"Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer-both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams."

Bram Stoker

Nothingness. That was all she saw. Every direction she turned, she saw complete darkness. Slowly, she lifted her arm up, but was terrified to find out that she couldn't even see the hand in front of her own face. She took a few steps forward, listening to the sound of her feet against the cold, smooth floor. "Hello?" She called.

No one answered.

She was completely, undeniably alone.

As she took a few more steps forward, the coldness started to creep in. Though she couldn't see them, she could feel goose bumps forming on her arms. She spun around, chills going down her spine. And then, through the darkness, she noticed something: a white light a few yards away. Desperate, she ran to it and as she got closer, she realized it was a door. The light was seeping in through a crack at the bottom of it. She reached out through the darkness and felt for the doorknob. Once she had a hold on it, she pulled it open.

The door led to a house. She recognized it. It was the Daniels' house. Hesitantly, she stepped inside, looking around. At first, she thought it was empty until she heard Sam's voice coming from one of the back rooms.

"Help! Brooke! Help me, please! He's coming back, I can't get out. Please, help!" She sounded terrified.

Brooke rushed forward, down the hall and into the back room where she found Sam tied up in the closet, her mouth uncovered. Quickly, she untied her. "Come on." She said before standing up and leading Sam back down the hall to the living room. She opened the front door and let Sam rush out first, but when she went to follow, she felt someone grab her arm and pull her back.

She turned around only to find herself face to face with Xavier. She stared into his eyes, they looked crazed, angry. He gripped her arm tightly in his hand. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked, voice low.

But Brooke wasn't going to let him get to her this time. Quickly, she brought her knee up between his legs and as he doubled over in pain, she pulled her arm out of his grasp and went for the door again, but he fell to his knees and grabbed her ankle, pulling her to the ground after him.

She fell hard on her elbows, stunned, and once she realized she was down, she started to crawl.

But it was no use.

Xavier pulled her back and crawled over, getting on top of her and turning her over so that she was facing him. He put his hands over her wrists, holding her down. "You thought you could get away." He chuckled, "You'll never get away from me. No matter what happens tonight or tomorrow or next year, you will never be free. When you close your eyes at night, I'll be there. When you walk out of your house, I'll be there. You will never be safe." He said, leaning in close. "So go on living your perfect little life, but don't you ever try to fool yourself into thinking that I'm gone because the moment that you do is the moment that I come for you."

"Go to hell." She said.

Xavier smiled, a disgusting smile. "Gladly." He leaned down towards her, his breathing on her neck. Slowly, he took in a deep breath and then leaned back, looking into her eyes.

And she looked back at him and all she could see in those dark, evil eyes was the one thing that she feared to see most:

Desire.

And then suddenly, she heard a voice. "Brooke!" It was a man, but it was hard to make who it was. Luckily, it came again. "Brooke!" This time, she recognized it. Julian. She looked around for him, hoping he would rescue her, but he was nowhere to be found. And then she felt Xavier lean down again, kissing her neck. She squirmed, trying to get away, but his grip was too tight.

"Brooke!" Julian called again.

She still couldn't see him and Xavier's kisses were getting more and more rough as she continued to struggle. And then he pulled away, anger in his eyes. He pulled his arm back, hand balled into a fist, and brought his hand down to her face and just before it connected, she closed her eyes.

But the pain never came.

She opened her eyes again only to find herself staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. She let out a breath, realizing that it had only been a dream, well…a nightmare. She brought a shaky hand to her face, gulping.

"Brooke?"

She jumped and rolled over only to see Julian laying in the bed next to her. She let out a quick sigh of relief, glad it was just him and not Xavier.

"Hey…" He rubbed her arm, "You've been tossing and turning all morning." He said slowly, "Did you have another nightmare?"

Brooke avoided his gaze. She really didn't want to talk about it. It had been a week since the whole incident and every night since then she'd had a nightmare similar to the one she'd just had. "Yea." She said to Julian, voice quiet.

He leaned towards her, "Do you want to talk about it?" He was worried that if she didn't talk about it, she would end up facing it all alone, which was dangerous.

She wanted to say no, but she knew if she did then everyone would bother her about it so she nodded slowly, "I was in the house again and he was there and he pinned me down and…" She trailed off, looking at the ground.

Julian embraced her, "Hey it's okay. You're safe. I'm here, alright? I'll keep you safe." He said, rubbing her back. In all honesty, he was terrified. If Xavier really was out there and if did have a thing for Brooke then that meant he wouldn't stop until he got to her. And that was the last thing Julian wanted, for Xavier to get to Brooke.

Brooke leaned against him, glad that he was there. After they sat there for a few minutes, she pulled away from him. "Thank you." She said quietly, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. "I think I'm gonna get in the shower." She slid out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom.

"Want some company?" Julian asked with a smile.

Brooke looked back at him and smiled, shaking her head. And then she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Julian watched her go, glad to see her smile. He hadn't really seen that much in the past week. Yawning, he got out of the bed, walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen where Jamie, Lucas, Sam and Peyton were all eating breakfast.

"Good morning." He said with a smile.

"Is it?"

Julian looked over at Peyton, confused. "What?"

Peyton looked up from her food, "Is it a good morning?"

Julian tilted his head and shrugged, "Of course." He said with a grin, "It's sunny, it's not too hot and it's the weekend…why wouldn't it be a good morning?" He asked, scooping some eggs onto a plate.

"Because you're still here."

Sam chuckled from where she was sitting at the dining table. She glanced backwards at Julian, who was giving her a look. "I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, smiling. "It was funny…"

"You take too much pleasure in other people's pain." Julian said, shooting a sarcastic glare in Sam's direction.

And then it was quiet.

They all ate in silence as Julian prepared two plates of breakfast.

And then, out of nowhere, he spoke again. "I'm worried about Brooke." He said, listening for the sound of the shower to make sure she wouldn't hear them talking about her. Distantly, he could hear that the water was still running.

Lucas looked over at Julian, "We all are." He said.

Julian nodded slowly, "Every night this week, she's had a nightmare. She hasn't been outside all week. Every day, I bring her all her meals, but she just takes a few small bites. She's not eating and she looks pale, I don't know…this stress, it could be bad for her health."

"Well what should we do?" Peyton asked, deeply concerned. She'd been noticing the change in Brooke's behavior too and it didn't seem healthy. "Like therapy or something?" She asked, playing with the food on her plate.

Sam shook her head, "She's not crazy." She protested, "She's just scared. And she has a right to be. It's been a week and the police aren't doing anything. Plus, I mean, she did just come face to face with the guy who ruined her life." She shrugged, "She's scared, but she's not crazy."

"Just because you go to therapy doesn't mean you're crazy." Peyton said, looking back at Sam. "I don't know, I was just suggesting it as an option. It'd also be a way to get her out of the house." She said, looking out the window.

Lucas shrugged, "I think she just needs some time. I agree with Sam, I think she's scared and she needs time to work through it herself." He said, "But she shouldn't be alone."

"Well," Julian said, rejoining the conversation, "I have a meeting with a director for the movie that I have to go to in Los Angeles. So I can't stay with her anymore…" He said with a sigh. "And I think I have to leave tonight so it'll be the first time she's alone."

Lucas nodded, "We'll look out for her." He said, giving Julian a nod. In the past week, the two men had been civil to each other for the sake of the situation. They both had a common goal: to keep Brooke safe and fighting with each other wouldn't make anything easier.

After that, Peyton went to work and took Sam with her while Lucas and Jamie went to town and bought groceries. Brooke and Julian stayed inside, as they had been for the last week. They talked for a while and then watched a movie. Once it was over, Julian told Brooke that he was leaving. She was silently dreading him not being there, but she put on a brave face and said she was going to be fine.

Later in the day, Jamie and Lucas returned from the run to the store. They put all the groceries away and then sat out on the back porch and ate some sandwiches for dinner. They watched the sun go down as they sat out there and talked.

Just after they finished a conversation about basketball, Jamie paused and brought up a new topic that he was secretly curious about. "Uncle Lucas?" He looked over at his uncle.

Lucas looked down at him, "Yea?"

"What's wrong with Aunt Brooke?" Jamie asked, like everyone else, he'd noticed the change in her. Actually, he'd barely seen her in the last week, which he thought was weird and when he did see her, she didn't say hi or smile or anything and he didn't like that. He knew something had to be wrong.

Lucas sighed and stared forward, trying to think of a way to explain it without scaring him. "Your Aunt Brooke is just going through something right now…" He said, trying to be as vague as he possibly could to avoid the topic.

Jamie wasn't satisfied though. "What kind of something?"

Lucas should have been expecting that. He rubbed his hands on his thighs, "Someone hurt her a few months ago and now, that person is back and she's scared." He paused, "We just have to be there for her right now, even if it seems like she doesn't want it."

Jamie nodded slowly and looked out over the water.

Slowly, the door behind them came open and Julian walked out onto the back porch. "I'm gonna take off, Brooke's in her room. I don't think she'd mind a visit." He smiled a little bit, "But I'll be back in like a week. See you later, Jamie."

"Bye, Julian!" Jamie smiled.

Julian nodded, "Lucas." He gave him a nod.

"Julian." Lucas nodded back.

And then Julian turned and walked back inside before then walking out the front door.

A few minutes later, Lucas and Jamie went back inside and decided to go visit Brooke. When they walked down the hall, they saw that her bedroom door was open. As they walked through the doorway, Lucas knocked on the open door, getting her attention. She was sitting on the bed, reading a book, but when she heard the knock, she looked up.

"What're you reading?" Lucas asked as he walked into her room, Jamie coming in behind him.

Brooke looked down at the book and lifted it open, showing the cover. It was an Unkindness of Ravens. She smirked and gave a small shrug. "It was on my bookshelf so…" She set the book down on her nightstand.

Lucas smiled and sat at the foot of her bed. "I think what you're trying to say is…you were bored and you needed a really interesting, really well-written book to read so you decided on that one." He smiled.

She chuckled softly, "Yea that's what happened." She muttered sarcastically before looking over at Jamie, who had climbed into the bed next to her, "Hey there Jame. You look awfully happy, what'd you and Lucas do today?"

Jamie grinned and glanced at Lucas, "We went grocery shopping. And then we ate dinner and watched the sunset on the back porch." He smiled.

"That sounds like a pretty good day to me." Brooke offered a small smile.

Lucas nodded slowly, "It was. Would have been more fun with you though." He smiled, "What did you and Julian do today?"

Brooke shrugged, "We watched The Breakfast Club and Julian quoted like every single line." She rolled her eyes, "And it just made me realize that I'd forgotten how much I love watching good movies." She smiled a little bit.

"Me too!" Jamie exclaimed.

Lucas nodded, "We should watch a movie."

"Yea!" Jamie said, excited.

Lucas looked at Brooke, "But what movie?"

Brooke met his eyes, gave him a look and immediately, he knew what she was thinking.

"Weird Science." He said.

She nodded.

"What science?" Jamie asked, confused. He didn't really know what they were talking about.

Brooke looked over at him, "Oh yea. You're little, you probably haven't seen it…" She glanced at Lucas, "I think it's appropriate for children…?"

Lucas shrugged, "Yea…sure." He said, "You have it on DVD, don't you?"

"Of course."

Lucas stepped out of the bed and walked down the hall. He looked around for a few minutes and then found it in a cabinet by the TV. "Found it!" He called and a few moments later, Jamie and Brooke came out of her room and sat down on the couch.

Brooke looked at Jamie, "Now you can't tell your parents you watched this because it has a few bad words and…adult themes in it, okay? I promise you'll like it, it's a really good movie." She said, smiling over at Lucas.

He looked back at her and smiled, glad that her mind was off of everything that was going on. He slid the movie into the DVD player and sat down on the other side of Brooke, "Yea this movie…" He shook his head and smiled, "This movie is what made me fall in love with your Aunt Brooke, the first time."

Jamie looked up at that, curious. "What?"

"We were on a date." Lucas explained, "And I didn't really know Brooke yet and I thought she was going to be snobby or stuck up, but then…she started talking about Weird Science, even quoted it and we laughed and we had a lot of fun. And I fell in love with her." He looked at Brooke.

She met his eyes and smiled a little bit.

And a few moments later, the movie started. For Lucas and Brooke, it was a great trip down memory lane and for Jamie, it was a weird, but funny movie that he knew meant a lot to his aunt and uncle. But it was late, so by the time it was finishing, both Brooke and Jamie were asleep and Lucas was lying back, half-asleep.

He opened his eyes when he heard the front door open and close.

Peyton walked inside quietly, seeing that everyone was asleep. She stopped as she was passing Lucas, "Weird Science?" She looked at the TV and shook her head, "Classic." She said as she walked into the kitchen.

"You worked late." Lucas commented, "Where's Sam?"

"Staying at Mouth, Millie and Skillz' house for the night. Apparently, they're going to amusement park tomorrow so she wanted to go." Peyton shrugged, "Brooke already told her yes before you say anything about that." She smiled, "So Julian's gone?"

Lucas nodded.

"About time." Peyton said, rolling her eyes, "How's Brooke?"

Lucas shrugged and looked over at her sleeping peacefully with Jamie sleeping too, leaning against her, his head on her shoulder. He smiled a little bit, "It seems like she's been acting okay, but you never know with her…"

Peyton nodded, "Well…I'm gonna head to bed. You probably should too, it's late, like 2 in the morning late." She said as she walked past the couch again and walked up the stairs to her bedroom.

Lucas sighed and watched as the movie ended. Letting out a yawn, he reached over and touched Brooke's shoulder, shaking her gently. "Brooke." He said softly, "Brooke, hey, wake up."

She was still for a moment and then she jumped, eyes shooting open. She looked around quickly, in a panic before seeing Lucas next to her and realizing that it was him. "Oh…you scared me." She said, shaking her head and looked down at Jamie, who was stirring slightly because of her sudden movement.

Lucas nodded, "Sorry…" He said, "The movie's over and I figured you guys would rather sleep in beds than on the couch."

"Yea." Brooke nodded, sitting up. "We should go to bed."

Jamie, who had woken up, also sat up and started to slide off of the couch. Once on the ground, he slowly made his way up the stairs, as sluggish as ever. He didn't even put on pajamas, just collapsed in his bed, exhausted.

Lucas was going to go help him out, but he walked Brooke back to her room first. "You gonna be okay in here?" He asked as she climbed into her bed.

Brooke looked back at him and nodded, "Yea. I'm so tired, I don't even think it's going to matter." She said, smiling. "Thanks though, Luke."

He nodded, "Goodnight, Brooke."

"Night."

And then Lucas switched the light off and walked upstairs where he went to Jamie's room, helped the boy into his pajamas and then tucked him into bed before then finally, getting into his boxers and climbing into bed himself. He relaxed against the mattress and easily drifted off into sleep.

He woke up a few hours later. That'd been happening a lot lately. He would sleep for a few hours and then wake up around 4:00 in the morning and then he would just go back to sleep and sleep soundly for the rest of the night. He assumed it had something to do with his food or stress or something. So when he woke up that night, he thought nothing of it, rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. And just as he was beginning to drift off again, he heard a soft knock at his door.

Surprised, he rolled onto his back and looked at the door as it slowly came open to reveal Brooke standing in his doorway. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand it was 4:30. "Brooke?" He asked, thinking maybe it was a dream.

She stood, frozen in the doorway. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up…" She said softly, rubbing her arm.

Lucas sat up, shaking his head. "No, no I was already awake." He said, stretching slightly. "What's wrong?"

Brooke entered his room, slowly, shutting the door quietly behind her. "I..." She looked like she was having trouble getting it out, "I was just wondering if I could lay with you for a little bit…?" She said shyly, their relationship had been dicey lately and she didn't know if this would be awkward.

Lucas nodded quickly, "Of course you can." He moved over and made some room in his bed, "What happened?" He asked as she walked over and slid into bed next to him.

Brooke didn't look at him, "I…just…" She shook her head, "I didn't want to be alone." She looked over at him, eyes shining through the darkness.

Lucas nodded, "Okay. Well, you don't have to be." He said smiling comfortingly.

Brooke gave him a half-hearted smile, thankful for his understanding. Slowly, she laid her head back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. She felt Lucas lay down beside her and she glanced at him. This felt natural, lying next to him, she liked the warmth radiating from his body and his slow, rhythmic breathing, it soothed her nerves.

They laid there like that for a while, both silent, both trying to sleep. Thirty minutes passed slowly, but neither of them had fallen asleep.

"Are you awake?" Lucas asked suddenly.

Brooke opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling that she'd gotten so used to seeing, "Yes." She replied quietly, wondering if the sun was going to come up any time soon, "I can't sleep." She added, voice soft.

Lucas nodded and let out a long sigh, "Me either." He was quiet for a moment and then went on, "I've started writing again. I finished another book, Peyton read it and I sent it in for editing yesterday." He said.

Brooke looked over at him, "That's great, Luke. What's it about?" She asked, glad she could have something to get her mind off of Xavier.

Lucas smiled, he loved talking about his books to people. "It's about this guy who decides to drop everything and drive across the US. And he falls in love with this girl he meets while he's in Louisiana." He sighed, "It's called Louisiana Nights."

"Oh so it's a love story?" Brooke asked, rolling over so that she was facing him now. "Do you ever write anything other than love stories?" She asked with a small smile.

Lucas nodded, giving her a look. "The Comet was a science fiction, but everyone just read into it too much. I mean, he fell in love in the end, but that wasn't the main subject of the book, it was all about him and this comet."

"The Comet." Brooke corrected, raising her eyebrows.

Lucas looked over at her, "Did you even read it?"

"I actually did." Brooke said, staring at him, "I don't own it, but I checked it out from the library and I thought it was good, but it did kind of seem like it had a double meaning, I'm sorry…" She said, shrugging, "Maybe Lindsay was right, Lucas. Maybe you did write that because you were still in love with Peyton."

Lucas looked away, "Maybe." He said, shaking his head, "I did love Lindsay though. I think I would have been happy with her too if this whole thing hadn't come up." He said, sighing.

Brooke nodded slowly, "It just wasn't meant to be, Luke."

Lucas shook his head, "It seems like a lot of my relationships aren't meant to be lately." He said with a heavy sigh, "I don't know." He looked over at her, "How are things going between you and Julian?" He asked, curiously.

Brooke had been expecting that question. "We're in a good place. It's been really great having him around." She said, shrugging.

Lucas nodded, "Yea…" He let out a sigh, "There's something I kind of wanted to ask you too…" He trailed off, looking over at her, "That night…you said I'd be the first one you'd call…when you were in trouble, did you call me?"

Brooke met his eyes, able to guilt resonating in his gaze. She thought about lying to him, but she knew that he probably wouldn't buy it. "Yes, I did call you." She said slowly, "When I couldn't find Sam and I needed some help, I called and then after…after we found out about Quentin I called you again, twice."

Lucas' heart dropped and he looked down at his hands, "I'm sorry, Brooke. I really wish I could have been there for you." He looked at her, guilt in his deep blue eyes. "It seems like every time you count on me, I'm not there and I…just…I'm sorry for that." He told her.

Brooke shook her head, "It's okay, Luke. I mean, all the other times that you've been there for me when I didn't ask you to be kind of make up for it." She said with a small smile, "We've been through a lot…haven't we?"

Lucas smirked and nodded, "We have. And there isn't anyone else I would have wanted to go through it with." He met her eyes, a small amount of light seeping in from the windows. The sun was starting to rise. The pale blue light looked beautiful on her skin and her eyes shined, the blue light complimenting her brown. He wondered what she was thinking.

Do not kiss him. Do not kiss him. You're with Julian, you are not a cheater…anymore. If you kiss him, you'll hurt Julian and Peyton and yourself. Oh god, he's just staring…I can't… Brooke stared back at him, she loved the way he looked at her, his gaze was kind and gentle. She smiled a little bit, but she knew that she couldn't kiss him so she went in for a hug. He was laying on his back so she just put her arm around his stomach and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Luke, you know that right?"

Lucas nodded slowly, unsatisfied. She loved him, but not in the way that he wanted. "Yea, I love you too, Brooke…and I probably always will." He said, wanting to make sure that she knew he still had feelings for her, even after all this time.

Brooke rubbed her hand against Lucas' chest gently and then after a while, they both finally fell asleep.

"I'm here. I love you. I don't care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. There's nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you. I am stronger than depression and I am braver than loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me."

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

A/N: Sorry for the late update again. I know I say this every time, but I had a really, really busy weekend. I'm really sorry and in advance, I should probably tell you that next weekend is going to be just as bad. I'll try to get the next chapter up Friday, but you should maybe expect Saturday or Sunday. Also, because I feel bad, I might post another chapter during the week if I have time. Thanks for reading! Please review! It will make me more motivated to post another chapter :).