Liz prayed that Max got away from the horrible beast that threatened his very existence. And hopefully he fried that bastard too.

But her angry thoughts couldn’t block the tirade of worry, grief and anxiety about their current situation. Her mind felt like a clutter of mismatched thoughts while her body hummed with tiredness. She couldn’t seem to pull herself out of the funk that consumed her greedily, only thoughts of her present danger fogging her vision.

Her sole comfort was that she knew Max wasn’t dead or dying. She could still feel him somewhere in the back of her consciousness, but he was weak. As weak as she was if not weaker, so connecting with each other was not feasible.

But how she yearned to be in his presence right now. She didn’t want to know what kind of hell she was going to be subjected to. So feigning slumber was what she had in mind.

“Ahh, good morning my dearest Princess.” And there went her idea.

No, no, no. This is not happening.

“Oh, but it is.” Liz slowly opened her eyes, unsure as to what to expect. A tall, muscled man stood a few steps away from her, his piercing blue eyes spearing holes into depths of her body she didn’t even realize she had. Liz quickly glanced away, scanning her surroundings. A dim lighted cell of some sort, rusty smell included, imprisoned her. She was lying on what appeared to be a mattress of some sort. A thick, metal door stood boldly behind the new stranger and-

“I’m not a stranger, my dear.” Liz’s head snapped up towards the man, staring back into the eyes of what could only be described as nothing else but evil.

“You’re reading-”

“-your thoughts,” he chuckled. “I had to disable any sort of blocks or powers you have in your mind. Your friend’s too. Can’t have you two gallivanting around with powers, now can I?” Liz’s eyes widened and she quickly glanced around the room, in search of her friend. Her eyes honed in on Alex’s crumpled, and terribly inactive body. With rage burning inside of her, she glowered at what must be Khivar’s present body.

“You asshole!” Liz flung herself at Khivar, attacking him with surprise. But Khivar waved his hand and she was quickly, and forcefully thrown against the cement wall behind her. Liz crashed her head against the wall, eliciting a tortured whimper from her. Her body slowly slid back on to the mattress.

“There are rules,” Khivar said, straightening his dark, clean-cut suit. “And [b]that[/b] was definitely not part of them. Leandra, don’t fight it. You know you want it.” He leaned in, against her ear, and whispered, “I know I do.”

Liz did nothing but moan with excruciating pain. Her mind pulsated with extremely intense poundings and it was an effort and a half to comprehend what was happening.

“Don’t worry too much though, Princess. I’m going to have to get you to contact the rest of your merry gang. It’s quite ingenious actually. They’ll think they’re coming for you and your friend here, possibly Zan as well, but you and I both know he’s long gone. Instead they’ll find an army of my men ready to execute. I’ll be sure to let you watch.”

Khivar thought for a moment before slowly, and uncomfortably sitting down next to Liz’s crumpled body.

“I know this isn’t the greatest of rooms for you, but I need to keep you confined for the time being.” He took her limp hand in his, and kissed it softly.

“Don’t worry, Princess, we’ll be together soon. I just have to get some matters dealt with and then you and I can start our lives.” He smiled wistfully at her, before getting up and walking towards the door.