Dr Stark quietly entered the room, handing Danielle her tea. Danielle gave her a faint smile, murmuring, "Thanks."

Danielle knew she had to be honest. When Dr Stark sat down, she started to speak. "I'm sorry Dr Stark, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just Adam, he still won't leave me the fuck alone, and it's at that Duckworth bitch. It's a retrial which could mean his eventual permanent release and if that happens I don't know what I'll do. Even now he's out, albeit under strict conditions and having to pay a lot of money for the privilege, that's bad enough. I don't mean I'll try and commit suicide again, but…" She ran her hands through her short hair.

"Thank you for your apology, but there's really no need for it." Dr Stark touched her hand again. "As for what you'll do, you'll be kept safe, given top security status. He'll never find you Danielle, even when you do leave here. Danielle sighed.

"So why won't you release me?" She spoke quietly, finally asking the question she really wanted the answer to.

"Truthfully Danielle, because we want to keep you here until we know what's going to happen with the retrial and how best to protect you if necessary. You're safe here. That's the main reason. But as I said, you're not a prisoner, if you need to get out of your cell at any time just ask. I was going to tell you that today."

Danielle sighed. "Ok. Thanks, I appreciate that. I guess I was desperate to move because I was worried you still thought I was a suicidal head case. Not just that, but Adam has already proven that he won't stop by calling me last night. I don't want to depend on Michael, or make it look like I'm relying on him to protect me. I genuinely care about him, but he's not responsible for me and I don't want it to look that way."

Dr Stark said nothing for a moment, then sighed. Could the Psychiatrist tell Danielle was partly lying? Probably.

"No Danielle, being here does not mean you're and I quote, "a head case." That's a word the uneducated use for places like this, people who don't understand what really goes on here. You are not insane, Danielle."

"What am I then?" Danielle spoke in just above a whisper.

"You're a hurting young woman who's been through a horrific experience which caused you to make an attempt on your life, which is totally understandable I might add, as you felt you had no other way out. You were saved and brought here purely for help and care. We want you to get better, Danielle. We know you have great potential; Charlotte has told us how clever, kind and outgoing you are. We want to give you the chance to fulfil your potential once again, Danielle. Please believe me there. We just want to help you."

There was another moment of silence, before Danielle reached forward and grasped her doctor's hand. "I'm sorry, Dr Stark. I just feel so… Powerless. I wish there was more I could do. I want Adam locked up for a long fucking time. But I'm powerless there. I've given my evidence as has Charlotte but there's nothing more we can do. We hate it. We talked about it that night. We both feel the same. Though she won't listen to me when I tell her that she's just as much of a victim as I am. Ok, so I went through more, but he still abused her. Abuse is abuse."

Dr Stark squeezed her hand. "You have absolutely no need to apologise to me Danielle. Its fine, honestly it is. I totally understand. Do you still want us to talk about moving you?"

Danielle sighed and shook her head. "No, I… I didn't mean that. I like working with you Dr Stark and you're right, I'd miss Joanne something terrible. Joanne and…" She stopped herself. They both knew the name she hadn't said. Michael.

"Ok," Dr Stark said. "But would you like your own, bigger cell? Another thing I was going to tell you today. One of the big rooms has just come free at the end of the corridor. It'd be your own private space. Normally used for people who thrash about so they can't hurt themselves, but it would be perfect for you, it's bigger and you'd have more space.

"I won't deny I want to be further away from Chancer, Dr Stark." But not Michael…

"Again, which I totally understand. Come on, I'll show you what I mean." She went to stand up, when Danielle stopped her.

"Dr Stark," she spoke quietly now and felt more tears building. Dr Stark sat back down. "That's not all of it. I think…" She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "I think I might be falling in love with Michael and that part thrills, but also fucking terrifies me! He could do a lot worse to me than Adam ever did. But I want to be close to him all the time, but I also want to move to… I don't know!" She threw her hands up. "Shit! That I can do this myself! That I don't need a man to be happy! But Michael's done something to me and I don't know what it is. Nor do I want to jump at the first man who's nice to me. But he's gone out of his way to help me and…"

"Danielle," Danielle could tell her doctor was smiling. She touched her hand again. "There is nothing wrong with love. Of course you're scared of it, which is totally understandable considering all you've been through. I also understand your fear of jumping towards the first man whose kind to you. However," she stressed the last word stopping Danielle from speaking. "If Michael wants to help you, even if it's only while you're here, let him. Remember, he's human too. In his own way, he has his own scars, as I've told you before. There's an old saying, you can't love anyone until you love yourself. Based on what you've just said, moving cells sounds like a good idea. You will have time to think, your own space and a chance to find yourself again."

Danielle could only nod. She couldn't dispute her doctor's words there.

Dr Stark stood up again and came around to Danielle's side of the window by opening the secure door, then took her arm and guided her back to the block.

…

Adam was ecstatic after he called Danielle and could hear her obvious fear. He was still smirking as he closed the door behind the whore who had just left and checked his bed sheets for blood. If he found any, he'd wash them immediately, deny nor acknowledge. A bleeding whore meant either a huge fine or even the chance of being jumped by the whore's pimp. With a sigh of relief, he noticed his sheets were clear of blood. Climbing into his bed sexually satisfied, he prepared for sleep. But just before he closed his eyes, Adam Dawson made one final decision. After the call with Danielle, he decided he wanted to know what she was doing and saying inside that nuthouse. Even if for no other reason than for his own kicks. Just to make it even clearer to her and those who thought she was safe, that even in there she wasn't. She was still his. It was his right to hear and see what she was doing, who she was talking to. Grinning to himself, he closed his eyes. Tomorrow, he'd put his plan into action. No one would be able to say he was breaching the restraining order, as he wouldn't be making any contact with Danielle at all. Even the third party clause would not be able to be proven, as no one would even know he was having her watched. Not even Danielle herself. He knew the people he'd hired would be able to do this and keep his name out of it, as easily as he would sleep tonight. So with a contented smirk, he proceeded to do just that.

…

1 week later.

"Hey Jack," Danielle said to the guard as he opened her door instead of the food hatch to take her dinner tray. This was 1 of 2 things the doctors had done recently to prove that she was not here as a prisoner. The other was that she was now eating her food off real dishes, not crap plastic. The knives were blunt as hell, but it was the principle of the matter as far as she was concerned.

"Hey Danielle," Jack said. "I expect you know all our voices by now, huh?"

"The important ones yeah," Danielle smirked. "You spoke just before you reached my door,"

"Oh!" Jack sniffled back fake tears as he stacked her tray onto his cart with a soft clinking of dishes. "So I'm not one of the important voices, I see how it is!"

"Shut up!" Danielle said as she too started to laugh. She liked Jack for his playful attitude, yet knowing he could be serious if and when the need presented itself. She'd heard snippets of conversation between the guards about what'd almost happened to Rick just over a week ago.

"How can I help you Danielle?" Jack asked once they'd stopped laughing.

"Is Dr Stark still here?" She knew it was unlikely at 19:30, but she'd been thinking a lot over the last week and was bursting to get it out. "I know probably not at this time but…"

"Give me 2 secs Danielle," Jack said. "I'll go and check for you." The door buzzed closed.

Danielle took a sip of her second cup of tea. She had to tell someone about all the thoughts that'd been swirling around her mind for the last week. Some nights she couldn't fall asleep until it was almost dawn. Not to mention Adam's 20 missed FaceTime calls. Her number may have been changed, but he was now using FaceTime. In the end, she'd deactivated that last night. She'd had no choice. She'd have to change her Apple ID soon too.

Then there was Michael. He'd been amazing. She'd seen him in the yard every day for the past week and told him the first day that she'd moved because the cell was bigger and more spacious. She was desperate to tell him the truth, but there was no way she could tell him she believed she was, is, falling in love with him. Not yet, anyway. But perhaps the killer already knew. Judging by the way he'd held her hand in his warm, strong and secure one. A couple of times in recent days, she'd wanted to ask him to move into her cell, but had stopped herself. But now, tonight, she would.

As she sat on her desk chair which was surprisingly comfortable, she found her thoughts going back to the meeting with the DV Advisor Stacey a few days previously.

…

"Hi Danielle, I'm Stacey. How are you? It's nice to meet you, I'm just sorry it's under these circumstances."

Danielle couldn't resist a smile. "If I had a dollar for every time someone's said that to me in the last 3 months I'd be very rich by now."

Stacey laughed. Danielle reached through the still open window and shook the DV Advisor's hand. She was thankful to Dr Stark that she'd allowed her to use this room for the meeting, being in familiar surroundings helped calm her nerves. Also that the window was open, speakers off.

"Ok," Stacey said as she sat down on the other side of the window. "I've read your file and I'll save the, "I'm sorry for what you went through" speech, as I'm sure you've heard that loads of times too."

This time Danielle couldn't resist a genuine laugh, the first in what felt like months. She liked Stacey already. "Yeah," she grinned. "But thanks for saying it, or not."

Stacey laughed with her then Danielle heard the rustle of papers. "Ok. So did Dr Stark tell you the spiel about what you say to me stays between us unless I deem it to be a risk?" Danielle nodded.

"Ok, good. So if you happen to have something you want to tell me that you don't want to tell Dr Stark, that's fine and it will stay between us."

Danielle smiled. "Thanks, but I like Dr Stark and I think she knows pretty much everything anyway."

"Good to hear. In that case it sounds like I'm here to help you get your number changed to stop him from contacting you. There is an emergency helpline I call to get people's numbers changed who are fleeing Domestic Violence. I have to do it because I need a special code for ID and only DV Advisor's know it. But here's the thing Danielle. Because you are deemed safe, here in Smith's Grove and he can't reach you, your number won't be changed immediately, because it's not an emergency situation. We're talking within 24 hours. So I can keep your phone overnight if you want, it's up to you."

Danielle smiled at Stacey again. "Thanks, but I can just put it on, Do Not Disturb, and block his number. I already took him out of my favourites yesterday that was hard I can tell you. Took me a long time to do it. If just hanging up would get me bruises, you can imagine what something like that would've done once."

"Well done for being brave enough," Stacey touched her hand. "I know that must've taken a lot of courage. Especially in controlling relationships."

Danielle nodded again. She was glad neither of them had used Adam's name, but then again they didn't need to. They both knew who they were talking about, they didn't need to say his name.

"Ok. So I'll make the call in just a moment. You're sure you want to hold onto your phone before the changes take place. Right?"

"Yep," Danielle nodded again. "It's got all my music and stuff on it too."

"Ah. The important stuff," Stacey smiled. "What's your favourite music?"

"Um," Danielle considered. "I like eighties mostly and I don't mind take that."

"Ah, good taste," Stacey said. "Take That? Hmm, not so sure."

Danielle smiled. "Not a fan?"

"Not particularly. My daughter is and she plays them all the time. Drives me crazy."

Danielle laughed at this. Damn she liked Stacey already. A few minutes later, Stacey left to make the call. Danielle waited and a few seconds later she got a text, simply stating DV Help in the Sender's line. It said "We have received a request to change your number, this will be performed within 24 hours."

When Stacey returned, Danielle told her she'd got it. "Good," the DV Advisor said.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Danielle asked without thinking.

"Of course," Stacey said immediately. "That's what I'm here for."

Danielle took a deep breath and told her DV Advisor how she cared for and was even thinking she was starting to fall for the most unlikely man. The masked serial killer Michael Myers. How he'd protected and cared for her. "I still struggle to believe it sometimes," Danielle said quietly.

"Well," Stacey said. "He may be a killer, but he's still a man, Danielle. He can fall victim to caring the same as any of us can."

Danielle nodded. "You know, if you'd said that 3 months ago, I'd have laughed at you. He's Michael Myers. He's a serial killer. But now I can't do that. Because I'm seeing it for myself. I keep asking myself, why? Is it because I'm blind and he wants to protect me? Or does he really feel something for me?"

…

Adam was furious. Absolutely furious. No, scratch that, livid. Apoplectic even. How dare his bitch think she could just block him, now that she's locked up in the nuthouse, away from him? She was still his, and that was the important word here. His. His property, under his control, obeying his every command. So how fucking dare she? She appeared to have forgotten who she belonged to. Well he'd show her alright, as soon as she was released. Charlotte too, when he found her. He felt his cock harden at that thought. Oh yes, he'd punish her for daring to block his number, and both of them for daring to testify against him.

Reaching down, he palmed his throbbing erection. Where the fuck was tonight's pussy anyway? He'd ordered her over an hour ago. Women turned up when he wanted them. He gave them no pleasure, he never let them cum. Smirking, he resisted the urge to masturbate. He'd paid for a whore; he was damn well going to fuck that whore. Pulling his hand out of his pants, he reached for his phone.