Reliving The Past

Chapter 13

After Aidan got up, everyone else soon followed. So Elizabeth got into cook mode. And the other guards helped the kids get ready. About 11am, Franco shows up to help get things ready. While everyone had their duties, Elizabeth made sure that all the bathrooms where cleaned and looking good. Then she changes and is about to head back downstairs. But her cell phone rings.

"Hello?" She was still distracted doing something else.

"Hello Elizabeth. I hope your party is a hit." Then the caller hangs up while laughing. Elizabeth was getting chills up and down her spine. She goes downstairs. She looks for Kevin. She finds him outside setting up the grill.

"Kevin, I think he just called me." She hands him her phone. He can see she's shaking.

"Ok. It's ok. Calm down. Don't let the kids see you rattled. And if he is watching, don't give him that gift. Smile and stay calm. Both Dante and Nathan have called and said they are on their way. I will hold your phone until they get here. And then they can take a look. The guests should be arriving any time. I have Justin in the front. We don't want the alarm on. So he's watching the front door. We are using him as the host. As a cover. The boys are right here. They were told to stay away from the woods. The tables and tents are secure. As is the volleyball net. We have the trash bins at both ends of all the tables. As soon as people start showing, we will start the meat cooking. And we can bring out the rest of the food and drinks. I set the ice container for the cold food out. We just need to fill it with the ice. So we are pretty much set for the time being." Kevin pats her shoulder. Elizabeth looks over to the volleyball net and sees Franco and Jake playing. They are both laughing. Which makes Elizabeth smile. She goes back into the house to make sure they have enough ice. It won't take long for her fridge to make some. But her freezer is almost full of ice.

As she was about to take a cold drink out to Kevin, the house phone rings. She goes to answer it.

"Hello, happy 4th."

"Hello. Same to you gorgeous. I know you went to the police. I'm not that stupid. I'd keep an eye on your boys today. Many accidents happen on this day. And you and I will be seeing each other soon enough. And I have a present I know you are going to love. I will be calling back soon. Bye for now love." He hangs up. She slowly puts the receiver down. She knows that the tap on her phone had to pick it up. But it still don't stop the fear from creeping in. She tries to collect herself as the front door opens. She paints her smile on and goes to welcome her guests. Which happens to be Dante and Lulu with Roco.

"Hey guys! Welcome. Go right out the back here. Can I get you guys a drink? How about you Roco?"

"I brought some beer. They aren't cold. But I can drink a soda until they have a chance to cool. Honey?" Dante asks Lulu.

"I'll take a soda too. Roco can have juice. But we can get it." Lulu says, setting Roco down on her feet.

"Well, I was just about to go fill the ice container and put food out. If you want to come with me, I can saw you were it is. Once the food is taken out of the fridge there will be more room for beer and such. Dante, you can take Roco out there. Aidan is out there alone right now. Maybe they can play one of the games for the younger kids." Elizabeth stares out the door as she counts her boys. Her fake smile cracking.

"Ok, what's up?" Lulu asks as they start to pull the food out of the fridge.

"I just got a couple calls from the stalker. Once upstairs when I was getting dressed. And then just before you and Dante came in. He know I involved the cops. He told me to keep an eye on my boys as accidents happen more on this day. That he has a gift for me. He would talk to me again later today. He called me love. Franco is with Jake. So Justin in front and Kevin at the grill is ok. But I just have this feeling. But let's not tell anyone. Could you just randomly check on my boys? I will be, but it's good to have more than one person keeping check. I know Franco will too. As well as the guards. I'm just letting him try to ruin this party. I'm going to start taking the ice out to the container. You get your drinks and go mingle." Elizabeth takes the first bag of ice outside.

Within an hour, most of the guests had shown up. Everyone was having a nice time. Morgan hooked up the sound system for Elizabeth, as that was the one thing she had forgotten. The music was nice. People mingled and nibbled here and there. Elizabeth reminds Max of their volleyball challenge. Kevin is a whiz at the grill. They had plenty of food. Even Cam was laughing and having fun. She saw Kevin and Nathan talking quietly. She could only guess that it was about the call she got on her cellphone. It was a great time for all. Morgan and Michael try to teach Audrey how to do some current dance the kids are doing. This cracks Elizabeth up. So much so that her stomach hurt from laughing. She goes to Kevin to get her phone so she could get this recorded as Sarah will never believe this.

"Hey Kevin, may I have my phone back. Sarah won't believe Gram tried that dance if I don't get it on video." She points to her Gram. He starts to laugh too.

"Here! Make sure you send that to my phone too. She is too cute for words." Kevin laughs again. Elizabeth rushes with her phone and begins recording. But then she gets this feeling like she's being watched. She looks around. But sees nothing. So she continues on with her fun.

"Gram! Smile for Sarah!" Audrey looks over and stops.

"Elizabeth! You stop that right now. Delete that right now." Elizabeth runs away laughing and playfully taunts her Gram.

"Gram! It was so cute! Sarah will love this. I love it and want to keep it forever. Granddad would have loved it. I can hear him laughing from heaven." She hugs her Gram. "I love you so much Gram. You are my best friend. I'm so lucky to have had you all these years. Thank you. My boys love you so much too. Please help them and mom and dad. They don't know each other. You need to be the buffer. I wish I could go too. But I have to work. I have to pay for the rest of this house. Lol Oh, before people start to leave I have to make an announcement. Excuse me." She goes and steps up on one of the chairs at the table. "Excuse me, may I have your attention please. I wanted to thank you all for gracing us with your presence at our new house. We are happy to see each and every one of you. Hope you are all having fun. I have a surprise. More for my boys, but it's an open invitation to you all as well. When I bought this house, there was a bonus what came with it. The previous owner was in the first stages of having a pool put in. But it was nonrefundable. So it was in the price of the house. We were supposed to have the pool put in before we closed on the house, but something keeps happening to keep pushing the date off. But I got word last week that we should have it in by the end of the month. As soon as it's in, we will be having a pool party. I will alert you all to that date when I know. I want to thank you all again for coming." Everyone cheers. Her boys are screaming and jumping up and down. Franco comes over and helps her down from the chair.

"Wow! What a surprise. You just made the boys world." Franco smiles at her as he lets go of her hand and walks away, coyly. Elizabeth goes over to Max and calls him out.

They play one heck of a game. But Elizabeth beats him. She doesn't gloat, but she struts around smiling.

"Max, you did very well. Thank you for the game. If you every want a rematch, let me know." She winks at him with the crowd oohing and aahing. She goes to get a drink from inside. When she was about to go outside, she heard something upstairs. She thought it might be one of the kids. She goes to the bottom of the stairs and yells up. "You kids don't get into anything. And if you are playing, please put the stuff back when you are done. Be careful." As she walks outside, she counts all the kids. They are all accounted for. She goes to Nathan.

"Excuse me Nathan, Maxie. Nathan, I heard something upstairs. Could you come check it out please? I thought it was the kids. But they are all right here." Elizabeth is looking at the upstairs windows.

"Sure. I'll be back Maxie. Come with me Elizabeth." They both walk into the house. And then up the stairs. They start at the first room. And work their way to Elizabeth's room. There was a box on Elizabeth's bed. With a big red bow on it. "Did you leave this here?" Nathan asks.

"No. I've never seen this box before." Elizabeth steps back from the box. She notices something out the corner of her eye. She looks over and sees a message on her mirror in lipstick. At least she hoped it was lipstick. It read:

I hope you like your present. You look so beautiful in them.

"Nathan. Look." He turns and sees the same message.

"Ok. Do you have any latex gloves?" Nathan stares at the message.

"Yeah." She goes into her bathroom and brings out a box of them. She hands them to Nathan. He puts a pair on. The calls Dante on his cellphone. He gives a pair of gloves to Elizabeth.

"When Dante gets up here, you are going to open that box. I'm sorry if this scares you. But I want another officer here to at least witness this. And we will take pictures of the mirror. And pictures of the box before we open it and after. I'm not sure how he got in the house. But it doesn't mean you and the boys were in danger."

"Nathan, he know you guys are the cops and that I went to you as cops. I am afraid to look in that box. Like is there going to be a head in there? More scary wild animals?" Just as she finished, Dante and Franco come into the room. Franco goes to her and puts and arm around her.

"It's ok. I'm here. I made sure that there was a guard with each of the boys. Now what's going on?" Franco looks around. He sees the mirror.

"I heard someone up here. I thought that the kids came up. But I went out and they are all out there. So I had Nathan come check with me. We found this box. And then the message. Now I have to open the box. I'm really scared." Franco feels her trembling.

"It's ok. You have the three of us here. Unless it's snakes again. Then you have the two of them and the dust from my shoes getting the hell out of here." Franco tries to make her a little more at ease.

"Let's just do this." Not even a chuckle. Franco knows this is very serious to her. Nathan takes a picture of the box from a few angles with his cellphone.

"Ok, go ahead." Nathan steps back and gives her room to open the box. Inside is a red color negligee. She picks it up. What little of it there was. She turns over the box lid to put the underwear on the lid. And looks in the box. Franco sees the color run from her face. She stares at it for a moment. Backs up.

"No. How could he…" She turns and rushes into her bathroom and gets sick. Franco goes over to the box.

"What's wrong? It's just a dress." Dante says, not having seen the pictures from yesterday.

"My God. How could he have found the exact same dress? Unless he's been planning this for years and years." Franco is angry for Elizabeth.

"That was the dress she wore when she was raped at age 15." Nathan tells Dante quietly.

"What? Ok, I'm lost here. How would you guys know?" Dante is confused.

"She was sent letters yesterday. Three to be exact. One to Lucky and one to Jason we think. And then a patch of photos sent to her parents. All bad ones. They are back at the station. But we never told Elizabeth about them. I talked with Lucky. He thought it best not to let her see the ones from the rape. This guy took a picture right before she was grabbed. One just before he raped her and then a few after the rape. Lucky helping her out of the bushes. But he told us that the rapist has been in prison for years. I put a call into the prison, but with the holiday, I haven't heard back if he's still locked up or not. But that wouldn't explain how the picture of Lucky's death in the fire. There was a picture of Liz being held by Sonny as she's crying. Holding a subway token." Nathan was about to continue when Elizabeth comes out.

"I'm so sorry. I want that disgusting stuff off my bed. If I touch it again, you won't have it for evidence." She walks out of her room and goes downstairs. She goes to her kitchen and goes to the cupboard and pulls a bottle of tequila out. Pours a few shots in a shot glass. Drinks them down. The tries to get a grip on herself.

"Hey there Elizabeth. Great party. I wanted to introduce you to Lori." Ric says. Elizabeth turns around after wiping her eyes and trying to affix a smile on her face.

"Thanks Ric. Glad you guys could make it. Hello Lori. It's so good to meet you. I hope you are enjoying yourself." Ric can see she's on the edge of losing it.

"Uh, Lori, I forgot the house warming present in the car. Could you go get it? It's in the trunk." Ric smiles and kisses Lori.

"Sure. I'm really enjoying myself. Ric is right, you are very generous and kind. I'll be right back." Lori leaves.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ric asks, grabbing her upper arms.

"My stalker has really amped up his game." She takes another shot. "The dress I was raped in..upstairs in my room is an exact copy in a box. Along with underwear. I'm about to come unglued." She drinks another shot." She let's go of the counter and nearly falls. Ric catches her.

"Hey, getting bombed isn't going to help you. You have to stay alert. Let's make some coffee." Ric holds Elizabeth with one hand and tries to make coffee with the other. Franco comes into the room.

"What have we here?" Franco points to the two of them.

"Liz was pounding back the tequila shots. Too fast and too hard. So we are trying to make coffee. She nearly fell when she let go of the counter." Ric says, grabbing her around the waist and taking her to a chair. She sits and almost falls over.

"I'm good. Flanco is goona help me. He likes' me. Shh, he hasd kissed me right here. But don'ts say nothing to hims. Damn it hots in her." She was about to remove her top.

"NO! No no no. We keep our shirt on." Franco says, pulling the shirt back down and securely on.

"Why does this guy want to hurt me?" Elizabeth starts to cry. Franco hugs her.

"Honey, he's a minds game person. He is sick. Don't try to understand him. He will mess up soon and we will catch him. Just don't make it easy for him to win. By getting drunk." Franco kisses the top of her head. Just then Lori comes in with a box.

"Oh no! No more boxes. Boxes bad." Elizabeth lays her head on Franco's chest.

"Sorry, she's had a little too much to drink." Franco holds her head.

"Yeah. Liz, its blue ray player. Nothing bad. Lori, can you open the box to show her?"

"Sure." She opens the box and pulls out the box with the blue ray player in.

"Oh Ric! The boys will love it! Thanks. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get drunk. I just needed a little something to calm me. It worked. But I have people here. Franco, can you take me for a walk in the front yard while the coffee is brewing?" Elizabeth stands up and stumbles a little. "Wow, gravity is all up in this kitchen. I think there is more in my butt. As I keep wanting to fall on it." Franco takes Elizabeth for a walk. Ric and Lori take care of the tequila and wait for the coffee to brew.

"She doesn't normally drink like that. She's fighting a stalker. I wish I knew it had gotten this bad." Ric rinses out the shot glass.

"I can see she's special Ric. Even when she was hurting, she tried to make me feel welcome and comfortable. That is special." Lori rubs Ric's arm.

"Well she was my wife twice and almost a third time. I do care about her and her boys. But I think it's just as friends. I love you now." Ric kisses Lori. Franco and Elizabeth see it from the front door.

"You ok?" Franco asks.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" Elizabeth start to walk toward the kitchen.

"You two sure look so much in love. That's very beautiful. You guys really do look amazing together. And I see you get along well with Molly." Elizabeth smiles at Lori.

"Yes. She's a very bright young lady. She's very fond of you." Lori points out.

"I'm very fond of her. She's a great person. I will always be here for her, Ric and you. Any friend of Ric's is a friend of mine. Well, mostly." She laughs. They all join in.

"Let's get you some coffee." Franco sits her down and goes to get her a cup. Just then, Dante and Nathan bring down the box.

"Elizabeth, I'm going to quickly run these to the police station. I'll be right back. Would you let Maxie know?" Elizabeth stares at the box.

"Of course we will Nathan. Thank you." Franco says, standing behind Elizabeth.

"I'm going to run there with him real quick. You know to take a look at a few things. Just let Lulu know I'll be back soon too. Thanks." Nathan and Dante head for the door.

"Wait! I need to see that dress again for a moment please." Elizabeth stands up and starts to walk toward Nathan who holds the box.

"Ok. You just can't touch it. You don't have gloves on." Nathan opens the box. She stares at the bust that was bunched together. And the spaghetti straps. Tears stream down her checks.

"He told me that I wore that for him. That I was dressed up for our special night. What we did was special. His little bloody Valentine. Not a word. I was his special girl." Elizabeth then passes out. Franco catches her and lays her on the couch.

A/N: Hope you all liked this chapter. Thanks for reading. And I hope you review.