she seemed like she was alert and awake but her body was frozen! Then it hit her! She was under conscious sedation. OH GOD! OH GOD! OH GOD!

"Oh hi there! You're awake!" Lianna cheerfully exclaimed.

To say Joan was surprised was an understatement! Standing over her was her friend and neighbour, Leigh. The face was the same but this woman standing before her had blond hair, and her face was covered in an elaborate make up making her look like a murderous vampire rather than the simple and elegant Lianna that Joan knew. Joan wanted so much to ask questions but she can't seem to open her mouth. However, her eyes must've spoken the questions because Lianna started to talk; and talk she did. Like having a conversation about the weather.

"You must be wondering what's going on right now. Well, first let me bring you up to date. You can't move because I've injected propofol into you. The dose was enough to knock a horse down. Im actually quite surprised that you came around that quickly. You were just out for 10 minutes. But from my estimation, you will be immobile for the next 20-30 more minutes which is plenty of time for me to kill you and take the children away. Oh don't worry, I will just inject you with a lethal dose of propofol so that you won't ever wake up again. The kids will think you're just taking a nap" this she whispered as if fearing that somebody would hear her. 

Joan started to feel the panic take over her body with Lianna's words. She was trusted by Maine and RJ to take care of their children, for the first time, and look what she's done. She willed herself to even her breathing and calm her heartbeat down because she needs to do something! What Lianna doesn't know is that Joan metabolizes medications in her system 5 times faster than anybody with her size and built. She discovered this when 5 years ago when she had to have her wisdom tooth removed. She woke up in the middle of the procedure that the dentist and the anesthesiologist had to hold her down and give her some more anesthesia. In fact, she could already feel the feelings to her limbs coming back. Lianna kept up with her monologue though, thinking that she had all the time in the world. 

"Anyway, did I ever tell you that I was engaged to Richard once? No? Yes, so I was. But I was stupid, STUPID," this Lianna said while hitting herself in the head, " so very stupid. I broke off our engagement and I can't even recall the reason why anymore. I am supposed to be the one married to him now. These kids are supposed to be my kids. He was supposed to be mine! MINE!" Lianna stated vehemently, spittle coming out of the corner of her mouth, turning her into a vicious wild animal rather than the attractive woman that she was.

Joan kept staring at Lianna, engaging her with her eyes, to keep her talking, to bide some time. Joan glanced at the wall clock to notice that it's already 7:10 pm. If Lianna kept talking, Nicolas might be able to get here just in time. So to keep Lianna talking, Joan pretended to struggle with her words.

"Kids?" Joan asked slurring exaggeratedly.

"Oh you mean, Seb and Cece? Seb is right here. Sebastian? Yoohoo Sebastian. Come say hi to Auntie Joan." Lianna called out. Sebastian came running from the direction of the playroom, came to Joan's side and kissed her on the cheeks. The ever trusting Sebastian not in the least worried from the presence of Lianna. Joan badly wanted to reach out to Sebastian but she couldn't let Lianna know that she had pretty much regained full function of her limbs. The only consolation she had was that Sebastian looked unharmed. 

"Cece?" Joan asked again, slurring once more.

"Cece is here too." Lianna responded while she stood and went to the direction of the bassinet. She picked up Cece and cooed to the child as if it was the normal thing to do. Cece, of course responded back by wriggling her arms upwards. "I think they both like me. Don't worry baby, we will be one happy family soon." Lianna added. 

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Nicolas called Joan's phone for the umpteenth time and still no response. It just came going straight to voicemail. He started calling her 10 minutes ago as soon as his shift was over to let her know that he was on his way to RJ and Maine's house. By the 5th time he called and no answer, he started to have a bad feeling at the pit of his stomach. His instinct tells him that something is wrong. Joan doesn't leave her phone unanswered for this long. Especially not when she was expecting his phone call. His instinct never failed him before and he's not about to ignore it now. He dialled Mike's number.

"Hello" came Mike's voice on the other line.

"Mike. I need your help bro. I've been trying to call Joan and it keeps going to voicemail. She's babysitting my neice and nephew tonight. I'm on my way there now. Can you meet me there?" 

"Yeah sure. I'll see you there" Mike answered no questions asked.

Nicolas glanced at the time on his dashboard. It's 7:10 pm.