the time off had been good for Danny. he had time to reflect on the furious killing spree he'd just went on. he relived each scene in all it's bloody glory. over and over, they played in his mind. he told the story of each to Lucy and she had approved of each, loving each sister Danny had given to her. she could forgive Danny for sleeping with the women. they were all beautiful, and she'd have done the same in his shoes. after all, a man can only go so long without sex.

tonight wasn't a night for remembering, though. tonight it was back to work as usual. the game with Claire was almost at climax. the place was set for this showdown. all the characters were in place. Danny dialed Claire's cell phone number. she didn't answer, so he left a message.

"Claire. How've you been?"

he didn' t care.

"You ready?.. You ready to face the darkness in your soul? To feed the monster?... Lucy wants to invite you to dinner at our place. Three days, 8pm. Don't be late.

Oh, and I've already invited Annie, so don't bother. You wouldn't be able to get ahold of her anyway."

as danny put the handset back on the receiver, whoever heard the message could hear laughing in the background... and a muffled scream. the laugh obviously belonged to danny, but the scream...

-----------------------------------------------------

*Her cell phone was blinking. She had a voicemail waiting. Who on earth would be calling her? Her mom was dead, she had no other family. With a sigh, she dialed voicemail and waited. The voice on the other end was familiar, dark and sinister. It was Danny, again. The pencil that she held in her other hand snapped violently as she listened to his words. First, Danny had taken down Tim, now he had Annie. In three days, another of her team most likely be dead. All the color drained from Claire's face as she headed to the lab. Everything looked like Annie left it. There was no sign of a struggle or anything that would indicate that he had taken her here. He'd probably nabbed her in the parking lot or kidnapped her from her apartment. Danny was smooth. Flipping open her cell, she made another call.* Yeah, bring Tim to my office. I need to talk to him...

*Her voice was quiet as she spoke to the darkness in the place Annie felt so comfortable.* Danny's going down and I'll bring you back, one way or another. *Claire could see the way this was going. He'd eliminate her team, then take out Claire herself.*

*Tim and Agent Sinclair were waiting outside the office when Claire returned.* Guess what, Tim? Danny's got Annie now. Your little buddy's gonna kill somebody else. *Now, all the color drained from Tim's face. Annie had been his friend too, though she quit talking to him.*

~You gotta get her back!~

No Tim, I planned on letting him kill her and then rubbing your nose in her blood and guts like a retarded puppy. What I'd love to do is just drop you off on his doorstep hogtied and shoot the fucker in the back of his head right after he killed you. *Then, she said nothing, her dark eyes staring through him as if he wasn't even there, causing him to wither visibly under her gaze. If he could have grown paler, he would have. But, she continued.*

I'm supposed to meet him and Lucy for dinner at their place in 3 days at 8pm. He said I can 'face the darkness in my soul' and 'feed the monster'. If either of those means blow the arrogant fucker's brains out, I'm all for it. He's made you useless to me, killed my mother, and now he's got Annie. How much you wanna bet this ends with one of us dead?

*Tim looked like he really wanted to say something, but he didn't.*

Go ahead Tim, share...

~Don't you think you should bring backup when you go? Maybe raid the house now? I gave you the address..~

True Tim, very true. But, don't you think Danny would just kill Annie if he saw a lot of extra law enforcement officers? He didn't say, 'Hey Claire, bring guests and let's make a party of it, did he?' *She was getting more and more pissed off, but not so much at Tim as Danny. Tim would pay for his mistakes. At this rate, it was beginning to look like Danny might get away with his.*