Elizabeth's Terror

Jack took her hands in his, and squeezed them tightly. "It's ok, Elizabeth. Take your time. I am here for you, always. I will protect you".

After another deep breath, Elizabeth continued. "I meet him when I was at college. It was my second year there. I was in the main library; several area colleges use that library. I was working on assignment for Science class. It was for a report on the circulatory system, so I was the medical section. He was there because he was a second year medical student. He saw me struggling a bit over my report and came over to ask me if I needed help. He told me his name and explained he was a med student. I accepted his help, not thinking that he might take it as permission to court me. I was there to get an education and become a teacher, not to look for a husband." She paused, took another deep breath before she continued. "When I left the library that day, I didn't realize he was following me. He followed me all the way to my dorm. The next day when I left for my classes, he was there waiting for me. He had a bouquet of flowers for me and he asked me to have dinner with him that night." She stopped, tears welling up in her eyes.

Jack put an arm around her shoulders and gave her an encouraging hug. "It's OK, Elizabeth. Take as much time as you need. I can see it's difficult for you."

She looked up at his face and gave his a small smile. "Thanks, Jack. I told him politely I didn't want to have dinner with him. It wasn't just because I had no plans for courting during college. If I had found the right man, I would have. Gregory just didn't appeal to me. He was kind in offering to help me with my assignment but I didn't want to see him regularly, other than if we meet up at the library. He didn't take kindly to my turning him down. He grabbed me by my arm and tightly squeezed it; it hurt so much, I knew there would be bruises." She felt Jack tense when she said that. She had a feeling she knew what was running around in his head. "A campus security guard happened to turn the corner at that moment and Gregory released me but before he did he told me not to say anything to anyone about the way he just hurt me. Then he took off down the road. I almost went back inside to hide in my room but I thought better of it. I wasn't going to let him keep me from completing my goals."

"That's my girl." Jack said as he leaned in to kiss her. "You don't have to tell me the whole story now. I can wait if it's too much to deal with all at once."

"No, Jack, it's ok. Now that I have started I feel the need to finish it. After that day, everywhere I walked, I felt I was being followed by him. Sometimes he would even try to ask me to have dinner with him or go for a walk in the park with him. I always turned him down as nicely as I could, but it made him angrier. He would grab my arms and leave bruises, he would slap my face; he gave me a black eye once." She felt Jack stiffen as she said that and when she looked in his eyes, she saw anger. "I went to the campus police once but when they questioned him, he told them some lies to make it seem like I was the one stalking him. He said I was just after his family money." She laughed a little. "Like I needed to chase after a wealthy man." She looked at Jack's face and saw a little smirk. "My going to the police really angered him; he waited for me right outside my dorm one night and, and…" she tried to continue but found herself sobbing uncontrollably at the memories.

Jack was getting angrier by the minute. One thing that he despised more than anything was a man abusing a woman; it was worse knowing that his sweet Elizabeth was a victim of just that kind of abuse. He somehow managed to control himself and comfort her. "Shhhh," he whispered and took her in his arms. He rocked her back and forth, hoping the movement and being in his embrace would comfort her. "We don't have to continue, Elizabeth."

"No, I have gotten this far, I want to finish." She looked up at him and gave a little smile. She could tell he wasn't mad at her for not telling him about this sooner. She could feel the love he had for her and angry he was feeling for what Gregory had done to her. She felt like if Gregory would show up in Hope Valley right now, Jack would go on the offensive. She swallowed hard before continuing. "He grabbed me by my arm and tried to drag me away. I resisted and started to scream when I couldn't get free. Then next thing I knew he had put his handkerchief over my mouth; I passed out and when I woke up, I was chained to a radiator and gagged. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs; I braced myself, just knowing it was Gregory. He walked over and crouched down in front of me. "You are now mine, Elizabeth Thatcher" He told me. "In a few days, I am going to have you write some letters. One to the college withdrawing from school. Then second will be to your family telling them you fell madly in love with a doctor and you are running away to marry him." I knew I had to go along with him in order for me to get to safety. I nodded my head in agreement to his plans and he reached up to remove the gag. I screamed as I have never screamed before, hoping my cries for help would be heard by someone, anyone. I fought him the best I could to keep him from gagging me again, but he was too strong. He stuffed the gag back in my mouth and he hit me, my face, and my body. "How dare you scream like that?" He yelled, with anger in his eyes. "You are going to obey me and follow my plans to the letter. We are going to leave this place and get married. You are going to be my dutiful wife and mother to my sons. A man needs sons to carry on his legacy and you are just the girl to give them too me."

Elizabeth stopped again as more tears began falling from her eyes. Jack resumed rocking her, holding her tightly in hopes to comfort her. He could see in his mind Elizabeth tied up in that basement, scared for her life, wondering if anyone would rescue her. His heart ached for her; he just couldn't understand men who did things like this to women. Especially to this caring, considerate beautiful woman that he was madly in love with. He hoped that this Williams character never came to Hope Valley because if he did, Jack was going to kill him with his bare hands.

Elizabeth calmed herself again and continued her story. "I think I was in his basement for four days but I am not sure how long I was there before I woke up. On that last day, he brought the letters to me, already typed up. He wanted me to sign them. I did as he asked because I knew my parents would know something was wrong since I didn't hand write the letter. I hoped they would come to Ottawa to find me. Gregory had said we were staying in the house until he finished the current term. Then he said we were going to travel to Calgary, where we would marry and he would continue medical school there. I remember after he told me that, he tried to touch my cheek and I pulled away. That angered him again and he took my arm and twisted it. He broke my arm."

Jack tensed again when he heard that. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take before he would go find this man himself, and kill him. How could anyone do this to anyone else?

"He had my letter to my parents hand delivered instead of sending it through the mail. As I thought, the type letter being hand delivered was a big tip off to my father. He immediately traveled to Ottawa and went directly to the Mounties. They were already working on my case, having been called by my dorm mother when I didn't return home that first night. The college was also suspicious about my withdrawal letter. They knew how much I wanted to become a teacher and how dedicated I was to my classes. The Mounties had interviewed some of my friends and had been investigating Gregory. On the seventh day, they surrounded the house and stormed in. Gregory wasn't home but they found me. I was immediately taken to the hospital; along with the broken arm, I had broken ribs and several bruises and cuts on my body. Gregory was arrested when he got home; I was told after that he kept insisting that he would never hurt me, that we were meant to be together, that the police had it all wrong. He eventually was sentenced to 10 years in prison."

She stopped again to catch her breath and control her emotions. She hadn't had to talk about this since she appeared on the witness stand for Gregory's trial. "When I saw the wanted poster at the jail, everything came flooding back. I was afraid for my life, afraid he might find out I am in Hope Valley and come after me. I know I should have told Bill but I just couldn't tell the story twice. I wanted to wait and tell you."

Jack reached his hand to her face and wiped away the tears that were still flowing. He once again took her in his arms to comfort her. "I am glad you told me what happened. I am going to make some inquiries to find out where he might be going. I will make sure you never have to deal with him again." She looked up at him and smile. "Elizabeth, until we know more about what is going on, I would feel better if you move back to Abigail's. I don't want you alone at night and it wouldn't be proper if I stayed with you. Also you would be closer to Bill and me if you stayed at the café."

Elizabeth nodded her head. "As much as I hate to leave here, staying with Abigail right now is the best idea. Would you tell her the reason? I can't go over this story again."

"Of course. I don't want you to have to repeat it. I can see how incredibly hard that was for you just to tell me. And I am not mad at you for not telling me. I don't blame you for wanting to keep this in the past. I hope that if Williams does come to town, Bill is with me when we arrest him. I want to kill him with my bare hands. I hate men who abuse women; him making you one of his victims makes me hate him even more."

Elizabeth giggled a little. "Thank you, my handsome Mountie, for coming to my rescue." She leaned over to kiss him.

"Always, Elizabeth. Always. I will protect you until the day I die. No one is ever going to be allowed to hurt you on my watch." They moved closer for another kiss. "I love you, Sweetheart." He whispered in her ear.

"I love you too."

What happens next? Will Gregory find his way to Hope Valley? Find out in the next chapter.