A/N: I know I shouldn't be starting yet another fiction, but when I hit a bout of writer's block with my stories, I try to get my mojo back by brainstorming and writing the ideas that are floating around in my head.

Some of you may recall a story I once published here in 2012 called He's Come For Me; and I know it was well-received but I have to be honest, I absolutely hated it. I hated it so much that I not only deleted it off here, but actually deleted it off of everything I had: laptop, USB, back up hard drive, etc. I did however have the intro chapter in an email, so I decided to re-write the whole thing and take it in a bit of a different direction.

This is my attempt to do so.

I'm hoping to have the second chapter of this up shortly; the final chapter of For A Moment, I'd Forgotten up by tomorrow, and hopefully that will cure some of my writer's block going forward so that I am able to work on either the next instalment of My Heart Bleeds or A Casual Arrangement.

Thank you all for being so patient, and for all the kind reviews on my stories so far. I do love to write, and it's been humbling to receive the responses I've had thus far.

Set on November 28th 2011. For the purposes of this fiction, Ciaran has not gambled away the money for his wedding to Michelle...

She quickly locked the door to the guest bedroom, leaning her body against it while attempting to steady her racing heart. Pushing herself away from its frame, she walked backwards, staring at the now closed door, her phone and a small piece of paper clenched tightly in her hand. Once her back made contact with the wall behind her she slid down to floor. Drawing her knees in closer to her body, she frantically dialed a number and pressed the phone to her ear; her body convulsing with shakes, her eyes never leaving the door as a familiar voice picked up,

"Hiya you've reached Michelle! Sorry I missed your call, but leave a message and I'll get back to you, ta!"

Carla ended the call and glanced to the clock on the side of the bed

4:30 p.m. She dialed another number on her mobile, pressing it again to her ear but was met with her own voice on the other end,

"Thank you for calling Underworld. We are in the office but away from the desk, please leave your name, phone number and a brief message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible."

She angrily hung up the phone before trying another number,

"Hiya you've reached Maria, Liam, and Kirk! Sorry I –"

She ended the call, placing the phone next to her on the floor, and dropping her head in her hands. 'Where is everyone?' she thought. Her fingers ran through her dark brown hair as she looked at her mobile again. There was only one other person she could call; 'but do I have the nerve?'

The fingers of her left hand curled into a fist around the hair at the crown of her head, as her right hand dropped to her mouth. She absentmindedly began chewing on her fingernail as she weighed the pros and cons of her decision. She glanced at the white paper; a note that Michelle's cousin Aidan wrote her earlier that morning after Carla had fallen asleep due to her jet lag, and left it on the kitchen counter for her to see when she came down for a brew. Carla was awoken by the sound of the garage opening and Aidan's car speeding off to the meeting he had told her about at 4:00 pm.; she found the note shortly after, next to the coffee machine.

Squeezing her eyes closed and taking a deep breath, she picked up her mobile and scanned her contact list until she reached the name she was dreading to see. Her thumb hovered over the name, before she pressed the call button.

"Hello?"

"Leanne? It's Carla." The blonde woman rolled her eyes. Just as she thought they were all moving on, here began the phone calls again. She took a deep breath and berated herself for being jealous, remembering what Carla had just been through with Frank. The fact that she flew to the States was evident of how much she was suffering.

"What's up? I thought you were in L.A.?"

"I was. Bu-but I'm in Scotland right now. Listen I need you to do me a favour." Her voice was shaky.

'Is that fear?' Leanne thought.

Leanne only heard Carla's voice like that once before; when she began investigating her then husband Tony, and asked Leanne if she could stay at hers for the night…only she never turned up, having fled to L.A. in fear of her life. Dread set in and Leanne swallowed hard; despite the present circumstances, she and Carla had been through a lot together; she knew when something was wrong.

And something was definitely wrong...

"I've rung Michelle, the factory, and Maria's, but no one is picking up! I'm running out of options here." Carla rambled on

"Carla, what's wrong? Has sommit 'appened?"

Carla closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath and asked the three words she knew were going to cause a fight, "Is Peter there?"

Leanne's heart fluttered. "Why?"

"Please Leanne, I need to know," she drew in a shaky breath, "…is Peter there?"

"What, did he leave me and come running for you, you mean?" She couldn't stop the bitterness as it came out of her mouth, "Was that why you ran off to L.A. then? You wanted Peter to come running after you?" The continued silence on the other end just spurred her on further, "Why can't you just get it through your thick skull—"

Carla pressed her hand to her forehead, "Shut up! Shut up, Leanne and listen to me alright!" She pleaded.

The sound of a window breaking downstairs startled her, and she let out a gasp; her body now shaking uncontrollably.

Leanne heard the gasp through the receiver, "Car? You alright?"

"Listen Leanne, I need you to please answer the question: Is Peter in Weatherfield?"

"Yeah," her voice now becoming unsteady with worry, "he's in the pub with Ciaran. Carla, you're scarin' me now. What's going on? Where are you?"

Carla picked up the landline from its charging pod, and shuffled further into the corner of the room, still clutching the mobile phone to her ear; her eyes transfixed on the crack on the bottom of the door. "I had a stopover from LA for a few days in Scotland to meet a supplier. I'm at Aidan's, Michelle's cousin's place," she inhaled sharply as the sound of another window breaking echoed from below, "He left me a note from earlier this morning," she lowered her voice to just above a whisper, "he said someone came to the door asking to see me, and Aidan told him I were asleep; said his name was Peter Barlow."

Leanne's hand rose to cover her mouth.

Carla's eyes closed, tears filling behind her eyelids. She took a deep breath, "Okay, Leanne? I need you to call Becky. She's the only one who won't let on to others. Ask her if Frank has been at his factory."

Leanne nodded, reaching for the landline before something caught her eye, "I can do one better than that Carla, I see her on the street! Stay on the line, do not hang up!" Leanne ran from behind the Bookies counter and onto the cobbles after Becky who was heading toward Roy's Rolls.

Carla eyes fluttered between the door and the landline in her hand as she dialled 999; her mind so clouded in fear and dread as she tried to remember Aidan's address from memory

It was suddenly upon her as a voice sounded through the receiver, "Police please" she stated to the operator, still clutching her mobile to her ear.

"Please hold..." came the response

"Come on, come on..." she mumbled, waiting for the operator to begin taking her information as footfalls made their way up the creaky stairs...

Leanne grabbed ahold of Becky's arm,

"Oi!" the blonde stated defensively as she turned to face the person who apprehended her. She was met with a wide-eyed and panic-stricken Leanne, "steady on there Barlow! What you playin' at?"

"Becky, it's important! Look," Leanne swallowed and tried to catch her breath, "Was Frank in at work today?"

"Foster?" Becky asked confused, "No. No he's on a business trip in France."

Leanne's eyes widened, "When did he leave?"

"Two days ago, why?"

"Are you sure?" Leanne asked shakily

"Yeah, positive," Becky responded before a perplexed look took over her features, "You know come to mention it, it were a bit odd actually. Didn't think he were allowed access to his passport, you know, considerin'."

"Oh no!" Leanne breathed before turning and running towards the pub, "Carla! Lock the doors and ring the police!" she ordered as she made her way to the Rovers, a curious Becky now hot on her heels, "Carla? Can you hear me?"

Her eyes were glued to the door in front of her. She watched as the light shining into the room from the crack at the bottom was soon overshadowed with the dark outline of feet. She pressed her back further into the wall behind her as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Ma'am? Ma'am? What is your emergency?" The voice on the landline repeated, but Carla just shook; paralyzed with fear. "Ma'am, we have identified your location; Officers have been dispatched. If you understand please acknowledge…"

"Hurry..." she whispered before quickly ending the call, hoping that the cut off might just hasten their arrival as the figure on the other side of the door tried the door handle and adding more force upon realizing it was locked.

Carla slowly rose to her feet, looking desperately around for another way out and feeling her heart sink as the only possible escape was a window that was far too small for her to squeeze out of...

Leanne burst through the pub doors to see Ciaran, Michelle, Peter, and Stella in a conversation at the bar.

"Love? What's wrong?" Stella inquired.

…The banging on the other side of the door became more insistent and Carla knew it wouldn't take long before they knocked the door clean off its hinges. "no, no no…" she whispered as tears cascaded down her cheeks, still clutching the mobile in her hands...

"Lea?" Peter put a hand on her shoulder, "What is it?"

"It's Carla!"

"What about Carla?" Michelle asked harshly stepping forward.

Leanne took a breath still clutching her mobile to her ear, "Someone showed up to Aidan's this morning looking for her, only she were asleep," she gulped some air into her lungs, "they told Aidan their name was Peter Barlow,"

Peter's head darted around to look at Ciaran and Michelle before coming to rest on Leanne again, "you what?"

…the door flung open and Carla found herself facing the man who haunted her thoughts since that fateful night in September …

"Leanne thinks it might have something to do with Frank," Becky interjected.

Leanne's face suddenly went white and the faint sound of a scream could be heard through her mobile.

Fear took hold of Michelle's heart and she snatched the phone from Leanne, her trembling fingers putting it on loudspeaker. An unnatural quiet fell over the pub as they listened to the sounds of items being smashed emitting from the mobile.

"Car? Car!" Michelle's eyes filled with tears. They heard grunts and the sounds of a struggle; a short scream emanated from Carla, before the call cut off. "Carla!" Michelle screamed, "No!" her hand covered her mouth as sobs began to escape her.

A tearful Leanne hugged her arms to her chest as Stella wrapped a comforting arm about her shoulders while Ciaran placed both hands on a now hysterical Michelle's shoulders, looking at Peter who simply stood rooted to the spot: staring at the phone in Michelle's hand with his hands gripping the hair on either side of his head.

"No," he exhaled sharply

"Oh dear," Audrey exclaimed to Gail, "Oh, I better call Maria..."

As the regulars of the Rovers Return sat in eerie silence, each attempting to comprehend what they just witnessed, Peter felt a rage build inside him. He lifted his eyes to the bar, "Stella?" he waited for the barmaid to look towards him, "We need the phone..."