Steph's Explanation: This idea came to me while I attempted to watch the current stalker storyline on GH, that only affected 3 people, and was therefore worthless. Storylines should work in a tapestry of characters, it should use a character's history, and the ramifications should be widespread. It shouldn't only focus on 3 people and be instantly forgettable.

Anyway, this story is a variation of the stalking idea. It is full of twists and turns with a cliffhanger every chapter. It is only 11 parts long, so you'll have to let me know if you want to read more of it. It features the characters of Elizabeth, Jason, Carly, Nikolas, Sonny, Courtney, Zander, Chris Ramsey from Port Charles, as well as various other surprises.

One final note this story begins on October 9, 2002, before the stalking story on GH really heated up.

Distribution: Just ask me first.

Feedback: Please, like it or hate it I want to know. And if you want the next part's you'll have to let me know.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Quagmire: a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position, or soft, miry, land that shakes or yields under foot.

Quagmire

~Kelly's~

Today was going to be different. Today she was going to be strong. Today was going to be the first day of the rest of her life. Her life. No more living for other people. No more waiting on tether hooks hoping to be noticed, hoping to be wanted. No more watching life pass her by. Today was the first day she was going to start living her life to the fullest, instead of just existing in it.

Promises made, Elizabeth Webber firmed her back, picked up her order and stepped out of the kitchen. Her resolve began to fade the instant her eyes fell on the counter, or, more particularly, the man sitting at the counter.

Jason Morgan turned to look at her the instant she stepped in the room and her steps faltered. Damn him. Did he have to pick today of all days to decide to start coming into Kelly's again? Didn't he know that it hurt her, physically, to look at him? Or didn't he care? Chiding herself for the thought and backsliding by thinking about him at all, she forced herself to move again.

"Hey," Jason spoke when she neared him.

Ignoring him Elizabeth set the special down in front of her customer and smiled slightly. "Here you go. Would you like a refill on the coffee?" When the woman nodded she moved and stepped gracefully behind the counter.

"Why are you walking by me like I'm not even here? Are you ignoring me now?" Jason asked.

"Isn't that what you did? I'm just taking a page from your book." She shot back before she remembered her vow. Deliberately blanking her features, she held up the coffeepot. "I'm serving a customer," she pulled out a menu with her free hand and set it on the counter in front of him. "I'll be with you as soon as I can."

Ignoring the pain she saw in his eyes, she stepped away from the counter. He'd brought this on himself by not trusting her, he had no right to make her feel like the bad guy. After filling her customer's cup, she moved on, it was time to refill everyone's cup, she decided on the spot. She wasn't avoiding the counter, and Jason, she just believed in the old saying that discretion was the better part of valor.

Besides, she realized mournfully when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, Courtney was already there keeping him company.

"I think if you make the cup any fuller I'm going to be wearing the coffee."

The comment caught her off-guard and she focused on the coffee just in time to stop pouring before the saucer overflowed. "Sorry," she grabbed a towel off a dirty table and tried to wipe up her mess.

"It's okay I know your distracted, and I know why." Zander Smith jerked his head in the direction of the counter. "Are you still mad at him?"

"Shouldn't I be?" Elizabeth hesitated then perched on the chair opposite of him. "He lied to me, he hurt me, am I supposed to ignore that?"

Zander shifted slightly in his chair. "Lying is a big deal for you isn't it?"

"After everything that went on with Lucky and with Sarah, lying is a very big deal," she could feel the familiar bitterness rising up inside of her. "All Jason had to do was tell me that something was going on with his job, something that he couldn't tell me about, and I would have understood and let my questions go. But he didn't do that. He left me alone in that Penthouse, which I wasn't supposed to leave, for days at a time while he avoided me. He knew I thought Sonny's death was hurting him. He knew I was worried he was trying to deny his grief, and I warned him, trying to protect him by citing my own bitter personal experience, that denial never worked. But he didn't care enough to tell me this wasn't the case. He didn't care enough to say that I can't talk to you about anything right now, but I will when I can, and I'm going to be okay. The bottom line was Jason didn't care about me. He chose to lie to me instead. So what if he didn't lie to my face, he still lied with his actions, actions that were designed to hurt. The bottom line is Jason didn't give a damn what was going on with me or how I'd feel so why should I care about him now?"

Elizabeth covered her mouth when she belatedly realized how loud her voice had gotten. She could see people watching her curiously and could feel Jason's eyes on her as well and knew that he had heard her as well. So much for her vow. Rising regally she picked up the coffeepot. "Excuse me." She murmured before hurrying for the safety of the kitchen.

~*~*~*~*~

Courtney winced in sympathy when she saw Jason's expression. "She's just upset, I'm sure she didn't mean that."

Jason sighed and kept quiet. He knew Elizabeth better than Courtney did, he knew what was driving Elizabeth at the moment. She was hurt and was lashing out because of it. It was just, he had been the one to hurt her this time, and he didn't like that feeling. He'd only hurt her once before, well maybe twice.

The first time he'd hurt her was when he had told her it was too dangerous for them to be friends anymore. Closing his eyes he still had no problem visualizing her happy expression, the way her hair seemed to dance on the collar of her white coat. The expression had faltered when he spoke, the happiness that had only recently returned to her eyes seemed to fade a little more with each word he spoke. Every time he shot down one of her suggestions the more desperate her eyes had become, and the worse he had felt. That was the first time he'd ever hurt her and had never forgotten it.

The second time he'd hurt her was a few weeks later when he'd told her he was leaving town. Again he'd had to take away her happy expression, turning it into one of sadness again. And again hurting her had ripped at him yet he did anyway. In some ways saying goodbye to her that cold day was one of the hardest he'd made. Maybe that was the reason that every time he'd left her since then he'd never told her goodbye face-to-face. He hated to put that look of hurt in her eyes, so he'd always told her goodbye through others.

But now that look of hurt was in her eyes, only this time a look of betrayal had joined it. Both of them had been put there because of his actions and he didn't know how he could fix it, or if he even should try.

"Did you walking me home last night add to why Elizabeth is upset with you?" Courtney asked.

"No," her question was easy to dismiss, he wasn't even sure if Elizabeth knew he'd walked her home. "She's mad because I didn't tell her about Sonny."

"Oh," Courtney refilled his coffee and debated with herself for a minute before speaking. "It would make sense for her to be mad at you. I mean I was mad."

"Sonny was your brother, you thought he was dead," Jason reminded her.

"Yeah but Jason, Elizabeth was involved with you, so you lying to her about Sonny is a lot more serious than, you lying to me. I'm not invested in you personally, she was," she saw him flinch and backtracked, "…is. If we were involved when this went down I would still be angry with you, I don't think I'd even be talking with you yet," she grinned. "But since I'm not and your helping me, I am talking to you."

A grudging smile crossed his lips, she had a point. "Did you get any phone calls last night?"

"No the phone was quiet and I'm glad," her focus moved past him. "Did you need something?"

"I just wanted to pay," Zander held out some money. "Can you make sure Elizabeth gets the change?"

"Sure," Courtney took the money and moved to the register.

"I bet your glad that Sonny is out of hiding now," Zander commented.

Shifting in his chair Jason studied Zander. "I heard you moved out."

"Surprised? You never wanted me there anyway, you only wanted Elizabeth there," Zander couldn't help but go on. "Well you had her there, too bad you wasted your opportunity," with that dig he turned and headed for the door.

Eyes narrowed in suspicion Jason got to his feet and trailed him out the door. "Zander."

Bracing himself Zander turned around, making sure to keep his expression blank.

Jason studied the younger man and several things that he had noticed since spying him in the diner started to make sense to him. "You remember don't you?"

Zander's eyes flashed once before he blanked them. "What?"

"One of the reasons I work for Sonny is because I notice things, things most people never see. Like the way you not tensing up when someone new walks into the place, your not scanning every face for familiarity." Jason saw the way Zander began to hunch his shoulders, and being an expert on body language he knew he was right. "I also know when people are lying to me. So I'll ask again. You got your memory back don't you?"

Zander briefly considered lying, then knew it was pointless. "What if I do?"

"You should have said something."

"Why? By the time I remembered everything had already came out. The woman on the yacht that was questioning me, I found out last night was Brenda Barrett. By that time you already knew that, hell you probably knew the whole time," Zander commented bitterly.

"You still should've…"

"Have you ever wanted to forget things?" Zander cut him off. "I remembered all about my past, I remember hurting people, I remember framing you, I remember shooting Elizabeth, I remember playing with your head, I remember being so angry at Sonny and Carly that I couldn't think straight. I also remember relying on you to help me, and the fact you did even though you couldn't stand me, surprised me."

"Elizabeth and the fact you knew something," Jason interrupted him. "That's why I helped you."

"I know," wearily he shook his head. "I just want to start over. I want a clean slate. I don't want to be the deviant drug dealer anymore, or Sonny's one time lapdog. I just want to try a new life."

Jason's eyes moved back inside the diner. "Does Elizabeth know?"

"No," Zander shifted on his feet guiltily. "She's treating me like a friend now. Which is more than I deserve and the only thing we ever should have been. If she knows I remember, all the baggage, all the stuff I said to her will come back, and I'll lose my only friend again." He refused to beg but at the same time he had to know. "Are you going to tell her?"

Swallowing hard Jason tried not to let his distaste of Zander overtake him. Zander had said the magic word, Elizabeth considered him a friend now, and he knew how much she needed a friend, even if it was Zander. Clenching his fists he forced the words of warning out. "You see how angry she is with me?"

Zander nodded.

"She's angry because I lied. Lies come out every time. So you should tell her now." That had been painful to say so he went on with a warning he had no trouble saying. "I won't tell her but if she gets hurt because of you, you will regret it."

Knowing to quit while he was still ahead Zander took his reprieve and Jason's words and left the courtyard quickly.

Rubbing at the kinks in his neck he debated with himself. He wanted to talk to Elizabeth, but that seemed to be the last thing she wanted. Glancing at his watch, he decided to leave for a while and come back later. He hadn't given Carly a chance to yell at him yet, and he felt the perverse need to be yelled at.

He'd only taken a step towards the dock when a scream came ripping out of the diner. By the time he yanked open the door he saw Courtney disappearing inside of the kitchen. Moving quickly through the room, he was very aware of the fact that Elizabeth had never came out of the kitchen.

Racing through the doorway he saw something that scared the hell out of him. Elizabeth was on the floor near the sink, her body was shaking in pain. Shoving the cook out of the way Jason crouched in front of her. "Elizabeth?" His hand was shaking slightly when he reached out and forced her head up. Tears were streaming down her face and he could see her eyes were full of pain. "What happened?"

"Jason," Elizabeth broke off to moan and her eyes closed.

"Something happened to her arm," Don, the cook volunteered.

His eyes moved to her arm, he could see a hole in her maroon shirt, and reached for her arm, but she covered her arm and jerked back. "Elizabeth I need to see what happened."

"No," she shook her head and tried to shove him away.

The instant she moved her hand he saw the blood on it, ignoring her actions he reached for her arm again. He could see glass embedded in her arm, along with a vivid red slash, that signaled a burn to him. Blood was coming from of her wound, and he shifted. "Get me a towel."

"Here," Courtney shoved a clean towel in his head. "There's a broke coffeepot in the sink, that must be where the glass came from," she looked over the sink. "Sometimes we put the pot on the ledge over the sink while doing the dishes, it could have fallen on her.

"All right," knowing she more than likely had a burn to go along with glass embedded in her arm he knew she needed more help than he could give her. "We need to go to the hospital."

"No," Elizabeth immediately shook her head and tried to pull her arm free.

"Yes," Jason met her eyes. "You need a doctor, you may need stitches, and you need to have the severity of the burn looked at."

"Bobbie will be here soon," she managed.

"No she won't she's in surgery," Courtney reminded Elizabeth, then inspiration struck. "I don't think we need an ambulance but she can't go alone, Jason can you take her? I can't leave the diner, neither can Don."

"No," her eyes filled with distress. "I can make it fine on my own."

Jason swallowed the hurt he felt at her rejection. "You need someone with you."

"No," she stubbornly shook her head.

"Can you stand?" Jason let go of her arm. "Get to your feet by yourself and I'll let you go alone."

Taking the challenge Elizabeth tried to get up but it was quickly apparent that the pain was so that she could put no weight on her arm.

"Please let me help you," Jason requested softly.

Elizabeth stared at her arm and the slight but steady stream of blood escaping from it. She couldn't even think about the blood, she was too busy trying to deal with the pain of the burn. Biting her lip she tried to stem her tears. The last thing she wanted to do was depend on Jason, and at the same time it was the only thing she wanted to do. Finally she nodded, giving her permission.

Taking her hand he shifted it until it was on top of the cloth on her arm. "I know it will hurt but try to keep some pressure on this." Then shifting he rose with her in his arms.

"I can walk," Elizabeth cried out as the tears continued to fall.

"I know but this is quicker." Jason marveled at how light she felt in his arms. How light and how perfectly she fit there.

"Call us when you know how bad she's hurt," Courtney called to his departing back.

~ER~

"Look we've been waiting for 15 minutes, she's in pain, she needs someone to help her," patience gone Jason snagged a passing nurse and all but growled the words at her. "Now."

The Nurse blinked at the banked fury in the man's eyes, then focused on the woman sitting on the chair beside him who had been softly crying since their arrival. "Why don't you take her in Exam 3," she pointed to a curtain, "and I'll track down a doctor."

"It better be soon," Jason warned her before dismissing her from his thoughts and turned back to Elizabeth. Before he could pick her up she rose on her own and began making her way to the exam room.

"I can manage," she whispered when she felt his steadying hand on her back.

"I know," Jason whispered back and kept his hand where it was. She entered the room and came to a halt in front of the high bed. Catching her off-guard his hands closed on her waist and he lifted her, turning her, until she could sit on the bed.

"Thanks," she hissed out before lying back on the bed and closing her eyes.

Seeing the pain on her face he couldn't help but want to smooth it away, but all he could do was brush her hair from her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't break the coffeepot on me," she kept her eyes closed but didn't pull away from his touch, even though she knew he should.

"You were hurting before you were burned, and that was because of me."

"Don't Jason," she pleaded softly, this time the tears that fell had nothing to do with her physical pain. "I can't handle this right now, I can't handle you. I'm hurt and I can't think, don't do this to me. If you ever cared about me at all, please just leave me alone."

"You know I care about you," his voice was full of emotion.

"Then leave," she opened her eyes and hardened her voice.

"Elizabeth…" he broke off when the curtain was pulled open behind him.

"So what seems to be the trouble?" A doctor bustled inside the room. "Excuse me," he spoke from Jason's side.

Jason shifted to let the doctor by.

"Thanks for bringing me Jason but you don't have to wait." Elizabeth tried to get rid of him.

"I'll wait," he answered simply.

The doctor's eyes moved from his patient to the man standing next to the bed and he sized up the situation quickly. "You'll have to wait outside then," Doctor Chris Ramsey decided in that instant. "I need to examine her."

"Why…"

"Jason just go," Elizabeth demanded tiredly.

"Fine I'll be right outside." Pivoting angrily he stalked out of the room.

"Now that is an angry man," Chris commented.

"No I'm angry he's the…" she hesitated. "He's the…"

"The person your angry at?" Chris offered.

"Yes," she hissed when he started to pull the sleeve of her shirt from her hurt arm. "Be nice or I'll call him back in here," she warned him. She really hated pain. So much for the rest of her life being better than the previous.

Chris decided he'd better take her words to heart and tried to gentle his hands even more.

~*~*~*~*~

"Jason? Are you okay?"

Opening his eyes he focused on the redhead in surgical scrubs. "I'm fine Bobbie."

"What's going on?" Puzzled she gestured to the small trace of blood on Jason's shirt and took the chair next to him. "You never come to the hospital unless you have no choice."

"Elizabeth got hurt at the diner, I brought her in."

"Elizabeth?" Instantly concerned Bobbie shot to her feet. "Where is she?"

He pointed to the exam room. "It's a burn and a cut. I don't think she'll need stitches, and the burn is probably second degree at most."

"What happened?"

"A coffeepot broke."

"She was using that shelf again wasn't she?" Bobbie sat back down. "I told Don to fix that shelf."

"Bobbie? I've been looking for you." The masculine voice turned disapproving. "And it seems I found you just in time"

Closing his eyes Jason vaguely wondered if his day could get any worse.

"Don't start Tony," Bobbie warned her ex-husband. She knew Jason was close to snapping, and a part of her had been waiting for the time he would snap at Tony for years now, she knew it was only a matter of time.

"What?" Tony Jones asked defensively. "I wanted to thank you for your work in surgery, we saved a life today and you had as much to do with it as I did."

"Thank you," Bobbie beamed at the words but still wished he'd leave. Jason was strung very tight at the moment.

Jason shot up the moment the curtain opened and Elizabeth emerged from the room, in two steps he was next to her.

Chris wasn't surprised to see him and kept instructing his patient. "The cream will take the sting out of the burn. Try to keep it as dry as you can. The prescription I'm giving you will take the edge off the pain. The pills may make you drowsy so you won't be able to drive yourself home."

"I'll take her," Jason spoke up.

"He'll take me, he's great at making sure I get home. He just likes to leave right afterwards," Elizabeth informed the doctor. "He has a leaving problem, do you think there's a pill for that too?"

"Elizabeth," Bobbie stepped up and couldn't help but smile at the goofy expression on her face. The drugs Dr. Ramsey had given her, must have been strong ones.

"Hiya Bobbie," Elizabeth grinned and held up her bandaged arm. "I zigged instead of zagged."

"I can tell."

"She'll be fine, the cuts weren't deep enough for stitches, and the burn is borderline second degree," Chris answered the questions in the surgical nurses' eyes quickly. He had learned not to keep Bobbie waiting for answers.

"Good."

"Another one of your victims Jason?" Tony demanded loudly. "They seem to keep getting younger and more innocent. You won't stop until you destroy everyone's lives will you?"

"Tony," Bobbie whirled on him in warning.

Elizabeth's fascination with her bandage shifted to the man who was insulting Jason. "Do you ever not whine? Since I've met you, or rather since I met Lucky, he's told me about how you blamed everyone else for what you did. So do you ever not whine?"

Tony's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"I mean you kidnapped two people and were never punished for it, I'd think you'd be grateful instead of whining all the time," Elizabeth went on oblivious to the looks she was receiving.

"We better go," Jason took her arm trying to lead her away.

"Thinks about it Jason, the only reason he's alive at all is because you let him live, you'd think he'd get a clue," Elizabeth's rambling mouth continued. "Are you sure he's a neuron, a nucleo, a surgeon? I thought doctor's were supposed to be smart," she eyed her doctor. "Aren't they?"

"I always thought so," Chris Ramsey agreed, loving every minute of the way his patient was making the neurologist squirm.

"That's what I thought. Whoa," she giggled when Jason put his arm around her waist and forced her to move. "Bye-Bye."

"Goodbye Elizabeth," Bobbie called before turning on her ex-husband with a grin. "I warned you not to start."

~Studio~

"I like my door," Elizabeth leaned against her door. "It's nice and cool."

"I'm glad you like it," Jason held out his hand. "Can I have the keys?"

"Keys?" Elizabeth blinked in confusion. "I thought you used credit cards. Oh that was me, you break glass," she grinned.

"Where are your keys?" Jason couldn't keep the grin from his face.

"Search me," she held her arms out and smiled up at him.

"Elizabeth."

"I'm serious, search me." She dared him.

Jason eyed her long jean skirt warily. Whatever drug she was on was making Elizabeth behave in a way he wasn't used too, and he knew he couldn't take advantage of it. If there was any chance she would ever forgive him, he had to respect the anger she was feeling for him.

He jolted in surprise when he felt her hand on the waistband of his jeans and she yanked him closer. "Chicken," she giggled and made a cackling sound.

Cautiously he reached out and brought his hands to her hips before sliding them lower to search her pockets. Elizabeth kept her eyes trained on his, her face inches from his own. He had to remind himself that it wouldn't be right to enjoy the way she felt under his hands. The pockets on the skirt were deep and long, and his hands traveled over a great deal of her thighs before he finally conceded they weren't in her pocket. Forcing himself to step back while he still could, he frowned at her. "Where are your keys?"

"In my bag," she singsonged.

Shaking his head Jason picked the bag up off the floor. Sure enough the keys were inside her bag. Inserting them in the lock, he pulled Elizabeth away from the door before opening it, and she rocked forward resting her head on his shoulder.

"I don't like being mad at you," she murmured as he led her in the room.

"I don't like it when you're mad at me either." Giving into temptation he ran a hand through her hair before tossing the keys on her table and guiding her to the sofa.

"You hurt me," she whispered, pulling away she laid down on the couch.

"I know." Picking up her feet he pulled off first one boot then the other and placed them on the sofa.

"Why does everyone I care about hurt me?" Elizabeth asked softly. "Is it something about me?"

"No," crouching beside her he brushed the hair from her cheek. "You didn't deserve this."

"Deserve?" She laughed slightly. "According to people like you I deserve a lot, yet all I ever get is pain. Maybe I shouldn't deserve anything anymore."

"I'm sorry," he repeated uselessly.

"Sometimes sorry isn't enough," she whispered before closing her eyes.

Sighing Jason stayed where he was for another minute, he was worried that she was right. Maybe sorry wouldn't be enough to fix things this time. Getting to his feet reluctantly he set the bag of medicine and supplies on the table next to her answering machine and headed for the door. He flicked the lock on the handle and pulled it tightly closed behind him.

~*~*~*~*~

When Elizabeth woke up she thought something had crawled inside her mouth and died. Her hand dropped automatically for the water bottle she kept on the floor beside the couch. Drinking deeply she shifted and a small shaft of pain shot up her arm. Frowning she looked at the bandage on her arm in confusion. The confusion gradually faded into memory and oh what memories they were.

She remembered Jason bringing her to the hospital, she had a vague memory of leaving the hospital with him as well. She also thought she'd insulted Tony Jones, but hopefully she was mistaken on that point. But she had no memory of how she'd gotten back home. Jason more than likely. She was disquieted at the thought, she didn't want to be vulnerable around Jason anymore. It was too risky for her. Sighing she got to her feet and moved towards the bathroom to wash her face.

~*~*~*~*~

The sound of the phone ringing greeted her when she entered her studio again, but it had stopped by the time she got all the way inside the room. Closing the door, habit had her locking the deadbolt. She had no desire to be kidnapped again, but since it was obvious to anyone, by this point, that she meant nothing to Jason, she was sure her kidnapping days were over, but still she locked it.

Checking the bag on her table she saw wraps and creams, and her salvation, she pulled out a pill bottle. "Drugs are such a good invention," she declared to her empty studio, and scanned a note explaining all the do's and don'ts, and she couldn't help but linger over Jason's economical handwriting, at least until she realized what she was doing.

Disgusted with herself she crumpled the note and tossed it to her wastebasket. She was about to head for her couch again, when the blinking light on her answering machine caught her attention. She had been so upset the night before, and in the morning that she hadn't checked her messages since she'd returned to the studio. She was a little surprised to see the little 53 in her window indicating the message count. She'd never had 53 messages on her machine before.

"Probably telemarketers who's computer didn't hang up in time." She rationalized and hit the play button as she moved to the couch.

"Elizabeth I really wish you would return my call once in awhile. Lucky told me you moved in with Jason Morgan, I hope you weren't that foolish."

Audrey Hardy's disapproving tone filled the studio and Elizabeth flinched. "Oh but I was that foolish Gram."

The next several calls were hang-ups and she had almost drifted off when the unsettling sound of breathing filled the studio. Curiosity had her opening an eye. The breathing continued but no words were spoken. Finally the message passed. The next message was a hang-up, then another breathing one.

"Just kids playing," she reassured herself when she began to feel unsettled.

"I miss seeing you. Don't you know I count on seeing you?"

The words were so quiet she almost wondered if she had misheard them. Before she could get up and replay the message the next one clicked on.

"This is unacceptable, I've been watching you for you years now. As long as I see you every few days, everything is okay. Where are you?"

Jolted she stared at her answering machine like it had sprouted wings. The next message clicked on, and it was a variation of the same. The messages continued on and on, and with each one she sank further into the couch. Her hands were wrapped around a pillow that was locked tightly to her chest. A part of her mind ordered her to get up and stop the messages, especially when they began to turn vulgar. But she couldn't seem to move off the couch.

"I love the way you walk, just like a gazelle, not at all like those sluts around you. But you're not just any slut, are you? You're my slut. You moved under me like a dream. I know you still think about me, and I think about you every night."

Revolted Elizabeth shoved her way off the couch. It was time to stop this.

"I love you in maroon. It's so close to the red you were wearing that night. You don't wear red very often anymore, especially not that vivid red. The harlot, trampy red. It was the red that drew me to you, that drew me to the slut in you. But I like you in maroon too, I bet I'll like you even more out of the maroon."

Gasping Elizabeth began to shake and froze in the middle of the room.

"The last time was so fast but so good. I wonder how your body has changed since you've grown. Will your breasts still fit in the palm of my hand like they did that night? Will you still beg for my touch? Or will you pretend? I like it when you pretend that you don't want me when your eyes say you do."

Elizabeth sank limply on the ground as the memories of the night that changed everything in her life, assailed her.

"You need to stay away from Jason though. I tolerated your dalliance with Lucky but I won't with him. You're mine Elizabeth, from the minute you put on your harlot's dress you became mine. Now remember … not a word … about this to anyone."