Maureen had a small, one bedroom apartment that had clothes and music everywhere. I put my bag on the floor and watched her grab everything off of the couch and put it in a messy pile on a tiny table.

Then she plopped onto the couch and motioned for me to sit next to her. Her usual smile disappeared and she became very serious.

"Mimi, what's going on? I know there's something wrong."

I knew I had to tell her eventually, but the right words weren't coming to me. "There's this guy," I began.

"And?"

"And he's been stalking me!" I quickly said. At the shocked look on her face, I told her everything that's been going on in the past few days. It was so hard telling the whole thing, but she was my friend and I knew she'd help.

"Aww, Mimi! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked after I had finished, then put her arms around me. "It's going to be okay. You're safe here. He doesn't know where you are."

That's when I had a thought. If he was in the loft, he would have overheard that I was leaving, then followed me here! I wasn't safe anywhere, and I told this to Maureen.

"You're just being paranoid," she told me, "Calm down, and we'll have some fun! Hmm… do you want to watch a little TV?"

Maybe that would get my mind off of this. I jumped at the chance- our TV in the loft was broken. "Yes!"

She smiled and turned it on. There wasn't much on except reruns of soap operas, which Maureen loved, but she decided to flick on the news instead to catch a weather report. We were expecting snow soon.

As she was flipping channels, something caught my eye. "Maureen, go back two channels," I said, swearing that he was on the channel. She quickly flipped back a few stations.

There was a picture of a man with greasy brown hair and piercing green eyes. That was definitely him, even though his hair was a different color. "Holy shit, it's him," I muttered under my breath, completely shocked.

"Who??"

"The guy! The one that's stalking me!" I told her, completely afraid of what they were about to say about him.

"No fucking way!" she exclaimed. She immediately turned up the volume and we listened carefully for the news reporter.

The reporter said, "This man, who calls himself Jack Gerald, is on the loose. He has a history of selling drugs, theft, and sexual assault. He has recently been after a young waitress. If you have any information regarding this man, please call this number."

A phone number scrolled across the bottom of the screen, and I looked at Maureen, who grabbed the phone off of the table next to the couch. She handed it to me. "Call them! Tell them what happened!"

I took the phone from her and was about to dial when it rang. "Hello?" I asked.

"Mimi, put down the phone. It would not be a wise decision to call them," that voice came, the voice that made me afraid.

"It's… it's…" before I could get anything else out, Maureen snatched the phone from me.

"Look, Mr. Jack Gerald, you leave Mimi alone. What do you want with her anyway, you stalker?!"

Click! The line went dead, leaving Maureen fuming and shocked at once. "What an asshole! Who does he think he is, to be scaring the crap out of you and watching you 24/7? This is insane, and we have to do something about it!"

She began to dial, but then there was a loud screeching noise and the power went dead.

"That fuck cut the power!" she screeched. "The power lines aren't down, it's not like a blizzard or I'm not paying my bills or something caused this! This guy is somewhere in this building. And we're going to do something about it!"

"We are?" I asked, completely surprised at her daringness. "We don't know what this guy is capable of! I don't know what he would have done to me if I hadn't escaped. Why don't we stay here so he can't hurt either of us?"

She didn't even respond. "I'm calling Mark." She reached under the couch and pulled out a cell phone, which I knew was Joanne's. She dialed a few numbers, then said quickly, "Mark? It's me. Can you come over?... It's urgent! We need you!.... No, my equipment isn't busted again…. Oh my god, you don't know she's here? He didn't tell you?... Well, can you come or not?... Thanks! Make it quick!" She closed the phone and put it back under the couch. "He'll be here as soon as possible."

I bit my lip and nodded. This was one big nightmare that I wish ended soon. I didn't know how much longer I could take of the phone calls and the weird happenings. It was all too much. I wish Roger was here… where was he, anyway?

After ten minutes of waiting in silence, Maureen became extremely fed up and started pacing the room. "Where is he? It shouldn't take more than five minutes to get over here!!" She became impatient really fast.

"I don't know. Give him a few more minutes," I whispered.

"Fine," she grumbled, and sat back down.

But then the cell phone rang, and Maureen pulled it out and answered it slowly. "Hello?" She looked at me with wide eyes and looked really mad, then nervous. "What came up, Mark? You're not working currently, and it's not like someone asked you to film something. Why?.... There has to be an explanation! You wouldn't promise me something and then back down for no reason!" she yelled.

"Give me the phone," I commanded her. She handed it to me quickly. "Mark, what's going on? Where are you?"

"Mimi, something came up and I can't come, okay? I was right nearMaureen's apartment when I realized I had todo something.I'm sorry." His voice was shaking. I could have sworn I heard his voice in the background go, "Hang up! Don't tell her anything else!", because then Mark said, "I have to go," and hung up.

I turned to Maureen. "Mr. Jack Gerald has somehow gotten to Mark and convinced him not to come. What should we do?"

"I don't know. What do you think?" she asked nervously.

I was trying to devise a plan when there was a loud knocking at the door, then, "Mimi, it's okay—you can open the door!" The voice wasn't Mark's.