"Good morning," I felt a kiss on my cheek and smiled against the sheets as I pressed my blushing face out of his sight. "Hey don't hide."

I curled myself up even tighter wrapping the sheets around me like a burrito. My mind was still bleary with sleep as I felt him lean over me.

"Cara," his voice tickled in my ear making me giggle. My brain shifted more into focus as I became aware of his body hovering over mine.

"You're heavy," I teased with a laugh as I tried to wriggle underneath him but his weight pinned me down against the mattress.

"Oi," his hands went to my sides and started tickling me so I creased up under the sheets.

I screamed for him to stop between my howls of laughter that soon became pants as I gasped for air. He wouldn't stop and my body soon became exhausted with twisting and turning causing my sweaty body to stick to the sheets.

The sheets seemed to twist around me knotting me until my arms were pinned by my sides and legs stuck together. And still the sheets became more and more constricting, squeezing the breath out of me.

Suddenly he stopped tickling me and planted himself squarely on my stomach so all the breath was forced out of my lungs and was unable to reenter.

"Jackson," I pleaded my eyes starting to water as I struggled for air. My fingers clawed desperately at the sheets but to no avail. Every movement I made was futile. And the look in his eye told me he knew it.

A malicious grin spread across his face, the grin of a tiger who'd caught his meal and cut its throat and was now waiting for it to slowly die before he could eat it.

Then his face shifted, it happened so sharply as my vision began to blur from lack of oxygen. Then instead of his dark brown eyes a set of endless green eyes appeared.

"Mitch?" I gasped.

Inexplicably, his face contorted again to became dark skinned and serious, "Sawyer," I whimpered, "please help me."

"Cara," the voice that spoke wasn't Sawyers, it was feral and vicious.

Again his face flickered to become someone else, this time someone with a beauty spot and messy hair, "Nico!" He was gone the instant I spluttered his name, his eyes switching from brown and playful to grey and intense, "Grey, please!"

He vanished and Jackson returned, I trembled slightly as black spots dotted my vision, my heart raced with fear inside my chest.

"You're going to be very sorry Cara," he hissed venomously.

***

I jolted up from my bed gasping and gulping frantically for air. My sheets were sticky with sweat and my face wet with something that wasn't sweat. Ferociously I kicked off my sheets that were tangled around my legs and stuck to my damp skin.

I doubled over coughing and spluttering. I could still feel Jacksons weight pressing onto my stomach and the sheets constricting around me. My whole body shook at the vividness of the dream. It remained emblazoned inside my head, all the the colours were dramatic and glowing like a warning sign.

My hand instinctively reached for my arm stroking the raised skin that ran from my elbow to wrist in one jagged white line. I made myself press my fingers into it then run them up and down.

I was here, I was safe, he wouldn't be able to reach me here.

I knew sleep would be impossible now so I extracted my sweaty body from my mattress and headed straight for the bathroom. My breathing was still uneven and afraid, scared with each breath that the next would be snatched from me.

As I stared at my face in the mirror I tried to ignore the fact that my reflection was trembling slightly. That the girl in the mirror had tear stains on her cheeks and hair stuck to her face with sweat. But I couldn't help but noticed how shaken she looked, how weak she was.

So I turned my back on her and stepped into the shower. I washed the weak girl from my skin and with every bit of water a new skin was born. Skin for a girl who was unafraid and bold and daring.

With a sense of renewal I pulled on some running clothes and trainers before heading out my bedroom door and jogging through the empty corridors to the the back garden. It was 6 am on a Saturday morning so no one was awake and the Kings Bridge grounds seemed to exist in a kind of sleepy trance. It was disconcerting compared to the usual chaos and liveliness of the place. I found that now I missed having the feel of bodies around me, the protection of their warmth and strength. I missed hearing the sounds of hundreds of voices and consistent murmur of laughter. Without them the place seemed empty and foreboding.

So I started jogging to distract my mind and replace the silence with the sound of my footsteps hitting gravel. I was wrapped up in my own world that I didn't notice the sound of other footsteps until I realised I couldn't have four feet. I convinced myself I was just imagining it until the footsteps became heavier and closer.

Right behind me.

My head snapped around to notice a body barely three steps behind me.

"Shit," I flinched back in fright, my hand leapt to my heart, I was still skittish.

"Sorry," grey eyes met mine, "I didn't say anything cause you were so concentrated on what you were doing I didn't want to scare you."

"You failed at that sorry," I shook my head still with my heart pounding in my ears.

"I didn't realise I was so terrifying," Grey let out a single chuckle, he looked happier than I'd ever seen him. His joyful face basked in the early morning Autumn sunlight. His mouth was pulled up in a lighthearted smile that unusually stayed for more than 5 seconds.

"You're scary," I told him matter of factly.

"Would you believe be that I've been told that before?" Grey chuckled again. His happy mood put me on edge, I was just waiting for him to switch back to his normal guarded self.

"No?" I widened my eyes dramatically.

"Yep, I don't know why they would say that?"

"It's the eyes," I informed him, "seriously who has grey eyes?"

"Me," he smirked teasingly.

"Nice one smart ass," I reached over and playfully punched his arm.

Our eyes met for a moment as my skin brushed his, his eyes seemed to spit out sparks as the fire blazed inside his iris's.

"So what are you doing not sleeping in on your Saturday morning?" Grey questioned starting running again. The awkwardness was instantly extinguished and we went back to just Grey and Cara.

"Couldn't sleep," it slipped out of my lips, my mouth betraying me.

"Me too," Grey glanced over at me with a slight understanding smile.

"Bad dreams?" My voice was half joking, half serious.

"Something like that. You?"

"Something like that," I agreed.

Suddenly there was a twitch in a tree above our heads and a loud rustle of leaves. My body jumped without me instructing it too and gave my skittish mood away. I blushed slightly at being frightened of a bird moving in a tree.

"You're on edge this morning?" Grey observed.

I picked up my pace almost as if I could run away from his question. So I instinctively gave a dig back, my defence mechanism, "you're slow this morning."

"You're really asking for it aren't you?" Grey raised his eyebrows with a sly grin.

"Asking for what!" I asked innocently.

"I'll race you back to the school and then we'll see who's the slow one?" Grey dared.

"Sure," I nodded confidently, "go!"

I started sprinting without warning and watched Greys jaw drop open in shock as I streaked ahead.

I switched my focus back to the path in front of me concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping my breathing steady. I soon slipped into a rhythm as my legs pounded and stretched reaching me closer to the finish line.

I was so focused on myself I hadn't noticed Grey steadily catching up to me, matching me, then swiftly overtaking me until he slammed his hand against Kings Bridge stone walls.

"Whoo," he threw his hands up in the air triumphantly. As I slammed to halt he started jumping around in celebration. He stuck out his tongue at me, "who's the slow one now eh?"

I folded my arms in faux stubbornness, "you must've cheated."

"No doll I'm just fast,"

My heart stopped.

Doll.

My whole body tensed up and my breath hitched.

"Cara are you alright, I didn't think you were really upset about losing. It was just a stupid race, you really had me struggling too, you're like crazy fast."

I'm crazy fast because I run from everything, even if it is just in my mind.

"It's not the race," I corrected quickly, "doll, please don't call me it."

"What?" Grey's face twisted in confusion, that hadn't been what he was expecting.

"Doll, I hate it. It makes me feel like I'm someone's property," I lied, well it was partly true but that barely even covered the reason why I despised that name.

"Okay," Grey tugged a hand distractedly though his hair. He seemed to accept my halfhearted explanation with surprising ease. I waited for the but, but it never came.

"Thanks," I faltered still waiting for him to change his mind and decide it was no longer okay.

"Sure," Grey smiled but now his smile was troubled. The fire in his eyes eased down to a steady glow.

I wanted to tell him so badly but each time my jaw would lock automatically, like I was physically unable to tell the truth any more. My mind had blocked me from doing so.

And so the lies kept building. The higher the wall, the further it had to fall.