Chapter 5

"Alicia?" Hope knocked on the door. "Alicia, can I come in?" She asked. There was no noise coming from within the room. Hope was unsure if she should leave her alone or just open the door and confront her. She knocked again. "Alicia? Are you okay?"

Alicia jerked the door open. "I'm fine. I don't need a baby sitter. He escaped and there's nothing I can do about it. He's probably far away from here. It wouldn't make any sense for him to stick around when everyone knows what he looks like now." Alicia turned to go back in the room and close the door, but Hope stopped her.

"We need to talk." She said pushing the door back open and followed Alicia into the room.

"About what? That sick man who tried to rape me? Why I am running and who from? Whether or not you know me? Or what Stefano was doing here?" Alicia said stomping her foot and putting her bunched up fists on her hips like an angry child would do.

"So you do know Stefano? Is he the one you were talking about that wouldn't give up until he found you? What does he have on you?" Hope asked her.

"Nothing! Why would you think he has something on me? He's evil. He's a monster that deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life. He ruined my life. He kept me from my family." She stormed on.

"I thought you said you didn't have a family? Were you lying about that too?" Hope questioned her.

"I'm not lying about anything."

"Then how can you say you don't have a family and then tell me Stefano kept you from your family?" Hope pressed.

"I said Stefano kept me from my family. I came here to look for them. They don't even know I exist! So yeah, I don't have a family. Yet." She started to tear up. Hope went to put her arm around her, but Alicia pushed her away. "I don't want your sympathy. Two seconds ago you're accusing me of lying and know you're trying to comfort me?" She glared at Hope with anger raging inside her. She didn't want to be mad at her. She wanted more than anything in the world for her mother to put her arms around her and tell her everything would be okay. But, it wasn't and she knew that Stefano would always prevail.

"Sweetie, I'm just trying to help. I know first hand what kind of man Stefano is and what he's capable of doing. I'm just trying to understand. I can help you, but only if you help me by answering my questions." She tried to reach out to her again, but Alicia just shrugged her hand off.

"I'm tired." Alicia told Hope.

"Sweetie, I'd really like to get to the bottom of all this. I know you've been through a lot these past few days, but it's important that you help me understand. Maybe I can help you find your family. Do you know who they are? Their names?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm tired. Can we talk later? Please?" Alicia asked Hope her eyes begging with her to end the conversation.

"O.k. For now, we can stop talking. But, this isn't over. You can't keep evading me. I want some answers and I'm not going to stop questioning you until I get them." Hope said. "Rest now. I'll be downstairs when you wake up and you're ready to talk." Hope rose up from her bed and left Alicia sitting there.

Alicia threw herself back against the bed. 'If only you could understand. If only you remembered.' She thought to herself.

…Back at the Salem PD…

Bo was on the phone with Abe who had left for his office. "Abe? I got in touch with Shane and he's on his way here. He's sending someone over for the disc to bring back to ISA headquarters."

"Good. The sooner we crack the codes on that disc the better. Any information we can use on Stefano is a good thing."

"You sound like you really have it in for the guy. Papa-in-law get on your last nerve?" Bo said laughing into the phone.

"This isn't funny Bo! I don't want him anywhere near my son. You know as well as I do what kind of sick man he is and I don't want my son to be a part of that world."

"I got you man. I didn't mean anything by it. Just trying to make light of the situation. Anymore luck from your men with the disc?" He asked trying to get back to the subject at hand.

"I don't think my guy is tech savvy enough to crack the codes. We need the ISA to break it. Let me know as soon as you hear back from Shane."

"Will do." Bo hung up the phone and decided to go home to check on things. There wasn't much more he could do at the station until Vito had been found or Shane's men contacted him.

…Back at Bo and Hope's…

Alicia fell into a tumultuous dream. She was running frantically from room to room in search of her mother, trying desperately to get away from the bad man.

"Mommy, help me! Help me Mommy!" She ran barefoot in her nightgown clutching her dolly. It was late and Alicia was petrified. "Mommy, where are you?" She cried. The bad man chased her and was gaining on her. Alicia turned back to see where he was and didn't notice how close to the staircase she had come. She fell down the stairs banging her head several times. Darkness was consuming her as she feebly cried out, "Mommy!"

"Alicia? Sweetie it's okay. It's just a dream." Alicia grabbed Hope and clung to her sobbing. The dream seemed so real and here was her mother holding her in her arms comforting her. Alicia didn't move for a long time. She hadn't felt this safe in years.

"Alicia? Are you alright?" Hope stroked her long chestnut brown hair. "Where you dreaming about what Vito did to you?" Hope continued to soothe Alicia. "I know he escaped, but you're safe now. He can't hurt you again. I won't let him."

Alicia stopped crying. Anger building in her. 'Why did she have to talk and ruin the moment?' It was just a dream. Her mother didn't remember her. She couldn't feel her love like she once did as a child. Alicia pulled away from Hope. "I'm okay. It was just a dream." She lied.

"You're safe. You have nothing to worry about." Hope wiped the remaining tears from Alicia's cheeks.

"I'm not safe. I won't be as long as Stefano is around." Alicia pulled away from Hope and got up from the bed.

"Alicia, honey, do you want to talk about your dream?"

"It was nothing. Just a bad dream like you said." She lied again. How could she tell her about the dream. That would only make her ask more questions about the past. She wanted her mother to remember her on her own. When Alicia was little, Hope had promised her that nothing Stefano could do would ever tear them apart. She had given her a locket from her mother and she told her no matter what happened she would always be there in her heart. She promised her that Stefano would never be able to do anything that could change her love for her. Alicia knew now that he could. Knowing her mother hadn't drowned all those years ago made her furious that she had never come to save her from Stefano.

"Alicia?" Hope pulled her out of her reverie. "It helps to talk about things that are bothering you. Your dreams have a way of telling you something is wrong. I think talking about what happened the other day could help you."

"Nothing happened. I was hiding out in the mills when he grabbed me from behind and I kicked him hard when I saw my chance to and got away from him. Nothing happened."

"It's still scary having been attacked. I know. I've been there before. Even though he didn't hurt you, it still leaves an effect on you. I know when I was attacked, the least little noise would make me jump. I couldn't stand when someone would walk up quietly from behind." Hope had gone over to Alicia and put her arm around her. "Just because he didn't have a chance to finish what he started doesn't mean that you weren't affected by it."

"Can we please stop taking about it?" She asked her. "Nothing happened and I'm fine. I don't want to keep going over it again and again."

"If you were fine, then you wouldn't have gotten so scared when you found out Vito escaped."

"I think he works for Stefano." She blurted out.

"How do you know that?" Hope asked her.

"I saw his eyes. I know them. I know those eyes. They were his." Alicia's face paled talking about the eyes. They were connected to the man who had been chasing her in the dream. She'd know them anywhere.

"His eyes?" Hope looked puzzled. "Sweetie, we know who he is. We have all the information from the arrest. You saw his face when Bo brought him out of the mills. Why do you think he works for Stefano?" She persisted.

"I just do." Alicia didn't want to say anymore.

"The people that you were running from; did they work for Stefano?" Hope tried going a different route with the conversation.

Alicia turned her face away from Hope's which only convinced Hope she was running from Stefano and his men.

"How long have you been away from your family?" Hope asked trying to get some information from her.

"I've never been with them." She told her.

"You told me you came here to find your family. If you've never been with them, then how did you know they were here in Salem?"

Alicia nervously paced the room. How could she tell her without telling her? And if she did tell her she was her mother, would she even believe her. She had no proof to show her.

"I found out they were here." She said.

"Did Stefano kidnap you from your family? Is that why you think your family doesn't know you exist?" She pressed on.

"No he didn't kidnap me. I was born there." She stopped short. Realizing she had made a mistake by telling her this much, she tried to run out of the room.

"Alicia stop!" Hope ran after her. "We need to talk about this. Alicia?" Hope ran down the stairs after Alicia. Bo was coming in the door and seeing the commotion, grabbed Alicia to keep her form running out on them again.

"What's going on here?" He asked the both of them.

"NOTHING!" Screamed Alicia.

"Yeah, right." Bo said still holding on to Alicia. "Hope? You want to explain what's going on here?"

"We were discussing Stefano and how Alicia is connected to him." Hope was saying, but Alicia interrupted.

"I'm not connected to that vile evil man!" She shouted at them.

"Why don't we all sit down and discuss this rationally." Bo said pulling Alicia over to the couch.

"Alicia told me she had information that her family was living here in Salem, but she wasn't kidnapped from them and she'd never been with her family. She was born in Stefano's complex." She retold the tale to Bo. "I'm assuming it was at Maison Blanche?" She asked Alicia.

"Yes!" Alicia mouthed back.

"And, then she ran from the room. I chased after her and you caught her. I believe that's all of it, unless Alicia has more to add." Hope looked at her debatably.

Alicia sat with her arms folded not saying a word.

"I see we'll be getting the silent treatment now." Hope said.

"So who are your parents kid?" Bo questioned. "Are you a Dimera?"

Alicia sat up straight stunned that he had the audacity to think she was a Dimera. "How can you even ask that?" She said glaring a Bo.

"Well, it's not like you've been very forthcoming with us. You evade every question we ask you. You keep running from us. And you keep lying to us.""You think I'm a Dimera?" She asked stunned at the thought. "Do I look like a Dimera to you?" She asked getting frustrated with the conversation.

"I dunno." Bo said. "He's got kids all over the world and none of them look alike. So, it's hard to say if you look like a Dimera or not."

"I LOOK LIKE MY MOTHER!" She screamed at him. "All you have to do is look at her and you'll see how much we look alike!"

……

Vito stood lurking outside the Brady house. He knew the little Bitch would be hiding out here. Stefano would be happy to know that he'd found her. Thanks to that dimwit Higley, he could finish the job and get Alicia back to Dimera. But first, he was going to have a little fun with her and finish what he'd started. He always thought it would be nice to have her. He could never take advantage of her while under Stefano's roof. Now that he had a taste of her, he'd see to it that he'd be her first before he returned her to Dimera

……

"Do I know your mother?" Bo asked her.

Alicia just sat fuming. Her breath coming in harsh spurts.

Bo heard a noise that kept him from continuing questioning her. "Hope, did you hear that?"

"Yeah." She said.

"I'm going to go check it out. You stay here with Alicia. Lock the door behind me. I'll be right back." Bo took his gun out and went out the front door. "Who's there?" He asked to the still air.

Hope did as he said and locked the door. "Alicia, I want you to go upstairs and wait until the coast is clear."

"Where are you going?" She looked nervously at Hope. "He said for you to stay here with me."

"Just go upstairs and wait for me. I'm going to go out back and circle around the front to see if we can catch whoever is out there. Now go!" She told her. Hope watched her go upstairs and went outside the back way. She came around the front of the house having found no one and came face to face with Bo.

"Hope? What the hell are you doing? I told you to stay inside with Alicia. Where is she?"

"She's upstairs. I guess the noise was a cat or something. Didn't see anything on my way around the house. Guess we're all a little jumpy with Vito escaping."

"About that." He said scratching at his forehead. "I got back some DNA results from the victims and Vito wasn't our man. Could just be a copy cat. I don't know, but I still want him locked up for attempted rape on Alicia. Speaking of which, we better get back inside to her." Bo and Hope went back into the house. Hope went upstairs to get Alicia. When she got to her room, she noticed she wasn't there.

"Bo? Is Alicia down here with you?" She asked racing back down the stairs.

"Uh, no. I thought you said she was upstairs?"

"I told her to wait there for me until I came back. You don't suppose she snuck out again, do you?" She asked.

"Looks that way. I'll check the usual spots and put out an APB on her. Man why does she keep running?" He ran off to look for Alicia yet again.