Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Patriot, all rights are reserved to the respective owners etc.

Alex stretched her arms out and took in a large breath of air, it felt good to not have her knees and ears touching one another I HATE long haul flights, she made a mental note NOT to forget a sleeping tablet next time. As a result, she had to listen to the panicked talk of a first-time traveller sitting next to her…the whole eight hours.

Hailing a cab, she bent her head down to the window "Hey, can you take me to Middleton Place please?' The taxi driver smiled and said "Anything for you babycheeks, hop on in."

Babycheeks...American charm at its finest. I'm in hell.

Thankfully, the journey was blissfully short. Paying the man, she stood out and unloaded all her various bags with books and clothes and stood out looking at the building in front of her. Not bad, should be quite interesting…eh, lets go check it out.

Entering the building she called out "Hello?" A few moments later, she heard a shuffling and a door opened to her right. "Welcome to Middleton Place, I'm Georgia Middleton and owner of the residence. You must be Alexandra Thurston, follow me." She said sweeping imperiously out of the entrance and into the next room. Alex turned muttering under her breath about southern hospitality and started hoisting the bags onto her back. "Oh, leave those. They'll be taken to your room." She stated taking in Alex's dishevelled appearance with a distasteful look pulling down the corners of her wrinkly lips. Leading into another room, she sat down on a red armchair behind an ornately carved desk. "Please, sit. Now I hear from a good friend of mine, your former professor, that you were one of his most able students..." She strung out the able with a look that clearly said 'yeah, right.' You knew Earheart?…that would explain the letter. Alex began to zone out, as the monologue continued but was sharply brought back to reality when Mrs. Middleton mentioned food "breakfast will be served at eight o'clock sharp" she drawled Lady, just get to the bloody point. When will I start? "All the items are in the next room, I want a concise evaluation on their origins, price etc. You can do that, can't you?" she glared. Nah, this was just a piss-take, but Alex forced the politest voice she could and said instead "Of course, madam."

"Good, I shall see you tomorrow morning. One of the…help, will come and wake you." She said sitting back with a satisfied look settling on her plump features.

My pleasure, miserable little toad. Taking this as a sign of dismissal, she inclined her head and walked out into the room where she was led by one of the maids to her bedroom.

Shutting the door, Alex turned, smiled and ran towards the bed leaping into the air and landing on the soft, lush bed. "Sweet, sweet pillow, I'm going to looooooove you" she said as she kicked off her shoes and proceeded to pass out.

The next day, Alex was led to a room with about fifty different items strewn about the place. You have got to be kidding me, ARGH. This will take a while… "Can I get you anything, miss?" the young girl asked.

"No, I'm quite alright thank you. Wait, perhaps a glass of water?"

"Certainly." She left the room and shut the door with a soft click.

6 hours later…

Four cups of tea, two coffees and 5 glasses of water later, Alex retied her blonde hair into a ponytail and stood up. Don't think she'll get too pissed off if I take a break. I'd like to look around the building for a little bit, see what's in here. She stood and wandered into the various rooms, her old childhood curiosity of antiques coming alive again as she walked around the various floors. Stopping, she saw an old book on a stand. Checking to make sure there was no one nearby, she flipped the cover, wondering what was contained in the leather-bound pages.

Suddenly, a wind came and blew throughout the room, causing Alex to clutch her arms towards her. The summer breeze had been warm and comforting before, but for some reason panic started to fill her mind. Not easing her worries was the sight of a raven perched outside the window, which promptly squawked out "NEVERMORE"

Quoth the raven…Shouting, Alex jumped up "Stupid bird, why do you have to be so bloody good with your timing. Damn irony…huh?" she said turning around and looking at the book that began to glow. Backing away slowly Hell, I'm in deep sh… but she couldn't finish her thought, as the light hit her, and all went black.

"OOMPF!" she gasped out as she was thrown back against the wall. "Urgh, my head. It feels like there are fifty hammers banging at the same time. Oh!" she gasped as she realised that there were six men looking at her as if she had grown an extra head. Standing up, she held out her hand, unsure of what one does when they're thrown into a room with six men in period costume "Hello, sorry about that. I don't know quite what happened there, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alex Thurston and…" she halted, as they had not moved or shut their mouths since she had started speaking. "Right…" Alex lowered her hand, and opted for the next best option. She ran.

She knocked heads with another man in period costume that had been standing outside the door, complete with an old-fashioned musket that tumbled as a result of their collision. "So sorry, allow me to…" she started, holding out her hand but a cry behind her startled her "Catch that man!" Alex turned and looked quizzically at the man who had shouted this, older than the others he stood over the desk pointing a finger right at Alex. "There must be some mistake, I…" but she never had time to finish her sentence as nine different figures started to give chase.

BLOODY HELL, I've got to get out of here. Alex turned and sprinted down the stairs, and out of the main door right into a platoon of soldiers. Not wasting any time, she ran towards the woods on the left, musket shots firing above her head. "Christ, what's going on? Is this legal? Stupid second amendment, they should revise their constitution." She gasped for air as she heard soldiers shouting to one another. Peering round the tree, she saw the men from the room, as well as various infantry accompanying them.

"She's going to be in their somewhere, come out and you shall not be harmed." Said a man, who by judging by his uniform was a high-ranking officer. A general, no less. Hmm. This does get more and more interesting.

"Wait!" shouted another. A man in a red coat with green decorations turned around and promptly fired at the tree Alex was hiding behind. Not one to wait for pleasantries, she bolted further into the woods. She kept pushing onwards, branches whipping at her jeans and shirt, scratching her face as she ran on blindly. Another shot rang out, and a searing pain shot up her arm.

She fell to the ground and grabbed her left arm in agony. The bastards had nailed her right in the bicep, though as a result of a martial arts training and being the only girl amongst four boys, she didn't cry out. I've had enough. Snarling, Alex turned around ready to face whoever came near. It was the man who had aimed at her before, and he stood their smirking at the beaten figure standing in front of him. "You never should have run, boy." Boy, he needs to get out more. Can't even tell a woman apart… He readied his pistol at her and was about to fire before Alex shouted, "I'm not a boy, I'm a girl. You wouldn't shoot a woman!" Eyeing her, he lowered his weapon. Breathing a sigh of relief, she leaned against a tree and began to examine her arm. Think, think, think. Play desperate female and then you've got to get out of here. He came towards her, she put on her most painful expression and let the tears stream down her cheeks. Not bad, not bad…pain is not good, but think. You need your wits about you, girl. As he stood in front of her, she promptly brought up her knee to his groin and whacked him on the back of the head, kicking the pistol away from him. Seeing her chance she ran as fast as she could once again.

Tavington groaned, and got up. Anger burned through his eyes as he gave chase again. This time, he thought, I won't be fooled again.

The blood loss weakening Alex, her sight began to get fuzzier as her head started spinning in dizziness. Slowing down, she couldn't even hear the colonel catching up to her as she was almost blinded by pain and lack of blood. And just as he reached her, she promptly passed out. The last sight she saw were eyes as pale as the sky above, glinting in the sunlight.

End Chapter II