Nick suddenly felt the impact of something cold against his face. In an instant, he was awake only to realize that he had been bound and gagged. He violently shook the water from his eyes to get a better view. To his chagrin, a bulky stranger stood before him, holding a bucket of the ice cold water he just dumped on Nick.

The man smiled smugly at Nick. "How you doin' kiddo? Geez, it's been a while, huh? Never thought we'd meet again." The man said with enthusiasm.. Nick tried to use his legs to push him back a little. The man was standing too close to him, making him shift uncomfortably. The man noticed Nick's withdrawal and moved closer, placing his bulky hands on Nick's shoulder gently, but firmly.

"Don't do that, my boy." The man's voice was dangerously gentle. "I just brought you here to finish off what we weren't able to finish last time."

Nick attempted to shrug of the man's hand. He was disgustingly ugly. His brows were bushy and his nose was too big for his face. His face was ridden with acne. And his stomach hung loosely from his trunk. Nick shuddered from the sight.

Worse, the man's hand sensuously roamed Nick's body. Nick tried to kick him off only to have the man grab his legs and pull him across the room. He knelt down and began slapping Nick hard on the face until the blood trickled from his lips. Nick simply laid there, fear jolting through his body. He could not do anything. He was bound and gagged.

The man stopped, his breath was shallow. He was tired from the little fight. He stood up, kicking Nick in the stomach before he walked a few steps towards the door. "Boy, you put up a good fight. But mind you, this time, I'm not drunk. You won't win this time, Nick. Like I said, I'm gonna finish off what we started six years ago. You just lay put my baby boy."

Nick cringed at his strange words. Then the man disappeared behind the door. Something about the man, about the way he touched Nick that seemed vaguely familiar. His voice was reminiscent of someone he had known. Yes-he was the one who kept haunting Nick in his dreams. This man was from his dreams. He and Katie both haunted Nick night after night.

But something in his dreams didn't make sense. Katie constantly tried to kill him in his dreams, whereas this man didn't try to kill him. Rather this man was just plain annoying, appearing at the most inopportune time. Like one time, Nick dreamed that he was in bed when the man appeared lying next to him with his arms around him. Nick once again shuddered at the thought.

Suddenly, his mind drifted back to the present. Where was Katie? What did they do with her? He didn't wait long until he heard the door open and a frightened Katie was ushered roughly into the room by the masked man that had kidnapped them last night. She tried to regain her balance as she was pushed into the room, but once again the ugly man came back. When he saw Katie struggling to stand, he raised his leg and kicked her bottom, making her fall head first onto the floor.

Nick tried to get closer to Katie to help her, but there was nothing much he could do. He saw the blood on Katie's face. She had been hurt as well, probably even worse than him. Her face showed lacerations and her clothes were torn, showing the straps of her bra and the material of her underpants. Her stomach was ridden with huge bruises that seemed to have just turned slightly green. Nick now wondered how long he had been unconscious.

Katie was relieved to see Nick and instinctively tried to move towards him. Nick saw the fear written on her face. But before she could get any closer to him, the ugly man grabbed her by the neck and pushed her onto the bed nearby. He slapped her hard on the face before throwing her on the bed. Then he looked back with murderous eyes at Nick. He stomped towards Nick and Nick felt sure that the man was going to land him a few hard punches. To his surprise, the man reached out for the gag around Nick's mouth and forcefully pulled it down.

Nick's mouth ached from the friction. However, that didn't stop him from talking. "Who are you? What do you want? We have done nothing." Nick uttered, shaken by the violent nature of their kidnapping.

"Oh, F---, kid. I can't believe you don't remember the whole stupid incident." He grabbed Nick's hair and pulled his head back and directed Nick's eyes towards Katie's body on the bed. "You remember her, right? How can you not? She's the one that put you in that silly coma. She's the one that almost took your life 6 years ago. Don't you remember a damn thing?" The man was shaking Nick's head the whole time he was talking. His voice was full of rage, of hatred.

When the man saw the confusion in Nick's eyes, he became more angered. He grabbed Nick under the arms and forced him against the wall. "Look, kid, in front of you, on that bed, lies your murderer. Yeah, she plotted for 6 damn months your murder." Nick closed his eyes. The man's stench was nauseating and his breath was intoxicating.

The man sensed that Nick still didn't remember so he backed off a little. His voice became gentle again, so gentle that Nick could hear Katie's sobs in the background. The man then laughed sweetly. "What am I doing? How could you possibly remember when she banged on your head so hard. Maybe you need a trigger, say a reenactment of the whole thing."

Nick didn't know what the man was planning, but he was afraid of what the man was going to do. The man placed his hand on Nick's waist and pulled him towards the bed. Nick was too fatigued to resist. Once Nick's knees touched the bed, the man reached out with his other arm to push Katie off the bed. Nick felt a knot in his stomach. He heard Katie whimper from the fall. She hit the floor with a thud and tried to sit upright so that her head didn't lay on the floor.

Nick felt the man push him onto the bed, his back facing the ceiling. The man grabbed his shoulders and pulled him over so that they were face to face. He then straddled Nick and began forcing his mouth on Nick's neck. At that moment, Nick kicked as hard as he can, but the man was unrelenting. He continued, reaching for Nick's belt. Nick kicked harder, but the man knocked the winds out of him.

The man could hear Nick's screams, but he did not relent. He was going to force Nick to remember. This was the perfect revenge. He couldn't let the boy die without first suffering. He would force Nick to remember the deceit, the rape, and Katie's betrayal!!!! After a few minutes of struggle, Nick was nearly naked with only his underpants left. The man had ripped off everything else. He worked his way with Nick, rubbing his hands against Nick's back, chest and thighs. His movements were rough, but he didn't care. He wanted the boy to remember everything, every last vivid detail up until the boy was taken for dead into the hospital!

Katie watched wearily as the man-her father-replayed the rape scene again. She knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to rekindle the memories in Nick. She remembered that night too well. The winds picked up outside their little house. There was a severe weather warning Ruskin, Florida, that night. The sky was dark and haunting. She remembered everything that happened in her room that night. She recalled the way her father's breath smelled of alcohol. She saw Nick's pleading eyes, reaching out, begging her for her help. Tears of bitterness began to well in her eyes.

Nick never felt so humiliated in his life. A burly man was attempting to rape him and he couldn't do anything about it. Yet the more he struggled, the more vivid the memories became. The man now grabbed his head with both hands and forced his lips on Nick. Nick tried to move his head another way, but to no avail. The man's saliva dripped onto his face, making Nick squirm even harder in disgust. The memories were getting more real. That night! He started to remember that fateful night 6 years ago when an equally appalling man had molested him.

Suddenly, the recognition hit him. This man. . . is Katie's father . . . everything was related!!! The realization made him nauseated. Just the thought of that night sickened him. Nick stopped struggling the instant he remembered. His legs stopped kicking. He simply laid there, unwilling to fight anymore. He stared into nothingness.

He remembered now. He remembered all the events that led to his coma. He remembered the murderous look in Katie's eyes when she watched as her father molested him. He remembered Katie's father's disgusting body as he forced himself into Nick.

Katie's father felt Nick's body become limp and smiled, knowing that Nick was starting to remember. However, he didn't move away from the boy. He just stared at Nick as Nick started to painfully remember the whole ordeal. He took pleasure in the boy's suffering. Though he was more angry at Katie, he had already tortured her enough. However, her torture did not satisfy him. He needed to vent more anger out of his system and this boy gave him that opportunity.

Roy gazed at Nick, feeling the joy of exerting so much pain on an innocent boy. Nick did not respond to his light tap on the cheek. "Come now, boy. Don't tell me I made you mute." He managed, to his delight, to make the tears fall from Nick's face. Aww, regression. It looked like Nick was regressing back to six years ago. Roy reached for the boy's bound hands and undid the knot, letting Nick's hands free to express himself.

Nick immediately drew his hands close to his side, like a baby in its mother's womb. He scanned the room as if searching for something. Roy noticed that Nick's eyes were staring at something that he and Katie couldn't see. Nick seemed to have lost himself to the past. He began to use his feet to push him back against the wall. Then, Nick drew the sheets over his body. He seemed, to Roy, to be in a state of shock.

Katie saw it too. Nick had totally disconnected from the present. His pretty blue eyes were restless as they roamed the room for something. He saw through Katie and her father. It was as if they didn't exist to him. And that was the first time she actually felt regret for having put him through all of this. During the past 6 years, she had felt upset, but she never regretted having done all those things. She always thought that all the events that happened were inevitable, as if they were woven by destiny. But now . . .

Katie also noticed that her father was gazing intently at Nick. His face revealed a smug satisfaction at Nick's shock. At that moment, the hate started to well in her. She knew he was studying Nick to see whether he should shake him out of his shock. As if sensing her eyes on him, Roy turned to face Katie. His cold brown eyes matched hers.

Before long, Roy opened his mouth. His husky voice broke the eerie silence. "Seems like we have some catching up to do, my children." He smirked. But Nick didn't budge from his position. He hugged himself tightly and tried to force the images and memory out of his mind. But the more he tried to push them away, the more vivid they became.

"What is it that you want from us?" Katie demanded. "Have you not done enough harm? You've already ruined half of our lives. Why wouldn't you stop torturing us?"

"Because," the man answered evenly, "I hate it when my own daughter betrays me. And I wouldn't doubt that little Nicky here would hate you just as much had he remembered." Roy turned to look at Nick's expression. To his surprise, Nick's face was no longer in a state of shock, but bore an emotion that he never thought the boy was capable of-coldness. The boy's piercing blue eyes were locked on both of his and they showed pure hostility.

"Nick," Katie whispered softly, pleading for him to become normal again. At first, she thought he didn't hear her, but minutes later, his head slowly turned to face her. The look on his face made the color on Katie's face drain. His accusing eyes looked at her with suspicion, reservation and worst, wrath. Katie gulped twice to clear the saliva from her throat. His expression frightened her. And at that moment, she realized the seriousness of her betrayal . . .

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