I'd never felt fear like this. Pure, unfiltered, raw primal terror filled every part of me, mixing with the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I ran like I'd never ran before. I couldn't even feel my legs anymore, couldn't risk thinking about them in case it interrupted the insane pace I flew across the ground at.

Darkness surrounded me. I'd never seen such blackness, it felt thick and heavy, like I could almost feel it, touch it, taste it. I ran blind, my arms outstretched in front of me, crashing through the sparse woods. Suddenly, the branches fell away, and I catapulted myself into an open clearing. The clouds blocking out the moon moved away, revealing a dull silver glow of light.

A cliff edge no more than twenty metres in front of me ended my path forwards. Panicked, I turned around, spotting Marcus' house to my left. A sigh of relief battled with screaming fear. Part of me wanted to run to the house, the other part of me wanted to bolt as far away from here as possible.

"There's nowhere to go, Katherine."

A male voice sung along the cool evening breeze, soft yet taunting. A barb of fright lodged in my heart. I knew that voice.

"Come on now, Katherine. It won't hurt."

My whole body trembled; my muscles were paralysed with dread. I couldn't move. The shadows moved out of the corner of my right eye. I sucked in a breath and watched as Marcus emerged from the trees.

He looked different. This wasn't the Marcus I knew. His eyes were cold, devoid of any emotion. A predatory glint glistened through them as he approached me, step by step, careful yet precise, like a lion stalking a gazelle.

"You knew the deal, Katherine. Come now, don't be scared."

I glanced down at my hands, my hair falling forwards. Except, this wasn't my hair. Long golden waves fell down, and beyond, my ample breasts. A white lace nightgown covered me right down to my ankles, its cleanliness streaked with dirt from my run through Marcus' grounds.

My hands moved, still shaking, but with a degree of forced determination. As my palms faced each other, a burning sensation of pins and needles coursed through my arms to my hands, tingling the very edges of my fingers.

Orange crackles of energy jumped from each finger and thumb, alive and crackling with heat. A scream of desperation and effort left me as I threw a football sized fireball at Marcus. The ball hit him square in the chest, a rumble of thunder echoing around me as it did so.

But Marcus didn't even flinch. All he did was close his eyes and draw in a deep breath. "That feels so good. Sweet, sweet, Katherine, thank you for such a gift."

Sheer horror flooded me, and I ran backwards. Confusion flooded my mind. I remembered the cliff edge, but I could do nothing as my legs carried on forcing me away from this lethal creature. Suddenly, the ground fell away, and I found myself falling through the air. I felt almost weightless as I waited for the impending hit that would take my life...

I startled awake, trembling. My heart pounding and my entire body covered in sweat, I sucked in several deep breaths to calm myself down. It took me a moment of staring at the high ceiling and the gothic chandelier to remember I was in Marcus' bed.

My bad dream was pushed aside as a beaming grin spread over my face. Nothing could override my joy of being around him. I rolled over to cuddle him only to find the bed empty. My panic returned in an instant. I sat up, a light from the hall streaking through the small gap of the ajar door.

"Marcus?" I whispered.

Nothing.

"Marcus?" I said, calling louder.

Still nothing.

I grabbed the bed sheet and wrapped it around me before skulking to the door. Opening it fully, I stood and strained with my ears to hear anything, something. But there was nothing. I frowned. Had he left the house? Where had he gone?

"Marcus?" I shouted.

Nothing.

What should I do? Should I go back to sleep and pretend I never knew he'd left me, or should I get dressed and go home? A feeling of revulsion swamped me in an instant. I'd put a stop to anything more than passionate kissing. Was that why he'd left? Had I teased him too much?

I sighed, biting back tears of disappointment, and headed back to the bed. I woke my phone up to see the time—three a.m.—and then called him. His phone burst into life on his bedside table. I frowned. What was going on?

Cursing him mentally, I laid back on the bed and told myself if he weren't back in an hour then I'd leave. This was beyond rude, and downright odd. Why the hell would he leave me alone after a night like that? If this was some sort of precursor to how our relationship would be then I didn't want it.

Now wide awake, I had no hope of going back to sleep so I decided to scroll through Facebook, see what drama I'd missed overnight. I'd been online for all of about thirty seconds before a message popped through from Luke.

Luke: Hey, hey, hey. What'cha doin' up at this hour?

Me: Lol, I could ask you the same thing

Luke: Couldn't sleep

Me: Yeah, me neither...well, that's a lie, I was asleep, until I discovered I've been dumped

Luke: What?

Me: Stayed at Marcus' last night, woke up five minutes ago and he's not even in the house. Hint much?

Luke: Aww, Cat, I'm so sorry. That's awful.

Me: *sad face* you know what they say, if something is too good to be true, then it usually is

Luke: What you gonna do?

Me: Get dressed and take a long walk home I guess

Luke: Do you want a lift?

My heart skipped a beat. Would it be totally wrong to get Luke to come and pick me up? A three-mile hike in the early hours of the morning did not seem appealing but as time ticked by, I realised Marcus wouldn't be returning.

Me: Would you mind?

Luke: I'll be there ASAP

Me: Thanks, Luke. You're the best *heart*

Luke: *smiley face*

Swearing at myself for being so damn stupid, I hastily pulled my dress on, all the while trying to ignore the climbing feeling of disgust and shame swirling about inside me. I ran my fingers through my hair quickly to get rid of the bed hair and then used my phone camera to check my makeup hadn't smeared all over my face.

Happy that I looked presentable enough for half-three in the morning, I trudged downstairs, admiring the beautiful house along the way. I would be sad not to see this place again, it was a work of art in its own right.

I walked across the marble floor to the front doors, took one final look behind me, and slipped outside, surprised to see Luke already waiting for me. His huge Dodge Ram looked so out of place in Marcus' delicate carriage driveway.

Before the front door had even closed behind me, Luke hopped out of his truck and strode across the gravel.

"Hey, Cat," he said, his voice soft and gentle. "You ok?"

I nodded and forced a smile onto my face. "Thanks for this, Luke. I really appreciate it."

He offered me his hand which I gladly took. His grip felt strong yet somehow tender, his skin warm and inviting, smooth yet hard at the same time.

"I did think of a slight flaw in your escape plan though," he said, escorting me around to the passenger side of his truck.

"What?"

"Your dad's curfew."

I groaned. I hadn't even thought about that in my desperate bid to get out of here. "Oh shoot," I said, hitting myself in the forehead. "I may as well stay then, hadn't I? Sorry, Luke."

"Or you could come to mine?"

I faltered. The passenger door was wide open, giving me a clear option here of going with Luke or staying here until seven a.m. when Dad's curfew would no longer be in effect. Then I remembered that Marcus' front door is one of those that locks itself when closed. Looks like my options were being rapidly taken away from me.

"If that's ok?" I said.

"Of course it is. I don't mind you doing a walk of shame home from mine in the morning at all."

We both laughed and I swatted his arm playfully. "Stop it. Not funny."

I climbed up into the truck and sorted my seatbelt out. Luke shut my door and jogged around to his side. Seconds later, we were on the road, on the way to his farm.

"Do you live far from here?" I asked, thinking about how quickly he'd gotten here.

"Not really. About four miles. I live out at Ruswarp."

"You got here really fast."

He flashed me a cheeky grin. "I'm afraid I'm a bit of a Colin McRae. Flat out or nothing."

I giggled and stared out of the window, watching all the scenery whizz by at goodness knows what speed. He flew over a set of train tracks, over a bridge, and then around the tight country lanes at a sickening pace.

"Ok, ok," I said. "I get that you drive fast. I would like to feel like my body and my organs are in the same vicinity at least."

He chuckled and immediately eased off the power. "We're nearly back anyway. Just around this corner."

He guided the truck down a tarmac road that had been carved out between two fields. A wide-open pasture rolled up on the horizon to the right and to my left another lush green paddock spread out around a group of buildings.

"Wow, is this all yours?"

He nodded. "North to south, I own all the land all the way from Shawn Riggs Beck to Iburndale Beck. East to west, I own it from that field there—" he pointed to my left "—to the end of Buskey Beck. It gets a little misshapen at that end of things. I'll show you one day."

"You farm all of that yourself?"

He shook his head. "I rent most of it out. There are a couple of farms on the land that I rent out, along with a certain amount of the land. Most of it is for livestock so it's all grass or hay fields."

My ears perked up. "Livestock?"

"Horses, cows, sheep, the usual."

My heart fluttered at the mention of horses. "Horses? Have you got horses?"

He nodded and grinned. "I've got eight."

"Eight?" My voice shrieked. "How do you find time to do all your work and look after eight horses?"

We came to a stop in front of a traditional red brick farmhouse. Its faded bricks and slightly wonky roof gave away its age. Smoke trickled from the chimney. White framed windows were big and inviting along with the aged wooden front door. Ivy climbed the walls, really adding to its historic status. A crumbling red brick wall, about waist height, gave the house a perimeter from the farmland around it. Behind it, a few hundred yards back, sat Shawn Riggs Beck, its thick trees giving the perfect backdrop to such a beautiful piece of history.

"This is yours?" I said, turning to Luke. "It's gorgeous."

"Thanks," he said, smiling. "Are you saying you didn't expect me to own something like this?"

I laughed. "No, that's not what I meant."

He grinned. "I know."

I shoved him in his shoulder. "Stop messing with me."

Chuckling, he got out of the truck. I followed suit, which earned me a scowl.

"What?" I asked.

"You're messing with my chivalry."

I tutted at him and rolled my eyes. "I can open a door, Luke."

"That's not the point. It's not how I was brought up."

"To let a woman open a door?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I can see this is pointless. Just humour me, please."

"Ok," I said, smirking at him.

Taking my hand again, he led me across the uneven ground, a mixture of dried mud and small stones. "I'm still doing the house up so please excuse the mess."

"How long have you been here?"

"Well, truth be told, I was born here but my parents kind of let the house fall into disrepair so I've been slowly picking my way through the worst of it since I've been on my own."

"Where are your parents?"

"They've gone off on some tour of the world. Won't be back for years."

He opened the front door for me and motioned for me to step through into the narrow entrance hall. I walked down it, a light from the top of the stairs casting enough of a shadow down for me to see the way. The front door clanged shut behind me.

"Head right," Luke said. There were two doorways, one to the left, one to the right. "Kitchen is on the left. Living room on the right."

The battered pine door creaked on its black iron hinges as I pushed it open, entering the living room. Seeing the size of the room, I understood why the hall had been made so narrow. If the kitchen was just as big, what a room that would be.

A huge bay window to my right gazed out over the peaceful fields splayed out in front of the house. An open fire crackled in the middle of the room, hungry orange flames licking at the pile of logs. Two huge cream sofas faced one another with an old pine coffee table in the middle. Various pictures lined the walls along with shelves full of books.

Something seemed to be missing from here, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then it dawned on me.

"No TV?" I said, glancing around.

He laughed. "I have one in my bedroom but not in here. I tend to use this room to just relax and decompress. TV doesn't help with that."

As the fire popped and sizzled, I began to understand that all you really needed were the natural sounds of the world around you to relax. I could already imagine flopping down on one of the sofas and closing my eyes to the sound of the fire.

Outside, somewhere in the distance, a horse neighed.

"Is that one of yours?" I asked.

He nodded. "Most likely Silva. He always knows when I'm coming and going and greets me when I come back."

"Can I meet them?" I asked, hopeful to get near a horse for the first time in several weeks. I was getting withdrawal symptoms.

"Now?"

"Well, no, not now," I said, laughing. "In the morning, before I go, maybe?"

He nodded. "Of course. Do you want a drink or anything?"

"Just some water, please."

He disappeared only to return seconds later with a pint glass of water. I thanked him and when he motioned for me to sit down, I gratefully collapsed onto the sofa that faced the window.

"Careful," he said. "You can easily fall asleep on one of them."

"I'd be quite happy to in all honesty."

"Don't you want the guest room?"

I shook my head. "Honestly, this is fine."

He leaned over me and tugged a blanket from the back of the sofa. "I'm sure you won't need it with the fire and all, but it's there if you want it."

"Thanks," I replied, gathering the plump cushions to use as pillows.

"If you're wondering why I've got the fire going in the middle of summer it's because I have a back boiler. If I don't have the fire lit, no hot water."

I smiled at him. "You don't need to explain yourself about your own house, Luke."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I know. I just didn't want you to think I was weird or anything."

I giggled at him and snuggled down on the sofa, curling my knees up to my stomach. "Thanks again for picking me up. I really appreciate it."

"It's nothing. Don't mention it."

He settled down on the sofa opposite me, laying on his side. My eyes slowly closed, the last thing I saw being Luke's handsome smiling face.