1 Prologue

The lights went off and Lara froze in her spot. She was always too afraid of the darkness and in the back of her mind she knew this fear was completely childish and silly but she couldn't help it. She did not move one muscle as she waited silently for the lights to come back on.

After one painful minute and a half the lights finally turned on. She sighed in relief. She sat down on the couch and picked up her laptop to finish off the assignment she was working on.

She tried to concentrate on the assignment at hand but her mind kept wandering back to the incident which occurred that evening in Nora's place. She had gone into the bedroom to search for Nora and had come face to face with the bleeding corpse propped up against the head board - her skin peeling off as blood gushed out...

She didn't want to think about her but the scene refused to exit her mind. She didn't want to know who was doing this. But she had only one person on her mind who she knew was capable of such violence but-

He is dead, she told herself. You can't be stuck on the past.

She felt herself crying and tried to control her tears but even after all these years she knew she was not over his death. She still remembers the face that had been marked by hounds beyond recognition when the police found his body in the forest one evening - right after they had argued.

It had been five years since and every single moment after that she had been in constant pain. Only if she had stopped him from going in he would still be alive. Then again, he was the reason she was always in constant terror and maybe it was for the best that he was dead and could no longer hurt her. She wanted to put all of this behind her but she knew she couldn't.

He hurt her, traumatized her but he was a part of her life that she could never just put behind her and move on. His death had shocked her and since then she has been in sort of a trance which could not be broken easily. She ate, worked and studied like everything was fine but inside she felt so empty. It was as if part of her soul had been torn away.

She would never be the same person from before she knew him.

He was the definition of a psychopath. He never felt guilty for his actions and never apologized. He hurt anyone who pissed him off even in the slightest and manipulated others into taking the blame for him. He terrified the living shit out of her only because it was a source of amusement for him.

Lara let her tears finally fall free as she allowed herself to indulge in his memories after so many years. He never spoke much but was the smartest in their batch. His attitude toward everyone was cold and he always remained distant. He was good at everything he did and though everyone wanted to be his friend nobody could ever get past the invisible walls he had put around him. Nobody knew where he was from or anything about his personal life. She remembered how surprised she felt when he asked her to be partners for a chemistry project. That was how they started talking.

She shut down her laptop and put her knees to her chest and rocked herself back and forth, trying to be calm. "It's alright," she kept repeating. "It's all okay. He can't hurt you anymore." She was about to stand up and go to the bed when once again the power went out. A chill ran down her spine as she heard the door to her balcony unlock. She slowly turned to look behind her and her heart stopped beating for a moment when she noticed the silhouette of a man facing her.

"You're still so scared of the dark, Lara." The voice was too familiar and as soon as she registered the voice into her head her knees started to get weaker.

"It can't be," she whispered in a voice that was barely audible. "You are dead."

"I am very much here. You can see me, can't you, Lara?" his voice continued speaking. "Come on, you know it's me. Come here."

"NO!" she suddenly screamed and with the last corresponding muscle of her body she compelled her legs to move and within seconds ran out of her apartment.

"Chill Lara." She felt two large hands engulf her small frame as soon as she entered the lift. Her body froze once again and she knew it was useless to struggle so she went limp.

"I will never hurt you, you know that. I am here to take you with me. Come with me."

"I can't, you're dead." Tears ran down her face as she tried to make sense of what was happening around her. "You're dead, Lucien. You're dead."