Haunted

Prologue:

The events of the past several weeks in Salem had been quite a blow to the ego of EJ Wells. While he was not a man to cower in the shadows and admit defeat; his confidence was sorely shaken when Sami had married Lucas.

Sighing, he looked out at the sea, hoping to find some small shred of hope as he gazed at the horizon. The sun was setting in the distance creating a myriad of colors against the darkening waters. Usually going out on his boat was calming, giving him a place to regroup and think, although this evening there was nothing calm in his soul.

The news he had found out today was something he could not ignore, nor did he want to even if Samantha was in denial. Today he had found out he was going to be the father of not one, but two children. The Dimera's and Brady's would forever be entwined.

Now all he had to do was convince Samantha that her destiny was with him, not Lucas Roberts…

Haunted

Chapter 1

No, it couldn't be true. Still a mere twenty-four hours later, Sami was in a state of disbelief. She could hear the doctor's words over and over in her head telling her the results of her amniocentesis. She looked at the paper once again, the results hadn't changed one bit from the last time she had went over the figures. Nor were they going to change the next hundred times she reviewed it.

She could barely remember leaving the hospital, tears in her eyes. How ironic was it to have her mother by her side this pregnancy, having her to lean on when most times Marlena had failed her daughter. For once, Sami had been the voice of reason, not her mother, and that perplexed her greatly.

This time Sami would not lie about test results. If anything life had proven to her was that the truth always came out and usually she was the one shunned for her actions. Now it seemed she would be shunned again, only this time it would be for the truth, not a lie.

Karma just wouldn't give her a break. Then when the thought hit, it made her chuckle weakly, taking her mind back to a time and a conversation the previous summer, when she had debated karma with EJ. She firmly believing in karma, while he chose to believe that each person charted their own fate.

Well what would fate hold for her now? Her husband Lucas was not taking the news well at all. Then what could she expect when she was carrying another man's children? How would she ever be able to accept the fact that EJ was going to be a part of her life whether she wanted him to be or not?

Haunted

Chapter 2

Good thing there was no one at home yet, Lucas thought as he kicked the door shut to their apartment viciously with his foot. Sami had taken Will to the airport and would return home shortly. Will was going to visit Austin and Carrie in California, even though he wasn't so sure their son needed to go. Sami had insisted that Will just needed a change of scenery with all the things going on in Salem this summer; and for once Will had opted not to go to summer camp, wanting to see California with his uncle and aunt instead.

Surveying their apartment, he was at a loss. Roman kept insisting that for Sami's safety from the Dimera's that they both should move into a safe house. Sami was adamant, she did not want to leave their home, but Roman was sure if they stayed, Tony's henchmen would come after Sami.

The mere thought of Sami bearing EJ's children made him sick. How was this possible? How was he going to handle the fact that he was not the father of Sami's twins? Before Sami had taken the test, he was so sure EJ wasn't going to be the father, now EJ would be tied to them always.

"You know only one of us can save Samantha and it's not you!"

EJ's taunt replayed over in Lucas' mind for what seemed like the millionth time after Lucas had found EJ bent over Sami in the alley trying to resuscitate her after she had been abducted and submitted to carbon monoxide poisoning. EJ made him feel inferior and it wasn't right. Not right at all.

Knowing Sami was having EJ's babies was too much to bear. Ever since he had heard the news, the desire to take a drink was growing stronger with each passing minute. He knew better than to look in the cabinets for any alcohol, Sami had made sure there was no alcohol in their home. Then again, since no one was there and Sami would be gone for a few hours, there was always the bar downtown.

Sami being the mother of the Dimera heirs ensured that Sami would never be free of EJ Wells and now neither would he…

Haunted

Chapter 3

The booze had never tasted better Lucas thought as he downed another scotch and water; that was until the bartender at the Cheatin' Heart cut him off. Who did that clown think he was? He was Lucas Roberts, and by god he wanted another drink. Well there were other places to drink in this town and he'd go to them when he wanted a drink if this bum wouldn't let him have another drink.

Bleary eyed he stared at his watch; it was way later than he thought it was so he thought he better go on home. He wobbled out of the bar, and got into his car. After several misguided attempts, he was able to get the keys into the ignition to start the car and drove off into the night.

Sami paced the floor of their apartment wondering where in the world Lucas could be, it was already past midnight and she hadn't been able to get him on his cell phone. After repeatedly leaving messages, each passing one growing more urgent than the one she had left before, she'd still had no answer.

Oh god, could he be hurt? Could the Dimera's had gotten to him after all? Maybe she needed to call her father. Then she heard a noise in the hallway. She rushed to the door, hoping it was Lucas.

For EJ it had been an extremely long day at Mythic, especially after dealing with the wretched SEC again. Damn Lucas Roberts for trying to sic them on his company. Needless to say after days of non-stop interrogation, they had found nothing illegal going on with his company. It looked like everything would be all right, although they told him they still weren't done with the internal audit just yet.

Thank goodness he no longer had to deal with Lucas at work. The only reason he had hired him in the first place was to be able to keep tabs on Samantha more closely and so that she wouldn't have to go without just because she had chosen a bungling fool for a fiancé and now husband. Lord knew how long it would be before the idiot found another job in this town. Guess he'd have to pull a few strings to see if he could inadvertently secure a job for the dolt, knowing the poor chaps resume was severely tarnished.

Loosing his tie, he stepped out the elevator, making his way to his apartment, he was so tired, he stumbled across a potted plant that someone must have left in the hallway, cursing he righted himself and headed onward until he heard her voice.

"Lucas, is that you?"

"No, it's me," EJ answered, knowing he'd see disappointment in her eyes before he even looked her way. When their eyes connected, he was correct in his assumption.

"Sorry, I was hoping it was Lucas," came her reply.

"Aren't you always?" EJ asked before he could stop himself, then felt regret when he saw how worried Sami looked. "Forgive me, is something wrong?"

"It's just that it is getting late and Lucas isn't at home, and I have no clue as to where he is," she rambled on, wringing her hands and looking toward the elevator as if somehow she could speak her wishes for Lucas to materialize in front of them.

Knowing it was against his better judgment, he hesitantly reach out and placed his hand on her arm, hoping to alleviate her worry. Nor more expecting her to shrug off the gesture, but when she didn't flinch, instead gave him a weak smile for his efforts, he was somewhat comforted. Maybe they'd be able to talk about the babies, something he had wanted to do since he had found out the news, but hadn't been able to find her alone before this moment.

"How about we try to find out about where Lucas is and then maybe we can talk of other things too?" EJ inquired, thanking the fates for the opportunity to speak with Samantha when they had so much to discuss.

"Like hell you will," Lucas bellowed, staggering towards them both as he almost fell down.

"Lucas, what have you been doing?" Sami questioned, her eyes not wanting to believe that her husband had been drinking, but her sense of smell already gave her the answer.

"What are you doing out here with him?" Lucas glared, grabbing Sami by the arm and dragging her away from where she and EJ had stood talking in the hallway.

"Lucas, there is no need to manhandle her," EJ said, trying to keep the anger out of his tone, but judging from Lucas' appearance he doubted he would be able to figure out if EJ was upset with him or not.

"Sami, get in the apartment now," Lucas ordered her, not letting go of her arm.

EJ was about to say something else to deter Lucas when he saw Sami shake her head for him not to say anything else. He saw the pleading in her eyes and let them go inside even though everything in his gut was telling him not to let her go with him.

Haunted

Chapter 4

"Lucas, how could you do this?" Sami asked in disbelief over seeing her husband drunk for the first time in years. It anguished her to see all those months of sobriety for Lucas, washed away with one careless drink he had downed after another.

Lucas was mad, mad at the world, and nothing angered him more than seeing Sami talking with EJ. Just thinking of all EJ had and would have now that he was the father of Sami's babies pissed him off to no end.

"Why wouldn't I do this?" Lucas spat back, pointing to the slight bulge in her stomach. "Really Sami, how much do you expect me to take?"

"Lucas, you said everything would be all right, that we could make everything work despite…"

"Despite you having the Dimera bastards? What a wonderful surprise, we get not one of the devil's spawn, but two of them! Did you honestly think I'd be jumping for joy knowing that my wife is having another man's children?"

Sami swiped at the tears on her face, took a deep breath and turned away from Lucas. She knew there would be no chance for a rational conversation as long as he was drunk.

"Don't you dare walk away from me; I'm not done talking with you!" Lucas grabbed Sami's arm again, this time a bit more forcibly than he had done out in the hallway.

Sami winced as his fingers dug into her arm. "Lucas quit, you're hurting me!"

"Not as bad as you've hurt me," Lucas stated releasing the hold on her arm and walking off, slamming the bedroom door loudly as he left her to stand alone in the living room of their apartment.

For once, Sami hoped he would fall asleep because there was no chance in hell that she was going into that bedroom with him, not after all the horrid things he had just said to her while he was drunk. Her arm hurt, but not as bad as her heart hearing the ugly things coming out of her husband's mouth concerning her unborn children.

Now she was thankful Will had left for the summer, her son didn't need to be subjected to this type of behavior. She would miss not having Will around, but she didn't want Will to see the anger and to know his father was drinking again.

She only prayed this was a one time thing and that maybe they could get past this, she would forgive Lucas. She had forgiven him for worse than this, and now her wedding vows resounded in her mind.

Sami sighed as she readied herself to sleep on the couch; she was married to Lucas for better or worse. She just hated that worse was coming far faster than she had ever expected.

No matter how tired he was, EJ could not fall asleep; one would have to have been deaf not to hear the argument going on from across the hall. The walls weren't as thick as they seemed for he could clearly hear Lucas ranting although he couldn't make out exactly what he was saying. It took all he had not to bust into Sami's apartment and take her away from that cretin. He hated Lucas and to see him grab Sami and yell at her was gnawing at him.

What was he going to do? He needed to talk to her. Evidently, things must have calmed down because he could no longer hear raised voices. Why did Lucas have to scream and order Sami around all the time? He couldn't understand the attraction Sami saw in him. She could do so much better.

Then he looked up at the ceiling in the darkness of his bedroom and felt more alone than he had in a very long time because no matter how much an ass Lucas was to Sami no doubt she would prefer that lout's company to his any day.

Haunted

Chapter 5

When morning came Sami was tired. She'd had a sleepless night on the couch, her mind replaying all the cruel things Lucas had said to her about the babies. She instinctively placed a hand over her abdomen. No matter what Lucas thought, she loved these babies growing inside her and felt a fierce protectiveness for them.

She was in the process of getting up when she heard a knock at the door. Throwing the blanket to the back of the couch, she went to the door, wondering who would be on the other side.

"Sami, it's your dad," Roman announced as he continued knocking on the door.

Sami opened the door and greeted her father, "Hi Dad."

"Are you okay?" Roman asked as he took in her appearance, her eyes still puffy from crying most of the night.

"I'm fine," Sami assured him and stepped back to let him enter the apartment.

Roman surveyed the room, noticing the pillows and covers on the couch. He cast a questioning look at Sami. "What's this?"

"Nothing, I was just having a hard time going to sleep and came out here so that Lucas could rest," Sami lied with ease to her father, she didn't want him to start asking questions she didn't have answers to this early in the morning. Then she felt a dread come over her as Lucas came out of the bedroom, looking worse than she did at the moment.

Roman looked back and forth between Sami and Lucas, his suspicions being raised over how they both looked.

Lucas scowled, his head feeling like it would split open and now here was Roman. He couldn't remember much of last night, but had Sami called her dad to come over?

"Is there something we can do for you Roman?" Lucas asked, doing his best not to grab his head despite the pounding attack that was going on inside him.

"Well I was just coming over to see if I could try to talk some sense into Sami about going into the safe house that we had discussed a few days ago."

"No!" Sami said with vehemence. After witnessing Lucas' behavior the previous evening the last thing she wanted to do was be locked up away in some safe house with him. She wouldn't do it, no matter what the Dimera's tried to pull.

"Sami, it's for your own good," Roman said in a condescending tone. "Those damn Dimera's are out for blood. They are determined to get to you."

"Your dad is right," Lucas chimed in, if being in the safe house kept Sami away from EJ then he was all for it. He vaguely remembered Sami talking to EJ in the hallway when he had arrived home and his anger returned. He was not going to let EJ have a chance to get near her.

"I won't do it," Sami crossed her arms in front of her, refusing to let them bully her into making a decision that she most definitely didn't want to do.

"Sami did you hurt yourself?" Roman asked, noticing the bruise on her arm.

Sami rubbed her arm and covered the bruise with her hand, "I just hit my arm on the kitchen counter when I was cleaning up. I was being clumsy. It's nothing."

"Okay, well try to be more careful," Roman said as he tried to look into her eyes, but Sami was averting his gaze.

"I will," Sami said, not removing her hand. She wanted to go to the bathroom to look and see her arm, but that would have to wait until her father left. She hoped he would leave soon.

"Just think about going to the safe house," Roman urged as he looked at his watch.

"I don't want to go," Sami repeated.

"We'll let you know what we decide," Lucas said as started to usher Roman to the door. "I'll call you later."

"See you both later," Roman stepped out into the hallway, sensing uneasiness in Sami, but not wanting to confront her about it. He left them to go to work, his mind shifting focus to the workload he had today. He'd do his best to get Sami to see reason, his daughter needed to be protected from the Dimera's.

"I don't know why you are so dead set against going to a safe house," Lucas started on her as soon as Roman was out of earshot.

"I'm not going," Sami huffed, going over to the couch to retrieve her pillows.

"You'll go if I say you're going," Lucas stated with an air of authority over Sami.

"Lucas, I'm telling you right now that I'm not going," Sami walked to Will's bedroom to put back the pillows on his bed since she had taken them to use last night.

Lucas followed her into Will's room. "You're my wife and you'll do what I say."

Sami snorted in derision and pushed past him, "Get over yourself, if you want to go so badly, go yourself."

"Can't go without seeing EJ?"

"No, you are such an ass," Sami began until she saw the look in Lucas' eyes and she backed off.

"Oh go ahead and dog me," Lucas raised his arm and waved it in the air. "I know you want to run over and see EJ since he is such a prince to you and all."

"Leave EJ out of this," Sami raised her voice, "just because I'm mad at you doesn't mean I'm going to go running to EJ."

"What have you got to be mad about?"

"Let me see, you coming home drunk, yelling at me, saying horrid things about the babies, grabbing my arm and twisting it." Sami began to list things off one by one to Lucas.

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to you whine," Lucas stomped off to the shower. "I've got more important things to do today."

"Like what?"

"Go find a job, with two babies on the way, somebody has to be working," Lucas slammed the door to the bathroom leaving Sami standing alone in the room. After hearing the doctor tell her that EJ was the father to the twins, he hadn't looked or spoken to her kindly. She knew he was upset, but they were going to have to deal with this matter or things were just going to go downhill even more than they already were.