I hope everyone had a nice holiday, and I'm happy to put another chapter on for you again, finally. It's been a few days so I might be a bit rusty so you'll just have to go along with it. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I look forward to hearing from you.

Haunted-part two

Chapter seven-the day before

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The room was dark and smelled of mold. It was quiet, quiet enough to hear every breath and beat of the heart. This was not a comforting feeling.

The more uncomfortable feeling came when his face appeared above her. He grinned, a grin that sent chills running down your spine. It was not a smile of friendliness or good humor; it was the kind of smile someone got from enjoyment of suffering.

"I admire you, sis," he said in a quiet, whisper of a voice. "You care about your friends, your family. You're a good person. It's sad that it has to end this way."

"It's sad."

"Well, not for me, of course. But for others it will be. I've seen it with all the other girls. I saw you after the other girl. You felt so…well I guess you know, don't you?"

She said nothing, but she hated the man above her more than she had ever hated anyone in her life. She wished she could just hit him again, but this time hit him much harder. If any person deserved it, it was him.

"You're going to die now, just like all the others. And there's not a thing you can do about it. You will beg for it, just like every other girl did. You will beg, sis, you will beg for death."

two days before

Two weeks had went by and nothing had happened. no girls were reported missing, and no girls were found in alleys. It seemed that everything really might have ended. maybe he left. maybe he felt that he was getting in over his head and was afraid that he'd be caught (even though that was no where near close to happening, and he of course knew that). But people didn't. They wanted to believe he was gone. They needed to believe that he was gone. They needed to go back outside again without fear (though they all would have fear for a very long time).

So then, he was gone.

One of the few scattered people who still believed that the man was out there was Derek Shepard. he was still protective of Meredith, no matter how many times she told him it was all over. He didn't seem to care very much what she said. Because the fear in him was still there, and he could not bear to think what could happen to her if he went on with everybody else, and it planned to be a big mistake.

"When are you going to finally believe that this is all over?" Meredith asked him exasperatedly as they walked into the hospital together. "I mean nothing has happened in two weeks, Derek. Everything has been quiet, everything has been fine. Why can't you just see that as a good thing? Stop worrying so much."

"I can't," he said seriously. "I'm sorry but I'm still not convinced."

"And what will it take for you to become so?"

He smiled. "I don't know yet. Just let me be the over protective boyfriend for a bit longer."

She smiled back. "I guess it's better than not caring."

"Thank you."

"But it's still plenty annoying!" she called after him as he kept walking and she went her separate way. He turned back and smiled again but didn't say anything. She shook her head and walked over to talk to Cristina.

"McDreamy giving you problems?" she guessed, not looking up from the charts she was looking through.

"Yeah," Meredith said, joining her and looking at the chart, until Cristina noticed this and blocked it from her view protectively. "He's never gonna stop, I swear."

"That sucks for you." Cristina closed the chart. "He'll get over himself eventually."

"I just wish I knew when eventually was."

A man came into the ER with a nasty cut on his hand. That was as much action Izzie got for the day. She hated slow days, and today was definitely a slow day. Her interns followed her as she went up to the man and examined his hand.

"So how'd you do this?" she asked him.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he answered.

"Trust me, I've heard my fair share of strange stories. You're going to need stitches," she said, looking up pointedly at one of her interns. "So-"

"Stitches are below you, are they?" he said. "Have to get one of these guys to do it for you. Can't be seen doing stitches now, can we? All the other boys are girls might laugh."

She looked at him in surprize, her eyebrows raised.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. But my interns-"

"Have no dignity, yeah yeah," he sighed, and now they looked offended too.

"Fine," Izzie said. "I will give you the stitches." She looked up at her interns. "Why don't you go see if Bailey needs help in the clinic?"

They said okay and left, whispering to each other as they did so. Izzie looked at the man for a moment.

"Well Mr. McCormack-"

"Dorian," he said. "You make me sound too official."

"Okay, Dorian," she said. "I'm just going to-"

"You look very familiar," he said thoughtfully. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so," she said. "If you've come here before you might have seen me. Or if you go to Joe's. But I don't think I've ever met you."

"I've met a girl or two at Joe's before," he said with a grin.

"I've heard similar stories," she said, looking up at him. he was still grinning. His grin sent chills running down her spine. It wasn't a grin that seemed to go along with good humor.

"So, tell me about her."

"Who?" Alex asked, looking up at her.

"Your friend. The one that..."

He stared at her for several moments. She stared back. Her face was slightly hidden by the darkness of the on-call room, but he could tell she was serious.

"Well she worked here-"

"I figured it was her."

He was silent for a moment.

"She was a friend of mine's sister. She hadn't been here all that long. She was an intern still. She was nice."

"She was nice?" Ava repeated. "That's all you can say?"

"Look, what do you want me to say?" he asked angrily.

"Alex-"

"She was nice yes, and she didn't deserve what she got. And I'd rather not talk about this. It isn't your concern anyway."

"I'm sorry, I just thought maybe-"

"Well you were wrong."

They fell into a n uncomfortable silence. She was looking at him sadly, but he did not know this; he was too busy staring down the floor.

Callie was walking down the halls, her mind preoccupied, thinking of the things that she still had to do. She had a surgery at three, and then afterward she'll have to-

She stopped suddenly as a man passed her. they locked eyes for a second that seemed like several long moments. She looked after him, but he was smart and kept on going. He noticed the dark haired girl more clearly than she noticed him, but he knew that if he made any sign of recognition, it would not help him at all.

Callie kept looking back even after he was gone. The man looked so familiar, but it was as if she had seen him in a dream, or possibly a nightmare. Then she remembered all the things she had to do and continued on her way, though the man's face still haunted her.

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Meredith and Cristina decided tonight would be a good enough night for a drink and left together for a well deserved night of drunkenness. Ava had left to go back home after Alex had interrogated her and told her that she hardly had the right to be there when she had a family waiting for her at home. Izzie met up with George before she left to tell him goodbye.

"I'm just going to go home," she told him; he was on-call for the night.

"You're not going with Meredith and Cristina?" he asked her.

"They already left," she said. "So I'm just going to go. I don't feel like drinking tonight. I feel like sleeping."

"You're going out by yourself?"

"George," she said exasperatedly; he was no more assured than Derek was that this was all over. "It's fine."

"Why don't I just go out with you-"

"I don't need you to walk me to my car, George. Plus you're supposed to be in here."

"Izzie-"

"Look," she said, and took out her cell phone. A moment later his rang. He managed to Grin and answered it.

"I am going down the hall," she said, backing away. "And now I'm going to turn he corner and get in the elevator."

"Very funny," he said as she disappeared from sight. He looked around for a window wit ha clear view of the parking lot.

"Now I'm going to go outside," she said, and sure enough a moment later he could see her in the parking lot below.

"So I see," he said, and she looked up and spotted him waving at her.

"Now who's the funny one?" she said with a smile. "And look, I'm outside all by myself."

She indeed reached the car by herself with no problems.

"Just like I said I would," she said, finding her keys. "And-"

Then George heard another voice.

"I remembered where I've seen you before."

Izzie jumped and turned around. George gripped the phone tighter.

"What-?"

"It's alright, he's my patient," she told him. "Is it your hand?" she asked him.

"I remembered where I saw you," he repeated, and came closer, wearing his chilling smile. She backed away.

"I don't-"

George left the window and ran down the hall; he did not care if this man was her patient or not.

"Get in the car."

"What are you-?"

She screamed and George's heart temporarily stopped. The phone made a clanging sound, announcing it's departure from Izzie's hand. George ran as fat as he could until he emerged into the cold night air. He looked around desperately and ran over to where the car had been. But it was not there; all the was there was a cell phone that he was currently still on the line with and Izzie's bag.