Chapter 9

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As she slept he sat dutifully by her bedside waiting, praying for her to open her eyes. The doctor said that there was no medical reason why she'd been unconscious for two days but that sometimes after experiencing events as traumatic as what she'd been through, the mind would have its way of protecting us from things that we weren't ready to deal with and for Olivia, it had all been too much which was why the moment the police broke down those doors to rescue her, the very moment she'd stepped outside of that house for the first time in a month; she fainted.

Now two days after she'd been found, two days of rejoicing, shock and tears from the people who loved her, who had spent the last month doing everything they could to find her she opened her eyes to see him sitting beside her bed, his face full of worry but the moment he'd noticed that her eyes had opened, his immediately filled with light.

"Hey"

"Hey" her eyes quickly filled with tears, she still couldn't believe that her nightmare was finally over.

"I'm gonna get the doc…"

"No!" she strongly objected as tears streamed her face "I can't…I can't be alone I just…are you really here?" she asked fearfully, afraid to believe it.

"I'm here babe" he smiled through his own tears "everybody's here… oh god, can I touch you?" he wept.

"Please!" she begged, still not believing that this was real but craving to feel a gentle, familiar touch and when he pulled her into his arms, close against his body…when she touched his skin, felt his warmth and took in his scent, she knew that he was real and she came completely undone crying in choking sobs as she clung to him desperately.

"I'm here." he cried

"Don't let me go! Please, don't let me go…don't let me go!" it fell from her lips again and again almost like a prayer as she squeezed him tighter.

"Never again; do you hear me? You are exactly where you belong and I will never let you go again!" he swore.

"Brian…" she cried.

"Shhhhh…I got you" he soothed as he planted kisses to her head. she could feel his strong hands on her back and she finally let out the breath she had been holding, relieved until his hands left her back and began to roam her body, caressing her hips

"What are you doing?" she was beginning to panic as his hands left her hips and roughly grabbed her ass with both hands, squeezing hard

"Don't act like you don't want it bitch!" he said sweetly as he forced her tighter against him but the voice was all wrong

"Please don't!"

"Whore sure loves to beg!" he laughed as she pushed him away to see that Brian was gone and Harlan was now in his place "Don't worry baby, I'm gonna give it to you so good!" he grinned. She opened her mouth to scream for help but he quickly camped his hand over her mouth and forced her back, reaching for her hospital gown when suddenly she woke up, bolting upright and screaming in the dark as she thrashed so wildly in her sheets, she became entangled in them.

"Liv…Liv it's okay, I got you!" Brian called to her as he turned on the light and Nick and Fin ran into her hospital room. Her screams had nearly frightened them all into a heart attack.

"She okay?" Fin asked upon seeing Olivia's terrified state

"He-he was here!" she sobbed, nearly hyperventilating as she threw herself into Brian's arms "He was…"

"it's okay, he can't hurt you" Brian promised

"He was you and he was here; he…"

"Liv you're safe, just breathe…" Nick instructed "he can't get to you, you're safe now" but his assurance didn't register; none of their words did as she broke down, unable to stop the trembling that overtook her body.

"Amaro, get the doctor" Fin ordered but Olivia was having none of it

"No! Please, they'll just give me more sedatives… every time I close my eyes…no sedatives…please!"

"It's okay. No sedatives" Brian promised as he nodded to Nick, signaling that he should find the doctor anyway just as Fins phone rang.

"I need to take this. Baby girl I'm right outside"

"Thank you Fin" she said through her tears, still holding on to Brian.

"I know you don't want to sleep, but what it if you just lie down?"

"No. if I lie down I'll go to sleep…I don't wanna sleep!"

"Liv please"

"I said no!" she yelled.

"And this is the exact reason why you don't give a cunt options!" Harlan yelled. Olivia's blood ran cold.

"This isn't real!"

"Oh I'm real darlin! Don't wanna sleep? Let's fuck!" he grinned before he smothered her mouth with his as she fought against him.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

In the bedroom that had been her prison she opened her eyes from the terrible dream but she didn't scream. She had had these dreams far too many times for far too long to let them cause such a reaction and instead, she pulled herself up and sank her face into her palms as she wept silently for a long moment before running her hands through her hair. Greeted by the warmth of the sunshine that filled the room, she looked toward it then closed her eyes again. At one time the sun was the only thing that made her days bearable because if gave her hope though that hope never lasted long once the reality of her situation would slap her in the face - a reality that hard grown harsher since she'd taken that pregnancy test a little over a month ago and now, it didn't make a difference one way or the other.

maybe after I get that bun in your oven…

She shook her head as new tears began to flow and thoughts of the room downstairs took hold. She remembered that night he'd dragged her down there. It was her punishment for trying to run away again the day before, despite her pleading with him that she felt sick but when it became clear just what he had in store for her that night…

Don't think about it. She told herself and wiped her tears, her sudden nausea sending her running for the bathroom.

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Back at the sixteenth, Nick and Fin entered the squad room ready to start the day and were both surprised to see Amanda sitting at her desk in yesterday's clothes, guzzling coffee while pouring over case files her eyes red and bulging.

"You been here all night?" Fin asked

"I was on my way out the door but then I got an idea and started diggin… ran into a dead end but then something else came to mind and before I knew it, was mornin.

"What were you lookin for?" Fin asked

"And are those Lewis' case files?" Nick added as he took a seat

"yeah I just…I got to thinkin, that maybe it was somehow tied to him so I started lookin for family"

"What'd you find?"

"Well, nothin. His momma, Johnnie-Lee Lewis disappeared in 1983, never heard from again. His father, Harlan Lewis died – burned to death in a car accident back in '93, no brothers or sisters or other family. But then I got to thinkin, what if someone else had a motive, someone not related? Do y'all remember the redheaded juror from his trial, uh…Bronwyn"

"Yeah…what about her?" Fin was curious

"She fell under Lewis' spell, helped him escape from prison – not the first time that it's happened. I mean Ted Bundy, Robert Morton, hell, even Charles Manson; they all had women who fel in love with them from outside and vowed their love and devotion to them"

"So?" Nicked shrugged

"So…" Amanda said as she got up from her desk and walked over to the evidence board to show them what she'd been thinking. "What if Lewis has more of those same devoted followers? What if one – or more of them were so angry at his death that they wanted someone to pay? Who better than Olivia? I mean she nearly killed him the first time, had him sent to prison then he breaks out, comes after her again but this time he ends up dead and she's hailed a hero."

"And you think we're dealin with a lunatic with an axe to grind?" Fin asked "Hmm"

"It's not that far out there. How else can we explain her disappearance just a week after he dies? I'm tellin y'all, this is somehow related to him, I feel it in my gut!"

"Alright so let's say you're on to something and Lewis' psycho fans are involved, where the hell have they taken her and if they haven't killed her, why are they hiding her and what's the endgame here?" Nick wondered.

She gripped the toilet bowl so hard as she vomited, her knuckles were white and she felt as if her insides were being forced out with each heave.

Why can't I get rid of this bug? she wondered before throwing up again; she'd actually broken into a sweat from the effort. When she felt like she was done she lowered the lid and flushed, needing to catch her breath before she got up to rinse her mouth.

"It's not a bug, it's a baby" Sealview Olivia yelled from the bedroom

I thought I made that part clear…there is no baby! Current Olivia thought to herself

"What is gonna take to make you accept this? Your water breaking?" Olivia didn't give and answer, she just went about cleaning her mouth

"Liv?" Sealview called. Still no answer, Olivia went to the shower and turned on the water

"Are we ignoring us?" Beach house asked Sealview

Olivia did just that as she stepped under the water.

"You're scaring us!"

"GO AWAY!" Olivia screamed, tears falling as she sank down into the tub

"Liv?" Sealview called, scared to death for her future self but Olivia gave no answer, just sat with her knees against her chest sobbing pitifully as the water beat against her skin. The two Olivia's looked at one another then down at their current self who was falling apart. She was hanging by a very thin emotional thread and by the looks of it, it wouldn't be long before that thread gave and snapped.

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See you all soon with chapter ten.