Tessa's POV

"wake up."

I woke up to a raspy whisper encompassing my bedroom; a large, strong hand was on my shoulder rocking me awake. My eyes shot open to see nothing; my body instantly filled with anxiety. I jolted up and pushed myself away from the intruder until I was against the wall. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as my breathing quickened. The moonlight shone through my curtains and helped me make out what i was dealing with; a very muscular man. Shit. My eyes bounced frantically, trying to take in every detail of this stranger. I saw something gleaming on the back of his left shoulder; a knife. He's planning to kill me.

"what the hell..." I whispered. The intruder stood up slowly, moonlight was shining on their jaw and shoulders. His jawline was sharp, rough, and scruffy; the tips of his dark hair were grazing over his shoulders. I was blinded by a beam of light bouncing off his left shoulder. The knife… wait… this was different. He shifted and a red star flashed into sight, painted on his...arm? His arm is metal? This guy has a metal arm… The intruder spoke in a deep, crackly voice.

"we have to get out of here." there was almost no emotion in what the man said. I paused… wait so he's kidnapping me instead...

"This is a dream. This has to be a dream." I laughed hysterically as I pinched my arm so hard I gave myself a bruise. Okay so maybe this is real. Why would someone want to kidnap me? And why wouldn't they just take me by force? "Why do we have to leave?" yes, a dumb question I already knew the answer to… but I was stalling. Thinking of ways to escape and hurt this guy.

"They didn't let you know?!" the intruder's bushy eyebrows met as he furrowed them in confusion. what the?...

"who's the heck is 'they' and what are you talking about?" again; stalling, but also interested to know why this guy expected me to know what was going on. I heard the man cursing/mumbling to himself. He sighed before he said,

"Listen, I don't have time to tell you anything right now…" I wasn't even looking at him. My eyes wandered around the room making possible escape plans. "Follow me" he finished his sentence and my gaze snapped towards him. Who was this guy? I almost laughed at his question. I mean, c'mon! Some guy breaks into my room and expects me to trust him? But, from my guesses, an intruder would just kidnap me...not take the time to ask questions; let alone have a conversation with me.

"You really think I want to follow you to who-knows-where after you broke into my room?!" I hissed. The man rolled his eyes as though he has been through this multiple times before.

"Just... please?" The mans eyes seemed to silently plead me to obey his command. His sudden use of politeness threw me for a loop at first, but then my heart relaxed and my body slumped into a natural state as I realized that-suddenly this man didn't seem like a threat anymore, he was positioned comfortably; not tense or defensive. His knees were bent as he put his weight on his left leg. Probably a result of the heavy metal arm. His shoulders were back and his arms hung loosely by his sides. He didn't seem in a hurry at all...

"Yes." I answered 'yes' only because there was some hesitation to say no right away. Any sane person would have said 'no' faster than you can blink an eye… but something about him seemed familiar. Did I know him?

"Okay, let's go then." I nodded. He stepped cautiously around my piles of clutter and I watched as this guy climbed down the roof to our tree; I noticed that he was very agile. I snapped out of my stare when he motioned for me to follow. I stepped cautiously down the roof and onto the tree. I had climbed a thousand trees when I was younger, but apparently that wasn't enough. I made my way down the branches and stepped down confidently, only to realize that there was no branch beneath me. I fell the remaining five feet and landed harshly on the bricks outlining the trunk. I saw my intruder walking towards the driveway, but as he turned back he ran over to me. He bent down next to me and scooped me up gently. "Tessa!" he whispered, "what happened?" he knew my name?

"what?…" my vision went in and out of focus. My head suddenly felt warm despite the snow around us. I reached up and touched my forehead only to look at the warm blood on my fingers.

"That impact should have knocked you out!" the man whispered as he walked into my backyard.

"I know…" i said drowsily. I felt myself slipping in and out of consciousness. I looked up at this man that was carrying me. I noticed how handsome he was; his face was very structured, he had dark brown hair, a scruffy jaw, and he was very muscular; almost unnaturally muscular actually. "what's your name?" I slurred out. He looked down at me and smiled. So he does have at least a little emotion left in him...

"Bucky." he said.