Chapter 10

Olivia felt like she was going crazy. For the past two weeks she'd been bombarded by texts and messages from Lewis, all telling her how much he missed her, and how he couldn't wait to see her. Early on she'd tried to tell her friends what was going on, but the messages would always disappear before she could show anyone. She always ended up sounding crazy and paranoid, and it seemed as though none of her friends believed her. But those phantom messages had been nothing compared to this.

Rollins had taken her out for some much-needed girl time at the mall, but every time Olivia turned around, she was seeing Lewis. She could see him following her and taunting her, but just when she thought she'd lost him, he'd reappear 5 yards ahead of her, blending into the crowd or checking out items in a store while stealing glances at her as she passed. Sometimes he was just a passing face in the crowd, while other times he'd almost seem as though he was right in front of her face.

But she couldn't tell this to Rollins. What would she think? Olivia had no proof that Lewis was stalking her, especially since whenever she called Riker's, they'd tell her that he was right there in his cell. But what she didn't know was that today, Amanda was seeing him too.

Every time Amanda caught Olivia staring off into space, she'd follow her gaze, and nearly every time she'd catch a glimpse of what appeared to be Lewis. She knew that he, whoever he was, was following them, but as soon as he would come into view, he'd get a reaction from Liv and then be gone in the next instant. Amanda was having a hard time believing her own eyes, so she could only imagine what Olivia must be feeling. But even Olivia wasn't letting on what she was feeling, Amanda could see the panic growing in her eyes, and Amanda desperately wanted to let Olivia know that she wasn't just seeing things, but what could she say without confirming her fears? Amanda was forced to stay unbearably silent, for fear of sending Olivia over the edge by telling her that the man who haunted her nightmares was indeed stalking her again.

Finally it was time to go, so the two ladies grabbed their bags and headed out to Amanda's car.

"Shit!" Amanda cried, patting her pockets when they reached the car. "I forgot the keys at our table at the restaurant. I need to run back and grab them. Just hang right for a sec, okay?"

Olivia nodded and Amanda ran off, but as soon as she was gone, Olivia felt a chill run down her spine. She glanced nervously around the parking lot, expecting to see Lewis-or what looked like him-lurking around, but to her surprise, she didn't see anything.

Suddenly, she felt a rough hand grip her shoulder, and a familiar voice whispered, "Don't turn around."

Olivia froze solid, hardly daring to breathe. Slowly, she gazed down at her reflection in the car window, and to her complete and utter horror, she saw Lewis's face grinning back at her over her shoulder. She took in a sharp breath as Lewis smelled her hair, breathing in deeply to get a whiff of her perfume.

"You smell amazing," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. They stared at each other in the window reflection, and for a moment, they locked eyes. "But now isn't the right time to get back into it. I'll see you soon, Olivia, and then we can be together again."

And then he was gone.

Olivia burst into tears and sank to the ground, clutching her shoulder and her neck where Lewis had touched her. It couldn't have been real-it couldn't have been! And yet he'd been right there, breathing down her neck and touching her hair, scaring her into submission all over again.

The thought of having him close again terrified her, and while she knew that he was supposed to be safely away from her in prison, she didn't feel anywhere near safe. There was no way he'd gotten out, she decided, so she must have just been having flashbacks.

So why did it feel so real?

"Olivia!" she heard Amanda cry as she sprinted toward the car. "Olivia, where are you?"

Olivia gingerly held up her hand so that Rollins would see where she was, and in an instant the blonde had wrapped her arms comfortingly around her friend.

"A-Amanda," Olivia sniffed through her tears, "I-I saw him! He was here, he grabbed me...he said-oh God!"

Olivia was suddenly overcome with panic, and against all instinct, Amanda knew that the only way for her to make sure that Olivia didn't shut down again was to tell her that she wasn't crazy. It was the only thing she could think to do to make sure that her friend wasn't going to go as crazy as she felt.

"Shhh," Amanda soothed, "it's okay Liv. I've been seeing him too."

"Holy shit!" Lewis cried gleefully as he waltzed back into his cell. He'd stripped out of his outside clothes and had dawned his orange jumpsuit once more, but even the scratchy, rash-inducing material couldn't sour his good mood.

Rick looked up from his book as Lewis closed the cell door behind him. "Good day?"

"Amazing day!" Lewis grinned. He put his clothes back into his pillow case and flopped onto his mattress, drinking in the memory of the encounter. "You should've seen the look on her face."

"Was she happy to see you?"

"Utterly thrilled." Lewis rolled over and smiled widely at his new friend. "I still can't believe you can come and go as you please like that."

Rick shrugged. "As long as I'm back before 4, there's no problem." He smiled. "And at the snap of my fingers, it can be the same rules for you."

Lewis's head was swimming, and he felt as if he was going to pass out from pure joy. "God, yes. Yes, that would be amazing."

Rick only smiled and went back to his book. "She must be a pretty special girl if you're sneaking out of prison to go meet her."

Lewis rested his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. "Oh, if only you knew."

"If you don't mind me asking, what makes her so special?"

Lewis paused for a moment. "What makes her so special? Well, I think it's the fact that she nearly got away from me. I'm used to getting what I want, especially when it comes to women, so you can imagine that when she started playing games with me, I had to follow up. God, when we spoke for the first time, she came onto me, and talked dirty to me in a way that blew my mind. 'Tell me more,' she said, 'tell me what you did to your...girlfriends.'" He grinned at the memory of their first interrogation. "I was in love. I knew I had to have her. But oh, she put up a real fight. She was the playing-hard-to-get champion, and I'd never experienced a woman with such fire. But I broke her, and now she's mine. She just needs some reminding sometimes. All she needs is to see me, and she remembers."

Rick stared at Lewis as he spoke, absorbing every word. At the end, he turned back to his book.

"Well," he said, "we'll have you back to her really soon."

Notes: As requested by a Guest reviewer, an Amanda-Olivia friendship scene. :) I usually don't get to update so quickly, but I've been inspired, and I'm excited for you guys to see what else I have in store. :) Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review and tell me what you think!