Carly's Fear

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: This was inspired by that VERY creepy little scene in the Look Alike episode.

-WATCHED BY UNSEEN EYES-

Carly stared at the camera as Freddie held it in her direction, Sam was patting her on the back and laughing at some joke. Oddly, Carly wasn't laughing at all. She hadn't felt comfortable with iCarly for some time, both Sam and Freddie actually wondered why she had been acting differently, but they never really bothered to question it since she never brought it up.

She continued to stare into the lens, sure that every fan of iCarly was confused and perplexed by her recent action. Why was she standing there? Why was she looking paler than usual? Even Sam's laughter began to silence, Freddie continued to gaze at Carly with confusion. Carly's eyes widened as she realized all of the eyes watching her right now. So many eyes, so many unseen eyes, it never bothered her before. Why, why was it bothering her now? Perhaps because as of late, she felt those eyes more than useful. No, she'd always felt eyes on her, whether iCarly was on or not. It was then that Carly let out an ear piercing scream.

"Ah Carly!" Sam cried out as she jumped back and placed her hand on her ear. Freddie winced and Sam quickly ran over to him. She pulled the camera over and shut tried to shut it off, but Carly ran out of the room before she got the chance. Sam sighed and looked to the camera. "Excuse me, I have to go find out what's wrong with Carly. We'll be back shortly, so until then…enjoy this picture of Freddie with a funny drawing on his face! Cue the photo, Dork!" Freddie nodded and put up a picture, but it was of Carly with a large heart around her and hearts in various places. "What the…"

"Wrong photo!" Freddie quickly clicked the picture onto the proper photo and groaned when he saw what Sam had done to it. He had a ink-drawn mustache and glasses drawn around his face. On his chin was a little triangular goatee and hair covered the rest of his face. "Sam!" Sam laughed and quickly left the room. Sam walked down the stairs and found Carly hunched over in the couch, her head was buried into her lap.

"Carly, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, just leave me alone!" Carly said with a quick voice. She didn't want to tell Sam about the fears she'd been experiencing for some time, she didn't want to worry her friend. Though, if she knew Sam well enough, she knew that her friend would stop at nothing to get her to tell her what was on her mind. Sam sat next to Carly and started rubbing her back. Freddie stood at the top of the stairs and smiled at the girls. He was concerned about his friend, he really was.

"Carly, you know you can tell me what's going on. After all, I'm your best friend…" Carly nodded and leaned back, she wasn't really comfortable with telling Sam. After all, she was supposed to be perfect, wasn't she? She wasn't allowed to have problems, fears, torments, or anything else. She looked into Sam's concerned eyes and sighed, what choice did she have, really? It was possible for Sam to make her feel better, but who really knew. Carly lifted her head up slightly and stared ahead with wide eyes, she felt them. She felt the eyes upon her. She quickly looked back and saw Freddie. She was relieved, it was only him. He was probably concerned like Sam.

"Freddie, do you think Sam and I could talk alone?"

"Sure," Freddie replied. "I have to get going anyway." Freddie quickly moved down the stairs and grabbed the doorknob. He stopped and turned around, smiling slightly. "I love you Carly." Sam rolled her eyes and Carly groaned.

"Not now Freddie!"

"Carly will never love you!" Sam exclaimed. Freddie rolled his eyes and exited the apartment. Sam huffed and shook her head. She liked the guy, but why couldn't he ever get it through his head that Carly just wouldn't like him? "Is Freddie troubling you?"

"No, not at all…" Carly pulled her knees to her chest and looked to the ground. For some reason, she still felt those eyes on her. It was a feeling she'd felt for far too long. Why did she still feel like she was being watched? "Maybe his 'love' for me plays a role in my fear, but…I know he's not the reason for my fear." Sam raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together.

"Is Freddie doing this? You're afraid of something? Is it because of him?" Sam stood up and Carly grabbed her wrist.

"I just said it's not him. Why would it be him? I mean sure, he's like obsessed, but he's never done anything…"

"Okay, I'm sorry." Sam slowly sat down and took a deep breath. "So tell me what you're afraid of."

"I don't know…but everywhere I go, I feel like I'm being watched. It scares me…" Sam frowned as Carly hugged her arms and let a tear fall from her eye. It really scared her, she never knew who was watching her or what they would do. "I-I think I'm being followed, and…it's just getting scarier." Sam thought for a minute, and her frown only grew. She knew what it sounded like, but she wasn't sure.

"Carly, do you think you have a stalker?"

"Well other than Freddie, I don't know." Freddie did count as a stalker, but he never did anything but proclaim his love for Carly in various and strange ways. He had always been mild, such as following her home from school or watching for her through his peephole. There were several instances where she knew he was probably watching while she did stuff at her door. He even had a picture of her, but she didn't have much of a problem with that. "I mean, the creepiest thing he's even done was-"

"That test?" Carly winced as she remembered the 'test' of his. It was on the night they went to the fight, he had that really deep voiced recording that kept saying 'I love you Carly' over and over again. She was only reminded of her fear that someone was watching, and that never left her.

"Yeah, that was plain creepy, and it didn't help the fact that I think I've got someone out there who is watching me…" Carly leaned forward and stared into Sam's eyes with her own wide and fearful ones. "It scares me a lot, Sam. I don't know who it is, or what they want…"

"Maybe it's just Freddie."

"It is NOT Freddie!" Sam jerked back somewhat as Carly put her hand to her head. "Freddie's not this obsessed, this crazy! I think I'm in real danger here and I don't know what to do! It's scaring me, Sam! It's scaring me!" Carly brought her hands to her face and sobbed. Sam carefully rubbed Carly's back and hugged her. "Why would it be him anyway? This person…I've actually been contacted…"

"You have?"

"Yes, and always from a private number…or just a note…he always says how much he loves watching me and how much I turn him on. He says I'm beautiful, graceful, that I'm some goddess that he can't resist. He tells me I shouldn't date anyone else and that one day he wants to meet me…this isn't a secret admirer, this is scary!" Carly's teeth started tapping against each other as she hugged herself tighter and began to slowly rock. Sam could tell the fear was intense, this must have been happening for longer than she had thought. "It's…not…Freddie…I mean if it were him, I could handle it. I would just tell him to stop and he would!"

"Well maybe, I mean the guy is ob…" Sam paused and Carly glanced over at her, she honestly didn't know what to say here. She took a deep breath and slowly stood up. "Okay Carly, we need to report this."

"No, I'm afraid to. I'm afraid of what will happen if I go to the police. I mean I even had a text from the guy that said that nothing would stop him loving me, that he loved me forever. Normally it's sweet, but…no…"

"I know…this guy's causing you unnecessary fear, and he probably doesn't even realize it. You still need to tell an adult at least…" Carly whimpered as Sam hurried to another room to find Spencer. Carly looked around the room and quickly glanced at the television. Right on top of the TV, right on the corner of the television box, there was a small black circle. Carly moved to inspect it more closely, it looked like one of those little cameras that she saw at one of the AV club meetings that she decided to sneak into.

"He's watching…he's watching right now…" She could feel his eyes on her, he was truly watching her every move. She stepped back and began to shake. "N-No…No…Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Carly, what's wrong!" Spencer shouted as he and Sam ran out of the room. Carly was screaming her head off and pointing at the tiny camera. Sam narrowed her eyes and quickly threw a towel over the television. Spencer hugged her close and frowned. "Carly, Sam told me…I think we need to call the police."

"No! I don't think it's necessary right now. I…I'm going to go for a walk."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll go with you," Sam suggested. Carly nodded and wiped her eye.

"That would be great, thanks…" Sam and Carly headed out of the apartment and Spencer gently rubbed his chin. He wondered if he should go ahead and call the police, even though Carly was too afraid to.

"You'll be fine, Carly."

"Sam, what about iCarly?"

"Oh, Freddie probably shut it off before he left…" Carly nodded and pulled on her jacket. As they left the apartment and walked down the street, she kept looking over her shoulder. Sam placed an arm around Carly's shoulder and smiled.

"Hey relax, if anyone does anything to you, they have to deal with me first." Carly once more gave a quick nod. Yet even with Sam there, she didn't feel extremely safe. "Oh hey, what about that guy you asked out, want to talk to him?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!" With that, the two walked toward the house of the boy Carly was interested in. His name was Brock, he was a very popular kid at school. Just then, Carly's phone went off. She froze and Sam glanced over, Carly was too afraid to check her phone. "Sam…could you…"

"Yeah I got it." Sam took the phone and read it. Her lips formed a frown and Carly glanced nervously at her. "It says…do you want to hear this?"

"Yes."

"He says 'I'm looking all around, where are you going? Why is Sam with you? I'll find you, don't worry. You're not going to see Brock, I hope. I love you! I can treat you better than him, give me a chance to prove it! I bet I can show you just what I mean! Meet me at six, in front of Groovy Smoothie!" Carly gulped and shook her head rapidly.

"I don't want to meet him, what if he tries to kill me? Or worse!" Sam raised her eyebrow and shifted her eyes away from the phone.

"What's worse than death?"

"A lot of things! Like this fear I've been having ever since before iCarly!" Sam was shocked, Carly had been dealing with this for that long? Why hadn't she ever said anything? "And I know what you're going to say. You're going to say it's Freddie, but it's not!"

"I don't know, Carly…I mean, he's a great friend, so I do give him the benefit of the doubt. Yet, stalkers…they start out small and they just grow over time…who knows how obsessed the boy is now."

"I still highly doubt it."

"So you're not going to meet him? How about this…I'll go to groovy smoothie and we'll see who it is scaring you. I'll deal with him personally. If you don't want to go to the cops…besides, what can he do to me?"

"I don't know." The girls walked toward Brock's house and knocked. They waited until the man opened the door. The boy looked like he'd been beat up, it was strange.

"Oh uh...hi Carly," Brock said with a nervous chuckle. Carly smiled and stood up straight.

"Hey Brock, I was wanting to know if I could talk." Brock's eyes widened and he quickly shook his hands in the air.

"No! I was told I can't be around you! I can't even be near you. Why would you try to date me when you already have someone else?"

"But I don't…" Carly's eyes widened and Sam growled slightly. "No, he did this to you! Please Brock, you have to-" Brock quickly shut his door and Carly fell to her knees. She felt extreme sadness, pain, fear, and various other powerful emotions. "I can't believe this! He won't even let me date!"

"That's it, I'm calling the police," Sam said as she pulled out her cell phone. Carly quickly grabbed Sam's shirt and stared into her eyes, Sam gasped and gazed back into Carly's fearful brown orbs.

"No Sam! You can't!"

"Carly, I don't like what this person…who knows who he is, is doing to you! I hate seeing you like this, and I'm sure Freddie does too. If you'll just let the police solve this for you-"

"No! I can't let you do this! What if he hurts you? What if he hurts me?" Sam knew her friend needed help, especially if she's been suffering from this stalker for so long.

"Fine, but the second I find out who it is…"

"Please don't do anything. I don't want him to hurt you."

"I can't promise you I won't at least step in…" Sam cared too much for her friend to do that. She knew she was posing a great risk, though. She knew well that stalkers didn't like anything getting in their way of their stalking victim. They could do anything to remove the said obstacle.

"Fine, but just be careful..."

-NEW SCENE-

Sam walked to the back of the smoothie shop, she was going to meet this stalker of Carly's and teach him a thing or two. She had to give the guy credit, he sure knew the spookiest meeting spots. She tugged on her jacket and narrowed her eyes as she felt someone's eyes on her. It was the same unseen eyes that Carly felt. She knew Carly's fear, she knew it well. She had been stalked by someone once in her life, that's why she was so concerned.

"What are you doing here?" A voice asked. Sam looked over and saw a man dressed in black, with a black mask. "I asked for Carly, not you." It was clear his voice was disguised, so Sam had no way of telling if the person was anyone she knew or not.

"I'm here because you're scaring her." The man's eyes widened for a moment, he didn't think he was scaring Carly. "You're doing these things, and I don't think you realize the gravity of the situation. You beat up some guy over her!"

"She's for me, though."

"God you remind me so much of the dork, though I'm almost positive Freddie wouldn't beat someone up." The man raised his eyebrow and Sam crossed her arms. "I'm not letting you get to her."

"Don't say that, please. I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh come on…" Sam knew never to challenge a stalker, since they always did their best to get whatever they wanted. "I don't care what you say or do, if you want Carly…you have to go through me." The man closed his eyes and sighed.

"I was afraid of this." He pulled out a blade and Sam's eyes widened slightly. "You leave me no choice, Sam Puckett."

"Right…" He charged at her. She tried to dodge, but she couldn't get out of the way in time. She gasped as she felt the hot blade go into her body. "U-Uh…" Blood spilt from her mouth as she looked into the man's eyes. They looked guilty, remorseful, but still dangerous. Aside from all of that, they were no longer unknown or unseen eyes to Sam. She gasped with realization as she fell back onto the ground and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry." The man dropped his knife and left the alley.

-NEW SCENE-

"Carly it's okay, no stalker is going to get you," Freddie said as he gave his friend a hug. Carly nodded and smiled as she was in both Spencer and Freddie's company. Though Sam wasn't there, she still felt at ease. However, as comfortable as she felt, she did also feel pretty bad. Freddie's phone went off, so he checked it. His eyes grew wide and his hands began to sweat. Next Spencer's went off. He looked up from his phone and stared at Freddie with a dangerous look. Finally, Carly's phone went off. When she checked it, she was surprised to find that it was from Sam.

"Carly…I hate having to say this…but your stalker is…" Sirens were blaring like crazy and a loud pounding noise was heard at the door. Carly dropped her cell phone before she could find out who her stalker was. Freddie was moving toward the door, hoping to answer it. When he looked through the peephole, he spotted a fierce and angry blonde standing next to a few police officers. He chuckled once and opened the door. The moment he did, Sam lifted her hand off of the bandaged wound on her side and pointed to Freddie. "THAT'S HIM! He's the one that's been stalking my friend! He's the one that did this to me! Arrest him!"

"What?!" Carly cried out. Sam's angry eyes stayed glued to Freddie as Carly quickly ran to Sam's aid. She gasped and then began to cry when she saw Sam's wound. "Oh my god, Sam…" She looked to Freddie and then felt the glare of his eyes on her when he turned to face her. "Freddie…tell me this is a lie. Tell me this isn't true!" He closed his eyes and frowned.

"I'm sorry Carly…it is…" He didn't resist as the officers placed the cuffs on his wrists. Carly couldn't understand, Freddie had always been so innocent. It would be Sam to answer the question that was on her mind.

"It doesn't matter how innocently it starts out," Sam said with a quiet voice. "A stalker is still a stalker, and if left untreated in some way…they will almost always grow worse and more threatening. Sometimes, they don't even realize they're a stalker until it's too late…until they can't even control themselves anymore…" Sam closed her eyes and frowned as an officer read Freddie his rights. "Stalkers…can be confusing. They want something bad enough, they'll go through any means to get it. When I looked into his eyes, I knew he was Freddie, but at the same time…he wasn't Freddie. You're right about one thing, Carly."

"What is that?"

"The man that stalked you…the one that stabbed me…it wasn't the same Freddie you and I both know so well…he was twisted and could no longer differentiate between right and wrong, as long as he got what he lusted for." Carly whimpered as Sam closed her eyes and let a tear fall. The officer started to lead Freddie away and Sam spoke under her breath. "It doesn't help that I wanted to go out with him."

"Sam…" Carly turned away and moved into the hallway, she clenched her fists and shouted out at Freddie. He stopped and turned around. "Freddie! Why did you do it? Why did you do all this?!" Freddie shrugged and glanced downward.

"I don't know," Freddie replied. How could he know? He wanted Carly for the longest time, his desire only grew but her rejections came more. He wanted to go for the secret admirer touch, but those were too much. He lost himself in trying to win her over, it came to the point that he'd do anything to win her over. When the police search his room and everything, he knew what they would find. He knew they would tell Carly as well. They would find a shrine dedicated to her, they would find letters and several other creepy things. They would find even more clues that he was her stalker. To add to his list, they had the evidence that he had tried to kill Sam because she stood in his way of getting what he wanted.

"You hurt Sam, you scared me…but I bet you still don't know the extent of what you've done!" Tears ran down her face as she shouted her words at him. Because of him, Carly would always be afraid. Because of him, Carly wouldn't know how to trust him. "Because of you, iCarly may be ending! I'll always be afraid that I'm being watched! Because of you…so many things are messed up! Why? Why couldn't you just accept it whenever I said I didn't want to date you? WHY FREDDIE?!"

"I'm sorry…and I know it's not enough…but I really am sorry." His eyes were beginning to water now, but he didn't want anyone to see that. He turned around and let the officers lead him away. Sam had already been checked up at the police hospital, so she was fine. She stepped outside and gave her still terrified friend a hug. She knew it would take some time for Carly to get over it all, but she would stay by her friend's side as long as she needed to. Carly closed her eyes and walked back into her apartment, still letting her tears run down her face. She knew that her stalker was gone, but that fear she had because of him, the fear she had experienced and all she had gone through would stay with her for a long time. Nightmares would still frequent her mind as they always had. Maybe now, though, things would be better for her than they had been.

I had to do this. I HATE how people don't realize that stalking is a very serious issue and they just don't see that Freddie already is at the point where he'd be categorized as a stalker. Stalkers also can grow worse over time, and as shown here, it's not always known that it's them. Yes, I'm aware Freddie stabbed Sam, I wrote it like that for a reason. Stalkers don't care who it is, if there's someone in the way of their goal, they'll go through any means to get it, even if it means attempting to, or killing someone they know. I thought that recorded voice in Look Alice was so creepy...it actually inspired this. This also has NO connection with my other oneshot, entitled STALKER.

ALSO, if you have, or think you may have a stalker, DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL FOR HELP! Tell a friend, tell a parent/relative of some sort, tell a police officer. Whatever you do, do NOT let the Stalker continue to fester and grow. Stalkers will not stop, they will only grow worse. Also, never, NEVER meet your stalker alone face to face.