Ali wasn't really a sleepwalker but it happened to her a few times, little things like walking to the bathroom from when she was young. This however, was nothing like that.

Waking up in a strange place as the rain solftly drizzled started to abate, for the second time in what felt like two days caused her to start panicking.

At the center of dark woods somewhere near or around the moors in the dead of night, the sounds of nature filled the air, memories of the fight with the arsonist on the road came rushing back, Ali's hands searched, checking carefully her stomach for any injury but with visibility so low, searching for the a wound was the only way, after a time of finding nothing Ali was flooded with relief of not finding the wound she vividly remembered receiving, then another problem came to mind. Clothing or in this case the lack thereof, she was just about naked with just the remains of her soggy clothing hanging off her back, ragged and torn pajama sleeves and the back of the leather coat were all that remained, even the shoes were gone.

Ali's arms instinctively shot up to cover her exposed areas, around her the darkness closed, panicked thoughts of what happened or might have happened before she woke up quickly closed in like the darkness of the wooded moors. Her mind reeled in many different directions at once, her breathing increased to near hyperventilation. The already bad day was just getting worse.

Ali moved with direction, rolling over emotions, under the gloom of night.

The darkness of the night became a blur of shadows in differing shades of light, Ali's vision soon adjusted to the lack of light, she began to notice more and more details of her surroundings, her lack of knowledge about the preceding events that had gotten her to the state she was currently in had her mind spinning beyond all rational thought.

Ali kept moving barefoot through the darkness of the moors in and out of wooded areas for what felt like hours, tears threatening to release.

That's when she saw a car next to some flowering hawthorn trees.

Ali's mind locked onto the parked car like a lighthouse in a storm, it focused her moving towards it then paranoia set in after seeing the back passenger side of the car had partially broken and damaged windows. Remembering this was the middle of the woods in the dead of night slowed her down as she realized her state of dress, Ali quickly hid behind a nearby tree and took off the tattered remains of the leather coat hanging loosely from her arms before tying it around her waist like a sarong, there was enough of her pajama top hanging off one sleeve that she could repurpose it to her front, effectively covering herself and giving some semblance of proprietary just in case the car owner was still around and not as helpful as she hoped.

As she approached the car from the back, the first thing she noticed as she got closer was the mud, the land was damp as if it had rained very hard but when she looked back to the area further away from the car the way she'd just come from was dry.

Ali was suprised that she could recognize the car model at night with ease, Mary had a similar one, a Cotroen C4, hers was a newer model from a few years ago but the one in front of her looked very rough around the edges.

She walked around to the other side of the car to see if it was just abandoned because of the external damage, her feet sank into the mud covered ground while she tried not to cut herself on any broken pieces of glass, it again felt as if the darkness lightened a bit more as she focused on the driver's side, she could see the glass was cracked but not broken on the ground.

The mud under her feet suddenly shifted sending Ali sprawling forward, trying to maintain balance, her leg then caught on something tripping her to the earth, barely raising her arms to stop herself from hitting her face Ali fell to the damp muddy ground in a jaw jarring shock. 'Come on get a grip.' she cursed herself for not looking down after realizing the glass wasn't on the ground from the driver's side, the relief she felt after finding a possible safe haven made her not as cautious of her environment.

The struggling Ali used her now muddied arms to pull her legs under her in an almost a squatting position, turning to look at the thing in the mud that helped to trip her, the world around her froze as she looked with widened eyes at the arsonist the police called the Firebomber who was dead at her feet.

His eyes open looking onwards at nothing that any mortal eyes could see, one hand sat in the mud at an odd angle still reaching for the gun near his fingers. His face locked expressing something between shock and horror.

Ali screamed harder and louder than she ever recalled doing in her life. She screamed, tears ran down her cheeks, her lungs drained of air till she found herself dizzy looking at the dead man before her.

She was scared of him, so very angry at him and now lost on what to do with him. She remembered he was the reason for all her trials and tribulations, realizing that, she focused on her anger, Ali could work with that anger, it helped to heal some of the fog and fear of the situation.

The fact that she was here at all was the dead man's fault, everything that happened could be leveled at his feet.

The realization struck like a hammer, not knowing where or how long she was in the moors and to her growing horror, being at the scene of a dead man she had fought with not once but twice in less than twenty four hours in two different locations would land her in jail or at the very least make her the prime suspect.

"Wanker." Ali whispered finding her voice which helped give her the strength to get back on her feet and move away from the body of the man who tried to ruin her life.

She had no idea what to do as she stepped away from him trying not to panic, Ali tried wiping the wet mud on her hands and legs off, absorbing the full shock of the situation she was now in.

'Keep it together....' Ali mumbled trying to bolster way the feelings of dread and apprehension that were growing stronger but another look at the arsonist helped her anger come back, keeping her focused on surviving the situation.

It was still winter so shock was probably the only thing keeping her from feeling the cold, if she didn't find a way back to the farm before the crisp temperature of Cornwall took its toll then Ali would have even more problems than a dead body somewhere in the moors to deal with.

She looked into the darkness behind the car, considered walking, looked down at her bare muddy feet then tossed out that daft idea, not wanting to touch the body of the dead man or go around to the glass covered ground on the other side of the car, she instead grabbed a nearby rock to break into the already damaged car door window.

The rock fell from her hand almost hitting the arsonist's body with a thud as it sank into the mud, she moved to the car door in quick steps after spotting the dangling keys in the door.

In the six seater car, glass covered more than half of the seats, the passengerside door was bent inwards with a pincushion of holes that spread out from the back seat.

Ali frowned as she ripped away a piece of her flannel pajama that she now used as a chest wrap and used that cloth covered hand sweep the driver's seat before she sat down, within moments a wave of relief hit her as she closed the car door. Leaning forward, her fatigued head rested on the wheel.

"Alright, if this doesn't work I can walk......" The sounds of moors at night washed over her as she sat on the slightly damp seat with the key in her hand. "Please work..." Ali's head hit the wheel willing herself up and in one smooth motion she put in the key, shifted the car into gear and turned it.

The engine sputtered to life.

"Oh shi...." The moment her foot hit the gas pedal, the recent history she had been dealing with transportation came back into focus, the reality of her new problem made itself know at the same moment the car shot forward.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!....." Ali experienced a wide mix of emotions as the night progressed most of them not good, the foggy wave of tiredness that was starting to draw her to sleep, was the last straw in a damn of straws that promised to engulf her utterly.

The woods around her became moors at a rapid pace, every time a lethargic feeling hit, the surroundings of the car blurred, changed and faded in to the fluid distant background of night.

Ali felt too tired to scream anymore, just holding on to the wheel of the car was all she had strength left to do.

Then the car drove up a hill, racing up like it was launched from a slingshot. Then the hill ended while the car tried to keep going far longer than gravity sould let it.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...." Ali again found the breath to scream as the car plummeted, her knuckles white from lack of blood, her hands in a death grip on the wheel.

"I'm having a nightmare.....this has to be...." The car landed without pause, dashing over the next hill like it did the first.

The car drifted impossibly as Ali watched on in awe, a car it's size had no business moving on country roads that fast at night but it kept on at its dangerous pace regardless.

Ali remembered to breathe after a few minutes without crashing, the madness of the day was finally overwhelming her until she saw the bridge to Plymouth and then what lay beyond.

"Not the motorway..............."

Ali almost aways fell asleep on the train ride to Plymouth and now she knew why, terror pure abject terror.

The A38 motorway was a blur as Ali founds herself pressed into the car seat like a glove, the the car vibrated down the road at a speed that should not be aerodynamically possible for a Cotroen or any other car without having a rocket strapped on.

"Seat belt!!!" Ali yelled out remembering that she didn't hook herself in, even if she could, the idea of letting go of the wheel to put it on at the speed the car was going would just make her less of a smear when the car finally stopped.

Looking over at thee car's clock she saw 10:23 pm which at least gave her the time but sliding into a roundabout like action movie car chase scene quickly grabbed her attention again.

The car was weaving in and out of traffic at angles and position so outrageous that Ali squeaked.

Exeter came and went as the car turned onto the M5 with speed. Ali's eyes and nose ran from the wind shooting through the side window and out the broken back window, still too shocked at what was happening to even register the cold.

Every bump, turn and twist Ali felt as her overtaxed body and mind felt like they were on the verge of shutting down.

Bristol's M4 motorway was the last thing she saw before her body finally gave into shock and exhaustion.

-------------------------

12.04 am flashed on the car's clock, Ali woke up groggy with her head resting against the deployed air bag in the wheel of the car.

The car had crashed, the engine smoked slightly in the open air, the car had impacted the wall next to the front gate of her home in London.

The air bag worked, yet some how Ali found a way to bang her head against something in the car while not being restrained by a seatbelt. Blood was running down her face from her scalp, when she checked her reflection in the mirror golden eyes looked back at her.

Shaking her head to clear it she again looked back, now her eyes were back to their natural brown complexion.

Ali shakily stepped out of the car and lost her balance but just managed to grab the open door to stopped herself from falling, then her stomach rolled, everything she had eaten came up onto the sidewalk in a surge.

Ali looked around realizing the situation she was in.

Ali's neighborhood was quiet only the ones living right next door were watching as she rushed out of the car, through the gate, to find the extra key hidden under a fake brick and opening the door. Rushing inside to grab a coat she wrapped herself up tightly, finally covered and not displaying almost everything to the world.

'My luck, I'd end up getting a ticket if I don't move it off the road.' Ali looked at the car with mixed emotions but finally moved to fully open the gate and roll the car in with barely enough room left for her own car.

Heading back inside after closing up for what was left of the night, she passed the hall mirror on her way to the bathroom.

The mirror in her front hallway watched her as she passed, her reflexion in every way but with golden eyes.