Emma

Prologue

She walked out of the shop, her hands filled with all sorts of groceries as she glanced at her watch.

The time was 11:22pm and she knew that her lateness would end up getting her into trouble.

She could already hear the loud sounds of her mother shouting about nonsense, she could already smell the stench of alcohol filling the air and drowning her and she could already feel the inner grief of having to step back into that house where she felt her soul was trapped.

She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind, knowing that over thinking would get her nowhere.

A cold breeze -coming from nowhere in particular- blew pass her, the sense that she was being watched filled her and set her nerves on fire as she restrained from looking back.

She walked faster, suddenly wanting to appear back into that nightmare she called her home and not noticing the small innocent pebble that awaited her arrival, that small pebble seeming to change the steps to her fate forever.

She tripped.

She shut her eyes ready to embrace the cold, rocky ground, but the most unsettling thing happened and she felt a strong arm wrap round her body, saving her from the fall.

Her throat clogged up as she felt a wave of panic pass through her and her body froze.

She couldn't think of anything except the nerveracking feeling of the warm arms wrapped around her waist.

She felt another wave of cool air as the stranger brought her nearer to his body and turned her around.

She gasped as she was met with a pair of dark eyes, his lips were shrilled and chapped, she could sense alcohol from a distance and her senses told her that this man had taken a bath in it.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this at this time of the night?" The man said finally releasing her.

She took a step backwards, wanting to keep her distance from the ghostly stranger, and looked down at the floor the mixture of embarrassment and fear confusing her.

"I went to buy some groceries" She said her naturally tiny voice making her words sound quieter than even a whisper.

There was a long silence and she looked up to check if he was still there. She was meet once a again with a pair of dark eyes , only this time they had darkened much more and an unidentifiable emotion seemed too swim in the bleackness of them.

"Are you alone" He asked, his voice deeper and huskier than when he had first spoken.

She nodded slowly, and looked back at the ground, clutching the groceries tightly to her body. She heard shifting and before she could even blink, she felt the weight of the groceries being lifted from her touch and into the man's thick, muscled arms.

"Let me help you with that. I'll give you a ride home" He said as he looked down at her, not really giving her a say in the matter, and began walking towards a black van parked at a hidden corner of the street.

She paused before following him as she realized that the keys to the apartment were in one of the bags he was carrying.

She finally caught up to his large strides and they stopped in front of the van. He opened the door for her and she stared at it . She could feel her whole body alerting her that something was just not right.

"Get in."

She jumped as she heard the sound of his voice, breaking her from her protest and causing her to quickly enter the car.