Dance Till You Die
Part Two

Emily Quartermaine was scared. There was no other word
to use to describe how she felt at that moment. Except maybe
terrified. But she refused to be terrified. Scared was okay. She
could function and think and react if she was scared. Fear was
supposed to be a survival skill, wasn’t it? But terror....terror was
this vast darkness that threatened to shut her mind down and rob
her of the ability to take care of herself. She knew what that was
like. What it felt like when your entire mind shut off so that all you
could do was nothing. Think nothing. Feel nothing. Be nothing. She
had been down that road before when she had been little more than
a child. It still made her sick to remember what it had been like to
lie in that kind of cationic state. She wasn’t going to let it happen
again. The panic and fear were not going to win this time.
She would have closed her eyes so that she could focus, but
the blindfold did that job effectively for her. The gag shoved into
her mouth was making her want to vomit. The rope tying her hands
together was beginning to hurt where it rubbed against her skin.
The room or wherever she was was cold and she could hear
scratching noises off in one corner. She refused to think about
what could be making those scratching noises.
She needed to focus. What would Nikolas, with all his years
of eastern philosophy and martial art classes, do if he was here? He
wouldn’t give in to the panic. She knew that for a fact. Nikolas
never gave in to panic. It was one of the things she loved about
him. Whether it was studying for an exam at Columbia or that time
six months ago when she had been two weeks late, Nikolas
approached everything with this cool and calm reserve. Except his
feelings for her. There was nothing cool and calm about the way he
felt about her.
God he must be really worried by now. She had no idea
how long she had been unconscious, barely remembered the man
who had accosted her as she had been about to enter the building,
but it had to have been hours. Nikolas must be frantic. Not that he
would show it. They were both like that, her from being raised a
Quartermaine and him from being a Cassadine. They both kept their
feelings hidden and guarded. Except around each other. Nikolas
needed her to make him believe that there was more to him than the
boy who had once been a prince. She needed him to make her
believe that she was more than the Quartermaine who never really
fit in with the rest. Only with each other were they truly each other.
Please let me see him again she begins to pray silently. Please
give me the strength to make it through this...to make it to him.
Just let me tell him one more time how much I love him.
She needed to stay strong. She needed to survive. She
needed to be smart. She needed to be brave. She needed to be
resourceful. She needed to be all those things that Nikolas believed
she was. She needed to believe in herself as much as he believed in
her.
She needed to get out of this alive. She refused to think
about any other possibility.

Nikolas and Emily’s Apartment

The police were no help. He hadn’t truly expected them to
be. He knew the policy..a person had to be missing for 24 hours or
there had to be clear evidence of foul play for the police to become
involved. Nikolas didn’t intend for Emily to be missing long enough
for the policy to become involved.
He was getting claustrophobic waiting for something to
happen. He wanted to be out there searching the city for Emily. But
New York was a big city for one man to search every street
corner.
He wished he knew who had her. He was in no doubt that
wherever she was she was being held against her wishes. Emily
would never leave him, not this way anyway. Emily Quartermaine
was many things but she was not a coward and she was not afraid
of speaking her mind. If she was angry at him, she let him know it.
And she would never scare him. Not like this. Not Emily.
Which meant that someone had her. The thought made his
stomach twist into too many knots to control. This was his fault.
He should have taken Stefan up on his offer of a security detail to
watch both of them here in the city. He knew that hanging around
with, falling in love with, and living with a Cassadine made Emily a
target. But he had done nothing to protect her. Nothing. Emily had
asked for no guards and he had given in. What an idiot he had been!
God he almost wished this was a run of the mill kidnapping.
Then he would pay whatever he needed to pay and Emily would be
in his arms. He would never let her out of his sight or out of his bed
again.
He hated the silence. The not knowing. All he wanted was
Emily back. All he could think of was how scared she must be. Was
she awake? Was she hurt? Was she being hurt?
Would he see her again? Of course he would. To think
otherwise was to open himself up to unimaginable horrors. He had
no life without her. It was that simple.
He picked up a picture of her, one of the shots she had
taken for her acting portfolio a few weeks ago. She looked
beautiful in it, her eyes huge and shining , her smile brilliant. He
wondered what she looked like now. He imagined those same eyes
full of fear and pain and something in him tore to pieces.
He wandered into their bedroom and smiled at the blankets
tossed hastily aside. They had both overslept this morning and
Emily had been in a rush to make it to the theater in time for a run
through before the matinee. He touched her side of the bed and
although he knew it was physically impossible, he could still feel her
warmth through the satin sheets. They would be together again. He
would get her back. Whoever had her would pay and pay dearly if
they hurt her. For the first time in his life he began to understand
why his grandmother was so obsessed with revenge against his
mother and Luke. He would kill anyone who dared to harm Emily.
Without hesitation. Without a second thought.
He walked over to the dresser where Emily kept her
jewelry. He lifted up the gold necklace with the moon and stars
pendent hanging off it. It wasn’t that valuable. He wasn’t even sure
it was real gold. But he remembered when he had bought it for her.
It had been that first month when he had first moved to New York
to be with her. They had gone to an arts and craft fair and Nik had
spotted the pendent. He had bought it for her telling her that she
was his moon and stars and entire universe wrapped up in one
single person. She had blushed but it had been the truth. It still was.
He picked up the small photo of Paige, Emily’s birth mother
who had died when Emily was 11. The resemblance between the
two was remarkable. “Emily thinks of you as her own personal
guardian angel.,” He told the picture. “ I don’t know if I believe in
angels. But I do believe in Emily. I love your daughter. I love her
more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. If you
can, keep her safe for me until I can keep her safe myself.”
Nikolas can feel the fear and the worry begin to overwhelm
him until only the ring of the doorbell saves him from falling totally
and completely apart.


Emily has lost track of time. Her arms ache from being
forced behind her back. Her legs feel stiff and frozen solid in a
painfully contorted position. Except for the distant sounds of the
city, she has heard no sound or noise of a living soul since she was
brought into this room and tied up. She is ignoring the scuffling
noises that seem to be getting closer.
If she uses enough of her imagination she can almost
pretend that she is acting a part out in a play. The damsel in
distress. The innocent young heiress kidnapped for her millions.
The intrepid reporter who has come across a plan to conquer the
world and is being tied up to keep her from telling.
All she needs is a white knight to come to her rescue.
Preferably one who was tall, broad shouldered, drop dead
gorgeous, and spoke with this incredibly sexy European accent that
drove her crazy.
Not that she would ever admit it to him.
Nikolas was her knight in shining armor. Or maybe she
should say her knight in the Armani suit. She remembered when she
had called him in the middle of the night. After she had found Mark,
the boy she thought she would spend her life with, in bed with
another girl. The pain had been so incredible that she had even
bought some drugs on a street corner. Except that instead of taking
them she had called Nikolas. And like the hero of her dreams he
had come to New York and slayed all of her dragons for her. Then
he had stayed around for the happily ever after part.
She hadn’t loved him at first. She had been too hurt by the
scene with Mark. And to be honest, the scene with Mark had
reminded her too much of the time she had walked in on Nikolas
and Katherine. That first month he had been in New York had been
crazy. One minute she was pushing him away. The next she was
pulling him closer. One minute she was ready to give in to her
growing feelings for him. The next she wanted to run and hide from
them. But Nikolas, she would have smiled if she hadn’t been
gagged, Nikolas had hung in with gentle persistence. Refusing to
give up on her. Refusing to let her give up on them. And somehow,
without meaning to or even really wanting to, she had ended up
falling in love with him. Two years later that love was so deeply
embedded in her that it was natural to her as breathing or sleeping
or dreaming.
She remembered the first night they had made love. She had
been so nervous. Just thinking about it had brought back all of her
fears and insecurities. How could he want her? He was Nikolas and
she was just Emily. Yet somehow, in the soft light of the multitude
of candles he had lit around the room and with the soft strains of
music filling her senses she had looked at him and she saw no
disappointment on his face. Only love. Only desire. Only need. Only
for her. And as beautiful as it had been that night, the truth was that
the longer they were together the stronger the bond between them
was. She wondered what it would be like to live a lifetime with
Nikolas Cassadine. She wanted the chance to find out. She wanted
her white knight to rescue her again.
Except that her white knight has no idea where she is.
She will need to rescue herself.
The question is how.
It’s a question that becomes more important when she hears
a door open and footsteps coming closer.

Nikolas opens the door.
“Thank God you came,” He greets his younger brother.
“I’ve been going out of my mind waiting for you. I was beginning
to think you weren’t coming.”
“Of course I came,” Lucky answers. “I’m surprised you
even doubted it. You call and tell me that you need me. You tell me
that Em is missing. I’m on the next plane out of Washington.”
“Excuse me,” a gentle voice interupts from behind Lucky. “I
think you meant to say that we are on the next plane out of
Washington.”
“Liz?” Nikolas looks at the petite brunette with affection. “
I thought you’d be all caught up in wedding plans.”
“How can I plan my wedding with my maid of honor
missing?” Liz pushes Lucky past the doorway and sets their bags
down. Liz silently surveys the situation. “You look like hell,” she
observes her fear rising as she sees how real his is. She had hoped
and prayed the entire plane ride that Nikolas was over reacting.
That he and Emily had a fight or something and that everything
would be okay again when they got there. So had Lucky. It had
been half the reason he had agreed to let her come. But looking at
Nikolas she knew that whatever had happened to Emily that it was
bad. She knew how important Emily was to Lucky. To herself. And
to Nikolas. She had this instinctive feeling that things were going to
get worse before they got better.
“Why don’t you to sit and talk?” Liz urges the two men to
the dining table. “I’ll make some tea and Lucky can practice all of
those things he learned at Quantico on you. If anyone can find
Emily, the three of us can.”
“I know,” Nikolas sits down bleakly. He accepts the cup
that Liz hands him. “I just hope we find her in time.”