CHAPTER 1

It's something you only end up dreaming, getting a chance to go to the one place you have always wanted to go to. But it makes it more precious to have the independence to save up for the trip, pay your own way. It leaves a much more fulfilled effect on you after words, when you're standing in the London international airport. For the first time you are miles from home on your own for four months of well-earned freedom. You have everything planned out, you have paid for a motel room in advance and have plenty of money for souvenirs and in case of emergency. You grab your bags and head out of the main doors of the airport and have to wait in a line for a taxi, or cab as it's called there. The weather outside is sunny and warm. You breathe in the new scent around you, the sent that is London. You really don't mind the wait, you plug in your headphones and watch the lively people all around you. You're already loving this and you see the line start to move as people get into their cabs. You move with the line taking it step by step towards a possible cab. Finally your up, you see a cab pull up to the curb. You grab your bags suddenly feeling nervous. You shove your headphones in your pocket to be respectful. The cabbie takes your bags placing them in the trunk. You get into the back seat giving the driver your address to your Hotel.

You look out the window smiling at the scenery around you. The cab finally stops in front of the hotel you will be staying at. You pay the cabbie and thank him for the ride, you collect your bags stepping onto the sidewalk. You make your way inside desperate to get your stuff into your room and then go site seeing. You tell the lady at the front desk your name and show your I'D to them showing your reservation. She hands you your room key and a man comes walking up taking your bags for you. You begin to protest but the man insists, you accept it and make your way up to your room. Once inside you give the man a tip. After he leaves you start unpacking. You finish within 20 minutes. You grab your backpack, it has your passport and I'D with your money in it. You sling it over your shoulders grabbing the key with jittery hands, step out of your room ready to explore. You're walking down the street and you head into a shop, it has a bunch of souvenirs stuff on display. The first thing you grab is a London hat. After that you stop off at a sandwich café. Inside you smell freshly baked breads and spices, pastries and of course coffee. You order a cinnamon pastry and a cup of apples and cinnamon tea. You sit down at a table breathing in all the good smells around you. It makes you think of home, but not in a sad way. You hear someone approach you while you take a sip of your tea.

"Hello, may I join you"? A man asks in a British accent.

You open your eyes to see a cute guy with medium length dark hair and sky blue eyes. He looks like he might be in his early 20's.

"Y-yes, please." You say blushing.

You notice him starring at you as you take a bite of your pastry. You blink bashfully at him, setting the pastry down. He leans forward eyeing you, licking his lips discretely but you catch that.

"So visiting London aren't we." He says pointing to my hat.

I grab it taking it off placing it on the table. You notice he's carrying a backpack with him. A little engraving is on his shoulder strap. CHAPMEN ACCADOMY is written in golden letters. You smirk at him shaking your head.

"What, what's wrong"? He asks not getting it.

"What is your name."? You ask him.

"My name is Elliot, what's yours"? He asks giving you a wink.

"Well Elliot, my name is Anna. By the way, how old are you."? You ask resting your chin on your hands.

He begins to look nervous, avoiding eye contact with you. You finish off your pastry waiting for him to speak to you. Finally he opens his mouth.

"Alright, I'm 21." He says still sounding nervous.

"Really because I'm 22 and you acting like your still 18, all nervous." You say trying to not sound rude.

"Ok, ok. I'm really 17. But you are so pretty and I've never talked to an American girl before." He admits.

You let out a laugh seeing his cheeks turn pink. He smiles at you.

"So you are really 22."? He asks.

"Yes I am." You say proudly.

"Elliot, you should really get back to the Academy. You need to stay in school, ok" You tell him.

He gets up smiling at you, he extends his hand out to you. "It was nice to meet you."

You take his hand shaking it. "It was very nice to meet you to, Elliot."

You watch him leave the café as you chuckle to yourself, but slightly disappointed he wasn't in your age range. You leave a tip on the counter as you leave, taking your half drunken tea with you. You walk the streets looking at the sights. You start to cross the street looking right to left. It looks clear so you step out. A man yells after you. Suddenly you're yanked off the street and onto the sidewalk seeing a car barreling down the wrong side of the road. The cup of tea was forgotten on the side walk. You're shaken up from that as a few other people who witnessed it ask you if you're alright.

"Why was that car driving on the wrong side of the road."? You ask the man who pulled you out of the way.

"He was not driving on the wrong side of the road. It's reversed here in London. So you have to train your brain to reversed the directions you look for oncoming traffic." He says.

You look at the other witnesses nodding in agreement. Your face turns red feeling like a total idiot. Out of all the stuff you looked up on the internet for this trip, you didn't bother looking up traffic rules one bit.

"Thank You sir. I'm so sorry, I'm not from around here." You say apologetically.

"It's alright, things are different in America we understand that. Just try to be a bit more careful next time dear." He waves good bye walking off.

You grab the cup tossing it into a nearby trash can. Well after that you look for every single crosswalk ahead of you if you want to cross the road. You look up at the sky seeing it already start to turn pink as the sun will be setting soon. You begin to walk back to your hotel. About half way there you decide to catch a cab instead of continuing to walk. You catch a cab and you slowly make your way back to your hotel. The traffic is just about bumper to bumper as everyone else is most likely getting of work or heading somewhere else. Eventually you see your hotel a few blocks up ahead. You pay the driver and get out walking the last stretch of the way. You get inside the hotel realizing your backpack is heavier then when you first started from the stuff you bought today. You slowly trudge to the elevator pressing the floor you're on sitting on your butt. You're on the 7th floor of the hotel and get off on your floor almost dragging your feet towards your room. You are very tired from a whole day of excitement and just want to drop for a few hours. You open our door and shut it turning the lock as soon as you're inside. The bag drop from your shoulders and you kick your shoes off stepping out of your sox. You slip your jeans down looking at your warm comfy bed. You fall face first onto it pulling the covers out from under you and drape them over you. As your eyes close you hear the chiming of the London tower and drift off to sleep.

The next morning you wake up and glance over at the alarm clock in your room. You whined when it reads 5:45 AM. You roll over trying to get back to sleep when the realization hits you. You're in a different time zone now, it's most likely close to 1 or 2 in the U.S by now. You wake up about a half an hour later not able to get back to sleep. Getting out of bed you turn on your portable radio blasting your Rob Zombie CD. You head into the bathroom taking a shower. You come out dressing, your hair is still a little damp but that doesn't bother you. Your dressed a little more rugged then the other day. You look in the mirror seeing you newly bought gothic look and smile wickedly. Before leaving your room you shut off the CD and grab your back pack making sure you emptied it out. You come almost dancing out of the elevator listening to your headphones. You smile as people stare at you as you pass twirling in your ripped holed black skirt laying over your black pants. Your combat boots come just up to your knee as you walk with heavy feet out the main doors. This time you just dart off in the opposite direction you were headed yesterday. You feel totally giddy and just want to have fun in this city. You pass over a small bridge that is overseeing a stream. You stop looking down at your reflection, your brown shiny hair flowing in the wind. You just can't believe you stepped out of your hotel room dressed like it was Halloween. Looking over towards a park you see a crowd of guys sitting over by a fountain. They are dressed in your fashion so you start walking towards them. The closer you get the more dangerous they appear. You stop a few feet from them. They look up at you with harsh eyes. You walk past them through the park and head for the streets again. You approach an alleyway and stop dead in your tracks. You hear someone following you, more than one person.

Looking back you see it's the guys from the fountain, they followed you. The beer cans in their hands look light, most likely empty. Their drunk. One of them approaches you staggering as he tries to walk. You take a step away from them, further into the alley.

"Hey sweetheart, you looking hot. Let's all of us hang a bit." He says smiling at you.

"No thanks guys, good day" You say.

They all look at each other confused for a minute.

"You scared of us babe, we'll be real good to you." One of the guys says, a dangerous smile on his face.

You turn and start running down the alleyway. Behind you, they howl in excitement as they chase after you. Your skirt gets caught on a dumpster. Using your legs you push yourself faster letting the skirt rip off of you. Their closing in on you. Their footfalls a few seconds away from yours. One of them grabs your ankle causing you to fall. You smack your head against the brick wall. You try to kick him off of you but another guy falls on top of you. It feels like you can't breathe. Severe pain surges through your side. The guy is in a daze punching the guy that has your ankles. Once you're free you force yourself to run, you slip on a wet pizza box and fall onto the ground. You force yourself to get up and run out of the alley. You see people looking shocked as you come into view. You dash across the street as you're almost hit by a car. You make it to the other side of the street as you collide with someone. You hear a mixed sheared of concerned voices swirling together. You try to get out of a pair of strong hands that are gently at your sides.

You get a step away when you realize your face feels wet. A steady line of wet down the side of your face, you blink what looks like blood out of your eyelashes. Dizziness settles in and your legs give out feeling someone catch you. The deep baritone voice sounds vaguely familiar but before you can think your eyes close. Your eyes flash open briefly, by the alarming sound, you can tell you are in the back of an ambulance. Your eyes close just as you see a man not in a paramedic uniform. Your world goes black again. You find yourself asking who that man was with you in the back of the ambulance, why was he willing to come help a complete stranger.

If the story seems slow in the beginning I apologize. This is my first Benedict Cumberbatch story, hope you like it. More chapters coming. :)