Catrin Foster pulled her jacket closer to her against the early autumn chill.

She puffed on a fag slowly, the burning tip faintly illuminating the dark woods.

Where the bloody hell is he? she wondered as she drew on the cigarette again, exhaling the pungent smoke, which billowed around her.

She was supposed to be meeting her boyfriend, Aeron there in the woods. Why she did not know; that is to say she knew why they were meeting, but not the reason why Aeron had chosen these spooky woods.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered, testing the words out for the first time. She'd only found out that morning, but she had decided that she had to tell Aeron immediately. I hope he doesn't leave me, she thought with trepidation. I don't want to be a single mum like mine.

A loud crack behind her caused Catrin to whirl around, her heart leaping up into her throat. The cigarette fell from her hands, landing on the wet dirt by her feet.

"Aeron, is that you?" she called out, her voice trembling with fear.

There was no response, except for her ragged breathing and pounding heart.

"Aeron, quit mucking about!"

Catrin tried to quell the fear in her voice, but even she could hear that she was scared shitless.

Why did I agree to meet him here? she wondered as her eyes scanned her dark surroundings for any hint of movement. And without a machete or something.

She knelt and picked up the fag, drawing on it deeply. She tried to make out the way that she had come, but a fog was rolling in and she could barely see the trees close by.

What the bloody hell am I going to do? I can't very well take off running blind. I'll break my ankle or something. I have to do something, though, and soon!

Suddenly, she felt an arm or something snake around her. With a piercing scream, Catrin stabbed the lit end of the fag into whatever was holding her. She heard a masculine cry of pain, as well as smelled the noxious scent of burning flesh.

The arm released her and Catrin whipped out her mobile, the screen barely lighting up enough for her to see whom her attacker was.

"Aeron!?" she bellowed, anger setting fire to her blood. "What the fuck are you doing!?"

Aeron held up a placating hand, his other holding firmly to his new burn.

"I was just having a laugh," Aeron slurred.

Catrin caught a whiff of his breath and blanched. Aeron's breath smelt of beer and marijuana. He was totally monged out of his mind.

"You twat!" she hissed, smacking him on the arm as hard as she could. "You scared the fucking shit out of me!"

Aeron's glassy eyes widened and he seemed to sober up almost instantaneously.

"I'm sorry love," he said gently, trailing his finger down her plump bottom lip.

Catrin felt her anger diffuse and a tightness in her groin at his touch.

Aeron had always had a sort of power over her, right from the beginning. As much as she had wanted to date someone her own age, in her own class at college, Aeron had been simply irresistible to her. Sure, he had dropped out of uni and was living at his mate's flat, smoking weed, drinking, and playing his X Box all day, but he really was a sweetheart underneath it all. When they'd had sex for the first time he had made love to her slowly and tenderly, as if she were a virgin, which she most certainly was not.

He remembered her birthday and her mum's birthday, as well as other insignificant things that boys never remembered. Catrin couldn't explain it properly, but she was helpless against his charm. No matter how much he fucked up, she just couldn't quit him.

With a relieved smile, she grabbed his hand.

"Forgive me?" he asked.

"I forgive you," she replied.

He pulled her close and crushed his lips against hers, his hand slipping into the camisole she wore under her jacket and caressing the soft flesh of her back.

"I have something to show you," he whispered.

"Okay," she agreed, chewing her tingling lip.

"Come on."

Without another word, Aeron took her hand and started walking, leading them through the darkness. He brandished a torch in front of them, lighting the path significantly.

She stumbled once or twice on a root or loose branch, but Aeron steadied her before she could go down.

They walked for several minutes, the fog clinging to them like the smoke from her fag. What the Hell is he up to? she wondered.

In the glow of the torch, she began to make out the shape of a building. As they got closer she saw that it was a rather large building, though dilapidated.

They came to the stone steps leading up to front doors. To the right, a weathered sign hung, but she could still make out the Welsh words inscribed there. Sanatorwm. Sanatorium.

"Why are we here? "she asked, a shiver crawling down her spine.

"I found it," Aeron replied proudly.

"You've brought me to an abandoned sanatorium in the middle of the woods at night?" Catrin said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You'll love it inside, I promise, "Aeron enthused.

"I am not going in there!" Catrin protested, stamping her booted foot down on the ground.

"It'll be fun, I promise," Aeron cajoled, grinning mischievously. "I'll never let anything bad happen to you."

Catrin felt the resistance vanish from her body. She was safe enough with Aeron.

She gave him her hand with a sheepish grin.

"Let's not be too long, yeah? I have school in the morning."

"We'll make it quick," Aeron replied, his voice dripping with lust.

He took her hand and led her up the steps to the front door. When he pushed them, the ancient oaken doors groaned inward, the noise ripping through the otherwise silent night.

As they entered the sanatorium, their footfalls echoed off the high walls, surrounding them.

In the light from Aeron's torch, Catrin could see piles and piles of a scattered papers, and abandoned wheelchairs. The place stunk of animal waste and mold.

Aeron led her down the first corridor, and they passed several rooms before stopping before a nondescript door.

With a cheeky grin, Aeron pulled the door open and ushered her inside.

The room was illuminated by a ring of burning candles, the air heady with the scent of lavender.

In the corner of the room was a weathered bed, the metal frame rusted, and the mattress stained. Up above, the ceiling had caved in, moonlight spilling in through the hole.

She turned to face Aeron, who shuffled his feet nervously.

"You did this for me?" Catrin asked, touched.

"When you rang and said you wanted to talk, I reckoned that you were about to dump me." He sighed. "I can do the romantic bit, I can! And I'll sort myself out. I applied to uni again."

"Aeron," Catrin said softly, twining her hands through his thick brown hair.

Their lips met, and he picked her up, setting her down on the bed.

"Oh , no," she said, pulling back from the kiss. "I am not having sex on this filthy old bed."

"Sex can wait," he murmured, kissing her again.

They fell back onto the mattress, and his mouth moved down to her creamy white neck.

Goose pimples rose on her skin, and nipples hardened, straining against her camisole.

Suddenly, something scraped in the distance.

Catrin and Aeron jumped to their feet.

"What the fuck was that?" she gasped.

Was someone in there, too? Who would be in an abandoned sanatorium in the middle of the night?

Aeron knelt down and picked up a rusty pipe on the floor.

"Stay here," he whispered, hoisting the pipe up behind him like baseball bat.

His heart pounding in his chest, Aeron slowly approached the door. He held the torch out in front of him.

Aeron poked his head out the door and shone the torch first left, then right. Nothing seemed amiss In the corridor.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Aeron lowered the pipe, turning back to Catrin.

"It was probably just a rat or something," he assured her.

Suddenly something dropped down from the ceiling and something sharp stabbed through his chest.

Aeron stared down at it, his eyes wide with fear.

The knife was wrenched out of his chest.

A dark red stain oozed out of the wound, tarnishing his white shirt.

Aeron gasped for breath, his lungs filling with blood.

Catrin screamed as Aeron crashed to the floor, his eyes staring glassily up at her.

The figure turned to face Catrin, taking a step toward her.

Fear taking over, Catrin ran for the window and threw herself between the jagged bars.

Pain jolted through her shoulder as she landed on the ground.

Grimacing, she staggered to her feet and took off into the fog shrouded woods.

Catrin stumbled in the dark, her lungs burning with the exertion.

She knew it was pointless, but she couldn't fight the urge to peer back over her shoulder to see if the killer was pursuing her.

From what little she could see, she was in the clear, but with the fog so thick, she couldn't accurately see anything.

Catrin turned back to face the front and saw the tree dead center before her mere seconds before she collided with it.