Something To Live For

by Grace

Preface

OK., a few comments before you start reading my fan fiction: 
First of all, in my story I have a new character - her name is Grace Evans and she is Ben’s younger sister at the age of eighteen or nineteen. Of course they love each other very much (OK, so I know that Ben’s mystery and loneliness are one of the many reasons we love him so much but I just needed to create someone who would stand up for Ben during his hardest times, that is when Meg is not taking care of him). We just need to assume that Grace was present in Sunset Beach all the time but we just didn’t know about it (in SB everything is possible). Besides I love Ben so much and if I can’t have him as a love interest (I wouldn’t do that to Meg) I’ll just have to be content to have him as a brother, if you know what I mean. Well, in fan fiction everything (well, nearly everything) is permissible, isn’t it? 

The other important fact is that in my fan fiction Mark, the sweetest of men (besides Ben that is) is not dead (he never was for me) and he is involved in a relationship with Grace (well, I had to have someone!) 

Please also notice that I’m not a native English – speaker so my language may not be very sophisticated but I couldn’t just sit and wait while my heart is so full of Ben and Meg. And due to the fact that I felt like my words would not fully express the magic of Ben and Meg, I supported my fan fiction with many songs which helped me to utter my feelings. Because Ben and Meg mean more to me than I can ever put into words. 

Oh, and one last thing – the story starts when Derek took control over Ben’s life once again and when Meg, despite the fact that she is not with Ben right now, keeps having doubts about the man she loves. 

So that would be all – enjoy the story and if you have any comments or suggestions e – mail me at oceanavenue1303@hotmail.com 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Chapter 1 

It was late at night. Meg was lying in her bed in Surf – Central. Everyone else was asleep but she just couldn’t get through the night. Not without one thought about Ben. Just one… 

Lying in my bed 
Thoughts in my head 
The visions of you 
But I can’t get through the night 
So I pick up the phone 
I know you’re home 
You’re playing with my heart 
And you know that it just ain’t right 

It’s just a game of love, love, love 
Even thought it’s hard baby 
I can never give you up 

You’re the one I’m dreaming of 
I can’t live without your love tonight 
And it’s you that I adore 
You’re the one that I live for inside 
Of you I’m dreaming 

So I got in the car 
But I didn’t get far 
Cause the radio played every song 
That sound with you

Yesterday’s gone 
And it may be true 
But you know that I’ll never 
Get over you 

It’s just a game of love, love, love 
And even though it hurts me baby 
I can never give you up 

Cause you’re the one I’m dreaming of 
I can’t live without your love tonight 
And it’s you that I adore 
You’re the one that I live for inside 
Of you I’m dreaming 

You, you gave me love 
Love gave us hope and strength 
To carry on 
And you, you gave me faith 
When I was falling down 
You will pick me up my love 

You’re the one I’m dreaming of 
I can’t live without your love tonight 
And it’s you that I adore 
You’re the one that I live for inside 
Baby I’m dreaming of you

***

“Hey, what’s up?” asked Grace as she saw Meg sitting at the Java Web looking at the cold coffee on her table. 

“Oh, hi Grace, I didn’t see you” 

“I know” Grace laughed and took the coffee cup up. “Hey, I’ll bring you another one. On the house” she added. 

“Thanks” Meg answered and looked at Grace as she disappeared in the kitchen. One minute later she was back with a cup of hot, smelling coffee. 

“Here you go” she placed the cup in front of Meg’s face. 

“Thanks” she heard an answer. 

“You’re not very talkative today, are you?” 

“I’m sorry, I just can’t stop thinking about…” 

“Let me guess, my brother” 

“Yeah. I can’t get him out of my head” 

“Or heart” Grace added. 

“That’s not the point” Meg blushed “I just can’t stop wondering why he has been acting so strange lately. I mean, one minute he tells me that he needs to be with Maria, that it’s his responsibility and the other he tells me that he can’t forget about me and professes his undying love for me. I just can’t figure out why he is doing this to me. Or to Maria. I mean, he keeps lying to her all the time” 

“Have you talked to her about it?” 

“Are you crazy?” Meg was nearly disgusted “Why would I tell Maria all that? She won’t believe me. She loves Ben and she will not believe that he is doing something like that” 

“Still I think you should talk to her” Grace advised ”She deserves to know the truth” 

“I know she does but I don’t want to loose what’s left between me and Maria” 

“I know you don’t. I know you still consider her as a friend” 

“That’s truth. I don’t want to ruin things between us. Grace” Meg started after a while “Can I ask you something?” 

“Go ahead” 

“Do you trust me? I mean, do you believe what I’m saying about Ben?” 

“Why are you asking me this right now? You told me all those things about Ben a few weeks ago. Why would I stop believing you now?” 

“I don’t know” Meg hesitated for a while “I just needed to know that you’re on my side… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… I didn’t want to sound like that. I’m sorry” 

“Hey, it’s OK.” 

“No, it’s not OK. I mean, Maria was… is your friend. I can’t make you deny that fact. Gosh, how can I be so selfish?” 

“Meg, you’re not selfish” Grace was trying to calm Meg down “Everyone would go crazy in a situation like this. I mean, with everything my brother is doing to you, there’s no wonder you’re a little bit shaky right now. God, Ben has been acting in a such different way. I asked him why and he told me that it was all because of stress” 

“You told him that you know what he’s doing to me?” Meg sounded surprised and worried. 

“No, of course not. But coming back to his behaviour, do you think this is all about stress? I mean, what he’s doing is so cruel and Ben is not cruel. At least he has never been. I know that Ben loved you, I mean, really loved you. I have no idea what happened?” 

“Benjy happened” Meg answer was short. 

“No, I know there’s something more to this. What the hell do you think is going on?” 

“I don’t know that. Actually I don’t seem to know anything right now” 

“Beside the fact that you still love Ben and probably you always will” it seemed that Grace knew her friend better than Meg knew herself. 

“I don’t wanna talk about Ben right now, OK? I’m trying really hard to get over him” 

“But you won’t” Grace knew it everytime she saw that pain in Meg’s eyes. She wished that she could do something to make sure that Ben and Meg stay together. She knew that it would hurt Maria who was her friend too but she also knew that Ben truly loved Meg and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She just couldn’t figure out why he had been acting so strange lately and why he was so cruel to Meg. And to Maria, for that matter. Grace knew that Ben had a few vices but he was never cruel and he never lied. Than what was going on? little did she know, there was only one answer – Derek. 

“Look, I have something to take care of at Sunset Sisters – Meg started excusing herself – I need to go. See you later” 

“See you” Grace answered but Meg didn’t hear it because she was already out of the Java Web. 

“She will never forget about Ben” Mark approached Grace. 

“You’re telling me?” Grace laughed “I feel really sorry for her. And Maria. I mean, is Ben ever going to stop hurting both of them in a most terrible way. What the hell is going on here?” 

“I wish I knew the answer to that question” 

“I guess Ben is the only one who does” 

“I guess so. You know, I’m beginning to think that you’re more upset about Ben and Meg not being together than you want to admit” 

“Meg is my friend, as a matter of fact, the best I have…” 

“I thought the I was the best one” Mark stopped her. 

“You know what I mean” 

“I know, I know” Mark laughed “Go on” 

“So, Meg is my best friend and we were like sisters when she was living in our home. But now, everytime I meet with her, there’s a specific kind of tension between us. And you know what annoys me the most? The fact that I can’t do anything about it. I mean, I’m Ben’s sister and I will always remind her of him” 

“Grace, everything reminds her of him” 

“I guess you’re right” Grace sighed and God only knows how both, her and Mark were right about Meg. At the moment she was standing on the beach remembering the first time she saw Ben during an incredible sunset. Then she remembered all the magical moments they shared together – pretending to be a couple, first kiss on the balcony, the wonderful times they spent in Kansas and finally the most incredible day of her life – the day when Ben proposed to her after preparing all the wonderful suprises for her. Then she remembered how Ben rescued her from Derek and how he supported her when her dad was in hospital and she thought that her sister was dead. Then came the wedding, Maria’s return and all the things Ben did to convince her that it was her she loved not Maria – for example taking her to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving Day. And then finally their real reunion at the adobe, the Valentine’s surprise and their plans to elope to Venice to get married. But then, all of the sudden, Benjy appeared and ruined everything. On the other hand she knew that Benjy was not responsible for what what was going on. His only sin was that he was Ben and Maria’s son. Ben and Maria’s… 

“Why?” Meg said to herself “Why did everything have to go so wrong Ben?” she grabbed a peddle from the sand and threw it into the water. Suddenly she heard a radio playing a song: 

If elephants could fly I’d be a little more optimistic 
But I don’t see that happening anytime soon 
I don’t mean to sound so pessimistic 
But I don’t think that cow really jumped over the moon 

When will I wake up? 
Why did we break up? 
When will we make up? 

When money grows on trees 
People leave in peace 
Everyone agrees 
When happiness is free 
Love can guarantee 
You’ll come back to me 
That’s when 

I’d love to wake up smiling, full of the joys of spring 
And hear on CNN that Elvis lives again 
And John’s back with the Beatles and they’re going out on tour 
I’ll be the first in line for tickets, gotta see that show for sure 

When will I wake up? 
Why did we break up? 
When will we make up? 

When money grows on trees 
People leave in peace 
Everyone agrees 
When happiness is free 
Love can guarantee 
You’ll come back to me 
That’s when

“Is that true? Will you EVER be mime again Ben?” 

***

Chapter 2 


Derek walked down the stairs just to see his brother lying on the floor, exhausted. 

“Hallo, brother dear” he greeted Ben. 

“You bloody bastard, what are you doing here?” 

“I just came to see how you were doing but I guess you are doing just fine” he kicked Ben at his stomach. 

“You’re sick, Derek. You’re crazy“ 

„Maybe“ Derek laughed ominously „But that’s what Maria and Meg love about me. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be sleeping with me” Derek knew exactly what to say to hurt Ben. He knew that finding out that Maria was sleeping with him would hurt Ben but not as much as the fact that his precious Meg was doing it too. Derek had to convince Ben that Meg was sleeping with him. Ben would never find out the truth – or so Derek thought. 

“Meg is not sleeping with you, bastard!” Ben shouted. 

“She’s not, you think. Well, think again” 

“You are not gonna make me believe that Meg has been sleeping with” 

“How can you be sure that she hasn’t?” 

“Because I know her” 

“Well, then maybe your little corny girl has changed” 

“She hasn’t” Ben didn’t hesitate even for a second. He knew that his sweet innocent Meg would never change. He knew that she will always stay the loving, compassionate woman she had always been. He just prayed every single day asking God to let him see his beautiful Meg again. 

“Maybe you’re right” Derek started thinking “She hasn’t changed much. She is still that passionate lover she was the first time we made love, you remember that, don’t you?” Derek smiled once again knowing how much pain he was causing his brother. 

“You son of a bitch!!!” Ben screamed and wanted to hit Derek but the chains stopped him. He felt the pain in his wrists. 

“Auuu, that hurt, didn’t it?” Derek laughed ironically “Didn’t I tell you not to try that? I did but you never listen to me” 

“I’m gonna kill you!” 

“Think again. You’re not gonna do anything to me. But I’m gonna do something to your little Meg, or she’s gonna do something to me. Depends on point of view” 

“If you touch her, I swear to God, I’m gonna kill you!!!” nothing hurt Ben more that a possibility of Meg and Derek making love. 

“Easy, easy brother” Derek was laughing as he kicked Ben once again “And just in case – Meg is very ticklish, isn’t she? So what are her most ticklish places?” 

“Go to hell Derek” Ben looked at his brother with anger in his eyes. 

“I’ve already been there” Derek laughed loudly “Nothing interesting” Derek started climbing the stairs “So long, brother” 

“I warn you one more time Derek, if you touch Meg…” 

“So what? What? Just save it Ben. If I want her, I will have her” with those words Derek disappeared behind the door. 

“Damn you Derek” Ben said to himself. He still could hear his brother’s words “If I want her, I will have her” he couldn’t let that happen. Not to his Meg. Not again. The thoughts whirled in his head and finally he screamed “Nooo!!!” his voice was heartbreaking and he had a tear rolling on his cheek. He couldn’t let Derek hurt Meg. He just couldn’t. He needed to save her, to hold her in his arms, to tell her that he loved her. He knew there were so many things for them to work out but he believed in love they shared. That was actually the only thing that kept him alive – the love for Meg. 

There’s an angel crying up in Heaven tonight 
And I’ve got the Devil in my heart 
Because I keep on saying things that I don’t mean 
And it’s tearing us apart 

There’s a wild wind blowing in the desert tonight 
Oh how I long to feel the rain 
And let it wash away those lonely tears 
And bring us back again 

Cause it’s a different world when I look into your eyes 
You’re the nearest thing that I have seen to Paradise 
And I know with you I will be in love forever 


There’s a stranger waiting deep in every heart 
To say the crazy things we say 
But I promise you he won’t be back 
To steal your dreams away 

So come up close and put your sweet hand in mine 
I’m going to hold you all night long 
And if you wake up I will be there 
To tell you that I love you 

Cause it’s a different world when I look into your eyes 
You’re the nearest thing that I have seen to Paradise 
And I know with you I will be in love forever

***

It was long after the sunset. Meg walked slowly towards Surf – Central. One more time she looked at Ben and Maria’s house. It used to be her home once. Used to be… She couldn’t get all the memories out of her head. But she knew she had to if she wanted to go on and build a life without Ben. 

She entered Surf – Central just to see Mark and Grace lying on the coach watching some movie. But actually, it was not the movie they were interested in. 

“Uuuups” Meg said loud “Sorry to interrupt” 

“It’s OK” Grace laughed as she saw confusion on Meg’s face “We’ll survive that, won’t we?” 

“Absolutely” Mark supported her. 

“Meg, are you OK?” Grace started more seriously. 

“I’m fine” she answered but all three of them knew that she wasn’t “I just think I need to go to bed and get some sleep. I’m pretty tired” 

“Well, if that’s what you need, then goodnight, I guess” Grace decided not to ask many more questions. 

“Goodnight” Meg answered and climbed the stairs. Then she bumped into another happy couple – Casey and Sara. They were kissing on the corridor outside Casey’s room. 

“Hi, you two” she greeted them. 

“Oh, hi Meg” they said feeling confused “We didn’t see you” 

“Well, obviously you were busy” she tried to smile. 

“Oh, oh we were” Casey smiled back. 

“Are you two OK?” Meg looked inquiringly at Sara and Casey. 

“Yes” Sara answered “As a matter of fact, we couldn’t be better” 

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Well…” Sara started explaining “We couldn’t get enough of each other and we decided to take off for a few days” 

“You mean like eloping?” Meg seemed pretty excited. 

“Yeah, something like that” Casey smiled “That is, if that’s OK with you, I mean, we don’t wanna leave you alone” 

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine” 

“Are you sure there is nothing we can do for you?” 

“No, no” Meg headed to her room but after a while she turned around and added “Actually, there is one thing” 

“Name it” 

“Just promise me that you will have a great time in… well, wherever it is that you’re going” 

“We promise” Casey and Sara answered nearly at the same time. 

“Good” Meg smiled “Goodnight” 

“Goodnight sis. Sweet dreams” 

“Thanks Sara. Same to you” Meg answered and appeared in her room. 

“Oh, I think I will have very sweet dreams dreams” said Sara kissing Casey. 

“I’ll make sure of that” Casey kissed her back. 

“And don’t forget what we promised Meg – that we will spend a wonderful time together. We won’t break that promise, will we?” 

“No way” Casey started kissing Sara’s lips and then, all of the sudden, his cell – phone rang. 

“Hello… yes, it’s me… can’t it wait… doest it have to be me… OK, I’ll be right back” when he hang up, Sara knew exactly what was going on. 

“So, I guess we will have to put off our evening” 

“I guess so. Look Sara, I’m really sorry but there are some problems at the beach and they need me” 

“I understand” Sara was pretty upset but she really understood. This was Casey’s work. 

“That’s good. Thank you very much. Listen, you go to sleep and have sweet dreams and I’ll go to the beach to see what’s up. And the first thing we do in the morning is leaving for San Fransisco, just like we planned. And then I’m all yours” Casey leaned and kissed Sara’s lips. 

“Well, I can’t wait” Sara smiled seductively. 

“I really have to go” said Casey still kissing Sara. 

“I know” she got upset but let go of him. 

“Goodnight sweetheart. I love you” he kissed her forehead. 

“I love you too” she answered and watched him going down the stairs. She had never felt so happy in her entire life. And she never felt so loved. If only her sister could solve her problems with Ben, everything would be just perfect. 


***

Derek came home very proud of himself – pretending to be Ben was easier than he thought – Maria had no idea who he really was, Grace felt that he was different but had no further suspicions. And the third one who would be able to ruin his plan, was so shaken off that she was not going out to figure out the truth. He was finally winning what was his. He was about to get his brother’s money and live happily ever after with the woman he loved or at least the woman who was the mother of his child. The child who would help him in getting all the money he desired. 

He sat on the sofa and started reading the newspaper. It was nearly midnight but Derek didn’t feel like going to sleep. He stood up and poured himself a drink but he didn’t even start drinking it as he saw Tess going down the stairs. 

“What are you doing here this late?” he asked “I thought you were asleep” 

“I was” Tess answered pouring herself a drink” but I woke up and I just don’t seem to be sleepy anymore” 

“Well, then I guess that makes the two of us” Derek smiled. 

“Are you complaining?” Tess asked seductively. 

“No, I’m not” Derek started kissing her neck. 

“You know, I was just thinking the same thing” Tess put her drink down. Derek started unbuttoning her dress. Tess seemed to like to very much but after a while she restrained herself. 

“No, Derek, we can’t” she pulled away. 

“Why, what’s wrong?” Derek seemed surprised. 

“What’s wrong?! Derek, Maria and Benjy are upstairs. What if any of them sees us. We don’t want it, now do we?” 

“I guess we don’t” Derek had to admit. 

“Then let’s just stop for now” 

“OK, but you have to give me one little kiss” Derek leaned and started kissing her passionately. She answered. Just then they heard Benjy’s voice. 

“Tess?! Daddy?! What are you doing? 

“Benjy?” Derek and Tess immediately pulled away from each other. 

“What are you doing here, sweetie?” asked Tess as she got closer to him. 

“I wanted to drink some water. I called mommy but she didn’t hear me so I decided to get some water on my own” 

“You are a very smart little boy” Tess hugged her son. 

“But Tess!!!” Benjy was nearly angry. 

“Yes sweetie?” 

“Why daddy was kissing you?” 

“Kissing me?” Tess pretended not to know what Benjy was talking about “Daddy wasn’t kissing me” 

“But he was” Benjy was even smarter than Tess thought. 

“OK” Tess decided to admit “We were kissing. But you know, it was not daddy kissing me. I was the one who kissed him. And you know why?” 

“No” 

“Because I was thanking him for being so good for me. I mean, he let me stay in his house so that I can take care of you. Isn’t that a reason to thank him?” 

“I guess so” Benjy wasn’t very sure of what he was saying. 

“Well, then now you understand why I was kissing daddy?” 

“I guess so” 

“Now, be a good boy and go to sleep” Tess grabbed Benjy’s hand “Come on, I’m gonna take you to your room” 

“But Tess. I want a drink” 

“Right” Tess remembered “That’s why you’re up, isn’t it? Just wait a minute. I’ll be right back” Tess disappeared in the kitchen and after a moment she was back with a glass of water in her hand “Come on, sweetie. Let’s get you to bed” 

“OK” Benjy answered and started climbing the stairs. When they reached his room, Tess set Benjy on the bed and started talking. 

“You know, you must be a very happy little boy. Now that your mommy and daddy are back together” 

“I am. I’m kind of glad that Meg is gone but I don’t understand why I had to say all those horrible things to her. She was nice to me” 

“Maybe she was pretending to be nice but she wasn’t” 

“How do you know?” Benjy didn’t understand. 

“Because she wants to send you away so that she can get back with your daddy. And we don’t know that, now do we?” 

“No, we don’t” 

“So you see – making Meg go away was the only way to make sure that your parents stay together” 

“Even if I had to lie about that man on the beach” 

“Yes Benjy, even if you had to lie. But now that your mommy and daddy are back together and you are a family, we have nothing to worry about” 

“I guess so” Benjy took the glass from Tess’s hand and drank the water. Tess stood up and headed the door. 
”Goodnight sweetie” 

“Goodnight Tess” she heard an answer and left the room. 

“Oh Gosh” she sighed with relief “That was close. Thank God it was Benjy who saw us and not Maria” 

***

Ben slowly lifted his head up. He stopped at his and Meg’s picture outside the Surf – Central. He looked at her beautiful smiling face. God, how he dreamed of seeing that smile of hers once again, and again, and again… He could look at that smile for hours and never get bored. But he hardly remembered the last time he had made Meg smile. It seemed that recently he was only making her cry. And he promised her on the day of their engagement that he would only cause the tears of the good kind. But he couldn’t keep that promise and that’s what hurt him the most… Once again he looked at the picture. God, how he wanted to see her, to hold her in his arms, to feel her shivering body by his side just like he used to. He wanted to kissed her lips, her neck, to smell her hair, to know that she is his. And he wanted to last it forever. He made a promise that would make that happen, that he would make Meg come back to him and never let her go away from him again. 

A candy coloured clown they can the sandman 
Tiptoes to my room every night 
Just to sprinkle star dust and to whisper 
“Go to sleep, everything is all right” 

I close my eyes and I drift away 
And to the magic night I softly say 
A silent prayer, like dreamers do 
Then fall asleep to dream my dreams of you 

In dreams I walk with you 
In dreams I talk to you 
In dreams you’re mine, all of the time 
We’re together in dreams, in dreams

But just before the dawn 
I awake and find you gone 
I can’t help it 
I can’t help it if I cry 
I remember when you said “Goodbye” 

It’s too bad that all these things 
Can only happen in my dreams 
Only in dreams 
In beautiful in dreams 
Only in dreams 
In beautiful dreams

Ben vowed that he would make sure that these things happen for real. 

***

Chapter 3 

The next day Meg woke up and looked at her picture with Ben on the shelve. She stood up and hid the photo to the drawer. She looked out of the window just to see the blue sky and shining sun. 

“Damn it” she thought and fell back on the bed. 

Why does the sun go on shining? 
Why does the sea rush to shore? 
Don’t they know it’s the end of the world? 
Cause you don’t love me anymore



Why do the birds go on singing? 
Why do the stars glow above? 
Don’t they know it’s the end of the world? 
It ended when I lost your love 


I wake up in the morning and I wonder 
Why everything is the same as it was 
I can’t understand, no I can’t understand 
How life goes on the way it does 

Why does my heart go on beating? 
Why do these eyes of mine cry? 
Don’t they know, it’s the end of the world? 
It ended when you said goodbye 
Don’t they know it’s the end of the world? 
It ended when you said goodbye

***

Meg was just unpacking new delivery. She had a really hard work to do at Sunset Sisters since Sara was gone. Just as she started thinking how to arrange things on the shelves, she saw Derek entering the shop. 

“Hi Meg” 

“Ben? What are you doing here?” Meg wasn’t very happy to see him. 

“Oh, I think you know exactly why I’m here” he smiled. 

“I don’t” Meg answered shortly “Why don’t you tell me” 

“Oh, I prefer to show you” said Derek and leaned to kiss her. 

“Don’t you dare” Meg pulled away. 

“Don’t dare what? Kiss the woman I love?” 

“Just save it Ben. You know, I have no idea why are you doing all this to me but I want you to stop this right now. 

“Oh, I don’t think I can ever stop loving you” 

“Well, you will have to because I have no intention of being the second woman in your life” 

“You’re not the second” Derek took Meg’s hand “You are the most important woman in my life” 

“Yeah” Meg laughed “And that’s why you are with Maria?” 

“It’s not my choice to be with her but we share a son and we have to be a family” 

“That’s right Ben, you have to build a family with Benjy and Maria” 

“But that won’t change the fact that I love you, not Maria” 

“She’s your wife” Meg reminded him of that sad fact (well, at least for her). 

“I don’t care about it” Derek answered. 

“But I do and I want you to leave my shop right now” 

“You can’t just throw me out of here” 

“Oh yes I can and I will and if you don’t get out of here this minute, I’m calling the police” 

“You won’t” Derek smiled and pulled Meg closer to him. He kissed her. 

“Leave me alone!” she shouted “Why can’t you just leave me alone for God’s sake?! Why are you doing this to me?!” 

“Because I love you” 

“Just stop it Ben, please” 

“I won’t. And you know what I think?” 

“I don’t and I don’t think I wanna know” 

“I think…” Derek continued not caring about what Meg had said “I think you don’t want me to stop. You just don’t want to admit it” 

“How dare you?! I want you…” Meg tried to say something but Derek stopped her. 

“You want me to kiss you, to touch you. That’s what you want me to do, isn’t it?” Meg could stand a lot but she couldn’t stand this. She slapped Derek right across the face. He looked at her with anger but then answered by kissing her. She tried to pull away but he held her even closer. He started kissing her more passionately and tried to unbutton her dress. Just as he was doing this, Grace came in and saw Meg trying to stop Derek. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Ben?” she asked. 

“Grace?” he got scared “What are you doing here?” 

“I could ask you the same question” 

“I was just…” 

“Oh, I know exactly what you were doing – you were attacking Meg once again. Ben, why are you doing this?” 

“You know, that’s really none of your business” Derek said with hardness in his voice. 

“You’re wrong” Grace objected “This is my business. I am your sister and you are doing things that hurt my friends and I’m not gonna let you do that” 

“I don’t need your permission for anything” 

“But maybe you need a restrain order” Meg lifted up the earphone but Derek stopped her. 

“Don’t bother. I’m going out” 

“I hope so” Meg looked icily at him and was watching him leaving the shop. 

“Are you OK?” Grace asked with concern in her voice. 

“I don’t know. I mean, I could somehow stand him telling me that he loved me but he has no right to treat me like that” 

“I know he hasn’t” Grace sighed and hugged her friend “Hey, it’s gonna be OK. Somehow” 

“I hope so. I just don’t know why Ben is doing all this” 

“Neither do I. Neither do I” the only person who knew the reason was Derek. He was finally getting his revenge. Not only had he his brother imprisoned and was about to get all his money but also he could revenge himself on Meg – the bitch who betrayed him with his own brother. He loved her and she had hurt him so much – she had chosen Ben over him. He couldn’t stand that. He was going to make sure that Ben and Meg would pay for what they’d done to him. 

“Can you please leave me alone for a moment?” Meg asked trying not to fall apart. 

“Sure, but are you going to be all right?” Grace asked with concern. 

“I’ll be OK” 

“Promise?” 

“I promise” Meg smiled. 

“Then bye. See you” 

“Bye” Meg answered and Grace disappeared behind the door. Meg stood at the shop staring at the wall. She could still feel the taste of Ben’s lips on hers. But it wasn’t the same taste she once used to feel. Something was different. Something was different about her Ben. But what? For a while she remained standing and thinking about the times she spent with Ben. 

I was all right for a while 
I could smile for a while 
But I saw you last night 
You held my hand so tight 
As you stopped to say “hello” 
Oh you wished me well 
You couldn’t tell that 

I’d been crying over you 
Crying over you 
When you said “so long” 
Left me standing all alone 
Alone and crying 
Crying, crying, crying, crying 


IIt’s hard to understand 
How the touch of your hand 
Can start me crying 
I thought that I was over you 
But it’s true, oh it’s true 
I love you even more 
Than I did before 
But darling what can I do? 
For you don’t love me 

And I’ll always be 
Crying over you 
Crying over you 
Yes, now you’re gone 
And from this moment on 
I’ll be crying, crying, crying, crying 
Yes, crying, crying over you

***

Meg and Grace came to Surf – Central, sat on the coach and turned on the TV. But neither of them could focus on what was on. Everything they could focus on was Ben’s (well, Derek’s) strange behaviour at Sunset Sisters. 

“Oh my God” Meg collapsed and was now lying on the sofa. She was furious, shaky and upset at the same time “You know, this time Ben really outdid himself” 

“Oh, oh he did” Grace was furious at her brother “Meg?” she asked looking seriously at her friend. 

“Yeah?” 

“I need to tell you something. You know, to be honest, when you first told me what Ben was doing, I didn’t believe. I didn’t want to. I thought that this was some kind of revenge on him and Maria. Meg, I’m sorry but that’s what I thought” 

“Well, there’s no wonder. I mean. Ben is your brother” 

“Yeah, and I couldn’t believe what you were saying about him. But on the other hand, you were my friend and I knew you and I knew you were not a kind of person to play some sick games, even to win the man you love” 

“That really means a lot to me” Meg smiled “I’m really lucky to have a friend like you” 

“Meg, don’t…” 

“No, I mean it. I… “ Meg didn’t finish because the phone rang. Grace answered. 

“Hallo. It’s Surf – Central. Grace Evans speaking” 

“Oh, hi Grace” she heard Vanessa’s voice. 

“Hi Vanessa, what’s up?” 

“Not much” Vanessa answered but after a while she corrected herself “Actually a lot” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I’m in very good mood and I was just wondering if I can share my good mood with you. I was thinking about girlie evening or something like that” 

“Oh, I think I don’t have anything to do so I’ll be right back” 

“That’s great. I’ve already called Gabi, she will come too. I just need to ask Meg. Can you give her to me?” 

”There’s no need. She’s downstairs and she heard our conversation. We’ll come together” 

“Great, so see you in a few minutes” 

“See you” Grace hang up. 

“Oh Gosh” Meg said “Vanessa always knows exactly what I need. That girlie evening sounds like fun?” 

“For me too. Besides maybe it will help you in forgetting about everything that’s been going on lately” 

“I hope so” Meg sighed. 

“Don’t worry. It’s all gonna work out” Grace comforted her “Come on. We don’t wanna be late” They left Surf – Central having written a short note to let Mark where they were. They were walking in silence breathing the refreshing air and watching the sunset. 

“It’s incredible” Meg admired the view. 

“I know. That’s one of the reasons I love Sunset Beach so much” 

“Are there any others?” 

“Well” Grace laughed “Mark is living here…” 

“OK OK, I get it” Meg started laughing “But I guess that should be the main reason” 

“Maybe it is” Grace smiled mysteriously. 

Since they didn’t want to drive the car, getting to Vanessa’s apartament took them nearly half an hour. Gabi was already there and she opened the door. 

“Hey guys” she hugged Meg and Grace. 

“Hi” they answered “Sorry for being late but the evening was so beautiful that we decided to have a walk” 

“That’s OK” Vanessa said “You didn’t miss anything” 

“So, what to we do?” Grace got pretty excited. 

“And what do we usually do during our girlie evenings?” 

“Nothing” Grace laughed. 

“Exactly. And that’s what we’re gonna be doing tonight” explained Vanessa “Come on” she lead the way to her bedroom. Gabi, Meg and Grace entered the room. Vanessa told them to feel comfortable and put a champagne on the table. 

“So, what are we celebrating?” asked Meg. 

“My wedding” 

“But from what I know, your wedding is in a month” Meg looked questioningly at Vanessa. 

“Exactly. There’s only one month and four days left” 

“Oh, I get it” Meg laughed “Now everything is clear” she added and after a while the whole room was fool of laughter. 

“Oh, this is going to be a wonderful wedding” Grace raved. 

“Well, you don’t have to tell me” Vanessa laughed “Gosh, I’ve dreamed about this day for such a long time. I can’t wait to become Mrs. Bourne” 

“Just one month and four days” Gabi comforted her “And your dream will become a reality” 

“You know, I stopped believing in dreams a long time ago” Meg sighed. 

“Hey, come on” Grace took a short look in the mirror “Every woman dreams about a big wedding with the man she loves” 

“Maybe” Gabi smiled “But we definitely don’t have luck for weddings. Just look at me – I left Ricardo at the altar” 

“Well, that wouldn’t be something I haven’t done” Meg laughed despite the fact that a memory of finding out about Tim and Connie wasn’t funny at all “And don’t forget” she continued “that I had not one, but two weddings, not to mention almost elopings. I mean, I’m an expert in weddings that never happened. You know, I think I’m cursed” 

“Come on Meg, stop kidding” Grace, Gabi and Vanessa laughed. 

“I’m not. I mean, everytime I had a little happiness, something just had to happen to ruin everything. And I just can’t stop wondering if I’m ever going to be happy. I mean, really happy” 

“You will be” Vanessa was sure “Just as soon as you and Ben get back together” 

“Oh no! Forgetting about Ben is the first step to my happiness” 

‘Meg…” 

“No, I mean it. I have to forget about Ben and what he has done to me and what he is still doing” 

“You mean these sick games he plays with you and Maria?” Vanessa guessed perfectly. 

“Exactly. I mean, this Ben doesn’t even remind the Ben I used to know. The Ben I fell in love with” 

“Don’t tell me” Grace sighed “Ben seems to be so distant. I hardly recognize him” 

“Well, finding out that he had a son has change him” Meg seemed to have an answer but she wasn’t very convinced about what she was saying. 

“Still, that’s not an excuse for his behaviour” said Gabi. 

“I know. I’m just trying to find some explanation or I’ll go crazy. But to be honest with you, I already am going crazy" not only was she going crazy but she was crazy – about Ben. But she missed the old Ben, the Ben she used to know from the Internet. Where was he? Well, little did she know – he was imprisoned in the old warehouse by his twin brother Derek. She also didn’t know that he was thinking about her just as often as she was thinking about him. And she didn’t know how many times he dreamed about being with her – making love to her or just holding her in his arms, knowing that she’s close to him. How many times he imagined those beautiful blue eyes he could get lost in. No, he couldn’t let Derek destroy his and Meg’s life. They were supposed to be together and he was going to make sure that this happens. 

***

Chapter 4 

Meg was sitting on the sofa in Cummings’ living room and watching her mom bustling in the kitchen. After a moment Joan appeared in the living room caring a huge tray of cookies. 

“Your favourite” Joan placed the tray in front of Meg’s nose. 

“Mom” Meg laughed. 

“What?” 

“What are they for?” 

“What do you mean?” asked Joan surprised “So, now a mother can’t even bake cookies for her daughter?” 

“Of course she can. But I know you and I know that you love baking when you’re upset” 

“Well, I can’t help it. I’m worried about you” 

“Why?” asked Meg although she knew exactly what her mom was talking about. 

“Because of Ben. He’s not leaving you alone, is he?” 

“No. And I don’t know what to do about it” 

“I think you should let Maria know what’s going on” Joan advised. 

“I don’t know, I mean, Maria loves Ben, she won’t believe me. She’ll think that I’m trying to come between Ben and her” 

“Sweetie, Maria knows you. She knows that you would never do anything to hurt anyone” 

“Mom, it’s not that simple” Meg knew that her relationship with Maria wasn’t exactly so pure. 

“Still I think you should tell her” 

“Do you really believe that this is going to do any good?” 

“Well, I don’t know that. But I do know that you will feel better when you tell Maria the truth” 

“You know” Meg was thinking for a while “You might be right” Meg stood up and headed the door. 

“Where are you going sweetie?” 

“I’m going over to Ben’s to talk to Maria” Meg stormed of the Cummings’ house. 

***

Maria was really surprised to see Meg in her house. 

“Meg? What are you doing here?” 

“Maria, we need to talk” Meg explained still a little bit insecure of what she was intending to do. 

“Come in” Maria let her in “Do you want anything to drink?” 

“No, thanks” Meg refused and started talking “Listen Maria, you might not like what I want to tell you but we used to be friends and I feel that I owe you that much. I need to tell you what’s going on” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, it’s about Ben” Meg started, still hesitating. 

“What about him?” Maria seemed to be interested. 

“Haven’t you noticed that he’s been acting very strange lately?” 

“No, not really” Maria didn’t seem to have any idea of what Mag was talking about “What do you mean?” 

“Well, it’s just that he is very unlike the Ben I used to know” 

“What are you talking about?” Maria was surprised. 

“Maria, I’ll be honest with you. At first I didn’t want to tell you this but then I felt like I had to” 

“Tell me what?” 

“Maria, I know you’ll hate me for that but… Ben has been coming around telling me that he still loves me” 

“Excuse me?!” Maria was shocked. 

“I know this sounds a little bit unbelievably…” 

“Unbelievably?!” Maria was furious “How dare you come here and tell me such things about Ben” 

“Look, I know it’s not a pleasant thing to hear but it’s true. Ben has been coming to the shop, to Surf – Central, to my parents’ house telling me that he can’t forgot about me. Today at the shop… well… he kissed me” 

“How dare you” 

“Maria, just listen to me…” 

“No, you listen to me. I want you to get out of my house right now” 

“Maria…” 

“No, not one more world” Maria stopped her and after a while she continued “You know, I thought you were my friend” 

“I am. That’s why I’m here” 

“Telling me all those made up stories about Ben? Ben made up very clear that he wanted to be with me. I thought that you could let go of him, but apparently you can’t. But you won’t ruin my life with Ben and our son” 

“I’m not trying to, Maria” 

“Yes you are” Maria shouted “You are so furious that he left you that you would do anything to win him back” 

“That’s not about winning back. That’s about the truth” 

“What truth? The truth that exists only in your mind. You know what? I want you to stay away from my husband” 

“Maria, don’t you understand?” Meg nearly cried “Ben is the one who can’t stay away” 

“Just stop it” Maria looked at Meg with anger “You are not gonna make me believe that” 

“Just listen to me” Meg asked. 

“No” Maria protested “I won’t. And I want you to get out of here right now, you lying bitch!!!” and when she saw that Meg wasn’t moving, she replied “I said right now” 

“Fine” Meg headed the door “But you are gonna be sorry that you didn’t believe me” Meg went out of Ben’s house bumping into Grace. 

Grace went inside and saw Maria furious. 

“Maria, what’s wrong?” she asked “Did something happen?” 

“You bet it did” 

“What do you mean?” Grace didn’t understand. 

“You won’t believe it” Maria sat on the sofa. 

“Believe what?” 

“Meg was here…” 

“So I’ve noticed” Grace laughed. 

“That’s not funny!” Maria shouted “She told me that Ben keeps telling her that he still loves her. And that he kissed her. Can you believe that she would make up something like that to break up Ben and me?” 

“Maria, she’s not making it up” 

“What?” 

“She’s telling the truth. I saw it with my own two eyes. Today, at the shop, Ben really kissed her” 

“Why are you doing this to me?” Maria cried “I thought you were my friend. But even you are against me” 

“Maria, please” 

“No, just leave me alone” 

“OK. But don’t do this to Meg. You know, you are hurting her by not believing her” 

“No, she is the one hurting me telling me all these things” 

“She’s telling you the truth” Grace one more time tried to convince Maria but seeing that it won’t do any good, she went upstairs to her room. 


***

Maria was sitting in the living room, waiting for Derek (she thought Ben) to come home. She wanted to confront him about Meg. She still couldn’t believe that Meg would say all those terrible things about Ben just to ruin their lives… 

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Derek coming into the house. 

“Hello, sweetheart” he leaned to kiss her but she pulled away. 

“Don’t” she said. 

“Maria, what’s wrong?” 

“Why don’t you tell me?” she “ordered”. 

“What are you talking about?” he seemed surprised. 

“Meg came by to talk to me” Maria explained but Derek still didn’t seem to know what she was talking about. She paused for a moment “She told me that you keep going after her telling her that you still love her” 

“What?” Derek perfectly pretended to be surprised. 

“Yes, she told me that you couldn’t let go of her” 

“I don’t believe it” he laughed “She really outdid herself this time” 

“What do you mean?” Maria didn’t seem to understand. 

“If there’s anyone who can’t let go it’s her” 

“Are you saying that she was lying?” 

“Of course she was lying. How could you even for a second think that she was telling the truth? She is the one coming around and telling me she can’t forget about me” 

“Is that the truth?” Maria didn’t really know what to believe. 

“Of course. Look, Meg is so angry that I left her that she would do anything to break us up. But we won’t let her, will we?” 

“No, of course we won’t Ben” Maria kissed him “I’m sorry I doubted you” 

“It’s OK” Derek stroked her hair and kissed her “I’m just glad we’ve come to an agreement” 

“I am too” Maria answered and soon the two of them got lost in each other. They both were so happy – Maria because her dreams were coming true and Derek because he was so damn good in pretending to be Ben. 

***

Chapter 5 

“Casey Mitchum, you are too much” said Sara as Casey was finishing lightning candles in their hotel room in San Fransisco. 

“Nothing is too good for you, sweetheart” he put the matches on the table and started kissing her passionately. 

“You know, Casey, going away to San Fransisco was a really great idea” 

“I think so too” Casey smiled. 

“You know, when I think of all the things I did to keep you away from Meg. Now it seems so stupid and silly… And if it wasn’t…” 

“Sara, Sara, Sara” he stopped her “We’ve been through all this before and we’ve come clear with each other” 

“Yeah, but I nearly ruined everything between us” 

“That’s right – nearly” Casey smiled, kissed her and continued “And as a matter of fact I have something very important to tell you “ 

“Which is?” 

“Well, when my former girlfriend Rae left sunset Beach I thought that I would never be able to love anyone or trust anyone again. But then you came along and the first minute I saw you, I knew that there would be something between us. A big something. And I wasn’t wrong” he looked lovingly into her eyes “Yes, I know there were some misunderstandings between us but we’ve solved all problems and now there is nothing standing in the way of our future” 

“But why are you telling me all this?” Sara asked surprised. 

“Because I just want you to know how much you mean to me and how much I love you. And that I want to spend the rest of my life with you” Case knelt and put a small box out of his pocket. 

“Casey, are you doing what I think you’re doing?” Casey didn’t answer but just looked straight into Sara’s eyes and pulled the ring out. 

“Sara Cummings, will you marry me?” Sara had a tear rolling on her cheek. 

“Casey, I don’t know what to say…” 

“Just one word” 

“Yes, yes, yes!!!” Sara screamed “Yes, Casey Mitchum, I will marry you” 

“Are you serious?” Casey looked at her questioningly. 

“Absolutely” 

“You’re not kidding?” 

“No, I’m not silly. I will marry you” 

“Then let me make it official” Casey put the ring on Sara’s finger. 

“I can’t believe it” Sara was extremely happy “We’re getting married. You have no idea how much I wanted to be your wife” 

“And you have no idea how much I wanted to go to sleep knowing that I’m gonna wake up next to you” he stood up and kissed her. 

“I love you Casey” 

“I love you too, Mrs. Mitchum to be” he kissed her once again and they fell on the bed… 

Out on the water I can hear them call 
I feel the rhythm inside of me 
This is the moment I’ve been waiting for 
When I’m hearing the drums in the night 
When I’m seeing the river of light 


Out on the water it’s another world 
I feel the power inside of me 
The flame is here and now it has to burn 
You can live but you cannot survive 
And it’s something you cannot deny 

To the waiting heart – this waiting heart 
To the waiting heart – this waiting heart 

Oh, I’m holding on, I’m just holding on 
Holding on 
Holding on, I’m just holding on 
Holding on 

And maybe tonight, tonight I’ll go 
I’ll go down to the river where my love will be 
This time, this time I know 
She will lay down beside me, cause everything comes 


Chapter 6 

It was half past eleven. Maria woke up just to see that “Ben” wasn’t in bed. 

“Where could he be?” she thought to herself “Well, maybe he just wanted a drink” she decided and went out of the room. She started quietly going down the stairs not to wake Benjy up. Besides, she wanted to surprise Ben downstairs. But I guess she was more surprised that anyone could ever be. She couldn’t believe what she saw – Derek (or as she thought Ben) and Tess were lying on thr coach hugging. 

“I can’t believe they all are such a fools” said Tess laughing. 

“Yeah, I mean I made everyone believe that I was Ben” Derek added “Even my own sister. Can you believe that? Or what about dear Meg? Still wondering what’s going on with her beloved Ben” Maria was stunned and shocked. 

“Oh my God, it’s Derek!” she thought and started listening to the conversation. 

“It was easier than I thought” said Derek. 

“Yeah, thanks to your brilliant plan to make Ben and Maria believe that they were Benjy’s parents” 

“That was not difficult. They are so stupid” Derek paused for a moment “But that’s not the point here. Soon, we will have everything we deserve and we will live happily ever after with our son” 

“I can’t wait” Tess started kissing Derek passionately. 

“Our son?” Maria thought to herself “Oh my God, Benjy is not mine and Ben’s, he is Tess’s and Derek’s. Oh my God… I need to do something” she turned away but soon she was attracted by another part of the conversation. 

“Derek, do you really think that they will never find out what happened to Tim?” 

“Don’t worry, my dear “Derek smiled ominously “The police will never find out that we helped our sweet Tim to disappear” 

“You are a genius, Derek “ 

“I know” he said very self – confident. Maria was still standing on the stairs frightened. 

“I have to do something quick” she thought rubbing the tears from her cheeks “I’ll call Ricardo” she turned away but her leg slipped away and Derek and Tess found out that she was there. 

“Look who we have here” Derek climbed the stairs and grabbed Maria’s hand “Oh, no, not so fast my dear” 

“So I guess now you know our little secret, do you?” Tess looked Maria straight in the eyes. 

“How could you do this?!” Maria cried. 

“That’s a long story. There’s no time for that. Now, we’re gonna take you to one, very specific place” 

“No!” Maria screamed. 

“Shut up!” Derek squeezed her hand but it was too late. Maria did what she wanted to do. She woke Grace up. Grace went down the stairs and saw the uncommon scene. 

“What’s going on here? Tess? Ben?” She looked at them. 

“That’s not Ben!” Maria screamed “It’s Derek!” Grace looked at her brother. 

“Derek?” 

“In a flesh” he smiled “So, aren’t you gonna give me a hug” he came closer and received exactly what he deserved – a slap across the face. 

“You bastard!” Grace screamed. 

“That’s enough ladies” Derek looked at Maria and Grace “We’re taking you to your new home. I’m sure you’re gonna like it” 

“We?” Grace was surprised “Does that mean…?” 

“Yes” Maria answered “Derek and that witch Tess are working together” 

“Oh my God” that’s everything what Grace was able to say at that moment. 

“Don’t you oh my God me here” Tess pushed Grace “Move it!” Derek took the gun from the cupboard and pointed at them. 

“Didn’t you hear what she said?” 

“OK, OK” Grace and Maria decided to do exactly what they would be told to. They knew that Derek was not kidding. 

“Where are you taking us?” asked Maria as she and Grace were pushed to the car. 

“As I said” Derek replied “We are going to your new home” 

They were driving a car for about fifteen minutes and then Derek told them to get off, still pointing the gun on them. He showed them the way to the old warehouse and ordered them to go in. 

“You’re not gonna get away with that, Derek” Grace warned him “They are going to look for us. And they will find us. And then, you’re dead” 

“Shut up, sis!” he shouted “Sit down!” Grace and Maria did what he told them to. He tied them up and turned to Tess “You stay here darling and make sure they won’t go anywhere. I’ll call you to tell you to come back when I’m ready, OK?” 

“OK” Tess took the gun from Derek and watched him going away. 

“You will pay for this Tess!” Maria shouted. 

“Oh, I don’t think so” Tess smiled. 

“You will pay for what you’ve done to my… to Benjy” 

“That’s right. Don’t forget that he is my son” 

“”Excuse me?” Grace interposed “What are you talking about?” 

“My son, as you’ve heard” 

“What do you mean your son? Benjy is… 

“My son” Tess ended the sentence “Mine and Derek’s” 

“Oh my God” Grace sighed “It was all a part of your sick plan” 

“What a smart girl you are” Tess laughed. 

“Why did you do that? Why? Just to hurt Ben?” 

“No!” Tess screamed “To make him pay for what he had done to Derek” 

“And what would that be? What did Ben do to Derek” 

“He made him feel miserable all his life. Ben was always the good one, noone paid attention to Derek” 

“That’s because he was a bastard even in high school. He was always sick and twisted” 

“Don’t you dare say that about the man I love!” 

“Love!?” Grace laughed “I don’t think you know the meaning of the word. You are not capable of loving even your own son” 

“I love Benjy!” Tess protested. 

“You don’t know how to love. You only use people. You even used five years old innocent boy to get what you want. Is that what you call love? I don’t think so. And you know what? Let me tell you one thing – Maria loved Benjy more during the last few months that you loved him his entire life” 

“You know, you better shut up, or I will shut you up” Tess pointed the gun at Grace. 

“Yeah?” this time Maria spoke “Just like you shut Tim up?” 

“Oh God!” Grace nearly cried “You killed Tim?! What else have you done?” Grace asked not sure if she really wanted to hear an answer. 

“That’s none of your business” 

“Tess, just tell me one thing” Maria asked “How did you make me forget about what happened?” 

“Oh, that was not so difficult” she smiled “You won’t believe what a little needle can do” 

“You drugged me?” Maria was shocked. 

“Give her a price” Tess laughed once again “ I would have never though you would be so smart” 

“You are sick witch, you know that!?” 

“Maybe” Tess smiled “But soon I will be the richest sick witch in the world” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“If you were smart, you would have figured it out” Tess started explaining “Just as soon as you two and Ben are taken care of, Benjy will inherit all the money. And we will take very good care of that money” 

“You won’t do that! You won’t!” Grace looked icily at Tess. 

“Oh, oh, and who’s going to stop me?” 

“The police is. They will figure out what’s going on” 

“The police is stupid. They won’t figure out anything” Tess smiled and all three of them heard Tess’s cell phone “Excuse me” she smiled ironically “Hello” 

“Hi, it’s me” she heard Derek’s voice “You can come home” 

“I’m on my way” she answered, hang up and turned to Grace and Maria “I’m really sorry but I need to go. I hope you can forgive me” she smiled and opened the door “So long” she disappeared behind the door. 

“Oh Gosh” Grace sighed “I can’t believe this is happening” 

“Well at least I know that Meg was telling the truth about Ben… I mean Derek. I’m sure he was playing games with the two of us” 

“I’m so sorry, Maria” 

“Me too, me too” she answered and sighed “I just hope Ben is OK” 

“He is” Grace assured “If anything was wrong, I would feel it” 

“Meg would too” Maria said admitting that the THING between Ben and Meg was stronger than she thought “She knows him better than I ever have” 

“Well, let’s just hope that Derek won’t hurt either of them” 

“Yes, I guess hoping and praying are the only things we have left right now” 

Chapter 7 


Mark put up the earphone and dialed Grace’s cell phone number. She didn’t answer. He decided to call her on her home number. 

“Hello, Ben Evans speaking” he heard a voice. 

“Hi Ben. It’s me, Mark. Look, I was trying to get in touch with Grace but she doesn’t answer her cell phone” 

“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” 

“Tell me what?” Mark was surprised. 

“Grace and Maria went out of town for a few days. They wanted to take a rest” 

“A rest? The day before Thanksgiving?” 

“Don’t ask me” Derek laughed. 

“Didn’t they leave any phone number or address?” 

“No, I’m sorry, they didn’t” 

“Well, then if they call, ask Grace to cantact with me” 

‘Sure” 

“Thanks, bye” Mark put the earphone down and started thinking “That’s strange. Why would Maria and Grace leave? It’s the day before Thanksgiving. Don’t they want to be with their families for Thanksgiving? Especially Maria, now that she and Ben are back together, doesn’t she want to spend the Thanksgiving with him? And Grace? We had a special evening planned? Why did she go away? What the hell is going on?” Mark decided to check it out and headed to Ben’s house. After a few minutes he was there. He saw Derek, Tess and Benjy leaving the house. 

“Hi” he greeted them. 

“Hi, any problems?” asked Derek. 

“As a matter of fact – yes. I left something the last time I was here and I really need it right now” 

“OK, but we’re in a hurry” said Derek handing Mark a key “Here, take it. Go inside and take what you need. You can give it back to me at the Deep” 

“Thanks” Mark took they key and went inside. He went straight to Grace’s room. He instinctively opened her wardrobe – it seemed that all her clothes and a travel bag were in the right place. He went to the bathroom – all her cosmetics were there. “What the hell is going on?” he thought “Grace left everything here. That just doesn’t sum up. It doesn’t”. He went to Ben’s room hoping that he would find something there. At first he thought that he didn’t but then he noticed a small sheet of paper lying on the floor. He read aloud “South Avenue 173… South Avenue… South Avenue… I’ve heard that before… Oh, I know – it’s about fifteen minutes from here. But that’s a street of old warehouses. What would Ben be doing there?” He didn’t know but he intended to find out. 

***

Meg was sitting on the coach at Surf – Central thinking about Ben. Just as she was about to decide whether to confront him or not, the phone rang. 

“Hello, it’s Surf – Central” she answered. 

“Meg? It’s me Sara” she heard her sister’s voice. 

“Oh, hi Sara. How are you doing?” 

“Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m doing absolutely wonderful!” Sara was nearly shouting. 

“OK, OK, just a little bit more quiet, all right?” Meg laughed. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just so excited” 

“About what?” Meg got pretty excited herself. 

“First, you’d better sit down” Sara ordered. 

“Is it that serious?” 

“And much, much more” Sara screamed again. 

“Are you going to tell me why you are so happy?” 

“Casey and I are engaged!” Sara shouted. 

“Excuse me?” Meg wasn’t sure if she heard it right “What did you just say about you and Casey?” 

“We’re engaged!!!” 

“Oh my God, Sara, that’s wonderful!” 

“I know, I know. On Meg, I’m so happy” Sara was getting more and more excited. 

“That’s no wonder. I mean, Casey is a terrific guy” 

“You’re telling me?” Sara smiled. 

“Have you told mom and dad?” 

“Yes, I have. They were very happy for me and Casey” 

“So am I, so am I. Oh, congratulations, sis!“ 

“Thanks, but tell me how are things going in Sunset Beach?” 

“As usual. Ben is still acting so strange but I guess I should get used to it right now” 

“I’m really sorry that things didn’t work out for you and Ben” 

“I’m sorry too” Meg rubbed a tear from her eye. 

“Look, Meg, I’ve gotta go. Casey and I…” 

“I know, I know” Meg smiled “That’s your time. Just have a wonderful Thanksgiving” said Meg remembering the wonderful Thanksgiving she and Ben had last year in Santa Barbara. 

“You too” 

“Bye Sara, I love you” 

“I love you too” Sara replied and hang up. Meg sighed and remembered how Ben proposed to her. First a gondola ride, then romantic French dinner and then finally he said those words “Meg Cummings, will you marry me?” Why couldn’t it just stay that way – Ben, her and their love. No, it couldn’t. First Maria had to show up, and then Benjy. And her whole life was ruined. The life she didn’t even know if she was going to get back. 


*** 

Mark turned into the South Avenue. He had no difficulties in finding number 173. He noticed that the door was locked by a quite big padlock. He knocked the door. 

“Did you hear that?” Maria nearly jumped. Mark turned into the South Avenue. He had no difficulties in finding number 173. He noticed that the door was locked with a quite big padlock. He knocked the door. 

“Did you hear that?” Maria nearly jumped. 

“Yes” Grace answered and started screaming “Hell, is anyone there?!” 

“Grace?” she heard Mark’s voice. 

“Oh my God, it’s Mark” she smiled “Mark, Mark, we’re here!” 

“We?” Mark was surprised “What’s going on here?” 

“Derek locked Maria and me because we found out about him and Tess” 

“Derek? Him and Tess? I think there is something I don’t understand here” 

“Then listen” Grace answered and started explaining Mark everything just as he was trying to destroy the padlock. She told him about Derek’s and Tess’s sick plan to ruin Ben’s life, how they kept Maria in Seattle and drugged her and how Tess showed up at Ben’s doorstep claiming to be reuniting a family while what she was really doing, was destroying Ben’s life with Meg. 

“I think I’ve got it” said Mark as she was still pulling the padlock. 

“Just hurry up” 

“I am” he said still jerking the door. After a moment the door was open. Mark saw Grace and Maria tied up on the floor. He started untying them. 

“Not so fast, boy scout!” they heard Derek’s voice “How stupid it was of me to give you the key” 

“Derek, you bastard!” Mark wanted to hit him but he saw the gun in Derek’s hand. 

“Don’t even try” he handed the gun to Tess who just came in the door “Hold it for a moment , my dear” as soon as he got rid of the gun, he hit Mark. Mark fell on the floor, hitting his head on the wall. He became unconscious. Derek took his cell phone “You won’t need it” 

“Oh my God!” Grace screamed “What have you done?! Mark?” she tried to get closer to him but Tess stopped her. 

“Stay where you are!” 

“Mark” Grace whispered once again as Derek was tying him up “Mark, are you OK?” 

“Shut up!” Derek squeezed her hand. She felt a real pain. He tied her up again. 

“You’re gonna pay for this!” she screamed as he and Tess were leaving the warehouse with an ominous smiles on their faces. 

“Ben is the one who is going to pay” 

“If you hurt him, I swear to God, I’ll kill you!!!” Grace screamed once again but Derek and Tess were already gone. Grace once again turned to Mark “Mark, Mark, do you hear me? Please, answer me. Are you OK?” Grace looked at him but he didn’t move “Oh my God, Mark. Tell me that Derek didn’t hurt you, please…” Mark started to wake up. 

“Grace, Grace, where are you?” 

“I’m here. I’m right here” she answered waiting for Mark to notice her. When he did, he asked: 

“Are you OK?” 

“I’m the one who should be asking you. How are you feeling? How is your head? Did Derek hurt you?” 

“No, no, I’m fine. How are you Maria?” he turned to her and sat. 

“Physically I’m OK. I just can’t believe this is happening” 

“Neither can I” Mark still couldn’t believe that the who tried to kill him once was still alive and doing his evil tricks again. 

“But how did you find us?” 

“I couldn’t get in touch with Grace so I called Ben, I mean Derek and asked him if he knew where she was. He told me that you went out of town…” 

“Yeah, right!” Grace interposed “To spend the Thanksgiving on Sahara” she laughed. 

“That’s exactly what I thought. That’s why I went to your house and found out that all your and Maria’s things were there. That made me really suspicious. And then I found a small piece of paper with an address on it and I decided to check it out. Thank God I did” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say so” Grace didn’t agree “Now we’re stuck in here and we can’t do anything” 

‘We can. We just have to get out of here and stop Derek before he hurts anyone” 

“You’re right, but how are we going to get out of here?” Mark started untying himself: 

“I know it’s not a very interesting occupation but we have to try to untie ourselves” 

“We know” Grace and Maria replied and started doing what Mark told them to. 


***

Meg called Mark but he didn’t answer his cell phone. Neither did Grace. 

“Come on guys, where are you? What about the Thanksgiving dinner? We were supposed to help mom to prepare it” since Sara and Casey was gone, Michael and Vanessa had some plans on their own, Joan and Hank decided to invite Mark for the dinner. Mark asked Grace to come with him. She agreed and today they were supposed to be preparing the food “Where are you?” Meg repeated her question as if hoping that this time she would get an answer. 

“Where is who?” she heard Michael’s voice. 

“Oh, I’m just worried about Mark and Grace. We were supposed to help my parents with the dinner for tomorrow but they are nowhere to be found” 

“Well, maybe they just needed some time alone to… you know” Michael smiled. 

“That’s what I thought but wouldn’t just stand me up like this, would they?” 

“No, I guess nit. They are not that kind of people” 

“Exactly. If they wanted to be alone, they would have told me about it. But I have no idea where they are.” 

“Call Ben” Michael advised “He should know where Grace is… If you want, I can call” 

“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks Michael” 

“No problem” he smiled and went away. Meg dialed Ben’s number. 

“Hello” she heard Derek’s voice. 

“Hi, it’s me…” 

“Oh, I knew you would change your mind” 

“Look, I don’t have time for this” Meg was angry “I’m looking for Grace, maybe you can tell me where she is?” 

“Grace went out of town for a few days” Derek started his story. 

“What do you mean she went out of town? A day before Thanksgiving?!” 

“Well, that was her decision” 

“What decision?” Meg was surprised “To leave her family and friends for Thanksgiving? That’s insane!” 

“You’re telling me? I didn’t make her go away” Derek laughed. 

“I think you did” she thought to herself “Somehow” 

“Thanks. Bye” she said quickly and hang up. “Something strange is going on here” she dialed her parents’ number hoping that maybe Grace and Mark are already there. 

“Hi mom, it’s me Meg” 

“Oh, hi sweetie” Joan was pleased to hear her daughter’s voice “Is something wrong? Why aren’t you here with us? 

“Actually, I’m looking for Grace and Mark. There is no sign of them. I thought that maybe they already are at your place” 

“No, I’m sorry, they’re not here yet” 

“Then I’m going to look for them. I’ll be a little late, OK?” 

“OK, sweetheart. See you later” 

“Bye mom” Meg hang up and made a call to Vanessa but she told her that she hadn’t heard from Mark and Grace. Then Meg called the Deep but Roger didn’t see Mark either “What the hell is going on?” Meg was wondering. It was getting late and she was starting to worry. She didn’t know why but she felt that Ben (I mean Derek) was the key to this mystery. 


***

“Oh God! We will never do that!” Grace was mad. She had been trying to untie herself all day but it didn’t work. 

“Hey, don’t give up” Mark was trying to comfort her “That’s the only thing we have left” 

“He is right” Maria supported him “We need to keep trying” 

“Just be strong, OK?” Mark looked at Grace. 

“No, I can’t be strong knowing that Derek has imprisoned Ben God knows where (in the cellar of this warehouse, sweetie – author’s note) And I’m sure he is going to hurt Meg. I’m worried about them” 

“I know. I am too, but we have to keep trying… you know…” 

“I know, I know” Grace smiled through tears and continued her occupation although she knew she was too weak to finish it. 


Chapter 8 

Ben was sleeping dreaming of Meg. He imagined that they were in Venice, taking a gondola ride. That he was holding her in his arms, telling her how much he loves her and how much he had missed her. He saw that beautiful smile of hers again and he looked into those beautiful, blue eyes… 

When Derek was kicking him, he could still feel the sweetness of Meg’s lips on his. 

“Wake up!” Derek shouted. 

“What do you want now?” Ben was furious. 

“Nothing. I was just enjoying the view” 

“You are sick!” 

“Where did I hear that before?” Derek smiled “Oh, right, our dear sister told me that yesterday” 

“Grace?!” Ben’s heart jumped “What have you done to her?” 

“Oh, don’t worry, she is in good hands. Besides, she has Mark and Maria to take care of her” 

“You’ve imprisoned them all” Ben was shocked. 

“They were to nosy, if you know what I mean” Derek laughed. 

“If you hurt either of them , you’ll pay!” 

“No, you will pay if you don’t shut up!” 

“I’m not going to shut up! And I’m not gonna sit here and let you hurt the people I love” 

“You know brother” Derek started after a while “You really should decide which lady you love, because, you see, they are both drooling over you all the time” 

“Just shut up, Derek!” 

“Don’t worry, I’m out of here” he said and went upstairs. Suddenly he heard the knock on the door. 

“Who the hell is that?” he thought. Little did he know, it was Meg who had been following him all morning and she wanted to know what was it about – Ben in a place like this. When he opened the door, he was shocked. 

“Meg? What are you doing here?” 

“I could ask you the same question” said Meg letting herself in “What is Ben Evans doing in a place like this?” 

“Nothing, actually” answered Derek confused. 

“Oh, come on Ben. Tell me, what’s the big secret?” 

“There’s no secret” 

“Then what are you doing here?” Meg was curious. 

“That’s none of your business!” Derek shouted. 

“Well, then you ARE doing something in here” she smiled “Do you mind if I look around?” 

“I don’t have time for games, Meg” 

“This is not a game. I just want to look around. Maybe I’ll figure out what you’re doing here” 

“You know, I think that you just wanna be close to me” he smiled. 

“Save it, Ben. I just wanna know what’s going on here. Aren’t you gonna tell me?” 

“No” he said harsh. 

“Fine” she said and moved closer to the wall “I hope you have time because I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. And where are Mark and Grace?” this time Derek became really furious. 

“You know what? You’re getting on my nerves. But I guess that’s something you do have in common with your beloved Ben” he said angrily and froze after a while realizing what he had just said. Was it possible that Meg affected him that much. He liked at her. She was pale as a wall. 

“She heard” he thought and he wasn’t wrong. She heard and suddenly everything started to make perfect sense for her – why Ben wasn’t acting like Ben lately, why he was so cruel, why she hardly recognized him. Now she knew the answer to all her questions – Derek. She couldn’t move, she was so shocked. The only thing she could do was whispering quiet “Oh my God” 

“As if he existed” Derek laughed. 

“Oh my God” she replied, this time louder “You’re alive” 

“And do I look like I wasn’t?” he laughed again. 

“I can’t believe it. But how… you… you fell of the cliff” 

“Oh, yes, yes I did. But as you see, I survived the fall” 

“No!” Meg cried “No, that can’t be. You can’t be alive” 

“I am, just live with that” 

“No, no, no” Meg still couldn’t believe what she was seeing “What have you done to Ben?” she finally remembered that if Derek was pretending to be Ben, Ben had to be somewhere imprisoned. Her Ben… He was hurting again and she didn’t do anything, anything to help him. 

“Don’t worry, my dear” Derek smiled ominously “Ben is already taken care of” 

What do you mean he is taken care of?” Meg froze. 

“Let’s just say that he is not a problem anymore” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Well, let’s just say that Ben will stay silent. Forever” Derek started laughing loudly. 

“No, you didn’t kill him” Meg knew that whatever was going on with Ben, he was alive. 

“How do you know?” 

“Because if he was dead, I would feel it” she cried “I would feel it in my heart” 

“Oh, just like you felt it when we were making love in the warehouse” 

“You bastard!” Meg lifted her hand to slap Derek but he grabbed it. 

“It’s not nice, you know, to hit the man you used to sleep with” 

“I didn’t USE TO sleep with you” Meg cried “I slept with you once. Only once. And that was the most horrible experience in my life” 

“Oh, you didn’t think like that when I was caressing your naked body back then” 

“You son of a bitch!!!” this time Meg slapped Derek right across the face “You know that I slept with you only because I thought you were Ben” 

“But still it was nice, wasn’t it?” Derek stroked her hair. 

“Don’t you touch me” she screamed and headed the door. But he was faster and grabbed her waist. 

“Not so fast sweetheart” he closed the door. 

“Let go of me!” she screamed once again. 

“I don’t think so” he grabbed her hand and tried to tie her up. 

“Let me go!” she pulled away. 

“What a hot little girl you are” Derek smiled. Meg came closer to the door but it was locked. 

“You won’t get away sweetheart” 

“Stop calling me sweetheart!” Meg was furious. 

“Why? Don’t you like that?” 

“You bastard!” once again Meg was trying to escape but Derek stopped her. She couldn’t stand his hands on her body. 

“Oh, don’t be so stubborn” he squeezed her stronger. Just as he was trying to tie her up, she kicked him in his raw. 

“You bitch!” he screamed and tried to grab her again but she took a piece of metal from the floor and hit his head with it. He collapsed on the floor looking unconscious. She had to do something. Quick… Call the police… No, first she needed to see Ben and make sure that he was OK. he had to be somewhere over there. She could feel it, she could feel his closeness. 

“OK, where are you Ben?” she cried “I need to find you” she decided that she would not leave until she finds Ben. She started looking for him all over the place but there was no sign of him. Meg was devastated. But just as she was about to leave and call the police she saw the door she hadn’t noticed before. 

“That must be there” she pushed the handle. The door was open. Apparently Derek forgot to lock them. Carefully she went down the stairs. Her heart stopped when she saw Ben lying on the floor. For a moment she thought… No, he was alive. She noticed that he was saying something. He was dreaming about Meg again. this time they were in bed at the adobe, wrapped in each other’s arms. 

“I love you Meg” he said in his dream “I will always love you” as Meg heard those words her heart nearly jumped. She came closer to him and touched his face. 

“Ben” she whispered “Ben, it’s me” 

“Meg?” he asked with his eyes still closed. 

“Yes, it’s me” Ben opened his eyes and saw who he dreamed to see for the last few weeks. He couldn’t believe she was there. He had to be dreaming… 

“Meg” he repeated looking into her eyes “What are you doing here?” 

“I… I just came to see you… I found out about Derek and I knew that you were somewhere over here. I needed to see you” 

“Where is Derek?” 

“He is upstairs. Unconscious” Meg explained. 

“Have you called the police?” 

“No I haven’t. I needed to make sure that you were OK. I wouldn’t stand if anything happened to you” she started crying. 

“Hey, I’m fine, but how are you? Did Derek hurt you?” 

“No, no, he didn’t. I’m OK. How are you feeling?” she looked at his face “Oh my God, you’re hurt” she touched the blood on his cheek and started cleaning it with the paper tissue she had. He looked lovingly into her eyes and didn’t change the point he was looking at even for a second” 

“Ben, what are you doing?” she asked. 

“I’m just making sure that you are not an illusion” he tried to touch her face but the chains were too short. 

“I’m not” she took his hand into hers. 

“Please, tell me that you’re really here. That I’m not dreaming” once again he looked into her eyes. 

“You’re not. I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere” she wrapped her arms around him. He started stroking her hair. God, she smelled so good. Holding her in his arms felt so good, it felt so right. he knew that they needed to talk. She knew it too. But that was not the time. The problems didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that he was OK and safe in her arms. 

***

“Come on, come on, I’m nearly done” Grace was almost untied “Come on, damn it!” she screamed. 

“Take it easy” Mark was trying to calm her down “Just a few more minutes and we’re out of here” 

“Yeah, a few more minutes” Maria sighed “Let’s hurry up” 

“What do you think you’re doing?” suddenly they heard Tess’s voice. She was standing in the door pointing the gun on them “I think you should stop whatever it was you were doing” as she said that she started tying them up again. When she finished, she smiled “Now, be good ones and don’t do anything stupid, OK?” she smiled again and went out locking the door. 

“Damn it!!!” Grace shouted “That was so close! Now, we’ll never get out of here. And Derek will just continue killing everyone, just like he planned!” 

“Stop it Grace!” Mark yelled at her “Don’t even say that! Do you hear me?! Don’t!” 

“But I can’t stop imagining the worse…” Grace started crying. 

“Please, don’t do this to yourself” Mark comforted her “We are going to get out of here, I promise you” 

“How do you know?” 

“Grace, the police is gonna look for us. I mean, sooner or later, everyone will notice that we’re gone” 

“I guess you’re right. I’m just worried about Ben” 

“He will be fine. He is a big boy and he can take care of himself” Mark knew that his friend would not let anything happen to him. Or to Meg. 

***

“I can’t believe that you’re really here” Ben one more time kissed Meg’s hand to make sure that he was not dreaming. But he wasn’t. 

“Yes, I’m here sweetie” 

“Oh God, it’s so good to feel you in my arms again” he pulled her closer. 

“And it’s so good to be in your arms again” Meg smiled and looked straight into Ben’s eyes “Stay here and I’m gonna get us help, OK?” 

“OK, just don’t be too long” Ben held her hand. 

“I won’t” she stroked his hair and stood up. She started climbing the stairs but suddenly Derek appeared at the door. 

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here” Meg froze. Derek grabbed her hand “I don’t think you’re going anywhere” 

“Let go of her!” Ben shouted but Derek only smiled and looked scornfully at his brother. 

“I don’t think so” he wrapped his hand around Meg’s waist and ordered “Now, be a good girl if you ever wanna see your beloved Ben alive” 

“You bastard!” Meg tried to escape but Derek wouldn’t let go of her. He started going forward pushing Meg in front of him. Meg wanted to run to Ben but Derek wrung her hand. She cried out of pain. 

“Not so fast!” he laughed loudly. 

“Let her go!” Ben shouted once again but this time Derek didn’t care either. 

“Shut up, you pathetic junk!” 

“Don’t you dare talk to him like that!” Meg screamed trying to slap Derek but he stopped her. 

“Wow!” Derek laughed ironically “It seems that you have a hot protector, dear brother” 

“That’s right” Meg looked at Derek hatefully “And I will not let you hurt Ben again. Do you hear me bastard?! I won’t!!!” 

“Oh, save it to yourself sweetheart” Derek continued being ironic “You won’t protect him from anything” Derek pushed Meg and told her to go. He was still holding, or rather squeezing her hand “Faster!” he shouted when Meg wanted to stay with Ben instead of going anywhere. 

“Where are you taking her?” Ben couldn’t stand seeing Meg in Derek’s hands being taken away from him again. 

“That’s really none of your business brother” 

“Leave her alone!” Ben shouted. 

“Oh, I don’t think so” Derek laughed “But don’t you worry brother dear, I will take a wonderful care of her” he smiled at Meg. 

“Don’t you dare even touch her!” Ben warned him but Derek didn’t hear it because he was leading Meg through a small corridor. 

“What are you gonna do with me?” Meg was really scared of Derek’s intentions. 

“Nothing interesting” Derek started tying Meg to the big pipe next to the wall “I mean – for now. Later we’ll see” he caressed her cheek. 

“You’ll pay for this Derek!” 

“Would all of you just stop repeating that. I’m sick of it” 

“And I’m sick of you trying to ruin Ben’s life” 

“Well, this time it will not end on a try. This time I’m gonna have everything Ben has and doesn’t deserve to have” 

“Ben deserves to have everything he has” Meg was protecting the man she loves. 

“Well, then I guess the opinions are divided” Derek laughed and left the room he placed Meg in. Meg looked around herself – she felt as if she was on the other side of the world. She knew that even if she started screaming no one would hear her. No one except for Derek and maybe Ben who would have a heart broken if he heard Meg screaming. She closed her eyes trying to imagine Ben’s face and praying for Derek not to hurt him. 


*** 



“Joanie, need some help?” asked Hank as he saw his wife bustling in the kitchen trying to put everything in the right place. 

“I won’t turn down the offer” she smiled “Since neither Meg nor Mark and Grace came to help us, we will have a very busy night” 

“But why didn’t they come?” 

“I don’t know. They didn’t even call us to let us know where they were. Hank, I have this really bad feeling” 

“Joanie…” 

“What if something happened to them?” Joan cried. 

“Joanie, Joanie, just stop it” Hank tried to comfort his wife “It’s to early to come to any conclusions. I’m sure they are OK. All three of them” 

“I hope you are right” 

“I hope so too” Hank wasn’t so sure that his daughter was fine. He also was getting a bad feeling. 

“I’ll wait a little more but if they don’t show up in two hours, I’m calling the police” Joan vowed and started working in the kitchen trying to forget that she was worried. Even though Meg was an adult, she was still her little girl. Joan knew that it would stay like this forever. She would never stop caring about her daughters. 

When two hours passed, Joan started to panic. 

“Now it’s not funny at all” she cried. One more time she called Surf – Central but no one answered. Then she called Ben’s house just to hear Benjy telling her that she hadn’t seen Meg, Grace or Mark all day. 

“Hank, it’s starting to be really scary. I’m calling Ricardo” she dialed his cell phone number. 

“Ricardo Torres” she heard his voice. 

“Ricardo, it’s Joan. I wanted to ask you for a favour” 

“What happened?” Ricardo could feel fear in Joan’s voice. 

“It’s about Meg, Grace and Mark. They were supposed to meet us hors ago but they are nowhere to be found. I don’t know what to do. I tried to call them, I called Surf – Central, Vanessa’s place, Ben’s house but no one has seen them. I’m really worried” 

“Sure you are but you know that I can’t do anything until forty eight hours pass” 

“Ricardo, please” Joan cried “Why does the police always have to make everything harder?” 

“Unfortunately that’s not up to me” 

“Come on, there has to be something you can do” Joan urged “Maybe not as a cop but at least as a friend” 

“All right” Ricardo agreed “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll call a few people, maybe they will help” 

“Thank you. I really appreciate it” 

“No problem” Ricardo answered “And don’t worry Joan. I’m sure we’ll fin them soon” 

“I hope so. One more time, thank you Ricardo. Goodnight” 

“Goodnight” 

“And?” Hank looked at Joan asking what Ricardo said. 

“He says that he can’t help us as a cop because forty eight hours have to pass before the police does anything, but he will try to call a few people” 

“Than God” Hank sighed. 

“We’ll be thanking him when we have our daughter back. Safe” Hank took Joan’s hand. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll have her home soon” 

***

Chapter 9 

It was the next day morning. Ben woke up and tried to remember what happened the day before. Yes, she was here. he wasn’t dreaming. His Meg was here. 

“Meg?” he started looking all over the room trying to find her. But she wasn’t there. Suddenly he remembered that Derek had taken her to another room. He looked at the door with yearning eyes. 

“God, let her be all right. Don’t let Derek hurt her. She didn’t deserve all this. Derek can’t hurt her” he felt a single tear rolling down his cheek. 

Maybe I didn’t love you quite as good as I should have 
Maybe I didn’t hold you quite as often as I could have 
Little things I should have said and done 
I just never took the time 

You were always on my mind 
You were always on my mind 

Maybe I didn’t hold you all those lonely, lonely nights 
And I guess I never told you, I’m so happy that you’re mine 
If I made you feel second best, I’m so sorry, I was blind 


You were always on my mind 
You were always on my mind 

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn’t died 
Give me, give one more chance to keep you satisfied 
If I made you feel second best, I’m so sorry, I was blind 

You were always on my mind 
You were always on my mind

***

Meg woke up just to feel a terrifying chill through her body. She was freezing. But not only because it was cold in the room but mainly because she was scared. She was scared that Derek would hurt Ben and that she would never see her beloved again. She couldn’t let that happen. 

“Hold on, my love. I won’t let that creep hurt you ever again. He will never hurt either of us again. I promise you” 

Someday we’ll be together 
Someday we’ll be together 

You’re far away, baby 
From me my love 
And just as sure my, my baby 
As the stars above 
I wanna say 

Someday we’ll be together 
Someday we’ll be together 

My love is yours, baby 
Right from the start 
You, you, you possess my soul now honey 
I know, I know you own my heart 


Someday, some sweet day 
We’ll be together 
Someday, tell everybody 
We’ll be together 

A long time ago, my, my sweet thing 
I made a big mistake honey 
I said, I said goodbye 
Ever since that day now 
All, all I wanna do 
All I wanna do is cry, cry, cry 

I long for you 
Every, every night 
Oh, just to kiss your sweet lips baby 
Hold you ever and ever so tight 
And I wanna say 

Someday we’ll be together 
Someday we’ll be together 
Someday we’ll be together

***

Maria lifted her head up. She saw Grace and Mark sleeping like two angels. 

“Hey guys” she whispered but there was no response “Hey, wake up” she repeated al little bit louder but this time no one answered either. Finally, when she nearly screamed their names, they reacted. 

“What?” Grace looked at Maria as if forgetting where they were. 

“Don’t you what me. We need to get out of here. Have you forgotten?” 

“No, of course I haven’t but would you please stop yelling at me!” 

“I’m sorry” Maria said sadly “I’m just a little bit worried. And scared” 

“I am too” Grace admitted “I’m just trying to forget for a moment that Derek is a psycho who will kill us when he wants to” 

“Grace, we won’t let that happen” Mark tried to comfort her “We won’t let Derek hurt either of us. Or Ben , or Meg. I promise” 

“I’m trying to believe that Mark. I really am” 

“Then try a little bit harder and soon it will all be over” 

“I hope so. But when I think of all the things Derek did…” 

“And all the sick games he has been playing. I can’t believe I didn’t figure out that he wasn’t Ben” Maria started crying as she remembered all the times she made love to Derek “How could I be so blind?! How could I let Derek fool me? God, I don’t deserve Ben…” 

“Don’t say that” Mark stopped her “You didn’t know. You can’t blame yourself for that” 

“I can and I do” Maria answered with pain and suddenly changed the subject “But that’s not the point here. We need to get out” 

“You’re right” Grace agreed and the three of them started trying to untie themselves again. After a fifteen minutes of useless fight, Grace screamed: 

“Damn it!!! That’s hopeless! We will never get out of here!” 

“That’s right, you won’t” they froze as Tess entered the room. 

“You bitch!” Maria shouted as she saw the woman she hated. Tess slapped Maria right across the face. Maria cried out of pain but continued “Now, you’re so brave. But it won’t last long. Soon, you’ll be in prison paying for what you’ve done” 

“Oh, I don’t think so” Tess laughed “As for now, you are the one who is paying the price. And by the way, I’m here to take care of you” she pulled out a gun “But first, maybe you want to say something to each other. I mean, it’s Thanksgiving Day. Such a loosers like you love those day. Maybe I should bring you a turkey to make you feel like home” 

“Shut up Tess!” Grace couldn’t stand much more. 

“Oh, at least now I know who is going to die first” 

*** 

Derek opened the door to the warehouse and saw his brother in pain. Oh, what a wonderful view it was for him. He smiled ominously and said: 

“Good morning, brother dear or shall I say good afternoon. Well, not good for everyone, am I right? Oh, by the way, how was your sleep? I mean, your beloved Meg was so close to you, wasn’t she?” 

“Shut up Derek!” 

“Hey, come on, you should be thanking me that I brought your dear Meg here” 

“You creep!” Ben shouted once again. 

“Or maybe I am the one who should thank myself. I mean, everyone would be glad to have such a beautiful lady by his side” 

“Derek, I warn you, if you do anything and I mean anything to hurt Meg, I swear to god that I’m gonna kill you” 

“That’s pathetic, you know? Longing for a woman who betrayed you. I always knew you were a junk” 

“Meg did not betray, bastard. Everything she did was out of her love for me” 

“Yeah, like sleeping with me?” Derek laughed. He knew that a vision of him and Meg making love would break Ben’s heart again. 

“You son of a bitch!!!” 

“Easy, easy, that is, if you want to see your Meg alive” 

“You touch her and you’re dead!” 

“Oh I wouldn’t be so sure” Derek smiled “So long” he added and headed the corridor which lead to the room Meg was staying in. Ben’s heart stopped for a moment as he thought about Derek hurting Meg once again. He couldn’t let that happen. 

Derek opened the door to Meg’s room. 

“Hallo, sleeping beauty” he greeted her. 

“Save it Derek. I’m not in the mood for your games!” Meg looked icily at Derek. 

“Oh, you will love this one” He laughed loudly “It’s called Make sure your brother gets exactly what he deserves” 

“How sick can you be Derek to make up something like that?!” 

“I’m not sick. I’m just really, really happy that Ben finally taken care of” 

“What do you mean?” Meg asked frightened. 

“And what do you think I mean?” He laughed “I mean – you can say goodbye to your dear DEAD husband to be” 

“Oh no, you didn’t kill Ben. I know that Derek. If there was something going on with him, I would know it. He is alive. I’m sure.” 

“OK, so he may be alive but no one said you were going to be. I’m here to take wonderful care of you. I promised that to Ben” 

“You’re going to kill me?” Meg asked really scared. 

“Maybe. But I’ll give you an alternative – there is one way for you to stop me from killing you” He smiled. 

“What way?” 

“Oh, very interesting one – that you and I will make love, right here and right now” 

“Are you crazy?” 

“Maybe, but if you want to stay alive…” 

“I would rather die than let you touch me!” she cried. 

“Oh really” Derek came closer to her and started caressing her face. 

“Take your dirty hands away from me!!!” she screamed. 

“Oh don’t be so modest” he started caressing her neck and then he even dared to kiss her. 

“You bastard!” she shouted “Don’t you dare touch me ever again!” But Derek took it as an encouragement and kissed Meg one more time and then started kissing her more and more passionately. She couldn’t do anything since she had his hands tied up. She was disgusted – she couldn’t stand Derek’s lips on hers. She couldn’t stand him playing with his tounge to make the kiss more passionate. 

“Get away from me!” she screamed trying to make Derek stop but he wouldn’t. Instead, he started to kiss her neck and tried to unbutton her shirt. She was frightened to death of what Derek was intending to do. 

“Now, we’re gonna have a little fun” he said as he continued. 

*** 


“You’re not going to kill me Tess” Grace was nearly sure of what she was saying “You may be able to play some sick games but you’re not capable of killing anyone. That’s why you were going so crazy after Tim’s death – he was haunting you, wasn’t he?” 

“Shut up!!!” Tess screamed “And you’re wrong. I am going to kill you!!! All three of you!!!” She came closer to Grace and touched Grace’s head with the gun “Do you see that – it’s a gun. It has a lot of small bullets inside. And soon you’ll have a small piece of lead in your head” 

“Then shoot me!” Grace encouraged her “Come on! Why don’t you shoot me? Why haven’t you already? Is that so difficult – to pull one little trigger? Maybe you need some help?” Grace was scared to death but she knew that she had to do something to make Tess feel miserable “Oh, come on Tess, I know you can do it, can’t you? Just pull the trigger, shoot me and soon it’s all gonna be over – I’m gonna be dead and maybe you will even get away with everything you did. But, what am I saying? You can’t kill anyone. Actually, you can’t do anything on your own, can you Tess? No, of course not. Everything you did it was because Derek told you to, wasn’t it? Everything was his sick plan, not yours. He wanted to get a revenge on his brother so he made you help him. He used you” 

“Derek did not use me!” Tess screamed “He loves me!” 

“Yeah, and I’m the Queen Elizabeth II” Grace laughed ironically “Derek does not love. He doesn’t know how to love. But he is certainly very good at using people, isn’t he Tess? But then again, you loved being used by him, didn’t you? 

“Shut up!!!” 

“I’m not going to shut up! And I’ll tell you something – you are a pathetic, miserable woman. But I don’t even know if I can call a woman someone who uses own child in some sick games!” 

“You bitch!!!” Tess was furious and slapped Grace right across the face. And that was something Mark couldn’t stand – he used all the strength he had to let himself free from the tightrope. Just as he was getting up to grab Tess’s hand and take the gun away from her, she stepped away and fired a gun. At the same moment, Grace covered Mark’s body with hers… Slowly she started to collapse… 


Chapter 10 

Joan was sitting in the kitchen crying. Since Ricardo called her telling her that no one had seen Meg, Grace or Mark she knew that something bad happened to her daughter. And this time she was sure. Hank was trying to comfort his wife the best he could but he couldn’t help worrying either. 

“Why hasn’t she called?” Joan cried “What’s going on? Where is she? Why didn’t the police find her?” 

“I don’t know Joanie. I know only as much as you do, so don’t keep asking” 

“I’m sorry, I’m just really worried” 

“I know, I am too. But we have to be strong. Besides, maybe she just needed some space for a while” 

“No, it’s not that. She would have called. But even if she did need some space, what about Grace and Mark? Did the three of them need space at the same time? I don’t think so. There’s something strange going on and I wanna know what it is” 

“I know you do. But all we can do right now is wait” 

“You’re right” Joan sighed “But maybe we should Casey and Sara to let them know about it” 

“No” Hank objected “It would only make them start worrying and they don’t need it right now. Let’s let them enjoy their trip” 

“You’re right again” Joan tried to smile. 

“Don’t worry” Hank hugged his wife “Meg is going to be fine” 

“I hope so” 

*** 


“Let go of me!” Meg screamed as Derek was trying to get rid of her clothes. 

“Don’t scream!” he shouted “Is that everything you can do?!” 

“You bastard!” she cried again but it only made Derek laugh. 

“You know” he said after a while “I don’t like you being tide up. What do you say if I let you go. I’m sure that we can have more fun when you are able to move” Meg didn’t answer. She knew that whatever she would say, Derek would do anything in his own way “Here you go sweetheart” he continued as he was nearly finished with the rope “Isn’t that better?” 

“I’m gonna kill you Derek!” Meg shouted and wanted to slap him but he grabbed her hand. 

“Don’t be so nasty girl Meg” he smiled and started kissing her again, this time harder and more passionately. She tried to pull away but despite the fact that she was free from the rope, Derek was holding her so strong that she couldn’t escape. She felt awful as he started kissing and caressing her neck coming lower and lower to her breasts. 

“No! Derek stop!” she cried frightened “Don’t do this to me, please!” 

“From what I remember, last time you were more willing to make love to me” Meg only cried: 

“Please, don’t make me do that. Please!” she didn’t even have a strength to scream anymore “If you want the money, then I’ll ask Ben to give you the money. But please, let us go!” 

“Right now, I don’t want any money” he smiled “Right now all I want is you” 

“I won’t let you do that to me! I won’t let you hurt Ben like this” even though she was about to be raped by some psycho, all she could think about was how much this was going to hurt Ben. She couldn’t let that happen, now that she knew that Ben loved her… But how was she supposed to stop Derek while he was holding her all the time. How was she supposed to stop him from touching and caressing her body. 

“Oh God!” Derek said after a while “You’ve never looked so beautiful and so attractive. I want you” he tried to get rid of her bra but she was using all her strength not to let that happen. When she felt Derek’s tounge on her nearly naked breasts, her eyes become full of tears. 

“No!” she thought to herself “No! I won’t let you! I won’t!” she tried as much as she could not to focus on what he was doing. She was only looking for a way out, for a way to make him stop. Suddenly she noticed a piece of pipe lying on the floor “That’s my chance” she thought and used all her energy to reach for the pipe. Derek, busy with his nasty things, didn’t notice what Meg was doing… He noticed when she hit his head with the metal pipe. 

“You bitch!!!” he screamed as Meg pulled away and started running through the corridor “You’re gonna pay for this!” he shouted and went after her. When she got to the room Ben was kept in, Ben immediately figured out what was going on. A second after he saw Derek running and finally catching Meg. 

“Don’t you touch her, you son of a bitch!!!” Ben shouted as he figured out what exactly Derek was intending to do. 

“Shut up!” Derek screamed “I’m busy right now” 

“You bastard! Let go of her! Do you hear me?! Let her go or I’m going to kill you!” 

“How?” Derek smiled ominously “Telepathically?” he winked his eye letting Ben know that he remembered that they were twins and came back to what he was doing. 

“If you hurt her, I’m…” 

“I know, I know – kill me” Derek was sick of Ben’s threats “Shut up brother and enjoy the show. I know you’ve seen it once but this time it’s gonna be much more exciting because your dear Meg will know that you are watching” Derek once again smiled and started kissing Meg trying to make Ben feel miserable. when Ben saw his brother touching his innocent Meg, when he saw all the pain in her eyes, all the pain in her heart, he noticed that his eyes were wet. 

“I won’t let that happen” he vowed to himself and started to let go of the chains. No matter how much this was going to hurt, he had to save his precious Meg from his brother “God, help me” he asked and gathered all the energy ha had left. After a while of trying to get rid of the chains, he noticed blood on his waist. But that didn’t matter – he had to stop Derek from hurting Meg in the most terrible way a woman can be hurt. After a few minutes of watching Meg trying to fight Derek, he felt that the chains were a little loosened. Once again he used all his muscles to get rid of them. And he did. The same second it happened he was by Meg’s side helping her to fight Derek. He was very weak but still strong enough to pull Derek away from Meg and pushed him onto the wall. Derek collapsed but immediately stood up and hit Ben back. Ben tried as much as he could not to fall down but he didn’t manage as Derek hit him once again. Meg, seeing what was going on wanted to help Ben but he wouldn’t let her. 

“Stay away!” he shouted “Don’t come closer to him, do you hear me?!” But Meg didn’t listen and tried to stop Derek from hitting Ben for the third time. But she didn’t succeed – Derek pushed her away making her fall. 

“Meg!” Ben screamed frightened that something happened to her. He wanted to run to her but Derek kicked him “You bastard!” Ben stood up, ran at Derek and they both fell on the floor. Unfortunately Derek managed to put himself up and was now trying to strangle Ben. And that’s what Meg couldn’t stand – she took a plank from the floor and hit Derek with it. He collapsed but only for a while. Then he became really angry as he took the knife which was lying behind one of the boxes. Meg froze. Derek immediately grabbed her hand and placed the knife on her neck. 

“So, what do you say now, brother?” he laughed. 

“Let her go, Derek!” Ben nearly begged “That’s between you and me” 

“It would have stayed between you and me if she hadn’t been so nosy” 

“Let her go! It’s not her fault that you hate me!” 

“You’re wrong. She’s the reason I hate you even more than I did before and by killing her I’ll make you suffer, won’t I, dear brother? 

“I said – let her go!” 

“No way!” Derek answered “She will…” but he didn’t manage to finish as Meg kicked him on his raw making him let her go. She run to Ben but Derek caught her. Fortunately, this time Ben managed to prevent him from lifting the knife and hit his jaw. Derek collapsed still holding the knife. 

“I’ll get you for that!” he screamed angry and ran into Ben pushing him onto the wall. Ben didn’t even manage to do anything when Derek tried to stab him. 

“Ben!!!” screamed Meg but his sight was telling her to stay away. This time she did. 

Derek was trying harder and harder to stab Ben but he was holding on quite well. Finally he hit Derek making him edge away for a while. But not for long – a second later he was back attacking Ben. This time he pushed so hard that they both fell on the floor again. And again Derek was up trying to thrust the knife into Ben’s stomach. After a few minutes of watching Ben and Derek struggling, Meg’s heart stopped as she heard “that sound”. She knew someone was hurt. But who? Derek or Ben? She came closer just to see that Ben was slowly lifting Derek and placing his inert body on the floor. 

“Oh my God!” Meg was frightened but sighed with relief “You’re OK” she ran to Ben and wrapped her arms around him “For a moment I thought…” 

“Don’t even think about it” he stroked her hair looking straight into her eyes. Then his sight shifted on his brother’s body. Meg noticed that. 

“Is he…?” 

“He is dead” said Ben as he read Derek’s pulse or rather found out that there was no pulse at all. 

“I’m so sorry Ben” Meg said trying to hold Ben the closest she could. 

“I am too” Ben one more time looked at his brother “But at least now I know that he will never hurt you again. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this” 

“I’m OK, Ben. Now that I’m in your arms again, I’m fine” 

“Thank God” Ben took Meg’s face in his hands “I wouldn’t stand if anything happened to you” 

“And I wouldn’t stand if anything happened to you either. I wouldn’t survive that” 

“Hey, we’re both OK. And that’s all that matters” but that was not the only thing he had in mind. He needed to make sure that Derek didn’t hurt Benjy. His son… or so he thought. Apparently Derek forgot to share the news about Benjy’s paternity with Ben. So, for one more night Ben could stay Benjy’s father. 



*** 



“Grace!!!” Mark screamed as he saw what was happening to her. But fortunately (!!!) he realized that she had been shot only in her arm so it wasn’t so dangerous. Tess was so shocked that she didn’t know what was going on. Mark easily took the gun from her and tied her up. Then he immediately ran to Grace who although not being badly hurt was still getting weaker and weaker. 

“Are you OK?” he asked with concern “You’re bleeding. Does it hurt?” 

“A little bit but I’m fine” 

“I’m gonna take you to the hospital” 

“No. You need to find Ben and make sure that he is OK” 

“She’s right” Maria added “You go and I’ll take care of Grace and call the police, OK?” 

“All right, but be careful” he asked “And remember – South Avenue 173” 

“We will, and now you go” as Grace said that she slowly sat on the floor. 

“Oh God!” Maria looked at Grace’s wound “It’s more serious than it looks” 

“I’ll be OK, now call the police” 

“All right” Maria took Tess’s cell phone and dialed Ricardo’s number. He was surprised to hear her. 

“Maria? What happened?” 

“A lot. Look, I’ll tell you later, it’s a long story. Can you please come to South Avenue or send someone. Mark went to look for Ben. And Grace…” 

“Mark? Grace? What are all of you doing there?” 

“Don’t ask. As I said – it’s a long story. Can you please…” 

“I’m on my way” he said as he felt pain in Maria’s voice. 

“Thanks” she answered and hung up “He’s coming” she said to Grace “I’m calling the hospital. I should have done that first. What was I thinking?” Maria was angry at herself. 

“No, don’t call the hospital. I won’t move from here without meeting Ben anyway, so there’s no point in calling an ambulance” 

“But you’re bleeding more and more” Maria was starting to worry. 

“I’ll be fine. As long as Ben is OK, I am too. I just hope Derek didn’t hurt him” 

“Don’t worry, Mark will find him” 

“I know. I mean, Ben has to be somewhere over here. Derek wouldn’t have taken us to different warehouses. He was to lazy for that. He wanted to have us all in one place” 

“I hope you’re right because we need to find Ben and Meg before Derek hurts them”


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