Eternity
Chapter 1:- Abby stood on the sidelines and stared in complete confusion at the furious man striding back and forth in front of them. She stole a quick glance sideways at Stephen and his eyes turned to meet hers. He half smiled but she turned away, furious with the emotions that that one glance had caused inside her. She still couldn't believe it. Stephen. The one that they had all though was so trustworthy and loyal, cheating with Helen, his best friend's wife. And by the looks of it Nick Cutter was fairly pissed off about it too. Suddenly, Nick stopped pacing and turned to face them.
"Look, I don't care what you say, she exists, she was here when we went through the anomaly, you've been working with her for the last six months, HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER HER?!"
Standing tense, threatening, blonde hair ruffled and clothes torn and dirty, this Nick Cutter was a far cry from the one Abby had met all those months ago in the Forest of Dean. He appeared to have quite literally lost his mind, his normally sharp blue eyes, wild and panicked as he stood babbling on about some woman none of them had heard of. Some woman called Claudia Brown. The Connor spoke up. Like herself he seemed to be trying very hard not to offend anyone and when he spoke it was in a calm but slightly edgy voice.
"Er, Nick mate? We're sorry but we don't know who you're talking about. We really don't. Look you've had a bit of a traumatic day. Why don't you go home and..."
Connor's words trailed off as Nick turned and gave him such a glare he may as well have been shooting lasers out of his eyes.
"...get some rest." Connor finished sounding more than slightly scared. Trying to pacify a man in this condition was like trying to tickle a wounded tiger under the chin, thought Abby as Nick turned and stomped off through the woods after throwing Connor a filthy look. Some might call it brave. She called it stupid.
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Nick strode through the forest, head bent, trying to ignore the emotional tornado that was rushing through him. He studied the forest floor and it passed beneath his feet, the carpet of autumn leaves crackling slightly, coloured a rich red-brown. A memory flashed trough his head, unbidden. Claudia laughing, head thrown back, hair, the colour of Autumn leaves, glinting in the sunlight. A stab of guilt and misery drove through him and he forced his legs into a run. He ran on endlessly, trees flashing past, running until his muscles burned and every breath was painful. Running until the physical pain blocked out the mental.
Eventually he stopped, forced to, at the edge of a clearing. He dropped down onto a log and stared around him. The forest was still, completely silent. He couldn't quite believe what had happened. Stephen, Helen and Claudia. The three people that had meant the most and they had all gone. He hadn't quite swallowed the fact that Stephen and Helen had had an affair yet. The idea to him was so bizarre that it hadn't quite sunk in. Nick knew that when it did, it was going to hurt one hell of a lot.
And as for Claudia, well, he was confused, devastated and feeling extremely guilty. He couldn't work out what his feelings for her were. She had kissed him before he left for the future anomaly but he wasn't sure that meant much. It was probably a 'you may be about to die' thing. All he did know was that somehow he was going to get her back. He didn't know how he would do it, where he would start or how long it would take, but he would do it. He had to. But before he started a rescue mission, there was one slight problem...Nick stared around at the endless trees. Where the hell was he and how the hell was he going to get back?
