BEGINING OF AN END.

Heart pounding erratically, Emily barged into her office and turned the lock securely in place.

What she had seen with her eyes was yet to sink in. Was he really what she thought he was? She placed both hands on her chest, as if that would stop the intense beating of heart.

"Okay, Emily," she thought out loud, "You're inside now. You're safe."

But the intruder didn't even spare her a chance to bask in her short victory when he decided to make his presence known.

"I'm faster." He spoke from right inside her office. "About your statement, are you sure?"

Emily felt the blood rush to her head, even as it threatened to explode just by hearing that voice. She couldn't contain her fear anymore.

Was that even possible? Did he vaporize through the thin air here? Thinking it was her mind playing games, she turned around to be certain.

He was really in her office. Sitting on her chair with both legs crossed. Toying with the tooth, taking his time to look around the office and smirking at her whenever his cold eyes met her scared ones.

"How did you get in here?" She asked, barely containing her agitation.

He smiled and kept mute.

"I'm fu**king talking to you! Answer me!" She yelled, her voice hanging between fear and a hint of bravery.

"I believe you have something of mine?" He said again, unbothered, tapping with his index finger on her table.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked, taking cautious steps backwards, "I've never even met you before." She said as calmly as possible.

When she had her back against the door, she found the lock and turned it open. Part of her knew it was totally fruitless, because if he could materialize into her office from the outside, he could do anything. Another part of her wanted to believe that her first theory was wrong.

"Oh!" He pouted, "Aren't you Emily?"

Emily sensed the sarcasm in his words, " I know you but you don't? Should I be hurt that you don't know me?"

Emily bit down on her bottom lips till she tasted blood. She was already feeling dizzy all over and was scared that her legs would give way under her.

What Emily wanted to do was yell at him to get his cold self out of her office but instead, she found herself gulping hard and praying that her cell phone would ring. Or better still someone would barge in through the door.

"I'm Emily. But I'm certainly not the only Emily in the world." She said, cracking her brain for a medium for a perfect escape plan.

He gave her a long and hard stare, that made Emily retrace her words.

"You didn't sound so brave earlier outside." He looked at her from under his lashes, the dead cold stare, never leaving his eyes.

"I didn't mean for my words to come out that way." Emily pleaded with her eyes and hands, "We can talk this out."

He smirked. "Talking is a waste of time to me, I like getting down to action."

How come the human brain could come up with absolutely nothing when you where In a dire situation?

"You're going to do what I want, okay?" He said from behind her.

It took her entire willpower not to faint. One minute he was sitting directly across from her and the next he was behind her, breathing down her neck.

"What do you want?" Emily asked, the rate of her beating heart in sync with her breathing.

Both hands on her shoulder, he began massaging deep.

"Firstly, I'm gonna need you to fix up my teeth and if you do a really nice job, I might do something extraordinary, something I've never done before."

His words sank deep into her subconscious, creating vague images in her head and giving her ideas.

Without sparing a second glance at the caramel mug on the shelf, she picked it up and smashed it on his head. Hard.

She expected him to bleed, but he did not. Instead, his head remained bowed.

Sensing a chance to flee, Emily dashed for the tooth and fled out.

If he was at least going to kill her, she needed to have something to keep him away. Something to help her buy time and nothing came close as to what she held in her hands.

She made it to the door in time to use her key card, without him catching up with her. It was pitch dark outside so she kept her pace, running. Running as fast as her legs could carry her. Promising herself that she wouldn't stop until she came across a glitter of light and a crowd of people.

"Dr. Emily?"

Hearing the voice and knowing who it came from, despite the harshness of the wind was enough to calm her down. For a bit.

"Peter?" It was her delivery guy. She stopped her pace automatically.

Now that she had Peter, she felt relief.

Beckoning him over with her hands, she tried to still her breath. She was going to ask him to take her to the closest park on his bike.

"Hey Peter." She breathed heavily when he was close.

"Doc. You were running so fast, I almost missed you." He smiled genuinely.

Emily placed a hand on his shoulder, still gasping for air, when suddenly, he was snatched from beneath her and she stumbled forward. When she lifted her eyes to see what the problem was, she received the second greatest shock of her life for the second time that day.

Peter's body lay in front of her, headless. His blood was beginning to form a pool at her feet.

Emily raised her voice to speak but couldn't find the words. She had completely lost her voice.

The words were there but wouldn't come out.

It was her worst nightmare.

"Peter!!" She screamed, thumping down on his body so hard. She had never prayed for anyone as she did in that moment, not even when she was with that psycho alone in her office. She prayed that it was all a nightmare. That tonight wasn't real.

She glanced around, trying to find a reason, but there was no one.

"Show yourself you psycho." She screamed into the darkness of the night. "Show yourself if you're man enough to do it."

If tears could form a pool, Emily's would do so. She had shed enough tears that her glands were devoid of tears and her chest was beginning to constrict due to the tightness she felt.

"You shouldn't have done that."

The warning came from behind her. She didn't need to be told who it was before she even turned because she knew.

He reeked of blood. On both sides of his mouth, blood dripped down, forming a puddle, by bits.

Taking in his tall figure and towering height, Emily looked for something that made him outstanding, something she could use in helping the police catch up with him if she escaped or survived.

The latter was what she wasn't so sure about. His silent movement and speed, already had her on the edge and the fierce and daring look he gave her with Peter's head in his hands, made her doubt her chances of escaping.

Emily was sure she wouldn't last a feet away before he caught up with her.

"So, what now?" She spoke tiredly, "Is this the point you kill me?"

"That wouldn't be fun." He walked towards her, "Where's it?"

Emily wasn't naive to what he was asking but she would play dumb in order to buy herself time and plan her escape. Silently, she called, "Lauren, I need help."

She was near sobbing and breathless, when she felt his hands around her neck.

She closed her eyes and prayed a silent prayer to God for a quick and painless death.

Cancer hadn't killed her but death had come anyway.

A second passed and another, yet nothing happened. She felt a swoosh of air blow past by and then a loud thud.

She flicked one eye open and then the other. Had he decided not to kill her? Backing herself up against the wall, she watched the scene that was unfolding before her with wide eyes.

"Roman."

"Ruthven."

The two sturdy men said each other's name as a form of greeting.

The face off would have been nice to watch but Emily wasn't ready for the scene. She wasn't even ready to learn which name was whose when she took off, a silent thank you on her lips to her savior.

When she told Lauren about this, she wouldn't believe it because even she didn't.

Emily had survived death, wasn't that a testimony?

Still wrapped up in her thoughts and having a face off with the wind constantly getting in her face, Emily felt a switch in her body temperature and environment.

She was going to say something but couldn't. Her breath had seized. Everything seemed to have come to a standstill except for her thoughts.

They had memories of Peter, and his smile to her in his last moment. She blamed herself for his death.

She shouldn't have waved him over.

Shouldn't have ordered pizza.

Worst, she should have done as Lauren had said. All this stemmed from overconfidence and her inability to keep to simple instructions.

Now, she was an accomplice in murder.

Those were her last thoughts before she blacked out and woke up in a bed entirely different from hers.