Her abductor walked over and jerked her upright. She was dragged roughly towards a door at the end of a hallway. When they reached it, he pushed it open, and shoved her in. She fell over something in the middle of the floor, landing head first against the far wall. Everything went black.

****

Jason arrived at the hospital and made his way to Stephanie Morris’s room. She was still not awake. He took a chair next to the bed and opened his files. Something in these files might help him find Vanessa. Lieutenant Patton was leading the task force on the streets and Jason still felt that what Stephanie knew could be his best chance to save his partner. He poured himself into the crime scene photos, forensic evidence and witness accounts. It was exhausting and after several hours, he dozed off.

****

“Who…who are you?”

Jason wasn’t sure, as he came awake, who was questioning him.

“Who are… you?”

Jason sat up with a start. He looked at where the voice came from. It was Stephanie.

“You’re awake.”

“Barely. Do I know you?”

“My name is Detective Jason Strong.”

Just the effort of asking a couple questions seemed to take her back into a coma.

“Miss Morris? Stephanie? Can you hear me?”

She mumbled something without opening her eyes and Jason jumped up to call a nurse. He leaned out the door and spotted a nurse at the desk.

“Nurse! She’s coming around.”

He ducked back in the room. The nurse was right behind him and checked the monitors before going over to Stephanie. While hanging directly over her, she softly spoke.

“Miss? Miss?”

The girls eyes fluttered open and Jason got an instant shot of adrenaline.

“Yes?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Where am I?”

“You’re at San Antonio General Hospital. Do you remember anything of what happened to you?”

“Not really. How did I get here?”

Jason stepped forward.

“You were shot. Do you remember that?”

The girl turned her glassy stare towards the detective.

“Who are you?”

Jason tried to remain patient.

“My name is Detective Jason Strong from San Antonio police. I am trying to catch the man that did this to you.”

The mention of the man brought her more awake and her eyes got huge. She started looking around her like she thought he might be there. Her movement caused pain to shoot through her shoulder.

“Owww. I remember now. He took me to the woods.”

“Yes. Do you remember anything else?”

At that moment, Jason heard Doctor Nance come in behind him. The nurse had notified her that Stephanie was waking up.

“That’ll be all for now, detective. Anything she tells you in her half awake state would probably not be reliable anyway. She will need several hours rest before you can question her more.”

Jason looked at the doctor and back at Stephanie, who had already closed her eyes again, and appeared to be back to sleep. Jason figured there was no point in arguing further. He gathered his files and went to call the lieutenant.

****

Vanessa slowly let her eyes creep open. Her head hurt and she was still piled up against the wall where she had fallen. She looked down at her feet and saw what she had tripped on. A mattress.

She sat up slowly, being careful not to make her head hurt any worse. She dabbed at her forehead and came away with some dried blood. She could see some matching blood on the hole in the drywall that her head had made.

Bit by bit, the cobwebs cleared, and she started to put the pieces together. She was in the house of the man they call ‘wine glass’ and she was alone. She remembered the TV saying they were looking for her and then being dragged down the hall.

Vanessa looked around, trying to get a sense of the room she was in. The lone window had a set of bars over it and was blacked out but enough light was coming in near the top to tell her it was daytime. Whether it was the same day she couldn’t tell.

She crawled across the mattress and up to the door. Putting her ear against it, she could hear the TV playing but couldn’t make out what was being said. She tried the doorknob. It was locked. She felt around for a light switch and flipped it on.

Vanessa caught her breath as her mind reeled. Her brain struggled to process what she was looking at. The walls around her were covered with writing.

All four walls had the same thing but in different colors and what appeared to be different hand writing. She tried to make sense of the words.

Time and time again, the same thing. Some of it was legible and some it was scrawled in random bits.

I will never call you bloodstain again

I will never call you bloodstain again

I will never call you bloodstain again

Vanessa had seen her abductors face. There was some sort of birthmark that took up almost the entire left side.

Could all this be about name calling?

Was it revenge for some kind of abuse?

Vanessa was no expert but all of the writing appeared to be done by women. Her mind swam with fear. She realized that she was probably looking at the last thing some of these women ever did. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Forcing herself to regain focus, she continued to scan the room. Her eyes settled on a door at the far end. Still feeling weak and dizzy, she crawled down to the door. Instead of opening outward, it slid sideways revealing a closet.

Vanessa fell back and studied the clothes hanging there. A 7-11 uniform, a couple dresses, jeans and a shirt. She realized she was looking at the clothes from the victim descriptions. They were trophies kept by a mad man. She heard the lock click behind her and the door swing open.

Chapter  14

Jason hung up the phone. He had called Sandy to let her know he wouldn't be home for dinner. She understood, after all, Vanessa was her friend, as well. He figured there was a good chance he might not be home at all tonight.

He had called the lieutenant before calling Sandy and told him that Stephanie Morris was awake. Lieutenant Patton was just as frustrated as Jason at not being able to get answers but they both knew that arguing with the doctor was a losing battle. At least she was awake and they should get some answers soon.

The lieutenant told him nothing was going on that he needed Jason for and he could stay at the hospital. Jason didn’t bother telling him that he had no intention of going anywhere. Stephanie was his best hope to find Vanessa.

The description of the vehicle on the news had brought in hundreds of responses, and they were still following up on them, but nothing appeared promising. Jason looked at his watch.

5:30 pm.

It had been about three hours since the girl had come around and Jason figured it was time for an update. He made his way up to the third floor and found a nurse.

“Has Stephanie Morris come awake again?”

“No. However; they’ve ordered a tray for her and I think they’re going to wake her to eat soon.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll go downstairs and find something at the cafeteria. Any recommendations?”

“Yeah. Eat out.”

Jason laughed out loud. It felt good and immediately made him feel guilty. With Vanessa missing, there was little to smile about. He headed downstairs to get something to eat.

****