Desperate

I see your picture, I smell your skin on the empty pillow next to mine.
You have only been gone ten days, but already I'm wasting away.
I know I'll see you again
whether far or soon.
But I need you to know that I care
and I miss you.

-Incubus
"I Miss You"

KATARINA:

A man wakes up behind bars this morning…

No, that was overused. I hit the backspace key, deleting one letter at a time.

A man…

I sighed. Orange-colored minutes ticked by on the digital clock on the wall, above four TV monitors. I leaned back and put my feet up on the desk.

A man is arrested for allegedly breaking into a woman's…

That was even worse. I hid my face in my hands. I couldn't concentrate tonight.

Police say a man…

I yawned, ready to give up. The message bar flashed at the bottom of my computer screen. I clicked it. A message from April? What the hell was she doing here at one in the morning? I sat up, dropping my legs to the floor again.

Hey, baby, you busy?

That wasn't April. That was someone using her screen name. And the only one who had the nerve to call me "baby" was… Raphael?

How'd you guess? :)

I smiled faintly and glanced around the newsroom. My eyes fell on the door to April's office. It was closed, and the shades were pulled. Through the thin slits, I could see nothing but darkness. How'd he manage to get in there? I knew better than to ask.

"Hey, it sounds like the cops are working a double homicide out there," the security guard informed, listening to the scanner traffic coming from the assignment desk. "Possibly a missing teenage girl. You might want to get the alerts ready to go on the air."

DONATELLO:

I never fully comprehended the psychology of women. If you could plug it into a wall, or mix it in a beaker, or create it in vast expanse of cyberspace, I could tell you anything you wanted to know about it. If it had roller-coaster hormones and monthly PMS, my philosophy was: duck and cover. To paraphrase: I never understood women, and I never claimed to. Which is why it was rather sadistic of the fates to put Amy in my path. It was crazy, how I met her. Luck, fate, whatever you call it… something supernatural definitely played a part. I hadn't meant to be out that night. I'd meant to be sleeping at two o'clock in the morning. Instead, I was walking the streets, losing a rather fierce battle to insomnia.

I was just thinking about going back home when I saw a ghost. It was kind of hard to miss her as she ran down the street, her long white nightgown flailing around her feet. She was accompanied by a figure in black pants and a red shirt. Both of them were running as hard as they could, in a great hurry to get somewhere. I looked behind them and saw that they weren't being followed. They thought they were, though. They kept looking over their shoulders, nearly tripping as they ran. What were they running from? I knew I was going to have to investigate, even knowing that they were probably just high on something.

The dark figure grabbed the white one by the arm and yanked her into an alley. I watched closely. Still, no one appeared to be following them. Curiosity got the best of me, and I headed down the street, careful to remain in the shadows. In the alley, the two women were crouched into the corner made by the dumpster and the dirty brick wall. I watched them for a moment, listening to the quiet crying. "It's okay, Amy…" a whispered voice assured. "You're alright."

"Amy" whimpered something that sounded like a plea for help. She was talking to the other woman. She had not seen me. Not until I spoke.

"You okay?"

Both heads snapped up and the white figure gasped as she tried to push herself further back into the shadows. "No! Please!"

The other woman was on her feet, and a knife flashed as she came at me. Acting on instinct, I dodged the attack and spun behind her, grabbing her wrist easily and pinning it behind her. The knife fell and clanked against the ground. "Let me go, jackass!" she growled.

I shoved her forward, putting a safe distance between us, and she spun around. I realized her shirt was ripped down the front. It looked like she'd gotten into a fight with someone who had a knife. He skin was cut, too, and a line of blood ran down the center of her chest. The shirt fell open and left her exposed. Instinctively, I wanted to look away. But she was still a threat, until she realized that I wasn't. And I knew better than to turn my back on an enemy.

The anger flashing in her bright blue eyes suddenly changed to shock. She unclenched her fists. "Raphael?"

Oh, great. That was just what I needed.

"No," I answered. "Raphael's my brother."

She studied me for a moment, brushing her dark hair back from her face. Then she turned her attention back to the figure huddled in the corner. The white, ghost-like girl was crying openly now. The dark woman knelt next to her. She looked significantly older than her friend. Mother and daughter, maybe? Except they didn't look much alike. "Shh, Amy, relax…"

"Are you in danger?" I asked.

Amy coughed, choking. It rang deep in her chest and sounded like bronchitis. She clutched her chest and doubled over, her body shaking as she gasped air and coughed over and over. That didn't sound healthy. Suddenly a thin beam of light danced over the wall. Flashlight. Someone was coming. The frail figure on the ground saw it too. "No! He's coming!" she choked in a hoarse whisper, trying to get her breathing under control. "Please…!"

She erupted into another coughing fit and the beam shot toward the dumpster. I jumped back to avoid the light. "There you are!"

Hiding in the shadows, I saw the man approach. The woman who'd attacked me rose to face him. I watched, not sure whether to act, or just see what happened. He hadn't done anything worthy of a confrontation yet. "What the fuck you doin', huh?" he demanded.

"Go to hell, asshole!" the woman snapped back at him.

"You better shut th'fuck up if you wanna keep that pretty facea yers," he threatened. "Getch'er pretty ass outta th'way bitch."

"Make me," she growled.

Any coughed and screamed at the same time as he lashed out at the challenging woman. His fist connected with her chin. It was the last movement he made. I didn't bother to use my weapon. He never saw me coming, and he was totally unsuspecting. He only managed a slight cry/moan/gasp as he collapsed to the ground. Only a few feet away now, the cowering figure gasped as she saw me. I couldn't have avoided her. There was no way to keep her from seeing that I was not human.

I didn't normally like confrontations. We'd been taught from the time we were small to avoid them. To strike hard and fade away- the art of ninjutsu. Everyone except for Raph abided by that rule. God only knew how many women had seen more of him than I had any desire to. But for me, there was a fine line between what was expected and what was dangerous. I was walking that line right now, trying not to teeter to either side. I had to help, but I wasn't sure just how far I was prepared to go.

"Amy, right?" I questioned. She nodded slowly, clutching her arms across her chest. She was shivering, fear streaking her pale features. Her brown hair was tangled, her dark eyes filled with fear. She looked to be about 12 or 13. "Is there somewhere I can take you?" I questioned. "Where you'll be safe?"

She turned away from me and buried her face in her hands, sobbing. "He'll kill me," she moaned.

The other girl was pulling herself to her feet. "Fuck off," she threatened me. "We don't need your help."

I studied her for a moment, surprised. "No, Sasha, please," Amy gasped. She turned to me. "Please don't. Please help."

Sasha studied her for a moment, then glanced at me, wiping blood from her lip. "Why the hell did you just sit there and watch that?" she demanded. "What kind of a hero are you?"

"Who ever said I was a hero?"

She laughed cynically. "Jackass," she mumbled under her breath. I don't think I was supposed to hear it. She knelt next to Amy. "Are you alright?"

Amy nodded, and gasped air as she drowned in another coughing fit. "She needs medical attention," I informed. "Let me take you to the police."

Sasha stood and spun around to face me. "Fuck you, freak! You have no idea what you're dealing with!"

"Please," Amy gasped. "Sasha, please stop…"

The thin, frail figure on the ground was shaking hard, whether from the cold or fear, I wasn't sure. I looked to Sasha. I wasn't going to fight with her. She didn't have to come. But I wasn't about to walk away from the pale girl on the ground. She looked like she could drop dead at any moment. "Please don't make me go back," she gasped, her frantic eyes pleading with me.

"You really should go to the police," I advised her. "They'll be able to get you to safety if you're in danger."

Sasha attacked me. It was a feeble attempt, and I saw it a mile away. I grabbed both her wrists, spun her around, and held her back to my chest. "Knock it off," I ordered, authoritatively. "If you know my brother than you should know you can't take me down that easy. So behave or I'll be forced to make you behave."

Amy started coughing again. She gasped, the look in her eyes frantic, and passed out. I allowed Sasha to break away and she dropped to her knees next to the still figure. "No," she breathed. "No, Amy, come on…"

KATARINA:

Christie, one of the two producers I helped, stood to her feet. "Where are they sending the police?" she asked. I looked back at the screen in front of me and tried to concentrate, knowing that it was impossible. A man is behind bars…

"Hey, Kat, can you work on page 31?" Jess asked.

The message bar flashed again.

"Yeah, sure, if you can put a lead on your 'Stolen Rings Arrest'," I sighed.

She was quiet for a moment. "You okay tonight, Kat?" she finally mumbled.

I rested my head on my hand. "Yeah, I'm just… having one of those nights, I guess. I dunno what's wrong with me. I'm just dragging."

I clicked on the message bar. Got a minute?

No, I really didn't. I was running way behind, and I was distracted enough already. But it was pointless to argue with Raph. So I just didn't answer him.

Page 31. Top stories. That was asking a lot of me, right now. A plane crash in West Virginia leaves three people dead…

"Michael, can you call dispatch on this missing girl?" Christie directed from the assignment desk.

"Sure can."

Another message. I clicked on it, slightly irritated. He didn't belong here, and I'd warned him before. One of these days, he was going to get himself caught. And the last place he wanted that to happen was at a TV station.

I love you.

I stared at the words, momentarily dumbfounded. Once they registered, I couldn't help but smile. No eloquent speeches from him; just the facts. And yet it meant more to me than any Shakespearean sonnet. I closed my eyes and sighed, forgetting to be annoyed. The words sunk into me, calming the unjustified frustration that was giving me so many problems tonight. The bar flashed again. Katarina?

Yeah? I typed back.

Come here.

I cringed and started to type a message back. I ca…

I didn't finish before he'd already sent me another sentence. I looked at it. Let me show you how I love you.

I smiled again. I couldn't help it. He could be so sweet when he wanted something…

I glanced once more at the office in the corner of the room and stood up. "I'll be right back," I told Jess. She nodded, not taking her eyes off of her computer screen.

"NYPD is looking for fourteen-year-old Amy Clareson," Michael called as he hung up the phone.

LEONARDO:

"Guys? Anyone here? Gimme a hand, will ya?"

I stood up from the couch, dropping the remote. The quiet conversation continued from the TV as I walked toward the entrance. "What's wrong?" I asked, rounding the corner. I should've waited another second to ask, and I would've seen. I cringed.

"Is she alright?" I asked as I backed away. I cleared a path to the spare room.

"Aside from the fact that she's unconscious and only weighs about fifty pounds?" Donatello replied.

Another figure appeared at the top of the ladder and I froze. "S'alright, Leo," Donny informed me. "She's with me."

I glanced once more at the girl easing down the ladder, then at Donatello. I followed him into the bedroom and watched as he set the pale, unconscious figure on the bed. "What happened?" I asked. It was very unlike Donny to bring people here. I knew he had to have a good reason.

The girl who'd been following them pushed past me. "Her fucking father happened, that's what," she snarled. I watched as she moved to the side of the bed and sat down, taking one limp hand in hers.

Donny felt her pulse, and rested his palm on her forehead. "I think she's alright," he mumbled. "But getting her some medical attention wouldn't hurt, by any means."

KATARINA:

I walked over to April's door and discreetly glanced around to make sure I wasn't being watched. Nobody was interested in what I was doing. I turned the handle and stepped into the room. Raphael was in April's chair, his feet up on the desk and the keyboard on his lap. He glanced up and smiled, but didn't move until I shut the door behind me. "What are you doing here, Raph?" I sighed.

He stood and moved fluidly to where I stood. "I was bored," he admitted.

His hands circled my waist and I rested my palm against the side of his face. "You know, it's really not such a great idea for you to be hanging out at a news station, Mr. Breaking-News-Incarnate," I reminded him.

He pulled me close and our lips met. I locked my fingers behind his neck, feeling his hands press to my back as he held me tightly, under my shirt. His thumbs rubbed over my skin and I took a deep breath as I pulled away slowly. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," he whispered, his hands roaming higher. His fingers slipped underneath the band of my bra, rubbing gently.

I smiled and massaged the back of his neck. "You desperate?" I grinned.

"I'm getting there," he whispered.

He was actually admitting it. What an opportunity… I rested my head on my arm, still draped over his shoulder, and kissed his neck lightly. He moaned and pulled away. "Don't tease, Kat," he pleaded.

I laughed quietly. So much for opportunity. He knew me too well. "Well, why'd you come here?" I asked. "I can't do anything more than tease you here."

"Mmm," he acknowledged, brushing my hair back and kissing the side of my face. "Tell it to Monica Lewinski."

I laughed again and kissed the side of his mouth. He turned to me and our lips parted, joining in a slow, deep kiss. His tongue spiraled around mine and I leaned into him. I didn't have to touch him to know he was getting hard. I could feel it in the way he kissed me. Desire was surging through him. My body mirrored the sensation, but I forced it aside. Not while I was supposed to be working. And not in April's office! I didn't like the thought of that. He knew it. He breathed deep as he pulled away slowly. We both struggled to get our emotions under control.

"God, I want you, Kat," he gasped.

"Not here," I begged, cringing at the words.

He nodded slowly, painfully. "When do you get off work?"

"Hopefully at eight," I answered.

"Hopefully?"

I sighed. "I might have to help out with the noon show."

He nodded again and opened his eyes. I hugged him, wishing he didn't have to try and hide the pain he was obviously feeling. I'd hardly seen him in the past week. I'd been working double shifts, and going to school. School wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be. But between that and the constant news shows, the only time I had off was spent sleeping, and there wasn't much of it. In the midst of the madness, I'd been evicted from my apartment after problems with the rent. Without Madonna's help, I couldn't pay it. It made no difference, really. I didn't have any time to spend there. It was just as well that I slept at the lair, on the rare occasion that I did sleep.

"So what's with all the overtime all of a sudden?" he questioned, finding my hands.

"We had four producers quit in two days," I reminded him. "That puts a strain on the staff, you know? Especially since there are only nine to begin with. We're, literally, at half-staff."

He sighed. "How much longer is this going to go on?"

"I don't know," I admitted, closing my eyes as I rested against him again. "Hopefully not too much longer."

I felt his hands run up and down my back in the long silence that followed. "Kat?" he breathed.

"Yeah?"

"I miss you."

I kissed his neck hard, wishing I could do more. "I know," I whispered back.

SASHA:

I stood in the corner of the room and watched him work, rummaging through my purse for a cigarette. I knew he wouldn't hurt her intentionally, but I still wasn't sure I liked the idea of taking help from him. I didn't trust him. But it was either him or the police, and I trusted the police a lot less.

"Is she alright?" I asked flatly, holding the cigarette in my lips and lighting it.

He stood and towered over her. "Yeah, she'll be alright. But she belongs in a hospital."

He glanced at me and I shook my head, pulling the cigarette away from my lips. "No," I answered, exhaling a cloud of gray smoke into the air. "Her father murdered her mother, and her brother. In cold blood. And there's no reason he won't come after her."

For a moment, he just stared at me. "She'd be put under police protection," he informed after a brief silence. I took a long drag on the cigarette and glared at him. "I don't trust the police. They've turned their back on us before."

He stared for a moment, as if he were debating whether or not to argue with me. He decided against it and glanced back down at Amy. "So what are you, a sister? Friend?"

"Friend."

He nodded quietly. "You said you know Raph," he mumbled after a long silence.

"Raph?" I questioned, confused. "Oh. Raphael. Yes, we've met. I thought you were him for a minute." I raised the cigarette to my lips again. "He said something about a brother but I just didn't think about it."

He sighed and walked over to me. He offered me a hand. "I don't think we've really been introduced," he reminded me. I stared at his hand for a moment before placing the cigarette between the fingers of my other hand and returning the gesture. "I'm Donatello. You can call me Donny. Or Don. Whatever you want. I answer to all three."

He sounded as tired as he looked. I shook his hand loosely. "Sasha," I replied.

He nodded. "That was Leonardo in here earlier," he informed me. "I'm sure Michaelangelo is already in bed. And you know Raphael."

I glanced again at the still figure on the bed. "We've got another room if you want to go lie down," he informed me.

I shook my head. "I'm going to stay with Amy for a while. Just in case she wakes up."

He nodded. "I'm gonna crash for a few hours. I'll be back in the morning to check on her. If you need anything, my room is the second door on the right. Okay?"

I smiled faintly and he glanced at Amy once more before he turned to the door. "Donny?" I called as he stepped out of the room. He turned back to me and I smiled, genuinely this time. "Thank you."

He was drained. But he managed a tight smile before he left.

AMY:

Dark room. I was out of bed and on my feet in a fraction of a second. My eyes darted around for a few moments before the vertigo finally hit me and the world closed in on itself. "Hey, relax," a voice behind me advised. I spun around so fast I nearly tripped over my feet. It didn't help me see the intruder any faster. The darkness from the head rush didn't clear for a few more seconds. "It's not good for your heart to wake up that fast."

A dark figure was sitting in a chair with a laptop computer. I swallowed hard, and I remembered, a million thoughts flooding through me at once. Where was I? How had I gotten here? It wasn't human. It was watching me. What did it want? I had to get out of here. There was nowhere to run.

"You alright?" it asked. I didn't answer. It knew I wouldn't, because he didn't wait very long. "Could you at least sit down? You have the look of a caged animal."

"Where's Sasha?" I demanded.

"She's here. In the living room. Just relax, okay?"

I considered that, then finally sat back down on the edge of the bed. I didn't take my eyes off him as he typed for a few seconds, and closed the laptop. "My name's Donny," the figure informed me. "Donatello, actually, but you can call me Donny. You're safe here."

Safe? Safe from what? Oh god, I suddenly remembered all of it…

"You need anything?" Donny asked. "I see you ripped your IV out." I looked down at the bed again, and saw the thin tube attached to a bag of what looked like water. I suddenly noticed the dull ache in the back of my hand. "Are you hungry?"

A wave of nausea swept over me at the thought of food. I clutched my stomach and tried to calm the feeling. "Bathroom," I whispered.

"Yeah, okay. I'll show you where it is."

I followed him at a safe distance. In the living room, Sasha was on the couch. She sprang to her feet, but made no move toward me. I was glad. In the bathroom, I shut the door behind me, dropped to my knees, and threw up.

MICHAELANGELO:

She hadn't even noticed me on her way into the bathroom. Sasha stared after her for a moment, then sat back down hesitantly. I glanced at her. Sasha didn't say much. She only answered certain questions and never tried to continue a conversation. Reminded me of Raphael- the wonderful conversationalist. After a while, I'd given up.

The girl was gone for almost a half-hour before the door finally opened and she peeked out hesitantly. "Hey," I greeted, half expecting her to duck back into the room like a frightened rabbit. She didn't. Instead, she just stared. "I'm Michaelangelo," I informed her as Donny stepped back into the room with a cup of coffee in his hand and his laptop under his arm.

Her eyes widened a few notches, but she said nothing. "You wanna come outta there or are you gonna play hide-and-seek all day?" I questioned.

Slowly, hesitantly, she opened the door and stepped out. She was wearing a long, white nightgown. I wasn't sure if it was just the light or if it really was that see-through. At any rate, it left little to the imagination since she had nothing on underneath it. Donny noticed it too and we both looked away reflexively. She needed some real clothes. Donny glanced at me, pleadingly. "Right," I mumbled, getting up.

Sasha stood and walked over to her friend, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay? How do you feel?" she asked as I left the room.

I didn't have a whole lot of clothing. I never needed it, for one, and couldn't fit in it for another. But I did have a robe, and that was probably the best thing I could offer anyway.

She didn't see or hear me come up behind her. But I didn't realize that until I went to drape the robe over her shoulders and she jumped, screamed, and spun around. I shielded myself from flailing fists for a moment. When I looked back, she was leaning against the back of the couch, gripping it with white knuckles and breathing hard. Sasha was holding her, and glaring at me.

"Sorry," I struggled. "I forgot you, uh, can't feel me coming."

We all moved pretty quietly, out of habit. When it was just the four of us, it didn't make any difference because we could, literally, feel each other's presence. It was so natural, I didn't think about it. I was going to have to make a conscious effort to make some noise around her.

Her grip on the couch loosened, and I fully extended my arm to hold the robe out to her. She stared at it for a moment, swallowed hard, and took a step forward. Then she took it out of my hands and quickly wrapped herself in it. "What's your name?" I questioned.

Her eyes darted back and forth between Donny and me. "Amy," she answered hesitantly.

"Amy…?" Don prodded.

"Just Amy."

I stayed a few feet away as I walked around her and sat down on the end of the couch again. She stared, frozen.

"Well, Amy, you have pneumonia," Donny informed her. "But assuming that you have no severe or non-pneumococcal disease, which there are no features to indicate you do, as of now it's remained uncomplicated."

"Non-numo-what?" I questioned.

He shot me a pathetic look. "It's not serious," he paraphrased. He turned back to Amy. "I've had you on 500 milligrams of erythromycin four times a day. I figured there was less of a chance that you were allergic to that than ampicillin and I had to give you something. Are you allergic to any antibiotics?"

She was staring at him with a dumbfounded look on her face. "How…?" she stammered. "How long have I been out?"

"A day and a half," he answered simply. Her eyes got wide.

"How did you give me… whatever it was if I was unconscious?"

"Intravenously," Donny explained, nodding toward her hand. "That IV you yanked out."

She gripped her hand instinctively and swallowed hard. "Are you…?" she stammered. "Are you a… doctor?"

Donatello laughed. "Not legally, no. But I know quite a bit about the medical field."

She nodded slowly. I could tell she was starting to relax a little. She looked around. "Where…? Where am I?"

"This is where we live," I answered, smiling. "New York is pretty… tolerant of people's differences, but we're a little on the extreme side if you know what I mean."

She studied me for a moment and cocked her head to one side. "Is it just you two?" she questioned. The words were quickly followed by a violent cough. She doubled over and clutched her sides. Sasha's arms circled her protectively.

"Amy, how long have you had that cough?" Don asked as she tried to get her breathing under control.

She took a few breaths and looked up at him hesitantly. "I dunno," she whispered. "I've always been real sick. As long as I can remember."

"Is it a chronic illness?"

"I dunno what that means," she admitted.

"How old are you?" I interrupted.

She glanced at me. "Fourteen."

Wow. She looked younger than that.

"Do you get that cough a lot?" Donny continued. "Or have frequent trouble breathing?"

She shrugged and cast her eyes to the floor. "I dunno."

"Have you ever gone to the hospital for it?"

She shook her head fiercely. "I can't."

"Why?" I questioned.

Sasha glared at me, her eyes cold, but I didn't know why. "None of your business," she snapped.

Alrighty then. Sasha obviously did not feel like talking right now.

"You wanna sit down?" I offered to Amy, avoiding Sasha's gaze.

She stared at me for a moment before hesitantly walking around the couch and sitting on the end opposite me. Sasha followed her. She curled her legs under her and made herself small. "Amy…" Donny started, as if he still wasn't sure he was actually going to finish the sentence. "You wanna tell me who you were running from the other night?"

She tensed noticeably and there was a long silence. "My father," she finally breathed.

Finally. Something to go on. Donny and I exchanged glances. "Why?" he asked.

Tears flooded her eyes and almost instantly, they were streaming down her cheeks. "He killed them," she sobbed. "I know he did. And he would've killed me, too."

Sasha cradled her. "It's okay, Amy. It wasn't your fault…"

"What's the problem with talking to the police?" Donny questioned.

Sasha shot a nasty look in his direction. "You shut the fuck up! You have no idea what you're talking about!"

Amy began to sob, and the conversation was over, leaving so many questions unanswered.

KATARINA:

The sun was still low on the horizon when I walked out of the station. I started slowly down the streets, mathematically calculating how many more steps I had to take before I would be home. It was a ridiculous equation, especially when I was half-asleep. But it kept me awake.

I had a car. I just didn't bother to drive it. What difference did it make, when I lived in the sewers? Where would I park it when I drove it home? It had been different when I'd had my apartment. But I couldn't think about that right now. I needed to try and relax, not worry myself over things I couldn't fix right now. And that wound was still too fresh.

Paying for my apartment had never been a problem with a roommate. But when she was killed, I was suddenly on my own. After a few months of struggling, and nearly killing myself with overtime and a second job, I'd decided to go to college. I knew I'd make more money with a degree. But in the mean time, I lost the apartment. With the costs of school piling up on top of everything else, I'd moved in with Raphael and the guys, beneath the city. I didn't mind, really. But I missed the privacy, and the normalcy, of an apartment.

Down in the safety of the tunnels that ran underneath the city, I stared down at the dark gray cement passing under me. About five feet to my left, water was flowing steadily. God knows what else was flowing with it. I doubted I'd ever get used to the smell. One of the disadvantages to living in a place where there were no bills. I was just glad that the lair was secluded from all this. I couldn't handle this stench if it were constant.

I yawned without drawing in a breath and shivered. I clutched my arms across my chest. It wasn't really cold down here. I was just tired. My body knew I was supposed to be sleeping, and my temperature was dropping accordingly. I could feel my mind slowly winding down. The muscles in my body were relaxing as I considered the thought of sleep.

I wasn't paying attention… or I would've felt the danger. Instead, the first sensation I had was the feeling of being suddenly yanked off of my feet. I felt a hand around my waist, violently dragging me into the darkness before I had a chance to struggle. I gasped, but had no time to cry out before I was pressed to the wall, my hands pinned on either side of my head.