Wednesday 11th December, 00:15am

Jac was still laid on top of Jonny and he had accidentally fallen asleep. The lights were out with just the TV illuminating the room as Jac watched the most boring of programmes that was on at quarter past midnight. Thanks to a combination of reasons, she couldn't sleep: her baby was restless and freely kicking her in the bladder to remind her mother that she was there every fifteen minutes, her back was beginning to ache again, her heartburn was returning and thoughts of the birth and their baby's first few milestones were running through her mind.

A small squirming movement from Jac caused Jonny to stir and as he opened his eyes, he looked at the tired, stressed consultant on top of him. Her weight was causing him slight discomfort, but he certainly couldn't complain considering that she had gotten no sleep at all.

"Are you sure there isn't anything at all that I can get you? Or do you not want to try go to back to bed again?" Jonny asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes before he returned his hands to Jac's bump. "And don't say diazepam or any other sedative." He added sternly. "Jac?" He queried as she remained silent, but her eyes were open so she wasn't asleep.

"Sshh." She snapped. "Someone's in the kitchen." Jac whispered worriedly as she pointed to the small amount of light that she could see in the corridor. The pair remained silent until Mo came out with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands and then she plonked herself down onto the sofa.

"You alright?" Jonny queried. It was only he and Mr T that knew what was wrong with Mo, though Mo was sure that Jac and the others had probably worked it out.

"I've been better." Mo sighed.

"Aw, my three girls can't sleep." Jonny said sweetly.

"I am not your girl." Jac stated sternly.

"Alright then, my daughter, my best friend and my not-female partner can't sleep." Jonny retorted. "What? You said you're not a girl!" He protested after receiving a glare.

"As I'm a woman, not a little girl." Jac argued. And it appeared that the conversation had brought Mr T out of his deep slumber as he appeared in the doorway and then went and sat next to Mo.

"I told you to wake me." He said softly.

"Yeah but you said in the night, technically it's morning." Mo said smugly as she hugged her stomach.

"I've got some of my endo painkillers... if you can take them." Jac offered as she glanced at Mr T for permission.

"Um, well I would usually say no, but in reality one dose won't hurt if it'll get you through the night." Mr T stated.

"Wait, what if this is endometriosis?" Mo asked worriedly.

"No trust me, if it was endometriosis, you'd be crippled on the floor unable to move." Jac retorted.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration considering you've been in theatre when you were in pain before you were pregnant." Mo argued.

"Yeah, but trust me, I have a much higher pain threshold than you." Jac stated.

"Are you forgetting I gave birth without any pain relief?" Mo queried.

"Ladies, calm down." Jonny warned.

"Right, is your period heavy?" Jac asked bluntly.

"Not really but-" Mo replied before being interrupted by Jac.

"Any bleeding between periods?"

"No but-"

"Any pain during and/or after sex?"

"No but-"

"You haven't got endometriosis." Jac concluded as she folded her arms across her chest.

"But the pain is never this bad and it's usually only on the first day." Mo argued.

"Periods don't follow a certain pattern Mo, they're bound to be a little different each month." Mr T stated softly as he tried to approach it in a better way than Jac.

"I give up! I'm going for a walk." Mo snapped as she got up. She was frustrated that no one was listening to her, though her anger was probably just hormones.

"Maureen you're in your PJs and it's gone midnight." Jonny stated sternly. Mo ignored him and unlocked the front door before she opened it to reveal torrential rain pouring down which had already melted the snow. There had been large grey clouds covering the sky before it got dark hours ago, but they had only predicted further snow, not a winter storm.

"Don't be stupid." Mr T said quietly as he reached past Mo, pulled the door shut before the wind ripped it off of it's hinges, and then guided her back to the sofa.

"Ooowww, I'm dying." Mo moaned as she hugged her stomach and bent double.

"I'd rather be in your position than mine." Jac stated.

"Will you two stop arguing, there's way too many hormones between you two at the moment." Jonny laughed.

00:30am

Zosia turned over in her bed in a deep slumber as she was getting comfortable, when the wind changed direction and she was awoken to the sound of rain pounding onto the window besides her bed. She rubbed her eyes before she sat up and pulled the curtain back at the wrong time. Thunder echoed across the sky, it died down within seconds but picked back up again for a second burst. The loud rumble was then followed by flashes of lightening, momentarily lighting up the surroundings before it went back to darkness again.

The noise woke Guy up, only as he peered through the dark room, he was sure he could see his daughter stumbling around. She then settled herself, wrapped in her duvet, on the floor at the end of her father's bed as she leant against the footboard. He remember her being scared of storms when she was younger, but he thought it must've passed by now- apparently not.

"Zosia, you're safe." Guy whispered as he switched his bedside lamp on, slid out of bed and knelt down on the floor in front of her.

"I just don't like it." She admitted as she wrapped the duvet around her even tighter. She was trying not to panic in front of her father, but when it came to storms, she generally had no dignity at the end of them. Even if no one was with her, she'd still feel stupid.

"I know but trust me, there's nothing to worry about, you're safe. I promise." Guy said softly as he put his hand on her knee. "C'mon, you come and sleep in my bed tonight so you're away from the window, I'll sleep in yours." He ordered.

"No, I wanna be on the floor and the beds are metal." Zosia argued causing Guy to sigh.

"Okay um, how about if I lie the mattress on the floor, will you sleep down here then?" He queried.

"I'm not sleeping dad!" Zosia shrieked as she got up off of the floor and stormed into the living room, still wrapped in her duvet, where the other four were.

"Everything alright?" Jonny asked curiously as Zosia and Guy came in. Zosia plonked herself down on the sofa besides Mo and Mr T, so Guy decided to sit next to her.

"I could ask you four the same question." Guy replied as he wondered why they were all in the living room watching TV at that time in the morning. Just then, thunder rumbled across the sky, followed by flashes of lightening which easily came through the thin curtains.

Mo, Mr T, Jonny and Guy didn't mind the storm at all, they weren't even bother. Zosia however was petrified and although Jac was usually alright, she was scared for her unborn daughter who she assumed was scared of the strange noises.

Zosia wrapped the duvet around her even tighter as she brought her knees up to her chest to keep herself as small as possible whilst the rain became heavier and could then be heard over the TV which was on a news channel.

"She doesn't like it." Jac whispered to Jonny as she rubbed her hands over her bump frequently. Jonny put his hands on Jac's bump and felt nothing.

"'She' doesn't like it, or you don't?" Jonny queried quietly. Jac didn't reply, she just snuggled under the blanket against Jonny as tight as she could so he wrapped his arms around her for support.

"Do you lot not like storms?" Guy queried to break the awkward silence.

"She just can't sleep. Our daughter's wrecking havoc before she's even born and I can't sleep when she can't." Jonny explained as he stroked Jac's hair. She had her cheek resting on Jonny's chest, facing the back of the armchair so she didn't have to make eye contact with anyone, and in that position, she hoped she would be able to sleep.

"Period pains." Mo stated bluntly. And that explanation covered both the appearance of her, and of Mr T.

"What about you two?" Jonny queried.

"She doesn't like storms." Guy stated as he nodded to his daughter.

"They're not gonna hurt you, trust me I've been in storms a hundred times worse than this up in the highlands." Jonny said to Zosia who just rolled her eyes and then looked at the TV to distract her.

"A 24 year old woman has been stabbed around midnight after she was found bleeding to death on the Royal Aberdeen Golf Course and another woman in her thirties has been a victim of a knife attack near Aberdeen Football stadium. Both incidents are thought to be linked as a dark blue ford escort has been caught on CCTV near both attacks. Members of the public are being told to lock all doors and windows, stay inside, and wait for further instruction."

The six sat there in silence, frozen in fear as they wondered what to do. Both Jonny and Guy knew that they were a few miles away from the golf course, but they were a mere ten minute walk from the football stadium. They both decided not to tell the others that in case it caused only more panic.

"Right um..." Guy was the first to speak, "I'll go and check everything's locked up." He stated before he got up and checked the front door and the windows in the living room, and then went around the rest of the lodge.

Just as Guy finished pulling the curtains in Mo and Mr T's room, he was momentarily blinded by a flash, much brighter than a camera's flash, followed by a loud rumble so he made his way to the living room to see what state his daughter was in.

"Where's Zosia?" He demanded as he noticed the creased duvet that was slumped on the floor but no sign of his daughter.

"She's filling up her hot water bottle, for Mo." Mr T replied before he yawned. Guy was about to check on her but Zosia came out of the kitchen holding the hot water bottle which she handed to Mo.

"Thanks." Mo forced a smile as she pressed it on her abdomen.

"Shall we go and get into bed?" Mr T suggested, but a finger was placed to his lips by Mo as she turned her attention to the armchair where she heard a quiet sniff.

"Is she crying?" Mo mouthed to Jonny who reluctantly nodded in reply. Jac was silently sobbing into Jonny's chest whilst hugging her bump. Mo pulled a face of confusion, before she went with Mr T back to bed.

"Jac, you're okay- you, I and our baby are perfectly safe." Jonny said softly as he began to stroke her hair which he knew usually soothed her a little.

"You don't know that." Jac mumbled.

"No but-" Jonny began before being interrupted by the TV.

"Breaking news: a third woman has been murdered in her family home in front of her 9 year old daughter and the suspect is still at large. Police have locked down an 18km square area where they know the armed man is and they will slowly narrow perimeter until they find him. The man is described to be around 6 foot tall, white with very short brown hair and tattoo sleeves on both arms. Police are now urging people to stay indoors, and to only open the door to police officers, who will arrive in a police car, or police van- do not open the door if you cannot see one of them, and certainly do not open the door to an unidentified vehicle."

Jac turned her head to look at the screen where she saw the map showing the lock-down area; they were in it.

"We are in danger." She thought as she curled up as small as she could get.

"Jac, I promise you everything is locked, no one can get in without us knowing. You and your baby are going to be fine." Guy stated as he sat down next to his daughter on the sofa. "And you're gonna be fine too." He added to his daughter as he put his arm around her shoulders which was made slightly difficult because of the thick duvet she was wrapped in.

Suddenly, Jac's phone started buzzing, and then again and again so Jonny reached across and picked it up off of the table.

"Shit." Jonny muttered.

"What? What is it?" Jac demanded.

"My phone, it's broken so Dawn must've thought..." Jonny trailed off as he unlocked Jac's phone and went onto the Facebook app which he had downloaded the day before and logged on to because Jac didn't have Facebook herself. His sister had repeatedly message him.

Dawn Maconie:

Jonny, are you and Jac okay?

Jonny, please reply I'm really worried.

Just seen the second attack on the news, please just reply or call me on 07456503243.

"Can I give her a ring?" Jonny asked Jac.

"Sure." Jac relied so Jonny rang the number and it barely even rung once before she picked it up.

"Hello?" She said nervously.

"Dawn, it's Jonny."

"Jonny! Oh god, I didn't recognise the number so i thought... Oh never mind just please tell me you're okay." Dawn begged.

"Calm down, we're fine."

"But this isn't the number you gave me." She stated confusedly.

"No, my phone got dropped in a lake yesterday, this is Jac's phone."

"So you and Jac are okay?"

"Well a certain someone doesn't like the thunder and lightening but we're fine." He smirked as Jac attempted to elbow him in the balls but he stopped her. "What the hell are you doing up at 1am anyway?" He demanded.

"The not-so-morning sickness decided to make a reappearance at 32 weeks." She grumbled. "So I settled on watching the news on my iPad next to the toilet."

"Oh," he grimaced, "you alright now?" He queried.

"Just dandy." She replied sarcastically. "Although, I think Amy's stirrin-" Dawn was interrupted as her 10 month off daughter began crying. "I'd better go but I hope you're all okay." She said quickly.

"Yep, thanks bye." Jonny said as his sister hung up.

Mo laid in bed, hugging the hot water bottle whilst Mr T had his arms arms around her and he held his phone horizontally in front of them as they read the news.

"We're in a lock down zone." Mo whispered, she was unable to believe the situation that they were in where mere hours ago, the others had been out having a snow fight, and she and Jac had been sipping hot chocolate in front of the TV.

"We'll be alright." Mr T said softly. But Mo couldn't reply, instead, a small groan was forced out of her as her uterus contracted to expel it's lining. Mr T slipped his hand under the hot water bottle and under Mo's shirt so that he could palpate her abdomen himself because he -as an obs/gynae consultant- knew the best way to loosen the tight feeling inside of her.

"Thanks." Mo said eventually. The hot water bottle was definitely helping her tummy ache, it was only a dull feeling and the odd pain that was left. So as the couple tried to sleep, the storm outside roared on, and the mass murder -who unknown to the police had escaped a mental health institute and they were in there because they were a danger to themselves and others- crept across Aberdeen where the presence of police officers was becoming more prominent. Would they catch the person before someone else fell victim to them?

Thanks for reading, please review and I might update once more today x