A/N Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews, I'm still a little apprehensive about this fan fic as it's my first and I'm not really sure how it's going. I have plenty of ideas, but I think my characters might be coming across cold?

Hope it is bearable for you all :)

Disclaimer: I realised when you write the author of the Night World Series, for some reason it disappears, so I would like to reiterate my lack of ownership of the Night World Series and do not intend any infringement on copyright laws.

Chapter 4

When the class was finally let off the bus, Liz stretched and tried to expel the tension in her muscles after sitting in the same manner for 2 hours.

Having been handed a timetable of what the day was going to entail, Liz joined the rest of her group of friends, seeing Stefano out of the corner of her eye, silent and brooding.

Liz's excitement was barely contained as the group all went off to the inside of the cave entrance, their cheerful tour guide bobbing along ahead of them, pointing out random facts that most people weren't listening to.

The class were lead in and handed a map of the caves. Liz was shocked by the complex caving system that they were going to explore. There were hundreds of different paths leading everywhere, and she immediately grateful for their tour guide.

The group set forwards moving further into the dark dank caves, the natural light eventually fading away, the path being lit by a single line of fluorescent tubes down either side of the main path.

After about 10 minutes of walking, packed closely together so as to not lose any of the group, Liz's interest was apparent, and Chris bent down to whisper in her ear, their footsteps echoing all around them

"You seem to like the dark, Liz" She felt a hand on the small of her back and was glad for the darkness so he couldn't see the blush that spread across her cheeks.

"It's not about the darkness; it's about the history of the place, how many people have been down here? How long did it take to build? How many people died trying to tunnel deeper?"

She felt Chris's admiring gaze on her as she looked in wonder all around her at the cave that was only about 2 feet taller than her own head.

"I suppose it is a bit spooky, thinking of it that way" He responded, snaking an arm around her waist and squeezing her to him slightly.

She was a bit shocked at the action, but was admittedly a little overwhelmed by the extensive paths and had started to feel a bit claustrophobic as the tunnel seemed to close in the further they went.

Liz felt Chris's hand tracing circles against her t-shirt on her side, and was quietly comforted by the action, even when he ran his thumb under the waistband of her jeans, she didn't dare tell him off, just so she could have the comfort of him there.

She knew it was wrong, but there was something daunting about these caves.

Finally the group came to a small chamber that seemed to glisten from the minerals that were set in its walls. As they gathered around the tour guide, he filled them in on the history of the space, warning them not to venture too close to the walls as there were many low hanging rocks.

Liz's claustrophobia seemed to be getting worse as all 40+ students crowded into this small space. She had lost Chris and the others when they had moved into the room, and now looked around frantically, stuck at the back of the group and far too short to see over the heads of the people in front.

Starting to panic, Liz's breathing felt arduous and she backed up away from the group, not heeding the warnings of the tour guide as she felt along the rock with her hands, the cold wetness of the walls bringing back some sort of sense. Suddenly feeling faint, she had the overwhelming urge to sit down, when out of nowhere, there was a quiet "pop" and all the fluorescent lights in the area went out.

The group were plunged into complete and utter darkness, not even the smallest of lights came from anywhere.

Everyone seemed to panic at once, and Liz felt the moving of air as people rushed about her.

It was like being blind, she wasn't sure if her eyes were even open, and the darkness seemed like a pressing force against her chest.

Hyperventilating, Liz attempted to walk forwards away from the wall and back towards where she thought the entrance had been, but she had walked into a screaming person's way.

Liz was pushed backwards into the wall and felt a dull thud and a sharp pain run through her shoulder as she bounced off the person and straight into the jagged wall.

Scrunched into a ball on the floor, Liz could barely breathe, and felt the edges of her subconscious dull, as her eyes rolled back and her head became light.

"Liz...LIZ..." Called a male voice in her ear, pulling her back into a semi conscious state.

"Yes..." She mumbled, her eyes squeezed shut against the darkness

"Liz wake up, you need to stay conscious"

She attempted to shake herself awake, and realised that all around her was silence except for the person here with her now.

It was still pitch black, but the chaos had gone and the pain in her shoulder had subsided.

"Liz, everyone else has gone; the tour guide had a torch. We're the only ones here, and I need you to stay awake till you get to a hospital and sleep."

"I.. I'm ok..who are you?"

"Never mind about that, now keep still I'm going to pick you up."

A strong arm curled around her back and another under her knees, and she was lifted up into the thick air as if she weighed nothing.

"How can you see? How did you know I was down here?" Her senses all returning to her now

"Don't worry about that now, let's just concentrate on getting out of here."

Liz draped her arms around the man's neck, and let her head rest on his shoulders. Feeling his surprise she pulled back her arms, but grazed his cheek in doing so, and suddenly a jolt of electricity ran down her arm.

She gasped at the feeling, although it wasn't painful, and felt him suck in air too. She had only felt that feeling once before in her life and with sudden clarity she suspected she knew who was carrying her.