Chapter 4 - Run

Jeff fought to keep his eyes open as he yawned in boredom and tiredness. He blinked quickly then once again concentrated on widening his eyes. He heard his brother sigh,

"Jeff would you please just go to sleep already, this is gonna be a long flight and I know you're exhausted."

"I can't"

"No, you mean you won't, there's a very distinct difference between the two"

"Matt I hate that dream, it's driving me insane and I've been having it for an entire week now. And if I get it one more time I swear to my manic-panic I will loose it, I honestly will"

"Jeff, as far as everyone is concerned, you've already lost it, so it won't hurt to try, ey? Now go to sleep?" Matt finished the conversation by turning around to be more comfortable in his chair and then fell asleep himself.

Jeff sighed with a great heave of air and realized he had no choice really. He hadn't slept for days—not properly—and the exhaustion was more likely to drive him into the depths of insanity than some stupid dream about some stupid women he hadn't even met. He gave sleep another try.

"What took you so long?" echoes.

Jeff looked around him, "What?"

"I've been waiting"

He looked again. He couldn't see anything through the mist, through the fog. A huge blanket of grey lay thickly around his head, blurring his vision. "I can't see you" he shouted back, hoping maybe whoever it was would step forward and make themselves known. Nothing happened for a while as the mist continued to swirl around him. Jeff just squinted against the dark clouds, noticing that the mist was grower darker and thicker, hoping that it was all in his imagination. It was becoming hard to breathe, so very hard. The fog was heavy and damp, clogging up his throat as he tried his best to inhale. Suddenly a cold wind brushed over him, pushing the mist away and he found himself standing in the night, in a wide empty open space. He could feel snow crunching beneath his feet as he turned in a small circle, looking for any signs of life, even those of plants. All he saw was snow and darkness, and darkness and snow.

"Hello?" his voice echoed out around him, as if there were thousands of him with an equally confused and curious voice. He received no response but his own voice. "Anyone?" Echoed again. Strangely he could feel the vibrations of the echoes flowing through him, making him shudder deep In his core at how wrong it felt. Jeff took a few steps forward, not seeing anything, anyone. Just the cliché of white and black. There weren't even stars in the thick black night sky. Everything was blank. Jeff turned back, finding himself staring down at the footprints in the snow. He dropped to his knees, studying them. They weren't his. They were too small, too close together, too feminine. Someone else was lost out here too, they had to be.

"Hello? Is anyone else here?" this time his voice didn't come back. It was just swallowed up into the void of life. He hung his head low again, looking back down at the footprints that didn't belong to him. And then he heard it. Crunch, crunch, crunch of snow beneath shoes, beneath someone else's shoes. Before he could even lift his head the shoes were beneath his face and they were attached to a body. Overcome with a strange emotion he was unsure whether he wanted to lift his head. He did so slowly.

Jeff's eyes trailed up long, muscular legs, tanned a creamy honey, and then over a short, suede, beige skirt that hugged curvy hips. The skirt ended low on the hips and a flat toned stomach was evident before the material of a mid-rift black top cut off the view and carried up over pert breasts and ending with cleavage. Jeff got to his feet as his eyes continued up over a delicate collar bone, up a neck, over a soft jaw line, slightly parted red lips, deep violet eyes and ending up on the bright short turquoise hair. He sucked in a breath. And those lips parted in an incandescent smile.

Jeff stared at them and then shook it off and looked back into those eyes. Those mesmerizing, hypnotizing, spellbinding, violet eyes. Familiar eyes. He got caught in them as they swirled, flecks of lilac glowing bright towards the center, a ring of dark purple around the edge of the iris. Gorgeous. Swirling, swirling. "Do…do I know you?" the words left Jeff's lips in a voice that was unsure but hopeful. The smile on the beauty's lips grew wider. She nodded a little, not speaking. "How?" Her eyes shimmered excitedly and she bit a lip but she didn't say anything. "What?" no response. Her eyes just kept shimmering like that. "Why won't you answer me?" She took a step closer, still smiling and shrugged. Jeff felt his heart pound at how close she was. And then she rested a hand on his chest. And he felt his heart jump start, desperate to leap out of his body. It smacked hard to get out but it couldn't break through. Her other hand rested on his chest alongside her first. His heart missed a beat. And his whole body jerked.

Jeff parted his lips to speak but he had lost his voice. And this woman had found hers.

"Long time no see, I was really beginning to miss you" something about the way she was speaking to him, so softly, with such patience and openness, dripping with sweetness, almost like sugar or honey,  it was memorable to him. It was recognizable. They must have met before. But how could he have forgotten someone so beautiful, so electric? She grinned at his confusion. "You don't remember me?" She pushed him backwards gently, as if she was ushering him somewhere. The woman shrugged, "Understandable I suppose" And then her lips fell into a pout, exaggerated, making them look so full and tempting and so very, very close. Her eyes even pouted. Jeff fought back the dizziness. "Although I must admit that does disappoint me. I had big plans you see" She leaned into him then, making him loose his breath. Her lips veered off though and landed near his ear, and he was consumed with a strong wave of warmth as she whispered to him, "I was going to make you mine" And then one of her hands moved. She rested it on his shoulder, just close enough to his neck so that the tips of her fingers grazed it, sending shocks down his spine. "All mine" And her other hand moved when she pulled away, resting it on his cheek. Her thumbs moved to caress his jaw and Jeff suddenly felt he was going to collapse as his knees buckled beneath him. She seemed to notice.

His voice returned. It was then apparent they shared one. He ceased his chance to speak before she could do so again. "I don't remember you, I'm sorry, but I don't" she nodded, in understanding and then let her fingers move from her jaw to his lip. He sighed, "I really wish I did" she kissed him, just below where her finger was lying softly on his lip. His knees buckled again, "Really wish" She pressed her lips to his cheek, smiling against it, and then stepped back. Jeff felt his arms go out to catch her, wanting to pull her back, wanting more than a few little kisses. Wanting her. And then her hand was moving in a small wave, her face etched with apologies, some hope lingering in her eyes, "What? No. No, don't go. At least tell me who you are" And she faded away. Jeff fell back to the snow, cold and crestfallen. The wind picked up.

And he heard it whisper. Heard her whisper on the breeze, "find me, I'm in your heart…please just find me"      

Jeff woke up with a start, his breathing heavy and strained again. He sighed. His mind replayed the last words of his dream.

"Find me, I'm in your heart…please just find me"      

And he nodded his head, determined, passionate, "I'll try, I swear I'll try"

***

Tyana paid for her meal and strolled out of the high-tech café. It was nothing out of the ordinary really. Look through the menu and place your order on your table's computer. Have it served instantly on your table by the aid of a high tech motion belt. Pay and eat. Personally, she preferred the other world's way of dining. It was a lot less anti-social. Tyana took the sidewalk's clean and unblemished surface in her leisured stride and slipped her hands into her pocket. Her mind rocked back and forth between subjects—I'll give you three guesses what subjects they were—and she sighed once more. I gotta stop doing that, it's becoming a habit.

"Excuse me, miss" she heard a small voice ask from somewhere nearby. She looked about to see if it was directed at her. "Miss" the voice said quietly again. Tyana looked down to find a little girl, standing by her leg, clutching a stuffed animal, her eyes wide and teary "Miss I'm lost" For a moment Tyana forgot what dimension she was in—this girl was not typical of this realm. She stared down at the child warily. Children didn't get lost in this realm. They all had special trackers made to fit into their clothes and even if the tracker failed there was always a child control unit nearby should they be needed. And the stuffed animal; they were non existent to most here. They only came about when it was apparent most people that were watched in the Witnessing had them and even so, they were more of a novelty than an actual toy or piece of comfort. Tyana felt her hair stand up on the back of her neck. But she pushed aside the emotion, telling herself she was being paranoid. This reality wasn't perfect, ergo it was possible that a child really could get lost. Tyana crouched down so they were at eye level.

"Hey. You're lost you say?"

The little girl nodded, her curly orange locks bopping with her head, "I can't find my mommy"

"Aww, ok sweetie, well we'll go find her ok?" Tyana held out her hand to the small child, intent on taking her to the nearest child control point to have her tracker scanned and her prints taken for identification. No wonder the people of this world were so twisted and sick, look what would happen to them if they got lost as a child; they were treated like criminals. It was society's fault. Tyana snapped back to the present as the girl looked at her hand with big eyes and then up at her face. Slowly a grin twisted onto what had looked to be such a sweet and perfect mouth. And Tyana knew she had been right to be suspicious to begin with.

The sound of a bullet leaving the barrel of its gun struck Tyana a split second before her reflexes kicked in and she flipped into the street. Under normal circumstances she would have begun to ponder how in this realm they didn't have cars to travel by but instead a giant network of transparent tubes that sucked you to your destination. But these weren't normal circumstances. And bullets were following her every move, missing closely by mere inches. Tyana landed in a crouch but she shot to her feet in a second and did the only thing she could do without a weapon; she ran.

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*A/N* Oooo, getting interesting yet? Lol, the next couple chapters should be quite packed I hope, with you know, a little action, emotions blah dee blah dee blahhh! Lol. Please leave a review, whatever you say can only improve the story :o)

Shadow: lol you're the only one actually reading this story, lol, I don't know why but to me it's rather amusing. Any who glad you liked the last chapter, I think details are the most important thing in the actual writing of a story alongside the plot and characters, of course, so I try my best to pay attention to them. I hope it's working out. Thanks for reviewing :o)