Claire gazed up into the clouds that dotted the vast stretch of blue sky, their wispy tails trailing after one another, carried away by the breeze. Along with the current of wind were several petals, scattering themselves along with the breeze. As the sun's rays began to filter over the ground, it bathed its surroundings in a hazy glow.

A thick, wooden fence surrounded the lush grass field. Rather than take the road, Claire shoved herself against the fence, her weight causing the worn fence to snap easily. As she braced herself for the fall she closed her eyes tight. Her eyes were concealed in the darkness. She brushed her fingertips on her now swollen ankle. It was sprained. She winced as she staggered on her feet, weary fingers placed delicately upon her forehead. As her head began to throb into a massive headache she tried to focus in on her surroundings. The more she tried to focus the worse her head hurt. Dropping to her knees; she felt the earth collide with her body again. Just as she lost awareness, she barely noticed a figure emerged.

A soft moan came from Claire's pursed lips. She stirred her eyes slowly fluttering open. She was lying on a bed, propped up slightly against several thick pillows; her body was wrapped securely within the blankets grasps.

Claire was startled by the figure at the other side of the room. The tall man leaned against the door frame, unmoving. His face outlined by the light from a flickering lamp bolted against the wall. He was gone before she got to her feet. Easing off the bed, she tossed the blanket carelessly on the ground and moved toward the doorway. Straining to hear anything outside the door, she tightened her hold on the handle clasped in her shaking hand. Slowly easing the door open. Claire's eyes traced the room, her breath catching in her throat. The room suddenly seemed to have grown smaller, and the air was so thick that her lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. All she focused on was a shape, staring out the window. He just stood there, in the middle of the empty corridor, for what seemed like an eternity. She edged closer, until she was standing just inches from him. He shifted drawing Claire's attention. A stunned silence followed. He just stared at her, his eyes wide.

"My, you startled me. I didn't expect to see you up and about so soon." He said clearly surprised at this encounter.

"Where am I?" she asked nervously, beginning to fidget around uncomfortably.

"Why don't you have a look yourself?" He gestured a hand towards the window and she walked ever closer, being very cautious. Not sure of what she was expecting to see. And once she was there beside him he asked her a very funny question. "What do you see?" She stood there silently, trying to examine her entire surroundings. Only there wasn't anything but clouds obscuring her vision. "Well?" he said awaiting her answer.

"Clouds... All I see is clouds."

"Ah." He faded off and returned to looking out the window. "Your name's Claire, right?"

"Uhh... Yes... But how..."

"How do I know?" he said glancing at her, a smile coming upon his lips. "Lucky guess." He then turned and began to walk away and she hurried after him.

"Do I know you from some where?"

"Maybe."

It seemed he was being vague on purpose, but that didn't discourage her from asking more questions. No, not even the slightest. She continued to ask away, hoping that she would eventually catch him off guard and something important would be revealed but what she hoped for never came.

"You do like to ask a lot of questions, don't you?" he said, while leaning in close to her face. "Hm... You're quite pretty."

She thought she would be blushing right about now, but she actually screamed as the face of Gourmet appeared in her mind. And so Claire stumbled backwards, panting heavily. "I know... I know... who you remind me of!" she said pointing a shaky finger directly at him while she still sat awkwardly on the floor with the pink dress she wore pooling all around her. "Gourmet! That's who!" He stood there thoughtfully for a moment with his arms crossed before yet another smile stretched across his face and a slight laugh escaped his lips.

She curiously looked up at him, her eyes blinking dumbly "Am I wrong?"

"I wouldn't say so..."

Agh... She must have guessed wrong... if she didn't he wouldn't be laughing! A hand then suddenly appeared in front of her face, and she instantly knew he was offering to help her up. "Umm... Thanks." She blushed, feeling incredibly foolish of herself. "I'm sorry, I am mistaking you for someone else."

"No its okay, you're right actually..."

Huh? Did she just hear things or did he actually just admit that she was right?

"B-But... B-But you're so thin... And, and..."

"No! You can't possibly be the same person!"

"Believe it or not. It's the truth."

"B-But... If what you say is true..."

"That means I'm stuck here with you!"

She let out a scream that could be heard throughout the room, and everywhere else the echoes bounced off. In an effort to escape she pushed her way by him, straight towards the door, but when she got there it wouldn't budge. Huh? It won't open? But I just opened it a few minutes ago! She then began to bang on the door screaming loudly hoping that someone... anybody would hear her.

"W-Wait there's no need to get hasty..."

"I'm not staying another minute here."

"I'll break these windows and escape if I have too!"

"No, don't touch the glass or you'll fall!" "It may appear to be just glass but if you actually touch it you'll fall right through..."

But that warning had came a little too late because she had already pressed her hands against the glass and fell straight down into the depths.

Will she ever be seen again? Find out in the next chapter!

Note to readers: I'm sorry for taking forever to update this. I hadn't been continuing with this story because I got into writing original stories and didn't work on my fan fiction very much. But thank you very much for the kind words of encouragement to everyone who had commented so far, it made me want to continue writing this ;)
I'll be posting the next chapter very soon!