Panic spread, I could feel myself pinned despite my attempts to run. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were constricted, burning as I tried to take in desperate air. They were getting closer and I could feel the tension build, suddenly it was dark, my eyes instinctively squeezing shut when the gun cocked, a loud and defined bang popping against my ear.

Instantly, my body reacted, jumping upright, my eyes opening wide to the shadows of the night. Quickly, the realisation of it being a nightmare settled, I slumped as I sat in the safety of my bed, panting to regain oxygen. My head was pounding, my hands sweaty, a hot flush running through my system.

I tried to calm myself down, and it was beginning to work as I focused on the sound of light rain against the window to my left, when a shift in noise caught my attention.

Instantly I was on edge again, listening to the sound of what I knew was my front door handle. I'd wrestled with the lock many times before, pushing and pulling, urging it to open against my key, I knew the sound immediately.

Like my body had reacted in my dream, it now reacted in real time. Panic.

I climbed out of bed and stood at my open doorway in the little light giving me vision. Did I approach the attempted intruder? Would my presence they scare them away? Did I try to jump out of the window, or would that be overreacting?

Looking around the kitchen and the living room for a miraculous answer to my problem, I found an outlet, a solution. Whilst the fight with my door on the other side grew more intense, more urgent, I ran to my handbag sitting on the floor against the dining table. Crouching down I dug inside for my phone and the card Detective James had given me. With shaky fingers, I dialled his number, pressing it my ear as I remained hidden behind my couch.

It rang twice, and I considered hanging up when I heard his voice "Hello?"

He sounded awake, fairly awake for someone at 2 in the morning

"Dawson James?" I responded, quiet but shaky "It's Jasmine, Jasmine Wright, I think I need help, I think someone is breaking into my apartment, I don't know how they got in through the building door but my door is shaking and I can hear someone trying to push it open.." My words all came out together, without a breath between

"Okay, Jasmine, Jasmine.." I could hear that he had understood me anyways, thankfully "Stay calm, now I want you to find somewhere you hide, does your bathroom door have a firm lock?"

A firm lock? I didn't even know what that meant.

"It's just, it's a push button lock, if they get that front door down they're going to have no problem getting the bathroom door down" I told him, now searching for a sneaky spot to hide, my fingers shaking as unsteadily as my voice

"I'm coming as quick as I can, I'm only a few blocks away, find somewhere to hide Jasmine, keep talking to me, but stay quiet" He instructed

I was running through the house frantically, the simple designs and organised rooms making it difficult for me to protect myself. Moving from one room to the next, I decided my only obvious choice would be to head for under my bed. As I crawled, I thought about how undeniably cliche it was, it would be the first place the intruder would look and I was already regretting the decision when I heard to door buckle beneath a hard shoulder.

"They're inside, please hurry, they've got the door down" I blubbered, tears threatening as I pushed my hand over my mouth, silencing my rapid breathing

"Stay where you are Jasmine okay, don't move, stay quiet and do not hang up on me" He told me, the panic in his voice beginning to leak out

This was it, this was the moment I was going to die. What had happened inside the grocery store was just preparation, this would be my final fate. The messages left on my phone would be followed through on, the warnings had been real and now I was going to be murdered in my own home, where I had felt the most safe.

Watching with wet eyes, I waited. I could hear slow and steady footsteps, unbothered by the noise he had created with my front door possibly having startled the neighbours.

"I'm here Jasmine, I'm coming up now, just stay quiet and don't move until I tell you to.." Dawson spoke against my ear, the sound becoming a blur, a distortion as I tried to wrap my head around what was happening.

The distant wailing of police sirens were suddenly within earshot, this made me panic more, as it also did for the man in my home. The footsteps became louder and suddenly they moved into sight. I could hear things being thrown around, items falling to the ground, shattering and breaking as he searched for what I could only imagine, was me.

"Where are you girl?" He let out, slow, taunting, followed by the distinctive sound of a gun being cocked, ready for use. I cringed and fought the urge to let out a sob, squeezing my eyes closed when the boots entered my bedroom doorway

"Jasmine?" He called, dragging my name out slowly, terrifying me to the core

My hand over my mouth squeezed onto my checks, my fingernails digging in to my skin, my face covered in water from the uncontrollable crying

All I could do was focus on the phone against my ear, Dawson was my only hope, he was the closest most valued hope I had left to survive.

I couldn't think straight, I could barely breathe and then, the phone fell from my hand when a pair of strong arms began to drag me from my hiding place. My eyes shot open and I had been hoping it was Dawson, but instead, a short burly man with tattoos tracing his neck held my tightly my my upper arms, yanking me upwards. Instinctively I began to fight back, pushing and shoving, screaming for him to get off of me

It was chaos, and then I felt the cold press of steel against my rib cage. I knew instantly what it was, I tried to squirm away from it, but he was too strong and I was too weak.

"Please don't" I sobbed "Please, please" I was begging for my life, hoping he'd have a change of heart, but when the pop rung loudly beside my body, I crumpled. I lay on the floor, waiting for the bullet to pierce my insides, waiting for the warmth of my blood to spread through me and end my life.

"Jasmine!" I knew this voice, and despite the ringing in my ears, I knew it was Dawson beside me

He was too late, all I could think was that he was now going to watch me die, he had been too late.

"Come on, stand up, look at me Jasmine, c'mon, just look at me" He was half calm, half assertive, his hands on my shoulders, urging me upwards, to look at him

I raised me eyes and met his "You're okay, you're okay" He repeated

As the seconds went on, I realised that I felt nothing, my side felt normal, unscathed. My eyes went from Dawson's face to the floor beside me, the man that had been moments ago holding me with his gun pressed into my side, lying slumped on the floor, a pool of blood beneath his head

Suddenly it all pieced together as I rushed to my feet, Dawson pulling me to his chest as my brain when into shock.

I was alive. Dawson had killed the man that had tried to kill me. I was okay. I breathed a long sigh of relief and fell into Dawson, forcing back a surge of emotion as he pulled me away from the scene.

The next few hours were a blur. The flashing colours blue and red reflected through every window in the apartment building. Police in uniform scattered everywhere, neighbours outside of their rooms and the building, demanding to know what was going on, demanding answers on the drama unfolding. My ears continued to ring, my face wet and swollen from crying.

I sat in the back of Dawson's police car, a police jacket over my bare shoulders, pulled close to keep me warm. I continued to shake, but it wasn't from the sudden drop in temperature or the rain that continued to fall. I watched out the window as the chaos continued. Forensics arriving, two men also pulling a stretcher from their van beside them, a black body bag ready to collect the dead man inside my bedroom.

I had no idea what time it was when Isaia Wood pulled the driver door open, entering the car with me.

He gave a short sigh as he turned his head to me "Are you okay?" He asked, despite already having had the paramedics check me over

I nodded, untrusting of my voice

"I'm sorry this has happened to you, we should have left the detail on you longer, until we found the men responsible" He apologised

I shook my head, looking at my hands in my lap "Dawson.. he saved my life.." My voice trembled

Isaia nodded with a small smile "Yes he did, he's a good cop"

By 6am I was sitting at the familiar table in the homicide unit, my head on my arms with the large police jacket over my back. I kept my eyes open, extremely tired yet unable to close my eyes, afraid of what I would see behind them.

As the sun rose, the warmth leaked in through the open blinds, settling on my skin and my face. It was comforting, but I was on edge. Someone had broken into my home, tried to kill me. I was overwhelmed, I was terrified. To what extent were these people willing to go to just to keep me quiet? I couldn't think straight.

7am, Isaia entered the room with two cups of coffee in his hands, a folder tucked beneath his arm

"Hey" He greeted "Sorry it's taken a little while, there's a lot of logistics into what happened this morning" He set one coffee in front of me as I sat up, the other in front of himself opposite me

"Where, where is detective James?" I asked, not having seen him since he'd shot and killed the intruder in my home

"He fired his weapon which resulted in a death, which was the absolute right call to make in the situation you were in, but the decision comes with a fair bit of paperwork with I.A"

"I.A?" I repeated, unsure of the term

"Internal Affairs, they're just doing their job, dotting the i's and crossing the t's to make sure it was completely necessary" He explained briefly, opening his folder "Which does mean I'm going to need to take another statement from you to ensure it all matches up"

I nodded, expecting it, yet uncomfortable I would yet again have to relive every detail.

Thankfully, it hadn't taken long to explain the ordeal. This attack had shaken me more than the initial robbery had, now it was personal, now they knew where I lived. They were now intentionally out to kill me. I shuddered on more than one occasion, Isaia noticing each time, apologising, taking his time in urging me to continue.

Once finished, Isaia leaned his elbows on the table, sighing "So because of what has happened, we unfortunately cannot allow you to go back home, it's far too dangerous"

My eyebrows drew together in the middle, questions swimming "Where am I going to go?"

There was nowhere else, I wouldn't involve Camille, I wouldn't involve anyone even if there was someone I could run to. Why would I risk their safety for my own?

Isaia was watching me, almost nervously