Chapter Three: Break the Walls Down

Peter

She was blonde but she was not Olivia. She was pushy, but she was not Olivia. Sitting in the back of the cop car as he stared out the window at the passing scene, he thought of her. Well, both of them. Krista, he had thought, simply had stood him up. It wouldn't shock him that it could happen, he wasn't exactly the kind to have someone not stand him up, but it was comforting to know that she was on her way to see him when she disappeared. And now he sat in the cop car with a blonde haired sheriff and her curly haired partner as they drove the wet road. He was aware of how he got there vaguely, but like everything he had done so far, it felt so distant. Because he was not himself-because she was not with him.

The radio scanned had come on and told them about her body, the cute girl from the diner, and now he sat on his way to find her body, the cop car cruising along easily in the windy roads, his breath steaming up the windows as he stared out. Her voice was loud and obnixous, not soft and tamed like Olivia and yet he liked being around her. He liked being around not because she wasn't Olivia, but because she was nearly Olivia. He liked that, if she wasn't Olivia, he could settle for nearly Olivia- for now.

He hadn't slept well in days. Nightmares haunted him. He was darting between the trees, running after a beaten and bloodied Olivia, her voice carrying his name out across the vast forest. He'd find her, catch her and she'd be gone. Just how he had left her. He was so selfish and he bitterly hated himself for that. He didn't know it yet, but he was becoming something else, he was finding in himself the resentful side he'd let her bury away with her bluntness, her honesty, her trusting and unafraid green eyes-

"Boy?" came the sheriff's voice. Peter hadn't noticed the car had stopped. He turned his face to her.

"Just stay here," she said, confusion written on her stance. She shook her head before getting out of the car and walking off. Peter sighed and sat back and looked away, his eyes so distant now. He could really use a drink, really badly use a drink, actually to wash away the lump of pain that sat in his heart. But there was something else; something heavier on his mind.

He saw Newton. He could swear to it. There was no mistaking the man that nearly had him killed. His eyes were observant and distant and there was this smugness to his face. How badly Peter wanted to hit him then. But he was gone in a flash and Peter was left with this woman, this makeshift Olivia.

Cold fear ran through him then, a chill that was unstoppable. What if he came for Olivia? What if, knowing he was not with her meant he was going after her? How fast could he get to her? How soon would she know longer be safe? Peter would rather have Newton chase him down than let him near her. Maybe if he wished hard enough it would be true, Newton would come for him and not for her.

Just then the radio scanner came on and sure enough it was the handiwork of Newton on the report. It was Krista and he put the pieces together. Newton did not want Olivia rather Newton wanted him. There was an odd sense of relief that swept over him then, like this safeness that she will not be hurt. Had he come to the point where he was so far lost in himself, he relied on her memories now? The thought made his stomach churn.

He watched as the sheriff came back, his fingers gripping the bars and waiting till she opened the door. He wanted to tell her what he knew, how he could help. Maybe helping her could make him feel less bad about leaving her behind, breaking his promise, his word to her like he had so painfully. What a waste he had become. Had he become a liar and thief as well?

"Excuse, can you let me out of here please?" Peter begged as she climbed in. The woman shook her head.

"Just stay put sir-"

"No, no," Peter interrupted, "Ask if a part of her brain is missing. Ask if part of her temporal lobe is missing."

The sheriff stared at him with unease, the same stare Olivia had given him once upon a time, the same stare he had given nearly countless times. She backed from the car carefully, quietly and shut the door. Peter sighed. Her suspicion was right on account. If this was Newton it would be a problem both for them and for him. He could help, he could do something right with his life for now try to fix his horrid mistakes as a man. He could do something for someone else. He could be not his father but himself.

His eyes unfocused, the sheriff stared at him. He already knew the answer before it escaped her lips. He knew the answer even before she walked to the car. Peter was in trouble now. Newton needed him. Just like he had needed his father, Peter was now what he needed. If he only knew, if he could only know. He tried to think back to Newton, try to remember, but all that came was the frantic voice of Olivia as she tried to decide what to do. It was then Peter didn't want his father to die. Now, he could care less. Or so he thought.

He wasn't a bad person, really, just lost. As lost as a person could be when they've been told they aren't from this world. The sheriff opened the door and looked at him.

"How the hell did you know that?"