***** Hey everybody! Before I start this chapter I just want to tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you read my stories. It really means a lot to me and I love all the great reviews. The other day I was reading my very first fic and I compared it with this one and I suddenly realized how much my writing has improved. And that's all because of you, because if it wasn't for all your great reviews I never would have continued writing. So, thank you! I know I'm not an amazing writer, but I do know that my stories aren't that bad and I just live for reviews. Every day I just have to check if I have new reviews and if I have and they're good, I walk around with a huge smile on my face for the rest of the day. Well, I just wanted to share this with you (I hope I didn't bore you too much). Now go ahead and read the new chapter. And please let me know what you think! Oh one more thing. I won't be able to update for the next two weeks. I'm going to Germany with my parents and my little sister, so.......I hope you understand. I'll probably update one more chapter before I go, but I can't promise anything. Don't hate me...... Nice one

*****

Rory walked back into the livingroom. Jess had just left. She took the empty pizza boxes and brought them to the kitchen. In the mean time she kept thinking about Dan. She expected him to call the minute Jess had left, but he hadn't. Not yet, anyway. It was getting dark outside and it gave her the creeps. It reminded her of a scary movie. The pretty, young girl home alone......with a crazy psycho walking around somewhere. Not that she really saw Dan as a psycho, but he wasn't exactly Mr Innocent either. She was about to enter her bedroom to get a book when she heard a sound. She turned around. It came out of the livingroom. It sounded like someone had opened a window or something. Or maybe she was just getting paranoid. For a minute she stood in the kitchen. Frozen, not able to move. She couldn't believe how scared she was. Then she turned on the lights in her bedroom and the kitchen. She started to walk in the direction of the livingroom and turned on the light in the hall. Then she stepped into the livingroom. Nothing. Everything was still the same. She let a sigh of relieve. She walked to the windows and checked if they were all closed. They were. She laughed to herself. It had probably been the wind that scared her. She walked back in the hall and checked the frontdoor. It was still locked. She did the same with the door in the kitchen and she checked all the windows there. The fact that all the lights were on in the house and all doors and windows were locked, made her feel a whole lot better. She walked into her bedroom. Then she noticed the open window. She stopped walking and stared at it. That hadn't been open when she was here a few minutes ago to turn on the light, right? She took a few steps forward and felt the wind through her hair. Then she closed the window. She sat down on her bed. Her back facing the door. She thought for a minute. Maybe the window had been open all day. That was possible. It was possible that she had opened it this morning when she got out of bed........She just wished she could remember. Again she felt like the pretty, young girl in a scary movie. Things like this always happened in scary movies. The girl started to doubt herself and started to get paranoid and eventually she would panic. Well, that wasn't gonna happen to her. She got up from the bed and took a book from her desk. She walked back into the kitchen, not turning off the lights in the bedroom. She did close her bedroomdoor, that way she would hear it when someone opened it. She walked into the livingroom. When she passed the frontdoor she just had to check if it was still locked. Of course it was. She sat down on the couch and made herself as small as possible. She opened the book and started to read. After three pages she put the book down. She couldn't concentrate. At least not on the book. She was about to get up from the couch to get a coke out of the kitchen when she heard something. It came from upstairs. It were footsteps. Someone was walking around upstairs. Rory hesitated for a moment. She felt so incredibly scared, but she knew she couldn't just sit here and wait. She turned around and looked at the phone. Maybe she should call someone. Dean....or Jess. She suddenly turned back to the stairs when she heard something fall. Upstairs. Now she knew for sure there was something up there. She just couldn't imagine that it was Dan. How did he get there? As far as she knew he wasn't Spiderman. Then she thought of the open window in her bedroom. She looked around the room. She needed to find something to defend herself with. When she heard the footsteps again, she decided she shouldn't wait longer. She got up from the couch and walked to the stairs. She climbed the stairs, but stopped after a few steps. She was so scared. She took a deep breath, then she walked upstairs.

R: "Hello?"

No answer. She didn't hear anything anymore. No footsteps. Nothing.

R: "Is anybody there?"

She walked into the room and immediately noticed the lamp on the floor. She walked towards it and picked it up, then she put it back on the table. She turned around so she faced the door again. It was quiet. Maybe too quiet. She walked back to the door. She realized she wasn't so scared anymore. She was getting mad now. Dan was somewhere in the house messing with her and she didn't like it. She had enough. This had to stop. She had to do something.....even if she did something that was nothing like her. She ran down the stairs.

R: "Dan? Dan? I know you're here. Show yourself"

She ran through the livingroom, through the hall, into the kitchen. There she saw it. On the kitchen table. She stopped walking and the look on her face changed. She stared at it. There it was, on the kitchen table. One single red rose. She took one step forward, her eyes never leaving the red rose.What was he thinking? What was wrong with him? He wandered through her house now?! Her house. In the dark? Had he completely lost his mind?! She picked up the rose and looked at it. It was beautiful, but she hated it at the same time. She looked to the left and saw that the door was open. She walked towards it, the rose in her right hand. She stood in the doorway and stared into the night. She looked to the left, then to the right. It was dark and she couldn't see much, but she was pretty sure there was nothing there. She walked back inside, but she didn't close the door. She put the rose on the kitchen table. She walked back into the livingroom and picked up the phone. She dialed a number.

J: "Hello?"

R: "Jess. It's me"

J: "What's wrong?"

R: "I think he's inside the house"

J: "What?!"

R: "What should I do?"

J: "Okay......just calm down. Go outside and wait for me there"

R: "Outside? What if he is there?"

J: "You just said he was inside"

R: "Well, maybe he's not inside the house anymore"

J: "Then you shouldn't have said that he is inside the house"

R: "I know, but I still don't know what to do now."

J: "Stay wherever you are and wait for me"

R: "Okay"

J: "..........And just for your information I wasn't sitting next to the phone"

R: "If you say so"

She put the phone down. For a minute she stood there with the phone in her hand. She knew Jess told her that she should stay where she are, but she suddenly remembered she had left the back door open. She walked back into the kitchen and closed the back door. She turned around and picked up the rose. She looked at it, then she broke the rose in half and threw it back on the kitchen table. Then she heard knocking. On the front door. She let a sigh of relieve and walked into the hall. She opened the door.

R: "Thank God, you're here"

J: "Are you sure you wanna thank God for that?"

She stepped aside and let him in.

J: "Are you okay?"

Rory nodded.

R: "I guess so"

They walked into the livingroom and sat down on the couch.

J: "What happened?"

R: "He was here. I know he was"

J: "How do you know?"

R: "After you left I wanted to get a book out of my bedroom, but when I got into the kitchen I heard something, it came out of the livingroom, so I walked back. I didn't see anything, so I walked back to the kitchen and entered my bedroom......."

J: "Then what?"

R: "My bedroom window was open"

J: "And you hadn't opened it?"

R: "I don't think so, but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, I closed the window, took a book and sat down on the couch in the livingroom."

J: "That's it?"

R: "No. I heard another noise. From upstairs. Footsteps and later I heard something fall"

J: "What did you do?"

R: "I went upstairs to check it out"

J: "And?"

R: "I didn't see anybody.....So I walked back downstairs, into the kitchen and there it was....."

J: "What?"

R: "A rose......and the back door was open"

J: "And then you called me"

R: "Yeah"

J: "You think he's still inside the house?"

Rory shook her head.

R: "No, otherwise I would have heard him"

Jess got up from the couch.

R: "What are you doing?"

J: "You have a flashlight?"

Rory nodded. She got up and they walked into the kitchen. She opened the cupboard above the sink and took out a flashlight, she checked if it worked. She handed it to Jess.

R: "Here"

J: "Thanks"

R: "What are you gonna do with it?"

Jess didn't answer. He opened the backdoor and turned on the flashlight. Then he dissapeared into the dark. Rory stood still in the doorway. She was worried.

R: "You see him?"

No answer. She followed the light of the flashlight with her eyes, then the light dissapeared around the house. Rory sighed. She wanted him to come back in. She leaned against the door. She didn't get it. How did Dan do it? He came in through a window in her bedroom, but how did he get upstairs without her seeing him? She walked into the livingroom and picked up the phone.

R: "Come on" she whispered.

She never thought this day would come, but she wanted Dan to call her. So she could tell him how it was. She was mad. Really mad. Why was he doing this to her? She sat down on the couch and put the phone on the table in front of her. Why didn't he call? She almost shrieked when she heard a noise coming out of the kitchen. Then she realized it was Jess. He walked into the livingroom.

R: "And?"

J: "Nothing"

R: "Are you sure?"

J: "Yeah"

Jess sat down next to her. He put the flashlight on the table, next to the phone.

J: "What are you doing?"

Jess nodded at the phone.

R: "I'm waiting"

J: "You want him to call?"

R: "Yeah"

J: "Why?"

R: "Because this has to stop. I have to talk to him"

J: "Why don't you call him?"

R: "I'm pretty sure he's not at the Inn. I know he's still somewhere around the house and I know he'll call me sooner or later"

J: "I hope you're right"

R: "You locked the back door?"

J: "Yeah"

R: "Are you sure?"

J: "Yeah"

Rory got up.

J: "You don't trust me?"

R: "I trust you, I just wanna see for myself"

J: "Go ahead"

She walked into the kitchen and checked the back door. Of course it was locked. She walked back into the livingroom.

J: "You look tired"

R: "That would be because I am tired"

J: "Why don't you go to bed?"

R: "With Dan still out there somewhere? I don't think I can"

J: "When is your mom coming home?"

Rory checked her watch.

R: "Don't know. In a few hours I guess"

J: "Wait here"

Jess got up from the couch. He walked out of the livingroom. Rory had no idea what he was doing. She sat down on the couch and waited. After a few minutes he came back in. He was carrying a pillow and a blanket. He handed it to her.

J: "Here. At least try to get some sleep"

R: "What are you gonna do?"

Jess picked the book Rory had been reading up from the couch.

J: "I'll read"

R: "You've already read this book"

J: "So have you"

R: "Good point"

A minute later she was lying on the couch. She watched Jess. He was sitting on a chair, reading. She closed her eyes, but she couldn't sleep, so she opened them again. Jess was still reading.

R: "Is it interesting?"

Jess looked up.

J: "I thought you were gonna sleep"

R: "I'm trying, but it's not that easy"

Jess continued the reading and Rory closed her eyes again. She was really glad Jess was here. Now she didn't have to be scared anymore and that was a relieve. She knew Jess would protect her.....and that felt good. She realized that something had changed. Her feelings for Jess. He was becoming more than a friend. It scared her, but at the same time it felt good. Really good. When all this was over she had some serious thinking to do. A few minutes later she fell asleep.