"Faster! Faster! Oh god he's catching up!" I screamed in my mind as my feet pounded against sidewalk. I looked back, I shouldn't have, but I did. He was so close! I turned into an alley, only to find it come to a dead end. My heart pounded against my ribs as I saw his shadow appear on the wall in front of me. There was only one way out. The ladder to the roof. Through trembling arms and legs, I scrambled up the ladder. The gritty, rust iron left marks on my hand as I clutched the ladder. Once again I looked back, my dirty-blonde hair blocked my view but I could make him out still standing on the ground. I was safe. I thought as I finished climbing up, it was then I realized the mistake I made. It wasn't that he had given up…why rush when there's no way off. I had just gotten myself trapped.

"No! No! Oh no." I gasped out trying to see if there was any other possible exit…there wasn't.

"You can't escape me, Mia. There's no way out. Hand it over now!" He was here. At edge of the stairs. Crimson eyes waiting, watching. I looked down at my hand to see what he had been chasing me for. It was a gem. A jewel that perfectly matched his blood red eyes. He was a black hedgehog with red stripes, and strange shoes.

"No! I can't! I won't!" I said defiantly as the wind began to pick up and whirl my hair around my face. He took a step closer to me causing me to back up, but he kept coming closer and closer and I kept backing up.

"Give it to me before you fall of the ledge!" He growled and yet taking and step closer but instead of heading his order I took another step back. Then fell. Down, down, down, it was like falling into eternity. But he was still reaching for me. Then his hand wrapped around mine…and I screamed.

I woke up drenched in sweat and trembling. Sitting up I brought the covers up around me, it was the same dream over and over again. Why couldn't it stop? They all began when I picked up the ruby from the pawn shop's counter. I shouldn't have gotten it, I shouldn't have wasted my allowance on it. But…it was almost calling to me. Telling me to take it. And I did. I ran my fingers through my sweaty matted hair trying to find some kind of comfort.

"Its just a nightmare. Its just a nightmare. Its not real, its just a dream. There's nothing to be afraid of. Nothing." I whispered to myself as I reached over to my nightstand and took the gem from its stand and cradled it in my palm. I looked up at the sound of floorboards creaking.

"Nothing but me. Get up." A dark brooding voice said from the shadows of my bedroom. I couldn't breathe.

"No. Its not…It can't be possible." I said as the figure moved from the shadows to the moonlight coming in through my window. Him. He was real. Instantly I began to reach for my lamp, when I heard a low growl.

"I wouldn't turn it on if I were you." He said his throaty voice sending chills down my spine. Seeing that he meant business, I did what any normal girl would do…I ran. I threw off the covers and dashed to the door. But somehow he had his hands around my waist and held in a tight arm lock. His breathing was right near my ear, it took everything within me not to scream. Then I realized that fault. I had to scream. Noise. Something to sound a distress call, but he had already thought of his as his gloved hand clamped on my mouth. My nightmare had just turned into reality. A reality I didn't want to face.

Okay I know this chapter isn't much of a re-write but its definitly better than the original...ugh...I can't believe I passed that off as a chapter. I'm sincerly sorry guys. I will be fixing the first few chapters, not the entire story, but the really short ones. Thanks for reading and ~God Bless!~