Chapter 2

Driving way over the speed limit, Vaughn reached Ayden's house minutes before the ambulance and police arrived. He entered her house with his gun drew out. Carefully, he cleared out the living room and kitchen.  He noticed a pool of blood near the broken coffee table.

' Ayden!!!'

No reply. He noticed a bloody drag mark up the stairs. He climbed up and the drag mark was leading to the main bedroom. He burst into the room, only to find Ayden lying down in her own blood. The killer had stabbed her five more times before leaving her to die. Miraculously, Ayden was still alive when Vaughn discovered her, although barely.

' Ayden, stay with me. You're going to be okay. Help is on the way.' Vaughn said to her with tears dropping down his cheeks. The blaring sound of the ambulance was heard, indicating that help had just arrived. Vaughn yelled to get their attention, not wanting to leave her side.

' He...said..ahh..this wa...s just.. hah..just...the...be...gin..ing,' she said weakly.

' Ayden, just calm down. Don't move too much. You're going to be alright. You're in good hands.' Vaughn trying to calm and keep her comfortable.

' Sir, you've to let us do our job. We need to keep her stable soon,' one of the paramedics said to Vaughn. Letting her go was one of the hardest thing he had ever done but he knew that he could not do anything but get out of their way.

' Miss, we are going to put this neck collar on you, okay? You need to breathe as normally as you can. We'll place an oxygen mask to help you breathe soon,' the paramedic said calmly to Ayden who was getting weaker by the minute. Every second counts.

' We need to control the bleeding asap or we'll lose her... Give me the blood absorbent powder and some gauzes,' the other paramedic yelled to the third. Pouring the whole absorbent batch available in the ambulance, they raced against the ticking clock to save her. With almost all of the blood removed from her stomach, the paramedics could now see the massive injuries she had gotten. Six stab wounds were still pouring out blood. Two of the paramedics cleaned the wounds with a lot of antiseptic fluid that made her squirmed in agony. Vaughn just stood outside the bedroom, feeling helpless and guilt had started to build up in him. With the paramedics yelling and Ayden's screams of pain, Vaughn just could not bear them. He ran outside and he noticed the huge crowd that had gathered to see what was going on. He ran back inside and decided to call his unit chief, David Horatio, if he could come and help to figure the situation up.

' David, you need to come to Ayden's house right away. She was attacked and in serious condition, ' Vaughn said as calmly as he could.

' What happened? Have you call the rest of the team?' David asked as he put down his cup of coffee onto his kitchen table.

' I don't know, David. I was just about to take a short nap when she called on my cell. I answered and there was someone else on the phone saying that he wanted me to suffer just like he did. He turned on the video call and he recorded Ayden, lying down on the floor bleeding. He stabbed her six times, David,' Vaughn said as he watched Ayden being brought up onto a stretcher.

' Alright, I'll ask Aimee to contact the team and meet you at her house,' David said as he put on his jacket.

' No, they are taking her to the Mercy Hospital soon. We'll meet there,' Vaughn said as he climbed into his car to follow the ambulance.  The red and blue lights of the ambulance were very visible despite the brightness of the morning skies and the sirens were deafening to the ears but to Vaughn, all he saw was Ayden.

Seven minutes of driving, they finally reached Mercy Hospital. They opened the ambulance door and rolled out Ayden's stretcher through the receiving door of the hospital with one of the paramedics still working on Ayden. Vaughn was not far behind but he knew he had stay in the waiting room. Due to the major trauma Ayden had suffered, she was placed immediately in one of the operating theater.

A few minutes had gone by and someone tapped Vaughn's shoulder.

*To be continued....