The cellphone sitting on her nightstand began to ring, waking her up.Moaning, Parker grabbed the pillow next to her and pressed it against herface. It was late, she'd had one hell of a long day, and she certainlydidn't feel like having a conversation with anyone -at this hour, one guesswho it was, she thought wryly- when she should be blissfully sleeping.She lay like that for another minute.

The phone continued to ring.

"Damn he's being persistent tonight," she remarked tiredly, finallygiving in and reaching for the phone. The time on her alarm clock caughtParker's eye, and she gave a self-pitying sigh as she pressed a buttonon the cellphone. "This had better be good," she warned, waiting for Jarod'ssmart-ass reply. But on the other end, there was nothing but silence. No,not complete silence. As Parker listened closely, she could barely makeout the sound of breathing.

"Look, I'm not in the mood for games. Speak up already!" More silence.Parker actually felt herself grow concerned. What if he was hurt, and couldn'tanswer?

"Listen," she said, her voice noticeably softer, "what's going on? Iknow it's you, Jarod--" At the mention of his name, the line went dead.Confused at his reaction, but far too tired to clearly think about it,she just sighed, placing the phone back on the nightstand before turningover and trying to get back to sleep. Five minutes later, the peacefulsilence was cut by the cellphone's shrill ringing.

"I swear," she muttered as she reached for the phone, "the next timehe's within shooting range..." She activated the cellphone with her indexfinger. "What?"

Silence.

"I know it's you. Who else would have the nerve to call this late atnight?" A deep chuckle came from the other end. Well, she thought, it'sbetter than nothing. Still, the sound was a little unnerving, not to mentionthat it definitely wasn't Jarod's laughter.

"I don't know who this is," she said, trying to keep that slightly annoyedtinge to her voice, "but if you think you can just--" The caller hung upagain. Parker tried to ignore the uncomfortable knot forming in her stomach,as she put the cellphone back on the nightstand. Her hand froze--somethingsoft had brushed her fingers, and Parker knew perfectly well that therewas nothing on that nightstand but a lamp, the cellphone and her gun. Theknot tightened as she reached over and turned the lamp on.

Her gun was gone. In its place lie a single red rose.

Centre training took control of her. Keeping her face completely emotionless,she got up out of bed and walked over to her dresser, pulling another .9mmBaretta from her underwear drawer. Parker wrapped herself in a silk bathrobe,and grabbed the cellphone, placing it in the robe's pocket. Aiming theweapon steadily in front of her, she headed out of the room.

She switched a light on in all the rooms, checking every nook and crannybefore moving on. Parker had just finished with the kitchen, and was headingfor the living room when her cellphone rang again. She nearly jumped, butmanaged to keep herself composed. She pulled the phone from her pocket,turning it on and holding it with her left hand as her right continuedto hold the gun.

"What, not brave enough to show yourself?" she snapped as she walkedon into the living room, flicking a light switch on. Everything seemednormal enough.

"You shouldn't have gotten up," a strange voice said on the other end.Whoever it was actually sounded disappointed.

"Oh, yeah? And why is that?" Parker asked as she continued to checkbehind furniture.

"Well, I wanted you to have a little surprise when you got up in themorning. Now, you'll just have to get it yourself."

"Too much of a coward to deliver it in person?"

"It's nice to know that you're so eager to see me." He actually soundspleased, Parker thought in disgust. "I'm afraid that would ruin everything,however. Go to your door. I know you'll love it." The line went dead. Shetossed the phone onto the couch, but the gun stayed firmly in her hand.

She walked over to the front door and swung it open. She was lookinginto the darkness for anyone so intently, that it took a  moment forher to even notice the large gift-wrapped box at her feet. One last scanfor anybody outside, then she picked up the box and went back into theliving room, slamming and re-locking the door in a purposeful manner.

For awhile, Parker just sat on the couch, looking at the box. It hadan odd decorating job: the wrapping paper was white with plenty of largeblack hearts, and held in place with thick red ribbon that became a hugebow on top. She wasn't sure of what to do with it. The box certainly didn'thold a bomb--after all, why would anyone go to so much trouble to killher? Still, it didn't seem right opening the gift; Parker felt as if shewould be playing right into this guy's hand. Surely the best thing to dowas dump the box in trash, without a second thought.

She debated for a few more moments, then finally reached one hand outand grabbed a stray piece of ribbon in the bow. Her tug  brought theentire mess of ribbon into her hands; the gift-wrapped cardboard sidesthat the ribbon had been holding up fell down, revealing a metal cage.Inside lay two white rabbits, completely still. Parker prayed that theywere just sleeping. Dangling from the top of the cage, by a piece of redribbon, was a rolled up piece of paper. She slowly undid a latch on topof the cage, and pulled open the small metal door. The noise woke up therabbits, which she was grateful for. Parker slowly pulled the paper fromits ribbon and unrolled it.

Friends for Jarod's gift.

The ink was deep red, and the writing was an old-fashioned cursive.Parker's brow creased in confusion--the gift mentioned in the note hadto be the white rabbit Jarod had given her, but how was that possible?No one knew she'd kept it; Jarod himself probably thought that she'd leftit in the woods somewhere.

Her cellphone rang. Parker reached over and picked it up, stabbing abutton with her thumb. She was angry, no, furious at this person who wasinvading her privacy.

"I told you you'd like it," the same deep voice said before Parker hada chance to speak. "Although I do wish I could have been there when youopened it." She got up and began to pace, a habit developed for times whenshe had too much nervous energy and no one to take it out on. "Now don'tstart pacing--you'll be exhausted, and we both know how cranky you get."Parker froze. He could see her. She glanced around the room, but knew itwas a waste of time. She'd checked the house out, and there wasn't anyonethere. Parker scowled.

"Why do you seem so angry?"

"I don't like mind games," Parker snapped.

"Unless, of course, Jarod is the one playing with you," the voice growled."You never really seem to mind whenever he's the one teasing you, leavingyou gifts." That stunned her into silence. "But don't worry, I know you'llcome around." His voice had grown gentle. "While you're up, you reallyshould put that rose in some water." And with that, he hung up.

Angry with the amount of control he had over the situation, Parker threwthe cellphone onto the couch, then began to look around her living room,wondering just where the hell a camera could be hidden.

>From the couch, the cellphone's shrill ringing began again. Parkerstomped over and grabbed her phone.

"Listen, you gutless son of a bitch--"

"Woah, Parker, settle down," Jarod managed over her yelling. "I knowit's late, but you never minded that much before. Bad day?"

"I thought you were someone else. Someone's been calling me, tryingto freak me out. He left me a couple of...presents. He even  mentionedyour name, though how he knows about you is beyond me."

"Are you okay?" Jarod couldn't help feeling a little concerned.

"I'm fine. Just some weak jackass, not worth talking about."

"I'd say he is. He knows who I am," Jarod pointed out.

"He knows more than just who you are," Parker clarified. "He gave me...therewere two white rabbits, at my front door."

"At least he didn't get inside." Silence. Parker didn't really wantto admit to this stranger being in her home. "Parker? He didn't get inside, right?"

"He...placed a rose, next to my bed. He left it where my gun had been.I know my gun was there when I went to bed, I know it was. He must havebeen in my room after I fell asleep."

"Wait a minute, he took your gun?" Jarod definitely wasn't liking this.She was in that house alone, and unprotected.

"Don't worry, I have another. Besides, I don't think he'll come backinside. It's not like he needs to." As soon as the words were out of hermouth, Parker wished she could take them back.

"What are you talking about? Parker, why doesn't he?" The more he heard,the worse Jarod felt. Who was this psycho?

"He could tell...what I was doing. How I was moving, behaving..."

"He was watching you?"

"The curtains were shut, and I checked the house out. He must have camerashidden in the house." Jarod's eyes narrowed in anger, and his grip on thecellphone he held tightened.

"Parker, you need to get out of that house. Are you listening? Packup a few things, go to a hotel."

"What are you talking about? Jarod, you should know better. I'm notgoing anywhere. This creep doesn't scare me, and I won't let
him think that I'm intimidated."

"Don't do this, Parker. This isn't the time--"

"Jarod, you know me. Jesus, you know me better than anyone else. Youdon't really expect me to leave, do you?"

"Parker, I know you've got a thing about people trying to help you--"

"I'm hanging up now, Jarod."

"If you would just please--" Parker jabbed the off button, and threwthe cellphone back on the couch. She checked on the rabbits,
who seemed to have enough water, before picking up the cage and carryingit with her into a small guest room, where a much larger cage was. Thiscage held the white rabbit Jarod had given her. She placed the cage nextto the larger one.

"Let's give you guys have some company tonight. I'll figure out whatto do with you two tomorrow." Parker turned the light off, and walked backinto her own room.

Outward, Parker knew she appeared completely calm. She walked purposefullythrough the room to her bed. She glanced at the rose as though it werean afterthought, and picked it up and tossed it into the nearby wastebasket.Inside, Parker was a little more unnerved than she'd like to admit. Shedidn't take her robe off until the last minute, when the lamp was off andshe was sitting on the bed. Parker didn't put her gun down until she wasunder the covers.

She never did fall back asleep. She lie there the rest of the night,staring out into her darkened room. She wondered how long he'd been watchingher, and if he was watching her right now.

Parker wouldn't admit it, but she wished she had never hung up on Jarod.The sound of his voice had calmed her. Even more, she wished he was actuallywith her now, to hold her hand and promise that everything would be okay.

~~~~~~~~~

Parker glanced into the mirror one more time before heading out thedoor. Her hair and clothing were immaculate, as usual, just like her makeupjob. Thanks to the late hours required from all employees of the Centre,she'd learned a few tricks with concealer, and good thing too, becausethe rings under her eyes were unbelievable. Sighing, she walked out thedoor to her car.

For awhile, everything felt normal again. Her drive to work was thesame, with no surprises. The guards posted throughout her walk from thecar to her office were the same all-muscles-and-no-brains fellas, and thecoffee she sipped from her mug was too bitter and too hot, as usual. Feelingbetter around the normalcy of the Centre -if such a thing were possiblehere- Parker walked with that same old confident saunter to her office.She turned the handle, pushed the door open, flicked the lightswitch on...

Her mug fell to the floor, the handle breaking off and coffee spillingeverywhere. Parker felt numb--she couldn't breath or move, she couldn'tthink. That same knot of fear formed in her stomach.

On the desk lie a bouquet of red roses.

~~~~~~~~~

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Part 2