Two AM. It was the fifth time in a row I was late out from work that week. I hated my boss sometimes; I was usually the one left to lock up, we were seriously understaffed. I walked outside and locked up the restaurant, a nice little pizza place on the corner of the street. It was dark and cold outside so I wrapped my coat around me tightly as I started to walk home. I shivered as a cold breeze hit my face and my fringe flew off my face. My phone started to ring in my bag. I sighed and pulled it out exposing my warm hands to the cold where they had been in my pockets. It was Sarah, my work colleague. I answered, she was just checking to make sure I got home all right, knowing that the boss had made me work late again. I told her I was about a block away from my flat, which I was, at which she seemed satisfied. I said goodbye and hung up. I had only been on the phone for about five minutes but my hand had already gone numb from the cold. I lost grip on my phone as I ended the call and it slipped out of my hand crashing on the floor, the back of the phone breaking off into the alleyway I was passing. I bent down to pick up one half of the phone then walking slightly to the alleyway entrance to retrieve the other half, luckily it hadn't fallen too far in, it was cold and I wanted to go home. As I was about to bend down I suddenly heard shuffling and low voices not far from where I was. I looked up from the phone half on the floor to see two men; one had the other pinned against the brick wall. They both turned from looking at each other to me.

"Crap," I thought. It was too dark to see for sure what was going on between the two but I knew it couldn't be good. Before I had a chance to move, even blink, the man being pinned escaped from the other's grasp and came bounding my way. I thought he was running away but I was wrong. I felt my body lose balance as I was pushed roughly. I landed on the floor, my head hitting the concrete floor, giving me a splitting headache. I gasped and screamed out as something hard slashed the flesh by my hip. Pain seeped through my body and my eyelids closed, as the pain was too much to bear, the cold wasn't the only thing I was worried about now. Darkness came as I passed into a deep sleep, the pain too much for my body to cope with.

"Oww," I groaned as I regained consciousness, my head was thumping so hard and my stomach! The pain! I half opened my eyes but they were too heavy and it was too bright, it blinded me, I closed them again and fell back asleep.

I stirred in my sleep; I opened my eyes, finding it much easier than before. It was dark this time, my head still hurt but not as much, my stomach was stinging. I groaned and moved slightly, which I wished I didn't, as pain ripped through me. I scrunched my face up in pain and lay still waiting for the pain to subside a bit. Then I remembered, the man who had jumped at me. I turned my head and inspected the room I was in, and the bed I was laying in. The room was quite big from what I could see laying down; a large doorway to my right let in the moonlight from outside. There were two other doorways in the room, but I didn't know what they were for and I didn't really care, I just wanted to know where I was, well obviously in some sort of bedroom but where and whose! Just turning my head had tired me out and the pain was now getting worse. I closed my eyes and sighed. I didn't know where I was or why I was there, or even what had happened to me. My thoughts started to slur as my body took me to sleep yet again.

I turned over in the bed, waking up to a cool breeze coming from somewhere I didn't know. I opened my eyes slowly. It must have been early afternoon sometime, as light filtered through the open doorway to my right. Who had opened the window? I tried to move maneuver myself so I could get into a more comfortable position but my stomach twinged in anger as I moved. I went to look under the covers to see my injury, feeling much more awake and energized that I had the last time I had woken up, whenever that was. I was about to when I heard a voice,

"Try not to move too much, you don't want to reopen your wound."

My eyes snapped to a figure I had not seen sitting in a chair opposite the bed. It was a man; I couldn't see him properly as I was lying down. He had his elbows on his knees and his head resting in his hands. He was looking at me, his dark brown hair flopping on his forehead and occasionally into his eyes which he would flick away with a slight toss of his head. Who was he? I was cautious not knowing what to do or say. Before I could think of anything, he spoke again.

"What's your name?" He asked.

I tried to sit up to see him better, not knowing whether to answer his question and lie, tell him the truth or just not answer at all.

"I said try not to move," he repeated but this time he was closer, much closer to me. There was barely a centimeter between us. I had to look away feeling embarrassed as he entered my personal space. I looked at my hand instead where his was resting on top of it to stop me from pushing myself up any further. His hands were cold much too cold and I shivered beneath them. He seemed to notice and took his hand away. He moved further back as well perched on the edge of a chaise longue to the right of the bed. His eyes were a deep brown like his hair sparkling brightly when they hit the light. He had a perfectly angled face and a strong jaw. I relaxed back into the bed doing as he said.

"It's Darcy." I answered truthfully and subconsciously, shocked out of it by his sudden closeness. "Where am I?" I asked, again not thinking before I said anything, I hoped I wasn't in danger.

"You were…" he paused for a bit, "…hurt," he managed to finally say. "Do you remember anything?" He asked.

I tried to think but my memory was hazy. "I only remember working..." I couldn't remember anymore which slightly worried me. "Sorry, what was your name?" I asked, still a little unsure of him and the situation. The man smiled.

"It's Alec," he answered.

"So what exactly happened? How was I hurt?" I asked eager to find out.

He frowned. "You were attacked and stabbed. You lost a lot of blood, close to death I would say. If I didn't take you home, who knows what would have happened."

My memory came back to me a bit clearer than before. "I dropped my phone..." I mumbled. "...thank-you for saving my life but why didn't you take me to a hospital, are you a doctor or something?" I questioned him.

He frowned, "My home was closer, and I have staff that has medical training."

"Staff?" I thought, I was a little confused but decided not to pursue the question anymore, keen to find out something else. "So, when do you think I'll be able to go home?" I asked him.

His frown deepened. "You can't go home Darcy."

At first I thought it was a joke then I realized in sick horror that I might have been kidnapped who knows what could happen to me.

"Wh…Wh….What do you mean?" I stuttered getting much more nervous.

He didn't answer and just looked at the floor. He seemed to know where my thoughts were leading.

"You're safe, I won't hurt you, I promise. You just can't go home."

Now I was definitely confused. What did he mean? My nerves sub siding a little, as I saw truth in his words and the apparent shame on his face when he looked up to answer my question.

"Why?" I asked, confused and a bit angry. I moved in the bed, wanting to sit up. It hurt my stomach but I didn't care.

"Don't move." Alec said again slightly agitated that I kept trying to.

I didn't listen to him; I didn't want to listen to him, what sort of sick man picks a dying woman up off the street and keeps her like a pet! I sat up suddenly, my anger coming to a pinnacle as new and angry thoughts ran through my mind. I turned to face him but I abruptly realised something was wrong. Pain spread through my body ten times worse than it had been before. My mind went quiet as all thoughts escaped me as the pain distracted me. My face must have gone a deathly pale. I pushed the covers away from myself, exposing my body to the breeze and looked down at my stomach. Blood was seeping out of a bandage near my hip and I realised what I had done. I looked up from the wound at Alec shocked. He stared at me briefly then looking at my wound before shouting out,

"Zane!" I heard Alec.

I leaned back on my pillow again feeling the pain get worse. I heard a door open and someone rushed in. He lent beside me. Who was he? I thought but didn't really care at the time as I felt the energy I had just gained flood away from me, I closed my eyes, now feeling them a burden to hold open.

"Pull her hands back." I heard the new guy say to Alec.

No matter how much pain I was in I didn't want Alec coming anywhere near me, I was still too angry at him.

"Get off of me!" I shouted to him as I felt his hands pin mine away from my stomach.

He ignored me.

"She'll be alright, she's reopened the wound a bit, but it's nothing serious, well unless we stop the blood that is." He voice started to become faint, "What did you say to her? I told you to wait to talk to her until she was fully healed."

I couldn't listen to anymore, the blood was pumping too loudly in my ears, I soon passed out.