Disclaimer: All characters belong to E.L James

2 days after Ana had told Christian she was pregnant she disappeared on her lunch hour. It has been 10 months since she went missing and Ana is now living off the grid on the other side of Seattle. What happened to make Ana run and what happened in the 10 months she was gone. Everyone has their own story but is everything they think they know true.

I awake with a start. My eyes fly open, it's dark, pitch black even. For some unknown reason I am filled with fear. My eyes dart around but the darkness seems to go on forever. Panic starts to set in as I try to listen for a noise, anything but all I can hear is the pounding in my ears getting faster. My breathing starts to speed up, I have no control, I'm in the grips of a full blown panic attack. My body is gripped with fear and I have no idea why, I can't seem to focus on anything, I have no idea where I am or what I'm looking for. My eyes catch something in the corner of the room, I try to calm myself enough to see what's caught my attention. A small light seems to be flickering in the corner of the room. I focus on this small slither of light and everything starts falling into place. The pounding in my ears starts to subside as I realise the light is coming from a street lamp outside my apartment block. My breathing starts to return to normal as my brain takes in the fact that the flickering is caused by my curtains blowing in some unfelt breeze. My curtains that hang on my window in my apartment where I am safe. My eyes start to focus more and I glance round the room.

I'm in the front room of my apartment, I must have fallen asleep on the sofa. I move to sit up making it only half way before wincing at the pain that shoots across my neck. I sit up the rest of the way rubbing the back of my neck, silently cursing the high arms on my sofa. I reach across and flick the switch to the lamp that sits beside my neck-breaking sofa, light fills my tiny apartment. I release a deep breath I wasn't even aware I was holding in. A glance at the clock tells me it's almost 4.25am. Great, I know that there's no point even trying to go to sleep now, there's to much adrenaline cursing through my veins. I should do something useful with this excess adrenaline like go for a run, burn it off if you would. I suppress a giggle at the thought of me doing anything remotely healthy. Instead I settle on taking a long hot shower, something to fill the time till I have to set off for work. Ah yes work, if it could pass as that, whittling the hours away in a little coffee shop. Serving the customers their fuel for the day as they go about their business, working real jobs, earning a decent wage, living a somewhat meaningful life. While I look like the perfect poster girl for a "stay in school" campaign. Except I did go to school, and college, I even had the real job, my dream job. But that's all in the past now, I can never go back.

An hour and a half wasted and I've managed to shower and dress for the day, I even spent extra time blow drying my hair, managing to get it looking like it actually has some life in it. I make myself a tea and go to take a seat on the sofa, picking up my late night forgotten novel off the floor on the way. I must have fallen asleep reading once again. I turn the telly on in time to hear some weather man tell me to take an umbrella with me today, what's new there, I need an umbrella surgically attached to my hands in this rainy city. I continue to sip my tea while watching some early morning talk show, not really taking any of it in. When I next glance at the clock it's almost 7.00am, I splash my now cold tea on to my jeans as I leap up from the sofa,I have less than 45 minutes to get to work which if I was getting the bus would be no problem at all however I don't have a penny to my name to even do that. I briskly wipe at my jeans while I grab my coat and race out the door, slamming it in my haste to which I hear a threat to keep the noise down from one of my very friendly neighbours. As the cold Seattle air bites at my cheeks it would seem some sort of luck is on my side as so far the rain the weather man promised seems to be holding off. I'v soon set a comfortable but quick walking pace and I'm feeling hopeful I may actually make it to work on time.

When I next glance at my watch I have about 20 minutes left before I'm officially late for work, I have no chance even if I start running now, I pick up the pace anyway hoping that if it at least looks like I made an effort I won't get into much trouble with my boss. The streets are now full of suits politely pushing past each other in a rush to get to the office, I find myself bumping shoulders with a few of them although most are polite enough to sidestep slightly out of the way. My eyes are trained on my feet making sure they don't step anywhere they shouldn't when I collide with someone, hard. The collision is hard enough to make stumble back a couple of steps, as I try to get my balance a pair of hands grab my forearms perhaps trying to prevent me from falling backwards. I release a breath and a giggle at the same time, relieved my rear end has been saved from a painful introduction to the sidewalk. I look up from my shoes to the hands that are still gripping my arms, they have quite a grip that I'm sure it would be slightly painful if I wasn't wearing my thick coat. I'm suddenly aware that quite a bit of time has passed since the initial collision and the only sound to come out of my mouth was an awkward breathy laugh. I raise my head slightly ready to thank the owner of the hands but the words get stuck in my mouth and all the air escapes my lungs as my eyes are met with a very familiar face. A million different emotions seems to pass through his eyes yet his face remains impassive as a whisper escapes his lips.

"Anastasia."