I feel him staring at me, but I kept my eyes closed, and concentrated on my breathing. The mattress that I was curled up on was slowly falling apart, just like the rest of the apartment.

He moved from the chair, standing up and moving towards the front door. I opened my right eye slightly, watching him go. He reached for the door handle, but turned suddenly. I closed my eyes again and continued keeping up my, I'm-asleep-so-please-don't-wake-me charade.

He walked back towards me and I felt my heartbeat quicken. Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, my mind screamed.

He ran his finger across my collarbone and I felt my skin quiver under his touch. I opened my eyes sleepily and looked up at him. His dark green eyes bore into mine, and after a while my vision started to blur as my eyes slowly watered.

"I'll be back later." He mumbled, reaching over to stroke my cheek. I flinched as his hand got closer, then recoiled as his fingers brushed against my cold skin.

He growled and pulled me up so that I was facing him. "You always flinch, just be God damn thankful that I put a fucking roof over your head."

I tried to struggle free from his grasp, but his grip tightened around my arms, feeling like he was crushing my bones.

"Let me go." I screamed and pushed against his chest. He threw me against the wall to his right and I felt my head hit the bricks. I gasped as I felt warm liquid slowly run down from my forehead to my cheek.

He grabbed me by my wrists and pushed me up against the wall. "Don't try to fight me." He warned as I attempted to wriggle free.

"Alec please," I begged. "don't do this."

He merely laughed.

He pushed himself away from me and turned to face the door. I rubbed my wrists, trying to get the blood circulating again.

I didn't even see him turn.

My cheek burned from his slap, and I stumbled backwards, falling onto the mattress. He laughed and walked through the door, leaving me to lie in a mixture of blood and tears.

I was numb with pain and blind with tears. I wasn't sure how long I had been laying there before my senses kicked in. I crawled the corner of the room and grabbed my bag, stuffing all my clothes and the small amount of personal possessions that I had here, into it. I stripped off my pajamas and pulled on my old Rolling Stones t-shirt, my faded denim shorts and my black zip up hoodie. I ran to the apartment door and pulled on my converse, before grabbing a fistful of ten dollar notes from the hallway table, swinging my band over my shoulder and running out of the door.

I descended the stairs two at a time, not knowing how long I had before Alec came back. As I ran, I rubbed my cheek with the sleeve of my hoodie, trying to wipe myself clean of the blood.

I reached the ground floor and violently shoved open the emergency exit door, only to run into someone, knocking them down. Stumbling backwards, he grabbed my hand, trying to regain his balance, but instead pulling me down with him. I fell on top of him, and we were sprawled out on the floor in the middle of the alley.

"Oh my god," I stammered. "I'm so sorry." I rolled off of him and sat up, my hood falling down and the cold air whipped at my face, burning the skin where Alec had slapped me.

I winced and tried to stand up, but failing miserably. He reached for my hand and pulled me gently to me feet.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, sounding worried.

I looked up at him and smiled weakly, "I've been better." It was too dark to see what he properly looked like, but I could see that he had dark brown hair, and brown eyes.

He was staring at my forehead; hesitantly, I reached up and ran my fingers over the deep gash that Alec had caused.

"Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?" he asked.

I shook my head, making the pain ten times worse. "No, I'm going to a friend's house," I lied. "Maybe I'll stop off on the way."

He frowned and looked me closely in the eyes. "You sure?" My breath got caught in my throat as I realized that his eyes weren't brown, they were a deep red.

"Yeah .." I mumbled and stepped away from his embrace. "I'm sorry, again." I grabbed my bag from the floor and started to walk away, down the alley.

"Maybe I'll see you around some time?" He called after me. I smiled and blushed.

"Maybe." I turned and continued to walk away.

"I'm Riley." He called again.

I turned for the final time and shouted back, "I'm Bree," I smiled. "Bree Tanner."

He grinned and walked down the alleyway. I watched him go, his black jeans scuffing against the floor. Even though he was wearing a top and hoodie, I could still see his muscles pressed against the material.

I blushed again, realizing how many inappropriate thoughts were running through my head.

As he came to the end of the alley, another dark figure came around the corner.

Alec.

I saw him look up and see me. "Bree." He growled, and started running towards me.

"Fuck." I whimpered and turned on the spot, sprinting as fast as I could down the alley.