You Can't Escape My Love



Chapter One



Lucas walked across the deserted parking lot, heading for his car so that he could go home after the long wait at the hospital. Sami had felt so guilty about accusing Tony of being the killer when he was innocent that she had wanted to stay at the hospital to see if he was going to be okay. Now that Tony's condition was finally stabilized, Lucas could go home. Sami and Will were getting a ride from Marlena. After their kiss in the clown car, Sami had acted awkward around him, actually she acted more confused than anything else. Like she didn't know what she wanted anymore.

He had parked in the back lot of the hospital, where not many cars were. The front parking lot was full of cars, everyone was anxious to hear the news about Tony. For a man who seemed to have so many enemies, a lot of people seemed very concerned about him. But maybe it was just because they didn't want to see this killer win. They didn't want him to hurt any more people, not even the Dimera's.

There was a man standing in front of the car next to Lucas'. Lucas squinted to make out his form in the dim light from the street-lamps, the figure of the man vaguely familiar. The man slammed his trunk shut and turned around to face Lucas. Lucas realized who the man was and nodded a greeting.

"I didn't expect to see you here. When did you arrive back in Salem?" Lucas asked politely.

The man smiled thinly, "A few days ago." the man averted his gaze, checking to see if anyone else was around, "Listen, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone I'm back yet. I want it to be a surprise."

Lucas nodded, "I can understand that." he replied, "I won't tell anyone." the truth was, Lucas didn't care one way or another if the people of Salem knew that he was back. He had enough problems of his own to deal with so he might as well forget ever seeing him and focus on his currents dilemma with Sami.

"Thank you." the man nodded gratefully, "I guess I'll see you around then."

"I guess so." Lucas responded absentmindedly, his mind already on other things. He unlocked his car and ducked inside. As he started the drive home, his thoughts drifted back to Sami, as they often did. He still couldn't get her words out of his head. First she had apologized about throwing knives at Kate and for locking him in that port-a-potty. Then, when they were in that clown car she had actually seemed to act like she cared about him.

When he had tried to leave the clown car to go warn the other people at the circus that she tiger was on the loose, she had been afraid that she would lose him and had freaked out. She told him not to go and he asked her what difference it made to her if he lived or died. She hadn't answered and he had tried to leave.

He remembered the way she had grabbed his arm and clung to it desperately, "You can't leave because I love you." she had said. When Lucas asked her what she had just said, she had told him that she said that she that he couldn't leave because Will loved him. But he knew that she really said that she loved him. Maybe she had been resorting to desperate measures to keep Will from losing his father but he didn't want to believe that was why she had said it.

Before leaving the clown car, he had kissed her. And she had kissed him back. If he wasn't sure of anything else, he was sure of that. He just didn't know what it meant.

Trying to push the thoughts out of his mind, he put all his concentration into the road as he drove straight ahead, towards his apartment.



The next morning, Sami came into his apartment and told him that she had gotten a call from Belle. Mimi and Rex had been staying at the hospital and had called Belle and told her that Tony Dimera was dead. Someone had poisoned his IV sometime the night before.


It was a week after Tony's death and Sami and Lucas were sitting in a booth at the Brady Pub, near the booth Rex and Mimi were sitting in. Sami watched Rex fiddle with a fork, a drawn and miserable expression darkening his rugged features.

"According to Belle, Rex is taking this really hard." Sami confided in Lucas, her eyes glimmering with something that looked very close to sympathy, "I can't blame him. I mean, I am still hurting so much over losing my dad. It's like Rex has lost two dads. I don't know how he can handle it at all."

Lucas murmured in agreement, "You remember Bart, don't you?" Sami nodded, "He really looked up to Tony and I heard he's really upset. He's a trucker now."

"A what?" Sami asked incredulously.

"A trucker." Lucas repeated, "I'm not kidding. I saw him in his truck a couple days ago. He was wearing this plaid flannel jacket and everything. I don't think he's handling Tony's death very well."

"Well, that's what happens when you get too attached to your boss." Sami stated, rolling her eyes, "I'm glad I'll never have to worry about that."

Lucas and Sami continued talking while Mimi tried to convince Rex to order something to eat.

"You have to eat something, Rex." Mimi chided gently, "You'll waste away to nothing if you don't."

"Maybe I don't care anymore." Rex shook his head sadly, "I can't believe that they're all dead, Mimi. Cassie's gone, Roman's gone and Tony's gone. Do you have any idea how much I hate this? Just when I had the chance to bond with my real father, he died and the man I thought of as my father ended up in jail for Roman's murder when he was innocent. Then Cassie and Tony were murdered-" Rex cut himself off, "I feel like I've lost all the family I've ever known."

"You haven't Rex." Mimi consoled him, "There are still so many people that care about you."

"Don't you get it?" Rex's eyes stung from trying to keep himself from crying. He wouldn't let himself cry, he just couldn't, "Tony treated me like his son all along, even when I went to jail for the serial killings, even when he found out he wasn't my real father. Then, when he went to jail, I turned my back on him. I betrayed the man who did nothing but love me no matter how bad things got for me. And Cassie was always there for me. We were supposed to always be there for each other and now she's gone. I never even got the chance to know Roman."

"I feel horrible for you." Mimi squeezed his hand comfortingly, "But you still have Kate and Lucas and Phillip. They're your family too. And who knows, maybe someday you'll even start getting along with Sami. Besides, even if none of them were around, I'd still be here. I love you, Rex, and I'm never going to leave you."

Rex tried his best to smile, "Thank you, Mimi. If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd be able to get through this at all."

Mimi smiled back, "You're welcome. Now, you're going to listen to me and order something to eat before I have to order for you." she instructed him and Rex finally picked up the menu and began scanning over the items on it.

At another nearby table, Bo took a drink of his coffee while reading the newspaper. Hope was glad he had returned from his trip to find Billie. They had eventually found her body in a creek. Bo was angry that Billie wouldn't be able to help discover the killer's identity but he had become even more determined to discover who was behind all the killings. His PDA beeped and he set down the cup of coffee to take it out of his pocket. His eyes darkened when he saw the words that lit up the tiny screen. Hope leaned across the table so that she could see the message.

The letters was a bright red colour, lighting up the black screen behind it. The message read 'And the eighth victim will be....'. Bo let out an impatient huff as the letters slowly faded away.

"Stop keeping us in suspense." Bo muttered, becoming more agitated with each passing second. The letters completely faded and a picture of Lucas took over the screen. Hope's eyes widened at the sight of her cousin's picture.

"It can't be." Hope said in a near whisper, "Why?" she stared straight at the back of Lucas' head and Bo whirled around and did the same.
Sami noticed Bo and Hope staring at Lucas and frowned, "Can we help you with something?" she asked. Lucas turned around and Bo lowered his gaze.

"We, uh, we got another message from the killer." Bo stuttered, not knowing how to tell Lucas that he was the next target on a relentless killer's list. Ever since the killer had began leaving these messages on the PDA, it never got any easier to break the news to someone that they were the next target.

"And?" Sami prompted him. Bo looked to his wife for help and Hope understood that he couldn't bring himself to tell Lucas the news.

"Lucas, the killer sent us a message saying that you would be their eighth victim." Hope broke the silence and she looked past Lucas and watched Sami's eyes grow wide with shock.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas demanded, "What would the killer want with me? I don't know anything. There has to be a mistake."

"There's no mistake." Bo said grimly, "You must have seen or heard something that gives the killer the idea that you know who they are."

Sami stood up abruptly, "Lucas, let's go." she said good-bye to her aunt and uncle quickly and ushered Lucas out of the restaurant. Lucas drove them back to the apartment building in almost complete silence. He was still in shock at the idea of being the killer's next target.

They went up to Sami's apartment and Lucas collapsed onto the couch. Sami sat down next to him, fingering strands of her long blonde hair nervously.

"Lucas, you have to leave Salem right away." she blurted out.

"Why?" he questioned, "I can't just pick up and leave. What about Will?"

"I was going to talk to you about that." Sami smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle on her skirt, "I think it would be best if we sent Will away to a boarding school somewhere far away from Salem. At least for the time being."

"You're kidding, right?" Lucas stared at her in disbelief.

"It would be for the best." Sami said defensively, "While a killer is running around in Salem, I don't want him here. He watched a tiger practically rip a man to shreds for Christ's sake and I don't want him exposed to that kind of thing anymore. Besides, you were right about me not being in the best emotional state. Maybe he needs to leave for a while until I can get things straightened out. I want to be a good example for him."

Lucas nodded in agreement, "You have a good point. And money isn't an issue because our moms would be glad to help pay for it. I hope Will doesn't argue."

"I'm going to miss him so much." Sami admitted, "But I know he'll understand. We're only doing this to keep him safe. And you have to get out of Salem as soon as possible. Tonight, if you can."

"What the hell are you trying to do, Sami?" Lucas began to get angry at her demands, "Is this your way of getting rid of me? Do you want me gone that badly?"

"I'm not doing this to get rid of you." Sami said softly, "It's the only way, I can be sure I'm not going to lose you."

Lucas softened, "If you don't want to lose me, then come with me. Leave Salem with me. Marlena and my mom can help get Will ready to go to the boarding school. We can get out of here in a matter of days."

Sami flipped her hair over her shoulder and avoided his gaze, "I'm sorry. But I can't go with you." the words came out soft and lacking conviction. The truth was, she did want to go with him. That was the problem. With everything going on, she was getting confused. She started feeling things that she never felt before. At least, things she had never felt before where Lucas was concerned. That scared her. She didn't want to let her guard down, she did not want to fall for Lucas Roberts. Maybe his leaving would help her sort things out. Then she would be able to see that she wasn't really falling for him, she was just acting really out of character.

She had told him she had loved him that day in the clown car. It had just slipped out, the words seemed to come out of nowhere. She had been so afraid that the tiger was going to kill him if he left the car and she lost control. Then he had kissed her and she hadn't been able to stop herself from kissing him back.
Lucas' silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity, "Fine. I don't know what I was thinking. I'll leave as soon as I get my things together." he got up and was about to leave her apartment.

"Lucas?" she called after him and he turned back around, his expression hopeful.

"Please don't email, call or write to anyone in Salem." she said, "The killer is smart and if you make contact with someone in Salem, the killer might be able to track you down."

He realized she was breaking off all contact with him and tried not to look like it affected him. But it did and he knew that she could see it. Sami took one look at the hurt expression in his dark eyes and wanted to run up to him and wrap her arms around him, telling him how badly she wanted to leave Salem with him. But she clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms. She had to stop feeling this way, she had to be strong. But after he left the apartment, it finally sunk in. Unless, she went after him, which she wouldn't do, he was gone. And she didn't know when she would see him again. She brought a pillow up to her face to muffle a sob, trying to fight off the feeling of loss that overwhelmed her.