It was early on Friday morning when Connie woke. Her eyes opened quickly, her heart rate was raised, she could feel the rapid thumping of it within her veins, and she struggled to catch her breath. She'd been dreaming, though thankfully she couldn't remember what she had been dreaming about.

She glanced to the clock on the bedside table, squinting in the darkness. 4:14AM, she made out. She drew in a breath and ran her hands over her face. Her skin was wet with sweat and as she moved she realised her pyjama bottoms felt wet, they stuck to her thighs as she pushed back the cover.

Tentatively she pushed her hand down beneath her waist band and touched the skin between her legs, withdrawing her fingers quickly, unable to bear the touch. Her fingertips showed black and glossy in the shadows, as though she had dipped her fingers into ink.

With her other hand she fumbled for the switch that turned her bedside lamp on. Finding it she flicked it on. Her eyes burned and she waited for them to adjust before looking at her fingers. They were no longer black, now they showed the thick clotted scarlet of fresh blood.

Her throat contracted, the air she breathed in through her nose seemed too thin and too cold, she felt as though she were being smothered and she began to panic, she could feel it rising within her veins as though her blood were coming up to boiling point. She glanced down at herself, blood bloomed like roses through the cotton of her pyjamas. Had it stopped? Was it still seeping out of her? She couldn't tell, her lips felt numb, and her head hurt.

She forced herself out of the bed, she stood for a moment, feeling the warm dribble of blood making its way down the inner flesh of her right thigh. She swallowed, her head felt faint, her eyes were growing black and try as she might, she couldn't see. Despite her momentary blindness she moved quickly, erratically, she had to rid herself of these clothes, she had to get rid of the blood, she could feel it again, running down her legs, hot and liquid, her life force running out.

In her haste she tripped on nothing more than a loose strand in the small rug she had by her bedside, her stumble set her off course and she found herself hitting hard against the wardrobe.

"Fuck."

She cursed herself, she blinked, trying to get her bearings, her scalp began to prickle and she felt the hairs at the nape of her neck begin to rise. She wouldn't faint she told herself. She felt herself drop to her knees, the wardrobe door slamming as she fell. Instinctively she placed her hands on the floor in front of her and lowered her head, feeling the nausea wash over her as the blood began to pump and throb behind her eyes.

She was fine, she told herself, she was fine. Internal bleeding after something like this was normal...

normal...

Meanwhile beneath the floorboards in the room below Rita awoke with a jump, the clattering thump from above her paused, and for a brief moment she wasn't sure what had woken her, until she glanced about the room. In the dark she realised where she was, and then she heard the shuffle and groan from above, the floorboards creaked and through the ceiling she heard Connie swear.

A bang startled her and without thinking she pushed the covers from the bed and made her way out of the bedroom, the landing light was on and it was only when she was on the stairs up to Connie's room that she faltered. She was second guessing herself. What if Connie had merely rolled herself out of bed, and she was fine. Rita glanced about herself, she had no idea what time it was.

She took one step down and then stopped, she could hear something, a muffled noise from above her. Slowly she climbed the stairs, her fingers brushing along the cool white wall until she was at the top. Much like below she was presented with an array of doors. She looked to each one, working out which one would lead to the room above her own.

She approached it, and pressed her ear to the door. For several moments she heard nothing, and then she heard the staggered drawing in of breath and the gulp of a smothered cry.

Without thinking she opened the door.

LittleBooLost, thank you so much for the lovely reviews that you leave! It's always so encouraging to hear that people are enjoying what I'm writing.

I'm intrigued however, and would love to hear what you all would like to see happen, or what you think is going to happen? How would you like to see their relationship develop (slowly, quickly etc)? I am writing this for the people who read it, after all, so I want to make sure I give people what they want! And I'd love to hear from any of you who haven't commented before? Thank you in advance :) xx