Peyton sat huddled in the corner. With her knees to her chest, she whimpered softly to herself. It was like a bad movie. It couldn't be real. She was supposed to be living it up in Los Angeles having the summer of her life. Instead she was in a dark infested hole with no air, all alone and frightened with only her twisted imagination and an even more twisted wall of hundreds of photos of her. Peyton felt sick. She felt violated even. Although she had been too scared to get a good look of all the pictures plastered on the wall like a sick collage, she had caught glimpse of a few. They were of her cheerleading at Raven's games. Her in her front yard. Hanging out at TRIC. Doing something as normal as walking downtown. And oblivious to her at the time, someone had been stalking and capturing her every move. Just the thought sent more tears streaming down her cheeks.

She wiped at her eyes but her hands were so dirty, it began to sting. And she was hungry, too. And her head hurt, even though it was dark. Peyton had never been afraid of the dark before but the candles were starting to creep her out. All she wanted was to wake up from that nightmare. Peyton Sawyer wanted to go home. She put her head down and squeezed her eyes real tight and then she heard it. At first it was like heavy footsteps headed her way and just when she thought it was her overactive imagination again, she heard a door creak open. Peyton's heart pounded furiously inside her chest as she bit her lip so hard that it bled. She scooted further back but there was nowhere to go. Whoever it was, was in the room with her, standing right in front of her. But Peyton couldn't bare to look. She had never been that terrified before in her life, not even when she had been shot at the school. But then again, Lucas had been there to save, her comfort her. But where was he now? Why couldn't anyone, someone come and help her? A hand touched her shoulder and she let out a blood curdling scream.

"No!"

She shook so hard she felt like she might pas out, then she heard it.

"Peyton?"

A voice. A sweet, calm, familiar voice. The frightened blonde looked up and she had never been so relieved.

"Derek!"

He kneeled down towards her, his fingertips stroking her tear stained cheeks.

"Peyton…"

"I am so glad to see you", she cried.

"I knew you would be", he smiled. "I'm so happy to see you, too."

"My ankles", she winced. "Please. It's too tight. Can you help me?"

He finished untying her and when he did, Peyton collapsed in his arms, burying her face in his chest.

"Shhh. It's okay. You're alright now. Derek is here and I won't let anything happen to you."

"Derek, what happened? Where are we?"

"Just calm down…"

"I think we've been kidnapped", she continued in a bumbling panic. "I can't remember what happened! We were at my car and my house and I don't remember anything else! And I woke up here and I was tied up and face hurts and I don't see my purse or my keys!"

"Peyton…"

"We can't just stay here! They'll find us!"

Derek wrinkled his nose.

"Who are they?"

"They! Them! I don't know! Whoever took us! Whoever did this and brought us here!"

"Peyton, relax."

"No! Derek, we have to leave now! We have to make a run for it!"

He looked around.

"We can't", he answered quietly.

Peyton backed away.

"But…but I don't understand. Do you, do you know why we're here?"

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"Yes, Peyton. Yes, I do. I know everything."

"Who? Please tell me! Who would do this?"

"I brought you here", he said, looking right at her.

Peyton's eyes searched around at the dismal surroundings. Why? It didn't make sense.

"Why?" she mouthed.

"Because it was the only way."

"Only way for what?"

"For us to be together. Don't you see?"

Peyton put her hands up.

"See what? No! This is not happening! Derek, what are you talking about?"

"I love you, Peyton. I always have. From the very first time I ever laid eyes on you. God, you were so beautiful. I remember it like it was yesterday."

"At…at TRIC. I remember. You came in for an interview with Deb."

Derek shook his head and smiled.

"No. It was before that. I was screwing around on the computer one night and I came across your sight. Punk 'N' Disorderly. I don't know what made me click on it. But I did and there you were on your web cam, sitting in your room drawing. I can't explain it, it's like I was hypnotized or something. I could just watch you for hours. That's what I used to do, just sit around and admire your beauty."

"Derek…"

"Then I heard you. You did your first podcast and I swear it was the voice of an angel. You, you were wearing these little black sleep shorts and a white tank top and your hair was long and curly then and you had it pulled up…"

Peyton could barely remember the details of that night herself, much less what she was wearing. It had been over two years.

"Oh my God…"

"You talked about loneliness. Your heart was aching that night and I knew then, Peyton, that we were just meant to be somehow. You were in such a dark place and you were looking for a soul mate, just someone to love and understand you. Well, I do. It's like you were channeling me."

"Derek…"

"I used to follow you. I found out where you lived and what time you'd leave for school and cheer practice and stuff. I'd sit out and watch you. I've been doing the amateur photography thing for years but none of my stuff was ever good enough until I started taking pictures of you."

"You, you did that out there?" Peyton's voice shook along with the finger she was pointing. "Those are all your pictures of me?"

Derek smiled proudly.

"Yeah. Aren't they great? I mean, I took them but I can't take all the credit. It's your natural beauty that makes them so perfect."

"Those are hundreds of pictures Derek you took of me over two years and I never knew you were there."

"I know. It's beautiful."

"No! Stop saying that! It's not beautiful. It's creepy and it's sick."

"It's a form of art, Peyton. Don't you get it? It's just another way we connect. We're both artists."

"You were stalking me", she mouthed. "TRIC…"

"I just wanted to be close to you. When Karen and Deb put an ad out for a new bartender, it was the perfect opportunity to be close to you."

She shook her head.

"You were my friend…"

"Friend", he repeated in a cool voice. "I hate that word."

"I trusted you."

"You still can."

"Derek…"

"All those good times. Remember that? We had so much fun working together. We'd spend hours listening to music. We even went to the movies a couple of times."

"All that time you were stalking me."

"I was loving you. I was being close to you. I was getting to know you."

"Why? Why did you do all that?"

"I just wanted us to be together. Lucas broke your heart. Jake broke your heart. Your dad was never around. You and Brooke were so distanced. Haley and Nathan had each other. Your mom was already dead, then Ellie died, too. You had no one. People always leave…remember that?"

"Please stop."

"Not me. I'll never leave you, Peyton. You just didn't realize it. I tried to be that stand up guy for you but you were just too blind to see real love when it was right in front of your face. So I had to do something about it. I had to make you see. I couldn't just let you run off to California."

"What did you do?" she whispered.

"I watched you that night, the night before you were supposed to leave", he stated calmly. "I followed you from Nathan and Haley's apartment over to Lucas' house. Then you left and I parked around the back. I walked up to your car as soon as you pulled up."

Peyton's heart pounded faster and harder than it ever had. It was all starting to come back. How weird he was acting, the steely look in his eye. She suddenly remembered how scared he had made her when he had closed the door on her. She could remember him run around to the passenger side of her car and jump in before she could lock that door as well.

"You, you took me…"

"I didn't want to. It wasn't supposed to be like that. I asked you to come with me but you wouldn't. You had some lame excuse that you had to get ready for your flight, like that was supposed to be more important than me, than us. So I had to take you, Peyton. I didn't want to do it that way but you were being so goddamned stubborn. So I just used a little something to calm you down and make you a little sleepy."

"Derek, you drugged me", she cried, touching her tender nose and cheek. "My face…"

"Relax. It's not even a bad chemical burn. You just had a reaction to the ether. It's just a little red. I promise it will clear up in a few days.

"Oh my God, oh my God…"

"Peyton", he tried to hold her.

"No! Leave me alone! Get away from me!"

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do! You're crazy! You've been stalking me for two years and you kidnapped me and drugged me and brought me to this hellhole!"

"It's just temporary, just until I can figure out a few more things. I won't leave you here. You're way too good for this place. We'll get a nice apartment, a new house even."

"No! I don't want to live with you! I want to leave! Let me go!"

She turned to try to run but there was nowhere to run to. Peyton found herself in a circle, running from corner to corner, with nothing but Derek and his sick shrine in between.

"No, no", he grabbed her. "You don't want to leave. I know you're scared right now but you just have to trust me. I will never let anything happen to you, okay? We'll be safe here."

Peyton began to sob hysterically. She dropped to her knees in fear and denial, utterly disgusted when he held her in his arms. But she couldn't fight back. For the moment, it wasn't in her. All she could do was cry and cry and cry.

"Please…" she moaned

Derek held her tighter as he kissed her with a smile, shivering with orgasmic delight as he tasted the blood on her lips.

"You don't want to leave. It's me. I love you, Peyton. I'm doing this for us. One day soon, you'll see. It's meant to be. You love me, too, you just don't know it yet but this is the beginning of our fairytale. You're the princess and I'm your white knight and we're going to live happily ever after."