Just looking up at the tall, concrete and glass structure was enough to make you feel sick. You couldn't believe that people could live inside these 'high rises'. You preferred your own place, where at least you only had to worry about a few neighbours, not 1000 of them all at once. Just imagine the noise, not to mention the rubbish.

Walking through the sleek glass doors, you entered into the lobby of the apartment building. Immediately you hugged your arms around you as the temperature seemed to drop. Your footsteps echoed loudly off the walls, as your eyes scanned the lobby, but there was no one around. Directly in front of you was a row of elevators, all of their metallic doors closed. You had no idea what apartment your client lived in that you had to deliver the book to, so you glanced at the board beside the lifts, describing what was on each floor.

Seeing that floor 10 seemed to be the general meeting place with its shops and swimming pool, you hit the call button for the lift and waiting for it to descend. The lights flickered in the lobby briefly, taking it into darkness, with only the strong light from outside spilling in through the door. The air seemed to grow stale as you waiting in the deaden silence. The outside seemed to have disappeared as all you could hear was what sounded like drumming from inside the lift shaft, behind the metal doors.

Finally, the elevator pinged and the sleek doors slid open, and you stepped inside. Punching the button for the 10th floor, you watched the doors slide close with a thud, before it gave a slight lurch and began climbing up the shaft. You glanced at your reflection in the mirrors in the elevator compartment and felt a little exposed, as if people were looking at you from the other side. You wished it would move quicker, as there wasn't even any music to pass the time, only the drumming that seemed to grow louder the higher up the building you moved, like a military march.

The ding signalled your arrival, but when the doors opened, you yelped in surprise as several faces stared back at you, batons and sticks in their hands. "Well well well. Someone looks a little lost", a gruff voice said, their hand stroking at their short goatee beard as their eyes looked you up and down hungrily. Before you knew it, two of them lunged forward, grabbing your arms, pulling you out of the elevator as another proceeded to smash the mirrors and break the control console. "What are you doing?! Let go of me!", you shouted at them, pulling yourself out of their grasps, backing away from them.

"This lift is ours now. We will not have upper floor scum like you claiming it", one snarled at you, jabbing his stick threateningly towards you. It wasn't until you looked around on the huge concourse level that you saw you were surrounded from all sides by men and woman of a similar nature. All their clothes looked a little dirty and worn, all carrying objects tightly as a weapon. Their eyes glared at you as they all seemed to form a circle around you, essentially trapping you.

"I-I don't know what you mean. I'm not from here", you stammered to them, eyes wide in fear. The man with the long, slicked back black hair and goatee beard stepped forward out of the group, towards you, pointing his golf club at you. "You mean you're not from up there?", he asked, gesturing up to the roof. You nodded, and his eyes widened in realisation. "You're an outsider, aren't you?". The whole group gasped at the realisation too, all collectively taking a step back, giving you space to breath.

"Who sent you? Why are you here?". He barked his questions at you with such ferocity you flinched at his every word. Shakily you reached into your bag and pulled out the package you'd come to deliver. Immediately the man snatched it out of your grasp, before reading the address on it. "Dr Robert Laing", he snapped, eyes looking from you to the package. He threw it down onto the floor at your feet and you picked it up, clutching it to your chest.

All the group around you seemed to close in even tighter around you, and you felt as if you were running out of oxygen. Their hands grasped tighter around their weapons as you looked up into the hungry, cold eyes of the man as he advanced slowly towards you. "You came to the wrong floor sweetie. Now it's time we had our fun", he leered coming closer, smiling at you, baring his teeth like an animal.

"Wilder!". The sharp voice that shouted parted the surrounding group like a hot knife through butter. A tall man dressed in a crisp suit stood there, his eyes glaring at the man. The man who stood in front of you, the one threatening you who had been called Wilder snarled at this new man, before grabbing your arm. "One of your whores Laing? Why not share her", Wilder barked, his rotting breath blowing on your neck as he pulled you into his side. So this was Laing, the man you were after, the one who stood unarmed against this mob of people.

"Time will come for that later. Let's not start the hunt before the sun has set", Laing replied coldly, venom laced in his voice as he held out a hand. Wilder huffed in defeat, before roughly shoving you towards Laing, who immediately put a comforting arm around you, placing himself in front of you, as if to protect you from this unstable crowd. "Scum", the crowd hissed in unison as Laing turned, leading you into an empty elevator, jabbing at the button. "You're mine Laing. Remember? Your blood is mine", Wilder shouted after him as the lift doors slid closed.

The second the doors closed you burst into tears, sinking down the mirrored wall onto the floor as you shook in fear. Laing just stood there, not turning around to even look at you, his eyes fixed firmly ahead, his jaw locked. "Thank you", you spluttered through sobs, realising he'd just saved your life from what could have been a horrible ordeal. But he didn't reply, or turn around, or even acknowledge it. He just kept staring straight ahead at his own reflection in the closed lift doors as the lift climbed up the building.

When the lift binged as it reached the 25th floor, and the doors slid open, Laing stepped out of the elevator and began walking quickly down the corridor, not even turning around to help you up or even see if you were following him. You still had his package in your hand, so after wiping your eyes, managed to get back up onto your feet and followed him. You saw the back of him disappear into an apartment, leaving the door wide open. You followed him inside after stepping over a few empty beer cans that lay scattered on the floor outside the door, and closed it behind you.

The apartment was very modern, and it might have been somewhere you'd want to stay, but you could tell that it was well lived in. Bags of rubbish were stacked in the corner, and there was an awful smell coming from the direction of the kitchen. Dishes and clothes lay strewn everywhere around the apartment, along with several ripped books and broken records. You spotted Laing, out on the balcony, hunched over the railings. Putting the package down on the table, you followed him out onto the balcony, and waiting.

"What are you doing here Y/N? I thought I told you never to come and visit me. I said I would help you with your studies at the lab, didn't I?", he said quietly, still keeping his head low as he looked down over the balcony. You had no real idea what was going on, or what he said by that. What did he mean that he'd see you at the lab? Who were those people downstairs? And how did he know your name? This was Tom, wasn't it, playing a prank? Wasn't it?

"I came to deliver your book", you replied honestly. You knew that much was true, as that was the real reason you were here. Now, he turned around to face you, the wind blowing his brown hair slightly as well as his suit jacket. His eyes were full of concern and worry. "Thank you, but you need to leave. Now. It's not safe for you to be here". He took a step closer to close the distance between the two of you, and again you felt as if the air around you had disappeared. His eyes, although beautiful, had something dark and hidden inside them. Before you had chance to reply, he took your hand gently, and pulled you with him as he went back inside the apartment, and back out into the lift corridor.

For the rest of the journey, Laing didn't speak, and neither did you. You had so many questions in your head that you had no idea to go about wording them. Soon, you noticed that you had both emerged from the lift onto the 40th floor, and Laing lead you out onto the roof. You watched as the flock of seagulls that were feasting on something on the roof eyed you as you both stepped out, the wind blow all around you. "Y/N, this building, this place, is something that exists outside all logic and principal", he said finally as he slowly walked over to the edge of the roof, looking out across the view of the city. "A place where there are no rules. All human phychology is gone. We are esentially, free. To exploit and use what human nature we have, to the rawest of our primal needs and desires. Like animals". His eyes ached in pain as he looked at you, taking both of your hands gently in his. It was then you noticed the deep bags under his eyes, as his thumb stroked you hands as he spoke in barely a whisper. "I don't want you to get hurt, Y/N. I don't want you to become like this. Like those animals down there".

He pulled you into his arms, wrapping them around you as you rested your head against his chest. The weight of the world seemed to be pressing against him, and you felt guilty. You wanted to lift it off him, to help him. You reached your hand up and cupped his cheek, stroking your thumb across his cheekbone. He closed his eyes and let his head drop down onto his chest, letting you stroke him, just holding you in his embrace. "Come with me", you whispered. Laing shook his head, smiling sadly at you. "I can't. I'm sorry". "Please". Your plead to him was making you get emotional, knowing what was really happening in here. "What did you mean by hunt before? Why did that man say he wanted your blood?", you asked him, almost afraid to hear the answer.

He sighed, pulling you tighter into him. "Like trapped animals in a cage. Let the food run out, and watch them tear the weaker ones apart, until only the strongest are left alive". It was then that the flock of seagulls seemed to move apart, as if on cue, to reveal the ripped carcase of a mauled dog, its guts spilt on the roof. You turned you head away in disgust and Laing grasped your face in his hands, making you look deep into his eyes. "Y/N, you need to forget about me. I know that we had our time in the past, but that has gone now. I know that you will find someone else in time, but know that I always loved you. Even when I said goodbye ...".

It was then that he leaned in and kissed your lips. Your body tensed as he did so, but you soon let yourself sink into him as his kiss deepened. Your hand grabbed at his suit jacket as you felt the resistance of him beginning to pull back. You didn't want him to stop, for this love to end. "You are stronger than me Y/N. You'll beat them, the rest of the world". His voice whispered delicately in your ear as his hands snaked around your waist, pulling you closer, as he left a final kiss on your lips.

You didn't want to leave him, knowing what type of animals the people below had turned into. You wanted to take him with you, to keep you both safe. Surely he must have understood there was a world outside the high rise? The seagulls began swarming above the both of you now, warning you of the doom to come should you stay, like vultures marking their next victim. Sensing this, Laing lead you to a different elevator around the corner from the one you had come up to the roof in. As the doors opened and you stepped inside, you turned around to see him one final time. His soft smile and warm eyes melted your heart. He pushed the button on the outside, blowing you a kiss as with a crack in your heart, the doors closed, shutting you off from him, as the lift began its descent down the building, so too did your tears begin to fall. Nothing could stop your breaking heart as you came back do to earth, trapped in a box, powerless as it continued downwards to take you back outside to the real world.

[I know, I'm evil. Well at least I didn't kill him in front of you >;) muhahahaha! Hope you're enjoying it. Don't forget to leave your comments and votes. Now I wonder who's going to come up next, because I haven't given you any clues this time ;) have to wait and see. Share the love] xxxxx