A new story from me. It's sort of a follow on from the most recent chapter of Forever is Over, so if you've read that, hopefully you'll recognise what's going on in this one. I hope you enjoy it!

The woman watched as her boyfriend put the last of her cases into her small car. He shut the boot and walked up the path to the block of flats where they lived.

"All done?" she asked him with a smile.

"Yep. Why you need so many bags for one weekend I do not know!" he said rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'll need something for just mooching around, a few outfits for dinner, stuff for lounging round the pool and in the spa itself, stuff for outside, the list goes on!" she said with a sweet smile.

"Have fun getting it out the car on your own is all I can say!" he said with a cheeky grin, ducking away from her slap.

"I'm sure I can find a young, fit man to assist me. With a batting of my luscious lashes and a flick of my luminous hair, they'll all come running." she said, demonstrating this. Her boyfriend pulled a stony face.

"If anyone even tries that, I'll deck them!" he said all macho like.

"Oh isn't that sweet." she simpered sarcastically, kissing him on the cheek. "I've really got to go now if I want to make it in good time."

"Really? But the bedroom is too cold for me to go to bed yet, we could always warm it up before you go..." he said suggestively. She laughed at him but shook her head.

"As much as I'd like to, I have to go. Just put the heating on, it'll be warm in no time." she said with a smile.

"Obviously, but that's not as fun. Right, let's check you have everything. Phone?" he asked her. She pulled it out her pocket and showed it to him, pointing at the full bar of battery. "Purse?" She rummaged in her hand bag and pulled it out. "First aid kit?"

"First aid kit?" she echoed confusedly.

"Yeah, you never know when you might need it!" he said defensively. She laughed, placing a hand on the side of his face.

"I do love you, you know." she said quietly.

"I know. I love you too. Now, less of the slush, get going. Don't forget to put your lights on, it's getting dark pretty quick." he said.

"I will, I have driven at night before you know." she said smiling, but loving that he was so concerned for her.

"I know I know, I can't help but worry though." He walked her to the car, holding the door open for her as she slid into the driver's seat. He kissed her full on the lips, not wanting to let her go just yet. She'd only be going for the weekend, but it felt like an age until he would see her again. He finally released her, giving her a cheeky lopsided grin that she loved so much. She reached up to kiss him again, finally shutting the door and switching the car on, flicking on her lights and pushing in a CD. "Ring me when you get there?"

"It'll be late, I'll text you in the morning ok?" she promised. He nodded at her, raising a hand saying goodbye. He watched her car's lights bright in the darkness leave the street. Once she was gone, he sighed and walked back into the foyer of their flats. She'd only just gone but he missed her. Pull yourself together, he thought to himself.

She was driving along, going slightly over the speed limit, but it wasn't like there was anyone else around. It was just after ten o'clock at night and the night was clear and dry, which was pretty good for September. She hummed along to her CD, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. The journey was going fine so far. As much as her boyfriend worried about her driving alone in the dark, she actually liked it. There were barely any other cars on the road to worry about, no queues, just the quiet of the road and the loudness of her CD. She smiled to herself, looking forward to the weekend ahead at the spa hotel with her mum and sister. A treat to themselves, as they hadn't been together for a while because of her job. It would be good.

An hour or so into her journey, she was speeding down a quiet country road with fields on either side of her. Just on the outskirts of London now, she was about half way through her journey. As she went round a curve in the road, her headlights caught an object on the side of the road. She slowed her car down so she could look at it properly. It appeared to be a baby's car seat. She frowned, wondering why it was there. Her instincts pricked up; she couldn't just leave it. What if there was a baby in there? It was cold, the baby wouldn't survive long. She pulled over next to the car seat. It had a blanket draped over the top of it. She turned off the engine, leaving the lights on. She opened her car door quickly, shutting it behind her before hurrying over to the car seat, crouching down in front of it. She lifted the blanket off over the seat, and stared in confusion at the plastic baby grinning back at her. She jumped to her feet, her instincts screaming at her to get back into her car and drive off, or to call for help. She had just about reached her car, one hand extended towards the car handle, when two pairs of hands grabbed her upper arms, pulling her back behind the hedges at the side of the road. She tried to scream, but knew there was no point. There was no-one else around.

She wanted to cry, but knew that if she did, her attackers would get some satisfaction from it, and there was no way she wanted to give them any kind of satisfaction. So she began to fight back. She kicked at one of the men who was trying to lower himself on top of her; she got him square in the groin, and she couldn't help but laugh nervously as he fell to the side of her. But then his accomplice punched her hard across her face; it felt as if her jaw had just been knocked out of its socket. The man she had kneed in the groin got to his feet, and the woman screamed as she saw his heavy duty boot coming towards her face. She tried to move her hands to cover her face, to try and offer some kind of protection for herself, but the other man had her hands pinned to her side. She couldn't even move her face to the side, she was stuck. As the boot connected with her face again, her eyes exploded with stars and colours, and she could feel the warm sticky blood trailing from a wound on her head down over her eyes. The other man began fumbling in her pockets, looking for the keys to her car. He found them, slipping them in his own pocket. While his accomplice proceeded to beat the woman within an inch of her life, he took all her possessions off her, including her phone and purse. Once they were done with her, she would have no way to call for help, no way to report them. They would be able to get away scot free, just like they had done before. Stupid bitches, they bring it on themselves by being too soft, by having to stop when they see a baby car seat at the edge of the road. If they weren't so damn soft, this wouldn't happen to them. In the attacker's eyes, they brought on everything they got.

It was finally over. They had left her alone. She was barely conscious when they had finally decided to stop beating her up. She knew they had her phone, her purse and her car keys, she knew there was no way to call for help. She felt as if her body was on fire and being compressed in a vice all at the same time. Her face, if she could call it that anymore, just felt like a swollen mass of skin. She could barely see; her eyes were so swollen they were just slits in her face. Her lip was bleeding profusely and plumped up to twice its size. She could feel that some of her teeth were loose as well. Her shaking hand felt the back of her head, immediately coming away bloodied. She was bleeding from so many places; she had so many different injuries. She remembered that at some point during the attack she had slipped into unconscious, a small mercy she mused. But now she was conscious, and all the pain, hurt, anger and an intense feeling of being scared hit her like a train. She would surely die if she didn't find a way to get some help soon. It was still dark, and very cold. She would die of hypothermia, or internal injuries, or blood loss, or shock. But the fact was that simply, she would die if she wasn't found soon. She knew that the only slim chance of survival she had was if she could get to the road. Then if someone did happen to drive past, they would see her. Even if they just called the emergency services and didn't stop, she would be grateful. All she had to do now was get the energy to get to the road. She took a deep breath and tried to move her legs into a position where she would be able to push herself up. It wasn't happening. Every time she tried to move, her head would assault her with pain, making her feel sick and dizzy. She finally swallowed it down, realising there was no way she'd be able to walk or even crawl to the roadside. She'd have to drag herself there. It was a slow and painful process. The roadside was only a few yards from where she was, but she had to stop every few seconds to get her breath back and stop herself from being sick. She finally managed it, there was the road. If she could just go a bit further, to ensure she would definitely be seen. One last pull across the twig littered grass and she was there. She rolled onto her back, regretting it when her dinner from the night decided to make its way back up. She turned to the side as she violently threw up, and promptly fell into unconsciousness, the last thought that crossed her mind being her boyfriend.