Four years later.

Nicole Winters woke up drenched with sweat. She was impossibly twisted in her bedsheets and her head pounded. She had bitten her lip and it felt raw and swollen. She tasted the coppery tang of blood.

She had been having the same nightmare for years now. The nightmare haunted her dreams every night, and even in daylight, when she was fully conscious, they were always there, lurking in the murky depths of her mind. That night kept replaying in her head, like a broken record. The killer hadn't been caught and he was still out there, out for her blood.

She shivered and snuggled deeper into her blanket. But she couldn't fall asleep again. She got up and saw that her roommate Madeleine Taylor, Maddy for short, was still fast asleep. Maddy had been her roommate ever since she joined the University. They had been through a lot together and she had become her closest friend and confidante now. But she didn't know everything. Her golden locks fell over her face and she was half hanging off the bed, snoring lightly.

Nicole shook her head at the sight. The early morning sunrays filtered in through the soft, muslin curtains, bathing the room in a light yellow.

She brushed her teeth and observed herself in the bathroom mirror. Her deep brown, wavy hair fell just past her shoulders and her black eyes looked tired. She had slept restlessly the entire night, and there were bags under her eyes, the only thing that hindered and diminished the glow of her perfect, smooth cream colored skin which was tinged with red at the cheeks.

She had missed her evening run yesterday and hence she wasn't tired enough to fall asleep into a deep slumber. Running was the only thing that tired her enough to keep the nightmares at bay.

She sighed and changed into tights and a hoodie. She tied her shoes, and grabbing her phone and earplugs, she went out the door quietly, careful not to wake her friend.

The University of Wisconsin Madison stood in all its glory, looking beautiful in the early morning sunlight, which glinted off the statue of Abraham Lincoln, located at the entrance. The leaves had turned red, setting fire to the trees. The red would look beautiful to any other person. But not to Nicole. She hated red. It reminded her of a night of which she didn't need anymore reminders. She would never forget that night. It would haunt her to the grave.

The early autumn wind nipped at Nicole's cheeks as she ran past the University where she had been studying journalism for the last two years. The new session was about to start from tomorrow, and students were still arriving, trying to find their assigned dorms.

She looked at the new, eager and slightly nervous faces and remembered the first time when she stepped into this campus, two years ago. She smiled at the memory. Her feet slapped against the pavement as she ran, matching the rhythm of the song blasting in her ears. She had been running for some time now, and her breathing got heavy. Her legs started to leaden and cramp, but she pushed through the pain. The only way to get through was to push. She concentrated on the words of the song, to distract herself from the physical pain. But she got too distracted.

She suddenly tripped on a bag kept on the ground and would have fallen face-first if a pair of strong arms hadn't grabbed her and broken her fall. The arms took her by the waist and yanked her back. Suddenly her face was right in front of a hard, muscled chest. She lifted her head and stared directly into a pair of sea-green eyes. They were an unusual color. They were beautiful. She was mesmerized. A deep, gruff voice woke her out of her trance.

"Are you okay?", The man asked. He had an accent which sounded close to Polish, or maybe it was Russian.

"Yes, I'm okay", Nicole said, unplugging her earphones and stepping out of the circle of the man's arms. " I'm sorry, I hadn't been paying attention".

"Quite alright".

The two strangers stared at each other, observing each other for sometime.

Nicole noticed that the man was tall, well over six feet. His white T shirt stretched tautly over his muscled chest and highlighted his perfect biceps . He had platinum blonde hair and a chiselled face with a prominent jawline. A bag pack was slung over his shoulder, while the other bag, which she tripped over, was kept on the ground. A black BMW stood on the street, and an uniformed driver was unloading some more bags from the trunk. Judging by the man's clothes and car, it could be assessed that he was quite rich.

She noticed him scanning her. She blushed a little, thinking of her sweaty face and her hair, some of which had come loose from her messy bun. The man noticed her pink cheeks and smiled to himself.

"I'm Erik", he said. "Erik Ivanov".

"I'm Nicole Winters".

The two of them shook hands.

"I was wondering, could you please point me to the direction of the Reception. I just transferred here from another University."

"Yes, it's that way", said Nicole, pointing to one of the buildings on their left, hidden behind some trees.

Erik thanked her and after his driver left, he picked up his bag and headed off in the direction Nicole had pointed him in. Nicole resumed her run again and suddenly, she had the urge to look back. She slowed down and turned her head and saw Erik look back at the same time. She turned around quickly again and smiled to herself, her cheeks now the color of the leaves.

She took her favourite route to Lake Mendota, which was located just behind the campus and as she ran beside the shimmering water body, her mind drifted off, thinking of everything and nothing at the same time. She had a feeling this year wouldn't be boring.

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