-1In the beginning of December, when winter is full swing, Detroit is a living breathing pool of ice. Even during the day the temperature is well below freezing, and snow falls in sheets as if this part of Michigan were high in the Rocky Mountains. Even now, as she sat in her car watching the practical white out conditions swirl around her, she could imagine the pain that breathing would cause her. The cold air would seep right through the crocheted scar she had bought, and nip at her lungs. Finding she could stall no longer, the blonde stepped from her car and locked the door before she slammed it shut. She stopped her progress for but a moment to look at her surroundings, she could have sworn footsteps had echoed behind her, but then this was Detroit and nighttime was business time for most people. She damned herself for being so foolish when she'd left to work that morning and pulled the pea coat more securely around her slim body. More layers would have been preferential, but she had come home during the summer, and winter in Detroit was a vague memory, at least it had been. And her job required business attire, she was only an intern and still trying to impress. Thus she wore fashionable business attire, sometimes consisting of business attire with blazers, or simple black dresses like the one she wore now. The patent leather pumps on her feet were her own choice, and quite honestly not the best, for she slipped when she walked and if she had needed a quick exit, she wouldn't have been able to make it. But this was her ode to the fashion gods, who she was sure would be unforgiving had she chosen to go the tennis shoe route like a sane person. Of course, she was also sure that Jack Frost was having a merry old time right now, laughing at the poor girl he had caught in his trap.

Caroline Elizabeth Panettiere blew into her hands in an attempt to warm them, but quickly realized her attempts were in vain, for the bitter air was getting right through the sleek leather covering her fingers. The only way to get herself warm, she realized, was to hurry up the steps, and into her apartment building. But as she looked half a block up, Caroline sighed, she was not at all close to accomplishing that goal and her progress was slow, as she carefully picked her steps. She silently cursed herself as she went, she shouldn't have stayed after work to help with the clean up from the retirement party of the secretary to the editor, Caroline knew that at five o'clock on a Friday parking would be next to non-existent, she also knew it would be pitch black and that, if anything, was the second thing she feared. The first being a man, well, boy when he had left, but she had seen him since then at the funeral, and he was nothing if not a man now. Caroline blew the silky hair from her face and hurried against the storm, and she pushed those thoughts from her mind. The blonde looked over her shoulder one last time before she laughed at herself, of course nobody was following her, and she suppressed the urge to run still. Telling herself she was being silly, but that anxious feeling persisted in her stomach until she forced her mind elsewhere, she was being paranoid, it was just her imagination. Those were the excuses she used. This did nothing but speed up her progress, the power walk she had built up was going to cause her to break an ankle but Caroline didn't care, it was only when she reached the steps that she made herself breath.

"Stop being so silly," Caroline told herself as she fumbled in her shoulder bag for the keys that would allow her access to the building. Once inside the door she knew that she would be safe, for her neighborhood might not be State Street, but it was far from being posh or luxuriously safe either. The owner of the building had bolted the door securely, she knew that, nobody could get in unless they buzzed a friend or had a key.

Annoyed and a bit flustered with herself for being one of the girls she made fun of in the movies, Caroline let herself into the apartment building. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She pretended to herself that she was shaking from the cold, she wasn't scared and she was safe now, but she knew better than that in her head. She took one last breath, deeper this time, and let the warm air freeze the lungs that felt frozen, closing her eyes to add to the over all effectiveness of the calming gesture. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, and pushed the button the elevator to her right. Now she was safe, now she could just worry about getting home.

See that wasn't so bad, She thought as she looked at the floor numbers lighting up over the top of the closed elevator doors. Of course, she thought, the elevator would be on the top floor. Caroline took one last glance out the door at the snow covered street, and gave a genuine little laugh. She had grown up in a neighborhood in a single family apartment building, just five minutes down the same road. The thought that she should be afraid, when she was in such a familiar place, only added to the humor, and she shook her head as she turned away. Caroline had nearly set foot inside the newly opened doors of the elevator when she heard a knocking, there was a man standing there tapping the door with his foot, his hands were holding a giant box of odd things, the only of which she could see was an ugly lamp. Against the thoughts screaming at her to just ignore him and go upstairs, Caroline reached for the button that would allow her to speak to him through the wall.

"Who are you looking for?" Caroline questioned all business this time. Perhaps, she was thinking, her feelings had been correct all along. Perhaps this man was following her. The only fishy thing being that he was carrying a box with a lamp. That screamed against her theory, he was probably moving into the newly rented apartment, he may even have been helping somebody else move in.

"I just moved in," Caroline thought that it was odd his own voice had echoed her thoughts. The look must have tipped him off to something, for he opened his mouth wide again. "Look if you want I could show you my rent agreement. I just got it today."

"No that's not necessary," If he had offered to show proof she figured that he wasn't actually a stranger. Who would lie about having proof? Caroline opened the door and held it as he walked in, biting her lip as a gust of air from the door blasted in as well.

"Thanks," The guy said as he walked into the elevator and held the door. Caroline shook her head though that uneasy feeling never leaving her completely. In fact, it seemed to magnify when she was in the same area as the man. She decided to let him ride alone, the stairs would do her good anyway, she sat at a desk every day after all.

"That's okay. I'll take the stairs," Caroline turned her back on his 'suit yourself' stare and moved to the first step as she watched the doors close on the elevator. Feeling as though she was safer now she took her time going up. Besides, if she was attacked now there were plenty of neighbor's apartments in the area, all she had to do was make it to a hallway. Caroline reprimanded herself as she thought it, he seemed like a nice enough person and besides he was her new neighbor.

She reached the door that would open onto the fourth floor and stopped where she stood, halfway up the stairs. There was someone up top waiting by the door, they were wearing an eerily familiar red windbreaker and dark denim. The outfit was unmistakable and she wondered if he had seen her yet. Caroline was not one to tempt fate and figured she was better safe than sorry. She wondered now why she hadn't mentioned something about having a boyfriend, maybe thrown in prison or key words like "big" and "angry" to seal the deal. Of course, it would have been lies ex-almost boyfriends didn't count for anything, but it would have been better. Besides the floor for rent had been on the second, he was standing on the fourth, elevators didn't make mistakes. Caroline turned to leave and she felt a jerk that nearly knocked her off her feet in her haste. Caroline looked around bewildered and noticed that he had grabbed her wrist, he was faster than she had thought, and she was stuck.

"Owe," Caroline muttered as his grip tightened and she was sure her arm was breaking. She felt as if her arm was going to be crushed into a fine dust and she struggled against him. Fight or flight was taking over, though she realized, it might have been too late.

"I need you to give a message to a mutual….." He slowly drew out the last word as though he were thinking and gave her, what she assumed to be a smile, yet it looked more like a sneer. "acquaintance."

She raked her brain in fear for who could be this mutual person but she came up empty handed. Caroline hadn't lived in Detroit for more than four years now. She didn't know anybody. And, rather than fight him as she should at that moment, Caroline as frozen. It was her greatest downfall and shortcoming, she panicked in sticky situations, frozen until the last second. It was a problem that had always plagued her, and even while in her mind she could see herself screaming, voice piercing the quiet of the night, Caroline could not make herself utter a squeak. It was only when he pulled her closer to him that Caroline snapped from her trance, she wasn't a stupid girl, she knew what was going to happen and she would be damned if she just let it. Reason flew out the window and Caroline bit his hand as hard as she could. She could taste the repugnant salty flavor of his skin mix with the metallic flavor of blood, but suppressing a gag she didn't let go until he did. She jerked her arm and turned toward the stairs taking them two at a time in her effort to get away. She didn't care now if she broke her ankle, or slipped and hit her head, she just cared that she keep moving like a bat out of hell. That she get away.

Caroline tried the door on the third landing but it was locked, and in her haste to get away she had dropped her key. All she had now as a large purse, practically useless and containing only a cell phone. But like she had thought earlier, this was Detroit, the police would be elsewhere. At least forty-five minutes away if she was lucky but probably much more. Tears stung at her eyes and she moved yelling for help and hoping someone could hear her. She had barely connected one foot with the landing when she felt her assailants body impact hers, and they tumbled over the second flight. There was no door here, and no path for escape unless she could get up first. But she was hurt and she could tell. Caroline tried hard to pull herself up to her feet with the rail, fighting the pain and hoping she could get away. Whatever message he wanted to send, whatever words he wanted passed on, she could tell from the malicious look in his eye that it wouldn't be good.

"Oh God," Caroline said to herself seeing the man pull himself up. "Help me!" She screamed pulling herself along the ground by her hands on the rail. "Somebody help me," It was more a sob to herself than an actual cry for help this time. She knew that nobody could hear her, and she knew her chances of escape were slim.

The man placed his hand over her mouth and pulled her back on the landing, away from the stairs that she might tumble them down, and toward the dark corner of the landing. Caroline raked at his face with her nails leaving pink scratch marks on his left cheek and tried to wiggle away, but it got her nowhere. He merely brought his hand back and slapped her across the face. He muttered about her being a bitch and whispered threats in her ear, something about if they didn't need to send the message he would kill her where she lay. Caroline could feel the swelling already but it was not that which caused her to cry.

She could feel his hands roaming her body, feeling everywhere and leaving her with a feeling of complete humiliation, dirty and violated. She felt as though she were outside of her body, watching herself from somewhere high up above as if she were watching a movie. And she kept waiting for herself to wake up, convinced that this was a nightmare and if she just pleaded or begged enough he would stop. As tears fell from her eyes he tugged her to her feet, his part of the task finished. She was too dazed and confused to do anything, this couldn't be her life, this wasn't happening to her, this was a relatively safe neighborhood. This was her neighborhood, where she had lived most of her life, she had to be dreaming, any moment she would wake up. But she didn't.

"If you call the cops, if you call for help, if you talk to anybody I'll be back." He told her brandishing a knife she didn't know he had. He only planned on one person finding out and by then he would be gone. He knew that he need not threaten but he figured he was better safe than sorry. His brother felt he should skip town until the mess was cleaned up, that he ought not be seen. "Only next time I'll use this knife instead."

The unstated message was clear and Caroline stubbornly tried not to cry as she nodded her head in understanding. But she need not for he was gone not long after that. It was only then that she looked down at herself, still fully clothed yet rumpled and violated. She let herself crash to the floor in complete and utter pain. Not just physically but mentally as well. It was not easy going through what she just had, and she couldn't imagine how she would ever feel safe again, she had been violated in what she considered to be her home. What if he came back anyway? These men weren't living by rules and she could remember a multitude of television shows she had watched concerning the topic.

Caroline was unsure how long she sat on the landing before she pulled herself up on the hand rail and leaned against it heavily. She barely grabbed her purse and left the scattered contents as she pulled herself up again, and again until she reached her floor. She stumbled into her apartment and fell on the floor in a crumpled heap. Her hair was a matted mess of tears, tangles, and blood that had come from some unknown wound. Caroline didn't investigate the damage but reached for the phone and instinctively dialed 9-1 before she hung up remembering his threat.

She sat unsure of what to do and chocked back a sob of frustration realizing she really had nowhere to turn. Who could she call? For the person that was leaking into her mind's eye, the one person she knew she could trust above all others had lost too much already. And she wasn't sure she could face him in such a state. But she couldn't call anybody else, she knew that. It was call the one person who she knew would stand by her or test whether or not the guy was good for his threat. She hadn't even made up her mind before she realized the phone was ringing.

Caroline willed herself not to cry as she heard the phone ring and was fearful that he wouldn't pick up. What if it was one of the others? Would she be strong enough to ask without her voice cracking? Caroline hoped desperately it wouldn't come to that, for she knew that she was not. Her eyes were covered in a film of tears she tried to blink back by the time she heard the seventh ring. She was afraid they weren't home and she would have to face this all alone.

"Hello." She heard the deep, rumbling voice that was so familiar yet strange at the same time. She didn't have to ask she knew it was him, and yet she couldn't answer. He said the word not once or even twice but four times before she finally willed herself to speak afraid that he would hang up.

"Bobby," She managed to get it out in a choked sort of gasp that came through the tears and sob stuck in her throat. Hearing his voice had seemed to open the flood gates that held them back, and she knew from the silence that he knew who she was. And she knew that he knew something was wrong. She knew him that well, she knew he had several types of being silent and she knew which this was. And her body shook as the tears freely fell.