The tray tilted precariously as she tip-toed to the bed and bent down next to him, her long dark hair tumbling down in a lustrous, shiny cascade, her smile widening when she saw that Joe was wide awake.

"Aww, Joey, you’re awake…" she cooed and after placing the tray of food on the dresser, she straightened up and smiled benignly down at him. "It’s time to eat, darling."

Joe glared at her through blood-shot eyes, nearly completely closed, his eyelids encrusted with dried blood from the large gash on his head. Though he was shirtless in what might have been a cold, air-conditioned room, he felt strange; and hot. As a shiver ran through him, Joe realized what was happening to him. ‘Tessa’ had not treated his open cuts and wounds; and now a fever was setting in. Infection, he thought numbly. I’m going to die here after all.

"Not hungry," he muttered, and closed his eyes, turning his head away. The cold metal of the handcuffs sliced into the fresh scrapes around his wrists, a result from trying to break free but all it did was cutting the fragile skin of his wrist, and as blood ran down his forearms, Joe tried not to think of the blood he had lost and was still losing, but nevertheless, he was definitely feeling the effects. His head felt fuzzy; and for the past few hours, he’d been trying not to pass out.

Her face turned dark with anger. "You are going to eat," she said dangerously. Her natural grace gone, she flopped onto the bed, causing the pain that Joe had managed to suppress after lying still for so long to erupt and Joe bit his lips to keep from crying out. All he could do was bend his knees to his chest in an effort to keep the pain at bay.

Through ragged breaths, Joe could hear forks and spoons clattering against silverware Suddenly, sharp nails clawed the side of his face, dragging it toward her. With maniacal strength, she grabbed both Joe’s kneecaps and cruelly straightened his legs. Joe’s eyes flew open and he cried out in agony. The next thing he knew, she was on top of him, forcing a spoonful of vile, disgusting mush into his mouth. Joe pursed his lips tightly but Tessa deliberately pushed a knee into Joe’s tender belly, causing him to gasp and at that very moment, she pushed the spoon past his lips. After forcing its content into his mouth, she sent the spoon flying to the other side of the room. Ignoring Joe’s whimpering pleas, she grabbed Joe’s lower jaw with both hands and pushed it upward, forcing Joe to swallow.

Choking back tears, Joe fought waves of nausea as the hot, steaming broth drained down his throat, burning all the way down to his stomach, the pain so intense it took Joe every bit of control and strength left in him to keep from crying out.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me?" He whispered in a choked voice. "What have I ever done to you?"

Tessa’s smile only got wider.

"I don’t understand…wh-h-how could you, Tessa? Why? Why did you kill all those people?"

"The acid attack, that was you, wasn’t it?" He asked, his voice trembling. Countless times he’d hoped he was wrong, but just like what Frank had thought, it was her all along. "Answer me, Tessa. And Frank. You left the mousetraps, didn’t you? And where’s Vanessa? What have you done to her? You set up the car crash, didn’t you?"

Tessa kept on staring at him coolly, waiting for him to continue. Somehow it pleased her to see him like that. Weak, in a lot of pain, bleeding…but still the fight in him refused to back down. She liked that. She liked that a lot.

"Why?" Joe’s voice was a mere whisper now. He stared at Tessa with a lot of pain and hurt in his eyes. "I thought you liked me."

Tessa barked a laugh and scrambled out of bed, jarring Joe once again but he was too consumed with his emotions to care.

"Men. How chauvinistic." Her beautiful face, at one time so soft and serene in expression was now hard and cold. "A girl let you kiss her once and you automatically make the assumption that she liked you. Joe, Joe." She shook her head. "You don’t even know my name."

"You want to know why? Hmm, where should I start? How about…the time when the three of us killed Tessa? Ugh, I hated her. I hated her guts so much that I just had to get rid of her." Tessa gave an angry flick of her hand. "She was the kind of girl who had everything…looks, brains…and Craig was with her at the time…God, how I wanted Craig so much."

She gave Joe a strange look. After a while, she continued. "Oh well, you’re going to die anyway unless your brother gets here fast, so I might as well tell you everything. After all we don’t keep anything from each other, right, Joey?"

Joe cursed silently, thinking about the first time he’d talked to her. He was having a bad day and being the fool he always was, he’d given his trust freely to a complete stranger, telling her all his problems and worse, accepting her offer to help. And look where that had brought him. Damn, I should have known better.

She traced a finger down the side of Joe’s face, licking her lips hungrily. Joe smelt of blood.

What was it she said just now?

"Now where were we? Craig? Right, Craig. He was such a darling. All it took was just a little shot and vooom, he was transformed. He had always prided himself on being something of a brain, but to me, he was just as stupid as any of you." She shrugged carelessly. "Of course I had to get rid of him."

Joe couldn’t believe his ears. "You killed him."

"Just like I killed Tessa. So now is the moment of truth, Joe." She sat down slowly on the bed and played with what little hair he had on his bare chest. "You answer the question, I let you go. If not-" She took in a deep breath.

"What’s my name?" She purred, her breath hot against the base of his throat.

Joe was petrified. But he’d be damned if he’d let it show.

When Joe didn’t answer, she frowned. "I’ll ask again. WHAT-IS-MY-NAME?" She punctuated each word with a jab into Joe’s hurting side. Joe gritted his teeth against the pain. Joe had no idea what her name was. Wait. The name of the girl in the picture Vanessa had told him about. He vaguely remembered Vanessa telling him that there were three of them in the picture; Craig, the real Tessa and the one standing in front of him…What was the name again? Vanessa had said it in the van, right before it crashed. Oh damn, why can’t I remember? Cold beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Abruptly she turned to look at the tray left with untouched food. Slowly a smile lit up her face. She reached out a long hand and as her slim hands encircled the wooden handle of the knife she’d readily put on it just in case she needed it.

"Time’s up. You failed to answer the question."

"And just for that, you will have to pay."