AN – Okay, so yes, this is a new fic, but this one is slightly different than my others because this is actually written by myself and my lovely friend Rebecca (love of escapism).

Don't worry, we're both continuing to write our other fics, but we kind of got talking (as per usual) and we had this idea that we should try our hand at writing something together. Then this story came up, and we got a little bit excited about it and before you knew it, we had a prologue...

We're going to aim to update every 2 weeks, so the next update will be on Monday 12th April.

Major thanks to Pam and Kristen for all their help.

All that's left for us to say is that we both hope you all really like it!

Prologue

The misty, midnight air was shrouded in an eerie, heavy fog, so thick you could barely see your hands if you held them out in front of you. The sounds of sharp, shallow breaths filled the otherwise quiet air as Nathan stood next to a woman who was hunched over with her hands gripping fiercely onto her knees. She gasped desperately for air, her head frantically moving from left to right, scanning the area around her as she leaned her backside against the cold brick wall. Nathan recognised her instantly, he felt the warmth of familiarity radiate from her and tingle his skin, a stark contrast to the freezing temperature of the night. She sounded like she had been running, and Nathan wondered for a brief moment why his breathing was so calm when her breaths were so ragged. It didn't make sense; nothing here did.

However, before he could take the time to ponder that thought any longer, he was distracted by a deep, male voice coming from the right of where he was standing. His intuition told him that something dreadful was about to happen and his entire body tensed up while his heart began to beat wildly in his chest. There was a tension in the air, this palpable feeling which sent a shiver down his spine. There was clearly something wrong.

He heard the woman beside him murmur under her breath, and once again, he wondered what the hell was going on. He didn't know where he was and that thought scared him, he certainly didn't feel safe standing down what appeared to be an allyway against a very cold, damp wall. He felt as though they both shouldn't be here. He wanted to shout out to the woman to get herself somewhere more open, some place where he didn't feel like they were so trapped. He just wanted to take her home.

The woman glanced nervously to the right where the noise had come from and Nathan caught a brief glance at her beautiful face, catching a quick peek at the frightened look in her eyes. His stomach dropped instantly, because he knew that something bad was happening here. She looked scared, mortified even.

He saw her eyes widen briefly as he heard the faint sound of footsteps slap against the wet floor and in a flash, she pushed herself off the wall and ran in the opposite direction of where the footsteps had come from.

Without thinking twice, he followed her, wanting to make sure she was safe and find out who or what it was she was running from. He knew someone was chasing them because there was muffled shouting, and the slapping noise of footsteps behind him became heavier and quickened in their pace. She ran in a straight direction, which Nathan didn't think was very clever, and just as he was about to vocalise this, the woman made a sharp right turn and ran down a thinner artery in this weird maze of a place.

Nathan was having difficulty keeping up with her, she was running so fast. She was being cleverer about this hiding business now too, she was twisting and turning, doing her best to lose the person behind them and making it harder and harder for Nathan to follow her. Judging from the sounds of the footsteps which were getting more and more feint, it seemed to be working too. Eventually, the woman slowed down and pressed herself tightly against the wall. She was panting for breath and her hands were splayed against the damp brick, her fingers curled as if she wished she could crawl inside of it. She looked utterly terrified and the anger rushed through Nathan's veins, completely overwhelming him. He hated seeing her like this and he would do anything to protect her.

He listened carefully for what felt like an extremely long time, and eventually any noise, any footsteps or shouting, dissipated into nothing but silence. The woman's breaths had now calmed down completely and she was barely making a sound. The peace and quiet after the terror and franticness they'd just experienced was more than welcome, and Nathan felt like yelling into the air that they'd done it, they'd outrun whoever the hell they were running from.

He managed to contain himself though, and instead leaned his head back against the wall, feeling the brick press uncomfortably against his head and closed his eyes, savouring the quiet.

However, distant muffled cries, caused his eyes to flash open, and he glanced to where the woman had been only moments before, to find that nobody was there.

His stomach churned uncomfortably and he tried to follow the sounds of her whimpering. However, he was getting lost in this maze and couldn't seem to locate her. He was growing more and more panicked by the second, pressing against the walls angrily, wishing that he could find her, save her, take her away from this, even though he didn't really understand what was going on.

He continued to run with no clear destination in mind, not realising in his haste that his feet were making no sound as he kicked his way through puddles, not acknowledging the fact that when he opened his mouth to shout out at her, no noise was falling from his lips.

He eventually saw a street light shining at the end of one of the paths and he breathed a sigh of relief, because if he could just reach it, if he could get to a more open space he'd surely be able to find someone who could help him.

He ran quickly towards the yellow glow, the eerie silence making the distance seem that much longer. It seemed as though the end was miles away, not the mere hundred meters or so he'd first estimated.

But he continued to move along the alleyway, increasing his speed, wanting to get help as quickly as he could.

However, as the noise of a gunshot echoed through the air, he tripped up and fell onto the wet ground, his entire body sinking into a deep puddle. The puddle suddenly turned into an ocean of water and he could feel himself struggling for breath, the current of the murky water thrashing his body around as if he were as light as a feather. He battled against the force of the water, desperately searching for the surface, needing to go to her, to save her. But the water was too strong for him.

He eventually gave up trying to fight the water and relaxed his body, rapidly running out of oxygen. He desperately needed to breathe, and so giving in, he opened his mouth, inhaling deeply. He was surprised when he didn't get a mouthful of water and instead a hot gust of air burst into his mouth.

His eyes snapped open and he was slightly disorientated for a moment before he realised that once again he'd had the repetitive nightmare he so very much despised. His body was covered in sweat and his breathing was sharp and shallow. Needing the comfort from her, he reached his hand out across the mattress, expecting to be greeted with warm, soft skin, but all he was met with was cold sheets and an empty bed.

AN – Okay, so there's the prologue...

We'd love to know what you think so do drop us a review.

Previews will be sent out soon so if you want a hint at what's going to happen in the next chapter, let us know in a review and we'll get it out to you ASAP.

Next update on Monday 12th April :o)