Her name was Lia and this was her last resort.

She had tried so many other places that by now she was prepared to sleep in a jail cell if necessary. Crashing in her aunt's house in the most boring town in the world was not happening for her anymore. Staring at her mother's sister all day made her remember all that had happened to get her there in the first place. The brunette's fingers drummed against the steering wheel as she drove away from Dufftown. Her aunt had given her niece the car that was collecting dust in the garage. Her aunt was a soon to be alcoholic who hated most people she met and had forgotten how to drive. Lia couldn't stand to be around someone so contaminated by negative thoughts…the younger girl was already beginning to ferment in her own toxicity. Now with some of the money her father had left her Lia was on her way to a Bed and Breakfast in Isle of Skye. She had heard about the beautiful sunsets and the smell of the water hitting the sand. While Lia normally hated water but she wouldn't mind having a nice view from her room. . With massive amounts of books in the back of her new-old car she was prepared to spend the next month in Isle of Skye. Lia didn't know what to expect when she arrived but for now she could focus on the road.

Leaving Dufftown. Lia watched the sign fade away through her rearview mirror. While she knew she would come back to see her aunt the teenager didn't plan to be back any time soon. Her stay in Dufftown was relatively uneventful. But for once she was okay with that. Two years before her stay there had been a sighting of some freak who escaped from jail. Ironically the criminal had been sighted by Lia's aunt, a budding freak herself. Lia had to hear about the aftermath almost every day she was at her aunt's house because apparently things never were the same around Dufftown. Her aunt slowly became an introvert, rarely leaving her home. Lia asked why and regretted it almost immediately. "Dark, hovering creatures that swept the town with sadness and invisible frost for what felt like months…It was terrible," her aunt recalled with a vacant stare. Lia never asked again.

Lia's eyes watched the signs to make sure she wasn't going to wrong way. Hell, any direction was better than going back to home. She was making her way into the mountainous Highland region of Scotland and she wasn't looking forward to the drive. It was a 3 hour drive and she had started a bit late in the day so she would get to her B&B at around 9 o'clock. Hopefully. Lia was used to driving alone seeing as after her father passed away her mother retreated into herself and she had to drive herself around. Typical mother abandonment story but Lia wasn't angry at her mother. She was sad for the woman she loved and the person she let slip away. Lia was old enough to handle her own by the time her father died but it also would have been nice to be cared for. That was the root of the argument the two had before Lia left. Her mother, without having to say it, wasn't interested in spending so much emotional energy on her daughter. Lia decided to leave because she had given so much over the last few years that by now she was tired. There were bags under her eyes on most days because it felt like she had lost years of sleep. Now she was skipping out on Sixth Form and traveling to a B&B not far from her loony aunt. What was she doing with her life?

Lia felt smart enough to take on the real world and she wasn't the only person in England skipping out for a year or two. But this wasn't who she used to be. And it was scary. Sick of the thoughts running through her head Lia turned on the radio in attempt to drown them out. An Oasis song was playing which must have been sent from above. Oasis could fix anything. Lia tapped her fingers along the steering wheel but was interrupted by static and an unintentional remix of some other song. She was going into the twilight zone of Scotland where towns were still listening to Ace of Base's 1993 album. Suddenly Lia had the options of listening to "All That She Wants" or "I'd Do Anything For Love" from Meatloaf. This was going to be a long ride.

One Hour Later

A storm had made its way over to the northern part of Scotland and the roads were barely visible to Lia. She grunted as she pulled over to the side of the road and sat in her car for a few moments. Her eyes stayed glued to the rain wall that had suddenly come up in the last half hour. Someone really didn't want her to make it to this B&B is one piece…or sane. "No. No. Go Lia. Go!" she pushed herself and bought the car to life again. She decided to keep going in an effort to fight the fates attempt to shit on her life. This effort lasted 5 minutes as the rain was too dangerous to drive in so she took a desperate turn onto a road so that she could sit off the road until the rain stopped. "Stupid fucking rain," she let out and drove down the road deep through a patch of trees. The Highlands were mostly open space but she didn't question this particularly tree heavy area, she was just happy to get off the road. Her dreams of finding a place to park were dashed as she reached an old abandoned house. More like a mansion. Lia looked up at the house and cringed…this was too much of a setup for it not to be dangerous. But she was freezing and in the middle of nowhere so she got out of the car and ran into the building. She jumped as the doors closed with a loud bang.

The inside was deteriorating and dust clung to every service. The main chandelier was creaking as it swayed lightly with the breeze. The house was falling apart and Lia didn't want to spend too much time in there. Pulling out her cell phone she attempted to dial her aunt to tell her where she was. "Of course…no service. I've stepped into a fucking Alfred Hitchcock movie," she shouted and kicked the wall. Rubbing her face with her hands Lia attempted to run through every possible scenario that could happen in the time she spent standing there. Sadly there really wasn't anywhere else to go.

"Who are you?"

Lia jumped and turned to see a teenage boy standing across the room from her. She felt her mouth go dry as her hand went to her pocket where her pepper spray was waiting. The boy began to walk toward her slowly but Lia stood her ground, unable to move. "What are you doing here?" he asked another question, adjusting his circle rimmed glasses.

"I…I could ask you the same question."

"Are you lost?"

"What's it to you?"

"You really shouldn't be in here…"

"Why are YOU in here then?" her voice rose as her fear began to take control. The boy stopped walking towards her and crossed his arms against his chest. "Where are we right now?" he asked simply. Lia looked around the dirty room and then back to him. "Are you serious? We're in an abandoned house off the main road. Unless you're blind you can tell the same," she sassed him and kept her hand over her pocket. The expression on the boy changed as he realized what was happening. Lia looked him up and down to drink him in. His was wearing something similar to a prep school uniform and his right hand held two books. The glasses perched on his nose were circular.

"How can you see me?" Lia's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him. "I should go," the boy said suddenly and turned to leave. Lia shook her head as the stranger began to walk away through a door. "No! Please! I don't understand what's going on…who are you? I just need to find a place I can stay for the night that's nearby," she crossed the distance of the room to stand in front of him before he could leave. He searched her face for a moment before meeting her eyes. If the situation were different Lia might have actually found him to be attractive…but she was just afraid of who he could be. "Please," she whispered. "I can't help you…I'm sorry." Lia watched him walk around her before she got the nerve to grab his arm. A flash of light engulfed them both and the last thing Lia could feel was the boy catching her fall.