Yay!......i got a little bit of muse back.....excuse my excitement.....this chapter is a little bit random, but somehow it kinda fitted....

see what you think....please R&R xxx

Thanks to my lovely reviewers who seem to be putting up with the fact that i am insanely inconsistent.......oh and thank you Arria for not setting the poodles on me once again.....i'm sure i deserve them by now *hides*

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Shadows shifted at the edge of consciousness, prowling, snarling. Faceless, shapeless forms entombing her in a shroud of darkness, in the heavy, suffocating emptiness that hung dense as treacle.

She was in a chamber.

The sea of shadow-beings parted like fluid, like a dream, like they hadn't ever been there; just melting away and reappearing elsewhere.

A living darkness, a conscious entity of death.

They seemed to be drawn towards her, almost powerlessly swept like a leaf in an up-draught; before they were repelled by something akin to fear, wrenched away on the same current of consciousness.

Feeding? No, there was something like reverence in their faceless, voiceless awe that gave her the impression that they were fascinated by her.

A cold sensation prickled across her head, and she reached up to touch a smooth base of ivory and thorns entwined about her skull. Like a crown.

She laughed soundlessly, emotionlessly.

Queen of what? Death?

She turned at the scream of doors forced open, after being locked far too long; the echo pulsing like shivers through the chamber.

The shadows parted, drawing away from the figure that passed softly into the grey hall, youthful as the day he had died.

And though recognition throbbed through her being, she could not run to him. Her heart and mind had frozen in her body and the world tilted sickeningly.

"Liam." Her mouth went dry.

He was so close. Centimetres away. She reached out outstretched fingers, but to her horror they stopped midair, halted by some strange, mass-less force, like an invisible wall between them.

"Amber." His eyes were full of pain, but neither of them could breach the barrier.

"Why- Why can't I touch you?" she whispered.

"You're not dead."

"But I jumped! Why am I not dead?" her voice echoed hysterically around the chamber.

"You still have a life up there. There are people who need you." His voice was soft and sad.

"What if the whole reason I am here, is that I can't do it anymore? I can't...I just can't."

"Amber." She looked up into his steady gaze, "You have to live. No matter how much both of us want you to remain here. I want us to be together forever, but we can still have forever. Life is short and I took my chances, but you have a second chance.

I will wait here for you. Forever."

She swallowed. "Forever."

He nodded. "And if you ever meet anyone better than me, and I'm sure they'll be a few, then...you have my blessing. But I will wait for you, whatever."

"They'll never be anyone else."

He smiled. "There will. I'll make sure of it. You can't be lonely your whole life. Otherwise it'll be all the longer, and not worth bothering with."

She looked at him sadly. "How do I get back?" she murmured.

"They're coming for you already."

"Who?"

Suddenly a sharp jolt of pain ruptured her chest, piercing flesh like a shattered rib, and she cried out.

Through the barrier, a cold hand slipped into hers. "Till the end of time." He whispered.

"I love you." She gasped as a fresh spasm of pain raced through her body.

"I love you too."

She was suddenly screaming as a lightning bolt of searing agony wracked her body.

They were pulling her from the death kingdom. She wanted to scream again, cling onto the shadow world and Liam with all her strength, but she had none left, and the tugging at her flesh grew stronger.

And a terrible yearning for her true flesh curdled in every cell of her body.

Her back arched and sparks flew from her fingertips. Her eyeballs burned like fire and she was melting in the fierce electrical current.

Only one could hear her cries.

Her fleshen cage shuddered with the force of the pull, every inch of her shaking with furious electricity, as it pulsed and roared through her veins.

And then she was thrust upwards into the light above, and the pain tossed her blistered mind into the depths of unconsciousness.

And the lone figure knelt in the hall of death, watching the body clutched to his chest fading gradually away, until it was gone.

And settled himself down for a long wait.

And somewhere in Nottingham County Hospital, a defibrillator beeped twice and a heart leapt back into rhythm.

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bit short......but i'm working on the next bit.....xxx