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Cautiously, she stepped out of the cab and paid the driver. The place that she was at was a dump. Wood piles blocked alleyways, the windows on the first five floors were boarded up; the sixth floor still had its windows, though they had been busted. Squinting in the sun, she looked up and tried to see into the windows that were still there. Not seeing anything, she waited until the cab drove off before she even thought about heading inside. She was scared that if Mandy was watching she would think the cab driver was possibly a cop and kill Nick.
Rocks crumbled underneath her footsteps as she took a deep breath and entered the warehouse. The inside of the warehouse was more run-down than the outside, as impossible that it had seemed. Lorena wondered how she was going to make it up to different floors as she found the stairs in a pile on the floor in front of her. She stepped forward and crouched down to look at the mess on the floor, thinking it was hopeless. That's when she felt a quick breeze go by her back.

"Oh, God," she said out loud. "Please let that be a breeze through the walls." Quietly she prayed. Laying down as flat as she could in the fallen stairs, she rolled over and saw what really had caused the breeze; a two-by-four was swinging back from having passed her the first time. As quick as she could, she turned her head in the direction the plank had originated from to see if she could see if there was anyone who had released it at her.

She managed to duck out of the way of the swinging board and found a way that she could make it up to the second floor. A ladder was leaning up against a wall with a hole above it. How did she manage to get Nick up this ladder? she asked herself as she slowly climbed up the ladder, fully aware now about traps that might be set for her around this run-down building.

*****

Stalking around the outside of the building, A.J. watched Lorena enter, but kept his distance as to not be seen. He had to be cautious, still unsure what was going to happen.

She had entered the building, and he moved in closer to watch what she was going to do and where she was going to go. He would simply follow her; she would be the target, so it would be easy for him to slip in.

*****

By the time she reached the fifth floor, Lorena was tired and scratched up. She had one more floor to go, but needed a break; the floor had broken beneath her a couple of times and she had to reclimb to the floor she was on again. Sitting down on a pile of wood, she thought of how she was going to handle Mandy when she got to the next floor, where she was convinced she still needed to get to. Her mouth was dry, and she wished she had a cup of water to make her throat feel more at ease, but water was not going to suddenly appear for her to drink.

Is he even worth this? she thought. You love him and he loves you, but to risk your life for his, is it worth it? The voice in her head telling her that would not stop no matter how hard she tried to push the thoughts away. "NO!" she said out loud. "I would save anyone I loved, whether my life was in jeopardy or not." With a new determination, she stood up, brushed herself off and looked around trying to find the way she was supposed to get up the her destination.

It didn't take her long to spot a perfectly intact staircase that looked like it had been rebuilt and repainted just for this occasion. Carefully she stepped up the stairs, aware that anything could happen when she reached the top.

*****

After watching her fall several times and recieve many injuries, A.J. was shocked that she had made it as far as she had. He thought that after the second fall, Lorena would give up and turn back and try to find a way to get the authorities involved. He could see the determination in her face as she went back up to the fifth floor. This girl really loves Nick, he thought. Keeping himself well hidden from Lorena, he continued to follow her to the fifth floor.

NO!" he heard her say. "I would save anyone I loved, whether my life was in jeopardy or not." He looked around carefully to see if she was talking to anyone, but he saw no one, so he only assumed that she was convincing herself that she needed to continue on. He forced his smile away while she got up and found the stairs to keep going.

He too continued on and stood at the foot of the stairs and awaited the time for him to make his entrance.