Chapter One

Fear is only as deep…

.3 months earlier.

"This, Ladies and gentlemen, is a 19th century painting, entitled Isabella and the Pot of Basil, painted by John White Alexander." The Museum curator briefly stepped next to the painting. "Excellent piece of work. Look at her facial expression, absolutely brilliant. Now, let's move on."

The curator stepped next to another painting close by. "Another 19th century piece of work entitled 'The Fog Warning'. This was painted by Winslow Homer, a wonderful realistic atmosphere he creates, don't you think? Ah, yes, this next painting…"

The curator's voice began to drift as Randi stayed and studied the painting more closely. "Not the biggest fan of this particular art piece myself" she heard a voice whisper into her ear from behind.

She turned slowly and came face to face to a handsome man, quite older than she, with black hair and equally stunning black eyes. She smiled a little. "I think it's quite nice actually."

The man smiled widely at her statement, and shook his head. "I'd rather not argue with such a pretty lady. I'm Luka." He held out his hand.

Randi looked at him silently for a moment, but then put her hand into his. "Randi, nice to meet you."

Luka continued to smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Well, Randi, it's not quite so often I see such beautiful faces here. Are you an artist?"

Randi gave one final look at the painting and began to walk to the next one, where Luka fell into step beside her. "No, my artistic skills are pretty pathetic actually. I'm going to Boston University and just moved here, so I figured I'd check out some museums."

Luka nodded and put his hands into his pants pocket, as they both studied the next painting. "You'll love it here, I've lived here all of my life. People will accept you with open arms…As long as you love the Red Sox, that is." He gave her a wink.

Randi laughed and decided that she liked this man. She was also a little glad she liked the Red Sox. "Well, it was nice meeting you Luka; I better catch up with the rest of the tour group. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." She gave him a small smile and began walking backwards slowly.

"I'm sure we'll meet again, Randi."

His wide grin was the last thing she saw before she walked away.

.Present.

Detective Flynn pushed a coffee cup towards her. "And when was the next time you saw him?"

Randi sniffed and pulled her knees up to her chest, "He came into my American Lit class the next day, as a 'teacher assistant'." An angry light came into her eyes, and she laughed bitterly. "Little did I know my professor was helping him out all along."

The Detective folded his hands on the cold, steel table in front of him. They were both sitting across from each other in the dreary interrogating room they used down at the precinct. "And you two began to date steadily?"

Randi nodded, and looked away. "He stopped me after class, and asked me out to dinner. He was so damn charming, with this amazing smile, we both knew I wouldn't be able to resist. I fell for him pretty fast, and we usually went out every night for about two months."

Flynn nodded and began to scribble on his notepad. "Did you ever go back to his place?"

Randi shook her head, and swiped her hand across her forehead. "He always came back to the dorm with me and my roommate Heather," she looked at him, her eyes filled with hurt, "you know, my old roommate."

Flynn glanced down at the file in front of him and immediately understood. "So what happened after you dated him for two months?"

A small pause. "The nightmare began."

as the mind allows it

A/N: Well, I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for all the confusion, I updated a chapter one, hated it, and took it down. Then I updated another chapter one, decided I hated that one too, and took it down a couple of months later. These past two chapters, are the introduction, now we should be getting to the good stuff.

Just a little disclaimer, both paintings are real – they can be found at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA if you're interested…