Chapter Four

Stacy is so beautiful. She has light blonde hair that is pulled back into a loose ponytail allowing free strands of hair, wisp around her green eyes. She is in her backyard, on her knees, weeding her garden of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and barley. She doesn't even see him coming. By the time she realizes that she is not alone, the blade is already slicing her flesh.

xoxo

The letter is simple. It came in a white envelope with 'Meredith' written on the front. There isn't a return address or even her address on it. Even though she has a surgery to get to, Meredith stops to read it. The letter is typed and printed on a crisp piece of printer paper. It reads:

To my dearest Meredith,

From the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one.

You are so beautiful. You are selfless and confident and

I admire you for that. I have been watching you from

afar but now I'm ready to show you what I can offer you.

One day you will meet me and I know you'll feel the same

way. And when that day comes, I'll be waiting.

P.S. How was your surgery?

xoxo

Meredith stares at the letter, wide-eyed and in disbelief. She hasn't even blinked when she realizes that there is something else in the envelope. She clasps the letter and the envelop in one hand and pulls out a pile of something slightly thicker than paper but still bendable. She quickly finds out that the pile consists of pictures. All five pictures in the pile are of her. At first she goes through the piles slowly, scanning every aspect of it. There are two pictures of her at Seattle Grace, one at Joe's, and two pictures of her at home. Of the two pictures of Meredith at home, one picture was taken when she was walking to her car and the other is of her in the house, alone, feeding Zola in her highchair. She begins flipping through the pictures fast, looking at them multiple times. Once she realizes that these pictures are real, she stuffs them in her purse, grabs Zola and rushes out the door.

But she stops dead in her tracks, frozen in fear.

Meredith never takes a step out of the house but her eyes immediately find a beautiful bouquet of red roses, wrapped in purple paper, resting on the ground only a foot from where she stands. They look exactly like the flowers she got previously when she was working. This is not what captures her mind, however. Five minutes ago, she left the house via the front door, exactly where the flowers lay now, and the flowers were not there but here they are, lying at her feet. Now, at the realization that whoever sent her the letter and flowers is out in the woods somewhere, she panics.

Meredith doesn't even bother to look around outside. She drops her purse and the diaper bag in her right arm and holds onto Zola tighter with her left. She slams the door and locks it. She places Zola in her playpen and rushes around the house locking all the doors and windows and pulling the blinds down. Shaking, she pages Derek 911.

Waiting for Derek's call back, Meredith plucks Zola from her playpen and holds her tightly, clutching the phone in her hand. She nervously bounces her leg and darts her eyes back and forth. The house is silent and every little noise startles her.

Meredith jumps when her cell phone begins to ring. Barely loosening her grip on Zola, Meredith answers the phone. "Derek." There's an edge to her voice.

Immediately sensing the stress in Meredith's voice, Derek asks, "What's wrong?" He's in the attending's lounge, sitting on the couch, waiting for his next lecture to begin.

"I don't know. I don't know. Somebody sent me a letter and flowers and I think he's still here," Meredith says without taking a breath, making it hard for Derek to comprehend her.

Derek leans forward on the couch. "Calm down. Tell me what happened." He's alarmed.

Meredith looks around before she answers. "I think somebody's here," she says slowly, staring at the front door.

"What do you mean?" Derek stands from the couch.

"I mean I think I have a stalker. He sent me pictures of me when I'm at home and at work. You and Zola are in them too." She pauses. "Derek, I'm scared."

"Call the police. I'm on my way," Derek says. He does not waste time springing from the attending's lounge towards home.

When Derek arrives home, the police are already there, scanning the pictures. Meredith is sitting on the living room couch with Zola in her lap. He glances at Meredith and steps near the officer, standing in front of her. "May I?" he asks, reaching out for the pictures. Once he sees them, anger overwhelms him. There are pictures of his wife when she is home alone in their house. Fear immediately replaces anger. "What happens next?"

The officer sighs. "All we can do is take these into the lab," he says pointing to the pictures and letters, "to see if there are any prints. Unfortunately, we don't know the identity of this person so we can't do much, and this person did not physically threaten you or your family in anyway."

Derek shakes his head. "Are you kidding!? Look at those pictures. They are of her in my house at night. That's not enough!" His voice is at a tone that Meredith has never heard before.

"I'm very sorry, Sir. We can have a patrol car out front watching the house tonight if you want," the officer offers.

Just when Derek opens his mouth to answer, there is a knock at the door. When Derek opens it, he finds Detective Scott Pierce and Terry Powers.

As if to answer Derek's question, Terry says, "another woman was attacked and she has Meredith's name written on her forehead."

Derek turns around to glare at the officer. "Is that threatening enough?"

Meredith gasps. She never even thought about Emily's attack as being connected with her letter and flowers but now it all makes sense. Now the fear rises inside her like the ocean at high tide.