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Not Alone

By: Danielle Anderson

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Chapter 1

He walked along the dark, misty alley. Where was she going? Why wouldn't she stop? He quickened his pace to match hers. He could see the woman wearing the red hooded coat dissapear into the abyss of the alley. He broke out in a run, the sweat dripping down from his temples. Faster and faster he ran...he had to get to her. He was getting closer, he could feel it. He heard soft sobs from the blackened corner. He stopped running and carefully made his way towards the cries. At last, he had found her. Her face was hidden by the red hood. He kneeled down beside her.

"Miss?" All of the sudden, their eyes met as her head lifted and the hood no longer hid her saddened face. It was Ivy. Between sobs, she cried out "Sam....please help me...."

"Sam? Are you okay?" Sam bolted out of bed, only to be face to face with his wife, Grace. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to calm his breathing. He let out a nervous laugh.

"Of course I'm okay." Why had he been dreaming about Ivy? It didn't make any sense to him. He loved Grace, his wife, and only her. But he couldn't get that image from his dream out of his mind. Ivy, in tears, asking for his help.

"Are you sure? You were talking in your sleep and you had this look on your face...you looked terrified."

"Honey, I'm positive. Don't worry." He was lying through his teeth but Grace didn't even seem to notice.

"Okay, Sam, if you say so. I'm going to go down to the kitchen and make some Tomato Soup Cake." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and dissapeared from the room.

Sam sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. He couldn't stop thinking about that dream. What was it that got to him most? The fact that he had been dreaming about Ivy? Or the fact that she needed his help? One thing was for certain...he needed some air.

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Ivy Crane stared down at the letter in front of her:

Love me tender, Love me kind
Love me soon or you shall DIE!

This was the third letter that she got in the past week. At first she had thought that it was Julian sending them, trying to play some sick joke on her. But now she wasn't so sure.

The night before she was in the living room arguing with Julian when she had received the first, and she hoped to be the last, phone call. When she picked it up, the raspy voice on the other end whispered "Ivy...I'm watching you...and soon I'm coming to get you!" The dial tone had blared into her ears for a couple minutes before she snapped back into reality and hung up the phone. Julian had questioned her about the call, but she had claimed it was nothing and excused herself to go to bed.

Ivy stared down at the letter one last time before putting it back into the envelope. 'There was nothing to worry about. Nothing.' She repeated it in her mind, over and over again, like a mantra. It was as if she were trying to convince herself that those words held some truth. She walked over to her desk and opened the bottom drawer, placing the letter inside on top of the other two. Ivy walked into the bathroom, deciding that she was going to take a shower to try to clear her mind. ~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

He carefully crept around her bedroom, being sure to hurry before she emerged from the bathroom. Oh how he longed to go into that bathroom and surprise her. And would she ever be surprised! He smiled to himself. "I'll just take a peek..." He walked towards her bathroom and finally reached the handle, opening it just a crack. He was dissapointed to see that she had already placed a towel around her body. He forced himself to pry his eyes away from her and he left the door as it was. Walking back to her bed, he placed a tender kiss on the picture that he held in his hands. He put the picture on top of the stack that lay on her bed. Taking one last look, he walked to the window and climbed back out.

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Sam arrived at the station and went over to his desk. His mind was still playing back the dream he had had about Ivy.

"Sam? I thought you didn't have to be in for a few hours." Luis said as he came over to his boss' desk.

"I don't, Luis. I just had a lot on my mind and I guess I ended up here. I'm probably just going to go and take a walk or something."

"Well, if you're leaving, I have a favor to ask."

"Ok, shoot."

"I need to drop these papers off at the Crane Mansion, but I'm on duty until tonight. Would you mind dropping them by there?" Sam hesitated at the thought of going to the Crane Mansion. Ivy was there and after that dream...he didn't know how to face her. But again he brushed off the dream as being merely a dream. He sighed.

"Ok, Luis, I'll take them." A smile spread across Luis' face. It was obvious that he was relieved that he wouldn't have to pay a visit to the Crane Mansion. Sam took the papers and left.

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Ivy came out of the bathroom, her robe clinging to her body and her wet hair cooly touching the back of her neck. She caught sight of her bed and saw a small stack of pictures lying there. As she reached for them, horror filled her face. They were all pictures of her...from lunch at the Book Cafe...from a conversation that she had shared with Ethan in her own living room...from her changing into her nightgown. What kind of sick bastard was she dealing with? Ivy's body began trembling and shaking as tears spilled down her cheeks. All of the sudden, the fact became clear to her that this sicko had been in her bedroom. She remembered that when she came out of the bathroom, the door was slightly ajar. He had been spying on her! Panic filled her as she looked around the room. Was he still in there? She quickly dropped the pictures and ran down the stairs as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was going, but she opened the front door and ran. She suddenly found herself pressed up against a warm body. She tensed up and prepared to scream as she continued sobbing. But when she looked up to see the face of her assailant, she was relieved to see that instead it was Sam staring down at her. She tried to calm down and finally managed to get out, "Sam....please help me...."

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To Be Continued...

Chapter 2

Sam's heart skipped a beat as he stared down at a sobbing Ivy. He replayed the words in his head, 'Sam....please help me....', over and over again. It was just like his dream....Ivy crying and asking him for help. Ivy's sobs had slowed down a bit as she stay there clinging to his body and trembling in his arms. What had shaken her up this much? Sam wrapped his arms around her and held her closer to him, gently whispering in her ear, "Shhh....I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Why don't we go back inside and you can tell me what's wrong."

The thought of going back into that house terrified Ivy. For years it had been her sanctuary, her place to go to get away. She would lock herself in her room sometimes and just cry to try to take the pain of loneliness away. But now someone had invaded her space and took her 'hiding place' away. Whoever it was that had been in her room was probably coming back.

Sam noticed her reluctance to go inside. "What is it? Why don't you want to go in the house?" He could see the fear evident in her eyes.

"There could be.....someone in th--there." Her voice was shaky as the tears still came down her cheeks. "There were pictures of me on my bed. He was in my room watching me, Sam!" He could tell that she was beginning to get upset again.

"Alright, listen to me, Ivy." He began as he pulled out his gun and took off the safety. "I'm going to go inside and check around your room. I want you to stay right here, understand?"

"No, Sam! What if he got outside somehow!? What if he's waiting for me to be alone?! Please let me go with you! Please, Sam!" At this point Ivy had her arms wrapped around Sam once more as she made her desperate plea. It was as if she were terrified to let go of him. Sam had never seen her so scared before in all the time that he had known her. She was so vulnerable...like a scared child. But Sam had to admit that he was scared himself. Not about going inside, but for Ivy. He hated seeing her so torn up inside. No matter what it took, he wanted to make everything okay.

"Okay, you can come inside with me. But I want you to stay close behind me." She nodded her head as she wiped away her tears. Taking her hand, they went back inside the mansion and slowly crept up the stairs. Upon entering Ivy's room, Sam saw the pictures scattered on the floor. He checked her closet, under the bed, in the bathroom....nothing. There was no sign of the intruder. Sam put on some gloves that he kept in the pocket of his police jacket and began flipping through the pictures. He couldn't believe that this bastard had been able to get this close to his Ivy. His Ivy. What the hell was he thinking? He was married to Grace. Grace was his wife and he loved her. Sam looked over at Ivy. She was leaning up against the wall, staring at the ground. But the good thing was that she seemed to have calmed down and her crying had stopped.

"Ivy?" She looked up at him. "Is there anything else that you're not telling me? Did you hear any sort of noise? See anyone?" He walked over to her and took her hands in his. She had this look in her eyes...she wasn't telling him everything. "Ivy, I need to know." Instead of answering him, she walked over to her desk and pulled something out from the bottom drawer.

"Someone sent me these letters." She began as she handed them to him. "I convinced myself that it was nothing...but then there was the phone call the other night...." Sam interrupted her as he finished reading the letters.

"Phone call?"

"He said he was watching me and that he was coming to get me." That's it, now Sam was very angry. This bastard meant business. It started with letters...escalated up to phone calls...and now he was taking pictures and breaking into her bedroom. Sam had worked on a lot of stalker cases in the past but this one seemed to be moving rather quickly. Ivy's 'stalker' seemed impatient. Impatience could be dangerous.

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Sam had called a few officers to come over to the mansion and look for fingerprints. After coming up empty, Sam took Ivy down to the police station to file a report. He stared at her as they sat at his desk. She wasn't talking much...it was very unlike Ivy to not talk much. Sam decided to break the silence.

"Ivy, can I get you coffee or something?" She looked up at him.

"Sure, Sam. That would be great. Thank you." And then her eyes were staring off somewhere else again. Sam got up and went to get her some coffee. He was lost in his own thoughts about the whole situation.

"Sam?"

Sam looked up and a smile appeared across his face. "Ryan, how's it going?! long time, no see, buddy." Ryan Broyles was Sam's old friend from when they were kids. After going to police acedemy together, Ryan was transfered to upstate New York and they hardly kept in touch.

"Things are going great. I got transfered back here and I'm actually supposed to report to my superior...which is you." Both men laughed as Sam looked over Ryan's transfer orders and transcripts.

"Well, I'm working on a stalker case right now and I could use all the help I can get. Your transcripts say you worked in a lot of cases like this. So how about it, would you mind assisting me?"

"I would be honored to work on a case with the legendary Sam Bennett. So who's the vitcim?" Sam's facial expression had changed from being joy to anger. Not anger towards Ryan, but anger towards what was happening to Ivy. Sam pointed over at Ivy.

"She's over there. Her name is Ivy Crane. Come on, I'll introduce you." Ryan followed Sam over to his desk. "Ivy?" She looked up at the two men and then stood. "This is Sargeant Ryan Broyles. He's going to be helping me with your case. Ryan, this is Ivy Crane." Ivy politely smiled and shook Ryan's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Crane--" Ivy interrupted him.

"Please, call me Ivy."

"Ok, Ivy. Say, you wouldn't happen to be the same Ivy that was Governor Winthrop's daughter, would you?" Ivy's face paled. She hated it when people mentioned her father. He was partly responsible for her unhappiness. Sam could tell that she didn't like the question asked of her, but she answered him with a simple 'yes' and nothing else was said about the subject. Ivy and Sam spent the next few hours filling Ryan in on the case and trying to figure out the next plan of action. As midnight approached, all three were exhausted and it was time to go home.

"Come on, Ivy. I'll take you home." Sam said as he stood up and grabbed his coat. Going home didn't seem like much of a comfort to Ivy.

"I don't know, Sam. Going home...what if he's there?"

"Hey, listen to me. Extra guards will be posted around the mansion. If you need me, I'm only a phone call away and I can be there in 5 minutes. I won't let this bastard hurt you, Ivy. I promise." Ivy smiled at him. Sam had really been there for her today, despite the hell she'd put him through with her seduction attempts. Could he still be in love with her? She brushed that thought away. 'Come on, Ivy, you just got him to show he cares about you. You're somewhat friends now so don't blow it.' She scolded herself.

"Alright, I'll go back home."

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Ivy looked under her bed for the third time. She felt a little safer knowing that Sam would come to her rescue if she needed him. At last she managed to convince herself to climb into bed. Once somewhat comfortable, she turned off the lamp and tried to close her eyes. After a few minutes, she began drifting off to sleep until she was suddenly awakened by the phone ringing. She reached for it and pulled it to her ear. "Hello?"

"You're cop boyfriend's not going to save you now, Ivy. You think you're protected, don't you? But I'm watching you. You look so gorgeus in your blue silk nightgown. I'll have you soon." He hung up and the tears trickled down Ivy's cheeks. She instinctively picked up the phone and dialed Sam's number.

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What was happening to her? He watched and followed as she continuously climbed up more sets of stairs. She seemed as if she were in a trance. He would call out her name, but she wouldn't answer. Only continue to walk up the stairs. As he would speed up, so would she. The building appeared to be endless. Just as he thought she was going to reach the top, another set of stairs would appear.

But at last she reached the top of the stairs that led out onto the roof. He followed her and saw her peering out over the edge. He ran towards the red hooded woman.

"Ivy, I won't let him hurt you. Just come back inside with me." He pleaded with her and at last she ackowledged that she heard him. She turned and looked at him, the tears causing her mascara to run.

"He's watching me, Sam."

Sam jolted up as he woke up to the phone ringing. It was another dream about Ivy. As the phone rang again, he concluded that he would have to think about the dream later. He finally picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Sorry to call so late." She sounded upset and as if she had been crying. "He's watching me, Sam."

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To Be Continued...

Chapter 3 Sam felt as if he had been slapped in the face. There it was...the exact phrase that Ivy had said in his dream was the phrase that she had just said to him over the phone. His mind was racing with questions of why this was happening, but he couldn't find the answer. He forced the thought out of his mind for the moment so that he could focus on Ivy.

"Ivy, what do you mean?" He asked, his tone sounding terrified.

"He called me, Sam. He said that he was watching me and he told me that not even you could protect me!" She was hysterical at this point and for reasons that Sam chose to deny, he wanted to be there to hold her in his arms. "He knew what I was wearing...what if he's in my house?!"

"Ivy, listen to me, I need you to calm down." He tried to reassure her as he climbed out of bed. "I'm going to get dressed and I'll be over there in less than 10 minutes, ok?"

"Alright. And thank you." Ivy hung up the phone and brought her knees to her chest. She had never been so afraid before in her life. The house was empty and she had no one. She had decided to keep Ethan, Julian, and the rest of the household in the dark about her 'stalker'. Julian had left that morning on a business trip, or so he said, and Ethan was staying the night at Gwen's. Sure there were many guards outside the mansion, but she didn't want the guards to comfort her and make her feel safe. She wanted and needed Sam.

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After Sam had hung up with Ivy, he threw on a pair of jeans and a navy sweater. He left a note for Grace telling her that he had to leave on police business, and then bolted out of his house quicker than lightning. Surprisingly, the drive to the mansion seemed to have taken him all of 5 minutes. He quickly got out of his car and found one of the guards. After Sam explained the situation to him, the guard let him into the mansion. Sam was sure that Ivy was still up in her room and would be weary of answering the door. Once inside, he made him way up the staircase and then walked down the hall to Ivy's room.

"Ivy, it's Sam." He warned before openening her bedroom door. He didn't want to startle her by just walking in.

"SAM!" Ivy ran straight into his arms as he entered her room. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, needing to hold her as much as she needed to be held. He walked over to her bed with her and they sat down, still holding each other.

"I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I meant it." He soothed her as he caressed her hair. He pulled away from her embrace to look into her eyes. "Are you okay? Did he call again?"

"No, he hasn't called again. I'm sorry that I woke you up, I just didn't know what else to do. No one else was home except the guards and it just wasn't the same. You aren't angry that I called, are you?" Her eyes were full of questions.

"Of course I'm not angry. I'm the one who told you to call me if you needed someone. I'm here by choice, Ivy, and there's no place I'd rather be right now." The words escaped Sam's lips before he could stop them. What had he been thinking? He really needed to control himself around her more carefully or she was going to think that he still loved her. But the question was, did he? His train of thought was interrupted by Ivy.

"I know this sounds crazy and I understand if you say no, but will you stay the night?" She wanted to take back her words. Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut? But it was too late. Now she had to wait to be rejected yet again.

"Of course I'll stay the night. You shouldn't be alone anyways and I know I'll sleep better knowing that you're safe." A small smile made its way to Ivy's lips. She couldn't believe that he had said yes! Before Ivy knew what was going on, Sam had scooted back towards the pillows on the bed and laid propped up against them. "Come here." He motioned for her to come towards him. Butterflies immediately filled Ivy's stomache. Here he was in her room, in her bed, asking her to come closer to him. She hesitated at first, but then made her way to him. She was starlted when Sam gently pulled her so that she was lying right next to him, their bodies closely touching. She reached over and turned off the lamp by her bed and then started to relax. She found herself resting her head on Sam's chest and soon his arm found its way around her back, pulling her even closer to him. Before they both knew it, they easily drifted off to sleep. Ivy and Sam let their fears about the stalker lie dormant as they held each other throughout the night. ~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

To Be Continued...

Chapter 4

Ivy woke up to the feel of strong masculine arms wrapped securely around her. Memories from the previous night flooded her mind. She had fallen asleep in Sam's arms. She thought it had all been a wonderful dream and that once she woke up, he would be gone. But he was still there, holding her.

"Ivy?" Sam asked, unsure if she was awake yet. He had been awake for almost an hour watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful and so safe. For some reason, Sam felt himself longing to be able to hold her this way every night. It was the best night sleep he had gotten in years.

"Good morning, Sam." Ivy said as she looked up at him. Their eyes met and they both smiled.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" He asked her. Neither one of them had moved from their position. They were both still lying there comfortably in each other's arms.

"Yeah I did, thanks to you. What about you?"

"I, ah, I slept pretty good." He lied a little, not wanting to get into just how great he slept. Deep in his heart he could feel himself falling in love with her all over again. But everytime those feelings would come to surface, he would violently shove them back to the bottom of his heart. But lately, it was getting harder and harder for him to do so. "Why don't we go down to the station and see if we can get some more work done." Ivy agreed and then they both forced themselves to get out of bed. The minute they pulled away from each other, it felt as if their hearts were being ripped apart and their souls felt empty. After getting dressed, they both left for the police station.

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"Morning, Ivy, Sam." Ryan greeted. "What are you doing here so late? I thought we were going to meet an hour ago."

"Sorry, Ryan. Ivy and I had a rough night." Sam informed him. Ryan's eyes immediately rang confusion.

"Rough night?"

"Yeah. The 'stalker' showed up at Ivy's house last night. Ivy called me and I stayed the night. I guess we were so exhausted that we slept in."

"Oh, I see. Well, we still have no leads to who this guy is. We checked the phone records from when Ivy received that first call, but it was made from a payphone."

"Damnit, this guy is really pissing me off!" Sam was trying really hard to keep his temper in check.

"Sam, I hate to do this, but I have to go. I forgot that there's a hospital board meeting this morning." Ivy said as she stood up. "Thank you so much for everything."

"You're welcome, Ivy. Do you need a ride to the hospital?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll call Pilar and have her take me. You've already done enough."

"Alright, if you insist. Just call me if you need anything, ok?"

"I will. Bye Sam, bye Ryan." Ivy left and went to the hospital board meeting while Sam and Ryan looked for leads.

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Ivy opened the mansion door and walked into the family room, pouring herself a brandy.

"Hi Mother." Ethan greeted as he walked into the family room. "Where have you been all day?"

"Hello darling. I was at the hospital for a board meeting." She chose to leave out her trip to the police station. She still wasn't ready to tell Ethan. She knew that he would only worry.

"Oh, by the way, there's a package that came for you. It's on the desk." Ivy walked over to the desk and picked up the small package. She carefully opened it and surveyed the contents. Her face grew pale and she screamed, throwing the box on the ground. Ethan ran over to her. "Mother, what is it? Tell me what's wrong, you're scaring me." Ivy couldn't stop the tears from coming down her cheeks and she couldn't manage to find her voice. Ethan could tell that she wasn't going to say anything at the moment, so he picked up the box and looked inside. There he saw pictures of Ivy, lying in her bed in Sam's arms. Ethan was greatly confused. "I don't understand, what are these, Mother? Are you and Chief Bennett having an affair?" Ivy finally managed to calm down.

"No, Ethan. I need to tell you the truth. Someone's been stalking me and Sam's been working on the case. Those pictures were taken last night. My stalker called me and then I called Sam because I was afraid. He came over and stayed the night."

"I can't believe someone would do this to you. Why didn't you tell me?" Ethan asked as he gave her a hug.

"I didn't want to alarm you, Ethan. I knew that you'd just be worried."

"Well of course I'm worried. You're my Mother and I love you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Now I'm going to call the commisioner and tell him that you need a bodyguard."

"What?! Ethan, no. I DON'T need a bodyguard."

"Don't argue with me. You DO need a bodyguard and you're going to get one." Ivy knew it was hopeless to argue with Ethan once he made up his mind. He was just like Sam in that way. As Ethan called the commisioner, Ivy looked through the box once more. As she flipped through the pictures, her eyes flashed to the box and she saw something inside that she hadn't noticed before. It was her locket that Sam had given to her.

"Alright, Mother, I talked to the commisioner. He said he already has a man in mind for the job and he's going to give him a call right now. He said to expect him in about an hour. I think we should have him stay in the guest room next to your bedroom."

"Ok, Ethan." She really hadn't paid much attention to what he had said. She was more concerned with how her stalker had managed to get the locket off of her neck. She was certain that she had been wearing it when she went to sleep.

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*1 Hour Later*

The doorbell to the Crane Mansion rang and Ivy got up off the couch and went to answer the door.

"Sam, what are you doing here?"

"I'm your new bodyguard."

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To Be Continued...